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.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
