OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s C$27 billion ($18.8 billion) aid package will give people affected by the coronavirus outbreak C$2,000 a month and delay student loan repayments, among other measures to boost the economy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.
Canada’s Minister of Finance Bill Morneau speaks in the House of Commons as legislators convene to give the government power to inject billions of dollars in emergency cash to help individuals and businesses through the economic crunch caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Blair Gable
After almost a day of wrangling, the House of Commons agreed early on Wednesday to approve the stimulus. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit bill was being debated in the Senate.
“We are hopeful that the system will be up and running by April 6 and the checks and direct deposits will be flowing days after that,” Trudeau told reporters outside his house.
A few dozen legislators – maintaining social distancing in the face of the highly contagious disease – backed the measures after the Liberal government agreed to remove proposals that would have given Ottawa emergency spending powers without Parliamentary approval until the end of 2021.
The bill – which also includes C$55 billion in the form of tax deferrals – must now be approved by the unelected Senate, which will meet later on Wednesday.
Government officials say they anticipate senators will quickly approve the measures.
A total of 2,792 Canadians have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and 27 have died, while more than a million people have applied for unemployment benefits in less than two weeks.
Trudeau, who unveiled the stimulus package last week, said on Tuesday the crisis meant the government needed flexibility to react quickly.
But after almost 18 hours of wrangling, and faced with opposition threats to drag out approval of the aid, Trudeau officials agreed to dilute some of their demands.
“Because we fought back, the Trudeau government has backed down from its power grab,” said Pierre Poilievre, finance spokesman for the official opposition Conservatives.
The modified bill caps Ottawa’s emergency spending power at six months. It also says the House of Commons finance committee – which is controlled by opposition legislators – can probe government spending and force Parliament back in 48 hours if it thinks abuses are occurring.
Trudeau’s Liberals only have a minority in the House of Commons and rely on other parties to govern.
Once senators have voted for the bill, it needs formal assent from the Governor-General, the representative of Queen Elizabeth, Canada’s head of state. This is a formality.
Reporting by Amran Abocar; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum