Justin Trudeau is pushing for Parliament not to resume Monday, saying it would be “irresponsible”.
Parliament was suspended in mid-March and MPs are scheduled to come back April 20th. However, Trudeau says this isn’t the time to gather over 300 MPs and their staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister says the federal parties are trying to come to an agreement to cancel tomorrow’s meeting, which requires the consent of all parties.
The Liberal party is proposing Parliament meets two days per week, once in person and once virtually. Trudeau calls the plan “reasonable and acceptable to most parties,” claiming the plan is getting approval from all opposition parties except the federal Conservatives.
“I’m perfectly happy to be taking questions every day from media, and I’m looking forward to taking questions from opposition parties. But it has to be done in a responsible way, and right now the Conservatives are not taking a responsible approach,” Trudeau claims.
He adds he’s been informed it’s not possible to start virtual Parliament meetings this week, but is in favour of holding them to maintain physical distancing and let MPs who live farther from Ottawa participate without travelling.
Trudeau also touched on protecting Canadian businesses from being bought out by foreign investors. He says he’s following the lead of countries around the world that recognize businesses may be vulnerable to takeovers during the COVID-19 crisis.
“We will be strengthening our oversight, and paying close attention to foreign investment in this country to ensure there isn’t people taking advantage of this crisis,” Trudeau says.
The Prime Minister opened his daily briefing on the coronavirus by saying his thoughts are with those affected by Sunday morning’s shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia.
Nationwide, Canada has over 33,900 cases and 1,506 deaths from COVID-19.
