Canadian lawmakers on Saturday passed a wage subsidy program heralded as the largest economic measure in the country since World War II to help businesses and their employees get through the COVID-19 crisis.
Canadian Parliament is suspended, but held an exceptional session in the middle of Easter weekend to adopt the C$73 billion (US$52 billion) program, which aims to pay companies 75 percent of their employees’ salaries to avoid massive layoffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the session. He had been in isolation in his home for a month after his wife contracted the coronavirus.
Photo: Reuters/Adam Scotti/PMO/Handout
Apart from leaders of the main parties, only about 30 lawmakers out of 338 attended to comply with “social distancing” orders.
The Canadian House of Commons passed the bill in the afternoon, followed in the evening by the Canadian Senate.
Trudeau, referring to Canada’s sacrifices in both world wars, said that the fight against the coronavirus “is not a war,” but “that doesn’t make this fight any less destructive.”
“The front line is everywhere, in our homes, in our hospitals and care centers, in our grocery stores and pharmacies, at our truck stops and gas stations. And the people who work in these places are our modern-day heroes,” he said.
This was the second financial assistance bill proposed by Trudeau’s government since the beginning of the crisis.
Its purpose is to “enable Canadians to keep their jobs and get a paycheck,” the prime minister said.
The 75 percent wage subsidy, which is for three months and retroactive to March 15, is for businesses that have suffered or would suffer a 15 percent drop in revenues last month or 30 percent this month and next month, Canadian Minister of Finance Bill Morneau said.
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