Debates of Dec. 13th, 2021

Fisheries and Oceans

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the government needs some time management, because the Liberals are working and studying things and achieving nothing. Gary from Comox received a clawback letter from DFO for his COVID fish harvester benefits. He appealed, and of course in October DFO said, “Whoops, we were wrong. You deserve them.” Four weeks later, DFO wrote a letter back to him, asking for the $6,000 back. DFO and this minister seem confused by their own rules. Gary fulfilled all the requirements.

Will the minister show who is in charge and let Gary and all fish harvesters keep their benefits, yes or no?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the work our government did on so many benefits, putting them quickly in place and getting them out the door to people who needed them so desperately. From the outset, the terms were clear for the fish harvesters' benefit. The benefit was specifically for self-employed commercial fish harvesters. Those who were not self-employed will have been asked to repay the benefit.

COVID-19 Economic Measures

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, although we are seeing some encouraging signs of economic recovery, it is also clear that not all regions of the country nor all sectors are recovering at the same pace. That is especially true for the tourism sector.

I can see it in my region which, to my impartial eye, is the most beautiful in Canada. My region usually welcomes thousands upon thousands of tourists every year and has a vigorous tourism sector, but it has been affected by the pandemic.

I would like to ask the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance how Bill C-2 supports the tourism sector.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis‑Hébert for his excellent question. Bill C‑2 offers some excellent solutions to what business owners in the tourism sector are calling for, which is support for operators of hotels, motels, chalets, bed and breakfasts, youth hostels, restaurants, food trucks, catering companies, cafes, concert halls, museums, gardens and botanical gardens.

We must support Bill C‑2 and we encourage all members to do so.

Regional Economic Development

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the past two years, every core program delivered by FedNor has failed to meet its service standards for the timelines of funding applications. FedNor is relied upon by municipalities, small businesses and first nations across northern Ontario, and they need clarity on the status of their application timelines.

Can the minister responsible please inform the House of what specific measures she is taking to fix this issue?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is an extremely important question. We will take it back and get back to the member.

Transport

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Walpole Island First Nation ferry in my riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex is a critical connection between the island and Algonac, Michigan. The ferry plays a significant role in the daily life of this community, and it is essential to the local economy. The ferry has been shut down since the beginning of the pandemic. The land borders have been reopened, but the ferry still cannot run. It is shameful to see this Liberal government allow a critical part of this first nations community to be falling through the cracks.

My question is simple. When will the minister treat the Walpole Island ferry like the land border crossings?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to stand in the House of Commons to answer questions.

I want to let my colleagues know that the health and safety of Canadians is paramount for our government. We have been working with communities on making sure that we apply health and safety standards at the borders. We are requiring travellers to be fully vaccinated. We are working with stakeholders to make sure that—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Members can let me know when they are ready and I will continue the session.

Order.

The hon. Minister of Transport.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish Canadians could hear some of the heckles that are going on here in the House of Commons. They would not be happy that members of Parliament here who are supposed to be doing their jobs are spending their time heckling.

However, I want to tell my colleagues that we are doing everything we can to ensure that we protect the health and safety of Canadians, and we are applying border measures to protect everyone.

Health

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the ArriveCAN app is just not working. I have a constituent who is a family doctor and cannot return to work. He was out of the country and isolated, as appropriate, and has had multiple negative tests. The government's app is telling him that he needs to stay home for 14 more days. This busy family physician, like many other Canadians, is being held hostage by an app that does not work.

Canadians need to be able to trust the advice of elected officials. Will this government commit to fixing the broken ArriveCAN app and get Canadians home for the holidays?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, I think the member will agree with me that it is true he is not in a hostage situation.

Our government is taking, and will always take, the necessary steps to protect our borders and to keep Canadians safe. ArriveCAN, for the past year, has played a significant role in reducing the introduction and transmission of COVID, and its use is mandatory. In the last few days, the minister has asked for direction for some flexibility rules, and those will be applied. Again, the health and safety of Canadians is our number one priority.

Indigenous Affairs

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government is fully committed to reconciliation with indigenous peoples. Canadians surely appreciate that our efforts should start at home, and that the government must lead in ensuring that our indigenous peoples are represented in every sector of economic life.

Our government set a 5% target for indigenous business representation in federal procurement contracts. Can the hon. Minister of Public Services and Procurement provide members of the House with an update on this critical government commitment?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, our government is advancing a renewed relationship with indigenous peoples, which includes creating an environment that truly supports economic growth.

