Debates of April 14th, 2021

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020

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

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Northumberland—Peterborough South.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege today to rise virtually in the House of Commons to speak to Bill C-14, which enacts certain fiscal components of the fall fiscal update.

I want to begin by speaking about some of the advantages of the bill. Steps like raising the Canada child benefit are essential to maintaining gender equality during this pandemic. When lockdowns happened, it has been very difficult for women to find child care for their children. It is clear that the pandemic has disproportionately affected women.

There is no doubt the relief for student loans will help students. As our students graduate and struggle to find jobs, it is clear that they, too, have been deeply affected by the pandemic and by the high employment rates that have come with it.

We have also continued to call for changes to the rent subsidy program, some of which has been included in Bill C-14.

While the legislation does make some important changes, in many ways it also misses the mark. While a certain amount of spending and investment can be expected, and actually encouraged during these times, Bill C-14 would give the government unfettered power to put Canada in a precarious situation. It would give the government the power of borrowing without the appropriate accountability and oversight.

The fact of the matter is that the COVID pandemic is far from over. In fact, Canada just reached an ominous milestone. For the first time in the global pandemic, Canada has reported more new COVID-19 cases per capita than the United States of America. How is this possible? How is it that many countries across the world are beginning to reopen their economies, beginning a new normal, while we hit a third wave that seems to be even worse than the ones that preceded it?

The answer is simple. We do not have enough vaccines. The procurement efforts have been botched and have been a failure. It has come with a deadly cost to Canadians. Whereas our counterparts in the U.S., UK and Israel are beginning to reopen, across Canada, we are re-entering devastating lockdowns.

It is with great sadness that I speak about the devastating impact this has had on our people. Many Canadians, including those in my riding of Northumberland—Peterborough South, have been forced to shut down for the better part of a year. According to Stats Canada, 60% of businesses reported a drop in revenue between 2020 and 2019, with certain industries being affected harder than others.

My riding of Northumberland—Peterborough South is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes and some of the most charming small towns in all of Ontario. Because of this, many of my constituents rely heavily on the tourism sector to survive and thrive. The hospitality, tourism sector, unfortunately, has been one of the hardest hit in Canada.

New statistics are now suggesting that 50% of Canadians are on the brink of insolvency. As we face more lockdowns, many Canadians are barely holding on and are continuing to rely on federal stimulus, like the CERB and CRB.

Mark Rosen, chair of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals, recently had this to say.

I am having trouble speaking, Madam Speaker, due to a member not having his mute on.

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

Could the hon. member for Simcoe—Grey please mute his microphone.

The hon. member may proceed.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, what we cannot see in the insolvency data is how things will changes as the taps are turned off, which brings about a very important point. The government's programs have created a bridge, but it needs to be a bridge to a better day. At the end of the day, the programs are a Band-Aid and they are not a substitute for prolonged, strong economic activities and economic opportunities. They will not be able to, in the long term, replace the lost income that people face over our government's inability to procure vaccines.

Our people need jobs. We need to bring work and economic opportunities back to Canadians. While the Conservatives have supported them and, indeed, they were necessary, the benefits have to be a bridge to something. They cannot be a bridge to nowhere. Our people should not have to chose between their health and insolvency. We need a safe plan to reopen our economy, a plan that includes vaccinating our population as soon as possible.

We also need to ensure this plan will not hurt Canadians for generations to come. As currently written, Bill C-14 is a $600-billion blank cheque to allow the Canadian government to spend how it would like. With no accountability for the spending or oversight, this will undoubtedly hurt Canadians for years to come. Large budgets, deficits and debt are all serious issues, not only for our government but for all Canadians. Interest payments are a major consequence of that.

Governments must make interest payments on their debt similar to how households must pay interest on borrowing-related mortgages, vehicles and credit card spending. Revenue directed toward interest payments means that in the future there will be less money available for tax relief or government programs, such as health care, education and social services. In reality, to pay off these interest payments, the government will likely have to raise taxes, raise interest rates and cut spending on essential government programs. This will be a painful burden for Canadians as many are already so close to insolvency.

