Debates of March 11th, 2021

Employment Insurance Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon.

What does he think of the proposal put forward by my colleague from Salaberry—Suroît to extend EI sickness benefits to 50 weeks on an ongoing basis beyond September 2021?

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Bloc Québécois for the question.

We are looking at such things in committee right now. I hope that the hon. member can join us during this study to talk about extending special benefits.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, it is always great to rise here in the House, virtually at this time, and represent the wonderful folks from my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge.

I want to acknowledge that I am joining virtually from the traditional territory of the Wyandot, Anishinabe and Haudenausanee peoples. I will be splitting my time with the learned member for Kingston and the Islands.

We all know that things are getting better, and as things continue to get better we can continue to support Canadians, including the many individuals still impacted by COVID-19 in my riding. The bill before us, Bill C-24, would make sure Canadians continue to get the support they need to weather the pandemic. The proposed amendments to the Employment Insurance Act, the Canada Recovery Benefits Act and the Customs Act would build on the work we have already done from day one. I would like to use my remarks today to focus on what we have done.

There is no denying the past year has been hard for many workers in Canada. Employment went from the highest on record in early 2020 to the lowest, and while unprecedented federal investments helped to recoup many of those jobs, new waves of the virus and ensuing public health measures, such as lockdowns, have resulted in further losses.

During this difficult year our programs have been there to support Canadian workers and their families. With the co-operation of all members in the House, we suspended interest on student loans and created the Canada emergency response benefit. Through the CERB we were able to deliver, within weeks of the first shutdown, support to more than eight million Canadian workers at a time of great difficulty and uncertainty. We swiftly followed the CERB with the Canada emergency student benefit, as we saw students struggling to secure summer jobs and training opportunities. We provided payments to seniors, families and persons with disabilities, as well as extra supports for charities.

In September we began a transition for most workers who still needed support from CERB to a simplified employment insurance program. For workers who were not eligible for EI benefits, the recovery benefits are there for them. This includes the Canada recovery benefit, the Canada recovery caregiving benefit and the Canada recovery sickness benefit.

As the legislation before us focuses on the EI program, I would like to use some of my time to speak about the changes we made to it last summer. We made changes through interim orders so that more Canadians could have the hours they need to qualify for EI benefits. Today, the EI program provides claimants with a one-time credit of 300 hours for regular benefits and 480 hours for special benefits. This enables workers to establish their EI claim with as few as 120 insurable hours across Canada. This latter measure was retroactive to March 15, 2020, for maternity and parental benefits, which meant that new parents who welcomed a baby or adopted a child and were looking to transition early from the CERB to EI maternity or parental benefits could retroactively apply for those benefits.

The second thing we did is set a minimum unemployment rate of 13.1% for all EI economic regions. EI regions with a higher rate than 13.1% kept the higher rate. This provided eligible workers with a minimum of 26 weeks of regular EI benefits.

The third measure we undertook with the EI program was freezing the EI premium rate for two years, which has helped both employees and employers, especially in small businesses.

It is time for some fresh thinking to figure out an EI system that reflects how Canadians work now and how we can better support them, not only today, but for the future. Now, our government is looking at engaging with key stakeholders on options for permanent changes to the system, but in the meantime we will still need to deliver for Canadians, and that is what Bill C-24 would do.

A second wave of the virus, more stringent public health measures and the emergence of new variants have all contributed to an ongoing climate of uncertainty. Bill C-24 is here to ensure continued support for Canadians from coast to coast to coast whose employment has been affected by COVID-19. If passed, it would provide Canadians with additional support during these difficult times. With the bill before us today, we would increase the number of weeks of EI benefits available to a maximum of 50 weeks for claims that are established between September 27, 2020, and September 25, 2021. In addition, self-employed workers who have opted in to the EI program to access special benefits would be able to do so with a 2020 earnings threshold of $5,000, compared to the previous threshold of $7,555. This change would be retroactive to claims established as of January 3, 2021, and would apply through September 25, 2021.

As part of this proposed legislation, all international travellers who need to quarantine or isolate upon their return to Canada, including people returning from vacation, would be ineligible to receive support from any of the Canada recovery benefits for the period of their mandatory quarantine or isolation. These changes would be retroactive to October 2, 2020.

