Francesco Sorbara

[Proceedings on the Bill Entitled an Act Relating to Certain Measures in Response to COVID-19, September 28th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I have come to know my colleague from York—Simcoe very well since he was elected. It is nice to see that member of Parliament.

My focus, as I alluded to in my speech, is to make sure we assist those Canadians who remain impacted by COVID-19, like the individual I spoke about who was in an insecure housing situation and lost their job. We need to continue to support our most vulnerable Canadians. That is the focus that I am here for today. That is the focus this Parliament is about. Let us get this done and assist those Canadians who remain impacted by COVID-19.

[Proceedings on the Bill Entitled an Act Relating to Certain Measures in Response to COVID-19, September 28th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague, the member for Davenport.

It is with great pleasure that I rise today to speak on measures that we have been putting in place relating to the economic recovery in response to COVID-19. This legislation is vital to the government's ongoing economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now more than six months into the worst health and economic crisis of our lifetime.

We talk about many of the programs that have been put in place, whether it is the CEWS, the CERB or the CECRA. Behind those acronyms are faces, names, individuals and families. There is one such individual's story I want to share because it brings home the importance of what we do here today and what it means to Canadians at home from coast to coast to coast.

A mother of two boys, who I met with during the campaign, said she would be losing her job because of COVID-19. She worked at a restaurant in another riding, the riding of Newmarket—Aurora, and the restaurant had shut down. This was her primary income. She pays rent every month for her housing. She asked me what she should do. I told her that our government was coming up with a response to help Canadians like herself from coast to coast to coast, and we came up with the CERB. That $2,000 a month allowed her and her two boys to stay in their house. When she went to bed at night, she would not have to worry about what would happen when the end of the month came and she had to pay her rent.

When we debate the measures that are put in place for our economic recovery, members of Parliament need to take a step back to ensure that what we are doing is helping Canadians, like this individual in my riding, ensuring they have a roof over their heads, that they can pay their electricity bills at the end of the month, that they can get themselves going, that we can get them through this and get them back to work when it is safe to do so.

Businesses were closed, food supply chains were disrupted, the country's health care system was under a lot of stress, and continues to be under enormous strain. Children were let out of school and many families and individuals were coping with the reduction of their income. People have been hit hard. The last few months have been difficult for many people and businesses across the country. From day one, the government has taken extraordinary actions to protect Canadians and now our economy.

The COVID-19 economic response plan is one of the most comprehensive in the world. It represents 15.8% of our GDP. Our plan for helping Canadians is to continue helping them. The plan promises to protect millions of jobs in our country and to provide support for families. It also promises to keep businesses afloat across the country.

There are now encouraging signs. Our children, and my children thankfully, and grandchildren are in school, again having structure, and many Canadians are back to work. We are seeing a gradual reopening of the economy, but the recovery from the pandemic will take time. We are living with COVID and have not beat it yet. In fact, we should all heed the advice from public health officials, with the number of cases during this second wave increasing.

It is still a threat to our health and our economy. This is why Canadians must continue to be careful and listen to the advice of our public health experts. This is also why the government must continue to support Canadians and businesses, and I ask all members of Parliament to join in that effort. This is exactly what we intend to do.

Back in March, Parliament adopted the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act, which expires on September 30.

The Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act is an important part of Canada's response to COVID-19. It authorizes the government to make payments to Canadians and businesses affected by the pandemic. It allowed us to implement several of our assistance programs such as the Canada emergency response benefit. The CERB, as it is commonly known, helped eligible workers who had to stop working and those whose hours were reduced. Millions of Canadians received this taxable $2,000 benefit every four weeks in response to COVID-19.

The Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act also allowed us to give $2.5 billion to help seniors struggling because of the pandemic. It was a one-time tax repayment of $300 for those eligible for the old age security pension and an additional $200 tax-free for those eligible for the guaranteed income supplement, for a total of $500. As well, I was happy to see in the throne speech that we will be following through on the commitment to raise the old age security, when seniors hit 75, by 10%.

