Debates of Feb. 2nd, 2021

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020

[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, as I listened to the member talk about the environment, this came to mind. If she were to read the throne speech, she would find many substantial financial measures. That was back in September.

In November, we introduced Bill C-12, the Canadian net-zero emissions accountability act, which would hold the federal government to its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and exceed our 2030 Paris target. Net-zero is not just a plan for a healthier environment; it is a plan to build a cleaner more competitive economy.

I wonder if my colleague could provide her thoughts on those two statements. She tries to give the false impression that the government is not doing anything, but the reality seems quite different.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

He is correct in saying that there were some good things written in the throne speech, and just before Christmas there were some good things said about a plan to combat climate change. I will take all of this into consideration.

Let us have a fun talk about Trans Mountain again. In 2018, this pipeline was purchased for $4.4 billion. In 2019, that figure went up to $12.6 billion. On December 8, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said it might cost $18 billion. All of that is just for Trans Mountain. In my speech I spoke a little about the money earmarked for fossil fuels, drilling and so on. This amount eclipses the investments being made in renewable energies.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, one of the terms my colleague used was “responsible management” and I want to pick up on that. All opposition parties are trying to hold the government to account for that. Every time we bring up the fact that the deficit is at all-time highs and that it wants to raise the debt ceiling, the government comes back with “Well, don't you support us helping Canadians?” We do support the government helping Canadians, however, we are hoping that we are getting good value for that money. We are hoping we are getting a Rolls-Royce for that money not a K-car.

Would the hon. colleague have any comments on that?

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

Indeed, we would like a Rolls-Royce, and it would be even better if it were electric.

I spoke a lot about transparency in my speech. The Bloc Québécois suggested that a committee be created to study all of this. We could then see whether we are getting a Rolls-Royce or a little Volkswagen that pollutes because the manufacturers cheated.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member talked about the need to shift toward a post-carbon economy. I know Quebec is making significant investments in transit.

I will ask the the hon. member a question that I tried to ask another member of her party. Would she support direct investments from the federal government to municipalities in Quebec for sustainable, predictable, operational funding for infrastructure projects like public transit?

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my NDP colleague for his question.

I would like to remind him that the Government of Quebec is the one that should be getting the money and distributing it according to the needs of the municipalities. That is how it works. The Government of Canada has very little responsibility over infrastructure. We always say the same thing. The federal government's responsibility is to transfer the money to the Government of Quebec.

Interestingly enough, Quebec gets along very well with its municipalities when it comes to the federal gas tax fund. We do not need the federal government for that.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Madam Speaker, before I begin, I would like to thank my constituents for electing me 14 months ago and for sending me here to be a voice for them and to work on their concerns on their behalf.

Who could have predicted that we would be in the situation we are currently in? However, my office has been open the entire time during this pandemic to serve, work for and help constituents. I am not able to attend events, but I have looked at ways to connect with constituents, to hear from them and to respond on their behalf. I have been seeing a lot of successes and a lot of work. I want to thank my staff both in Ottawa and Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge.

Canadians have made a lot of sacrifices for health and safety reasons and to control COVID. I know many people who have had COVID, including in my extended family. An uncle passed last year from it. We all have stories during this time, which has been difficult.

This has also been a time when people in my community have come together to help each other, whether it is staff, volunteers, friends, or the food bank that has gone the extra mile, putting in the hours to ensure no one goes hungry. There are the many organizations, including the Seniors Network, which is a number of organizations that meet to look at ways to support thousands of seniors in Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge.

Quinn Callander is an innovative 12-year-old boy from Maple Ridge. He began making ear guards with his 3D printer at home for health care workers. He is an inspiration for all of us.

Then there are all the front-line health workers. Their efforts day in and day out for over a year now is very much appreciated and valued.

I also want to thank the teachers in the schools who are continuing to instruct classes. I was in the classroom myself prior to getting elected. Kudos, and I thank them so much for what they are doing.

Who could have imagined that our world, our nation and our communities would be turned upside down? We have had the closure of maybe hundreds of thousands of businesses across our country from coast to coast to coast. We have seen our hospitality and tourism sectors decimated. I will be presenting a petition this week on behalf of the tens of thousands travel agents who have been really impacted.

On a flight to Ottawa, I sat with a flight attendant who told me of the thousands who had been given layoff notices over the weekend.

We have to wear masks. We have to deal with the closure of places of worship, which is important for so many of my constituents and people across the country. There is also an inability to gather with those we care for, or for weddings or for funerals for those who have passed. It is not wrong to talk about this, but it is right to want to see an end to it. We understand the health concerns. People are doing their part, but we do want to see an end to it.