We are developing initiatives to increase opportunities for indigenous businesses to succeed and grow. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, PSPC has awarded 38 contracts to 30 self-identified indigenous businesses, collectively worth over $126 million. As minister, I am committed to increasing opportunities for indigenous businesses from coast to coast to coast.

Health

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

Mr. Speaker, despite years of work by my community and years of promises from the Liberal government, gay men and trans women are still banned from donating blood in Canada. This unscientific ban serves only to promote homophobia and transphobia, and only contributes to blood shortages. Canadian Blood Services has now said it will finally be submitting a recommendation to the Minister of Health this week to lift the ban.

Will the minister commit today to act quickly when he gets this recommendation, and to order lifting the ban immediately?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for raising this issue.

I can tell him that we are waiting with great hope for the submission from Canadian Blood Services, as well as from Héma-Québec. I can assure him that when this comes, we will work quickly on it.

Tourism

[Kevin Vuong, Independent, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance.

My community of Spadina—Fort York is home to some of the most renowned tourist attractions, from the CN Tower, to Toronto Island, to the Distillery District and its Christmas market. Spadina—Fort York is also home to West Queen West, which Vogue magazine named the world's second-coolest neighbourhood.

These attractions bring in millions of tourism dollars annually, and many of our small businesses rely on that traffic. Sadly, however, some have been forced to close due to the pandemic. Would the minister update the House on what the government is doing to support small business and the recovery of tourism?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let me outline just a few of the supports that the government has put in place for entrepreneurs and people in the tourism sector: $100 million to help Destination Canada market us around the world and in our own country, $200 million to support festivals and events, $200 million to support small festivals and large festivals, $500 million for the tourism relief fund and $1 billion in 2021.

If the other side of the House would like to deliver a Christmas present to the tourism sector, they could vote for Bill C-2 and see $7.4 billion put into our economy.

Oral Questions

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two points of order that I can do at the same time.

I sincerely thank and congratulate everyone who works on facilitating the debates here and ensuring that the message gets across. Unfortunately, we are experiencing problems with the interpretation on a regular basis, almost every day.

I know that this is no one's fault, but it is a nuisance for francophones in particular, since there are more often issues with the French interpretation. It is difficult for francophones to follow the debate if they are unfortunately not able to hear the interpretation.

I urge you and the technical team, which has done an amazing job, especially over the past two years with COVID‑19 restrictions, to address this specific issue. It has been going on for far too long.

As for my second point of order, earlier, the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon asked a question and the Minister of Public Safety responded.

We all need to recognize that a minister speaks on behalf of the government. However, in this specific case, we were talking about agriculture, we were talking about farmers and we were talking about 2,000 farming families that were directly involved in this issue. The Minister of Agriculture was ready to answer. We hope that the next time we address this specific issue the actual Minister of Agriculture will address it and will answer clearly our member who is concerned with the issue in British Columbia.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

With respect to the first point, I am well aware of this. The table officers are working very hard on the interpretation and will continue their efforts to ensure that everyone has access to simultaneous interpretation. We take this situation very seriously, and the hon. member is absolutely right, we are working hard.

With respect to the second point, I am not clear whether it was a comment or a point of order. It is up to the government, not the Chair, to determine who answers the questions. I cannot make that decision for the government.

The hon. member for North Island—Powell River.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, before I ask for unanimous consent to move my motion, I hope you will remind members of the House that we no longer follow colonial practices and that indigenous communities certainly do not belong to Canada.

I believe that if you seek it, Mr. Speaker, I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That, given that the cost of the pandemic recovery should not fall on the shoulders of Canada's poor and vulnerable, that the payment of pandemic benefits, including the Canada emergency response benefit and the Canada recovery benefit, occurred in extraordinary circumstances, the House call on the government to: (a) ensure that pandemic benefits will not be counted as income to determine eligibility for normal income support programs like the guaranteed income supplement and the Canada child benefit; (b) guarantee that the onus to deliver any solution to reverse the clawback of income-tested benefits for those who accessed income support benefits falls to government and will not be dependent on Canadians in financial distress navigating an application, and (c) recover payments under the Canada emergency wage subsidy made to companies that posted substantial profits, especially those that paid dividends to shareholders or bonuses to executives.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin on a point of order.