After telling Canadians that the New Democratic Party supports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s holiday budget plan and will help pass it quickly, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is now split as he is only prepared to support part of it. I hope.
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Trudeau announced a $6.3 billion package that includes a two-month tax holiday from mid-December to mid-February and new tax incentives for everything from some essential items to common stocking stuffers. announced the package. 18.7 million workers will receive a one-time payment of $250 starting in April.
Later in the day, Singh said the New Democratic Party supported the proposal, giving the minority Liberal Party the votes it needed to push it through the stalled parliament.
After reading the details, Singh is concerned that too many Canadians are being left out of worker benefits and wants to see change.
“We know Canadians need a break… but we learned on Friday that some of our most vulnerable Canadians are being excluded from their checks,” Singh said. Ta. “From the elderly, from people with disabilities, from students.”
“It’s a slap in the face,” he added.
He is now asking the Liberals to “amend” the benefit to include more Canadians (whom he “assumed” would be eligible for it) while maintaining support for the GST holiday legislation. I’m asking you to.
“We’re saying, ‘Let’s move forward with the GST holiday, we can get it done this week,’ but the Liberals now need to fix the checks,” he said.
Singh, who was briefed before the announcement, declined to say whether his push for expanded benefit checks would be an ultimatum in terms of supporting the entire package or a deal-breaker. I didn’t.
“We need a clear explanation from the Liberal Party,” he said. “We are more concerned about what is not in the bill.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed on Monday that the government had quietly introduced legislation on Friday outlining how these measures would be enacted, adding: to have the opportunity to learn what is being proposed.”
He said the Liberal Party was in “vigorous discussions with other political parties about these measures.”
The actual bill, which would bring forward the tax cuts and $250 worker benefit, has not yet been introduced in Congress. Freeland insisted Monday that both affordability-focused services would not be extended and, if passed and become reality, would remain temporary, as billed.
Brock slams Liberals for ‘suddenly’ being able to spend billions
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters on Parliament Hill on Monday that his party would not support the proposal unless benefits were extended to seniors and retired Canadians.
In September, Blanchett issued an ultimatum to the Liberals, asking them to help pass an increase in superannuation benefits if they wanted to support the bloc in future confidence votes.
The federal government rejected the measure as insufficiently targeted and too expensive, at about $3 billion. Now, Blanchet says he doesn’t support the Canada Workers Benefit for the same reasons.
“The government said they didn’t have $3 billion, but suddenly they had $6 billion,” he said in French.
The GST and HST holiday costs are estimated to be $1.6 billion, and the checks sent out to Canadians who earned less than $150,000 last year will cost $4.7 billion.
Blanchet said he was “fascinated” by the NDP’s initial support for the Liberal proposal, and criticized the procedural hoops MPs may have to jump through to get the bill passed.
“My problem with this is that the people who need this money the most are not the people who can receive access to this money,” Blanchett said in English.
In an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play on Monday, Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the Liberal Party is “certainly willing to work with the opposition” to find a way forward.
“We can’t do anything for Canadians unless other opposition parties support us…Obviously we need to talk to the NDP and other opposition parties,” he told host Vassie Kapelos.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poièvre last week called the proposed tax cuts a “two-month interim tax trick” and said he would review the details of the bill and discuss it with his caucus this week before announcing whether he supported it. He said he wanted to.
In today’s Q&A, Mr. Poièvre said Mr. Singh is “giving Canadians whiplash with his latest flip-flops and flip-flops.”
The filibuster continues despite the bitter atmosphere
The holiday relief package was seen as a potential way for the Liberals to secure NDP support to temporarily break the weeks-long deadlock in the House of Commons.
There is currently no end in sight to the Conservative-led filibuster on the privileges debate, which has been going on since September, and its prospects appear to be in doubt.
Singh was unable to clarify the procedural status in response to questions on Monday, but last week the party said it would quickly pass all steps in one meeting before resuming the stalemate. He pledged to support the proposed plan.
The Trudeau government has been embroiled in controversy over MPs being hampered in their work by withholding documents related to fraudulent spending from the now-defunct Green Technology Fund.
Addressing an issue that has been smoldering for months, Speaker Greg Fergus on Sept. 26 asked the House of Commons for material related to Canada’s Sustainable Development Technology Program, which the Conservatives have dubbed a “green slash.” It ruled that the Liberal Party had not fully complied with the order. Fund. “
This allowed the government’s opposition parties to operate. demand extradition from the Liberal Party I will submit an unredacted copy to the RCMP and, as the Speaker has suggested, I will table a priority motion to have this matter considered by the House of Commons Committee, given the extraordinary circumstances.
Deliberations on the proposal took precedence over most other House business and have effectively taken control of the House ever since.
“Congress is not functioning right now,” Freeland said Monday. “We’re in the minority in Congress. We can’t control it.”
The Liberal Party says handing over the documents to police would set a dangerous precedent and be an abuse of parliamentary power. Last week, another portion of the 29,000 pages was released, but with edits.
This is not enough to satisfy the Conservatives, who continue to debate as time runs out and prevent the motion from being voted on. They said the government needs to be transparent if it wants to get back to business.
And waiting in the wings, second privilege motion Liberal MP and former minister Randy Boissonneau’s former business partner is being sought for contempt of parliament and must be fired if he is to resume normal business.
Speaker warns of approaching deadline
In addition to hindering the government’s legislative progress, procedural conflicts are also having a ripple effect on other important elements of parliamentary management.
Specifically, the House is on the brink of finding time to process additional estimates and remaining “supply” days, or opposition days as they are commonly called.
Last Thursday, Speaker Fergus warns MPs He implored lawmakers to find a way forward, saying rules require certain fiscal approvals and related business to be addressed in the coming weeks.
This is based on a recent supplementary estimate submitted by Finance Chair Anita Anand that seeks to get MPs to approve additional spending for specific sectors and programs for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, and the number of days of unpaid objections. This means that you need to remove both. By December 10th.
“As we approach the end of the current supply period, the Speaker would like to encourage the House leadership to keep these various principles in mind,” Fergus said. “I am confident they will find a way to juggle these important responsibilities.”
In the current supply cycle, there are four pending opposition days to be called. These allotted days are designed to allow opposition parties to “air their grievances.”
Without approval for the influx of money, some federal agencies could face funding shortfalls, which could lead to a U.S.-style shutdown in the spring if the standoff continues.
Some parliamentary observers say the government’s prolonged inability to pass spending measures may, in effect, indicate that it has lost the credibility needed to survive this parliament. I’m guessing.
With files from CTV News’ Spencer Van Dyke
