Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Rosemary:
All right. That is the Prime Minister of Canada with his daily update on the pandemic, on COVID-19. Just out of interest, that is the 26th briefing in a row that he has given outside of his home there, Rideau cottage. But he does say tomorrow he will not do a briefing. He will be inside the house of commons for that critical debate around the wage subsidy legislation and then he will take a couple of days a you have with his family, both Sunday and Monday. We have a fair number of questions there about some of the reporting that has been done by My colleagues so I’ll bring in Vassy kapelos to weigh in as we wait for the cabinet ministers and federal health officials there. Let’s start with the emergencies act. As that was happening, our colleagues published their story that they have been working on through the night. It sort of gave us a sense of the phone call last night between the Prime Minister and the premiers and I certainly seems as though the Prime Minister is not interested in using the emergencies act yet either, Vassy.
Vassy:
No. Definitely from the comments today, doesn’t seem like the interest is there. The colleagues reported on that call between the premiers and the Prime Minister yesterday and the bottom line was the premiers, for the most part. There were a couple of bits and pieces that I found interesting on the act and application of it from the Prime Minister. First of all, he was very specific about what he saw as its use and we had heard iterations of this before, the distribution of supplies and talking about, for example, personal protective equipment if there are certain hotspots. Does the federal government need to intervene in order to make sure that equipment is moved from, let’s say, one province that doesn’t need it as much to another. and the second is for further restrictions on travel. No specificity as to what those restrictions would be. But that would be the general application of invoking the act. On that, the Prime Minister again, like you said, was very clear. The provinces are working together very well. They continue to do so. At this point, he doesn’t see the use of emergencies act and need for the use of it. and he said they might not ever have to use it and that would be our prefrnls. – preference. So, pretty clear statement from the Prime Minister where the emergencies act is concerned. It doesn’t sound like it will be used anytime soon. However, what our colleagues have been reporting on is letters went out to the provinces. It has been brought up in various conversations. Some premiers more than others, not happy that it is raised at all. For example, Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe as well as British Columbia’s premier john Horgan. In any event, My understanding from people I talked to in the federal government is this is sort of a precursor to the actual invoke – would be a precursor, rather, to the invocation of the act. So, that you’re getting ready for the possibility they may have to use it. It doesn’t make it untrue that they don’t want to Uzi yo it. They’re going through the checklists before having to.
Rosemary:
That’s right. As we run out of time, I just want to get you to summarize how you took the questions around, again, j. P. tasker’s reporting about some of the advice that was given to the government by public health officials and the Prime Minister was basically asked by our colleagues whether some of that advice was maybe not the greatest. and I’ll get you to sort of brief us on what you took from that.
and she zeroed in on the one most interesting piece – part of the most interesting piece from a briefing note for the health Minister back on January 19. Which told her, based on the latest information that we have, there is no clear evidence that the virus is easily transmitted between people. Of course, we know now that not to be true. The Prime Minister sort of didn’t directly address that specific claim and the validity of it, but said that they have now done the proper thing. They have acted in an adequate measure. I’m paraphrasing here. and he sees evidence of that in sort of what we heard from Dr. Tam around the projections yesterday. You know, echoing what we heard from him in the past, not so much of a desire to look back on the decision-making process that has already happened and rather focus on what’s happening now. I’m not sure that will allay concerns.
Rosemary:
He said the decisions they made were informed by the health officials and they wanted to make sure there was no panic amongst Canadians. I’m sure there will be further questions about those things and more. The Prime Minister also giving us some clarity around this new normal, saying things will ease off once we start to get a handle on things. But not really until there is a vaccine. We’ll leave you now on CBC television. If you want to continue watching the federal briefing, CBC news network, CBC. Ca. I’m rosemary Barton. Thank you for watching. [please stand by] – there are no plans to invoke the emergency measures act, especially after a conversation with the premiers yesterday and he said that he hopes that he never has to use it. He says because the cooperation between Ottawa and the provinces remain strong during thispandemic. Justin Trudeau says that his daily address to canadianstomorrow will be from the floor of the house of commons. The commons and the senate. and they’re recalled for a rare holiday weekend to talk about the emergency wage subsidyprogramme. and then the Prime Minister says that he’s going to take a couple days off with his family. All right, as we wait for that briefing from federal officials want to go to My next guest. Dr. Nadia alum, and she’streating COVID-19 patients. Nadia is joining us live fromgeorgetown, Ontario. Doctor, nice to see you.
Thank you for having me on.
