With the fate of $250 checks promised by the federal government to 18.7 million workers hanging in the balance, the NDP forced the premier to consider a motion on Friday to expand eligibility.
However, the conversation was cut short after Conservative MPs intervened.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the fall parliamentary session his party’s only day of opposition, after learning the government had no intention of sending one-time benefits to non-working Canadians and withdrawing support for the bill. I used it. To force a vote on the issue.
Singh said he hopes the one-time rebate will include “all adults whose income is below the threshold and who were unable to receive employment income in 2023, so new graduates who are looking to get a job. This includes workers, retired seniors, people with disabilities, injured workers, workers on parental or long-term sick leave, and other essential workers.
The move comes more than a week after the Liberals announced they would only move forward with legislation to enact a GST holiday, until they can find a path and the necessary political support to successfully advance GST in Parliament. It announced that benefit checks would be deferred.
“The current proposed checks would go to people making $149,000 but not seniors. That makes no sense,” Singh said, leading a debate in the House of Commons on Friday. said.
The NDP motion also seeks to make the two-month GST suspension permanent. The GST suspension passed the House of Representatives but still needs to pass the Senate before it becomes law on December 14th. The full-time suspension was an NDP pledge before the premier made his big affordability announcement a few weeks ago.
Yesterday, after the Conservative Party tabled a no-confidence motion citing Singh’s past criticism of Prime Minister Trudeau and his government, the NDP said in its motion that “the 2021 Conservative Party platform does not include a one-time GST. “It includes vacation time,” he said.
As the debate began, Conservative MPs repeatedly argued over the order and jeered, prompting the chair to plead with MPs to respect each other.
Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lanzmann then raised the question of privilege regarding the sit-in protests that took place earlier in the week. She claimed it would hinder MPs from carrying out their duties.
Debate on the issue then took over the afternoon in the House of Commons, with the NDP accusing the opposition of filibustering, but all sides agreed to adjourn a little early.
A similar scene played out Thursday, when the NDP delayed the Conservatives’ opposition-day debate by forcing a debate on abortion in relation to the committee report.
Singh’s motion is expected to be voted on Monday.
‘It’s all up to the opposition,’ says the Liberal Party.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has been repeatedly asked in recent days what the government’s plans are for the checks and whether they will actually be introduced in April as planned.
Freeland’s party says it still intends to bring forward benefits, but it remains to be seen whether the Liberals are willing to expand eligibility on the affordability policy, which is already estimated to cost $4.7 billion. Not confirmed.
Another option being floated is lowering the income threshold to better target checks to Canadians with lower incomes, to lower the overall cost of the measure if it is opened up to non-workers. Probably.
Facing similar questions about how the Liberals intend to advance this promise to Canadians, ministers said earlier this week they heard from constituents who think the bill is important, but without support from other parties. He said he could not enact the necessary legislation. I can’t proceed.
“It’s one thing to have a desire to do something, it’s another thing to have a minority parliament able to do it. And so far we’ve seen opposition parties obstruct parliamentary work, and Canadians too. I think we realized that.’That’s it,” Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters outside a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday.
“It all depends on the opposition,” he said.
The other party the Liberals could hope to win votes from is the Bloc Quebecois, which has also expressed opposition to the bill and also wants to send money to seniors.
Government House of Commons Leader Karina Gould said in midweek: “I will continue to work with other parties to explore how we can move forward productively.”
Green Party leader Elizabeth May said her party was the first to become aware of the fact that the checks would not go to the elderly or disabled and had “blown the whistle”.
“Let’s see what the government proposes. $250 checks going to those most in need is something we support,” Prime Minister Theresa May told reporters on Wednesday.