The government needs to detail its long-term plan for the economic recovery. As former U.S. treasury secretary Larry Summers has often said, growth not consumption must be a priority of expansionary fiscal policy. In fact, our own deputy finance minister Michael Sabia agreed that economic growth was absolutely critical to the future prosperity of our country.

The expansion of the economy will create much-needed economic opportunities for all. Most important, that growth will help those in an economically challenging position. The impact of growth, or lack thereof, can be illustrated in the last six years with what the Liberal government has done to our most vulnerable. During a period of record-low economic growth, Canadian billionaires have done all right, as my colleagues in the NDP have frequently and rightfully pointed out.

The impact of low economic growth is nearly always disproportionately felt by those in economically precarious positions, while billionaires and Liberal well-connected insiders have done okay. They often have the connections and the resources to pivot away from economic challenges. Meanwhile, Canadian workers are stuck shouldering the brunt of a shrinking economy as they lose their jobs, close their businesses and even lose their homes.

The good news is that while a shrinking economy can create havoc, poverty and hardship, an expanding economy can equally create prosperity, wealth and, in some instances, even happiness. Nearly all economists on the left and the right agree that a growing economy is our best defence against unemployment and poverty. How do we achieve that? We need to create an environment where private actors are rewarded and recognized for effectively contributing their talents and their efforts to society through efficient markets. That may sound complicated, but it really is not. All that really means is that every Canadian going to work, whether a CEO, a sales professional, a clerk or a tradesperson, feels as though he or she is getting a fair shake.

Governments can play a positive role in achieving confidence in the economy. They can put in place the regulations to ensure that actors are competing in an ethical and sustainable manner. This is absolutely a critical role, and all strong economies require some level of regulation and taxation to ensure equity and justice. However, the Liberal government, nor any government in history, cannot create economic growth. They merely put in place the conditions required for growth.

It is the private sector, everyday Canadians, who power economic growth through relentless determination, endless innovation and infinite work ethic, as they strive to achieve their dreams to buy homes, to own a business, to send their children to university and to help achieve a stronger, more prosperous Canada for all.

While governments cannot create economic growth, they can destroy it. The reality is that overly expansive governments suck up the resources, the oxygen, of the free market economy from the private sector, depriving businesses and individuals of much-needed capital to fuel their economic activity. These same governments over-regulate and suffocate the energy and drive of small business and destroy the dreams of millions. They erode the rewards and recognition of work to the point where an individual's desire to work is reduced. The last 100 years of history are littered with governments that have destroyed their own economies through policies that expand government at the cost of their citizens. From the USSR to Cuba to Venezuela, we have seen poverty and destruction caused by overinflated government policies.

Why, then, in this time of extreme economic insecurity, would the government ask for a permanent increase to the debt ceiling of $600 billion, a debt that would ultimately be financed by Canadians? It is a burden that will diminish our prospects for a growing and prosperous economy by starving it of the resources Canadians need to start businesses and create jobs and by disincentivizing work. There will also be ever-increasing taxation. What Canadians need now is a rapidly expanding economy, not an ever-expanding debt.

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

Madam Speaker, I have two quick questions for the member.

First, I noticed he chose his words very carefully when he was talking about the last measure of the bill. He said that it gives the government the power to borrow, and he did not reference the power to spend. Would he confirm that the government cannot spend?

Second, I noticed that when he was talking about vaccination rates among G7 countries, he conveniently cherry-picked the two that happen to be ahead of us, the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom. We are ahead of the rest, which are Italy, France, Germany, Australia and Japan. I wonder if the member can explain why he chose to cherry-pick those two particular countries?

