Marty Morantz

[Income Tax Act, November 4th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Finance, in her comments earlier, seemed to take comfort in the fact that interest rates were so low. My colleague commented on interest rates as well. Could he further expand on the catastrophic effect a rise in interest rates will have, at some point in the future, on the fiscal position of the Government of Canada?

[Petitions, November 4th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise to present this petition, which calls on the House of Commons to formally recognize that Uighurs in China have been and are being subjected to genocide, and to use the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, the Magnitsky act, to sanction those who are responsible for the heinous crimes being committed against the Uighur people.

[Foreign Affairs, November 4th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, for weeks the Conservatives have been asking questions about Canadian drone systems that have been diverted to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in violation of international treaties. We know that on April 23 the Prime Minister spoke with the President of Turkey. Pictures of these drone systems have now appeared in The Globe and Mail. Canadians deserve answers.

Did the Prime Minister agree to the Turkish President's request to approve these systems for export, yes or no?

[Veterans' Week, November 4th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, November 5 marks the beginning of Veterans' Week.

During this time, we remember the brave men and women who have put on the uniform. We must remember the sacrifices they made to protect the freedom of those they would never meet or know.

Earlier this year, members of the Canadian Armed Forces answered the call and put their health on the line to ensure that seniors living in long-term care facilities affected by COVID-19 outbreaks were taken care of.

Reflecting on what has been such a difficult year, I am thinking of every military member unable to be with their loved ones as they bravely serve our country. I am thinking of the veterans we have lost and their loved ones left behind.

We are forever in their debt. Because of their service and sacrifice, Canada remains the true north strong and free.

[Business of Supply, November 3rd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, aside from the subject matter of this motion, we have been asking the government for months now for rapid testing. Every country in the world seems to have rapid testing.

Rapid testing would go a long way in easing the concerns of people who would be customers in the restaurant, hospitality and tourism sectors. That is an area of policy we need to pursue in order to alleviate many of the concerns. Hopefully that will get people coming back out and being customers again.

[Business of Supply, November 3rd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I think, with the greatest respect, that the member is missing the point. The approach was just simply incorrect, and they have essentially admitted to that through the introduction of their latest legislation, which simply aims to provide a direct subsidy to tenants. If they had just done that from the beginning, many businesses would have survived through this pandemic. It has been eight months.

I remember being at a finance committee meeting where Mr. Siddall from CMHC was defending the rent assist program by saying that of course landlords would accept it because it makes sense for them to accept it, and it was designed to be in their interests. He could not have been more wrong, and that was months and months ago. We were pleading with the government to wake up and examine this program and make it right. Instead the Liberals created a fake Parliament, a COVID committee. They then prorogued, and now we are here in November having this debate all over again.

[Business of Supply, November 3rd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, this pandemic has affected Canadians from all walks of life in many different ways, whether it be front-line workers who have put themselves in harm's way to keep us all safe; or workers in the service industry, like retail employees and servers, whose jobs have vanished; or retirees who have seen their savings decimated by the financial markets tanking; or small business owners who have had to adapt to this new reality, resulting in many suffering massive losses and some even being forced to close their doors for good.

So many in my community have phoned or written my office in the last eight months. They are struggling to get by. They are facing a once-in-a-lifetime challenge. While this government has made some announcements which seemed promising, when it came time to deliver many of these programs, they just could not get it right.

I believe it was my colleague, the member for Edmonton Centre, who previously described it best: The government gets an A for announcement and an F for delivery.

Our motion today discusses the devastating consequences on Canadian workers and businesses, especially in the restaurant, hospitality and tourism sectors. I want to bring to light three real-life examples of small businesses in my community that have struggled during the pandemic in a few different ways.

Two weeks ago, I met with Tony Siwicki from the Silver Heights Restaurant. They have been known by all in sunny St. James since 1957 for having the best ribs in town. I confess that I have sampled those ribs several times, and I agree. I can confidently say those ribs definitely live up to the hype. I might add Tony is also chair of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association.

Tony is a third-generation restaurateur and certainly over the past 63 years the businesses built by his family have seen many ups and downs, but this pandemic has hit them harder than ever before.

Tony went to apply for the commercial rent assistance program in the hopes he could get much-needed support to weather the storm. After months of fighting to access the program, he was finally able to get some help, but it took a strong will and jumping through many hoops.

The process was challenging, and he is not the only one facing it. With only 8% of restaurants owning their building, the vast majority have had issues with the landlord portion of the commercial rent assistance program. By mandating landlords’ involvement the program, a fatal error to this program, and setting a hard cap on revenue losses, this program turned out to be a total and utter disaster.

With Manitoba now facing more serious restrictions as it has entered code red, this is adding on to the challenges Tony has been facing. When we spoke last, he had only one table for the entire lunch hour on what is usually one of his busiest days. Fixed costs are not going away and the added costs they have incurred for new cleaning and safety measures have not helped them stay afloat. Restaurateurs, just like Tony, need help and they need it right now.

Then there is Tim Hudek who owns One Great City Brewing. I think we can all agree that nothing is more Canadian than an ice-cold beer. In fact, I wish we had one now, given the stress that everyone is undergoing with these programs. Tim opened the brewery in 2017 and is one of many outstanding small craft breweries in Winnipeg. His brewery has a fantastic restaurant that serves food to accompany their delicious craft beers made on-site.

