It was more of a support for a bill rather than a matter of confidence in the government.
That is how Peace River-Westlock MP Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Arnold Viersen characterized why the Conservative Party of Canada supported the Liberal government on what ended up being a confidence vote.
In the wee hours of Sept. 30, Bill C-4 unanimously passed in the House of Commons.
The bill, which is currently before the senate, if it receives Royal Assent will create a new benefit, Canadian Recovery Benefit (CRB) as well as two other temporary benefits to replace the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and do not qualify for an updated Employment Insurance (EI) program. CERB ended on Sept. 26.
In a Tweet, prior to Tuesday's vote, Liberal House Leader Pablo Rodriguez said because the legislation was crucial to the government's coronavirus response plan, the vote would be made a confidence vote.
"The vote was in support of the legislation," Viersen told the Barrhead Leader from his Ottawa office. "We do have concerns about the $57 billion price tag, but given our situation there was little doubt that we would support the changes to CERB and [Employment Insurance]."
Although some political pundits have stated they were shocked that all the parties supported the legislation, Viersen is not sure why.
He had very little doubt that as he stated before, given the situation and people's need, that the opposition parties would overwhelmingly support the bill.
That being the case, he was surprised that the NDP supported the Liberals' motion to limit debate on the bill. The closure motion limited debate on Bill C-4 to four hours.
"The NDP have been rallying against closure for over 10 years now. This is the first time they have supported closure and, interestingly, it comes at a time when non of the parties had given any indication that they were diametrically opposed to the bill," Viersen said.
That being said, he did understand that there was a need to pass the bill in a timely fashion given that CERB was winding down.
"But it was one of the government's own making," Viersen said. "CERB was running out and the government chose to prorogue Parliament for six weeks. If they wanted a reset, they could have taken a break for three days and we could have continued with our committee work. But instead, they decided to prorogue government to avoid scrutiny over the WE scandal."
He added that no one should mistake his and the CPCs' support of Bill C-4 as a vote of confidence, especially in how the Liberal-led government has dealt with the pandemic.
"We definitely think the government has mishandled COVID to this point," Viersen said, saying the CPC believed stronger border restrictions should have been in place much earlier.
They also question why Canada does not have access to the same rapid COVID testing that many other nations have had for weeks.
"Does Health Canada not have the resources to get these tests approved?" he asked. "What makes it frustrating is that Canadian companies are getting approval for these rapid tests in other countries, like Japan, but we are unable to get them approved at home."
On Sept. 29, the government announced that they had signed an agreement to buy up to 7.9 million rapid testing kits. The announcement came the day before Health Canada approved the Abbott Industries ID NOW rapid COVID-19 testing device. The machine can detect the presence of COVID-19 from a nose or swap within 15 minutes.
"COVID is here to stay, so we need a way to manage it while we go about our business as we continue to reopen the economy. If we have access to rapid testing, it gives us a lot more, less stringent options, such as putting in checkpoints around certain areas," Viersen said.
CRB is for workers aged 15 and over who don’t qualify for EI or who are self-employed. If you lost your employment because of COVID-19, or if your income has dropped by at least 50 per cent, then you may qualify.
Also included as part of the legislation, was the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB). The CRSB provides $500 per week for up to two weeks for workers who are sick, or who must self-isolate for reasons related to COVID-19. People who receive paid sick leave from their employer are not eligible.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