In parallel to this legislation, as was announced on February 19, 2021, we also intend to make regulatory amendments to increase the number of weeks available under the Canada recovery benefit and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit to 38 weeks from 26 weeks. In the same way, we could also increase the maximum number of weeks under the Canada recovery sickness benefit from two weeks to four weeks.

To ensure employees in the federally regulated private sector can access the proposed additional weeks of CRCB and CRSB without the risk of losing their jobs, the maximum length of leave related to COVID-19 under the Canada Labour Code would also be extended through regulations.

In conclusion, the pandemic is not over. Vaccines are here and coming in greater numbers. There will be eight million by the end of March and tens of millions by the end of June. By the end of September, there will be enough vaccines for all Canadians.

We need to continue to be there for Canadian workers and their families at this most difficult time. The bill before us would allow us to do just that.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and the announcements he presented.

We appreciate that the government has made headway on the Bloc Québécois's request to make the measure retroactive to October 3. We appreciate the government's openness on this and many other aspects.

However, we still wonder why the Liberals are refusing to open their hearts and listen to sick people who contributed to employment insurance. EI is a system where employers and employees make contributions to ensure that when someone is going through tough times, such as during an illness, they can benefit from a specific amount of time where they are covered and do not have to suffer financially.

I would like to know whether the government is considering this request regarding the “Émilie Sansfaçon” law.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her questions pertaining to EI sickness benefits, which are not a part of Bill C-24. At this moment in time, the bill deals with the situation related to COVID-19 and how we can best continue to support Canadians through this pandemic, especially those in the really hard hit, high-contact sectors. We need to support families so they can pay rent and put food on the table for them and their families.

Let us continue this conversation. Obviously, we need to look at a plethora of issues related to the EI system and how we best support Canadians as we recover and come out of the pandemic.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like the member to clarify his comments that recent graduates were receiving a relief on interest payments on their student loans. From my understanding, that has not happened yet.

In addition to the government not following through with its support for my unanimous consent motion to call for a moratorium on loan repayments, and its failure to extend the Canadian student benefits, which was passed last summer, it has also not lived up to its own obligation to stop the interest on student loans that was announced in the fall update. Could the member clarify what he meant by saying that was in place?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the advocacy of my hon. colleague from Edmonton Strathcona for students across this country.

We introduced the Canada emergency student benefit during that time. That is what I was alluding to during my speech. Also, if the member looks back to the number of financial measures we introduced in our fall economic statement and prior budgets, the amount of support we have given to students across Canada regarding financial measures and increased research funding has literally been in the billions of dollars.

We have the backs of students, much like we have the backs of all Canadians, during this time and as we recover.

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are going to support Bill C-24 because it is important to help Canadians at this time.

I would like to know from the hon. member if he sees a need for permanent changes to improve the EI system and to create an independent fund that cannot be used as a slush fund by governments to pay down debt, to use against the deficit or other things, because this is an insurance program that workers and employers pay into. I would like to get his comments on whether he sees the need for those kinds of changes.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith for his question and interest in reforming and strengthening all social programs across our country, including the EI system. My belief is that all programs need to be continually reviewed to ensure their efficiency and efficacité, if I can use that word, so that they help Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start today by adding my voice to those who are observing it as the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization's declaring a global pandemic of COVID-19. It was a Wednesday last year. I can remember it vividly. The next day, Thursday morning, the world seemed to change. I remember being in the government lobby. It was probably the last time I was there when it was packed full of people. I had this sense when I was leaving to go home that I would not be coming back for a while. Indeed, things have changed dramatically since then. Of course, we have to consider and remember all those lives lost as a result of this pandemic since then, but nonetheless, we are encouraged by what lies ahead with our being able to vaccinate our population and get back to life as normal.

This bill seeks to temporarily address the measures that are within the Employment Insurance Act to continue to help support Canadians and to continue to help them so that they have those supports they need as we get through the remainder of this pandemic. I am extremely proud to be part of not just a government, but indeed, a Parliament, that has come together on a number of occasions, quite often with very little discussion in advance, in the House. I know a lot went on behind the scenes, but we passed unanimous consent motions quite often to put supports into the hands of Canadians when they needed them the most. The CERB program, which later morphed into the EI changes that we made, and which of course are continuing to change in this legislation, is just one of those.