It has been frustrating and disturbing to watch the johnny-come-lately approach of the Liberal government. I get tired of hearing the same talking points of the Liberals day in and day out. If we ask a question about the vaccine, the answer we get is that they have secured more vaccine per capita than anyone else in the world. It is not how many we have secured for the future, it is how many people are being vaccinated today, this month, and we are behind. We need two million dosages per week to reach the Liberal goal of September for vaccinations. This week alone, we have fallen 1.3 million vaccinations short alone. There is no doubt that eventually we will get the vaccines and then the Liberals will call an election or maybe sooner.

We did not have to be in the situation we are in right now. We are in it because of Liberal incompetence.

While the Liberals are betting all our chips on a Chinese vaccine from last year with CanSino, our allies were signing deals with AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer, but Canada would not sign deals until months later. All Canadians are paying a price for this failure.

Let me read a message from Rocky. I received this about an hour ago as I was preparing some notes.

He said, “Good morning, Marc.

“Did I correctly hear that Canada did not even get their orders for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines until late? I would expect the manufacturer to fill orders based on the order in which they were purchased, as they came in, or else they could expect severe backlash if they were shown to be giving favourites on quantity. Did our country not know that, or did they expect special treatment because we are in Canada? That is downright juvenile and ignorant if they did.

“Second, why were all our vaccine eggs in one basket at the onset? I have more faith in Pfizer, which didn't send us any this week, than to get it done by CanSino. This is an unmitigated disaster, and I am so disappointed that while I've put our savings and house on the line for our business, the people we elected were unable to take off the political glasses long enough to see what was going on. This is infuriating.

“Then to blame it entirely on retooling—I was born at night, not last night.”

Our country is in collaboration with and working tightly with China, a country that is holding our two Michaels hostage, that has banned many of our exports, that is persecuting Uighurs and putting them in concentration camps, that is suppressing human rights in Hong Kong. What gives?

Recent news is that the Liberal-appointed Canadian ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, provided advice on sales of OxyContin to Canada and the United States. This is a very sensitive issue, especially in British Columbia, where I come from, and where thousands of people have died from overdoses. There were 500 overdoses in the community of Maple Ridge, which I represent, last year alone.

The Liberal COVID action has been pathetic. The health minister agreed to pay $237 million to Baylis Medical for 10,000 ventilators, even though the devices were not approved in any jurisdiction in the world. Baylis Medical is owned by Frank Baylis, a Liberal MP until the 2019 election. Why was there a fast track for Mr. Baylis' device, but no fast track for the rapid testing that every Canadian needs right now? We are finally getting the kits, but it was not fast and we have suffered from that. We are suffering the consequences today. Why is this former Liberal MP, with technology that has no track record of being approved and that has not been approved anywhere in the world, getting a special deal?

On top of that, he was able to pocket an extra $100 million by selling ventilators for twice as much as the competition. It is not right. What is going on? The Auditor General would like to know. In an unprecedented time with an unprecedented amount of money being spent, what is happening? We would like to know what is going on.

The Auditor General would like to know, but his office is being starved for funds. He is not able to do the reports. What happens when they start to dig into the finances? What do they start to see in the Liberal expenditures?

I know this next point is very old news. It is called the WE scandal, and I know it was last year. Half a million dollars was given for speaking fees for—

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

We have to take questions now.

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

[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, the Conservative spin we just listened to is a lot to take. Is the member serious? We had a national vaccine committee with health experts who relied on research. They did a fantastic job at protecting Canadians' interests. The reality is that we will have over six million doses by the end of March.

Where was this Conservative concern back in August and July when the Conservatives had thousands of questions regarding vaccines and other issues such as rapid tests? Hindsight is 20/20, and the Conservatives have dropped the ball when it comes to holding the government accountable. Our focus has been the coronavirus and minimizing the damage, and that is exactly what we continue to do by working with Canadians.

Would my friend provide his thoughts on the national vaccine council?

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Madam Speaker, hindsight is one thing, but how about some foresight? It was tremendously lacking. How about just some sight? We would like to see some sight into Liberal expenditures. The Parliamentary Budget Officer certainly would like to know what is going on with the many expenditures. The Auditor General would like to know what is going on. We would like to know what is going on. This has been hidden from the public and members of Parliament.

I mentioned the WE Charity. The Prime Minister prorogued Parliament so that we could not use committees to see what exactly was going on. There is a lot more going on than meets the eye.