At the start of the pandemic, Tim reached out to my office for assistance and I was happy to help him, just as my team and I have been doing since the beginning. We had issues with the Canada emergency wage subsidy program due to the structure of his business. The government did not recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach to business supports was not feasible for a business like Tim’s.

Tim is concerned. He is concerned about the climate of uncertainty facing small businesses when it comes to what supports are available and which restrictions will be put in place. He is fighting to do everything he can, not only for business but for the countless individuals he employs. Small businesses are the job creators and backbone of our economy and we must ensure we are doing our part as they face challenges like never before.

My friend Will Gault has also faced challenges during the pandemic. Will owns Willy Dogs, the best hot dog cart in Winnipeg. Will tried qualifying for the much needed $40,000 CEBA loan through the Canada emergency business account. He was turned down because he did not meet the specific requirements for the program.

With winter now upon us, Will has shifted his business indoors at our local Deer Lodge Curling Club. However, with the recent restrictions, he will not get any foot traffic from curlers as sports have been suspended. He is now limited to takeout and curbside pickup only and he cannot sustain his business under these conditions. He does not think the club will be able to stay open much longer, leaving him with no place to set up his operation.

Will said he is a month away from his livelihood being killed. He may be forced to put his house up for sale. Will provides for his wife and two young children, and as parliamentarians, we must do everything in our power to help Canadians who are struggling just like him. Emergency programs need to work for Canadians in emergency situations, just like my friend Will.

We are here to work together for Canadians across the country. They hired us to work for them by electing us to this place. In the middle of this pandemic, though, the Prime Minister locked out MPs and shut down Parliament to block investigations into the government’s ethical scandals. At a time when Canadians needed us the most, the Liberals put politics before people. Instead of allowing members from all parties to come to work and do our jobs, introduce and debate ideas, help improve their legislation, and help people and local businesses stay afloat, they shut down everything because of their own ethical scandals.

Throughout the pandemic, we proposed constructive solutions. We proposed increasing the wage subsidy from 10% to 75%. The government finally took our advice and implemented this change. We called for changes to the commercial rent assistance program from this side of the house, such as making the program more flexible and allowing landlords to negotiate with their tenants directly instead of the mandated reduction. Many small businesses contacted my office saying the required participation of their landlords in the rent assistance program was their biggest hurdle. It took many months, but it seems like the government may finally be listening after our calls for changing this requirement.

Conservatives have been calling on the government to end the restriction for small businesses operating out of personal chequing accounts to be eligible for the $40,000 CEBA loan. After many months of dragging its feet, it seems there may finally be some action taken on this front.

My colleague, the member for Carleton, and I proposed back in April to allow Canadians a one-time tax-free withdrawal from their RRSPs and to give them until the end of 2023 to repay it without penalty. This would have given Canadians who are struggling access to their own funds instead of having to rely on government benefits. We received absolutely zero response to this suggestion. The member for Carleton and I also proposed waiving all mandatory RRIF withdrawals for the 2020 calendar year to allow seniors to keep their investments protected and not be forced to liquidate them during a time of losses. It was another suggestion and, yet again, there was nothing but crickets to be heard from the government.

Throughout this pandemic, our Conservative team has taken a team Canada approach and did everything we could with the Liberal government. We were hearing feedback every day from our constituents, just like members in this House from all parties. We proposed constructive solutions to help Canadians when they needed support the most.

Canadian small business owners and workers need a plan that keeps Canadians safe, protects jobs and gets our country back on track. They need a plan that recognizes the key points of this motion. The government needs to take action to address promised extensions and amendments to emergency support programs while providing added flexibility, which small business owners desperately need.

This is why I urge that all members in this House support our motion today and get Canadian small business owners and workers the certainty, clarity and and support they need. I will add that Tony, Tim and Will are counting on all of us.

[Citizenship Act, November 2nd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I think it would have been far better to spend this entire day talking about how to bring clean and usable drinking water to indigenous communities or how to bring economic development projects to indigenous communities. As I said, we should have passed this change to the oath years ago. The progress on this file has been very slow, and we can only really lay the blame for that at the feet of the current government.

[Citizenship Act, November 2nd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I agree with the member: I do not think that this is or should be a partisan issue. This should be an issue where we can reach across the aisle and work together. However, the changing of the oath should have been done six years ago. I was just elected a year ago, and I am not sure why, six years after the government was elected, we are finally debating this legislation. As I said, in Winnipeg we did all of the things I described in a year.

As far as the hon. member's question is concerned, I do agree that some calls to action are within the jurisdiction of the federal government and some are within the jurisdiction of other levels of government. As Canadians and legislators, we all need to work together to try to move this file forward.

[Citizenship Act, November 2nd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, the reality is that while members of the NDP want to take partisan political shots at us and want to focus on us, we are focused on Canadians. The things I described that we did in Winnipeg, we did in a year. The government has been in power for six years and only today are we discussing changing the oath.

There is so much more we can do, and I really understand the frustration in indigenous communities about how long things take, because I know we can do things faster.