Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Mr. Speaker, the answer is there are many measures the government has undertaken that were necessary and indeed are supporting small businesses, but there are also many small businesses that are falling through the cracks, that have not been able to access the aid measures they need for a variety of reasons.

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise virtually today to join the debate on Bill C-14, an act to implement certain provisions of the economic statement. The bill has seven parts, mostly containing items to which I do not object and aims that I support under the circumstances that Canada currently finds itself.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise virtually to also table a petition related to the genocidal persecution of Uighurs in China. The petitioners note the reported forced sterilizations, concentration camps, forced labour, forced organ harvesting and a number of other extremely odious and horrific acts of genocide.

Small Business  Madam Speaker, the government cannot have it both ways. It cannot say it respects the will of Parliament while it ignores the will of Parliament. Parliament voted on November 4, and the government should simply do what Parliament asked of it and declare that it will hold off until June.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, I know the hour is late, but I am sure the government spent considerable energy preparing a response to a question I put to the government on November 19, for which I received an unsatisfactory answer, so here we are for a late show, and putting the “late” in late show tonight.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the COVID-19 pandemic response programs, the efficacy of such programs, and the extent of coverage of such programs: (a) how many Canadian businesses applied under each program, including the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance, the Canada Emergency Business Account, and the Business Credit Availability Program (in both the Export Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada branches of the program); (b) of the applicants in (a), how many were approved; and (c) what proportion of total Canadian businesses do the successful applicants in (b) represent?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the various programs offered by Export Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada under the Business Credit Availability Program umbrella: (a) what is the dollar value of funds disbursed to date under each program; and (b) what is the average dollar value per successful applicant of loans issued under the programs in (a)?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the Canada Emergency Business Account program: (a) how many calls have the call centres received on each day of the program’s operation; (b) of the calls in (a), how many did the call centre respond to and how many were missed or unable to connect to an employee; (c) what is the average number of calls to the call centres per successful applicant before its application was approved; and (d) do any of the call centres employees possess experience or training in the business operations and requirements of farms?

Small Business  Madam Speaker, Statistics Canada reports that nearly one in three small businesses does not know how much longer they can stay in business, and the government still cannot get its rent subsidy right. Bill C-9 was written on the fly and had to be rushed through Parliament without proper scrutiny, even though the Liberals had months to get it right.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, the House voted to instruct the Canada Revenue Agency to postpone compliance audits on small businesses receiving the wage subsidy. Canadians expect their government to respect the will of the House and its democratically elected members. My question is for the Minister of Small Business.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I listened carefully, and the parliamentary secretary returned throughout his speech to the theme of what would seem to be near universal agreement in this chamber over the concerns we have raised and the concerns they share, yet the motion is precipitated by the lack of action by the government.

Judges Act  Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the government has reintroduced this bill that we all agreed to in its original form in the last Parliament. Credit is due to the Liberals for doing so. In the member's speech, he addressed the issue and talked about trust in the justice system.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to accommodating the work from home environment for government employees since March 13, 2020: (a) what is the total amount spent on furniture, equipment, including IT equipment, and services, including home Internet reimbursement; (b) of the purchases in (a) what is the breakdown per department by (i) date of purchase, (ii) object code it was purchased under, (iii) type of furniture, equipment or services, (iv) final cost of furniture, equipment or services; (d) what were the costs incurred for delivery of items in (a); and (d) were subscriptions purchased during this period, and if so (i) what were the subscriptions for, (ii) what were the costs associated for these subscriptions?

Telecommunications  Mr. Speaker, the government's announcement on rural broadband last week was too little too late. Rural small businesses need broadband now, not between 2026 and 2030. The government was late on commercial rent assistance and late on the wage subsidy. Now it is busy auditing small businesses in the middle of a pandemic.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the Bloc is supporting this motion, as are NDP and Green Party members. In her speech, the member spoke about the timing. We know what happened. While mired in a sea of corruption investigations, the governing party chose to prorogue Parliament.