Debates of May 26th, 2021

Finance—Main Estimates, 2021-22

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Chair, I would like to thank the member for Sudbury for that important question.

Our government is committed to promoting both official languages, and it recognizes the role that they play for Canadians across the country. We allocated a total of $8.7 million to modernize the Official Languages Act and ensure that it better serves our country's linguistic duality.

As my colleague pointed out, French-language education is the key to having bilingual citizens. Our investment of $180.4 million to improve French immersion and French as a second language programs in our schools and post-secondary institutions will guarantee that our students receive a high-quality education in French.

We also know how important it is for students living in linguistic minority communities to receive an education in their mother tongue. That is why we allocated $121.3 million to make high-quality post-secondary education in the language of the minority available across the country, from Vancouver to Edmonton, Sudbury, Ottawa and even Moncton.

What is more, budget 2021 proposes an investment of $81.8 million to support the construction and renovation of educational and community spaces that serve official language minority communities. These measures are essential to promoting linguistic duality across the country, supporting official language minority communities and diversifying our economy.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Madam Chair, that is clear. Those are historic investments.

I thank the minister and her team for the attention they gave us when we were making these important points.

I would like to also ask the minister another question with respect to tourism.

The tourism industry is important in northern Ontario and certainly across Canada. It has been one of the sectors that has been impacted greatly by the pandemic. Many local tourism businesses have shut down and stopped providing services from coast to coast to coast to do their part in keeping Canadians safe.

In 2019, tourism accounted for 1.8 million direct and indirect jobs throughout our country. The government recognizes that the impacts of the pandemic will continue to be felt by these businesses throughout the recovery process. In response, the government has created a plan to best support the tourism industry through initiatives like the tourism relief fund and other investments to promote Canada on the international stage once international travel is permitted, allowing us to once again open our borders to international visitors on a larger scale so they can experience the many things our great country has to offer.

Could the minister briefly explain why the tourism relief fund and other measures taken, such as those supporting safe air travel, are crucial for tourism businesses and local economies?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Chair, our government knows the tourism industry has been one of the most impacted sectors of our economy and we are committed to supporting its recovery. That is why we have extended the Canada emergency wage and rent subsidies to continue to support employees in the tourism sector. The Canada emergency wage subsidy has already helped more than 5.3 million Canadians to keep their jobs, and the Canada emergency rent subsidy and lockdown support has supported more than 154,000 organizations.

Budget 2021 also proposes to invest $500 million toward the tourism relief fund to support local tourism businesses in their recovery process and position them for future growth. My colleague from northern Ontario pushed that really hard with FedNor, ensuring it had the appropriate investments to support tourism in northern Ontario.

We will also allocate $400 million through Canadian Heritage and regional development agencies to support major and local festivals and other events to attract tourists to our beautiful country.

We know the importance of tourism in our economy and we plan to dedicate $100 million to Destination Canada to support marketing campaigns to encourage both Canadians and international visitors to travel our great country.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Madam Chair, I do not have any other questions, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ministers who are in the House. I myself do not have the honour of being in the House in person.

With regard to the investment in FedNor or making FedNor an independent agency, I would say that economic development is very important for our regions.

Rural Canada and economic development is crucial, and we have been advocating for a while now to have FedNor as an independent agency. In budget 2021, it has come to fruition, and that is because of teamwork and certainly the advocacy that was done. I know this will go a long way in northern Ontario to have these projects brought in by northern Ontarians, discussed in northern Ontario and make them become a reality.

We realize the importance of having boots on the ground, ears on the ground and decision-makers on the ground. I am thrilled by this investment and want to thank the minister for that.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Chair, I will use my time to ask the Minister of Finance some questions and listen to her responses.

The budget provides for more than $150 billion in investments. Before the budget was tabled, Quebec had just one demand: an increase in federal health transfers that would cover 35% of expenses. There are sound reasons for this, in light of the health, social and economic crisis we have been facing for many months as a result of the pandemic. The government rejected Quebec's one demand.

How did the government respond? It responded by investing in national long-term care standards and interfering in home support programs, which is not what Quebec asked for. In fact, quite the opposite.

