Debates of June 17th, 2021

Concurrence in Vote 1—Department of Transport

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

We have to go to other questions.

The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, I listened very attentively to my colleague from Hull—Aylmer and to his presentation on the main estimates.

I have two questions. He spoke about financial capacity, but the government refuses time and again to implement a wealth tax, even though Canadian billionaires saw their wealth grow by $80 billion during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the government is preparing to reduce the Canada emergency response benefit, or CERB, from $500 per week to $300 per week in the coming weeks. I know that in my colleague's riding and in ridings across the country, there are hundreds of thousands of Canadians who depend on the CERB. It is a contradiction to reject a wealth tax and, at the same time, to reduce the CERB for the average Canadian who really needs this emergency assistance.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from British Columbia for his question.

The government has been there from the beginning to support Canadians during this health crisis and the resulting economic crisis, the likes of which we have not seen in 100 years. That is why we created the CERB, to support Canadians during this very difficult period.

That is why we also created a program to help businesses across Canada pay workers and keep their employees on the payroll, so as to help everyone through this health and economic crisis.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to see my friend, the member for Hull—Aylmer. We have had some good times together here and abroad. I am always happy to see him.

I find it unfortunate, though, that the Minister of Transport is not here to give a speech and answer questions, because it is quite clear that this motion is directly related to transportation. Although my friend from Hull—Aylmer gave a very good speech, it did not specifically address transportation.

I can understand why. In my opinion, as my party's transportation critic, the government has botched this file, and that includes the airline and cruise ship industries.

Why did the member not talk about transportation, the subject before us, instead of giving an overall vision?

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would also like to commend my colleague from Calgary Midnapore, whom I had the pleasure of getting to know better through our interactions here in Canada and abroad.

The reason I wanted to present an overview of this government spending to my hon. colleagues today is that the presentation by the next parliamentary secretary or minister will certainly deal specifically with the budget for the Department of Transport.

However, I would like to remind the House that with help from the government, the large employer emergency financing facility will issue loans of $4 billion to Air Canada in order to protect jobs and ensure that it has the necessary liquidity to keep Canadians and Canadian markets connected.

This is very important, and I am sure that my hon. colleague will have the chance to elaborate—

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

Madam Speaker, I have had the privilege of serving with this excellent member on the public accounts committee. I enjoy working with him. I do have a relatively pointed question for him, though.

There is some aviation in my riding, and in the recent budget the Liberals proposed a tax on planes and other items. The idea, of course, is to tax the wealthy, but in my riding it would cost jobs. I want to know what he would say to the family members who are going to lose their jobs because of this tax.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Madam Speaker, I have had the pleasure of serving with the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South for the past year on the public accounts committee, where we have had an opportunity to really review in-depth, and I believe in a very non-partisan way, the expenses of the government and to make sure Canadians are getting a full accounting.

Details on that specific pointed question will follow in the next government member's speech on transport, but I would like my hon. colleague to share the message with his constituents that we have their backs. This is the reason we created the Canada emergency wage subsidy, to help businesses keep connections with their employees. It is the reason we supported individuals through the Canada emergency benefit.

That way, we were able to ensure that Canadians got the support they needed at the worst point in the crisis. I am pleased to say and to see that we are emerging from the crisis. The economy is getting stronger across Canada, and I hope that will also be the case in my hon. colleague's riding.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Niagara Falls.

I mentioned in my question earlier that the reason we are here today is to discuss the estimates, specifically as they relate to transport. My message here today is about the overwhelming incompetence of the government regarding transport. The estimates here today are just a symptom of that. There have been so many instances in which the government has not delivered on the file of transport.

Regarding airlines, for months the airline sector waited for a plan from the government. I have gone through the timeline before and will attempt to go through it briefly today. On March 18, 2020, the international border closed. On March 21, Porter Airlines suspended operations. On March 23, Sunwing Airlines suspended operations. There was no plan from the government.

On April 1, Air Transat concluded repatriation operations. On April 18, Air Transat suspended flights. On April 20, Air Canada concluded repatriation operations. There was still no plan. On June 30, Air Canada announced it was discontinuing services to 30 regional routes and closed eight stations. On July 17, WestJet concluded its repatriation operations. On July 23, Air Transat restored operations. On June 24, WestJet laid off 3,333 employees through restructuring. There was still no plan.