Rosemary:
It’s hard to say– I wanted to get you on the show because of a tweet that you sent out last night that caught my eye and made My heart twinge little bit too. and this is a picture of you in your gear after a very longshift. Can you tell us – tell us Little bit about what happened last night.
Well, like the other anesthesiologists around theprovince, I was on call and working in the o. R. going to putting patients through incubation and on life support yesterday. I was in the hospital for about10 hours. It was – a very long day, have to admit. But it’s good work, it’simportant work, and this one patient stole My heart. and in that moment of desperation and sadness andhope, I tweeted. and I’m surprised by the response to that tweet.
Rosemary:
So you were coming off this very long shift doing very hard work and this older gentleman, he asked you for what? how did he capture your heart?
So I was called in tointubate him. He’s an elderly gentleman, and he had poor lung function andcopd and a number of illness that made him quite frail. He was brought into the hospital because he needed supplemental oxygen to help to keep him stable and to keep him well until he could recover fromcovid-19. There is no cure for COVID-19. The reason I was called is that he was worsening, he was gettingsicker. If he wasn’t put on aventilator, it wasn’t clear whether he would survive or not. Now I want to be clear that being on a ventilator is not acre for COVID-19 either. So I geared up, went in tointubate him and put him on life support and we spoke, and I go this consent, he realised thatthere’s a high chance that he would end up passing away, dying on the ventilator and that’s not how he wanted to go. That’s not how he saw all of this playing out.
Rosemary:
So you sat with him for a little while?
Yes. He turned to me and said, if Igor, if I die from this, I would rather die looking at the sky. I would rather die talking to myfamily. and so I sat with him and we looked at the sky and it was beautiful sunny – it was beautiful sunny day. and we talked about his family. and he put his family on the phone so that I could talk to them too. and like I said, yesterday was aha rd day, but that time with him was probably the most peaceful moment that I had.
Rosemary:
and did he end up going on the ventilator or decided to not go down that road at all?
He told me he didn’t want thetube. I went back to see him again this morning and he’s sicker this morning. and we talked again. and he still understands all of the risks. He’s made an informed decision. He realizes that he’s had are ally good life. He realizes that he’s very seriously ill. He knows that he could pass away from this, but he wants to go out on his own terms. So that’s what we’re giving him.
Rosemary:
So how are you doing in the midst of this? you know, this is one story butyou’re seeing many, many stories right now.
Yep. This morning after I spoke tohim, after I saw him, I went Ina couple calls. One of My patients, she’selderly and she’s also very frail – I apologise, My kids are in the background.
Rosemary:
It’s all good. We’re all dealing with it, don’tworry.
She’s very frail and disabled and essentially bed bound. and I went in to see her because her husband called me – he’s primary caregiver and he’sworking really hard to take care of her and keep her safe and keep her at home. Everyone is very careful around her but she started having fever this morning and a sore throat this morning and I wen tin to see her because I was worried that she might be developing COVID-19. Patients who are elderly and frail and complex, she’s onimmunosuppressants, they don’tpresent with the usual fever and cough and shortness of breath. They could present with falls or present with hallucinations or present with weakness and – and so now we’re watching andwaiting. I love this family. I’m very nervous that if it iscovid-19 that it’s not going to look very good.
Rosemary:
You know, like so many health care workers I asked you sort of how you are doing, and like many front-line workersyou are talking about thepatients and I know that’s sortof the way that you guys aretrained. But I hear the kids in thebackground and I know thatyou’re putting yourself at riskevery day. How are you doing? how worried are you about yourown health and your kids?
I’m scared. I read an article today about physician who had urged his country to provide properp. T.e., personal protectiveequipment, for the frontlinehealth care workers and hepassed away. So I know that the work that ido, it is incredibly important. I love it. I love being a doctor. There is no doubt about that. I have never understood thismore clearly than in these days. But I’m scared. I’m scared because I’m afraid ofcatching the disease. I’m afraid of passing it on tomy more vulnerable patients. and I’m afraid of being one ofthe statistics that passes awayfrom it. I have to admit that. I am afraid. and My kids, they feel it too. They – a couple days ago my6-year-old turned to me andhugged me and said, please don’tdie. and that was really hard talkingto him and making him understandthat I’m young and healthy andi’m probably going to be fine. But he was, like, you talkedabout other people who wereyoung and healthy who passedaway. and I had no answer for that. So all I did was hug him. I just sat there holding himuntil he stopped being afraidfor a little while. We’re all trying. We’re all trying very hard. But it’s – these are not easytimes.
