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Freeland appeals to Tories to hurry passage of COVID-19 relief bill

OTTAWA — Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is appealing to the official Opposition Conservatives to hasten passage of a COVID-19 relief bill through the House of Commons.

The appeal is in a letter from Freeland to Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole in which the deputy prime minister says the Tories are dragging their feet on the proposed legislation for no good reason.

Freeland goes on to say the bill should not be “a political football,” and asks O’Toole to support its passage to help Canadians struggling during the pandemic.

The Liberal government introduced the proposed legislation at the beginning of December, to enact spending measures proposed in their fall economic statement.

That includes billions of dollars in new pandemic-related aid to top up and expand existing programs as well as new, targeted support for hard-hit industries.

More than two months later, partly thanks to a six-week Christmas break in Parliament, the bill has made little progress through the legislative process.