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, the fact is that when we look at completely vaccinated individuals, Canada actually ranks quite low. Obviously no one is fully vaccinated, inoculated or protected, to the extent that vaccines can do this, until they have received both doses, and Canada is well behind. When we look at other countries, such as the U.K. and the U.S., they are fully opening, as has been reported in the media by CNN's Jake Tapper. Canada is falling behind.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his speech.

I would like to raise two points. First, we are obviously all concerned about the debt. Second, my learned colleague from Joliette raised a specific point a little earlier, stating that each expenditure must be approved.

Is the member aware of this and does he believe it makes sense? I would like his opinion on that. I would also like to know what he thinks about the lack of support for the tourism and cultural industries and for small organizations that are really struggling. There are some in each of our ridings.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I will start with the second part of the question. I certainly believe in supporting the arts. The Capitol Theatre and the many other arts institutions in Northumberland—Peterborough South certainly require support. The pandemic has been very difficult for them.

On the second part, I liken the member's point to the individual—

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

The hon. member for Joliette is rising on a point of order.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Speaker, the interpretation is not working.

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

Interpretation is working now.

The hon. member for Northumberland—Peterborough South.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, the arts are incredibly important. The Capitol Theatre is in my riding, as are many other great arts institutions, and they have been hit so hard. We would agree that the pandemic has been very difficult on them.

As to the second part, I would like to use an analogy about individuals. If I took out a line of credit for half a million dollars, it would be an important household decision. I dare say that my spouse would not be too happy if I did not receive her approval before getting a $500,000 line of credit, even though I had not identified how I would spend it.

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

Madam Speaker, my question is very much connected to the current third wave of the COVID crisis.

A third wave, as we know, is hitting Canadian workers hard, especially essential workers. We are hearing disturbing reports that ICUs are filling up with predominately essential workers, and many younger people as well. Obviously, this is coinciding with the devastating impacts of the variant cases.

For the NDP, it has been critical to fight for paid sick days. We recognize that they are a way to help save lives at this point. Obviously, we are very concerned that there is not widespread support for paid sick days for working people in our country.

Why do the Conservatives fail to stand up for workers when it comes to key measures like this one that could save lives now?

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her advocacy on behalf of workers.

The best possible way to help workers is to make sure that we get vaccines here in Canada, get jabs into arms and get Canadians safely back to work.

Royal Recommendation Requirement for Bill C-265

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Madam Speaker, I am rising on a point of order in response to the Speaker's statement of March 22 on the need for a royal recommendation for Bill C-265, an act to amend the Employment Insurance Act with regard to illness, injury or quarantine, introduced by the hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.

We have already heard the arguments of the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands in this matter. During his remarks, he mentioned my efforts to amend Bill C-24 by proposing a similar amendment in committee. The committee chair ruled that the amendment required a royal recommendation. The Bloc Québécois member on the committee voted in favour of the royal recommendation, but I think that was an error in judgment.

The rule does not apply to this bill, because this is a different situation. The House of Commons twice asked to increase the number of weeks Canadians can receive EI sickness benefits from 15 to 50, once by a majority vote on an opposition motion, and once in a unanimous vote upholding the majority decision. Private members' bills rarely get such strong support from the House.

The government also committed to increasing the number of weeks Canadians can receive EI benefits. I think that this situation is unique in that there was unanimous support of the House of Commons. The Speaker should recognize this unique situation before ruling on the bill. The New Democrats believe that the bill should be implemented.

I simply wanted these considerations and this position on the record.

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

I would like to thank the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona for his remarks. The Chair will consider the matter and come back with a ruling.

The hon. member for Edmonton-Centre has the floor.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-14, An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 30, 2020 and other measures, be read the third time and passed.

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Madam Speaker, I rise virtually in the House today to speak to Bill C-14, a second act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19. Before I get into the specifics of the bill and economic recovery, we must all recognize that there is no feasible way that we as a country can make any kind of significant recovery efforts without addressing and conquering this health crisis.

