Tories won’t give feds unilateral powers to spend, borrow, tax during health crisis

In a statement late Monday, Scheer said his party is willing to enact the measures Trudeau announced last week, which include expanding the Canada Child Benefit and GST credits, relaxed Employment Insurance rules and $55 billion worth of deferred taxes. (File Photo Screengrabbed from Andrew Scheer/Facebook)

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says his party will not give the Trudeau government “a blank cheque” to help Canadians weather the COVID-19 crisis.

While Conservatives are prepared to quickly approve $82 billion in emergency financial aid and economic stimulus as promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week, they are balking at a proposal to give the government sweeping new powers for up to 21 months to unilaterally spend, borrow and tax Canadians without seeking Parliament’s approval.

The unprecedented proposal is in a draft of the emergency legislation to be tabled in a scaled-down Parliament on Tuesday.

The government has been negotiating with opposition parties to whip the bill quickly through the House of Commons within a few hours, followed by swift approval by the Senate on Wednesday and royal assent immediately after that.

However, the unilateral spending, taxation and borrowing powers included in the draft of the bill shared with opposition parties on Monday may make it more difficult to stick to that schedule.

Government sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the bill before it’s tabled, say the 21-month timeframe for the extraordinary powers is negotiable.

They expressed confidence that an agreement can be worked out with opposition parties to give the government the flexibility to act quickly to provide relief during the crisis without having to wait for a week to organize a recall of Parliament.

Except for the emergency sitting, the Commons is officially adjourned until April 20, and probably longer.

In a statement late Monday, Scheer said his party is willing to enact the measures Trudeau announced last week, which include expanding the Canada Child Benefit and GST credits, relaxed Employment Insurance rules and $55 billion worth of deferred taxes.

“In a crisis, broad all-party agreement is essential, especially when the government has a minority in the House of Commons. And we are prepared to have Parliament sit as needed to transact the business of Parliament,” he said.

“But we will not give the government unlimited power to raise taxes without a parliamentary vote. We will authorize whatever spending measures are justified to respond to the situation but we will not sign a blank cheque.”