Why did the minister not respond, with this budget, to the very important demand for increased federal health transfers?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Madam Chair, I thank the member for her question.

I completely agree that this is an economic and health crisis. That is why the federal government was there to support the provinces and territories on health care and will continue to be.

With Bill C-10, we hope to provide an additional $4 billion for health care, to help the provinces and territories deal with the immediate pressure on their health care systems, in particular to help them clear health care system backlogs caused by the pandemic. We know that this assistance is urgent, and that is why I hope all members will support Bill C-30.

Furthermore, the bill would provide $1 billion for the vaccine rollout. I hope that all members will agree that the provinces need this money. They need this assistance.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Chair, I would like to make a brief comment.

I believe that Quebec and the provinces need predictability, and the provinces need to be able to fully support their own health jurisdictions. The provinces do not need paternalistic measures that would tell them what to do or interfere in their jurisdictions.

I will now talk about the old age security pension. In Canada, the retirement age was brought back down from 67 to 65, and the government is pleased with itself for doing that. Every Canadian is entitled to the old age security pension starting at 65, whether they worked or not. It is a universal social program. Everyone can count on that pension as of age 65.

The government is saying that in its budget, it is honouring its commitment to increase the old age security pension by 10% starting at age 75, but it is compromising the universality of old age security. The government is telling people who get old age security at 65 that they will have to wait 10 years to get an increase that they should really be getting at 65, considering seniors have the same needs at 65 as they do at 75.

Why did the government discriminate against seniors aged 65 to 74, a 10-year period during which these people are very vulnerable and would be entitled to the old age security pension?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I thank the member for her question.

Our government is grateful for the contribution that seniors made and continue to make in our communities. We have taken measures to fight poverty, including among seniors. I am very proud to assure members that our policies are yielding positive results.

Today, 25% fewer seniors are living in poverty than when we took office in 2015. That result is directly linked to the good work done by our government, particularly in restoring OAS eligibility to 65 years and increasing support to the most vulnerable single seniors.

Bill C-30 also proposes to increase old age security by 10% for people aged 75 and older, which will help lift a large number of seniors out of poverty.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Chair, poverty and vulnerability affect people of all ages, and that is why a social program was introduced to provide an old age security pension. For many women and many people, it is their sole source of pension income. I understand from the reply that this discrimination will remain, which is a first and sets a precedent.

With respect to employment insurance, members will recall all the measures implemented to support nine million workers who found themselves unemployed overnight. Emergency measures had to be put in place because the EI system was not fulfilling its role, as the former governor of the Bank of Canada, who is highly respected, told the Standing Committee on Finance. The President of the Treasury Board himself admitted last spring that the reform of the system had been delayed too long for it to meet the challenge.

In the last Parliament, the Liberal government pledged to reform the EI program. This budget, however, only extends the temporary measures until September 2021, and adds an eligibility criterion that is welcome because it is reasonable, but only for a period of one year. As the witnesses who appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance stated, there are many gaps and the pandemic is not over.

Can you assure us that if you keep this temporary framework for a year, you will be open to the idea of fixing the remaining gaps to properly protect workers affected by the pandemic? I am thinking of the seasonal industries and the tourism sector, whose workers need support now not tomorrow, and who are currently being ignored.

Would the minister and her government be open to improving what is currently in Bill C-30?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her question. I, too, would like to know what you are going to do with all those programs. I am kidding.

With regard to our employment insurance program, I generally agree with the Bloc Québécois member, and I think that all Canadians agree with us. The pandemic has shown that there are Canadians who are not covered by our programs. Our worker support system was designed for another economy and for another time. However, the economy has changed and our system needs to change too.

I want to thank all members of the House for supporting the government when it had to very quickly create new programs to support Canadians in a time of crisis. That is a good thing that we did together. I am pleased that Bill C-30 extends those emergency measures until the end of September and extends the more flexible EI requirements for another year.

That being said, I agree with the member that there is still work to be done and that we need to do it together. If there is another question, then I would like to talk about the Canada workers benefit, which is also important in this area.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Chair, I have another question, but I would like to make a comment first.

