Debates of Feb. 16th, 2021

Ethics

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Madam Speaker, since day one, the Liberal government has made it abundantly clear it will always put its friends before everyday Canadians. If someone wants to get their hands on a lucrative fishing contract, they had better be related to the fisheries minister. If someone gets in trouble, commits fraud or tries to bribe their way into a government contract, they can just make a few calls to their friends in the PMO, which will do its best to try to take care of it for them. If someone needs a bailout for their charity that is in shambles, the PMO can help with that, too, but first they are going to make sure there is a cozy arrangement whereby members of the Prime Minister's family are handsomely paid by that organization to get that help.

When the Liberals dropped the ball on personal protective equipment procurement, it was Liberal insiders who had the inside track. They had a direct line to ministers, and it was theirs as long as they were friends of those ministers and those in the inner circle of the Prime Minister's Office. Instead of getting the vaccine rollout squared away, the Liberals were more concerned with making sure that their friends had an easy payday. Instead of having a government that puts the elite and its friends before everyday Canadians, we know that Canadians deserve a government that will put them first, that will secure their future and that deals in hope.

My question for the parliamentary secretary is this. When will the current government put everyday Canadians first?

First, however, it is important that we have some background and context. This is the same government that when issues came up and with WE Charity and we found out about them, the first thing we heard from the Prime Minister's Office was that no members of the Prime Minister's family had ever been paid by the WE organization. We heard the same thing from the WE organization. Then, suddenly, we learned that nearly half a million dollars had been paid by that organization to members of the Prime Minister's family.

When that organization found itself in dire financial straits in the spring of 2020, it put the picture of the Prime Minister's wife and his mother into some documents and heavily lobbied some friends, like the former finance minister Bill Morneau and other members of cabinet. Those documents were sent to cabinet for consideration of a program that would see the WE organization benefit by over $40 million for administering a half-billion dollars.

How is who these people know relevant to their competence in being able to administer this massive program? In any other government, who someone knows is not the most important criterion, but what they are able to deliver for Canadians. However, with these Liberals, it is not what they know or what they can do, but who they know in the PMO.

When will the Liberals start putting everyday Canadians first?

[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]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question. I always enjoy having the late shows with my colleague from across the way. It would be nice if one of these days we had unlimited time so that we could do a comparison between today's administration and other administrations, possibly the Harper administration. What a debate that would be.

Suffice it to say that the underlying question the member is asking is when we are going to serve Canadians first. I want to make a bit of a contrast.

Since 2015, the Prime Minister has made it very clear that, from day one, we have been putting Canadians first. We have put in a phenomenal effort to make Canada's middle class our first priority and we have demonstrated that. Let us do a comparison.

When we say we are going to reduce taxes for Canada's middle class, where are the Conservatives? They are looking under rocks for corruption. We have talked about increasing taxes on Canada's wealthiest 1% and where are the Conservatives? They are looking under more rocks for more corruption. When we say we are going to increase the Canada child benefit program, they are still looking for more corruption.

Whether it was back in 2015, last year during the pandemic or even today, we continue to work for Canadians every day, seven days a week. We are working with civil servants, other levels of government and other stakeholders to ensure that we get things right and work to put Canadians first. The Conservatives are preoccupied with looking for scandals and corruption. If they get a whiff of anything, they start waving and jumping on the pedestal telling us what they have found. Do members believe that Conservative companies have not received contracts? I do not. Do members believe that Conservatives have not been appointed at all? I do not.

The member needs to realize that it is the Conservative Party, the official opposition, that is preoccupied with trying to look for nothing more than corruption and ways to make the Prime Minister look bad. The Conservatives were doing that before he was even the Prime Minister, when we were sitting in the third party inside the House of Commons. If members read their S.O. 31s, they were all personal attacks against the leader, the Prime Minister. Nothing has changed.