What about SNC-Lavalin? That is older news, except it was just given a $150-million contract for COVID expenditures on equipment. What are the details with that? The company has been involved in improprieties.

[Louise Charbonneau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Madam Speaker, my colleague from Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge spoke about a number of topics that are very important during a pandemic.

What does he think about the economic recovery? Does he believe that the economic recovery is linked to the environment and the measures that the government will take with respect to its position on the environment in which we live?

I would like him to talk about the possible economic recovery.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her intervention.

We certainly do need an economic recovery. That is vital. She spoke about the environment, and I believe that the Liberal government has made some real mistakes. The government imposed a new carbon tax that will impact agricultural producers and farmers. The government is imposing much too heavy of a burden on them in these difficult times.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, for months we have been hearing from the government that it is going to be there for the transportation industry and the aerospace sector, and it keeps talking about delivering a plan. It has been saying this since the spring. We have not seen it roll out a plan to ensure, as part of COVID recovery and getting through the recovery, that it is going to help protect workers. Whether there will even be a wage subsidy is uncertain. There is no stipulation that those jobs are actually tied to the wage subsidy.

We have been hearing from the workers in that sector, and they have been looking for support. We met with Unifor last week, and Unifor is talking about 11,000 workers who are at risk right now. They need a national aerospace industrial strategy that creates high-quality jobs, a strong supply chain, a thriving commercial and defence sector and also promotes Canadian-made aircraft in Canada and abroad.

Does my colleague agree that the government has been dragging its feet, and that given the importance of this sector in his riding and in my riding, as we both have aerospace jobs at risk—

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

We have to give a few seconds to the hon. member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge to answer.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Madam Speaker, yes, the aerospace industry is so important in my region also. There are many employees who work in it and we need to do all we can, but it seems as though the opposite is actually happening.

On infrastructure spending, where is it? There is supposed to be $100 billion committed, but we do not see it.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak today on Bill C-14, the government's economic statement. As we all know, the economic statement was released late last year and is a substitute, in the government's mind, for not bringing forward a budget. We are now approaching two years since the last budget and Canadians do not know what the future holds with their dollars.

First, let me say that the economic statement by the current finance minister is an improvement over the one last summer, which was the economic snapshot or, as some called it, the “economic selfie” by the former minister of finance, Mr. Morneau. This is an improvement. What is also an improvement is the fact that the current finance minister has probably come a little closer to the chaos that is being created by the government for in the financial future of our country.

In the economic statement, the estimated deficit for this fiscal year, which is rapidly drawing to a conclusion, was somewhere in the range of close to $400 billion. I predict today that because of the bungling by the government, the delay in vaccines that is causing Canadians to be out of work for longer than anticipated, which is going to significantly affect the revenue picture of the government because Canadians are not paying taxes if they are not working and corporations are not paying taxes if they are not open, the fiscal deficit of the government, whenever the government gets around to bringing forward a budget in the House, will be much closer to half a trillion dollars.

Let us talk about what half a trillion dollars looks like. If we take all of the normal spending of government in a year, some $350 billion, the government is spending that plus another one and a half times that this fiscal year. How is that sustainable? I know the Prime Minister has said on a number of occasions that it is better that the government take on the debt than individuals on their credit cards. That is fair enough. Let me be clear on this, because I know that the Liberals will say that Conservatives do not care about helping Canadians in the pandemic when nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the question is, where is this money going? We have seen no ability by the government to be transparent with all of these dollars.

Let me go back to the Prime Minister's statement that somehow it is okay to run debt as a government versus individuals. Who does the Prime Minister think government is? It is 35 million Canadians who are going to be shouldering this debt as we move forward. It would be really helpful if the government would be more transparent and show members where this money is being spent, because that clearly has not happened until today.

I get a lot of emails, as I am sure most MPs do, from constituents asking me to ask the Prime Minister this or that. If I were to stand here and ask the Prime Minister all of the questions that my constituents have requested that I ask him in the last three months, we would be here all night. I am going to try to focus on three areas. One is vaccines, two is the Governor General and three, most important to my province, is jobs.

First of all, we have heard a lot about vaccines. I asked a question of the minister today, and in typical fashion of this government, there was no answer. I used the example of a picture of Rogers Centre in Toronto full of people, which it has not been for well over a year now. Rogers Centre holds 50,000 people and 50,000 people is what the provinces were vaccinating on a daily basis 10 days ago. However, everything stopped 10 days ago, which means that half a million Canadians have not been vaccinated in the last 10 days because the Liberal government bungled the vaccine purchase.

