Liberals fail to get support for CERB bill

BILL TO REFORM CERB STALLED AS PARTIES MAKE DEMANDS IN RETURN FOR SUPPORT

The Liberals proposed legislation on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit was stalled Wednesday when they could not find an ally in the minority Parliament.

All of the opposition parties made demands in return for supporting the government.

The Conservatives wanted Parliament to fully resume, with all committees up and running. They also asked for increased funding for the auditor general.

The NDP wanted fines and penalties for people fraudulently using CERB removed from the bill; a commitment to extend the program, as well as broader help for people with disabilities.

The Bloc Québécois asked for a fiscal update and for the prime minister to commit to holding a first ministers meeting on health transfers as conditions of their support. They also wanted political parties to be banned from taking the wage subsidy.

Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez said he would go back to the negotiating table in an effort to secure support.

“I am going to roll up my sleeves and call all the House leaders and see how we can find a path forward, because this is too important,” he said.

The legislation as drafted, would make changes to the $2,000 per month benefit that has been in place since the COVID crisis began. Anyone who refused a reasonable offer of work would no longer be eligible and there would be clear fines for people who fraudulently applied.

The government’s wage subsidy program was getting a few small tweaks in the bill and the legislation also allows for a one-time $600 payment to some Canadians with disabilities. That payment cannot go ahead until the bill is passed through the House and Senate.

Rodriguez tested the bill in a special sitting of Parliament Wednesday afternoon, but didn’t get the unanimous support needed to begin debating the legislation. He also failed to get support when he split the bill into two to allow the one-time payment for Canadians with disabilities. The Conservatives refused to support that plan.

Two other motions came forward — one from the Conservatives to have Parliament fully resume and one from the Bloc Québécois to allow for more negotiations.

These also failed to get unanimous support and with no agreement to move ahead, the Speaker adjourned the House.

After failing to get the bill heard, Rodriquez blamed the Conservatives for the delay.

“We are here today with a clear opportunity to help those with disabilities, the chance was offered to everybody and the Conservatives said no. This should be noted.”

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer pointed out the Liberals had an option to move things ahead, which the Liberals rejected.

“Members on this side said yes to the House of Commons meeting later today and it was members of the Liberal party that said no.”

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said the government had to offer a commitment to extend CERB if they wanted his party’s support.

“The prime minister has said some pretty words, but if someone has to go to the grocery store and buy groceries, the prime minister’s pretty words won’t pay for those groceries.”

He also objected to the penalties for fraudulent use of CERB. He said laws were already in place for clear cases of fraud and the new rules would hurt people who actually needed help. He said there was no reason for criminal penalties for people who made mistakes in their applications.

“The government should be using the tax system to recover money from people who didn’t need it.”

Rodriguez said the Bloc and the Conservatives were focused on other requests and not the bill itself.

“You can extend the conversation and talk about other things, but you still at minimum have to talk about the bill.”

Bloc Québécois’ Yvesfrançois Blanchet said at his press conference that the Liberals have not been willing to actually negotiate through this process.

“The most poisonous pill of all of that is the government trying stubbornly to act as if there were not 338 people having been elected last October and doing as if it was a majority government led by some kind of prince, which is not the case,” Blanchet told reporters.

“They are not asking for negotiations. They are asking us for a rubber stamp,.”

Conservative house leader Candice Bergen said there were parts of the legislation her party could support, but Parliament needed to resume.

“We are not going to be giving any kind of special exemptions to the government. We have been clear we wanted Parliament to resume, they chose not to.”

She said her party also wanted all of Parliament’s committees to return and increased funding to the auditor general, but she suspected the prime minister would not agree to that.

“He doesn’t want the accountability, he doesn’t want democracy functioning.”