But even as House of Commons leader Mark Holland called for political calm and cooperation from opposition parties, he criticized new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for what Holland said was a non-serious cryptocurrency solution to the affordability problem.
	“This is no time for tricks in the living room,” Holland said at a news conference Tuesday morning.
	“This is not a time for shell games. This is a time for real solutions.”
	The Liberals want to let Canadians know that in March, while campaigning for leader, Poilievre promised to normalize and promote cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.  He insisted at the time that investing in currencies not influenced by central banks would allow people to “opt out of inflation”.
	Bitcoin, which had already dropped in value by nearly a third in the four months before Poilievre said this, has more than halved in the six months since.
	Holland said the Conservatives have now delayed their own private members’ bill to develop a plan to develop cryptocurrencies.  That bill, which was introduced by Alberta MP Michelle Rebel Garner in February, was supposed to be tabled for the second hour of debate on Tuesday afternoon.
	Instead, the Conservatives put a different bill on the agenda to allow parents or grandparents of Canadian citizens to get five-year visas to come to Canada.
	In a statement, aide to Rebel Garner said scheduling conflicts meant MPs agreed to move up the debate time on three private members’ bills.  The House was due to return on Monday, but this was postponed a day due to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
	The bill is now scheduled to be debated in three weeks.
	Poilievre has made it clear that his priority is to show Canadians that inflation is being caused by Trudeau’s massive spending during the pandemic and Bank of Canada policies.  He often refers to the cost of living crisis as “Hystianflation”, playing on the prime minister’s first name.
	NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose party will back the new measures after promoting all three policies as positive solutions for months, said the Liberals have spent too long dismissing the problem as their fault.
	“The Liberal government and Justin Trudeau have been unwilling to even talk about the struggles people are going through,” Singh said.
	Dental care and housing benefit supplements were on the list of NDP demands in the supply and confidence agreement reached with the Liberals last March.  The GST supplement was not included in that deal, but Singh began asking for it in the spring.
	Deputy Finance Minister Randy Boissonnault said Trudeau has indicated that affordability is the government’s priority, and they are moving immediately Tuesday to introduce the two bills, act on it.
	New benefits can’t flow in until these bills pass, which will happen with NDP support.  Holland said how quickly they move depends on cooperation in the House.
	This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 20, 2022.