Moose Jaw - Lake Centre - Lanigan MP Tom Lukiwski weighed in on the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He feels that the situation is being handled "reasonable well" by the Prime Minister, although he questions how quickly the government responded to this crisis.

Lukiwski says that right now, political parties need to work together.

"I don't want to be seen to be even approaching partisanship on this issue, it's far too important for that. People's lives are at stake this is a world wide pandemic, the likes of which no one has seen before."

Lukiwski added that we are living in unprecedented times right now.

"It's eerie is all I can say. Anywhere in Canada whether it be Ottawa or Moose Jaw you can walk downtown and it's almost like a ghost town. Restaurants are closed, small businesses are closed, gymnasiums, theatres, gathering places are closed or are at least very restricted in the amount of people who can go into them. I've never seen anything like this before and frankly I hope that I never see something like this again."

An emergency bill was delayed this week by the Conservative Party. Lukiwski said they delayed the bill because the initial draft had a piece of legislation that would allow the government to increase taxes and spend money without parliamentary oversight. 

As of yesterday, March 25th, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit was signed by Governor General Julie Payette making it law. Now, $52 billion will go directly to helping Canadians, and another $55 billion will go towards tax deferrals.

The CERB will offer $2000 a month in direct support through the Canada Revenue Agency.