John Ivison: Who cares about $87 billion? Not the Liberals or the NDP apparently – The Province

The mundane business of debating government spending estimates sparked to life on Wednesday afternoon when NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was booted from the House of Commons for calling a Bloc Qubcois MP a racist.

Singh had proposed a motion condemning the RCMP for systemic racism. When the Bloc refused to grant its consent, Singh called MP Alain Therrien a racist. Its true, I called him a racist and I believe thats so, Singh said, when challenged.

After he refused to apologize he was asked to leave the chamber by the Speaker.Later, in an emotional news conference, Singh said he got angry. Why cant we do something to save peoples lives? We can do something. Why would someone say no to that? he said.

Singh was reacting to the dismissive gesture of a reality he has lived.But it reflected recent tensions between the NDP and the Bloc.By contrast, relations with the Liberals have been much less belligerent a crucial point as MPs pored over the largest spending bill ever to come before the House of Commons.

Singhs NDP risks being seen as a junior partner to Justin Trudeaus Liberal party, after striking a pact last month on the resumption of Parliament. Singh had a good hand when he opened negotiations with the Liberals. The Liberal government was keen to avoid the return of Parliament and the inconvenience of having to defend its COVID spending in detail.

In the minority setting, Trudeau needed the support of the New Democrats or the Bloc Qubcois to give himself a free hand.Singh obliged, in return for a vague promise to deliver 10 days paid sick leave to workers a commitment that requires provincial backing. Singh claimed he had secured two weeks of paid sick leave for every worker in Canada. But if he has, it is not yet apparent.

Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister, said in the House on Wednesday that the government remains committed to the idea. But provinces like Nova Scotia have given it a cool reception. If it does come to pass, the odds are that the Liberals, not the NDP, will get the credit.

In return for that commitment, the New Democrats voted for the government motion to waive normal House proceedings, reneging on the partys legislative obligation to hold the government to account.

Former prime minister John Diefenbaker once described the role of opposition parties to find fault; suggest amendments; ask questions; elicit information; arouse, educate and mould public opinion by voice and vote. The NDP appears to have given up on the opposing part of opposition.

All this is by way of backdrop to Wednesdays parliamentary debate on the whopping $87-billion appropriation bill. In order to spend money, the government must receive Parliaments approval. But that approval is normally granted only after the spending plans have been vetted thoroughly.

Jean-Yves Duclos, president of the Treasury Board, said only $6 billion of the $87 billion is new funding, with the bulk having been discussed, debated and agreed upon by this House, in previous legislation. Yet, the spending in the COVID-19 Emergency Act did not receive anywhere near the scrutiny it might have done in other circumstances.

So much money is flowing through these supplementary estimates that ministers had trouble answering what it was all for.

This is a serious amount of money with zero specifics, said Conservative MP Dan Albas. He was talking about a measure on student work experience but, in truth, it could have been any of the dozens of initiatives.

Youll get stronger data at a later date, said Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough. Presumably she meant long after MPs have approved the measures in front of them.

These are massive investments: $60 billion on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit alone, but also $3 billion in emergency rent assistance, $1.8 billion for personal protective equipment, $5.3 billion for student benefits and $2.5 billion on seniors support (for some reason the wage subsidy and the emergency business account were not included in these estimates).

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives for a meeting of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic in the House of Commons, June 17, 2020.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

There were also non-COVID funding measures: $585 million for two joint support ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and $468 in funding for Indigenous child and family services.

Was this the optimal use for billions of taxpayers dollars? Who knows? Who cares? Not the members of Parliament representing the Liberal party or NDP apparently.

The study of supplementary estimates is usually conducted by a standing committee, which has the power to reduce or deny specific measures (though not to increase them). The committee is master of its own timetable and has the option of calling witnesses from the public service and beyond. However, because of the Liberal-NDP pact, those estimates were dealt with in five hours on Wednesday afternoon, with the simple option of approving or refusing them.

As Yves Giroux, the parliamentary budget officer, put it in his guidance for MPs: It will be difficult for parliamentarians to perform their critical role of properly scrutinizing proposed government spending in the four-hour window. And so it proved. It was a thoroughly unsatisfying experience for anyone who cared to watch.

So much money is flowing through these supplementary estimates that ministers had trouble answering what it was all for

Former NDP MP Pat Martin chaired the government operations committee for years and fought successive governments to improve scrutiny of spending. Its the most fundamental principle of our democracy and the most important job a member of Parliament has, he said. It used to make me crazy that billions of dollars would fly out the door with only a cursory review of an hour or two of review or oversight. That is the bare minimum of accountability the government owes the people.

The opposition parties commanded a majority in the House on Wednesday and could, in theory, have demanded more information. But the NDP had already shown its hand and bargained away its independence.

Singh and his colleagues might have a better chance of changing the world if they just joined the Liberal party.

Email: jivison@postmedia.com | Twitter:

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John Ivison: Who cares about $87 billion? Not the Liberals or the NDP apparently - The Province