Bernard Généreux

[Committees of the House, February 22nd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues from Edmonton Centre and Niagara Falls for their speeches earlier, as we use the tabling of this report highlighting the appointment of Marsha Walden to Destination Canada as an opportunity to talk about tourism in this country. I also wish to inform the House that I will be sharing my time with the member for Banff—Airdrie.

There is no question that the industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing for a year now. Our external borders remain closed to foreign visitors who may want to come and discover all the splendour of our beautiful country. No one knows when they will be able to reopen.

Travel decreased dramatically in 2020, while 2019 had been a record year. There was some hope that by increasing testing and vaccination capacity, certain degree of recovery could be expected by the summer of 2021, but when the Prime Minister admitted that the vast majority of Canadians would not be vaccinated until September 2021, that dream was shattered for many people.

It is a national disgrace that we are a G7 country that is ranked 58th in the world in terms of vaccinations. We even had to turn to the COVAX fund for third world countries because the government put all its eggs in one basket at the start of the pandemic, falsely believing that the Chinese company CanSino would come to the rescue. Consequently, we are lagging behind and find ourselves at the bottom of the list for orders for other vaccines which, as we can see in Israel, work very well.

Today we learned that even with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that are finally being delivered this week, after weeks of delay, only 8% of the Canadian population will be vaccinated by the end of March, or one month from now. This means that festivals that were cancelled from last summer onwards will not be held again this year.

This is tragic and devastating news for the events industry. The Government of Canada did create a wage subsidy, as did many other countries, and we supported this measure, but the wage subsidy program is set to expire at the end of June. What will happen then? People want predictability. That is what we hear most in our talks with the tourism industry.

I know that it is not easy to predict a reopening date when governments are making day-to-day decisions based on the infection and hospitalization rates in our communities. That is why we are so focused on vaccination. Even with borders reopened, we know that very few people will want to come if there is a risk they will get sick, because if they contract COVID-19 while on vacation, public health officials will order them to quarantine immediately for 10 days when they receive a positive test result. That is difficult to do when travelling. As we saw last spring, it was not easy to repatriate all of the Canadians who were abroad.

Meanwhile, a lot of businesses are in survival mode. They are largely dependent on programs like the emergency wage benefit, the Canada emergency rent subsidy and the Canada emergency business account.

Will the government extend the programs indefinitely? That is a good question. This year's deficit will be around $400 billion, or maybe even more. How much will it be next year because of the government's inaction? Can we get an answer? It is not certain.

The sad reality that came out of our discussions with the hospitality sector is that the wage subsidy is still not 100% effective. The program was put in place to maintain an employment relationship between workers and their employers in the hope that they would return to work quickly after the first lockdown, but that is not at all what happened.

With the pandemic, there was a major labour shortage in our regions, especially in the regions in Quebec. Many regions like mine and even those east of mine in the Gaspé had a hard time finding workers. Instead of twiddling their thumbs, some decided to switch careers to another sector. Some might say that is a good thing. After all, there are no bad jobs in this country. As our esteemed former finance minister Jim Flaherty used to say, the only bad job is not having a job. We wonder what the government plans to do post-COVID to better match up future workers with the tourism sector, because there is a real fear that if we keep the sector closed for too long, the people will leave. That is already happening.

I was speaking with people in tourism just today. It will be extremely difficult to replace all the employees.

Earlier, one of my colleagues was saying that more than 500,000 people have lost their jobs in the tourism sector and that the vast majority will not return. The future is looking extremely difficult.

In addition, the unemployment rate is still very high. Efforts will have to be made to match available workers to available jobs. Last week, Radio-Canada reported that the number of long-term unemployed workers doubled over the past year. Does the government have any plan for getting new workers into a sector that many people are likely to have left following 18 to 24 months of inactivity? I look forward to hearing what my colleagues have to say about that.

Today, I got a letter from Frédérique Guignard, a young single mom in her 30s who was in the process of taking over her family's travel agency. In her letter, she requested my help with the catastrophic situation faced by charter tour operators, whom she described as the forgotten members of the tourism industry since the pandemic hit. She explained that, because of the extended border closure and the cancellation of cultural, sports and educational travel, charter buses have stood idle for nearly a year now. She said that, over the past year, her business has lost 93% of its revenue, which amounts to $700,000.