These were extremely anxious times for Canadians, especially at the very beginning of the pandemic when they were told to stay home and the programs had not yet been set up. To know that Parliamentarians came together to have Canadians' backs through it all and to give them the supports they needed really speaks a lot to the way we are able to come together when Canadians really needed it.

I realize that my time is extremely limited today, but I do want to add my support for this bill and for work that has to be done from this point forward to make sure that Canadians do get that support so they can see themselves through this pandemic and we can be more resilient and stronger when we come out of it on the other end.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, people are asking me over and over again when the government will come up with a budget, because it seems that we are being very reactive here, and people would like to see a plan moving forward to come out of this pandemic.

Would the hon. member enlighten us and let us know when that is going to happen?

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not have the details any more than he does about when the budget will be released, but we do know that the government indicated last week that it was going to delay the budget slightly to get a full assessment and a full picture of what the economic circumstances are so that it can make sure that it invests in the right areas and puts money into the right sectors.

It is interesting that the question comes up in the context of much of the discussion and criticism from the other side of the House about our not getting things right the first time. We now have a government saying that if we have to delay this for a few weeks, let us do that so we can get the right information and put the right plan together and present it to Canadians after having given it as much thought as possible.

[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, I want to pick up on the idea that we are often hearing that the government needs to have a plan. I would like the member's thoughts on how the Government of Canada, particularly the Prime Minister, has been focused on the pandemic right from the beginning. We have developed programs as a part of a plan, including things such as the CERB program that has helped over nine million Canadians, the Canada emergency wage subsidy program that has saved millions of jobs, the emergency rent subsidy, the emergency business account, the credit availability program and the regional relief programs. We have also been helping support charities and non-profits across the country, and supporting people with disabilities and our seniors, and giving students relief.

Why was it so important that we, as a government, be there for Canadians during this time?

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

Mr. Speaker, it was incredible to see programs set up in a remarkably short amount of time and implemented so quickly. We went from March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, to having money in the bank accounts of 5.4 million Canadians in about five weeks. That is absolutely remarkable by any measure. That was not just the government, but Parliament, because Parliament was there for Canadians then to make sure that this stuff passed and went very expeditiously and very quickly.

I will say, though, that I do find the following interesting. If we were to look back, hindsight being 20/20, it would be my bet that every member of the House would say that CERB was a really good idea. Let us not forget that at the time, the member for Carleton said, “No, we don't believe in these big government programs. We are Conservatives. We don't believe that.” He said that back then.

It takes foresight to make good plans and this government had the foresight to put the plans in place. That is why we are able to give the supports that we did.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, that must be why our side has had to correct so many of those plans as they have been coming out.

In response to the question by my colleague from Oshawa that we need a budget to have a solid plan, the government is still saying that it will be another couple of weeks as it needs to make sure it gets it right. There have been so many plans that were not right and today we are marking the one-year anniversary of the COVID situation.

How many more weeks, months or years is it going to take before we can have that budget and a solid plan?

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

Mr. Speaker, with all respect to my colleague across the way, he approved those plans. Parliament voted on that stuff and members approved it. Their job is to be accountable and have oversight. I trust that they did it to the best of their ability, but they missed it too. That is why we are back here working on this now. That is why we are going to get it right and deliver supports that Canadians need.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Is the House ready for the question?

The question is on the motion.

If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes to request a recorded division or that the motion be adopted on division, or carried, for that matter, I invite them to rise and indicate so to the Chair.

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

Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow the motion to carry.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House?

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

COVID-19 Emergency Response

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last March our government issued a nationwide call to action to companies across Canada to help fight COVID-19. Over 6,500 businesses and manufacturers stepped up and answered that call. They retooled their facilities and increased production capacity, collected and donated existing supplies and equipment and combined resources to manufacture needed supplies more quickly.

To celebrate these tremendous efforts, next week we will be celebrating our first-ever “made in Canada” week to say thanks to those who joined the fight against COVID-19. A number of these businesses, I am very proud to say, are based right here in Milton, companies like Keter, an international plastic product maker that began producing reusable face shields that were donated to long-term care facilities, hospitals and fire stations across the province; or Conovey, a major conveyor manufacturer and supplier based right here in Milton that jointly developed a specialized portable UVC sterilizing system that contains a built-in conveyor to sterilize N95 masks, phones, trays and numerous other products.

