The Canadian Press

By The Canadian Press

COVID 19 aid bill passes Parliament in early hours

Parliament passes COVID 19 aid bill

Mar 25, 2020 | 5:27 AM

OTTAWA — The government house leader says the House of Commons has adopted emergency legislation, setting up 82-billion-dollars in relief for Canadians hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak.

In an early morning tweet, Pablo Rodriguez passed the baton to the red chamber, saying it was now up to the Senate to approve the bill.

The Liberal government is hoping for quick passage in the Upper Chamber and to have the measures signed into law by this afternoon.

Among other things, the final bill contains components to boost employment insurance, delay tax deadlines, raise the federal backstop on deposits in case a bank fails and send hundreds of millions to provinces for health care.

It also gives the federal ministers of health and finance the power to approve spending all money required to do anything to deal with a public health emergency.

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The initial passage comes as a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute shows 44 per cent of Canadians reported that they or someone in their house had lost work because of the pandemic.