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Madam Speaker, Canada has four dollars of household, corporate and government debt for every dollar of economic output.

That is the highest ratio in recorded Canadian history, twice our historic average, higher than the ratio in the U.S. during the subprime crisis or in Greece during that country's sovereign debt crisis.

We now show all five leading indicators of a forthcoming debt crisis. Will the budget, which has been delayed for two years, address this forthcoming debt crisis?

Madam Speaker, it is curious to me that the Conservative Party, at every opportunity, seems to register complaints about the cost of our pandemic response without reflecting, as well, on the cost of inaction.

We know that the pandemic created immense costs for Canadian households and businesses. That is why we put forward programs, like the Canada emergency response benefit, to keep food on the table for nine million Canadians. It is why we advanced the wage subsidy, to keep five million workers on the payroll.

Canadians can rest assured that when we table the budget, we will continue to focus on measures that will protect their health and well-being, and support—

The hon. member for Carleton.

Madam Speaker, the government's deficit and the rising debts of households and small businesses is the cost of inaction. It is the result of the terrible job the government did in letting thousands of people enter from China after it was warned by the military of a brewing pandemic. It is the cost of the government's vaccine failure. It is the cost of the late turnaround on rapid testing.

The cost of all of that will be a debt crisis. Will the government address the forthcoming debt crisis in the budget, or will we cross that bridge when it collapses?

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives do not seem to be willing to contemplate the true cost of inaction. I would point the hon. member to a recent report of the IMF. It indicates that, had the government not taken action, the scale of the federal deficit would have been roughly similar, but the Canadian economy would have suffered enormous job losses. This would have created economic scarring that would have prevented Canada from recovering when the time came to do so.

We will continue to invest in supports for households and businesses to help them weather this storm and to ensure that we set the stage for the economy to come roaring back. In particular, I would point the member to the recent jobs numbers, which show over—

The hon. member for Manicouagan.

Madam Speaker, once again, the federal government's management of the quarantine for temporary foreign workers is a fiasco.

This year, the new testing has added to the burden on businesses. The federal government has contracted the testing out to a unilingual anglophone company in Ontario that cannot serve Quebec.

As a result, workers are being forced to isolate for 25 days while awaiting their results, and business owners are wasting whole days dealing with the red tape.

When will the government take action so that the workers we need can get to work when we need them?

Madam Speaker, the government recognizes the importance of temporary foreign workers for our producers and food processors. We are working tirelessly to ensure that temporary foreign workers can arrive safely in Canada by supporting employers with the additional costs incurred through accommodating the isolation period.

All the federal departments involved in the temporary foreign worker program have worked together to simplify processes and facilitate, as much as possible, the safe entry of these workers. We recognize the integral role farmers and food-processing employers play in ensuring Canadians have access to food, and we are here to support them.

Madam Speaker, temporary foreign workers are being forced to isolate for a month because of the federal government's mismanagement.

For a fish processing plant, it makes no sense to go without workers for a month when the fishing season is only a few weeks long. For an asparagus farmer who is just days away from harvest, it makes no sense to have to pick the whole crop on their own while their workers wait for their test results.

These are huge losses for our businesses. When will the government take action?

Madam Speaker, temporary foreign workers have played an important role in ensuring our food security, especially during this pandemic. They deserve to be safe.

That is why we are working with provinces to ensure employers are prepared to safely welcome and quarantine workers, strengthening inspections to ensure employers meet quarantine and program obligations, funding migrant worker organizations to provide direct assistance to workers, improving the TFW tip line to provide services in multiple languages, and improving coordination with our partners to respond quickly to emerging issues. This comprehensive plan builds on and strengthens existing measures to ensure workers and employers—

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

Madam Speaker, the immigration backlog in this country is reaching ridiculous levels.

In Quebec alone, the average wait time is 27 months. A 27-month wait time shows a blatant lack of respect for the applicants.

The Liberals are yet again refusing to step up and are instead passing the buck to the provinces. It is the same old story.

Will the minister finally pull up his socks and speed up immigration processing to give hope to these people and at the same time support our businesses, which need workers during this labour shortage?

Madam Speaker, the pandemic has affected almost every aspect of our lives, and we have brought in innovative measures to process active cases as quickly as possible and minimize delays caused by COVID-19. We have prioritized applications from Canadians and permanent residents returning to Canada, as well as people providing essential services and support.

There is still work to be done, but we started taking measures to support Canadians on day one, and we will continue to do so in the future.

Madam Speaker, small businesses have been on the front line of the pandemic, and many are not able to weather further restrictions without more help from the government. These entrepreneurs want assurances that next week's budget will provide them with the support they desperately need. New Democrats are listening to small business owners, and they have been clear that the Liberal government needs to further expand the CEBA loan to help more struggling businesses, extend the program to get them through this next wave and give businesses until 2025 to repay what they owe.

Will the government support our call to immediately increase CEBA by another $20,000, and make sure small businesses can get back on their feet?

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his continued advocacy for small businesses since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the very beginning of this public health emergency, our approach has been to support households and businesses to help them weather the storm, so they can contribute to the economic recovery on the back end of COVID-19. That included measures such as the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account.

I will not spoil announcements that will be included in Monday's budget, but the hon. member can rest assured our approach to continuing our support for small businesses will be part of the recovery strategy for Canada.