That legislation also paved the way for support for businesses across this country, especially our small businesses. As many members who have heard me debate and speak in the House know, the city of Vaughan, the city I reside in, and there are three MPs that represent this area, is home to over 13,000 small and medium-sized enterprise businesses, from Canadian Pacific and Saputo to Vision Plastics, Martinrea and our local corner coffee shops, pastry shops and grocery stores. Many of these businesses have utilized the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account to remain open, keep their employees employed and maintain that attachment between an employer and an employee, which we know is so important. So many experts commented on why we needed to do that 75% CEWS.

Canadians have worked their whole lives to establish businesses that serve their communities and provide good local jobs. Small businesses are not only the backbone of our economy but they define our neighbourhoods, and we all live in a neighbourhood. They give our main streets their character, owners become community leaders and they become the places we rely on to connect to one another.

It is largely thanks to the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act that we are able to give Canadians a hand, help businesses and support our economy. It is also why we are able to protect Canadians' health and safety.

Take the safe restart agreement, for example, which will help protect Canadians from future waves of COVID-19. The agreement is implemented in part through provisions in the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act, such as federal PPE purchases. The act also enabled us to fund medical research on COVID-19 and vaccine development.

As I said, the legislation was enacted in March, at the beginning of the pandemic. Six months later, we know more about the virus and its impact on our economy and on our daily lives. Millions of Canadians remain impacted and we need to be there to assist them. As our government has said, we have their backs. We have their backs through the programs and measures we have put in place, and we have their backs through the legislation that was put forward today.

We have taken extraordinary action to protect both the economy and Canadians' quality of life, but there is so much more to do. It is important for Canadians that we extend the application of the act. The extension would help the government to support Canadians and businesses through the next phase of the recovery from the pandemic. It would allow us to continue to support provinces and territories, and improve the capacity of our health system. It would allow us to keep buying personal protective equipment to help essential workers. It would allow us to continue measures to ensure that the most vulnerable Canadians have access to the supports they need. It would continue to provide support for the public health, social and economic response in our indigenous communities. It would prevent any disruption to final payments under existing programs such as the Canada emergency response benefit, as well as the purchase of personal protective equipment supplies. It would ensure, frankly, ongoing support to those who need it the most.

This bill will set the stage for recovery. It will take time for the economy to get back up to speed. Over the coming weeks and months, we will have to adapt our assistance programs in response to the pandemic. We will have to create more flexible programs that will help Canadians find work while at the same time enabling us to adapt to the latest wave of the pandemic. Step one is making sure payments under existing programs are not delayed.

I invite all members of the House to support this bill.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, September 25th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, over the last few months, our government, during this most extraordinary and unique time in our country and the world's history, has worked in partnership with the provinces from coast to coast to coast. With the safe restart agreement, we have contributed $19 billion to provinces, and there is a further $2 billion for provinces to help restart their educational systems. My two daughters have gone back to school and I am thankful for that.

These partnerships, including with the Canadian Armed Forces, which were asked by the provinces of Ontario and Quebec to assist, have shown how this country works, how it comes together in a time of great need and responds in a very compassionate and diligent manner.

What does my hon. colleague think of the co-operation and partnership that have existed for the last several months and continue to proceed forward?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

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

When we look at our government's actions to date with the safe restart agreement, we see that $19 billion has been given to the provinces to utilize. When the provinces of Quebec and Ontario needed assistance in their long-term care facilities, we responded immediately. With that, we will continue to work constructively with all provinces in this beautiful country of ours.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I would like to tell my hon. colleague that I will visit Penticton soon. I will say that if the member has constituents who have been impacted by cyber-attacks on their accounts, please let us connect and chat about that.

The officials and individuals at the CRA are great. They are hard-working folks who have implemented the CERB and many other programs. They would not have indicated that it was the responsibility of the taxpayer. I do not agree with the member's statement.

Let us work together and solve this for any of those constituents facing this issue. They are not responsible. These are activities that were done illegally. We are there for the constituents. We are there for them and with them. I am more than happy to help you and assist you and your constituents in your office on this matter.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time today with my hon. colleague and friend, the member for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin.

