OTTAWA, Sept 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday
reached a deal with the opposition leftist New Democrats on paid sick leave
for all Canadian workers during the pandemic, avoiding possible snap
elections.
The minority Liberal government earlier this week had in a so-called
throne speech proposed sweeping new measures to help Canadians weather a
second Covid-19 wave.
But its agenda and a bill to enact key parts of it faced possible defeat
in parliament, as the Tories and Bloc Quebecois withheld their support and
the New Democratic Party (NDP) made demands for increased social spending to
prop up the government.
With the defeat of the bill — and its agenda — the government would have
fallen.
In a last-ditch effort to gain NDP support, the Liberals boosted a weekly
benefit for those unable to work during the Covid-19 outbreak, including to
care for children or relatives.
And it agreed to NDP demands for the two week paid sick leave for workers
who must isolate after being exposed to the new coronavirus.
In exchange, the NDP said it would back the bill as well as support the
government’s agenda in a confidence vote that is expected to follow in the
coming weeks.
“If this agreement is reflected in the bill,” NDP leader Jagmeet Singh
told a news conference, “we will support the bill, and we will also support
the throne speech.”
The bill is to be presented to parliament on Monday.
Singh would not disclose the specific amendments to it, except to say
Liberal concessions will mean “millions rather than thousands” more Canadians
will have access to paid sick leave.
Singh called the agreement a “historic moment” and “a major victory for
Canadian workers.”
“People who are worried about getting sick in this pandemic will now know
when this legislation passes, that there will be paid sick leave for them,”
he said.
Liberal House of Commons leader Pablo Rodriguez also touted the agreement
with the NDP, saying in a Twitter message the bill “will deliver the help
that Canadians need.”
“We are entering the second wave and millions of Canadians are still
struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “It’s by working together that we
will get through this pandemic.”