On July 31, Air Canada posted $1.7 billion in quarterly losses. On August 14, the Government of Canada introduced flight plans. On September 1, Nav Canada increased fees by 29.5%. There was still no plan. On September 23, Air Canada announced a COVID-19 testing pilot project at Toronto Pearson Airport. On October 1, Air Canada ordered approved rapid tests. There was still no plan. On October 14, WestJet suspended routes to Atlantic Canada. On November 2, the Calgary Airport quarantine and testing projects began. There was still no plan. On November 6, Sunwing Airlines restored operations briefly, but there was still no plan.

We have seen this continue through the fall, the winter and now the spring with no plan from the government. However, promises were made. Promises were made by the Liberals on March 10, 2020. When asked what the government could do to help airlines, the Minister of Economic Development said, “What we’re looking at is how can we mitigate the impacts while making sure that we can have, still, a strong summer season, and that we can really bounce back.” We did not see anything.

On March 19, 2020, then finance minister Bill Morneau said, “We will be refining what we’ve done, we will be thinking about next steps. We are working hard with the airline sector.” Still, there was no plan. On March 20, the Prime Minister's government promised a plan to help the industry that would follow an $82 billion aid package that was announced earlier that week, yet still nothing happened.

For months we heard empty promises from the government. Devastating actions were occurring in the airline sector, yet there was no plan. Finally, when we saw not even plans, but deals with specific airlines begin to emerge as brought forward previously in the House by the member for Sarnia—Lambton, we found out the government was incapable of creating deals without taking care that there would be no executive compensation.

When I demanded a plan for the airline sector in the House several times over, I made my demands clear: support for regional routes, protection of workers and, most importantly, making sure that taxpayer funds were not used for executive bonuses. However, Air Canada, with which an agreement was negotiated, was awarded $10 million to give bonuses to executives, and the government was incapable of excluding this when it made its plan.

I wish I could say this was the only incident of government incompetence when it comes to executive bonuses. We found out, not a week later, that Nav Canada handed out $7 million in executive bonuses after laying off 700 workers and increasing airport fees by 30%.

I wish the incompetence stopped there, but it did not, and I can see why the Minister of Transport did not show his face in the House today.

I currently have five letters outstanding to the Minister of Transport. The first one is on a pleasure craft operating competency program. Changes were going to be made in the operation of pleasure craft, which was bringing stress and strain to tourist and boating operations all across the country. There was no response from the Minister of Transport on this letter. Regarding electronic logging devices, on which we have seen legislation come into place, a letter has been sent to him, and there has been no response from him.

On ballast water regulations, which are having a major effect on shipping, which is—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry. The hon. member for Yukon is rising on a point of order.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Madam Speaker, I thought the member mentioned the presence or absence of a person—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member will have to come back to another point of order. He does not have his headset on, and I would ask him to do that.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Madam Speaker, I thought the member mentioned the presence or absence of someone in the House. That is not allowed at this time, is it?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry if I missed that.

I want to remind the hon. member, if she did, that it is not allowed to mention who is or is not in the House. I actually do remember now, as I am thinking back to what the point of order is and the speech that the hon. member was saying. I want to remind the hon. member that she is not to mention who is and who is not in the House.

The hon. member for Calgary Midnapore may continue.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, I do not believe I recognized someone as being in the House or not. I was recognizing who delivered a speech. There is a difference between the two. One indicates the physical presence of someone, which is what the Standing Orders say we are not able to comment on, and the other indicates someone who gives an address. For example, because this is specifically regarding transport, I expect we would hear from the Minister of Transport. I distinguish one as being physical and the other as an individual delivering a speech. I will leave it there.

I will go back to the third letter I did not receive a response to, about ballast waters as I said, which have a major effect not only on shippers, but also on supply chains in the country. I sent this letter on May 31 and I have yet to hear a response. Again, this is more incompetence by government and the minister. I sent a letter on June 9 to the Minister of Transport regarding shipping containers, which are causing major stress for exporters as they attempt to get their goods out of the country to international markets, and I have yet to receive a response.