It is with great privilege and humility that I rise today in the House of Commons in this most unique and extraordinary time in our country and the world's history with the onset of COVID-19.

The Speech from the Throne, I believe, is aptly called “A stronger and more resilient Canada”. Why do I say “aptly”? Frankly, it is because Canadians, like those living in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge, individual Canadians, families, seniors and businesses from coast to coast to coast, through COVID-19 have demonstrated time and again their resiliency by helping their neighbours, by helping those less fortunate. For example, Canadians have been delivering groceries to seniors, and businesses and their employees have shown resiliency by retooling quickly to ensure that our essential and front-line workers have access to the personal protective equipment they need to ensure their safety.

I wish to offer my gratitude and sincere thanks to the brave men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces who were called upon to assist in the crisis in our long-term care facilities caused by COVID-19, including locally in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge at the Woodbridge Vista long-term care facility. My heart goes out to those families who lost loved ones at these long-term care facilities. We must do better. I fully support our government working with the provinces to establish pertinent, national standards to ensure all our seniors the ability to live with dignity, respect and safety in a long-term care facility. On behalf of the residents in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge, I wish to thank members of the CAF for their ongoing service to Canada and for their assistance to our seniors who sacrificed so much to help build this country.

My riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge and the city of Vaughan is home to a dynamic business community, and I would argue one of the most entrepreneurial in this country. Many of these businesses and their workers, in response to COVID-19, quickly retooled and produced the much-needed PPE, including masks, protective shields and hand sanitizer. A big thanks to the Woodbridge Foam Company, Magnotta Winery, Last Straw Distillery, Campio Group and Ben Machine Products, to name a few.

The throne speech pledges to build a more resilient Canada, a Canada that we know is blessed, diverse and inclusive, but remains a work in progress. Our government will ramp up significantly the ongoing investments in infrastructure, be it in the areas of public transit, building retrofits, clean energy and affordable housing. These investments will create jobs, grow our economy and ensure a more competitive economy.

My riding is home to the training facilities of the leading and largest construction unions in the province of Ontario. Those unions, such as LiUNA Local 183, Local 27 of the Carpenters & Allied Workers Union and all the building and trade unions and their members I know will be there, as they always are, to train the workforce needed to build a resilient and inclusive Canada. Men and women working in the trades across this country through COVID-19 have continued day in and day out to build the communities we call home, and I thank them.

We all know of the economic toll of COVID-19. At the height of the initial stages of the pandemic, nearly 5.5 million Canadian workers were impacted, with three million losing their jobs. An additional 2.5 million workers were required to be absent from work. Our government responded quickly and firmly. Close to nine million Canadians were helped through the Canada emergency response benefit. An additional 3.5 million Canadians were supported and continue to be supported by the Canada emergency wage subsidy, CEWS.

The Governor of the Bank of Canada commented on September 10, 2020 that:

Measures like CERB and wage-support programs have replaced lost incomes, providing a cushion for many families, especially low-income households. To help during the reopening of the economy, the government has extended its wage subsidy program and is changing CERB into an expanded employment insurance program. These programs are keeping workers connected to employers and the unemployed connected to the labour force, supporting our recovery.

He goes on to further state that:

The economy is benefiting from considerable fiscal support to protect the most vulnerable, replace lost income and subsidize wages.

We know much work remains and needs to be done, particularly with the 1.1 million Canadians whose livelihoods remain impacted by COVID-19. Canadian workers and their families know that our government has their backs, full stop. We will continue to fully support workers and businesses through the crisis, as indicated in the throne speech, as long as it lasts and whatever it takes.

I reject the notion from the other side that we must put in place measures for austerity and that we must not invest in Canadians and Canada at this time when we face a pandemic, a unique and extraordinary time both here in Canada and in the world. For the short term, we must strengthen Canada's social safety net and ensure proper investment in our health care system, and we continue to do that in partnership with the provinces. In the medium and longer term we need to focus on implementing policies that drive economic growth and job creation.

