Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government has not yet struck a deal with opposition regarding whether parliamentarians should sit in the House of Commons on Monday.
Trudeau once again doubled-down on his party’s view, saying it would be “irresponsible” for lawmakers to sit amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We are in a situation where our public health authorities, our experts and common sense tells us we need to continue to limit our movements,” he told reporters on Sunday. “We need to continue to work from home, we need to continue to do everything we can to ensure that people are kept safe from further spread of this pandemic.”
Without unanimous consent from parties on an alternative arrangement, Parliament is scheduled resume on Monday, meaning up to 338 MPs and their staff would gather in Ottawa.
Public health officials have advised all Canadians to avoid gathering in groups, and have urged against all non-essential travel.
According to Trudeau, his government has proposed meeting “in some fashion” once a week, and to hold virtual sittings once the technology is available.
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“We have proposed and it’s been accepted — largely accepted by the other opposition parties that we should have accountability measures,” Trudeau said. “We should have parliament that functions, but we have to do it responsibly, and that’s why coming back every week for questions and for work on passing new legislation is something that I think is reasonable and is acceptable to most parties.”
Trudeau said he is “perfectly happy” to take questions from media each day, and is “looking forward to taking questions from opposition parties.”
“But it has to be done in a responsible way,” he said. “And right now, the Conservatives are not taking a responsible approach.”
What has the opposition said?
A spokesperson for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement to Global News on Saturday that smaller meetings of Parliament — such as the ones held to pass the emergency COVID-19 aid packages — combined with some virtual meetings “likely give us a path forward.”
The party said there needs to be a way for opposition members to ask questions of the prime minister and cabinet.
“We will keep working with the other parties to get this done and make sure we can deliver for Canadians while respecting the best advice from public health experts,” the statement reads.
What’s more, in a tweet on Saturday Elizabeth May, former Green Party Leader and MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, said the Greens would not give unanimous consent for calling Parliament together frequently “until Public Health advice says it makes sense.”
“Giving the Conservatives a spotlight in QP is not a reason to reconvene,” she wrote.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer told a briefing on Sunday that it is “disingenuous” to suggest all 338 MPs would be present on Monday.
“Only 20 MPs are required for quorum and pretending otherwise to try to force the opposition to accept a bad deal is wrong,” he said. “One sitting each week is unacceptable, even if it is eventually supplemented by a virtual sitting.”
The Conservatives say several meetings a week are needed to hold the government to account.
Scheer said during the last two emergency sessions, 32 MPs were in attendance.
“This allowed us to follow public health advice and still carry out our duties,” he said. “Both times, Conservatives representing ridings from all over the country participated in the debate, and we got better results for Canadians because of it.”
He said his party is proposing that model be implemented three times a week to “ensure Canadians get the real help they need.”
“There must be oversight and accountability,” he said.
Asked by reporters on Sunday if a deal had been reached, Trudeau said no, but that he felt they were “very close.”
“I think it seems very, very reasonable that we can agree that there needs to be a Parliament that is functioning responsibly in this difficult time,” he said. “Most parties have responsible proposals forward, and I certainly hope that the Conservatives will agree to doing the responsible thing here.”
According to the latest numbers released by the Public Health Agency of Canada, as of Sunday at 11 a.m., 33,922 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed across the country.
The majority of cases have been reported in Quebec and Ontario which have recorded 17,521 and 10,578 infections respectively.
So far, the virus has claimed 1,506 lives in Canada.
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