QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Support for Energy Sector
October 1, 2020
Senator Gold, Canada’s energy sector was also ignored in the Throne Speech, despite the fact that over 23,000 energy workers lost their jobs in the second quarter of 2020.
In March, the former finance minister was here in this chamber and promised to help the sector, and it would be coming in days. Now, months later, Senator Gold, the government brought forward a useless financing program for all large employers and next to nothing specifically for our energy sector.
Leader, how do you justify a throne speech that contained no concern and no help for Western Canadian oil and gas workers, real people with real jobs in our energy sector right now?
Thank you again for the question, for pointing out the importance of this sector for the Canadian economy and also for the lives of individuals, families and communities in many of our provinces and territories.
I think senators will recognize the challenge that the sector has faced from forces that are far beyond any government’s control, such as falling demand and falling oil prices. That said, as I’ve stated on many occasions in the course of Question Periods in the previous session, there have been a number of actions taken by this government to provide support, and I’ll focus on the oil and gas businesses both large and small across the country.
I could perhaps begin with the creation of many jobs through the remediation of inactive and abandoned wells. That’s a program that has seen tens of thousands of applications in Alberta and Saskatchewan. I would add as well the 75% wage subsidy that has kept thousands working in many sectors, including the energy sector.
And the government will continue to rely upon, with gratitude, the hard-working men and women in our oil and gas sector as Canada moves forward into recovery from the pandemic and we work towards reaching our goals for the future.