We have been putting Canadians first from day one. When the pandemic came we made sure Canadians knew that we as a government would have their backs. We developed programs from ground zero to be there in a real and tangible way for the unemployed who did not have income so they would have a disposable income. We were there for small businesses, the backbone of our economy, by providing the wage subsidy, emergency rent subsidy, the credit availability program and so much more, because we understand how important it is to remain focused no matter what the preoccupation of the Conservative opposition happens to be, which is usually scouring for rocks to look under. To a certain degree, if the Conservatives get a whiff of anything, the first thing they do is send it to the Ethics Commissioner and try to make the media and Conservative spin as big as they can.

I would love to have a more appropriate debate with my colleague from across the way so we could give some real, solid—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Madam Speaker, while the parliamentary secretary harkens back to a time when the Liberals were the third-place party, we can look forward to that again in the future.

He mentioned that the Conservatives have talked about the Prime Minister's record. We do not need to help him look bad; he does that all on his own.

I want to cite a few reports that have been tabled in the House. The first is “The Trudeau Report”. The second is the “Trudeau II Report”. These are documents from our non-partisan independent Ethics Commissioner, who found that the Prime Minister broke the laws of this place. That is what is important to note. Right now, the WE Charity scandal is under review by the Ethics Commissioner and we will see the third report very soon.

We need the government to put Canadians first. It has seen over this past year that when it is doing the right things for Canadians, we are in lockstep with those efforts.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite tries to amplify the fact that we have the Ethics Commissioner, an independent body, in which I have far more confidence than I do the Conservative Party, and for good reason, and I have provided comment on that extensively in the House.

However, people need to realize that it was actually Stephen Harper, the former prime minister, who brought in that office, and I suspect that if we were to apply the same rules that we have today to the years of Brian Mulroney or other administrations, we would not have a problem holding up the behaviour of this government, the Prime Minister and ministers, and to a certain extent all members of the House, as I believe that over time we see a higher sense of accountability. When we talk about this particular Prime Minister, the member made reference to the third party; yes, go back to the third party, because when the Prime Minister was the leader of the third party, we brought in proactive disclosure.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We have to move on.

The hon. member for Calgary Midnapore.

Airline Industry

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, last month I asked the incoming Minister of Transport why the Canadian aviation sector had already lost significant market share as a result of this government's incompetence and inaction while foreign carriers had received billions of dollars in sector-specific aid, and when the Prime Minister would put Canadian jobs first and deliver a plan for the airline sector.

Well, there has been lots of positive talk from this government. On March 10, 2020, shortly after the pandemic hit, the Minister of Economic Development said:

What we're looking at is how we can mitigate the impacts while making sure that we can have, still, a strong summer season and also that we can really bounce back.

Shortly after that, on March 19, 2020, the former finance minister, Mr. Bill Morneau, said, “Well, we are working hard with the airline sector. We're not taking anything off the table. We're going to see some businesses in extreme pressure and we're going to have to listen to them and we're going to have to work fast.”

It did not end there. On May 4, 2020, the Prime Minister hinted that support was coming for the airline industry, although he did not say how much money would be sent and when. He said, “We need to continue to have a strong airline sector, once this is all done. We are looking very carefully at how to support industries like that, that are so important to Canada and to Canadians.”

Finally, on May 16, 2020, the Prime Minister said that the federal government was committed to help for airlines after Air Canada announced plans to slash its workforce by at least half, but it was unclear what that support might look like.

We know from the timelines the things that happened. On March 21, Porter Airlines suspended its operations. We have yet to see it come back. Who is getting that business? Why, it is going to American airlines. On March 23, 2020, Sunwing Airlines suspended its operations for eight months. For the benefit of whom? It was American and European airlines. On April 18, Air Transat suspended flights for three months, and who was to benefit from that? Once again, it was foreign airlines.

Again, we hoped that the government would take an interest and support the airline sector, and again we were met with just words and not actions. The intergovernmental affairs minister said that:

I know my colleagues, [the transport minister and the finance minister], are looking at a whole series of options of what government support might look like for the sector. So we haven't made any decisions in that level of detail yet, but they're very much discussing that.

