BARRHEAD - Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen says the Liberals attempted to make an “undemocratic power grab” through the $82 billion aid package that was introduced last week to support Canadians during the COVID-19 crisis.
Specifically, Viersen took issue with the portions of the draft legislation that would have given the federal cabinet sweeping powers to spend, raise taxes and borrow money without first seeking Parliamentary approval until Jan. 1, 2022.
Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan includes a number of measures to help Canadians get through the crisis and help the economy rebound once the pandemic is over.
One of the most significant measures in Canada’s COVID-19 Response Plan is a new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) of $2,000 per month for up to four months.
The CERB will be provided to Canadians who have no other access to paid leave and other income support; workers who are sick, quarantined or taking care of someone who is sick with COVID-19; working parents who must stay home without pay to care for children who are sick or need additional care; workers who are still technically employed but are not being paid due to insufficient work; and self-employed individuals, including contract workers.
Other measures in the aid package include providing Canadians an extra $300 per child through the Canadian Child Benefit, which will be part of the scheduled payment in May; a special Goods and Services Tax (GST) credit of $400 for single individuals and nearly $600 for couples; a six-month interest-free moratorium on the repayment of Canada Student Loans; a variety of new business loan programs, including a Canada Emergency Business Account to provide interest-free loans of up to $40,000 to small businesses; another $5 billion in lending capacity to agricultural producers; and allowing businesses to defer payments of income taxes owing on or after March 18 and before September 2020.
The government is also deferring the filing date for 2019 tax returns until June 1, 2020.
The legislation introducing these measures was fast-tracked through the House of Commons and the Senate last week and received royal assent from Gov.-Gen. Julie Payette on March 25.
To facilitate this sped-up process, it was agreed that only a handful of MPs — 32 in total, all of which were either in Ottawa or within close driving distance of the city — would be present to pass the legislation.
Viersen was not among the 11 Conservative Party MPs who voted on the aid package. (Incidentally, the other 21 MPs included 14 Liberals, three NDP members, three Bloc Quebecois members and one Green Party member.)
Viersen said the Conservatives agreed with many of the measures in the aid package, such as the additional GST credit and the temporary increase in the Canadian Child Benefit (CCB).
“We were happy to sign on to those things,” said Viersen. “Those were all things we were suggesting prior to the announcement.”
However, negotiations around the aid package hit a snag when Opposition MPs objected to the new powers for the Cabinet contained in the draft legislation.
Viersen noted that it was “quite unprecedented” to have the House of Commons pass such major legislation with only a small number of MPs present.
“All of that takes a high level of trust, and that trust was significantly betrayed,” he said. “I have to say, I was very frustrated.”
After hours of negotiation between the parties, the powers to raise taxes without Parliamentary approval were removed, and while cabinet ministers will be allowed to spend any amount of money they deem necessary, these powers expire on Sept. 30, 2020.
While the Liberals did back down, Viersen compared the situation to someone stealing your car and then giving it back to you while expecting to be forgiven.
“The trust that I have is significantly diminished now,” Viersen said. “(And) we didn’t trust them a whole bunch to begin with.”
Viersen said the Conservatives also demanded that the government include explicit reference to putting taxpayers’ rights first and that they put sunset clauses in the legislation, which the Liberals agreed to.
They also agreed that the government would be accountable to Parliament through regular reports to the House of Commons’ Health and Finance committee, and that the Finance Committee had the right to recall Parliament if any abuses were identified.
Viersen noted the Opposition has also gotten the government to reverse course on other policies, such as taking stronger action to protect borders and stopping the flow of illegal border-crossers.
When asked if it was now time for the Canada-U.S. border to be shut completely, given that there are more cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. than anywhere in the world, Viersen suggested that Canada has probably more to lose in that scenario.
In terms of products being exported from Canada into America, Viersen suggested the U.S. probably has the capacity to find other sources of those goods if the supply chains were suddenly cut off.
Viersen also pointed out that the agriculture industry — particularly beekeepers and greenhouses — will likely struggle due to the loss of temporary foreign workers who have come to Canada for years.
“They know what they’re doing. They show up, they work hard for six weeks and then they go home again,” he said. “To replace them with local people … that’s going to be a challenge.”
New measures
On March 27, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced several more measures to help small and medium-sized businesses keep employees on their payroll during the COVID-19 crisis.
These include a 75 per cent wage subsidy back-dated to March 15, 2020, a deferment on GST and HST payments until June, and backstopping banks that extend low interest loans to small businesses.
More details about the new measures are set to be announced Monday, March 30.
Kevin Berger, TownandCountryToday.com
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