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Results: 31 - 45 of 136
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Yes. I am happy to commit to that.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
As I understand the rules, Mr. Fast, my answer can be the same length as your question.
Is that correct?
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just say a quick point on the jobs numbers, because I think those are something that all of us are deeply concerned about. I sure am. Let me say that today 636,000 Canadians who had a job before COVID struck don't have a job.
I think the most urgent priority of our government and this entire House needs to be to provide the economic support to get them back to work.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I'm delighted to answer that question, Mr. Fast. Yes, the limit that we are seeking with Bill C-14 is $1.831 trillion.
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Lib. (ON)
As you know very well, Mr. Fast, having served in cabinet, a borrowing authority increase is not the same as spending authority. What it does is set a ceiling for how much the government can spend.
In terms of the composition of that number and how we got there, I would like to turn the attention of all committee members to page 141 and chart A2.3 in the fall economic statement. I can hold it up to show you guys the page. That has a very specific breakdown of how we got to that number.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Fast, I know that Canadians are really smart and really sophisticated and I urge everyone who's listening to this to look at page 141, chart A2.3, where how that borrowing authority amount is composed is laid out very specifically.
I want to address something very precise here. The increase in the borrowing authority is in no way a blank cheque. Every single expenditure by the government needs to be authorized by Parliament. The borrowing authority sets a transparent and accountable maximum limit as to how much the government can borrow.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just say to Mr. Fast that I have far too much respect for him, and I really do have a lot of respect for him, to think that he really believes the borrowing authority is in any way equivalent to a blank cheque or a line of credit.
What the borrowing authority limit does is it sets a limit on the maximum amount a government may borrow. There is a quite separate process, which this committee is intimately involved with, for debating and authorizing the specific spending that the government undertakes, and I look forward to having that discussion with all of you.
Again, for interested Canadians and committee members, look at chart A2.3 for the composition of how we got to that $1.8 trillion number for the borrowing authority limit.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Fragiskatos, thank you very much for that question. I agree with you. It is a very important one and it is one that is very much on the minds of all Canadians.
You have referred to PPE. That's an important element. Clearly, vaccines are another very important element.
Let me speak to a third issue, which I think has become very clear to Canadians in the course of this pandemic, and that is biomanufacturing capacity here in Canada. We have fantastic researchers. We have fantastic life scientists in our amazing country. What we don't have enough of is the ability to actually manufacture the vaccines that they play a central role in developing. I'm thinking of Acuitas as an example, an amazing B.C. company that plays a key role in the development and the production of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
One of the things that our government is working on, in close collaboration with provinces and territories across the country, is stepping up our game and investing in biomanufacturing across the country, whether it is VIDO-InterVac in Saskatchewan, whether it is Medicago or whether it is the NRC. I think that's an effort that all of us will agree is important and that we need to continue down that path.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you very much, Ms. Dzerowicz. It's great to see you.
That is such an important question, and in my opening remarks I spoke about the additional support that Bill C-14 would give to families with young children. I added a personal plea—not in my written remarks—because I have to say, my youngest child is now 11 and it is challenging having children, even in elementary school, in a pandemic. Virtual school is hard for kids, but my heart just goes out to all the young families in Canada with a child under six. It is so hard. I have had people, constituents, neighbours, just crying when they talk about how difficult it is.
As you know, one terrible consequence we've seen is women quitting their jobs, dropping out of the labour force because they just can't keep it all going. Bill C-14 will give those families with the youngest children in our country a bit of extra help. As we said in the fall economic statement, we really believe now is the moment for us as a country, after 50 years of talking about it, to finally put our shoulder to the wheel and to build universal early learning and child care across Canada.
Here, I do think all of us have to offer a chapeau, figuratively, to our colleagues from Quebec who have shown the way. They have shown that affordable, high-quality universal child care has a huge economic impact. Quebec has a much higher participation of women in the labour force than the rest of Canada, about 4% higher. There is a great economic benefit, not to mention that it makes life so much easier for families with young children.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you for your question and for your hard work on all the economic issues. I truly appreciate it.
I don't want to announce the date of the budget today, but I can assure you here in committee that there will be a budget this spring. I agree with the members of this committee that it's important for our country. I spoke with you about your ideas on the budget, and would like to tell the members and financial spokespersons for each party that I'm very open to hearing what they have to suggest in connection with the budget. I believe that the budget needs to be for the whole country, because the pandemic has been affecting the entire country.
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Lib. (ON)
Thank you for your question, Mr. Ste-Marie.
With respect to support for families, individuals and businesses, the federal government has been there for Quebecers and all Canadians. We were happy for Canada to be in a financial position that made it possible to do so.
I would also like to point out that in the summer, we gave an additional $19 billion directly to the provinces and territories under the Safe Restart Agreement and an additional $2 billion for reopening schools. The safe restart funding was in large measure for health spending by the provinces and territories to combat COVID-19.
As I mentioned in my opening address, Bill C-14 will provide more funding to the provinces. There will also be measures to help support residential and long-term care centres, or CHSLDs, because we understand just how important they are.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Last Friday, I had a discussion with the provincial and territorial ministers of finance, including Mr. Girard, Quebec's minister of finance. I was very happy, moreover, to be able to thank him publicly for his sincere and frank collaboration. He's an excellent colleague. We discussed what else the federal government might be able to do to help the provinces and territories, particularly with respect to combatting COVID-19. I told the ministers of finance…
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I didn't know that either, Wayne. I'm a little scared. My technical capacity might be stretched by that kind of effort.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Julian, for raising all of those important issues.
I'll start with the wage subsidy. If I have time, I'll say a couple of things about long-term care.
On the wage subsidy, I hear your concerns. It is important for companies to understand that, legally, the wage subsidy can only be used to pay employees. It can't be used for any other purposes. Any allegations of misuse should be reported to the CRA. There are penalties for misuse of the wage subsidy. It is an additional 25% penalty and potentially imprisonment, in cases of fraud.
It was and is important for us to have that support out there, but we do take abuses seriously.
The other thing I would say about the wage subsidy is that my priority, at the end of the day, is to keep as many Canadians working as possible. Our supports—and I would say the ingenuity and resilience of Canadians—mean that we are getting through this unprecedented global pandemic.
However, at the end of the day, there are still 636,000 Canadians who don't have a job today who had one before the virus hit. For that reason, our objective has been and continues to be to have in place the most comprehensive set of supports we can to keep people working. The wage subsidy is a really important program in that regard because it keeps people connected to their jobs.
As you know very well, Mr. Julian, that is so important for a person's sense of self-worth and dignity. Also, if one becomes long-term unemployed, it is much harder to get back into the workforce. That's the rationale there.
I could say more about long-term care, but I see you wanting to talk and maybe I've run out of time.
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