Most insulting not only to me, but to the individuals who asked me to take on this task, was the presentation of pins with insignias of airline sector companies that I made to the minister on March 11. I received no correspondence from him saying he had received the pins. In fact, I posted a video on social media of me delivering the pins. I was outside his door with this presentation and he never got back to me. This presentation of hundreds of company insignia pins from workers in the airlines sector who have lost their jobs is now sitting in my office if he would like to contact me to claim it.

Another example of the government's incompetence with regard to the transport sector is the reannouncement of announcements. The night before last, my staff said the Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister of Transport were making an announcement the next morning at the Macdonald-Cartier airport, and we had better be ready to respond. We did not have to be ready, because the government did what it always does: It reannounced funds that had been announced already. It made a spectacle of it in a press conference rather than following through with actions.

We have seen sign after sign of incompetence by the government, but most frustrating in this moment is the lack of a restart plan from the government not only for the airline sector, but for Canadians in general. Other jurisdictions are moving ahead. I am very disappointed that I do not have the opportunity to hear from the Minister of Transport at this time in this regard.

Health Canada's expert advisory panel released its chart on conditions for entry into Canada on May 27. This was weeks ago, and we still have not heard any announcement by the government as to the timelines and thresholds tied to this announcement and the report from Health Canada's expert—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

Unfortunately, the hon. member's time has expired. I am sure she can add more during questions and comments.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the frustration that my colleague has shared regarding the government's response.

A company in my riding of Edmonton Strathcona is using the wage subsidy program to pay for scab labour so it can lock its workers out. Like her, I have brought up many times to the Deputy Prime Minister that I would like the government to close this loophole, and I have heard nothing.

Could the member comment on why she thinks the government refuses to close loopholes, refuses to make the plans that need to happen and refuses to do its work?

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, I know the hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona, like myself and the leader of the official opposition, share a commitment to Canada's workers. She is right that the government, in not coming up with a reopening plan for the nation, is leaving all of Canada's workers in the lurch.

I stand beside her in the hopes that the government soon will pay attention to Canada's workers and come up with a plan, not only for the workers of Canada but for all Canadians.

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

Madam Speaker, the member spoke about no plan for the airline industry. I put a question to the Minister of Transport about the cruise ship industry. He had a plan. His plan was to start in springtime of 2022. He was totally blasé, not recognizing that it is a $2.6 billion industry. It would not even allow for technical stops.

Does the member have any comments about that?

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his advocacy for the cruise line sector in British Columbia, which also serves the cruise line sector across Canada, of course, because other ports are affected.

The cruise line industry was clear with the government, when U.S. legislators put in temporary legislation, that action was necessary, yet it did not act. Now we see an effort from the U.S. government to perpetually halt these technical stops, which will have a devastating effect on the cruise line sector in Canada. The industry has indicated to us that it must have government response immediately, at the very latest in October, or else its next season will be ruined as well.

The member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge and I are begging the government for action in regard to the loss of these technical stops, in perpetuity.

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

Madam Speaker, I have a quick question regarding the implementation of a vessel arrival system. We have freighters parked all over the Southern Gulf Islands. This is costing Prairie farmers $23 million a year to have freighters parked, waiting to get into the Vancouver port.

Does the hon. member think we should have more efficient use of our port to save these Prairie grain farmers money?

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, during my conversations with port authorities, they told me that there were gluts of anchorage all along the western coast as a result of this pandemic. Once again, it falls upon the federal government to find solutions to these problems. I hope it starts to do that.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise today and take this opportunity to share my thoughts on the recently tabled transportation estimates. These estimates, which are based upon budget 2021, have failed to present the needed road map and economic recovery plan that would lead us out of this pandemic in a timely manner. Not surprisingly, these estimates are just as disappointing as the budget itself.

