Debates of Jan. 29th, 2021

Government Appointments

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a unanimous consent motion was moved yesterday to strike an advisory committee to select the next governor general. The Liberals refused the motion.

Does the Prime Minister think that the screening process he used for Julie Payette was better?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, every Canadian, as I indicated yesterday, deserves to go to work each day in a safe workplace environment, free from harassment. That includes the hardworking and dedicated employees who work at Rideau Hall. We took this matter very seriously from the beginning and put in place an independent review process. Following that process, the Prime Minister accepted Madame Payette's resignation, and we are in the process of reviewing the next steps.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, because of the Prime Minister's failure, the Canadian taxpayer is on the hook for $350,000 a year in pension and expense account costs for the former governor general. How is the Prime Minister going to show Canadians that his continual lack of good judgment will not have to keep being paid for by their hard work?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the former governor general's annual annuity will be dealt with in accordance with the Governor General's Act, something that has been in place for many years. The reimbursement of expenditures of the former governor general is the responsibility of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. The new leadership at Rideau Hall will be able to address the serious concerns that are raised in good part, if—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Regina—Lewvan.

Air Transportation

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, employees at the Regina International Airport are beyond worried. They have been told outright that their jobs are being eliminated and that the control tower will be shut down. The control tower is an integral part of the safety of air traffic in Saskatchewan, and it is important because of our proximity to 15 Wing air base in Moose Jaw.

The people of Saskatchewan can tell when they are being hosed, so will the minister please explain his contradiction from yesterday when he said that the report was not finished, but layoff notices still went out?

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the safety and security of the travelling public is our top priority. Nav Canada is undertaking several studies to assess level-of-service needs. No decisions have been made. It is important to note that any changes in the levels of service proposed by Nav Canada will be subject to a rigorous safety assessment. The process provides for full consultation with all affected stakeholders. No compromise on safety will be tolerated.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I know what the minister is trying to do. I come from a farm in Saskatchewan and we pride ourselves on having common sense and knowing when the wool is going to be pulled over our eyes. The people of Saskatchewan have a new phrase for this. It is called “getting Liberalled”. The minister yesterday said that no final decision was made, and now I have layoff notices from these employees. Either he is contradicting Nav Canada, or he should ask Nav Canada to rescind these layoff notices.

What is it? Is the fix in? Has this decision already been made?

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we understand the hard impact of Nav Canada's decisions on Canadians and employees of Nav Canada across the country but, again, it is important to note that any change in the level of service proposed by Nav Canada is subject to a rigorous safety assessment by Transport Canada officials. No compromise on safety will ever be tolerated at Transport Canada.

The Environment

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, President Biden held a climate day, signing a series of executive orders to take ambitious action on the climate crisis with a focus on jobs, equity and scientific integrity. His sweeping new orders included freezing new oil and gas leases on public lands, cutting fossil fuel subsidies and establishing a civilian climate corps to put people to work conserving and restoring the environment. In contrast, our Prime Minister looks more like a climate laggard. Announcing unambitious empty promises will not cut it.

When will the Liberals take action that meets the scale of the crisis?

[Peter Schiefke, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, climate change threatens our health, our way of life and our planet. That is why our government is taking significant action to address this crisis. My hon. colleague knows that full well. We are delivering on our promise to Canadians to bring forward a strengthened climate plan that includes creating thousands of jobs across the country, ensuring that we not only meet but exceed our Paris targets and lay the foundation for net zero emissions by 2050. We will continue to work with all Canadians on climate action and to ensure a more sustainable future for our children and grandchildren.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Parliamentary Budget Officer revealed the Liberals are underfunding their promise of planting two billion extra trees by nearly 50%. The PBO found that an additional $2.7 billion will be required, bringing the overall cost closer to $5.9 billion. By underfunding this initiative, the Liberals show that they are not serious about fighting climate change.

Will the government put its money where its mouth is, or was this just talk all along?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, we are committed to planting two billion trees. Let me quote from the PBO report, and I encourage my colleague to actually read it, wherein it says:

Parameters used for this estimate are based off data from Forests Ontario’s 50 Million Tree Program and may not accurately reflect program costs under the federal government’s 2 Billion Tree program.

We are partnering with the provinces and territories, indigenous groups and NGOs to make sure we get this right. We are committed to combatting climate change and planting two billion trees is a part of our ambitious plan.

COVID-19 Emergency Response

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, businesses across the country have been hit hard by the pandemic. Many have seen dramatic losses in profit.