If I were a businessman and my company was reporting losses of $700,000 this year, I would be very worried about my future. Ms. Guignard is therefore quite right to be worried about hers.

Charter tour operators carry groups formed in advance, organized mainly by wholesale travel agencies, tour operators and domestic travel agencies that book charter coach services directly or indirectly. These carriers therefore play an important role in the mobility of tourists who come to visit our beautiful province, similar to air and rail transportation.

Ms. Guignard wants to share with the House the results of a study conducted by these carriers who are well aware that bus travel will not resume any time soon. Charter tour operators were not able to take advantage of the tourist boom of the summer of 2020. As it stands now, they do not see how 2021 will be any better. This crisis is expected to last until 2022 in the travel industry. A wait that long could destroy Ms. Guignard's business, which, she said, she will no longer be able to support in terms of its organizational structure and capital costs, as they require a great deal of funding considering that a fleet of coaches represents a liability of $600,000 to $700,000 per unit. That is to say nothing of the cost of skilled labour, since Ms. Guignard had to lay off half of her staff.

I understand that the government implemented programs, programs that we supported. However, Ms. Guignard is not able to continue to operate her business because she has lost 93% of her revenue.

Many industry stakeholders are in the same boat. I have had discussions with people who work in the events industry, which includes festivals, as my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue reminded us earlier. He spoke about Val-d'Or and sugar shacks, many of which are currently at risk and think they may have to close in the coming weeks. That is extremely worrisome.

My colleague spoke earlier about flexibility. The government needs to adapt to the realities of an industry as unique as the tourism industry, which reflects the vitality of all of our regions. From Vancouver to the Gaspé or the Lower St. Lawrence, where I live, the tourism industry is an extremely important aspect of the economy. I think that we need to find ways to support it in the long term and to provide it with some predictability because it will get going again by 2022 at the latest and the government needs to be there to help it do that.

[Committees of the House, February 22nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member who represents the riding next to mine for the speech he gave, despite his immense frustration with what is currently happening in the House of Commons.

Like him, I have had conversations with people from the tourism industry over the past year. These past few weeks in particular, many of them have spoken about the need for some predictability.

One of the sector's major concerns will be the labour shortage. The tourism industry was already experiencing a labour shortage before 2020, and it has been aggravated by the fact that many people changed careers when the sector collapsed. Could my colleague tell me what came out of the conversations he had with representatives of the tourism sector in his riding?

[Telecommunications, February 5th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, the Montmagny RCM has asked me about cell coverage, which is still not getting any better in the regions.

There has been a lot of emphasis on 5G, but in Haut-Pays, Sainte-Lucie-de-Beauregard, Saint-Fabien-de-Panet and Lac-Frontière we do not even have 1G. Worse still, the government has ben radio silent, even though it raised $3.5 billion from the 600 megahertz spectrum auction.

When selling public airwaves, why did the government not ensure that regional cell network development would not be sacrificed in favour of larger cities?

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question.

The fact is that Canada is a small country. Internationally, it is a minor supplier, especially in the transportation industry. We should seek to have those percentages lowered in the United States and other countries, so we can be viable partners for them. For the last decade and a half, our region has really suffered because of the Buy American Act, and it has gotten worse in recent years.

Unfortunately, I do not think a new “Buy Canadian Act” would make things better or change our situation globally.

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

I did not talk about the agricultural industry, for example, which is still extremely upset about the most recent agreement with the United States. That agreement contains provisions that are very biased, or at least very difficult for dairy producers to manage.

This is the type of issue that could be quickly examined so that we can lay the foundation for a future renegotiation with the United States on agricultural issues.

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

I agree with him on the matter of cash flow for forestry companies. We need to look at that from the perspective of our domestic relationship, the relationship that we have within Canada, in order to support our industry, and from the perspective of the relationship that we have with the United States. All of the penalties and taxation rights imposed by the United States in recent years were extremely harmful to the industry. I believe that things have evened out a little now because the price of wood has skyrocketed over the last few weeks and months. However, the fact remains that we need to tackle these problems domestically.

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague from Kelowna—Lake Country for her excellent speech. I thank her, as well as the leader of the official opposition, for moving the motion we are debating this morning, which would create a special committee to examine the economic relationship between Canada and the United States.