Transportation is a critical component to our travel and tourism industry. Without the important role played by the transportation sector, Canadians and international visitors alike would be unable to experience the amazing sights, culture, landscapes, attractions and history that Canada has to offer. While a great number of provinces and territories are getting closer to a reopening of their economies, with plans in place, the federal government's lack of preparedness in its own jurisdiction poses a major obstacle in accelerating our economic reopening progress as a nation.

Let us take the Canadian cruise ship industry for example. Last February, the Minister of Transport banned cruise ship activity in Canada for a full year, without even considering whether health conditions could improve faster to allow the industry to resume earlier and salvage part of the late summer or early fall season this year. Instead, it was a blanket ban for a full year. Meanwhile, the Americans took this issue with an approach much different and far more optimistic. They could restart their American industry much sooner and responsibly before Canada's cruise ban ends in February 2022.

Consequently, our neighbours to the south have recently introduced legislation to allow American cruise ships to bypass Canadian ports on the west coast during voyages between Seattle and Alaska. As a result, Canada's west coast cruise industry is at risk of losing its spot in this marketplace. There is a real fear that these proposed changes could one day become permanent, which would have a devastating impact on Canadian coastline economies. Thousands of jobs in the tourism and maritime service industry rely on the safe operation of cruise ships between Canada and the United States.

As the American cruise ship industry begins to resume safe operations and with Canadian industry making it clear that a plan is urgently needed to save its 2022 season, there is still no safe restart strategy for cruise ships in Canada. We can blame the federal Liberals and their indifference and naivety for the unnecessary turmoil and economic loss.

Another example of the federal government's lack of preparedness can be found in its transportation consideration at our international land border crossings. There are four major international bridge crossings in my Niagara Falls riding alone. These include the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, the Rainbow Bridge and Whirlpool Bridge in Niagara Falls, and the Queenston and Lewiston Bridge in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Before COVID, all four bridges were critical in facilitating travellers and trade in a timely manner. However, since COVID, all four bridges have struggled greatly without emergency financial assistance from our federal government.

When the American federal government stepped up to support the bridge authorities on its side of the Niagara River, financial aid from our federal government was nowhere in sight. I have written to the minister about this issue and still no action has been taken. One would imagine that CBSA officers who are front line, outward facing and essential workers would be prioritized by the federal government, their employer, to get vaccinated earlier. Instead, vaccines only began to arrive in Niagara for CBSA officers a few weeks ago, and this only happened after I asked the minister responsible about this in question period. It should not be this hard.

Another border challenge involving transportation is quickly coming and it will be here before we know it. In my discussions with local bridge authorities, there is a major concern about how the logistics of reopening these bridges and testing travellers will work from a border management perspective. What is to be avoided from their perspective is a plan that will result in border delays so long and dreadful that it may deter U.S. travellers from coming into Canada altogether. That is why we have been asking for months now for the government to present a safe and responsible federal reopening plan. When will this be announced?

As I have said many times in the House, COVID-19 hit our travel and tourism industry first, it hit it the hardest and it will take this industry the longest time to recover. These estimates are tone deaf to the fact that we are still fighting this pandemic nearly 15 months after it started. In addition to lacking any coordinated effort of sense of a recovery plan, there is scant to no mention of sector specific support measures for those hardest hit in our transportation sector.

Let us take motor coach buses for example. This industry has been a key component for connecting Canadians and visitors in rural and remote areas to the larger urban centres and beyond. However, COVID has been relentless against this sector.

It is no coincidence that on May 13, in the midst of a severe third wave of this pandemic, Greyhound Canada announced it was permanently cutting all bus routes across the country and shutting down its intercity bus operations after nearly a century of service.

An article in BNN Bloomberg reads, “The decision is a blow to rural and remote areas that rely on a patchwork of private intercity bus companies for transportation.”

Many Canadians, including the most vulnerable, live in rural or remote regions that depend heavily on these bus services to travel large distances between smaller towns and urban areas. As Greyhound continues to operate in the United States, it is difficult not to place the blame squarely on the dire economic situation in Canada that we face because of the Prime Minister's third wave.

