House of Commons will sit Saturday to debate wage subsidy bill

The House of Commons will reconvene Saturday to debate thegovernment's wage subsidy legislation a bill designed to send tens of billions of dollars to businesses disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A small contingent of MPs will be in the Commons for a 12:15 pm. ET start. A Saturday sitting is an exceedingly rare occurrence, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today there's an urgent need toget the legislation passed so that bureaucrats can start paying the subsidy to eligible businesses to prevent further layoffs. The Senate will sit starting at 4 p.m., the Speaker's office said.

The legislation implementing the emergency wage subsidy was drafted last weekendand shared withthe opposition parties on Monday.

Since then, government House leader Pablo Rodriquez has been locked in negotiations with Candice Bergen, the Conservative House leader, and representatives of the other oppositionparties on proposed amendments to the wage subsidybill. The Conservatives have said that, as the legislation stands now, it could unfairly leave some businesses without any support.

Beyond the subsidy itself, talkshave been held between the government and the opposition onhow best to hold sittings of Parliament at time when the pandemic has limited travel options for MPs and senators.

When asked Thursday about delays to tabling the legislation, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheersaidnegotiations were being held to decidehow the opposition can effectively hold the government to account.

Watch:Scheer and Singh on the Commons return this Saturday:

Scheer and Singh on the Commons return this Saturday

4 years ago

Duration 10:13

Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speak with PNP Host Vassy Kapelos

Trudeau said Thursday businesses hit hard by the pandemic need support as quickly as possibleandthe government'swage package shouldn't depend on the outcome ofnegotiationson arranging a virtual Parliament. He said those details"about furthering our democracy" could be sorted out in the days ahead.

The government held off bringing Parliament back until it could secure opposition approval of the wage subsidy bill to avoid arepeat of the lastemergency session.

In the legislation introduced at that session, Bill C-13, the government included some extraordinarytax-and-spend powers for cabinetthat were vehemently opposed by the opposition parties. That led to protracted late-nightnegotiations in the halls of Parliament.

Trudeau said today the government is open to "tweaks" from the opposition.

"We look forward to working with them on suggestions or amendments that they have," Trudeau said, adding that those amendmentshave to address the wage subsidy legislation itself.

"There seems to be a sense from the Official Opposition that this is a moment to define or determine how Parliament will function in the coming weeks and they are negotiating around the structures."

Watch: Scheer says Parliament must sit again to fix legislation

Trudeau asked what is holding up Parliament's return to pass financial relief

4 years ago

Duration 1:16

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with reporters on Thursday

In a letter to the prime minister sent Wednesday, Scheer said he wanted Trudeau to commit to "regular opportunities for myself and other opposition leaders to question you, as we normally would during question period."

He said the government should also agreeto weekly committee meetings accountability measures he said would prevent Parliament from "rushing through" flawed emergency legislation.

The first pandemic aid package did not include the mechanisms necessary to implement the emergency wage subsidy, which was pitched by Finance Minister Bill Morneau last week.

The government initially proposed a 10 per cent wage subsidy for small and medium businesses before implementing a much more extensive subsidy program in response to pressure from theopposition and lobby groups.

Scheer said Parliament has a role to play during this pandemicand the government must be held to account by the opposition parties.

Watch:Scheer says Conservative MPs are prepared to go back to the House of Commons:

House must sit again to fix legislation: Scheer

4 years ago

Duration 0:53

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says it's hard to avoid mistakes in legislation when Parliament is not in session.

He said he understands it would not be feasible to have all 338 MPsgather in Ottawa, given current public health warnings, but a smaller contingent could make the trip or meet virtually.

Scheer said the media receive regular briefings from ministersand the opportunity to ask questions at ministerial press conferences and so too should the opposition parties.

"Obviously, we would like to see as many of those sessions take place as possible," Scheer said Thursday at a press conference in Regina.

"You get better results when you have a second set of eyes go over the legislation. You get a better bill, you get a better program, if opposition parties can highlight concerns and challenge ministers."

Watch: Trudeau is asked what is holding up Parliament's return to pass financial relief

Scheer says Conservatives ready to return to Parliament

4 years ago

Duration 2:55

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says Conservative MPs are prepared to go back to the House of Commons once the prime minister chooses to recall it.

Scheer said payments from the wage subsidy are still six weeks away and the ongoing negotiations won't have any material impact on when businesses will have access to federal funds, which are designed to cover up to 75 per cent of the pre-crisis wages paid by businesses.

A senior Department of Finance official, speaking on background to reporters at a technical briefing last week, said the government planned to roll the funds out in three to six weeks a timeline that might be affected by the parliamentary delays.