As someone who worked in the financial markets, I believe in the private sector and the wonders of economic growth. Before COVID, we in Canada had generated over a million jobs and driven the unemployment rate to record low levels. We will get there again. With that, it is constructive to see the support from both business and labour organizations for the announcement in the throne speech that the CEWS will be extended through next summer. Perrin Beatty, the president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, applauded the extension of the CEWS and other measures, including national leadership on child care funding to enable women to more fully participate in the labour force and the government's focused campaign to create one million jobs, restoring employment to previous levels.

The city of Vaughan is home to over 12,000 SMEs, employing tens of thousands of Canadians, and every day these business owners place all their efforts into the success of their businesses. I applaud them. These entrepreneurs and their employees know that they have a strong voice in Ottawa and that their concerns and ideas are being heard, much like the introduction of the CEBA, the CECRA, the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the CERB.

With the remaining time, I would like to comment on our government's plans to strengthen our social fabric so that all Canadians have an equality of opportunity and are able to achieve their full potential. Whether it is investments empowering Black entrepreneurs, whom we know face hurdles in accessing capital and unleashing their full potential; making significant long-term sustained investments to create a Canada-wide early learning and child care system; or investing in skills training, our government is there to move our economy forward and to ensure a brighter future for all Canadians across this blessed country.

We need a system of child care and options available for parents that ensure and achieve social and economic equality for women. The labour force participation rate for women was impacted profoundly by COVID-19 and we need to repair that damage. We know our full economic potential is only achieved when all Canadians are able to participate in the workforce and not held back by barriers, such as child care availability or affordability. I applaud la belle province on its child care program. As indicated in the throne speech, we need to learn from it.

As noted in a report today by Scotiabank:

The Quebec experience has demonstrated that universal, low-cost childcare removes a substantial barrier to workforce participation for many women, paying economic (and fiscal) dividends. It can also increase household disposable income and indirectly alleviate housing affordability pressures.

Now I would like to speak about seniors.

Over the first session of Parliament, we helped our seniors. We restored the age of eligibility for OAS and GIS, which the Conservatives had raised from 65 to 67. We brought it back to 65. That is nearly $15,000 more in the pockets of future retirees. We increased the guaranteed income supplement by 10% for our most vulnerable seniors, lifting thousands of them out of poverty. Now we have again committed to introducing old age security, increasing it by 10% for those seniors when they hit 75. We know that when seniors age and get to 75, or in and around that mark, they face increased pressures and costs, and we are there to help them.

We have done much over the decades, and all parties have, to lower poverty in seniors across Canada. We know that those who are still in poverty tend to be widowed or single seniors, most of them women. We have promised to work with our provinces to strengthen the CPP survivor benefit. That is a measure that I applaud the government in undertaking. These, along with other measures that were implemented, have driven poverty levels to record low levels for our seniors.

We will be there to assist them. They are my parents, and they are, to me, the greatest generation that helped build this country.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, March 10th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians' data information is of paramount importance to our government, as data should be to any government throughout the world. We have very strict guidelines on privacy and how we use data, with PIPEDA being one of the regulations that govern Canadian data.

I am in full support of provisions ensuring that corporate behaviour remains good, if I can use that term, and follows all the rules when business is practised. I am not a big believer in, nor do I fully condone, any sort of corporate cronyism, as I will coin it. For me this is about corporations following the rules. Individuals have to do it, so corporations have to do it.

With regard to attracting workers to Canada, I welcome investments by Google, SAP, SAS and Mastercard. We are generating good middle-class jobs in Canada in sectors that are going to lead growth, and we want to make sure this is happening here and not in other jurisdictions.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, March 10th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member from Jonquière for his question.

First of all, on CUSMA, the cultural exemption was maintained in the deal. We know how important that is for Quebec's economy and its cultural sector, which is very large and employs, I believe, over 75,000 workers.

