OTTAWA—The federal government will table emergency legislation Tuesday to give cabinet ministers broad powers to hike taxes and spend money without Parliament’s approval for more than a year.

The extraordinary measures — which will stretch until Dec. 21, 2021 — are contained in legislation to be debated during a short sitting of the House of Commons with just a small number of MPs.

The Commons had been recalled to pass legislation needed to enact some of the economic measures contained in the Liberal government’s initial response to the economic fallout from COVID-19.

But the proposed legislation goes far beyond what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Finance Minister Bill Morneau have publicly discussed as they laid out the federal government’s response to the health and economic crisis.

Yet the draft legislation, viewed by the Star, could allow cabinet to unilaterally make decisions that are now subject to the debate and approval of MPs. On taxes for example, cabinet ministers would have the power to make decisions on their own until “before 2022.”

“For greater certainty, a regulation made under this section may contain provisions that have the effect of repealing or imposing a tax, decreasing or increasing a rate or an amount of tax or otherwise changing the incidence of tax,” the legislation states.

If any changes remain in force until after 2021, the finance minister would have until July 2022 to report to Parliament on the amendments that still exist.

The legislation also gives the finance minister broad powers until the end of 2021 to borrow money for the payment of “any amount in extraordinary circumstances, including in the event of a natural disaster or to promote the stability or maintain the efficiency of the financial system in Canada.”

The minister will have to report on the borrowing — but only if the Commons is sitting.

The legislation also allows the minister to wield financial power to shore up outside entities, with the ability to purchase securities, make loans and extend lines of credit and guarantee “any debt, obligation or financial asset.”

It also permits the government to “make payments to an entity for the purposes of stimulating economic activity or employment in situations of significant and systemic economic and financial distress.”

It creates the “Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act,” which authorizes all money required to do anything, including making payments to provinces and territories, in relation to that public health event.”

Other parts of the bill amend existing legislation to enact the measures announced last week, such as an enhanced GST credit, a temporary boost to the Canada Child Benefit and the provision of a wage subsidy for small businesses, as well as the promised income support payments to workers who lose income because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Morneau spokesperson Maéva Proteau said she was unable to comment on details of the bill before it was formally tabled in the Commons.

Opposition MPs have voiced support for the government’s economic moves to help Canadians and businesses but the Liberals’ demand for such sweeping spending powers is sure to give them pause.

In a statement Monday night, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said his party is ready to support measures that help Canadians but won’t give the minority Liberal government a blank cheque.

“We will not give the government unlimited power to raise taxes without a parliamentary vote. We will authorize whatever spending measures are justified to respond to the situation, but we will not sign a blank cheque,” Scheer said.

Conservatives and New Democrats are pressing Trudeau’s government to dramatically boost the financial assistance it has promised Canadians left out of work or stuck at home now facing the prospect of weeks without income.

“Families right now are in dire need. There are many people who are not going to be able to pay the bills or afford to put food on the table unless they get help right away,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters Monday.

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The NDP wants the federal government to send $2,000 to every Canadian $2,000 — and $250 to each child — to provide a financial lifeline as the economic toll of the virus deepens.

As well, the New Democrats want the government to sweeten its proposed wage subsidy meant as an incentive to small businesses to keep employees on the payroll. Yet, business owners have complained that the proposed subsidy — covering just 10 per cent of a wage — is too low to be effective.

The NDP wants Canada to follow the lead of more generous nations and provide wage subsidies topping 75 per cent in exchange for a company’s guarantee that it will not lay off workers. The party did not cost their proposals which were released Monday.

“We know that there are some families that are going to be without any income for over a month and that is simply not tenable,” he said.

The emergency economic package unveiled by the Liberals’ last week promised $27 billion in direct financial assistance to individuals and businesses, plus another $55 billion in tax deferrals.

Scheer says his party also wants to see enhancements.

“We do believe that there needs to be more done. We have been calling on the government to do more for workers who are affected by retail stores and restaurants being ordered to close,” he told CBC News in a Sunday interview.

The Conservatives say the government should refund GST remittances to the small businesses that collected them over the last six months as one measure to help owners with cash flow to cover expenses.

They want the government to backstop banks that provide loans to small businesses. The federal government has already promised $10 billion in credit to be administered by the Export Development Bank and Business Development Bank. But the Conservatives call that “wholly inadequate.”

And like the NDP, the Conservatives also want to see the wage subsidy proposal “drastically” increased.

On the health front, the federal government said Monday that it will invest more than $200 million to speed development of a vaccine against COVID-19.

The funding announced by Trudeau on Monday will support efforts by companies in Vancouver and Quebec City as well as the University of Saskatchewan to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.

Trudeau stressed though that a vaccine remains “months away” and should only be seen as a “long-term” solution to the virus. “Vaccines won’t be ready overnight,” he said.

Still, he said the investments will build Canadian capacity to produce vaccinations. “Canada needs that in order to provide mass treatment as soon as possible,” he said.

But Trudeau warned that in the short-term, staying away from others is the best way to curb the spread of the virus.

“Enough is enough,” Trudeau said, speaking about the weekend images of people gathered in groups at beaches, parks and playing sports in defiance of public health advice to remain physically apart.

“Go home and stay home. This is what we all need,” he said.

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