House still matters, even if virtual

Amendments Wednesday prove its worth

Proceedings in the House of Commons are often unsatisfying, frequently boring, rarely exhilarating.

But at this precarious time in our national life, they are essential.

The scale of the problem facing the country is apparent in the stark news that 7.26 million Canadians have applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The government has already shelled out $25 billion on CERB and we’re still in April.

A special committee on the COVID crisis met in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Few who were watching will feel they are any the wiser — it was typical partisan jousting with rarely an answer at the end of it.

Yet, Parliament still matters.

It might often appear to be amateur dramatics performed by a particularly melodramatic troupe.

But people who have been in government attest that, behind the curtain, the public probing of ministers is a motivator for change.

“If the opposition has a field day during question period, a good minister will come back to the office and say to staff: ‘I got killed in there today. Is it true what they said? If not, give me something to push back with. If it’s true, fix it now’,” said Garry Keller, a former chief of staff to a Conservative foreign affairs minister.

The focus of the debate on Wednesday was the government’s $9-billion emergency student package, $5.2 billion of which is earmarked for benefit for post-secondary students who don’t qualify for CERB.

The Liberals were put on notice that they govern at the discretion of the opposition parties. The NDP said it would only support the bill if the monthly amount for students with dependants and those on disabilities was raised to $2,000 from $1,750, in line with the CERB. The bill was duly amended.

The Conservatives were concerned the bill would give students $1,250 a month for “staying home,” in the words of Ontario MP Erin O’Toole. There have been concerns expressed that the benefit is a disincentive to seeking work in sectors like agriculture, where there was already a shortage of 15,000 workers pre-COVID — a shortfall likely exacerbated by constraints on travel hitting temporary foreign workers.

Clearly, there is a need to incentivize people to work on farms and in processing to protect the food supply.

The amended bill at least tilts in that direction, requiring applicants to attest they have searched for but are unable to find work. It also requires them to receive employment opportunities through a government-managed job-posting site.

Much of the government’s plan is still a work in progress, including the amount that students will be able to earn before benefit is clawed back. Neither is there much information about the extra 76,000 jobs the government says it will fund in sectors “that need an extra hand” — an effective doubling of the existing Canada Summer Jobs program.

But that vagueness plays into the moral-hazard concerns the Conservatives have been raising. Assuming those jobs can be found, will students work in tough conditions for wages similar to what they could get by simply staying home?

Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet was not wrong when he said the balance in the employment market for students has been broken by the crisis. “Students are not kids with flowers in their hair running naked in the field, or young, lazy people smoking cannabis in the basement,” he said.

They should, he said, be provided with a base income and be encouraged to work.

Of their own accord, the Liberals have shown little inclination to consider the incentive-to-work question when unveiling income support programs.

But MPs of all parties are the umbilical link between the people and government — the connection between the legislative part of the state and the executive part of the state. The Conservatives have pressured the Liberals to consider the disincentives created by a benefit that requires nothing of its recipients. That is less of an issue during a lockdown when there are no jobs, but it may become one as the economy opens up. Even the attestation will give people pause for thought.

The new student bill may not be perfect, but it has been improved by the input of politicians from different parties and disparate regions. The process may not have been exhilarating but it was effective.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN GOVERNMENT ATTEST THAT, BEHIND THE CURTAIN, THE

PUBLIC PROBING OF MINISTERS IS A MOTIVATOR.