The operators of Double Deck Tours, a local business in my riding, have also written to me. It is Niagara Falls' oldest tour company and it provides fully guided tours of the attractions, events and sights of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. They write:

Given the impacts of COVID’s third wave on our economy and the absence of a coordinated border reopening plan, we are facing the possibility of having to rely exclusively on limited local business and a summer with ongoing restrictions. This will significantly reduce our recovery trajectory and our ability to replace these subsidies with revenues. The limited opportunity presented by a restricted summer will not be sufficient for businesses to accrue the liquidity required to make it to summer 2022, our next peak travel period.

Pressure is mounting on this issue. Earlier this week, the Canadian press reported that Canadian business leaders were demanding a plan from Ottawa to reopen our borders and our economy now. Perrin Beatty, the chief executive officer of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, is quoted as calling Canada an outlier in failing to provide a fully fledged reopening plan that includes vaccination rates and other criteria.

What are the Liberals waiting for? We need them to coordinate and co-operate among themselves with industry, with business leaders and with our international partners to come up with a safe and responsible reopening plan so we can get life back to normal as quickly as possible. Canadian businesses and industries are eagerly seeking clarity and certainty from their federal government. Instead, it is becoming more clear by the day that the federal leadership, in this regard, is sorely absent.

Transportation, travel and tourism are among some of the hardest-hit sectors of our economy. It is going to take some time for them to recover. In fact, many businesses in these sectors are in survival mode, while they watch other parts of our economy reopen more quickly. The reality is that travel and tourism will not restart overnight. While 2019 was a record year for many Canadian tourism businesses, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada estimates it could take until at least 2025 before 2019 levels are achieved again. The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada fears it could lose nearly 30 years of economic progress in its sector if more emergency financial support is not provided soon by the federal government.

Before this pandemic, Canada's travel and tourism industry was the country's fifth-largest sector, responsible for $105 billion in revenue, or 2.3% of GDP. It employed one in 10 Canadians, or 10% of Canadian jobs, and had 225,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Canada. It is terrible to see how much economic damage, loss, suffering and setback have been caused by this prolonged 15-month pandemic. It is even more terrible to know that our federal government, whose key responsibility is to protect its citizens and Canadian interests, was not ready to protect us at the start, and 15 long months later, it remains unprepared to provide a clear plan forward on safely and responsibly reopening our economy and our borders.

It should never be lost on any Canadian that the Liberal government prorogued Parliament last summer in the midst of a national pandemic health crisis. Let that resonate for a moment; think about it. Canadians deserve so much better, and Canada's Conservatives are ready and prepared to deliver the governance and leadership they so badly deserve.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages (Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency)]

Madam Speaker, I have two questions.

First, tourism is very important to me too, and we would like the border open. What day does the member think the border should be open?

Second, I support a number of the issues the member had, and the answers the government has for them: the new rural transportation initiative related to buses; the record trade corridors program; the billion dollars targeted for tourism, a targeted tourism part of our RRRF; and increases to Destination Canada for tourism.

However, the member made a good point that we need these supports in place and they will not be in place without the budget. Has he encouraged his colleagues to support the budget quickly, because those supports run out this month?

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Speaker, in terms of the budget, this government is in control of its own legislative agenda. It prorogued Parliament last summer. That was six weeks of delay right there, and this budget is the first budget that we have seen in two years. Let that resonate for a moment.

I can tell the member that I was disappointed by the funding provided for the tourism sector. It is $1 billion for a sector of our economy that generates $105 billion. It is simply a pittance and it is not what is required for our sector moving forward. In my community alone, there are 44,000 workers and 16,000 hotel rooms that depend on the tourism economy. Let this resonate for a second: We generate in Niagara alone $2.4 billion in tourism receipts.

What this government provided for tourism is not sufficient and will not support the sector.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Tourism is also very important in my region, particularly in the Lower St. Lawrence and the Gaspé. One of the problems businesses are facing is a labour shortage. They are hoping to get help from temporary foreign workers, but it is a very complicated process.

I think my colleague would agree that the departments are working in silos. The Department of Health ran into complications related to COVID-19 testing and quarantines. Then, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship obviously did not do enough to bring in temporary foreign workers, and when it comes to economic development, they are investing in everything but the small businesses that really need it.

I would like to hear my colleague's comments on that.