Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government on Wednesday announced plans to spend billions on childcare, housing and healthcare — partly financed by taxing “extreme wealth inequality” — as Canada braces for a second wave of COVID-19.
However, opposition parties quickly dismissed the minority government’s proposals, prompting speculation that Canada would soon head into another general election.
Trudeau speech was delivered by Canadian Governor-General Julie Payette.
Photo: Reuters
The speech included calls for green investment and a plan to create more than 1 million new jobs, but was overshadowed by the pandemic.
“Like a reed in high winds, we may sway, but we will not break,” Payette said.
She called COVID-19 “the most serious public health crisis Canada has ever faced.”
The address was delivered to a sparsely populated senate chamber. Only a handful of members from various parties were present as the rest participated remotely.
The government said that it would do “whatever it takes” to fight the novel coronavirus and rebuild the economy.
“This is not the time for austerity,” Payette said. “This COVID-19 emergency has had huge costs, but Canada would have had a deeper recession and a bigger long-term deficit if the government had done less.”
A major element of the speech was a plan to raise revenue by finding “additional ways to tax extreme wealth inequality” including “tax avoidance by digital giants.”
The speech also focused on a growing concern over the power of tech companies such as Facebook.
The plan to create new jobs is meant to address economic concerns, but comes just as a C$2,000 (US$1,493) monthly payment for residents unable to work because of the virus is to end tomorrow.
While the government plans to relax unemployment insurance rules, it is unclear whether all workers would qualify for new benefits.
Trudeau’s government would need the support of at least one opposition party to survive a confidence vote in the coming weeks.
While opposition parties had called for paid sick leave guarantees and more funding for provinces, neither were explicitly mentioned in the speech.
Following the speech, Conservative deputy leader Candice Bergen said that her party was “very, very displeased” with the Liberals’ plan.
“We believe that it is not what Canadians need,” she said.
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