With regard to the aluminum sector, I had the pleasure many years ago of visiting the Alma smelter, which I think is in the Lac Saint-Jean region. I spent a couple of days there touring the plant. It is beautiful to see how it harnesses the power of our natural resources.

I would like to answer the member's question directly with a comment from Mr. Simard, the president and CEO of the Aluminum Association of Canada. With regard to the revised USMCA, or CUSMA, he stated, “We think the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) is the right way to go.”

I believe we need the support of all parties in the House to provide certainty not only to the steel and aluminum sectors, but to all sectors in Canada and all workers.

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, March 10th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise to speak to Bill C-4, an act to implement the agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.

We must ask parliamentarians to come together and join our partners in the United States and Mexico and ratify this agreement. We need to ratify it expeditiously and ensure certainty for businesses and, more important, ensure certainty for employees across this beautiful country we call home. It is of paramount importance.

I recommend all my colleagues and all Canadians watching read the economic impact assessment on the new NAFTA, the CUSMA. I will read some of the preamble, which states:

The final CUSMA outcome effectively achieved Canada’s overarching objectives by preserving key elements of NAFTA, modernizing and updating the Agreement to support Canada’s access to and integration with the North American economy, providing important stability and predictability with respect to overall market access, and addressing the harmful impacts of U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as threats of similar tariffs on automobiles and auto parts.

I am sharing my time today with my hon. colleague, friend and mentor, the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek.

Two aspects of the agreement need to be highlighted as we begin the debate in the House. These are of paramount importance to the New Democratic Party, the Conservatives, the Greens, the Bloc and the Liberals.

The first is that this would ensure Canada's trading partners in North America would maintain high levels of labour and environmental protection. This agreement has bipartisan support in the United States between Democrats and Republicans. It has been ratified already by the United States and Mexico. It has support from our major unions in Canada, Unifor, Canadian Labour Congress. The agreement is a win for the environment. It is a win for labour. It is a win for hard-working middle-class Canadians from coast to coast to coast. It is a win for our businesses to help grow our economy and keep it moving forward.

Second, the agreement would strengthen the state-to-state dispute settlement mechanism between parties and would ensure that disputes would be settled in an effective and efficient manner. This is all contained in the impact assessment that was done by Global Affairs. It is a great read, is quite insightful and it provides an overview of where we will go with this agreement and how it will benefit all three trading partners and their workers.

We all know we live in a world that is currently seeing a lot of uncertainty with COVID-19. I want to express my sincere appreciation and full support to our health professionals in Canada and across the world who are on the front lines of the situation we are facing. I pray for them and thank them again for what they do.

Many of my colleagues will know that I am economist by training. I worked globally in Toronto, New York City and spent time in Europe before I entered politics. In my view, Canada, its workers and businesses are well positioned to handle the evolving economic environment or landscape. As a country, we will continue to succeed and grow as a people and our economy. We will continue to create jobs.

I witnessed first-hand the tech boom and bust, the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, which at one point our U.S. neighbours to the south were losing several hundred thousand jobs a month. Thankfully coordinated action by the Federal Reserve, under Ben Bernanke, central bankers everywhere and policies pursued by the Obama administration staved off what I believe would have been a second global depression.

As parliamentarians, we must understand how interconnected the global economy is and with that how interconnected the global energy sector is. We have all read the headlines. There are many forces at work currently in the global energy markets, and I wish to begin part of my speech and speak to the importance of Canada's energy sector to Canada's economy today and in the years and decades to come.

CUSMA guarantees access for Canadian products and services to the United States, keeps barrier-free from happening and is good for our energy sector among all other sectors, such as auto, aluminum, steel, dairy, services, intellectual property, etc.

I would like to express my thanks to all of Canada's energy and mineral mining sector workers, whether it be those in the oil sands sector, those working in the western Canadian sedimentary basin, those mining uranium, those maintaining our nuclear plants in Ontario and those working on the TMX pipeline or on the Coastal GasLink, which will supply LNG to the Asian markets, displacing coal and thus reducing the world's global greenhouse gas emissions.