I get emails every day from Canadians in the U.S. who are getting vaccinated there. S. How does that make any sense at all? Canadians are going down to the U.S. and getting vaccinated, and Canadians here in long-term care homes and seniors are not getting the vaccine. Something is wrong. The government has to own this problem.

I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about something that my constituents keep asking me about, and that is how we could be in this situation where we have a Governor General who has effectively resigned for all of the right reasons and yet will be collecting, going forward, expenses and a pension after just three years in office. Canadians cannot accept that. The government needs to fix that problem, and fix it soon. Liberals will pay a price at the polls, whenever they have the courage to go there. Canadians are fighting a pandemic and they see this kind of entitlement going on and see a government that is not prepared. It is just saying that this is the way it is, and that this is what the legislation says. The government is in a position to change the legislation. If it does not, I will say here today that this will be an issue in the next election.

Finally, I want to talk a little about jobs and the effect this pandemic and, in many ways, the inappropriate programs introduced by the government have had on jobs in my province. There were a number of things that happened well before COVID that impacted my province directly as a result of government action.

I will start with one of the first things the Prime Minister did when he was elected. He cancelled the Northern Gateway project. Today that project would be creating thousands of jobs in Canada, not just in Alberta but across Canada. However the Prime Minister, who always talks about making decisions based on science and data, decided one day when he flying over northern British Columbia that this was going to be a campaign promise. It was a bad choice, because today that project would be wrapping up. People would have been employed for the last two or three years, and we would now be shipping a product that is in demand internationally. That is number one.

Then, of course, we had the so-called energy east project that was cancelled. I could go on with the kinds of bad decisions the government has made that have affected jobs in my province. However, we have a major issue in Alberta, and to a lesser degree, probably, in Saskatchewan and other parts of western Canada. I do not know where a 40-year geologist is going to find work in this transition to a new green economy.

This new green economy is not going to create the wealth that the energy industry has created for this country over the last two or three decades. I would just ask the Liberal government to think about that as part of its economic statement when it considers going hell bent for leather into making sure that it transitions out of oil and gas to a green economy. I know the government is not going to worry too much about it, because it has its farm team over there, which used to be called the NDP, to support it on all these initiatives. Neither of those two parties cares what happens to this country. It is a mess, and they are doing nothing to fix it.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is very disingenuous when a member says that parties in the House do not care about what happens in Canada.

Nonetheless, the member talked about the Prime Minister's comment about the government shouldering the debt. When the Prime Minister says the government will shoulder the debt, what the Prime Minister is saying is that we recognize that it is in society's interest to go through this together so that we shoulder that debt together.

I see the member laughing. It makes sense, because the Conservative motto is “Every person for themselves; you take on the debt you need to and I'll take on my debt, and we will see how everything comes out on the other side.” That is just not the reality of how the government wants to approach the situation.

Liberals believe that we need to get through this together to get to the other side, because we will be stronger later on when we come out on the other end.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, that proves that the member does not understand. I do not know if he is like the Prime Minister, who was a trust fund baby, as I do not know his background, but I know that the Prime Minister has never been responsible for signing a paycheque in his life. I know he has never been responsible for meeting payroll. If members believe that it is not Canadians who are shouldering the government debt, then I do not understand the rationale.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Speaker, my question is about the concerns that the member and many of us have expressed on the vaccine rollout. People here in northern Manitoba are very concerned about the lack of vaccines in our country, especially here where we know that we are extremely vulnerable. As a result of intense advocacy, many indigenous elders have received the vaccine, but we know that we need much more. Does my colleague agree the federal government must step up urgently to ensure that Canadians across our country are getting the vaccines they need?

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, I was watching the news last night and noticed a story about some vaccines in Thompson, Manitoba. I believe that is the hometown of the member who asked the question. It is reassuring that some vaccines are getting to these communities.