Small businesses will continue to flounder and shut their doors. New graduates who once looked toward the future with optimism will continue to send in job applications with no response. Single-parent households will continue to struggle, trying to make ends meet with the $2,000 government cheques they receive that are meant to justify the fact that they cannot return to work and provide for their children.

I cannot believe I am saying this, but currently Canada ranks far below our international peers per capita for full vaccinations. Last week, Canada made headlines worldwide in the most embarrassing way when CNN reported that we were outpacing the U.S.A. for COVID infections. Canada is behind all kinds of countries in vaccinations. Canadians need to be using all the tools available to fight COVID-19. We need vaccines, we need rapid tests and we need the information to secure our future and rebuild our economy.

The Conservatives want to see the Liberals succeed in securing these tools for Canadians, especially the vaccines, but the Liberals have failed to secure made-in-Canada vaccines until the end of 2021. For the rest of 2021, Canada's vaccine rollout will be at the whims of foreign countries and companies.

It is clear the Liberal government was late in ramping up vaccine manufacturing. Canadians deserve better than this, but why did the Liberal government wait so long to act? Why did it decide to partner with China? We are so frustrated at the government's failure to secure vaccines and get them to Canadians. We cannot secure jobs and cannot secure our economy until Canadians are vaccinated.

The singular focus of the government at this point in time should not be on buyback programs or small infrastructure projects. It should be all hands on deck to procure vaccines that it failed to deliver to Canadians so we can get back to normal like the rest of the world is heading toward.

The U.S., the country right next door, recognized the importance of vaccines and therapeutics early on, investing $20.5 billion for their development. Earlier this month, the U.S. moved the country's active travel advisory for Canada to very high. I appreciate the Liberals' current interest in this area, but it is unfortunate that it comes at such a late stage in the game. Supporting individuals and businesses in the way they currently are, while important, is not sustainable. We have to have strategies and a plan to protect those who are compromised and get the economy back on track.

Bill C-14 was the government's attempt, during the fall economic statement, to put forward a plan for Canadians that would instill hope and confidence in this country's ability to recover. However, given how poorly the government's vaccine plan panned out, I fear that the economic recovery will yield results that are nearly as dismal.

Just as my Conservative colleagues voted in favour of providing assistance to Canadians early on in the pandemic, of course we will continue to recognize the need for assistance in these unprecedented times.

Bill C-14 has introduced some temporary and immediate support for low- and middle-income families who are entitled to the Canada child benefit. The bill would ease the burden of student debt to 1.4 million Canadians by eliminating the interest on repayment of the federal portion of Canada student loans and Canada apprentice loans for up to a year. It would also provide funding for part of the new safe long-term care fund to provide support to long-term facilities, which is critical and very important. There would be up to $262 million for COVID initiatives, including testing, research for countermeasures, vaccine funding and developing border and travel measures. These are all worthy. The bill would also formally provide that an expense such as rent can qualify as an eligible expense under the Canada emergency rent subsidy when it comes due so businesses can access the subsidy before the expense is actually paid.

With the dramatic increase in the amount the bill dictates the government can borrow, which is more than $700 billion and $100 billion in discretionary spending, one would assume that this would carve out a path for Canadians to get back to work. However, as mentioned before, any attempt to recover will be thwarted unless we can get vaccines into Canadians' arms. Only then can we meaningfully talk about recovery.

Like my colleague, the member for Carleton, passionately reminds us, it is the dignity that comes with earning a paycheque and the freedom that comes with the ability to control one's own finances. At the moment, Canadians are experiencing joblessness worse than the G7 average. This gives me absolutely no confidence that offering another $100 billion in discretionary spending would yield any type of meaningful result.