The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion said something rather disturbing recently. She said it would take seven years to reform the EI program because the computer system could not support it.

In another life, I used to say that sometimes you have to make what is politically desirable technically possible. It is politically desirable to reform the employment insurance system, which leaves workers in seasonal industries, women and young people out in the cold. If we want this to be just temporary, we have to improve these temporary measures, at least.

My last question is about EI sickness benefits.

The Prime Minister met with Émilie Sansfaçon at the beginning of this Parliament and he committed to recognizing her claim because of her situation. In another time not so long ago, when the Liberal Party was in opposition, he supported a bill that called for exactly the same thing as the Bloc Québécois is calling for today, that is, to increase sickness benefits to 50 weeks, in the interest of fairness to workers who pay into EI.

Why is the government going only half way and leaving more than 60% of workers to fend for themselves?

Why did the government not unanimously support increasing sickness benefits to 50 weeks, when it had the opportunity to do so today?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I thank the Bloc Québécois member for that important question.

I agree with her that extending EI sickness benefits from 15 to 25 weeks is one of the most important measures in the budget. That is one of the big things Bill C-30 will do. It will be life-changing for many Canadians. Fifteen weeks of sickness benefits is not enough; 26 weeks is much more.

We talked about the disadvantaged, the poor and the employment insurance system. I want to stress the importance of the Canada workers benefit. This measure will help Canadians who are working but are still poor. It will lift 100,000 working Canadians out of poverty.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Madam Chair, it is an absolute pleasure for me to participate in this committee of the whole debate and speak this evening to budget 2021. I will be focusing most of my remarks on how our budget has a number of measures to help small businesses and, in turn, how this is good for our recovery and economic growth moving forward. Among many things in budget 2021, there is a plan to make investments in Canada's businesses so they can hire and train workers, who will, as a result, have more money to spend, spurring our recovery and growing an economy with more opportunities for everyone.

Let us start at the beginning. An essential part of Canada's fight against COVID-19 has been the unprecedented federal support for Canadians and Canadian businesses. This support has helped millions of families in the depths of this crisis. One in four Canadians was receiving federal COVID income support. The Canada emergency wage subsidy, currently set to expire in June 2021, has helped more than 5.3 million Canadians keep their jobs and has provided more than $79 billion in support to the Canadian economy.

To continue to support Canadians through the rest of this crisis, and to give workers and employers certainty and stability over the coming months, Bill C-30, the budget implementation act that is currently before the House, proposes to extent the wage subsidy until September 25, 2021. It also proposes to gradually decrease the subsidy rate, beginning on July 4, 2021, to ensure an orderly phase-out of the program as vaccinations are received and as the economy reopens. Extending the support will mean that millions of jobs will continue to be protected.

The wage subsidy has been an absolute lifeline for so many businesses in my riding of Davenport, from many of the artistic and cultural organizations, such as the House of Anansi, an iconic Canadian publishing house, to businesses such as Teixeira Accounting Firm, one of the many small businesses that serve the local community.

Another key support for our small businesses has been the Canada emergency rent subsidy and the lockdown top-up support that has helped more than 180,000 organizations pay their rent, mortgage interest and other expenses. The rent subsidy provides eligible organizations with direct and easy-to-access rental support. An important aspect of this support is that it is accessible directly to tenants and landlords. This program is also scheduled to end in June 2021, but to help Canadians weather the remainder of this crisis until the recovery, they need continued support. As in the case of the wage subsidy, budget 2021 proposes to extend the subsidy for the rent and the lockdown supports until September 25, 2021. It also proposes to gradually reduce the rate of the subsidy for the rent to ensure the program's orderly phase-out as vaccines continue to be rolled out and the economy reopens.

Again, these emergency supports have been tremendous lifelines to many businesses in my riding of Davenport, from hair salons to small theatres to many of the restaurants across my riding, among many other types of organizations and businesses. There is no way they could have survived without these supports. I know they are so grateful for this ongoing support, although I will say they are so excited at the prospect of opening up sometime soon.

Let us move on to speak to supports contained in Bill C-30 that would assist small businesses succeed moving forward. They are some of the new programs we are proposing.

