Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Welcome, minister. Minister, certain parts of Atlantic Canada were hit hard by Hurricane Fiona, certainly the southwest coast and the gulf coast of Newfoundland — you’re familiar with that — all the Atlantic seaboard of Cape Breton, and Prince Edward Island as well was hit particularly hard.

Two days ago, you posted the following on Facebook:

The impacts of Fiona were hard hitting, and they continue to be, especially as we move into winter months.

That’s why I am so happy to hear that my friend and colleague Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor has announced that the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency . . . will now begin accepting applications through the Hurricane Fiona Recovery Fund to help support communities in hard hit sectors in the Atlantic that are not eligible for other financial support.

In the face of such an emergency, what took the government so long to make an application form available to the communities and businesses affected by Hurricane Fiona? Why would it take over two and a half months?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): According to your mandate letter from the Prime Minister, you must contribute to the development of infrastructure, “in line with the Government’s broader infrastructure strategy.” One goal of your government’s infrastructure strategy is:

Support major nation-building projects that will benefit people across various regions, connect our country and improve quality of life, including the Newfoundland-Labrador fixed transportation link.

Minister, could you tell Canadians and, in particular, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, where this project is? Do you have any idea of the level of expenses involved in this project and how much the federal government will be called upon to finance it?

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: Thank you, senator. Trust me, I get it. I used to say, when I first came to Ottawa, you could fit six Prince Edward Islands in my riding, and then I realized that people didn’t have a clue how big Prince Edward Island is. Now I say that my riding is bigger than Switzerland. I have over 200 communities, and 5 of those are accessible by boat only. Of course, our island of Newfoundland is only accessible by ferry service.

Since I have been minister, I have done over 70 round tables — with people from coast to coast to coast — focused on many things. One of them was on rural transit. We had a deep discussion of how things have changed since the pandemic. Yes, you are correct: Transit was an issue in rural Canada long before the pandemic, but I think that the pandemic has ripped off the Band-Aid because we’re now seeing more and more people wanting to move to rural areas.

I have regular discussions with my colleagues Minister Alghabra for Transport and Minister LeBlanc for Infrastructure and Communities. We work with the provinces and territories on how we can create a rural transit plan for the country. Mr. LeBlanc has a Rural Transit Solutions Fund that he announced last year, and the applications are being reviewed now.

But we have to make sure that it works for all rural Canadians — not just those closer to a large centre.

Hon. Gudie Hutchings, P.C., M.P., Minister of Rural Economic Development: Senator Black, thank you for that. This is a passion for me. As you know by now, my riding is bigger than Switzerland. There is one town that has two small buses about the size of the parliamentary buses, and I have three communities that have a taxi service. There is no Uber in Newfoundland and Labrador. There are a couple of what I would call “mom and pop” van services running from a small rural community to a bigger community to help seniors, to help the underserved and to deliver parcels. But we need to do a better job.

Even though we have money under rural transit under Minister LeBlanc, I’m a firm advocate that we need to have money for planning. There is no point in you doing something in your area and someone else doing another transit project in another area if it doesn’t all link together. It has to be a hub-and-wheel-spoke system for transit if it is going to be effective and work in rural areas.

We also have to think outside of the box. Maybe it’s ride‑sharing, maybe it is working with communities that have a coach or bus service now and asking if we can supplement getting a bus to take seniors or those who are underserved to the grocery store that is an hour away once a week. I also think that, in rural Canada, we have to understand that public transit is different. If you grew up in Europe, you built your life around the bus or train schedule. As we get into the conversation of rural transit, we have to know that we have to build our lives around that transit, and that there is nothing wrong with using it.

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.