Canadian Parliament Adjourned until April 20, 2020

Other Measures Also Adopted This Morning – March 20, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact Canada, the Liberal government, in consultation and coordination with opposition parties, has taken steps to adjourn Parliament until Monday, April 20^th, 2020.

In addition to the adjournment, Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez introduced a motion outlining Parliament’s response to the pandemic, which was adopted unanimously after a short debate.

What Steps Were Taken Today:

• Once passed by the Senate later today, the Government will have the authority to spend money until June 2020 through special warrants, which will be audited by the Auditor General after the fact;
• The Budget will not be presented on March 30 and a replacement budget date has not yet been determined;
• Bill C-4, the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, was passed at all stages, as well as by the Senate, and is now awaiting Royal Assent;
• All committee meetings currently scheduled have been cancelled;
• The House may be recalled, if necessary, during the adjournment to deal with economic measures to assist with COVID-19; and,
• The House also adopted a non-binding NDP opposition motion debated yesterday which called on the government to implement the Hoskins Report on National Pharmacare, including supporting single-payer public pharmacare.

The government will also provide regular updates to representatives of the opposition parties during the adjournment.

It is also expected that throughout the day, the Government will announce additional specific targeted measures to deal with the economic impacts of COVID-19.  Prime Minister Trudeau is expected to address the nation around 12 p.m. EST and Finance Minister Morneau has a briefing scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.  StrategyCorp will issue a wider note on the details of these measures and what they mean for our clients later today.