Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that he has asked Gov. Gen. Julie Payette to prorogue Parliament.
use “prorogation to avoid difficult political circumstances,” as the Liberals accused former prime minister Stephen Harper of doing.of Harper’s 2013 prorogation amid the Senate expense scandal. , killing all legislative business that has not passed.
In this case it would mean halting all ongoing WE Charity committee probes should they still be underway when the prorogation comes into effect, and wiping away the remaining pre-pandemic pieces of legislation. There are seven government bills that are on the order paper and are set to die when the prorogation happens, including legislation to amend the Criminal Code to amend the physician-assisted dying law and to effectively ban conversion therapy. There is also legislation proposing to set up new RCMP and CBSA oversight, as well as amending the oath of citizenship to recognize Indigenous rights.The House of Commons had one final special sitting scheduled for Aug. 26— where emergency COVID-19 measures coudl have been advanced, such as the expected — before remaining adjourned until Sept. 21. That is the date when parliamentary businesses was set to resume in earnest, with questions outstanding about the degree of COVID-19 precautions that will be in place and whether a continuation of the hybrid virtual and in-person sittings would resume. A new throne speech and expected economic update will be key moments for the federal government to set out its reworked priorities, after the pandemic paused or forced a reassessment of many of the initiatives promised by the Liberals during the 2019 federal election. Morneau’s sudden resignation led to concerns about how the economy would react given the ongoing economic crisis, though by tapping Freeland to take on that challenge and handing back some additional responsibility to LeBlanc, Trudeau is putting more responsibility on two of his most trusted ministers. Largely seen as a steady hand that Trudeau has more than once put into a tough role, Freeland will take on, expanded in large part to pay for a suite of emergency benefits, and to stave off further staggering job losses. There has also been considerable discussion about the particular impact the pandemic is having on women’s economic standing——and having a female at the helm of the finance department could be the Liberals' way of signalling that they’re aware of the challenges facing Canadians in rebuilding. Freeland has represented the Toronto riding of University-Rosedale since 2013. She’s a former journalist who since the Liberals came to power in 2015, has also been the minister of international trade and foreign affairs minister. She was integral in Canada’s renegotiation of NAFTA and recently fronted Canada’s latest retaliatory plans to U.S. President Donald Trump’s aluminum tariffs. LeBlanc and Trudeau have been close friends for many years. He represents the New Brunswick riding of Beausejour, and was first elected to Parliament in 2004. He has also held a variety of cabinet posts, including government House leader and fisheries minister.In a press conference prior to the shuffle and Trudeau’s address, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said he looks forward to the Liberals meeting them in Parliament post-prorogation, where a throne speech provides a straightforward opportunity for a confidence vote, something he’s still pushing for. Also reacting to the news, soon-to-be-replaced Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer accused Trudeau of “walking out on Canadians in the middle of a major health and economic crisis, in a disgusting attempt to make Canadians forget about his corruption.” “Earlier this year, Justin Trudeau shamefully shut down Parliament to try and avoid accountability. Now he has locked out Opposition MPs who were working hard to fix his government’s pandemic programs, help Canadians and get to the bottom of his corruption scandal,” Scheer said. “At a time when Canadians are looking for stability and leadership, Justin Trudeau has given them corruption, chaos, and cover-ups.” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he’s concerned the Liberals have become a party “more interested in holding on to power” than focusing on supporting Canadians through what continue to be tough times. He said having Parliament available to quickly pass new measures as they are needed is essential. “We believe that the goal and the job of Parliament is to work for people to make sure they have help. In a pandemic we need to be there to do that work,” Singh said. While Morneau has said his departure is not due to the ongoing WE Charity student grant controversy, opposition MPs were quick to say otherwise, suggesting that Trudeau should also go given his own family ties to WE. “I would just say generally speaking, we have a government of elites and self-serving snobs who look down on ordinary working class Canadians… That is the attitude of entitlement that we have come to expect from Trudeau and everyone he is put in positions of power,” said Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday morning, reacting to the shuffle news. In the last month both Trudeau and Morneau had revealed they did not recuse themselves from the cabinet table when WE was awarded a deal to run a now-halted $912-million summer program, despite having close family ties to the organization. Morneau later revealed he had recently cut a cheque for $41,000 to cover expenses WE Charity paid for his family during 2017 trips to Kenya and Ecuador. Over a series of House committees a range of ministers have testified, as have several senior government officials, and MPs are awaiting the release of a trove of internal documents set to shed more light on the entire conflict of interest affair. Opposition MPs are now pushing to ensure this evidence is made public before any parliamentary shutdown. Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion is currently investigating both Morneau and Trudeau, and both of those probes are set to continue and culminate in reports on whether federal ethics law was violated, even if Morneau is likely to be long out of office by the time it’s completed. While he insisted leaving was his decision, and not the result of Trudeau pushing him on account for the rumoured policy tensions between the two, Morneau said his relationship with Trudeau was built on “vigorous discussion and debate,” but that always led to better policy. Morneau said he had come to the conclusion he was no longer the “most appropriate person” for the job of finance minister because he wasn’t going to be there for the long haul, and is now eyeing the international role of secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, with the prime minister’s backing.also receiving external informal advice from former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who some had thought was lining up to take Morneau’s job. Morneau’s resignation also means there is another Ontario riding that will soon be up for grabs—one Liberal MP previously announcedChrystia Freeland is sworn in as Finance Minister by Clerk of the Privy Council Ian Shugart during the swearing in ceremony following a cabinet shuffle at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Tuesday, August 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Please follow us on Google to support us Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Blaine Higgs calls New Brunswick election for Sept. 14New Brunswick will be the first province to go to the polls since the COVID-19 pandemic began
Read more »
New Brunswickers to head to polls during pandemic after premier calls election for Sept. 14Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers accused Higgs of listening to political advisors instead of the people of New Brunswick by plunging them into an election they don\u0027t need or want
Read more »
France to make masks compulsory in majority of workplaces beginning Sept. 1The labor ministry said on Tuesday the new arrangement would apply to all shared spaces in offices and factories, but would not extend to individual offices where only one employee is present
Read more »
PM shuffles Freeland to finance, plans to soon proroguePrime Minister Justin Trudeau has begun a major summer reset of his government, adding new responsibilities onto two of his most trusted ministers in a mini-shuffle on Tuesday. He is then expected to move to prorogue Parliament and reassess federal priorities with his front bench in the coming weeks, culminating in a new throne speech later this fall.
Read more »
Chrystia Freeland confirmed as finance minister, Liberals will prorogue Parliament until fallProroguing will shut down the House of Commons committees investigating the WE charity scandal
Read more »