On November 3, the member for Central Nova said:

I know the government has been working with the aviation sector to continue to figure out specifically how we can support the long-term survival of air travel in Canada, because the full picture of this pandemic will not reveal itself until long after the public health emergency has ended. We plan to be there to ensure the air sector has the support it needs.

Certainly we have seen support in other nations. In Australia, the airline sector received $1 billion. Brazil gave $660 million U.S. France gave $22.7 billion Canadian. Germany gave six billion euros. In Italy, the European Commission approved 200 million euros for its airline sector. Our friends to the south gave a total of $88 billion. However, there is still nothing from this government. When will this government have a plan for the airline sector?

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

Madam Speaker, a strong and competitive air transport industry is vital for Canada's economy and the well-being of Canadians. The Government of Canada understands the increasingly difficult financial situation that all members of the air transport industry are facing and that due to the interdependent nature of the air sector what affects one participant affects them all.

With passenger volumes down more than 90% from pre-pandemic levels and travel restrictions in place to protect Canadians, the impact on the air sector has been particularly severe and its recovery is expected to take relatively longer than other parts of the economy.

Airlines are important partners in our effort to manage the pandemic. In that context, I would like to particularly acknowledge the government's appreciation of the recent decision of the airlines to suspend services to sun destinations.

We have implemented several broad-based measures, some of which have directly benefited the air sector. For example, the air transportation sector has benefited from the Canadian emergency wage subsidy. Also, support for Sunwing through the large employer emergency financing facility was recently announced.

In March 2020, the government announced that it was waiving the rent payments for airport authorities owed to the government for the duration of the year. We have also announced over $190 million in funding to support air services to remote communities.

The 2020 fall economic statement included further specific airport sector supports. This includes more rent relief for airport authorities, temporary enhancement of the airports capital assistance program, new critical infrastructure funding for larger airports, targeted funding to assist airport operators and funding to support regional air transportation.

These new measures amount to over $1 billion in support. Government officials are well-advanced in their work to deliver them and continue to engage with industry members.

The fall economic statement also reaffirmed the government's engagement with major airlines regarding financial assistance. This work is ongoing. We have been clear that any support to air carriers will be dependent on securing real outcomes for Canadians, including the provisions of refunds in place of vouchers, maintaining regional connectivity and remaining good customers of the Canadian aerospace industry.

The government is working with airlines expeditiously. It is fully expected that this process will come to a successful conclusion in the near term.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, it was the parliamentary secretary himself who said, on October 5, 2020, “We are going to work with our airlines...We are going to work across the board to find solutions.” Yet, none have arrived.

The new transport minister indicated on January 25, “We are very much supportive of our airline industry and sector. Discussions are ongoing with the airline sector to prepare a support package.”

On February 2, the new transport minister said, “Mr. Speaker, the jobs in the airline sector are incredibly important for our country's safety and the economy. We are currently working with the airline sector on providing a support package for it.”

The parliamentary secretary also mentioned the travel restrictions. Who benefits from that? It is American carriers that can still travel to sun destinations. Let us hope yesterday's news in The Globe and Mail is correct, that a plan is coming, because right now Canadian workers are losing and the Canadian economy is losing.

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Madam Speaker, we have warned as a government, and the medical advice is, not to travel for non-essential reasons, especially to sun destinations.

Our government understands the significant impacts of COVID-19 on the air sector. As I have said, we are committed to addressing these challenges in a manner that respects the taxpayers and supports reasonable air transport services at a reasonable cost for Canadians.

The government is working to ensure that Canadians have reliable and affordable air services to support equity, jobs and economic development as we recognize that connectivity is important to Canadians. That is why the Government of Canada has focused its earliest efforts on supporting access to remote communities.

We will continue to engage with key players to respond to the pandemic, while protecting public health, facilitating the essential movement of people and goods and preparing for a safe restart of the economy.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:12 p.m.)