Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:30

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I sure do. It was projected in the fiscal snapshot to be $1.060 trillion.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:31

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, as I said in my speech last week, we are extending the maturities of our debt to lock in current interest rates, which are at a 100-year low, our debt service charges.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:31

Lib. (ON)
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As I said, Mr. Chair, I am going to be offering detailed projections and numbers in my economic update later on this fall, not tonight, but I will cite the—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:31
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:31

Lib. (ON)
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As I said, Mr. Chair, the finance minister's numbers on these issues are very sensitive and I am not going to—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:32
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:32

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, we have a program, as I said last week, moving into longer-term debt instruments. This is to lock in current rates. That is exactly what we are doing right now.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:32

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, our government and the Bank of Canada's debt-management program is second to none in the world. We are making a careful and thoughtful effort to lock in longer-term maturities and move to longer-term instruments. That is what we are doing. Instruments are maturing all the time and are being moved into longer-maturity, lower-interest-rate debt.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:33

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I need to challenge the first comment the member opposite made. Canada's debt is not the most expensive.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:34

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, the member's assertion was that Canada's debt is the most expensive and that—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:34
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:34

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, Canada is one of two G7 countries with a AAA credit rating. We borrow—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:34
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:34

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, the member opposite is building an assumption into his questions that I strongly disagree with.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:34

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, actually one can absolutely disagree with implicit assertions.
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Gabriel Ste-Marie - 19:35

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I apologize to the House, but all I can say is that it will be this fall.
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Gabriel Ste-Marie - 19:35

Lib. (ON)
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That is an excellent question, Mr. Chair.
The date was chosen so that the Canada emergency wage subsidy would coincide with the Canada emergency rent subsidy.
The three criteria that the hon. member listed are all important. I think the most important thing for us will be our country's economic situation, which is obviously very closely tied to the health situation.
For this reason, we have announced parameters until December 19. It is a matter of giving companies some certainty because it is important, but also to give us the necessary flexibility, because it is very difficult to know in advance what the economic and health situation will be at the end of the year.
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Gabriel Ste-Marie - 19:37

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, that is a very important question about the details of the Canada emergency rent subsidy. I can assure the member that we intend to help businesses and find a solution for each of them. We are not looking for reasons not to pay the subsidy. Obviously, Canada is a big country with a big economy—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:38
Gabriel Ste-Marie - 19:38

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I simply want to add that this is a big program. This is the first time that Canada is going to pay a rent subsidy directly to businesses. We added an element that, in my opinion, is very important and that is targeted assistance for businesses that are subject to a public health lockdown order. We need to work on that and see if there are any gaps. However, the intention is to help our businesses.
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Gabriel Ste-Marie - 19:39

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I thank the member for his question.
We did discuss this issue. The reason is that we always have to ask ourselves the following: What is the purpose of our measures? In my view, the purpose is to create a bridge for the businesses that are viable today and encourage them to continue working. Through our programs, we must think about the future, not the past. Through the new programs, we need to try to help the businesses that will be working in the future. That is the reason.
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Peter Julian - 19:40

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I think that is an entirely reasonable question, and one that I have wrestled with. At the end of the day, my answer is the one I offered to my colleague from the Bloc. I think that our programs need to be focused on the future. We need to focus on supporting businesses in their activities going forward. What we want to do is to create a bridge from today to tomorrow and not focus on the past, but I do thank the member for the question and for his obvious concern for the businesses in his riding and across the country.
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Peter Julian - 19:42

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, let me start with the second half of that question, which is a really important one.
In choosing December 19 as the date to which we are setting the levels for the wage and rent subsidies, we have tried to strike a balance. We are striking a balance with, on the one hand, the fact that business owners are telling us, as I am sure they are telling everyone in the House, that they want certainty and stability and they want to be able to plan. However, on the other side of the balance is the reality that the situation with coronavirus, the situation with the global economy and, frankly, the situation with the North American economy is very unpredictable and very volatile. Therefore, we are trying to offer certainty while at the same time having flexibility for the future.
I would point out, as the member is very well aware, we have assured business owners that these two programs will be in place until June—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:44
Peter Julian - 19:44

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I am sorry. It is because of the sound. What was the first part of the question? I know it was how many companies in tax havens and stuff, but companies doing what?
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Peter Julian - 19:44

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, is the member asking about the BCAP, the LEEFF or the wage subsidy program?
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Bruce Stanton - 19:44

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I would like to really apologize to the NDP finance critic. I just did not hear, maybe because of the transmission, exactly the first part of the question. It is business owners turned down for which program?
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Peter Julian - 19:45

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, as the hon. member for the NDP knows, so far for the LEEFF program we only have two businesses we have qualified. Other businesses are currently being reviewed and the LEEFF program absolutely has very tough criteria around environmental performance, around executive compensation, around being sure that these are companies that are paying their taxes in Canada and around foreign ownership assets, so we are being very, very careful in that program. The LEEFF program is one which is very bespoke and there is a tiger team that goes through the financials of each company very carefully.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:46

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I think in my answer around the retroactivity of the rent subsidy, I have been pointing to some limits that our government is imposing. We are thoughtful about targeting our support where—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:47
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:47

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, as I said in my speech last week—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:47
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:47

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I said last week that we are mindful that limits exist.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:47
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:47

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, unlike the member opposite, I am the finance minister and I need to be very careful with my words.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:47

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I am absolutely as careful and that is why I carefully said last week—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:47
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:47

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, the member opposite should be careful with words. I did not claim in my speech last week anything of the sort that he is suggesting. What I said was that there are—
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Bruce Stanton - 19:48
Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:48

Lib. (ON)
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Mr. Chair, I use my words very carefully and I said that I would have more to say about the restraints we would impose on ourselves in the fiscal update we will offer later this year.
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Hon. Pierre Poilievre - 19:48