Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: That is a phenomenal question. All your questions have been phenomenal.

Senator, I had a chat with the U.S. ambassador a few months ago. He has a passion for broadband and connectivity. That was his question to me. He said, “It’s great to have the connection in the community, but do people have the skill set and do Indigenous communities have the skill set to use it?”

I’m delighted to tell you that through my department and ISED — Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada — there is a Digital Skills for Youth Program, and it’s over $100 million. That was announced in the 2021 budget. There is also digital transformation money to help businesses and communities learn this new digital world that we’re in.

It’s a proven fact that when you do have that training, as we saw through COVID-19 when businesses went from in person to online, how in many cases that scaled up and their sales just exploded. But we need to make sure we’re training the skill set there.

I hear you, sir. That money is there. If you need help finding some more, you reach out and we will do our best to make sure our Indigenous communities get their share and more. Because you’re right: It is in the rural, remote and Indigenous communities that we need this work done more than ever.

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: Senator Wallin, that’s an incredible question. Sadly, we have to talk about it too much.

I talked to Minister Mendicino about this, and he and I have done a round table on rural policing, because it is different.

I have nine RCMP detachments in my riding. There is hours between them, and all of them are 30% underserved. It was before the pandemic. It wasn’t just all because of the pandemic.

I also reach out to the provinces and the territories and say that we have to have a discussion of how we do rural policing better. Do we have to focus on using the RCMP for the cybersecurity and the big drug busts? In my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, we have the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. Do we help put them out on the ground in further areas?

It’s a conversation we all have to have. It’s not one-size-fits-all. It’s what we can do to work together with the provinces and territories to make sure that the applicable resources are there.

This is a serious issue. I have heard terrible stories, as I’m sure you have, of people committing petty crime, probably for drug money, where they target the space in between where they know it’s a three-hour recovery for whatever policing unit to get there. They target that maximum time so they know they can get in and out. That’s not a way that we need to live in Canada.

So I’m there with you. If you have some ideas, please let me know. It’s only by creative ideas that we will be able to address this from coast to coast to coast.

[Translation]

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: Thank you, senator, for that question. When I answered the same question from your colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador, I didn’t have time to mention another thing that we have done for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, which was rate mitigation.

We all know what the Muskrat Falls project was doing to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. When that comes online, people’s electricity rates were going to double. The federal government stepped in to guarantee the rates would not be doubling.

Also, on the price on pollution, we’ll agree to disagree on that one. I know that the average family of four in Newfoundland and Labrador is going to pay in about $700, and they will get back over $1,300.

We have also done a variety of things to help people with the cost of living. As I said, we have increased Canada Child Benefit payments. There has been an increase in the Guaranteed Income Supplement. We have a program out for people to transition off of oil and go to heat pumps. We have come with a rent subsidy for people.

But again, on the rate mitigation piece, we have delivered a lot for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and the rate mitigation piece is helping as well with their heating.

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: Thank you, senator, for that question. I certainly hope they do consider a rural place to call home.

Minister Hussen has at his purview billions of dollars. We take the housing issue very seriously. There is a pocket of money now under the Housing Accelerator Fund. That’s to help with the capacity piece. A lot of that will be going to rural, small and remote communities to help them quarterback their way through the application process.

There has been housing earmarked specifically for rural development under the Rapid Housing Initiative stream, where 25% of that housing money that went to rural areas. Look, we know we have to make it easier for communities and not‑for‑profits and businesses — anybody — to avail themselves of the housing project.

What we haven’t done well as a federal government is making the application process fit the price. If you want to build a 10‑unit building in northern Ontario or northern Quebec, why is it the same application process for a 1,000-unit building here in downtown Ottawa?

I’m working with Minister Hussen, and there is a rural set‑aside under all his policies that are coming out now. We have worked hard to get that. We’re also suggesting to him that he use the pathfinder program. The pathfinder program was what we put in place with the Universal Broadband Fund to help people and communities get access to answers to questions like, “How do I find this information?” “How do I apply?” “With whom do I work and where do I go?” We are encouraging the minister to put this pathfinder program in the housing fund to specifically help rural and remote communities navigate through the sometimes onerous processes to access these funds.

[Translation]

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: That is a wonderful question. You probably know that we have various regional development associations — agencies across the country. Each of those six ministers has their own specific area. You have me, who is coast to coast to coast in rural economic development; you have Minister Boissonnault coast to coast to coast in tourism; and you have Minister Ng coast to coast to coast with small business and export. We get together every two weeks. We chat about what we need to do, how we can get out on the ground, how we make sure that our programs are being heard by all.

My department now has canada.ca/rural, where we’re putting all the information about funding. You go there and find information on high-speed internet. You can find information if you’re looking for funding for small communities, if you’re a not-for-profit or if you’re an Indigenous group. We’re putting all the funding in one place to make it easier for people.

I can tell you that the regional development associations are doing great work. They each have a component that focuses on rural areas in addition to my team, the Centre for Rural Economic Development team. Those people on the ground work with the regional development associations daily, so they all coordinate together. If we’re going to be successful in growing rural Canadian communities and rural Canada, we have to break down the silos and all work together, which is what we’re doing now. Thank you for the question.

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: Senator, you’re correct: Hurricane Fiona hit hard in Eastern Canada and, yes, in my home province. When the hurricane hit, the province reached out right away under a request for assistance, we were there and put the military in place.

The other aspect of financial assistance to any area — and this program has been around in Canada for years — is the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements with the provinces and territories. That’s where the province has a covey of items that they can pull from where they say, “Yes, we will go to the federal government and we want these items covered.”

The money that Minister Petitpas Taylor announced the other day is for things that we now know are falling through the cracks of what the province asked for under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement. I can tell you the applications are coming in, and Minister Petitpas Taylor is getting them out right away.

We know that housing and municipal infrastructure will be covered under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement. Like I said, these are things that are falling through the cracks — perhaps your community centre didn’t come under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement, for example. This was put in place to cover the things that the provinces didn’t request under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement. It’s another pot of money.

Look, we know this hurricane is probably going to cost us well in excess of what was expressed. In the Fall Economic Statement, Minister Freeland said she put aside a billion dollars for this. That’s on top of the $300 million from Minister Petitpas Taylor. We will be there to support all —

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: Thank you for the question, senator.

As I alluded to earlier, we were just through terrible times. We are just coming through a pandemic, and some would say we’re just at the tail end of the pandemic, along with the impacts of the war.

I can tell you that inflation is not one number, because it varies whether you’re in a remote community, an Indigenous community or what I call a really rural and remote community. The inflation number will change depending on where you go.

It’s a challenging time for people, but we have to think outside the box, too. I don’t have many food banks in my riding, but we have community kitchens, where people work together. How can we support and help by other means, not just what the Ottawa bubble would say is a food bank? What else can we do to support rural communities to help folks in need in these trying times?

I’ll be there every step of the way, sir.