Although we experienced recent job growth, there is no doubt again that those jobs created would be lost again because of the shutdowns due to the COVID-19 variants. We need a plan to come out of COVID, create jobs and get our economy back on track. That cannot happen without people earning paycheques. We cannot permanently put our economy on the national credit card. Our jobs will provide Canadians with personal financial security. Jobs afford families good child care, housing, post-secondary schooling, nutrition and recreation. Jobs provide tax revenue, reduce government debt burden and protect our cherished social net.

Integral to our build-back, but equally important to sustain our country's growth, are two metrics that have been falling over the past few years: Canadian competitiveness and Canadian innovation. With a country of our size and sparsity of population, there is no way we can rely on just our internal economy to lead us to recovery. Canada is going to need massive growth and exports to fuel any kind of recovery and provide the capacity to repay our enormous debt. Spending and infrastructure should be predominantly focused on those things that improve productivity, competitiveness and access to markets. Private sector innovation is what is going to lead us into the future and provide us with the technology we need to both shift to global sustainability and reinstate ourselves as a world economic leader.

In Bill C-14, there is no mention of the resource sector, which is Canada's number one export, nor does it recognize the importance of this sector for our recovery. The world wants and needs more of our natural resources and we should be thinking about how we can expand our market share instead of hastening its decline. With the abundance of natural resources we have been blessed with, we have been handed the keys to the castle. The least we could do is plan for a lessening of our dependence on foreign supply because we have it all right here.

We fell out of the top 10 ranking for the most competitive economies. We have fallen near the bottom of our peer group on innovation, ranking 17. In 2019, mineral fuels, including oil, accounted for 22% of our country's total exports, the number one exported product, and we have the third-largest reserves. We have enormous potential in minerals, agriculture, forestry, pulp and paper.

My colleague, the member for Abbotsford, offered eight specific recommendations to help drive the economy and get people back to work. Here are five more for free.

The government could fast-track decisions on the $14-billion LNG gas project in Quebec, on top of another $6 billion in similar projects waiting for sign-off across Canada.

The government could speed up approval for job-creating projects large and small. The OECD ranks Canada number 34 out of 35 OECD countries on the amount of time it takes to obtain a permit for a general construction project. All three levels of government must commit to provide the world's fastest permits for factories, shopping centres, parks, mines and more. Canada should be the place to build projects.

The government could ensure infrastructure is targeted toward productivity and competitiveness.

The government could unlock the innovation and technology sector, the quantity and quality of R and D, IP protection and strength, and immigration policies that attract talent, and make sure we support these industries that desperately need more people.

The government could repeal the tanker ban on the west coast, a project that had indigenous backing and would have opened up the Asian market.

At the end of the day, the government has an entire toolbox of tools at its disposal. It has a spending account in excess of $700 billion. It has access to the most educated population on the planet. It has more land than it knows what to do with and resource potential beyond compare. It has absolutely everything it needs to get this country well on its way to recovery, just like other countries with much less have done. We can all bounce back if it so wishes. The question will be whether it wants Canadians to emerge from this pandemic reliant on their government and receiving cheques from the state each month or resilient, thanks to their government and the strategic steps it took, able to rebuild from this tragedy with a new-found sense of strength and pride in both themselves individually and the will of the country.

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

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for the five free pieces of advice he gave toward the end. The second piece he gave was about building permits. That is odd. The last time I checked, building permits were issued by municipalities or regional governments, and they directly fall under the jurisdiction of the provincial government in terms of setting how they are going to be acquired. I know the member for Carleton has been raising this too, because apparently it is a really good sensationalized point to bring up in this House repeatedly.

I just want to make sure this member is aware that building permits are not issued by the federal government.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am fully aware. I spent over 20 years of my life in the construction industry. I can tell members the federal government does take a role in providing regulations that could potentially delay the ability to get a permit. It is not just about the permits at a municipal level; it is about the federal government interacting in a jurisdiction with regulations that make it even more difficult to get anything done in this country.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech.

When he addressed the question, he insisted on major projects and accelerated approval and financing. He mentioned the GNL Québec project.