For more than 200 years, our two relatively young countries have been very prosperous in large part because of shared resources representing trade estimated at $1.5 billion per day. Until recently, 300,000 people crossed our common border monthly. We shared and traded not just raw materials but also manufactured goods and expertise in many specialized fields.

It is a symbiotic and reciprocal relationship in most cases. In 2019, the United States sold us $360 billion in goods and services, and Canada sold the U.S. $358 billion in goods and services. It is a two-way relationship that was going relatively well.

However, we cannot take anything for granted. Often there is a protectionist undercurrent, which hits Canada hard every time, after the elections that are held every two years in the country of Uncle Sam, and even after the election of a new president, as we saw this year. The good relationship that we have been relying on for so long is challenged and some sectors of the economy end up targeted by bans or new punitive tariffs whose only purpose is to look good with a small minority of the American electorate or a well-organized lobby. It is unfortunate, but it happens.

I believe the new special committee we are proposing would allow Canada to set the record straight on trade and ensure that our country is not the victim of punitive measures, most of which are absolutely not deserved.

The existing Standing Committee on International Trade is very important for the Canadian economy and I commend those of my colleagues who are members. However, contentious issues between Canada and the United States are starting to pile up and could jeopardize the economic recovery we are counting on once this taxing crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us.

Allow me to name a few, starting with the softwood lumber tariffs, which affected the forestry industry across Quebec and Canada. Some companies in my riding were hit very hard. Lumber exports from Groupe Lebel in Rivière-du-Loup, Maibec and Matériaux Blanchet in Saint-Pamphile, and Bois Daaquam in Saint-Just-de-Bretenières were all unfairly slapped with a 20% U.S. customs tariff. Although these tariffs were ultimately lowered to 10%, they still cost companies like Groupe Lebel $1.5 million a month.

We are a long way from the agreement the Harper government signed in 2006, which gave the forestry industry 10 years of stability and predictability. Canada's forestry industry did not present a threat to American producers; it helped them meet the ever-growing demand. Between 2001 and 2015, before the tariffs were imposed, the American forestry industry experienced a 10% increase in demand, and demand for softwood lumber increased by 21%.

Despite the pandemic, 841,000 new residential construction projects got off the ground in the United States in 2020, which caused the demand for wood and its price to skyrocket. The U.S. forestry sector is not in crisis and Canada is certainly not going to drive down the prices, since it is only responding to demand. However, the Liberal government is just washing its hands of the whole issue and allowing the tariffs dispute to drag on in the courts, causing further delays. We believe it is important for the government to step up and commit to settling this dispute quickly with the new Biden administration.

There is also the whole Buy America issue when it comes to transportation and infrastructure, which I have raised in the past. According to U.S. rules, when a public transit network in the United States receives federal funding, it is required to buy equipment containing a minimum percentage of American content, sometimes even as much as 70%. Favouritism happens in the U.S., but not in Canada. In 2018, I raised this inequity, noting that the Liberal government, here in Canada, awarded a major contract to procure Via Rail cars from Siemens, cars that are built in California. This is in addition to Ottawa's light rail cars that were built in New York.

It is this government's duty to defend free access to the U.S. market especially for products we need, like vaccines. We also want the people of Maine and other U.S. states to have free access to the Canadian market.

Many Canadians welcomed the election of President Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris south of the border. Incidentally, she used to live in Montreal. After four years of “America First” and treaties constantly being disputed by the former president, we were hoping for a bit of calm and predictability.

Once again, however, the Prime Minister of Canada lacked the clout to get things done, and, in less time than it takes to say “Buy America”, President Biden issued new executive orders disregarding the special relationship we supposedly have enjoyed as neighbours and allies for decades. Such failures threaten Canada's economic future, and we must act quickly to defend our interests.

Several of my colleagues will address the issue of the energy industry, but I want to say loud and clear how important it is.

Keystone XL was vital for maintaining and growing Canada's revenues for a resource that will remain essential for at least 50 years, no matter what anyone says. It is unacceptable that Canada is letting tens of billions of dollars go to other countries every year, when we need that money here to fund our health care system, old age pensions and all the other services. Although members of other parties keep crying out for those things, they continue to oppose any development that would actually help fund them.

