House of Commons Hansard #62 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was languages.
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Madam Speaker, today marks the start of an advertising campaign for dairy, poultry and egg processors.
Since 2015, these groups have been waiting for government compensation as a result of the free trade agreement with Europe and the TPP. The Liberals have had six years to honour their commitment. They have not done so despite their promises. The government must give our local processors the compensation that was promised.
What are they waiting for to take action?
Neil Ellis LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Madam Speaker, Canada's supply-managed dairy, poultry and egg farmers play a critical role in keeping our rural communities vibrant. In order to offer dairy farmers more certainty, our government announced that the remaining $1.4 billion of compensation would be delivered over a timeline of three years.
For Canada's 4,800 chicken, egg, broiler hatching egg and turkey farmers our government also announced $691 million for a 10-year program.
We will always be there to defend supply management. We will not make any further market access concessions.
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Madam Speaker, if I were a member of the Liberal government, I would be embarrassed to repeat the same thing week after week. I wonder if the Liberals even believe what they are saying. The new Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement was signed last year.
How long will it take to get this compensation, given that they are waiting on the two others? Our local processors are closing their doors and family businesses are being lost.
What is the government waiting for to take action?
Neil Ellis LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Madam Speaker, we promised to fully and fairly compensate the supply-managed sectors, and that is what we did. For the dairy sector to give an example, that represents $38,000 each year for the owner of a farm with 80 dairy cows. For chicken, egg, broiler hatching egg and turkey sectors, these programs will drive innovation and growth for farmers.
We will always be there to defend supply management and will not make any further market access concessions.
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Madam Speaker, earlier this week, the CRA suspended 100,000 taxpayer accounts after learning that their log in credentials were found on the dark web. Individuals were informed that in order to unlock their accounts they would have to contact the CRA. However, as many Canadians have found during this pandemic, it is very difficult to get a hold of the CRA.
This is a challenging problem for many people as they are depending on their pandemic benefits as well as filing their tax returns to the CRA. What is the minister going to do to ensure that Canadians are not harmed by CRA's actions?
Francesco Sorbara LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue
Madam Speaker, the protection of Canadians' personal information is a priority for the CRA. Individuals signed up for My Account alerts may receive a notification from the CRA indicating that their email address has been removed from their account. This step is taken proactively by the CRA as a security precaution. Let me be clear that there was no breach of CRA systems. Those affected by this measure can expect a letter by mail with instructions on how to unlock their accounts in the coming days.
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Madam Speaker, with respect, that is not good enough, as 100,000 Canadians have had their information put onto the dark web. Yes, it was not through the CRA but through others, however, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
The CRA has been breached twice now within the last year. What will the minister do to keep Canadians' information safe?
Francesco Sorbara LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue
Madam Speaker, as I stated a second ago, the CRA's top priority is to protect the privacy and data of all Canadians and all information contained within the CRA systems. There has been no breach to the CRA data of any personal information of Canadians. We will continue to work with all Canadians so they can access their accounts again in a safe and secure manner.
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Madam Speaker, on February 2, I asked the Minister of Health, in committee, why the government favoured China over Canada's vaccine production capacity. In response, she said that the decision was guided by the advice of the experts on the COVID-19 vaccine task force.
Yesterday, however, Roger Scott-Douglas, the secretary of this vaccine task force, told me that the task force had recommended the opposite.
I will ask my question again because it is still relevant, since Canada is the only G7 country that is not producing a COVID-19 vaccine.
Why did the government first favour China over production—
Steven MacKinnon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
Madam Speaker, what Canada favoured was securing vaccines as quickly as possible. That is why we acted quickly, guided by experts and scientists, to secure the best portfolio of vaccine candidates in the whole world.
Thanks to this strategy, we will be able to vaccinate 14.5 million Canadians by the end of June and all remaining Canadians by the end of September. This is very good news.
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Madam Speaker, I look forward to getting my 10 doses, but realistically, I will not get vaccinated for quite some time.
The United Kingdom took a different approach. At the beginning of the crisis, it strengthened its production capacity. It brought together a consortium of experts to work on developing a vaccine long before the end of June. They manufactured it locally and are currently conducting widespread vaccinations.
Canada ignored the advice of its own experts and chose instead to work with China. That approach failed.
Why did the government put all of its eggs in the foreign procurement basket? Why did it not set up a parallel program here?
