Other than Canada’s Liberal Party partisans, just about everyone believes that prime minister Justin Trudeau prorogued parliament to escape a conflict-of-interest scandal. When parliament returns on September 23, there will be a throne speech that will lay out the government’s plans to deal with COVID-19 and related economic issues.

Although unemployment has declined since its peak in May, it’s still close to 11 percent. While most parts of the service sector have reopened, there is not an expectation that many more people will return to work in the near future. For that reason, along with a reworked Employment Insurance program to deal with those still unemployed, the throne speech is also likely to stipulate an increase in spending to help the economy. But the catch for Trudeau and the Liberals is that they are running a minority government, and, in order to pass their plans and avoid an early election, they will need the votes of one of the three official parties in opposition: the Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois, and the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Other than the Bloc, there does not seem to be much of an appetite among opposition parties for an election. The Conservatives just recently chose a new leader in Erin O’Toole, but recent polling suggests that, at least for the short term, he is not going to give them much of a bump in the polls.