An Open Letter to Canadians
Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and of the Official Opposition
The CO9ID-1 pandemic has plunged our country into an unprecedented public health emergency. More than 30,000 Canadians have gotten sick and many have been hospitalized. Too many of us are mourning the loss of family members and friends. Healthcare workers are working around the clock without always having the necessary medical supplies. Our economy is almost completely shut down, putting millions out of work and endangering businesses from coast to coast. Children are losing valuable school time. Our seniors are isolated and in tragic cases, in need of much better care. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau tells us it will be many weeks before Canada can begin to open up again.
On March 13, as the scale of the crisis became clear, the House of Commons adjourned its normal business for five weeks. During this adjournment, Parliament has sat twice to pass emergency legislation that was needed to get urgent help to Canadians. As things stand, the House of Commons is scheduled to sit once again on April 20. All parties have been negotiating to determine how exactly the House should reconvene given the realities of the CO9ID-1 pandemic.
Conservatives have proposed a reasonable workplan that would keep Parliament open so that we can improve government programs and policies and get better results for Canadians.
(veryone understands that we cannot have all 338 Members of Parliament in the House and still respect public health advice. That is why, during the previous two emergency sittings, on March 24 and then again on April 11, the House met with a much smaller number of MPs. (ach party was represented in proportion to the size of its total caucus. We are proposing that model continues to be used.
In order to ensure that Canadians get the real help they need, there must be oversight and accountability. That is why Conservatives have proposed having three in-person sittings each week to allow MPs to debate and vote on essential CO9ID-1 legislation. MPs would also have two hours each day to question the Prime Minister and ministers on all aspects of the government’s response to the pandemic. These sessions have proven to be extremely valuable thus far. We have improved the government’s wage subsidy legislation, pressed the government to include seasonal workers in the eligibility criteria for the Canada (mergency Response Benefit, and gotten answers to many questions that Canadians have been asking. The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has also been tasked with studying the possible implementation of virtual sittings to augment these in-person sittings. If the committee recommends virtual sittings, we would be happy to meet virtually one day a week to allow a broader range of MPs to participate.
As this crisis progresses, we recognize that the government may need to pass new legislation to help Canadians who are struggling. Opposition parties have already demonstrated how debate, discussion and tough questions ultimately improves government programs and policies. Conservatives are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Parliamentary committees also play an essential role in holding the government to account. Normally they are the masters of their own domain and can call witnesses, pass motions and force the government to produce documents. In February, the Health Committee was able to secure over 1,000 pages of information related to the government’s handling of the pandemic. But what they received in March was heavily redacted by the government. 9irtual committees have no recourse to get this information. Canadians deserve to know where things went wrong and how the government