Canadians should also be worried about Enbridge Line 5 through Michigan, since it serves not only to export our oil to the United States, but also to supply southern Ontario and regions as far as Montreal. Without this safe, efficient way to supply our refineries, we could see even more ships on the St. Lawrence River in the future, close to home, which would be catastrophic. Not only would this bring us our quest for energy self-sufficiency to a standstill, but it would mean a step backwards in terms of environmental risks.

A special committee on Canada-U.S. economic relations would allow us to study all pressing issues related to international trade. The Leader of the Opposition's motion calls for this committee to convene its first meeting very soon, on February 23, since the situation is urgent.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was transport minister at the time, responded that we had no choice because of our free trade agreements with the United States. If I understand his reasoning, we cannot sell them our trains, but we will be required to purchase theirs.

The Conservative Party is not a protectionist party. We know that customs tariffs cause damage on both sides of the border because they inflate prices for everyone. We do not want to take work away from the United States. We want to join forces and share the knowledge we have acquired over the years in rail transportation.

Not only do we have the Bombardier Transport plant in La Pocatière, which was recently acquired by Alston, but we also have a wide range of suppliers, such as Prelco, in Rivière-du-Loup; Technologies Lanka and Graphie 222, in La Pocatière; the LG Cloutier Group, in L’Islet; and Usines métallurgiques and Chabot Carrosserie, in Montmagny. Each of these businesses has spent years perfecting the parts that they supply. This is a topic I am quite familiar with.

I want to add that in light of what my colleague from Kelowna—Lake Country said earlier in response to a question from the member for Edmonton Strathcona, the existing committees are all running behind on their work. This committee must be created as quickly as possible so we can ensure good governance in our relations with the United States in the coming months and years.

[Income Tax Act, February 1st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today in support of Bill C-208 introduced by my hon. colleague, the member for Brandon—Souris, to amend the Income Tax Act to facilitate the transfer of small businesses or family farms or fishing corporations.

We already knew how important this issue was when this bill was introduced for first reading in February 2020. Who would have thought that, barely a month later, COVID-19 would come along and drastically change the landscape for Canada's SMEs?

As an entrepreneur and representative of a region that consistently ranks as one of the most entrepreneurial areas in the country, I was very sad to see the latest survey that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB, released last week, warning that 181,000 small business owners in Canada were considering closing their businesses. That means one in five businesses could close down, despite all the programs and billions of dollars spent by different levels of government and the support services we have provided in our respective ridings.

This is a frightening prospect, since 2.4 milion jobs are at risk if the pandemic continues, which is why I want to reiterate how important it is that the government do whatever it takes to fix the vaccine supply problem. We cannot sit back and wait until 2022. After all, we are barely into 2021.

Workers in the tourism and cultural sector are very much on my mind. Last year was devastating for them. The federal government really needs to get creative with its vaccine strategy, and it needs to do it fast so we can at least hope for some degree of recovery for the sector this summer.

September is too late, and 2022 is even worse. Until very recently, small and medium-sized businesses were the backbone of our economy. They created more than 77% of all new jobs between 2002 and 2012. As a Conservative, I am very proud of the Harper government for creating an environment that helped SMEs grow by reducing the corporate tax rate from 22% to 15%, lowering the small business tax rate to 11%, and increasing the income limit for applying this tax rate from $300,000 to $500,000.

As a business owner who created nearly 30 printing and communications jobs in my region, I understand the importance of ensuring our tax system encourages entrepreneurship.

It is important to understand what motivates entrepreneurs to risk all of their savings and their financial security to set up or buy a new business. People go into business for a variety of reasons. Some are motivated by their passion, while others see a service gap in their community that needs to be filled. However, most people go into business to provide for their family, with the hope that, one day, their children will be able to take over the business and build a better future.

In my case, I intend to one day transfer my family business to my daughter, of whom I am obviously very proud. However, I was very surprised to learn that, under the existing Income Tax Act of Canada, it would be better for me to sell my business to a stranger than to a member of my own family. When a business is sold to a family member, the difference between the sale price and the original price of the business is considered a dividend and is taxable at 100%. However, if the sale is between two strangers, the difference is considered a capital gain, only half of which is taxed. What is more, in Canada, the lifetime capital gains exemption that normally applies to small and medium-sized businesses does not apply when the business is sold to a family member.

