Scheer defends family flight on government jet as he calls for regular House of Commons meetings during COVID-19 pandemic

OTTAWA-Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is calling for regular in-person meetings of a small number of MPs in the House of Commons as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, while defending his family's flight with unrelated people on a small government jet.

Parliament has largely been shuttered since mid-March. The governing Liberals and opposition parties agreed to suspend most House of Commons business until April 20 as part of the national effort to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Since then, skeleton crews of MPs from all parties have met twice - first to approve the government's emergency economic response to the pandemic, and again last Saturday to amend that aid package.

But Scheer, who had been working from Regina for much of the crisis, said Tuesday that he wants those reduced "accountability" sessions of the House of Commons to continue.

"If there is no agreement reached, then the House of Commons will return normally on Monday. We can all agree that having 338 members of Parliament come back to the chamber is not optimal," Scheer told a morning news conference in Ottawa.

"So what we're proposing to the government is to have a reduced number of members of Parliament from each party " to have regular accountability sessions."

Scheer said that the last two meetings of the House of Commons have proven that MPs can continue to meet "in a responsible manner while respecting public health advice."

But the Conservative leader - who has said he'll step down as soon as his party concludes its now-suspended leadership contest - spent much of the news conference fielding questions about his own adherence to public health advice.

CBC News reported Monday that Scheer brought his wife and five children back to Ottawa from their home in Regina on a small government aircraft. Two other MPs - Green Party parliamentary leader Elizabeth May and Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough - were on the nine-seat airplane, in which social distancing would have been a challenge.

Scheer deflected the criticism, saying he had two alternatives - fly back and forth to Regina every time the House of Commons sat, or relocate his family.

"The House of Commons travel system would have covered the flights anyway," he said. "The choice was either to fly back and forth multiple times, which didn't make sense to me, or travel through multiple airports on other flights."

Given those options, Scheer said, sharing the government flight with two other people "seemed to be the best decision."

Public health officials have warned Canadians against all "non-essential" travel as COVID-19 continues to spread. Asked why his family's presence in Ottawa was essential, Scheer replied, "Feel free to continue to analyze this."

Alex Boutilier is an Ottawa-based reporter covering national politics. Follow him on Twitter: @alexboutilier