Photo Credit Louis Henault/Dreamstime

By Curtis Galbraith

COVID-19

Warkentin concerned aid package is not balanced

Mar 19, 2020 | 5:30 AM

Our Member of Parliament says he has some concerns about the $82-billion package the federal government announced Wednesday to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grande Prairie-Mackenzie MP Chris Warkentin says he is not sure if the provisions are “completely balanced.”

“I am concerned about the few measures that were undertaken to support small business owners and contractors and those people who are not necessarily employees of companies. Obviously, we have a lot of contractors here in the Peace Country, many of whom will not see a significant benefit from what was announced.”

He thinks it needs to include something for these people.

“We’re looking for them to broaden some of those definitions to ensure that all people that are off work and who were forced off work will be supported equally in these measures.”

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Warkentin adds the Conservatives will be pushing for what he calls additional transparency from the Liberal government.

“We’ll be looking for the measures in the legislation that we haven’t seen yet. Of course, we’ve heard the political announcement, but we haven’t actually seen the words on paper in terms of legislation. We’ll be monitoring that.”

At the same time, Warkentin says he supports measures to put more money into people’s pockets. He adds he has heard from individuals and businesses that are struggling and want to know when support will arrive.

The federal government also announced Wednesday that the Canada-US border will be closed to non-essential travel. Warkentin thinks any reduction in the movement of people is helpful. He adds a lot of people were already doing this voluntarily.