QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
COVID-19 Support Payments
April 18, 2023
My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. The former finance minister, Bill Morneau, has criticized Prime Minister Trudeau’s decisions regarding the assistance programs brought in during the pandemic. The Auditor General of Canada has also said that, of the $100 billion allocated to these programs, $27 billion was likely overpaid to individuals and businesses during the pandemic and remains unaudited.
More recently, despite warnings from politicians and the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the Prime Minister went ahead with his dental program that will provide $630 to families even if their child hasn’t been to the dentist.
Prime Minister Trudeau is failing in his financial responsibilities, probably to please the NDP, which is keeping him in power. However, instead of listening to serious advice from people like Bill Morneau, Karen Hogan and Yves Giroux, the Prime Minister continues to waste our tax dollars.
Can you explain why?
Thank you for the question.
With all due respect, honourable senator, this is not a matter of wastefulness, far from it.
As I’ve already explained several times, when faced with the COVID-19 crisis, the government, with the support of this chamber and the members of the other place, made the decision to act quickly to ensure that Canadians had the support they needed. That was the right decision because we got through the pandemic in a good socio-economic position.
That being said, it is true that some problems could have been foreseen, and the government and the departments are now working to recover, if possible, amounts that were unfortunately paid out in circumstances that weren’t anticipated by the spirit of the programs.
The government’s dental care program is going to become a bottomless pit and, as I’ve already said, it is even causing a shortage of dentists.
All that aside, do you think that it is right — and I won’t presume to refer to the Prime Minister’s chronic recklessness here — that Quebec families can pocket $630 from the federal government, even though the provincial government is already paying for dental care for children under the age of 10?
It seems to me that we ought to be able to harmonize our policies at some basic level. Isn’t there a way to harmonize policies in order to try to save Canadians’ money?
Thank you for the question. My answer is twofold. First, if my memory serves me well, the Prime Minister says that he is open to discussing a bilateral agreement with his counterpart, the Government of Quebec, given that Quebec has a program that doesn’t necessarily exist anywhere else.
We will closely monitor that process and how the national program will be received in Quebec, and the amounts paid out.
That said, I must emphasize the importance of this dental program for thousands upon thousands of Canadian families, young people and not-so-young people, who don’t have access to dental care and who don’t have the means to obtain dental care, which is vital to physical and mental health. This is an important program for Canadians, and the Canadian government is proud to move forward with this program.
