Dear Friends,

 

Throughout this pandemic, the response of the Liberals has always been a day late and a dollar short.

 

Last week, Bill C-4 was passed in the House after a mere 4.5 hour debate period and is now before the Senate. In typical fashion, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed his disregard for Parliament and aversion to hard work by proroguing parliament for six weeks and then refusing to allow the House to sit over the weekend to hold a proper debate.

 

With CERB ending last Sunday, the Bill's aim was to help workers who are self-employed or are not eligible for EI and cannot resume work.

 

When C-4 was introduced last week, the Conservatives tabled a motion proposing we work over the weekend to review and debate this legislation to make sure we get it right. This was rejected. We also proposed a committee study ensuring that the key ministers responsible could be questioned about the details of the Bill.

 

Trudeau was unwilling to give up his weekend at the cottage.

 

While this legislation is extremely important to Canadians, Members of Parliament were not given enough time to properly debate and amend the Bill, if necessary. Conservatives wanted to make sure that this legislation was as close to perfect as possible, but rather than actually putting in the effort to help Canadians, Trudeau showed once again that he just wants to score easy political points by rushing through legislation.

 

This has been a pattern for the government throughout the pandemic. Every step of the way they have rammed through legislation, without proper parliamentary oversight, only to have to fix it at a later date.

 

Take for example the CERB which initially prohibited anyone from working at all, then capped earnings at $1000 per month rather than gradually reducing the benefit. Or the small business loan that many small businesses couldn't access, and a rent assistance program that required landlords to lose money.

 

We support pandemic benefits for those who need them, but we don't believe that Liberals need a blank cheque while there is a functioning parliament to consider spending.

 

Canadians need a Prime Minister who is willing to put in some effort.

 

Rest assured that I, along with my colleagues in the House, will continue to do everything we can to hold the Liberals to account, to help all Canadians to prosper.

 

I hope this has been of interest to you.

 

Sincerely,

Kelly Block, MP