We speak about climate change. We speak about saving our planet. We speak about moving forward. One of those aspects is displacing coal through LNG and that needs to happen so we can get to where we need to be.

CUSMA provides the energy sector, auto sector, our tremendously hard-working dairy farmers, steel and aluminum sector workers and the entire Canadian economy with certainty. However, again, let us focus on Canada's energy sector, which accounts for a very large portion of the two-way trade between Canada and the United States and for a very large portion of the trade between all three countries.

Here are a few facts about how important the energy sector is to the Canadian economy.

As of 2018, Canada's energy sector directly employed more than 269,000 people and indirectly supported over 550,500 jobs. It is all on NRCan's website and I encourage Canadians who want to analyze how important this sector is to take a quick look. That is over 800,000 good, middle-class jobs, with the overwhelming majority providing good wages and benefits to families across Canada.

According to 2018 statistics, the energy sector accounts for over 11%, or $230 billion, of Canada's nominal GDP. Direct revenues from energy to governments totalled over $14 billion in 2018.

As an economist, one measure I like to see is our merchandise trade statistics that are published monthly. In 2019, the Canadian oil and gas sector generated a trade surplus of $76 billion for our economy. That is money flowing into our economy to pay for schools, bridges and roads and to maintain our high standard of living. We can compare this to the auto sector, which is so important for Ontario, that has a trade deficit of $20 billion.

Behind that $76-billion trade surplus, Canada is the sixth-largest world's energy producer, the fifth-largest net exporter and the eighth-largest consumer of energy. Frankly, energy drives our economy, our daily lives and our standard of living.

Total energy exports in 2018 were $132 billion versus $55 billion of imports, with oil and gas exports at $118 billion of which 95% were to the U.S. Notably, we export energy products to approximately 148 countries and 90% of that goes to the United States.

Human capital is a paramount strength of Canada, its people, its diversity, the ability to be an inclusive society and strengthen our economy. That is what makes our country a blessed place to live. When we also include Canada's natural capital resources, whether it is our agricultural sector, our forestry sector, hydroelectric power driven by our rivers and waterways, the mineral and energy wealth our country, Canada and its citizens are blessed and our potential when we work together is endless.

The new free trade deal between the three countries provides certainty to over $1.4 trillion, and growing, in trade volumes. Trade generates jobs, grows our economy and ensures a bright future for all children, including my own.

The world is becoming more interconnected. Our trade deals, CETA, CPTPP and CUSMA allow us preferential access to 1.5 billion individuals across the world. They allow us to continue to export our goods and services. Canada is a magnet for immigration. The best and brightest want to work here. They want to invent. They want to raise their families here. They want to call Canada home, and we welcome them.

On that front, CUSMA will allow us to move forward. When I read the economic impact assessment produced by Global Affairs, I saw what we have done, what the team under Steve Verheul has done. I applaud them. I applaud the Deputy Prime Minister for her steadfast commitment to ensuring a great deal for Canadian workers and businesses.

I have heard from all sectors and stakeholders in our economy and they all want this deal to pass. Whether it is the Chamber of Commerce, both locally and Canada-wide, or Unifor or the Canadian Labour Congress, they all want certainty. In this period of time, we need certainty for our economy. This deal would deliver it.

I look forward to debate this week and participating in it, commencing with today's speech. We know we need to provide certainty for our workers and literally the millions of Canadians whose livelihoods depend on trade with the United States and Mexico.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the member is from British Columbia, which is my home province. I grew up there before I moved to Ontario. My family lives in the Lower Mainland.

I am glad the hon. member highlighted our support for the TMX pipeline. I am in support of energy workers in Alberta and across this country. Nearly 10% of our GDP comes from the energy sector. We need to support those hard-working families these days when there is uncertainty in this sector. We need to show our support for those individuals working coast to coast to coast, the drill workers, carpenters and so forth. It is very important that we show support.

With regard to financing the project, we know that the existing pipeline does earn revenues and cash flow, which is helping build the second leg of the project.