MPs being pressed to pass aid bill quickly as threat of Omicron rises

Variant has injected uncertainty into the economy: Freeland

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the need for MPs to approve a new round of pandemic aid has become more important amid fears related to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Speaking to the House of Commons finance committee, Freeland says the variant has injected renewed uncertainty into the economy, in arguing for the government’s latest benefits package.

The Liberals are proposing to extend pandemic aid until early May to still-hurting businesses and provide a $300-a-week benefit to workers subject to a lockdown as part of a $7.4 billion aid bill before the House of Commons.

The Liberals want the bill, known as C-2, to get approval before parliamentarians go on their winter break at the end of next week.

Freeland said the lockdown support contained in the bill would act as an economic insurance policy if there is another surge in the virus or new variants of concern.

“I don’t want to give Canadians the impression that I think our work is finished or that I think there are no concerns left with Omicron,” she told the committee. “These are real challenges.” Cabinet gets to decide what regions are in a lockdown to qualify under the terms of the bill. Freeland said the government would be open to regions asking for the help, but wasn’t aware of any requests since the measures were announced last month.

Under questioning from NDP finance critic Daniel Blaikie, Freeland

said she hoped the lockdown support wouldn’t be needed. She later added that officials were making “some additional calculations” on costs for the benefit in light of the variant, which would be outlined in a budget update next week.

Signals coming out of the Finance Department suggest that Tuesday’s economic and fiscal update won’t contain a bevy of new spending measures, but will rather be limited in scope.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce on Thursday called on Freeland to provide more than a cursory update and unveil a plan to boost economic growth above the anemic expectations from economists.

“Unless we can achieve sustained growth at a much higher level than we experienced prior to the pandemic, we won’t be building back better, but failing forward,” chamber president Perrin Beatty said in a statement.

‘‘ I don’t want to give Canadians the impression that I think our work is finished. CHRYSTIA FREELAND FINANCE MINISTER