Pandemic has shunted aside an array of Liberal initiatives, at least for now
Posted April 4, 2020 3:00 am.
Last Updated April 4, 2020 3:04 am.
OTTAWA — As a new year dawned, the government’s throne-speech commitments unfurled just weeks earlier were grabbing headlines and galvanizing the attention of federal policy-makers.
Then came the most serious public health crisis in recent memory.
The Trudeau government’s gun-control measures, assisted-dying legislation and efforts to advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples are taking a back seat, at least for now, to the all-consuming fight to help people weather COVID-19.
Even the federal budget, a fixture of the late-winter agenda, has been delayed indefinitely as the virus monopolizes time and resources.
The government’s December throne speech said the minority mandate the Liberals received in the fall election was a starting point, not the final word.
But it seems any fresh ideas will have to find space in an already jammed queue.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2020.
The Canadian Press