There is no question that in the last 10 days, while the government has failed to deliver vaccines to the provinces, half a million Canadians have not been vaccinated. There are ways to fix this problem. The government has no plan, which is not surprising considering who is leading it.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, I picked up on a couple of the comments made by my friend from Calgary Signal Hill about pipelines. I am very concerned as it has been repeated in the House many times that the Liberals, the NDP or the Greens do not care about the economy or workers in Alberta. I agree with the member for Kingston and the Islands that nothing could be further from the truth, but that there are in fact changes that transform economies. This is one that is coming whether the hon. member wants to hear about it or not. Global markets are moving away from fossil fuels; investors are moving toward renewables. I want to make the point that when energy east was cancelled, it was not cancelled because of government regulations; it was cancelled because of a decision by the company itself. Even what we now call the Canada Energy Regulator, which used to be the NEB, has said that we do not need additional pipeline capacity in this country.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, the other night when we had the emergency debate, I watched with pleasure as my colleague from Calgary Forest Lawn put this particular member in her place by chastising her for her comment when she said “Yahoo” to jobs in western Canada after President Biden cancelled Keystone XL. My colleague put it so well when he said that if the member really cared about western Canada and western jobs she would apologize for tweeting “Yahoo” when that pipeline was cancelled.

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

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to be here in the House to continue with this debate. I have been listening to the comments from all sides here, especially many of those of the members of our Conservative caucus on the concerns that we are seeing in western Canada.

I am going to attach on to some of the discussion after question period of my colleague from Calgary Midnapore. She was talking a lot about the transportation industry and the most recent closures and lockdowns when it comes to coming into Canada, the international travel ban and the impact that it is going to have on airlines. I wanted to take that one step further, because there are people who are booking these tickets, and I am sure many members across the chamber have had people from the travel and tourism sector contact their offices.

I want to read this letter into the Hansard, so that people can understand what is happening to businesses that are part of travel and tourism. This letter comes to us from Marion Rose. I have known Marion for a number of years. Twenty-five years ago she hired my best friend to be a travel agent there, and it is a very respectful company. She started off her letter by asking about my family. She then continued:

Elgin Travel & Cruises has been in business now for 32 years at the Elgin Centre and have been a huge contributor to our community. In March of this year we employed seven full time staff. As you are aware, once COVID hit, we were virtually out of business and, as no one is travelling or can travel with the present “avoid all essential travel” advisory and the 14 day quarantine in place.

Just to remind members she is talking about the impacts of that back in March of 2020. We are now 10 months later, and there still has not been any work for this recovery. Continuing with her letter, she says:

This however does not mean that we are not working, as clients are still being repatriated, cancellations for bookings throughout 2020 and now into 2021 are being processed and either rebooked for the second time or insurance claims filed. Our staff are still working 40 hours a week just to process the above. The Wage Subsidy to the end of August was a welcome assistance to allow us to keep our staff. However with the new reductions, and still at over 100% decrease in sales, we are flailing.

This letter was written to me back in November. This was from three months ago today, today being February 2, and the government still has not stepped up. We know that it has just put forward a new program and applications started on February 1, but I am talking about a business that in March 2020 was closed down. By the time this company is looked at and the government provides the supports, this company may not be there.

These are the types of challenges that Marion Rose from Elgin Travel has shared with me. She is working very closely as one of the independent travel agencies that are across Canada talking about this, and we have to understand the impact of this and the impact to these livelihoods.

In my case, I look at the demographics of the people who are working in that sector. We know that over 85% are women or members of the LGBTQ community. We have to look at the fact that we have talked about a she-recovery. I say there is no recovery, so I ask how this could be a she-recovery. This specific group has not been looked at.

Yes, the government is going to be looking with high priority at issues of travel and tourism, but my concern is that money has not come out of the door yet, and it is going to be a year. These workers have looked at some of the travel restrictions that we have coming into Canada and the impact that is going to have on them, and they are just asking for a break.

I have spoken to many other members of our community, and because I have such a short period of time, I wanted to talk about some of the things that have been changed with the rent subsidy. I understand that the rent subsidy has changed. and now small businesses are able to apply, but I do not know if the government has considered the following scenario.

What if someone who is a hair designer is working, but they do not have that lease agreement? They are being asked to pay $500 to $700 a month so that they can rent a chair, but that chair is not open to the public because no one can come to their facility. However, they still have to pay that rent.

As well, those who are making less than $30,000 and who may not have a CRA account, are still having to pay for a lease. The government is supposed to have a simple tax return, and so many of these small businesses with small incomes are still doing it on their personal tax returns and not through CRA. What we have done by doing this has closed them off as well.

I am so pleased to be able to speak here, and I hope the government will start getting it right, because we are going to continue to lose more businesses in this country.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member will have just a little over five minutes the next time this matter is before the House.

It being 5:30 p.m., the House will now proceed to the consideration of Private Members' Business, as listed on today's Order Paper.

The House resumed from November 4 consideration of the motion that Bill C-215, an act respecting Canada’s fulfillment of its greenhouse gas emissions reduction obligations, be read the second time and referred to a committee.