Small business owners in Surrey Centre are wondering how their eligibility for the Canada emergency rent subsidy, Canada emergency wage subsidy and Canada emergency business account will be impacted in 2021, as some of them experienced decreased profits in 2020.

Can the minister update the House on how our government will address eligibility for these essential supports, as we continue to manage the negative impacts of the pandemic on businesses across Canada?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Surrey Centre for his continued advocacy for small businesses in his riding and across Canada. Our government knows that businesses are still struggling very much under the second wave of COVID-19. This is why we have made our program application deadlines carry through until 2021.

The emergency business account, which has provided support to more than 800,000 small and medium-sized businesses, is now open until March 31 of this year. The new rental subsidy program, which has now connected 94,000 businesses to support, is available until June of this year, and the Canada emergency wage subsidy, which has helped keep more than four and a half million workers on the payroll, will be available until June 2021.

Our government is going to continue to be there to support Canadians and Canadian businesses, as we have been since this pandemic—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is great to hear from the parliamentary secretary, but I have heard from the owners of numerous start-ups who started off in 2020, and they are continuing to be denied these business supports for COVID-19.

Markus, a constituent in Elgin—Middlesex—London, opened a new business called The Icebox. Markus contacted my office regarding the federal government, which did not revise criteria for small businesses despite the Province of Ontario making these necessary changes.

Will the finance minister commit to revising the eligibility criteria of COVID-19 supports for businesses, and stop disqualifying business owners who are trying to survive under these public restrictions?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her continued advocacy for small businesses.

From the very beginning of this pandemic, we have been listening to and working with businesses to make sure that there is a broad range of supports. I was very pleased, earlier this week, to announce an additional support, a lifeline support: the highly affected businesses program, otherwise called HASCAP. It is another way to help our businesses with loans from $25,000 to $1 million. Those businesses under one entity that have multiple locations can receive up to $6.25 million. This is another way that—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The minister is out of time.

We will go to the hon. member for Bow River.

Health

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after a year of lockdowns, my constituents do not have access to rapid tests in this riding. As for vaccines, who knows? Now, Europe is restricting exports of vaccines, so those are not available either. My constituents are reading stories of rapid tests and vaccines that have been developed in Calgary and Montreal, and they are angry.

When can my constituents expect rapid tests and vaccines to be available in the riding? They want to return to work and normal life, but when?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite may or may not know, the delivery of health care falls within the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories. Having said that, we have been supporting provinces and territories to have the tools they need. Almost 16.8 million rapid tests have been sent to provinces and territories to date: almost six million to Ontario, three million to Quebec, 1.5 million to Alberta and 1.5 million to B.C.

Furthermore, new guidance was released from the testing and screening strategy expert panel to help provinces deploy those rapid tests. I suggest he speak to his MLA.

Natural Resources

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to remain silent on Enbridge's Line 5. The other day he told the leader of the official opposition that he has always stood up for Canadian interests, but I am puzzled. He refuses to say Line 5 by name, and his minister is waiting to talk to the new energy secretary as soon as she is sworn in, whenever that is. Thousands of jobs are dependent on this pipeline on both sides of the border, and it is so crucial that we get this right. No urgency is being shown. The clock is ticking.

What is the government proactively doing, if anything, to save Line 5, or does it want to see this one ripped out of the ground, too?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. Our government supports the operation of Enbridge's Line 5. It has been in there since the 1950s and it is vital to the economy of Canada. It supplies Imperial, Shell and Suncor refineries in Sarnia, Ontario, Suncor's refinery in Montreal and Valero's refinery in Lévis, Quebec. It delivers 66% of the crude oil consumed in Quebec.

This is a vital pipeline. We believe in it. We support it. We are continuing to work alongside Ambassador Hillman and Consul General Comartin, and we will continue to advocate for Line 5.

Ethics

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, disgraced former finance minister Bill Morneau announced that his bid for secretary-general of the OECD was over. This happened while the saga continues with the student jobs/WE scandal cover-up: Liberals scheming with Liberals to ensure insiders get ahead while Canadians suffer. Liberals will claim that it is simply time to move on, but in reality their lack of transparency proves that they have something to hide.

Enough is enough. Will the Liberals reveal the cost of this endorsement boondoggle and commit to coming clean on the WE scandal?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, yes, Bill Morneau announced earlier this week that he had withdrawn his candidacy with respect to the OECD secretary-general position. We would like to thank Bill Morneau for throwing his hat into the ring. We feel that he would have been an excellent representative due to his public and private experience.

Having said that, we will, of course, continue to support whomever is in the position at this very important organization, the OECD.