Canadian Parliament agrees on $82 billion COVID-19 aid package

Thestar.com
March 25, 2020
Alex Boutilier

The House of Commons has agreed to the Liberals’ $82 billion COVID-19 aid package after marathon closed-door negotiations stretched well into Wednesday morning.

The government had hoped for a speedy approval of the measures Tuesday, when a handful of members of parliament from the major parties convened for a special sitting of the House of Commons.

But that hope was dashed after the Liberals attempted to grant themselves unprecedented discretion to spend, borrow and tax without parliamentary approval. The opposition Conservatives balked at the attempt, accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of trying to circumvent centuries-old conventions of Westminster government.

But just before 6 a.m., news of a deal broke.

“It’s done. The House has adopted the emergency support announced to face COVID-19,” Liberal House Leader Pablo Rodriguez posted on Twitter.

“It’s now up to the Senate. We will work day and night so that Canadians receive as quickly as possible the help they critically need.”

Just a handful of MPs were present at Tuesday’s meeting as parties agreed to keep the number of politicians traveling to Ottawa low. But it was cut short, as parties retreated behind closed doors to work out a compromise.

Conservatives pushed the Liberals to drop their request for unprecedented powers to raise taxes without parliamentary approval, limit spending powers and put “sunset clauses” to enforce time limits on the emergency powers.

Just after 3 a.m., Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said the Liberals also agreed to submit regular reports to the House of Commons health and finance committees --providing a measure of parliamentary oversight in the midst of the crisis.

“We will continue to use all of the tools available to us to hold the government to account,” Scheer wrote in a statement.

The relief package now goes before the Senate, who is expected to meet later Wednesday.