OTTAWA, Ontario, March 25, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The pro-abortion Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau’s $82-billion coronavirus bill received Royal Assent to become law today after concessions were made to the opposition Conservatives who demanded it be amended to remove, as much as possible, “undemocratic power grab” sections of the bill.
Concerns remain that Bill C-13 might still give the government too much “dictatorial power” despite revisions to the bill.
Many Members of Parliament (MPs) voiced opposition to portions of Bill C-13, after reading the first draft of the bill in detail earlier in the week. To pass the legislation, the Canadian Parliament was recalled Tuesday after being in recess since March 13. A limited number of Members of Parliament (MPs) from each party were present Tuesday.
MPs were outraged at its apparent abuse of authority, which included sections 2, 4 and 9. This portion would have given unlimited spending and taxing powers to the minister of finance Bill Morneau until January 1, 2022, with no approval from parliament.
Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer announced today that he was pleased concessions were made to the bill to rectify most of their concerns, most notably the removal of section 2.
“What we were not prepared for was the government’s attempted undemocratic power grab,” said Scheer in a Conservative Party statement today.
“The Liberals shamefully tried to use a public health crisis to give themselves the powers to raise taxes, debt and spending without parliamentary approval until January 1, 2022. But after hours of negotiation, the government has backed down.”
The Canadian Constitution states that parliament alone has the power regarding taxation and the approval of spending.
Jack Fonseca, Director of Political Operations for Campaign Life Coalition, said to LifeSiteNews that despite the concessions made, concerns remain that Bill C-13 might still give Trudeau too much power.
“I do know from inside sources, that the Conservatives were very worried that Trudeau’s allies in the mainstream Liberal media were successfully spinning the story to paint them as the villains who are “holding up financial relief” that Canadians need,” said Fonseca.
“For that reason, I fear that the compromise legislation that the Conservatives finally agreed to, may potentially still end up giving Trudeau too much dictatorial power. However, I applaud what must have been a herculean effort to roll back Trudeau’s power grab as much as they did, and thank God for that.”
The Conservative Party statement sent out today says that in addition to the removal of section 2, the party was able to get the government to roll back their unlimited spending powers. These powers will now be only available for a six-month time frame ending on September 30, 2020, instead of January 1, 2022.
The Conservative Party was also able to get the special warrants timeline window pushed to June 23, 2020, instead of September 30, 2020. Special warrants are given by the Governor-General so that funds can be obtained for the government's urgent needs when Parliament is not sitting.
Additionally, the government agreed to “include explicit reference to putting taxpayers’ rights first” and that sunset clauses be placed in legislation. The sunset clause in the bill repeals the legislation on September 30, 2020.
Lastly, the Conservative Party was able to get the government to “be accountable to Parliament through regular reports to the House of Commons Health and Finance committees and that the Finance Committee has the right to recall Parliament if we identify any abuses.”
When speaking about the bill to LifeSiteNews after information first broke of its concerning sections, Fonseca said Bill C-13 shows once and for all that Trudeau is a danger to Canadian democracy.
“Trudeau has let out his inner Mussolini. It’s frightening, really. He’s using the cover of the coronavirus panic to seize dictatorial power. This is further evidence for my position that Justin Trudeau is the most dangerous man in Canadian political history.”
Fonseca then noted Trudeau’s love of China.
“Trudeau, the unrepentant admirer of China's ‘basic dictatorship’ and Cuba’s mass-murdering dictator Fidel Castro, cannot be trusted,” said Fonseca.
Trudeau famously praised China’s ‘basic dictatorship’ in speaking at a Liberal party fundraising event in 2013, after a reporter asked him which country besides Canada he most admires.
In response to the reporter, Trudeau said: “There is a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime… I mean there is a flexibility that I know Stephen Harper must dream about, of having a dictatorship that he can do everything he wanted that I find quite interesting.
Fonseca warned that Trudeau's “totalitarian power grab” could potentially affect all future family and life issues in Canada down the road, given Trudeau’s “obsession with promoting abortion and homosexuality using taxpayer money.”
He warned that all Canadian pro-life and pro-family advocates should pay close attention to this issue.
Background to Bill C-13’s passage
All parties initially agreed to pass spending measures announced last week by Trudeau to assist Canadian individuals and businesses cope with the fallout of the coronavirus epidemic.
In a statement sent out on March 23, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer did not mince words in regards to the proposed legislation and his opposition to parts of it after it became clear it was being used as a “power grab.”
“Conservatives are ready to work to support Canadians in this time of crisis. But we will not give the government unlimited power to raise taxes without a parliamentary vote. We will authorize whatever spending measures are justified in response, but not sign a blank cheque,” said Scheer.
Scheer initially announced that he was willing to approve spending measures, so long as the bill did not grant “the government unprecedented powers.”
Trudeau then agreed to remove section 2 on Tuesday, after multiple Canadian media outlets, who managed to obtain embargoed drafts of the legislation, highlighted the contentious section in reports.
In its original form, Bill-C-13 contained 20 sections in total. One section which remains in place creates the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act. This allows any Liberal cabinet minister, with finance minister’s Bill Morneau’s approval, to spend as much money as required to combat a public health emergency.
At his daily press conference from his residence while in self-isolation on Tuesday, Trudeau nevertheless pressed on with the rest of his legislation, saying these types of spending measures are needed to combat the “exceptional situation” the nation is in.
“We recognize that this pandemic is moving extremely quickly and it is an exceptional situation that requires extreme flexibility and rapidity of response by governments to be able to help Canadians and react to a situation that we’ve seen is moving quickly every single day.”
Many opposition MPs such as Conservative Derek Sloan who is a nominee in the running for the party leadership, called out Trudeau’s aid package as an affront to democracy.
“The fact that Trudeau even proposed this patently unconstitutional power grab in the middle of a crisis should concern us all,” said Sloan via Twitter Tuesday.
Yes, there seem to be some good and necessary components to help fight COVID-19. But this bill goes far beyond that. This bill grants sweeping powers to Trudeau and his team to do pretty much whatever they like for the next 18 months, including unlimited ability to tax.
Sloan said in an email to supporters yesterday that never in Canada’s history has a bill like Trudeau’s “been done before.”
“Even the Parliamentary Budget Officer who reviewed a draft of the bill called the new powers ‘unprecedented,’” he said. “Maybe Trudeau sees this as his chance to bring to fruition the dictatorships he so admires.”
Leslyn Lewis, another nominee in the running for the Conservative party leadership, called the bill as proposed by Trudeau’s Liberals “unacceptable” since it would give the Liberals a “blank cheque for 21 months.”
In emails to supporters, she accused Trudeau of using the coronavirus to “advance undemocratic agendas.”
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre and Shadow Minister of Finance was direct in saying his party would not support any legislation if sections which remove the parliamentary process are not taken out.
“Scheer's message is simple: approve aid to families & businesses immediately. Take out any sections of the bill that rob Parliament to give unprecedented powers to Trudeau. Give help to Canadians not power to government. #HellNo.”