To provide further support to our small businesses, Bill C-30 proposes the new Canada recovery hiring program for eligible employers who continue to experience qualifying declines in revenues, relative to before the pandemic, and who need help with restarting. This proposed program would provide an alternate support for businesses affected by the pandemic to help them hire more workers as the economy reopens. The proposed program is designed so that the rates for both the wage subsidy and the hiring program will slowly decrease over time, creating a strong incentive for employers to begin hiring as soon as possible to maximize their benefit.

For businesses that have been hardest hit by the pandemic, hiring the workers they need to grow is a cost they may worry about taking on. The government wants these businesses to recover and grow by hiring more people, so that workers are at the forefront of our recovery. The proposed Canada recovery hiring benefit would offset a portion of the extra costs employers take on as they reopen, either by increasing wages or hours worked or by hiring more staff. This support would only be available for active employees and would be offered from June 6 to November 20, 2021. The aim is to make it as easy as possible for businesses to hire new workers as the economy reopens.

It is obvious that Canadian businesses must adopt new technologies and go digital to meet the needs of their customers and remain competitive. The pandemic has precipitated the digital transformation of the economy as businesses, workers and consumers increasingly do business online. To spur recovery, jobs and growth, the federal government is launching Canada's digital adoption program, which will create thousands of jobs for young Canadians in addition to helping up to 160,000 small and medium-sized businesses adopt new digital technologies.

This program will offer two components of support to businesses. Eligible shopping street businesses will receive micro grants to help offset the costs of the digital switchover and gain digital trainer support from a network of 20,000 well-trained young Canadians. Some companies will need more comprehensive support to adopt these new technologies. A second component will therefore be offered to businesses located outside the shopping streets, such as small food manufacturing and processing businesses. Support provided to these companies will focus on expert technology planning consultants and the financial options required to implement these technologies. These measures will match more businesses with customers seeking what they have to offer and ensure their continued success.

One of the inspirations for this new program is the digital main street, a program providing grants and services to Ontario businesses to help them digitize. Our federal government helped fund an expansion of this program in June of last year, which helped countless businesses in my riding adapt to the pandemic by going online.

The chair of Little Portugal on Dundas BIA went before the finance committee last week. In the chair's opening remarks to the committee, she let us know that the BIA had been at the forefront of adoption of the digital main street program and it was helped, in large part, by having a Portuguese speaker on its digital service squad. They have indicated the importance of making our new digital adoption program accessible to main street businesses, some of whom may be slow to adopt new technologies, including language barriers, but they have stressed how vital this program is in helping businesses recover from the pandemic and adapt for the future, improving their chances of long-term sustainable success.

Finally, I want to speak in the final minutes of my remarks this evening on budget 2021 about investments in immigration. As we know, Canada is the destination of global talent. With our declining birth rate and increasing retirement rate, Canada's future economic success depends on good immigration policy moving forward and a modern, efficient immigration system to meet the needs of incoming applicants and new Canadians.

As part of budget 2021, the government is proposing $428 million to develop and deliver an enterprise-wide digital platform that will replace the current legacy case management system. What this means is that Canada's immigration system will see an improved application process and support for applicants. We understand that this type of investment is needed to ensure immigration levels in Canada remain well supported.

When Stephen Poloz, former governor of the Bank of Canada, testified recently before the finance committee, he made a very important point. He said that immigration was Canada's most important economic growth engine, just as it was in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore, anything we can do to make that process more efficient will be a good investment in Canada's future growth. It is important we recognize that the money we put into our immigration system is an investment, not a cost. It will pay huge dividends in economic growth for the future.

Budget 2021 invests in a more prosperous future for us all as we move past and come out of this pandemic. We are meeting this challenge head on and we are laser-focused on growth and the economy.

A sustainable recovery program must focus on the challenges and opportunities ahead in the coming years and decades. It must be guided by a growth strategy based on the unique competitive advantages of the Canadian economy and ensure that Canada is positioned to address the needs of the century to come.

I now have a couple of questions for the Associate Minister of Finance, and my first question is on mental health.