Ali Ehsassi LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation
Madam Speaker, allow me to reassure the member that since the start of this pandemic, we have pursued a very aggressive strategy.
However, it is important that I point out to the member that he is incorrect about what the secretary of the vaccine task force said yesterday. This is what was stated:
I think that, Madam Chair, with great respect, CanSino was not at the heart of the Canadian strategy by any means. It was a much more balanced approach.
I think we should continue to be guided by what was said by the secretary.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Madam Speaker, we saw it again in The Globe and Mail on Monday. The government is finally ready to release a plan for the airline sector, but we have been disappointed before. We saw the same story in Reuters in December. Negotiations only started in November. Why should tens of thousands of airline workers who have had no jobs for the past year believe the government this time?
Omar Alghabra LiberalMinister of Transport
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for inviting me yesterday to the transport and infrastructure committee, where we spent quite a bit of time talking about the necessity and importance of supporting our aviation sector.
I want to reassure her and all the Canadians who are watching that we are committed to supporting a resilient and strong airline sector. We are in the midst of negotiations with the airline sector and we are hoping to move these negotiations along as quickly as possible.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Madam Speaker, the minister is correct. He did appear yesterday at committee. Unfortunately, he got his facts wrong again about purchasing tickets to sun destinations. The minister said that it takes multiple tickets for an American carrier to take a Canadian to a sun destination, when in fact it only takes a single ticket. When will the minister get his facts straight, and when will he fix this problem?
Omar Alghabra LiberalMinister of Transport
Madam Speaker, I will argue that she needs to get her facts straight. I said “multiple trips”.
Let me be very clear to all Canadians. We are asking all Canadians to suspend discretionary and vacation travel. In fact, as of next week, all Canadians who are returning to Canada from a non-essential trip will be asked first to conduct a test prior to boarding a flight. Then, once they arrive into one of the four major airports, they will be asked to spend up to three days at a government—
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Madam Speaker, for months opposition parties have questioned the government about small businesses that have fallen through the cracks of their support programs, especially new businesses, and the government has said, “Don't worry; these businesses can apply for funding under the regional relief and recovery fund.” However, that fund's criteria leave the same small businesses behind.
How many loans have actually been made to struggling small businesses, or is this fund another program failing to meet its objectives?
Rachel Bendayan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business
Madam Speaker, the member's question is a timely question. In fact, at the moment the Minister of Small Business is working with the Minister of Finance in order to address this very issue.
We have created numerous programs. We also ensured that the regional relief and recovery fund would be there for businesses that otherwise fell through the cracks. Obviously new businesses created during the pandemic are in a particular situation. Some of them are doing very well, having been created in order to respond to the pandemic, and some of them really need our help.
We are working on criteria in order to make sure the money spent by this government, taxpayer dollars, is being spent appropriately and that we are—
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
Madam Speaker, do you think it is right that Canadians have to wait for weeks or even months to get answers from the Canada Revenue Agency?
Tax season is here and many Canadians are feeling stressed and anxious. Over 400,000 letters were sent to Canadians by the CRA, which only recently hired 2,000 new employees to work in its call centres. As usual, the Prime Minister reacted too slowly.
When will these employees be fully trained and start working? Does the Prime Minister think this will be enough to deal with the major increase in the number of calls?
Francesco Sorbara LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue
Madam Speaker, the CRA is up for the job this year. We know this tax season is going to be like no other for Canadians, especially the nine million Canadians who applied for and accepted the CERB as a result of being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have hired, and we are in the process of hiring 2,000 more call centre agents. We have received over one million calls to the CRA in a given week, versus 70,000 to 80,000 in the year prior. We know Canadians need the assistance and we will be there to help them.
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Madam Speaker, many women have contacted my office complaining that the CRA and Service Canada penalize them when they flee abusive partners. One woman fled a 30-year relationship and got a peace bond against her spouse, only to be told she would have to wait 90 days before her benefits would be changed to single. However, if her partner went to jail, the change would be automatic.
Financial hardship is one of the main reasons women remain in abusive relationships. When will the government reduce this barrier by removing this pointless 90-day waiting period?
Maryam Monsef LiberalMinister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development
Madam Speaker, my colleague brings to this House a really important point. Nothing keeps women trapped like poverty. I appreciate his advocacy, and we will follow up.