I would like to hear what he has to say about Quebec's and the provinces' environmental sovereignty. Does he not think that it is important to respect the regional authorities for this type of approval?

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Madam Speaker, I absolutely understand. I come from Alberta, and I understand what jurisdiction lies with the province and with the federal government. What the federal government should not do is impose additional regulations and additional burden on these projects to try to stop that investment coming back into the provinces. It is time that we got things built in this country again, and whether it be in Quebec, Alberta or the Maritimes, it is time that we encouraged investment into this country and allowed industry to start to build things again.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Madam Speaker, from what I can see, Bill C-14 is designed to allow the government to operate without a budget by giving itself huge new borrowing increases. The Liberals assure us they have our backs over and over ad nauseam, while every new COVID support program keeps rolling out with major flaws. So many programs gave much more money than necessary to those who did not need it, so much that the finance minister had to start calling her overpayments “preloaded stimulus”. When we look at part 7, which would increase the borrowing authority with an astronomical hike, the Liberals are asking us to just trust they will do a better job going forward.

I would like to ask the member why, for instance, the new HASCAP is such a failure at helping the highly affected sectors it was designed to help. The government had a year to make something that works, and yet highly affected sector businesses are being denied loans because they cannot provide a revenue projection when they are closed. Why does every program fail so badly?

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is a great question. Why did they fail? It is because of their design. They bring out these programs in rapid fashion, make an announcement and say the details are to follow. Once the details follow, the private sector says that it does not work for the need. It is time the government got serious about designing programs that actually will result in outcomes, and we see that with our high unemployment rate and high spending rate. We are not getting the outcomes we need and Canadians deserve, so it is time the government does a better job than what they have been doing to date.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise and speak to Bill C-14, a government bill that would implement various fiscal measures, including raising the debt limit. We are doing so, relatively on the eve of the next federal budget coming on Monday, April 19, the first federal budget in two years. As a result of the delays, we have had to endure waiting for what used to be annual event and is now highly anticipated.

With Bill C-14 as well as the upcoming budget in mind, I want to talk about our fiscal situation and make some proposals. Before that, I want to talk about this broad concept of resilience.

Resilience is the ability to recover from difficulties. A core responsibility of government is to try to build up resilience within our government, within our institutions and within our national capacity.

Resilience means thinking about the things that could go wrong and preparing for them, even if nobody is talking about them.

Resilience is a critical job of government because it is something that could otherwise be undervalued. It can be undervalued by the private market. People do not always think about the various things that could go wrong and prepare for them. It is also something that can be undervalued particularly by government because it can be undervalued by the political market. That is, there is a risk maybe that governments' decisions to prepare for, or failure to prepare for, certain things that could go wrong are not top of mind for voters.

In the last election, I do not recall being asked by any voter if I thought the government was prepared for a global pandemic. I do not recall being asked by any voter if I thought the government was prepared for the possibility of a foreign invasion. I do not recall being asked by any voter if I thought the government was prepared for a cataclysmic natural disaster. That is natural.

Generally, as individuals, as consumers, as voters, we are not thinking about the possibility of grand disaster. We are more inclined to think about our immediate needs and our immediate challenges, but these are things that can happen as we have seen with COVID-19. It should bring home for all of us the fact that major, disastrous, global-scale events are things that can happen and the degree to which we think about them or prepare for them before they happen really matters in terms of our ability to engage those situations when they come up.

This should remind us of the importance of thinking about resilience and about whether we are ready to overcome major challenges that could come along. Therefore, it is easy and natural, coming out of a global pandemic, to think about being resilient in the face of another pandemic: What are the things we learned about dealing with public health pandemics so we are ready in case of another pandemic?