What message are we sending? Are we trying to discourage people from going to business? I am not the only one asking these questions. According to a 2012 CFIB study, approximately 310,000 business owners, or around 30%, planned to sell or transfer their business within five years. That figure jumped to around 550,000 within 10 years. The figure may have changed during the COVID-19 crisis, which makes passing Bill C-208 all the more urgent for the many family businesses whose future is at stake. It is already bad enough that so many businesses plan to hand their keys over to creditors during this economic crisis.

We must not allow the unfairness in the Income Tax Act to force so many small businesses to hand their keys over to the government. According to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, “Over $50 billion in farm assets are set to change hands over the next 10 years”. That does not even include the more than 8,000 family farms that have already folded in the past 10 years. Just half of them had a succession plan. As the population ages, three in four farmers plan to retire in the next decade. We need to act quickly to fix this anomaly in the Income Tax Act to prepare for the demographic reality we are facing, in the agricultural sector especially.

That is why I support Bill C-208, introduced by my colleague from Brandon—Souris, and I urge the Liberals to do the same. I remind my colleagues that during the 42nd Parliament, we debated a similar bill that had been introduced by Guy Caron, the former member of Parliament for a riding next to mine. This is a unifying bill. This is not a left or right issue; it unites us all.

I would like to remind members that Bill C-274 received the support of the Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, but was defeated by the Liberals, who had a majority at the time, because they heeded the advice of public servants rather than that of the people who elected them. Many organizations across Quebec support the bill. The Association des marchands dépanneurs et épiciers du Québec has spoken out against the current situation, and the Union des producteurs agricoles and the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal both indicated that they supported the bill.

This issue was also brought to my attention during the last campaign, in 2019, when I met with UPA producers in Cap-Saint-Ignace, which is in my riding. Last Friday, I received an email from Andre Harpe of Grain Growers of Canada asking us to support Bill C-208.

I want to point out that the agriculture sector is following the debate very closely today. As the saying goes, better late than never. If the Liberal Party really wants to back SMEs, it must support this bill and pass it quickly because Bill C-208 will ensure that all these family businesses will continue to operate and remain intact by facilitating their intergenerational transfer. If this does not happen, a Conservative government will have no problem ensuring that it does.

I would add that with the speeches my colleagues made ahead of me, I think it is clear that the Liberals have no choice but to move forward and support this bill. In any event, they are in a minority. We will move forward with this bill. Whatever it may cost to implement it, not doing so would cost even more, because the value and pride that comes from handing down a family business is priceless. Considering that for the most part, all Canadian businesses started as family businesses, that they represent 90% of the Canadian economy, and that they are the backbone of Canadian entrepreneurship and businesses with fewer than 10 employees, it is essential that people be able to transfer these businesses to members of their own family without being penalized.

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, several cases of CERB fraud have been identified in the past two weeks. Some people have had their employment insurance files frozen. Both the Canada Revenue Agency and Service Canada have completely unacceptably wait times to get through on the phone. It feels like we have gone back to the beginning of the pandemic.

The government has had months to prepare, so why has it not put enough staff on the phone lines to handle people's files?

[Community Organizations in Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, Guy Drouin from CDC Ici Montmagny L'Islet, Lysanne Tanguay from the Centre d'entraide familiale de la MRC de Montmagny, Karine Jean from the Carrefour d'initiatives populaires de Rivière-du-Loup, Christiane Vincent from the Centre d'action bénévole des Seigneuries, Bernard Gaudreau from the Comité de la famille et des aînés de la Ville de Montmagny, Mireille Lizotte from Moisson Kamouraska, Gilles A. Pelletier from Saint-Vincent-de-Paul de Rivière-du-Loup, Paule Giasson from the Maison de secours La Frontière, Daniel Darveau from Soupe au bouton, Mélanie Dumont from the CDC du Kamouraska and all their employees and big-hearted volunteers work to provide food services to people in need, particularly during the Christmas season. I thank them for that. Without them, our communities would not be what they are today. With the help of my friend Francis Paradis, I myself was able to deliver Christmas hampers last year. When everyone is going through hard times, sharing is good for the soul.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your commitment to others, and thank you to the generous donors.