For over a year, Canadians have been forced to adapt their lives to a new normal to keep their communities safe. Many students have switched to attending classes online, and everyone misses having in-person interactions with their loved ones, peers and colleagues. Last year, 40% of all Canadians, and 60% of Canadians with pre-existing mental health conditions, reported that their mental health had worsened. Many of my constituents have shared how these changes and finance-related stress have caused them to feel severe burnout and fatigue due to the stress of this global pandemic.

We realize that this pandemic has taken a great toll on the mental health of Canadians, and that is why the government launched the Wellness Together Canada portal last April. This portal supports the mental health of Canadians by providing live support, treatment and reliable information on mental health and well-being.

Can the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance speak to the measures that will be implemented through budget 2021 to support Canadians who are struggling with their mental health?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Chair, COVID has certainly exposed the mental health struggles that Canadians faced even before the pandemic, and the impacts of COVID on our interactions with our friends, families and coworkers have taken a toll on the mental health of many Canadians. That is why our government has a plan to support the mental health and well-being of Canadians.

This past year has been particularly difficult for certain groups, including indigenous people, Black and racialized Canadians, front-line workers, health care workers, youths and seniors. We know that the pandemic has affected these groups in different ways, and that is why we plan to invest $100 million toward supporting projects for innovative mental health interventions for these groups.

Budget 2021 also proposes an investment of $45 million toward the development of national mental health service standards, which would ensure that Canadians receive the high-quality services that they need and deserve. In combination with this initiative, our government aims to invest $62 million toward the Wellness Together Canada portal to provide Canadians with the tools and resources that are essential in supporting their mental health.

We understand that some mental health concerns have arisen from COVID-19, including trauma support for Canadians at greater risk of suffering COVID-19-related trauma.

We know that Canadians need our support and we are taking these concerns very seriously.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Chair, in my riding of Davenport many businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic, and small businesses have been faced with even more significant declines in revenue over the past year. They have continued to demonstrate extreme resilience in their adaptation to changing public health guidelines. A number of local businesses in my riding have adapted by offering curbside pickup and launching online stores, such as Three Fates, the TuckShop and the Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market, and many residents continue to get the necessities they need through these online businesses.

I know that ministers have spent a lot of time building programs that will help small and medium-sized businesses ongoing. Can the Associate Minister of Finance please speak about the importance of small businesses in our community, and how our budget aims to continue to support them through the recovery process?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for Davenport not only for her important question, but also for raising many of those investments that we have in budget 2021 in her speech. I will talk about more of them.

We propose improving the Canada small business financing program by providing $560 million, which will support approximately 2,900 additional small businesses. It also outlines the new Canada recovery hiring program, which will provide subsidies to eligible employers to support them in hiring new staff during the recovery process.

Additionally, budget 2021 proposes an investment of up to $80 million toward the Community Futures Canada network and regional development agencies to support an extended application deadline for the regional relief and recovery fund and indigenous business initiative.

As well, we have seen first-hand over the past year the impact of technology on small businesses, and that is why we have allocated $2.6 billion to it.

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

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Edmonton Centre and asking questions to the minister.

What will happen first, putting a rover on the moon or first nations getting clean drinking water?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to inform the member opposite that this budget invests $18 billion in supporting indigenous people in Canada and reconciliation.

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

Mr. Chair, is it the rover first or clean drinking water?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I do not think that clean drinking water is a joking matter. I am pleased that we are investing $18 billion to support indigenous people in Canada.

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

Mr. Chair, we will try a different line.

By what date will fully vaccinated travellers be exempted from the hotel quarantine program?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thought, and there have been times when the questions from the Conservatives have suggested, that they believe we need strong border measures. I hope they still think that way. I certainly do and so does our government.

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

Mr. Chair, WestJet has stated that it seeks restart measures from the federal government, not liquidity. By what date will fully vaccinated travellers be exempt from quarantine?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am delighted the deputy minister is here, because he is working very hard with WestJet, perhaps not as we speak, but every day.

When it comes to travel, we listen to the advice of our public health authorities, and our priority is keeping Canadians safe.

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

Mr. Chair, by what date will fully vaccinated travellers be exempted from at-home quarantine?