The broader lesson should be what can we do to prepare ourselves to respond to large-scale disasters. The next big challenge that comes at our country, unexpectedly, might not be a pandemic. It might be some other kind of challenge: a cataclysmic economic event, a cataclysmic natural disaster, something in terms of national security, etc. Thinking about resilience and developing a resilience mentality should be about, as governments and as parliamentarians, asking questions about our preparedness for disasters, those that are maybe undervalued in our typical day-to-day political discussions and by the private market. Developing a resilience mentality requires us not just to think about how we should have been ready for this crisis, but how we should prepare for future crises.

We know clearly that the job of government of preparing for disaster even if it is not on the public mind is something the government really failed to deliver on in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. We did not have the required protective equipment. We did not have the manufacturing capacity required to respond to the immediate needs that came up. We did not have an early warning system that was operational. We had destroyed stockpiles. We were not prepared with the kind of social structures and systems that would have allowed us to react quickly. Right at the beginning, we should have had the PPE required, given people the right advice out of the gate on masking, put in place strong effective measures at the border right away and had a plan for tracing systems. All of these were thought of and enacted in other countries.

However, we did not have the structures and systems, or the necessary equipment, in place at the beginning. We had not built our systems to be resilient, in terms of health.

Recently, in the official opposition, we have talked a lot about being resilient in the face of possible security threats. We have a government that still has not made a decision with respect to Huawei. It said it would make a decision before the last election, and here we are, on the eve of what the government seems to want to be the next election. We will see. In any event, it has been years since the government's original self-imposed deadline for making a decision about Huawei.

We hear repeatedly, including from the member for Ottawa South, who chairs the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and who is a member of the government, about concerns of foreign state-backed interference in Canada. We have heard from that important committee that we are not responding effectively. We are not prepared for it.

What about our fiscal resilience, in the context of the budget or in the context of Bill C-14? Are we ready for the kinds of problems that could be being created by the government's fiscal policy?

In the last year, we have spent more money than we ever have before. That goes without saying. However, we have actually borrowed more money, in real terms, in the last year than Canada did during World War II. In real terms, Canada borrowed less during all of World War II than we did in the last year. Of course, the COVID pandemic and the needs associated with it are very significant, but so were the Second World War and the needs associated with it for Canada, as well.

We have run up more debt in the last year. It is more than half of the total debt run up in all of Canada's history until this point. However, at the Liberal convention, were they debating how to get our public finances under control? Actually, they were talking about more spending. They were talking about putting in place a new universal basic income program, which is effectively more government spending, and expanding deficits on a permanent basis.

In the face of those conversations happening within the government, I think we have to ask how long this is going to last, and are we resilient? Are we prepared for the possibility of a serious fiscal problem? From time to time, countries that cannot control their spending experience runaway inflation. They experience various kinds of fiscal collapse.

The consequences of that for Canadians would be significant. We would put ourselves in a position where we could not get out of those problems, and could not just spend more money to address the challenges that people would face in that kind of situation.

Alas, what we have seen from the government is a “live for today and let tomorrow take care of itself” mentality on health, security and spending. It is thinking about today, not thinking about preparing ourselves for what might happen in the future.

As Conservatives, we have always believed in making the hard argument of thinking about the next generation, preparing for threats and challenges that we might not be able to see, taking a precautionary approach and ensuring that we are able to pass the goods of civilization on to the next generation. This is rather than undermining our position of public health, security and fiscal well-being, and leaving the next generation with a possible disaster.

We need to be thinking about resilience across a broad spectrum of issues, preparing for challenges and being ready to respond to those challenges.

I worry that sometimes in Canada, we have been victims of our success, in that we have gotten used to things going well. We have not always prepared for serious disasters because we do not have the same experiences of them here as maybe have happened in other parts of the world.

However, we have not achieved a level of prosperity, security or fiscal well-being by accident, and it will be not maintained without hard work. The path the government is putting us on right now is not one of resilience. It is one that puts our institutions and our national well-being in great danger. This is why we need to refocus our attention on the values of resilience and preparedness for the future.