43rd PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION House of Commons Debates Official Report (Hansard) Volume 150 No. 025 Tuesday, November 3, 2020 Speaker: The Honourable Anthony Rota CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 1577 HOUSE OF COMMONS Tuesday, November 3, 2020 The House met at 10 a.m. er of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time. Prayer The Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed. ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS ● (1005) [Translation] GOVERNMENT ORDERS BROADCASTING ACT [English] Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Canadian Heritage, BUSINESS OF SUPPLY Lib.) moved for leave to introduce Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amend‐ OPPOSITION MOTION—CONSEQUENCES OF THE PANDEMIC ON ments to other Acts. CANADIAN WORKERS AND BUSINESSES (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed) Mr. Pat Kelly (Calgary Rocky Ridge, CPC) moved: * * * That, given that the pandemic has had devastating consequences on Canadian [English] workers and businesses, especially in the restaurant, hospitality and tourism sectors, the House call on the government to: (a) immediately pause the audits of small PETITIONS businesses that received the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy until at least June 2021; and (b) provide additional flexibility in the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, HUMAN RIGHTS the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, and other support program. Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker, it is a tremendous honour to lead today's debate on CPC): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition highlighting our opposition motion. It calls on the government to delay audits the plight of Uighur Muslims in China and calling for the imposi‐ for small businesses until after next year's tax season. It also calls tion of Magnitsky sanctions against the officials who are responsi‐ on the government to immediately introduce legislation to enact ble for what is going on. small business support and ensure these supports are flexible GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS enough that they actually reach the small businesses they are sup‐ Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Mr. Speaker, posed to help. it is an honour to present today electronic petition No. 2416. The ● (1010) petitioners note that genetically modified foods are not labelled and consumers have no way of knowing if what they are purchasing [Translation] contains genetically modified organisms or not. They cite evidence from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Re‐ I will be sharing my time with the member for Montmagny— search on Cancer that suggests there are unlabelled probable human L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup. carcinogens in our foods. As a result, the petitioners are asking the House, Parliament and the government to take action to ensure that [English] products that contain GMOs are labelled, so consumers can exer‐ cise choice. As each province and municipality enacted emergency health or‐ ders, businesses were required to close their doors. The restaurant, * * * hospitality and tourism sectors were especially hard hit. The small businesses in these and other sectors are the lifeblood of our com‐ QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER munities. They are the backbone of the Canadian economy, and the Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Presi‐ owners, workers and customers of these small businesses are our dent of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Lead‐ neighbours and our friends. 1578 COMMONS DEBATES November 3, 2020 Business of Supply When governments issue orders that require businesses to close survival for the small business community. This is why my Conser‐ their doors and lose money, these businesses have a reasonable ex‐ vative colleagues and I are asking the House to consider these three pectation of receiving support from their government, and that is points today. Small businesses need breathing room. They also why my Conservative colleagues have worked with the government need immediate assurance that they will receive appropriate gov‐ to pass various support measures as quickly as possible. It is also ernment support while public health advice is harming their busi‐ why we have spent the last seven months pointing out problems nesses, and they need programs that will be flexible enough that with some of these support measures and offering alternative sug‐ they are actually accessible to businesses when they need them. gestions, hoping that this government would get it right and have the courage to admit when it has made mistakes, and that it would work with opposition parties, and its own backbenchers, to ensure it created the most effective and most efficient programs possible. When we left this place in the second week of March and re‐ Tax compliance is hard enough on small businesses, and we have turned to our constituencies, we were all immediately inundated heard that the CRA is aggressively auditing some small businesses with calls for help from constituents concerned about their safety, that are receiving the wage subsidy. They are immediately being their health, their jobs and their savings. We heard from thousands told to produce large amounts of documentation with almost no no‐ of small business owners who were concerned about the fate of tice. Small businesses do not have time to deal with onerous re‐ their businesses. quests when they are in survival mode, which is why we are calling In my riding, I met a travel agency operator. Since the pandemic upon the government to delay compliance audits for the wage sub‐ hit, her revenue is down 96%, and that does not even include the sidy until after next year's tax season, until at least June 2021. fact that she has to refund most of the money she earned last year, as people are receiving refunds for trips booked previously. She is exhausting her business and personal savings, extending her credit and laying off loyal, hard-working employees. There is no end in sight. Prior to being elected, I was a small business owner, and many of I heard from Anna, a constituent who owns a pizza takeout kiosk my clients were also small business owners. I know what a letter in a downtown office tower. Her business was already threatened from the CRA does to a small business owner. The mere fact of re‐ by thousands of pre-COVID energy layoffs in the very tower she is ceiving a request for documents is enough to ruin a whole produc‐ located. With the remaining nearby offices' workers mostly work‐ tive day for a small business owner. There is the initial anxiety of ing from home now, she is down to a couple of dozen people a day the request, followed by frantic calls to the accountant and lawyer, walking past her stall. The impacts of COVID are absolutely devas‐ and the hollow-sounding assurances that these things are just rou‐ tating to these business operators. tine and not a big deal. I heard from a wedding officiant who is an independent contrac‐ tor and does not have a business account. She could not access the CEBA program for months. She knew she was losing an entire wedding season, and she needed help in the spring. I heard from a constituent who operates an online industry trade There are then further scrambles to find what is being demanded, publication. He had recently made significant investments in his usually with only a few days notice. Some of the documents that business, and even though his revenue was collapsing, he did not are being requested in the wage subsidy audits are the same ones qualify for federal supports back in the spring. that small business owners would typically have to gather in the course of preparation for their 2020 return anyway, which is why I heard from Susan, a partner in a small oil and gas exploration next June would be a more appropriate time to commence wage company. She endured endless bureaucratic delays in trying to ac‐ subsidy audits on small businesses. cess the BCAP program, despite being on the threshold of receiving conventional funding on the eve of the pandemic and despite meet‐ ing all the criteria under that program. Each of these small business owners supports a family. Most em‐ ploy a whole team of dedicated employees, who are their loyal friends. The desperation and frustration in these calls, and many The second thing we called upon the government to do when we other calls, has been palpable. People who have worked for years to put this motion on notice was to immediately introduce legislation build up a business are seeing their life’s work vanish before their to enact promised extensions and amendments to support programs. eyes. The fact that the government has done so without waiting for a vote is welcomed, but it was long overdue. The government knew that The coronavirus is a threat to public health and safety. That can‐ its failed rent subsidy program was coming to an end in September. not be ignored. We know that, and we agree that all levels of gov‐ It knew that its wage subsidy program was ending in the fall, and it ernment have a responsibility to ensure the safety of Canadians, but knew that other programs, such as CEBA and BCAP, have prob‐ that responsibility also includes the need for a plan for economic lems that are well known. November 3, 2020 COMMONS DEBATES 1579 Business of Supply However, instead of coming into this fall session with legislation er of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Madam ready to go in September, this government, mired in its own con‐ Speaker, the member is wrong in many ways.