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Trudeau Brushes Off Conservative Claim He’s Being ‘Dictatorial’ With COVID-19 Aid Bill

Deputy Conservative Leader Candice Bergen and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are shown in a composite image of photos from The Canadian Press, taken on Sept. 29, 2020.
Deputy Conservative Leader Candice Bergen and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are shown in a composite image of photos from The Canadian Press, taken on Sept. 29, 2020.

Deputy Conservative Leader Candice Bergen accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “acting in a dictatorial way” Tuesday by moving to fast-track legislation for new COVID-19 aid programs, despite his earlier decision to prorogue Parliament for nearly six weeks.

Trudeau, in turn, accused the Tories of playing “petty politics” during a crisis.

Watch the exchange:

The exchange took place in question period, shortly after Liberals revealed they will treat the vote over Bill C-4 — which seeks to replace the recently expired Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) with three new benefits and a revamped employment insurance system — as a confidence measure. New Democrats have already said they will support the legislation after Liberals boosted proposed benefits to match the $500-per-week CERB and expand access for paid sick leave.

Bergen accused Liberals of “ramming through bills” without proper consultation or debate since the spring. “Today, debate is being shut down again on another piece of legislation that could help Canadians but probably will be very flawed,” she said. “So why won’t the prime minister let us do our job?”

Bergen was referring to the Liberal push to move the legislation through all three stages of debate in the House of Commons in a day. Liberals and NDP MPs voted earlier Tuesday to end debate over a motion from Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez to limit discussion of the bill to less than five hours. The House of Commons is expected to vote on Rodriguez’s motion and the government’s legislation, which includes billions in new spending, late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

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