Bloc Leader Rips Liberals, Tories For Receiving Wage Subsidy
OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says it’s “absolutely unacceptable” for the federal Liberals and Conservatives to receive public funding through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
The emergency program is designed to help businesses and non-profit organizations affected by the COVID-19 crisis re-hire workers and stave off more layoffs by covering 75 per cent of wages. The NDP said Friday the party had applied for the wage subsidy, news that prompted both the federal Liberals and Conservatives to confirm they have received the CEWS.
“It is reserved for businesses and companies who really need it,” Blanchet told reporters in Ottawa Monday. He said the NDP and Green Party may need the money, but affirmed “the Liberals don’t need it, and the Conservatives don’t need it.”
Blanchet pointed to quarterly financial returns filed to Elections Canada to showcase the financial health of each party heading into the pandemic.
He said his party has not applied for the emergency wage subsidy, explaining, “as people worthy of respect, we did not ask because we don’t need it.”
Watch: Getting employees back to work. Story continues below video.
Records show in the first three months of 2020, Conservative raised $3.8 million in donations, the highest of any party. Liberals followed behind with $2.9 million, while the NDP collected $964,000, the Greens raised $577,000, and the Bloc brought in just over $184,000.
A reporter asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his regular press conference outside his Ottawa home if he, as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, would renounce the CEWS money it has received.
Trudeau did not answer the question. He explained in French that the CEWS was launched to help the economy recover quickly from the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.
“We need to support Canadians regardless of the organization for which they work,” he said. Trudeau explained the program is open to small businesses,...
