On April 23, 2020, just as COVID-19 lockdowns were starting to flatten the first-wave curve, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner asked Mary Ng, minister of small business, export promotion, and international trade, to tell Canadians when they could expect to get back to work. It was during a teleconference of the House of Commons’ industry-and-technology committee. François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science, and industry, had still not appeared before the committee, and members were restless about his delay.
Unable to question Champagne about reopening the economy, Rempel Garner pressed Ng to say when Canada’s first lockdown would be over. “The best way for businesses to get support is to get back to work and reopen. So when can the Canadian economy expect to reopen safely?” she asked. During her six-minute intervention, Rempel Garner cut Ng off repeatedly and asked for a government plan to both “flatten the curve and reopen the economy.”
