VANCOUVER —
MLAs are gathering in Victoria, but not necessarily in person, as the legislative session interrupted by the pandemic resumes three months after the last sitting.
COVID-19 and its impacts are high on the list of issues to be canvassed and dealt with this session. That includes questions about how to support businesses and individuals, as well as the impact on the province’s bottom line.
Finance Minister Carole James told press gallery reporters in Victoria that while she received nearly daily reports, she wanted to see some numbers from June before reporting back to the province. She intends to do that July 14.
The issue dominating Question Period on Monday was the extension of the temporary layoff period. The province has already changed this from 13 to 16 weeks, but business groups say with the Canada Emergency Response Benefit extended, so too should the layoff period. The goal is to avoid the payout of large severance amounts, at a time when many businesses are cash-strapped.
“When you have to issue severance payments and you don’t have money to issue for those severance, then we think businesses will go bankrupt and that’s not good for the provincial economy,” said Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade.
The BC Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the BC Business Council, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Assocation and Canadian Federation of Independent Business together with the Surrey Board of Trade have written a letter urging Labour Minister Harry Bains to make a change. They say extending the program temporarily via a ministerial order would be a quick way to do it.
Bains responded there were already provisions in place and said employers could apply to the Employment Standards Branch to get a variance.
“The employer should approach impacted employees and if a majority of employees agree with the employer they can go to the branch and ask for an extension. We want to make sure the system is fast,” he added.
Bains couldn’t say how long the process would take, but did say staff was being added to deal with an expected influx of applications.
Huberman called that a red herring and questioned why the province would want to make businesses deal with more red tape.
While questioned by opposition members about the program, the premier said he would speak with business leaders Thursday.
The sitting on June 22 was a historic one. Few MLAs were inside the chamber. One minister responded to questions by video conferencing, and there were Plexiglas barriers separating the Clerk from staff.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
