The closure of Parliament, the WE Charity controversy and the throne speech are some major events that have kept politicians busy since COVID-19 took a hold of the country in the middle of March.
On Sept. 30, 2020, Rachael Harder, Member of Parliament for Lethbridge, held a town hall meeting through Zoom to discuss various events that have taken place in Canada.
One major event discussed was the closure of the House of Commons Parliament back in March.
According to Harder, the reason parliament was closed was to give the government a chance to figure out how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And then with regards to parliament, the idea was that we would suspend for a time and then come back together when we could do so in a safe capacity.”
Parliament was suspended for three months before it came back together as a “special committee.”
According to Harder, a special committee is a, “glorified meeting that takes place in the chamber with a limited number of people.” It gives parliamentarians from other parties the opportunity to communicate with each other.
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The special committee gathered in June, July and August. For June, it was for most of the month. For July and August, it was for only eight days each.
Another major topic that was discussed in the meeting was how the government dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. In Harder’s opinion, the government was slow to close Canada’s borders.
According to Wesley Wark, a professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada closed its border too late.
“January 2020 and February 2020 were effectively lost months for Canada, in terms of us preparing for the impacts of COVID-19.”
Harder expressed concern about the shortage of masks and how the World Health Organization initially stated that masks weren’t necessary for healthy people. Now, the WHO recommends everyone wear a mask when social distancing is not possible.
A controversial topic that was discussed was the WE Charity Foundation and its involvement with the Trudeau and Morneau families.
The WE Charity Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that engages with young people to encourage them to help their communities through volunteerism.
In June of 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the WE Charity Foundation would be in charge of a grant program providing students money if they volunteered in their communities.
It was discovered that Trudeau family members and Morneau family members were receiving money from the WE Charity Foundation.
Once this information came out, an investigation was started. Not long after that, Trudeau decided to prorogue Parliament on Aug. 18 which shut down parliament.
Trudeau promised he would come back on Sept. 23 with a plan to restore Canada.
The famous throne speech was delivered on Sept. 23, 2020 by Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada.
In his speech Trudeau said, “I don’t want you, your parent, or your friend to take on debt that your government can better shoulder.”
Canadians were expecting a very detailed plan. A plan to restore safety and security during the pandemic, a plan for economic recovery and a plan for a unified nation. Harder claims the throne speech was very disappointing to a lot of Canadians.
“It’s been a little bit of a tumultuous and confusing time for many Canadians and that’s the type of feedback I’ve been getting from you, as my constituents and from Canadians as a whole.” said Harder.
The Conservatives plan on voting against the throne speech and they believe the NDP will be voting in favour of the throne speech.
Starting next week, committees will start meeting up to vote, debate and answer questions from the public.
