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Wednesday, July 8, 2020 · sitting No. 41

Commons debates covid-19 response as Scheer challenges Trudeau on contract

The House spent the largest portion of its sitting on government orders concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters. Finance Minister Bill Morneau described measures taken since the last economic report and stressed continued support for Canadians and provinces. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said the government had been slow to close borders and fix gaps in its programs.

During Question Period Andrew Scheer asked whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had recused himself from granting a $900-million contract to an organization with personal ties. Trudeau said the non-partisan public service had identified the sole organization able to deliver the service on time. Scheer pressed further on waiving cabinet confidences for the Ethics Commissioner and Trudeau replied that the government had already taken unprecedented steps toward transparency in a prior matter.

From the Hansard record of the sitting. Full Hansard

No CPAC Question Period upload is on file for this day. CPAC’s channel goes back to December 2019.

Who held the floor · 2020-07-08

Government (Liberal)OppositionOver the day: government 43%, opposition 57% of the words spokenGovernment business▲ Government side held the floor▼ Opposition held the floorOpened 12:0513:0014:0015:00Last speech 16:10Time of day, Ottawa · the House sat 4 h 5 min · each dot is a stretch of debate, placed at the minute it began
30Another sitting that went nowhereThe sitting devoted nearly all its time to pandemic discussion yet produced no recorded votes or bill progress. A dozen points of order or privilege kept the House mired in procedural disputes.AI-rated Score out of 100; the verdict and the answer ratings behind it are a model’s reading. How the AI rates this

AI-rated The sitting score and the rating of each answer come from a language model reading Hansard. How the AI rates this

Other moments

Business of the House

Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez sought and received unanimous consent for a motion limiting speaking time on Government Business No. 8 to 20 minutes per recognized party plus the Green Party, followed by 10 minutes of questions and comments.

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Privilege

Andrew Scheer rose on a question of privilege concerning the Prime Minister's answers on co-operation with the Ethics Commissioner and asked the Speaker to review the record.

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Privilege

Elizabeth May corrected an earlier reference to a Texas loophole, stating she had meant the Alaska loophole.

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Privilege

Cathy McLeod noted that some members inside the chamber held fiscal-update documents while others outside did not and asked for equal distribution. Kevin Lamoureux said embargoed copies had been provided to all parties.

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Privilege

Mona Fortier tabled the Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020 in both official languages.

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