OTTAWA —
What began as a day promised to bring direct financial aid for Canadians and businesses to assist with the current COVID-19 pressures devolved in short order into procedural complaints and opposition resistance to the government’s legislation to pass the relief package.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked things off, calling on MPs to quickly pass the bill as they convened on Tuesday as part of the historic emergency recall of the House of Commons.
Within minutes of the sitting starting, it was put on pause as backroom negotiations continued about contentious aspects of the government’s proposed legislation.
As of 5 p.m. EDT, proceedings have yet to resume, no bill has been tabled, and as such, zero debate or study of the measures within it has occurred.
There has been some indication that the opposition parties are pushing the Liberals to pull the draft bill apart, splitting it into two bills: one that solely passes the promised COVID-19 fiscal measures, and another that includes all of the new powers the government is seeking to give cabinet, and in particular the federal finance minister.
In a statement, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said that, while one aspect of the offending legislation has been removed, his party still has issues with other measures he views as “undemocratic.”
“There is a simple solution: if the government tables a bill focused on the relief the Prime Minister has announced to date Conservatives are ready to pass it quickly,” Scheer said.
“Any conversation about new government powers should not get in the way of passing much-needed assistance,” Scheer said, offering his party’s willingness to reconvene in short order again in the future if further measures are needed.
Compounding this, it appears a backbench Tory MP, who has previously raised issues with Scheer’s leadership, arrived for the special sitting despite party orders to stay away. Scott Reid, an Ottawa-area and long-serving Conservative MP said his plan, according to a statement released Tuesday morning, is to prevent the unanimous consent needed to fast-track the broad COVID-19 aid bill.
Reid said his objection is procedural and not with the relief legislation, “as long as the government provides it to MPs with enough time to read and understand it.”
These developments come on the heels of Trudeau stating that: “When you’re trying to help get money out to people, speed is of the essence,” Trudeau said. “Especially in an unprecedented situation like this one.”
Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez, who initially expressed hope that the special “brief” sitting would start and finish within a few hours, said that all MPs need to “come together and get this done. Canadians are counting on us.”
The only item on the agenda at today’s rare special sitting — which began at noon EDT — is the bill from Finance Minister Bill Morneau titled the “COVID-19 Emergency Response Act.”
The legislation contains the amendments needed to enact the promised $82-billion response package, which includes $27 billion in financial aid for Canadians and $55 billion in economic stimulus and tax deferral measures for businesses.
Also included in the billions of new spending the Liberals promised that would start rolling out the door once this bill passes are implementing an emergency care benefit, deferring the tax deadline, waiving the one-week waiting period for EI sickness benefits, boosting the Canada Child Benefit, wage subsidies for small businesses and targeted assistance for vulnerable demographics to help “bridge to better times.”
Retreat on spending powers
The Liberals have already backed away from wording that the opposition decried as an attempt to get parliamentarians to sign a blank cheque amid a global pandemic.
A draft copy of the bill — leaked to various news outlets after being provided to opposition MPs under embargo — proposed to grant the federal government sweeping powers to spend money, borrow, and change taxes without parliamentary approval through to Dec. 31, 2021, several months beyond current estimates of when Canadian society may return to some sense of normalcy, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Trudeau tweeted Tuesday morning that this offending section of the bill will not be included in the version being tabled, though the Conservatives want more sections axed.
The prime minister also sought to reassure parliamentarians Tuesday morning that his government respects democratic institutions, after speaking with the leaders of the main three opposition parties about the sitting that he will not be attending due to his continuing self-isolation.
The broad spending and taxing power portion of the bill notwithstanding, MPs from all parties travelled to Ottawa—most from nearby though others were flown in on a government plane— ready to present a unified effort to pass urgently needed economic assistance measures for Canadians during an unprecedented and uncertain time.
Parties had agreed to a plan to have around 32 members in the House on Tuesday, when the bill will be fast-tracked through all stages and expected to be sent to the Senate by day’s end. There will be 14 Liberals, 11 Conservatives, three members apiece of the Bloc Quebecois and NDP, and one Green MP. Each MP will be seated the recommended distance from each other within the chamber.
Details of economic aid bill
The bill, according to the draft version obtained by CTV News, also includes key legislative changes aimed at directly responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
Spelling out how much more money each province is getting to beef up their preparedness efforts
Creating a 16-week window where eligible Canadian workers can be absent from work on account of the novel coronavirus
Enacting a new “Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act” which would grant the finance minister the ability to spend “all money required to do anything, including making payments to provinces and territories,” in relation to public health events of national concern
Providing the finance minister a range of new powers related to procuring, loaning to, merging, selling, winding-up or dissolving corporations; and
Allowing for, on the authorization of the health minister, the ability to “make, construct, use and sell a patented invention to the extent necessary to respond to the public health emergency.”
At the beginning of the sitting, deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton recognized the highly unusual circumstances of their gathering, “given the extraordinary circumstances in which we all fund ourselves in presently.”
The House and Senate were both suspended to limit the spread of the virus and were not set to resume until the week of April 20, though now it’s likely to stand adjourned for longer once these measures pass, unless the government makes a declaration under the Emergencies Act, which requires parliamentary approval.
According to the House of Commons, there will be no parliamentary pages in the Chamber, which has been cleaned in advance of the sitting. Hand-sanitizing stations and disinfectant wipes have been placed in key areas, and while the viewing gallery for members of the press will be open, the public gallery remains closed as it has been since March 13.
The Senate is set to reconvene on Wednesday with a similarly limited roster of senators and staff to scrutinize and pass whatever measures the House can agree on, should they be able to by night’s end.
The final step — a royal assent ceremony — is expected on Wednesday.
Emergencies Act deliberations
Trudeau hosted a call with the premiers on Monday night, and in a readout issued Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister’s Office said Trudeau solicited the premiers’ views on the act and other related emergency measures, still referring to it as “a measure of last resort.”
All provinces and territories have declared some form of public health crisis or state of emergency and questions continue to circulate as to whether the local efforts are enough to crack down on those not following the requested physical distancing measures or whether it’s time the federal government intervene with extremely broad and restrictive powers.
Stronger measures have been on the table, and could come either through the Emergencies Act or through the Quarantine Act, limiting Canadians’ ability to move freely.
“As I keep saying all options are on the table,” Trudeau said. “If people do not comply with expert advice and government guidelines, we will have to take additional steps.”
As of Tuesday afternoon there are 2,584 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada.
‘Do your part’
During his daily update, Trudeau spoke to the latest federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including bringing more Canadians home from countries including Morocco, Panama, Tunisia, Ukraine, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Spain.
The prime minister also emphasized that the length of time before life returns to normal depends on the decisions Canadians make now.
“Every day, someone asks me how long these restrictions will be in place, and the truth is we don’t know yet. But here’s what we do know: The duration of this crisis will be determined by the choices we make right now, by decisions we take every single day. So if you want things to get back to normal, do your part,” Trudeau said.
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
