A day after the controversial departure of the country’s finance minister, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his replacement but also suspended all Parliamentary proceedings for a month, a strategy seen by the Opposition as an attempt to prevent further probing into a nearly billion-dollar contract given to a charity with links to Trudeau and his family.
Bill Morneau resigned as finance minister on Monday, and on Tuesday, deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland took over his portfolio, making her the first woman to hold this key post. However, Trudeau also prorogued Parliament till a Throne Speech by the country’s Governor-General on September 23, the equivalent of the President’s speech opening Parliament in India. By proroguing Parliament, Trudeau has ensured all activity ceases.
In a statement, his office said, “This speech will present the government’s detailed vision for the future.” This could well turn into a vote of no confidence, as one major Opposition party, the Bloc Quebecois has already said it will precipitate such a vote unless Trudeau resigns.
Party leader Yves-François Blanchet reiterated that position to reporters in Ottawa, as he said of the Throne Speech, “If it does not contain what it must contain, he will simply not survive a vote on his speech from the throne.” If the Liberal Party Government does lose that vote, it may mean fresh elections to the House of Commons before the end of 2020, barely a year since Trudeau’s returned to power in October last year, though with a minority mandate.
The change in who will be in charge of the finance ministry at a crucial juncture attracted plenty of flak from the Opposition. Pierre Poilievre, finance critic for the principal opposition Conservative Party, said, “We now have a government of corruption, coverup and chaos at a time of a deadly pandemic and the biggest economic collapse since the Great Depression.” That point was also reflected in the view of Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party, who said in a statement, “Shutting down Parliament in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crisis, with a planned sitting next week and committees working hard to get answers and solutions for Canadians, is wrong. Canadians shouldn’t be forced to pay the price for Mr Trudeau’s scandals.”
Trudeau, meanwhile, stressed that a new Throne Speech, which lays out the Government’s agenda, was necessary, since the one “delivered eight months ago made no mention of Covid-19, had no conception of the reality we find ourselves in right now.” He also said his Government will seek to “reset” its “approach” for a “recovery to build back better.”
The decision to prorogue Parliament comes in the context of hearings by two Parliamentary panels into the grant of a $912 million contract to WE Charity, which was cancelled after an uproar over its links to Trudeau and his family, including making payments to his mother, wife and brother. Those investigations will be stalled, even as the country’s Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner continues with his own probe of Trudeau in this matter.