These are just some of the examples of the incredible efforts made by businesses right across the country that have helped us throughout this pandemic, and to them, I simply say thanks.

Lithuania

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as Chair of the Canada-Nordic-Baltic Parliamentary Friendship Group in recognition of Lithuania's Day of Restoration of Independence.

On March 11, 1990, at 10:44 p.m., Lithuania threw down the manacles of communist oppression and declared its independence from the Soviet Union. Moments later, parliamentarians stood in the Seimas and sang their national anthem for the first time after five decades of occupation.

The Soviets responded harshly against the declaration and issued an ultimatum: Renounce independence or face the consequences. Lithuanians stood resolute and rejected Soviet demands, resulting in swift, retaliatory measures, including economic sanctions and a large-scale military invasion. Lithuania continued to resist and ultimately the Soviet Union recognized Lithuania's independence.

This year, 2021, marks the 31st anniversary of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, which has served as a model and inspiration of freedom for other Soviet republics.

I am proud that Canada stood with Lithuania, never recognizing the Soviets' forceful occupation.

Infrastructure

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Saint John—Rothesay has needed an infrastructure overhaul for over a decade. Under the previous government, essential infrastructure was allowed to fall into disrepair. Under our government's watch, federal investments in infrastructure for Saint John—Rothesay have doubled, but strategic investments in our waterfront such as the recently announced Fundy Quay require other essential infrastructure to support them.

That is why yesterday I was proud to announce a federal investment of $15.5 million for the long overdue repair of our essential water-based infrastructure. With these smart investments, we have laid the groundwork not just for recovery but also for major economic development. I am now focused on recovery and growth, where Saint John—Rothesay will emerge ready to thrive post-pandemic.

Federal investments in the Fundy Quay, Port Saint John, our sea wall and Fort La Tour have already started to transform the Saint John waterfront, making our city a major attraction for developers, shipping commerce and visitors for generations to come.

Danielle Charbonneau

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

Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 has been devastating our communities for a year now.

For me, it has been all too real because I lost my sister, Danielle Charbonneau. I will always remember how she shared her worries with me over the phone. Neighbouring residents were going away, never to return, but in spite of it all, she remained optimistic.

However, after a fall, she was transferred to a nearby hospital and diagnosed with COVID-19. One week later, she was gone. She never got to see her family again. Thanks to a devoted nurse, who held the phone up to my sister's ear so I could comfort her, I was with her during her last moments.

My story is just one of thousands.

May we never forget them.

Rhéal Cormier

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe and the entire province of New Brunswick, I rise today to pay tribute to Rhéal Cormier, the first Acadian to have played baseball in the major leagues, who passed away this week at the age of 53.

From the moment he made his major league debut in 1991, which happened to be on National Acadian Day, he captivated Acadian people everywhere with his adventures on the world stage.

The pride of Saint-André-LeBlanc in New Brunswick, Rhéal was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and yet was always very humble about his achievements and his roots.

Through his perseverance and determination, he set an example for his community and inspired many people to always aim higher and pursue their grandest dreams.

I offer my sincere condolences to his family, loved ones and friends.

Clarence Palsky

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there are some people whose joyful energy announces their presence in a room before they say a word, and Clarence Palsky had that ability in spades.

Clare, as his family knew him, had an abundance of faith that soaked his character so fully that when one was in his presence, one could not help but feel peace in both his joy and his conviction. The loss of his life last week has been felt by thousands of people whose lives he touched for the better through his mission work, his generosity and his compassion.

His legacy lies not only in the positive impact of his life's work but in how he successfully imparted the very best of his character and his faith to each member of his family. In this I stand with profound gratitude for Clare and for his grandson, Sean; for the work Sean, his wife and parents have done to fight alongside me for our country; and for the brother that Sean has been to me for over 15 years.

To Sean, Brenda, and Debbie, we mourn with them the loss of their Clare. We also rejoice in the promise of his eternal life.

Rest easy, Grandpa Palsky.