Rosemary:
No, they are not. About personal protectiveequipment, I saw last night in the photo that you seemed to have what you need, but do you? do you need more? are you concerned about that part of it?
We don’t have enough. My hospital has enough for now. We don’t know when the next supplies are going to be coming. We don’t know where it’s going to be coming from. There’s an incredible amount of uncertainty around it and there are some hospitals that are at imminent risk of running out. We are all saving our usedmasks. In the hopes that Ontario health will be able to figure out a way to reprocess them andre-sanitize them so we cancontinue using them. In the community it’s evenworse. So I not only do anesthesia atthe hospital but I’m a familydoctor in the community andthat’s why I was doing housecalls this morning. So I do cradle to the gravecare. a lot of My colleagues have noP.P.E. Left. and that’s why some of us like me are running community drives, trying to get masks from nailsalons, and from factories and gowns from people who are at home who can sew us re-usablecloth gowns. We’re trying to get enoughP.P.E. Going. and My hope is – and this is my plea to the government, to all levels of the government – know that you’re working hard to get us the personal protective equipment that we need to be able to do our jobs properly. I know that you’re focused on the hospital. Please don’t forget thecommunities. Because that is where we take care of our pregnant patient sand that’s where we take care of little kids. That’s where I take care of my patients with heart failure andcancer, for pain control. That’s where I take care of my palliative patients. Please don’t forget thecommunities.
Rosemary:
I’ve got briefing that I have to get Tobit let me ask you one lastquestion. What would you say to Canadians, you know, we’re being told thatwe’re in the beginning of this, we’ve got to buckle down formany, many more weeks. What would you tell Canadians?
Keep faith. This is working. The social distancing thatyou’re doing, the hand washing, being careful, it’s making adifference. Please continue it. I know that it’s hard. a lot of people have lost theirjobs. a lot of people are struggling from just the isolation, the mental challenges of being stuck at home by themselves. I’ve had patients who have broken down on the phone about it on the phone with me, but Otis worth it. It is helping. Please stay safe. and keep safe.
Rosemary:
Well, doctor, same to you and stay safe and keep faith. I knew when I saw that tweet last night that you would be more than good to talk to. and thank you for being so honest and so personal. and, listen, I wish you lots of courage going forward. Thank you.
Thank you.
Rosemary:
Dr. Nadia Alamo ingeorgetown, Ontario.
let’s bring you to that briefing with the federal cabinet ministers and the healthofficials. We’re coming in late because wanted to finish that conversation with the doctor. Here’s Minister Carla qualtrough.
(Voice of Translator):
Want to be clear that our priorities are to ensure thatcanadians who are eligible can access it in the most simple waypossible. To deliver money to canadiansquickly. To do this we put the integrity measures at the backhand. We have a single benefit tocanadians who are e. I. eligible and non-e. I. eligible. If you’re eligible for e. I. andyou apply you will receive. and if you’re not eligible andapply you will receive. The only difference is how weprocess these claims. This benefit is jointlydelivered by service Canada andthe C.R.A. If you’re eligible for e. I., we will process you through servicecanada. If you’re not eligible for e. I. we process you through thecanada revenue agency. Online regardless all canadiansapply atwww. Canada. Ca/coronavirus. From there our system asks a fewsimple questions to make surethat you go to the right side ofthe system. We’re asking Canadians to dotheir part by following theprocess and honestly answeringthe questions on your screen. and we know that some canadiansmay have been worried theyapplied for e. I. so they endedup applying twice. This means that some canadiansmay have received two payments. Don’t worry, it’s fine, we’re onit. We’re sorting it out. and they are working together to ensure that the situations arereconciled and payments do notexceed the maximum amountallowed per individual of $8, 000over a 16-week period. We’ll be in touch with canadiansthat have received two paymentsof $2, 000 with details on nextsteps. You don’t need to contact thecall centre. I repeat – you don’t need toreach out to us at this time. But we are reminding canadiansthat you’re eligible for amaximum amount of $8, 000 over 16weeks. Mean figure you got anadditional extra payment thismonth you must budgetaccordingly. Some Canadians who are eligiblefor e. I. could have alsoreceived additional funds. However, not a double payment of$2, 000. In these cases, these are otherentitlements which youpreviously qualified for, butwere paid out at the same timeas you got your s. U.r. When youwere automatically enrolled forservice Canada. In these cases you do not needto worry, there is nothing forto you do. (voice of translator): I wantto repeat that if you havealready made an e. I. claim sincemarch 15th, you will – youwill also be automaticallyeligible for the c. R.b. and youdo not need to file anotherclaim. If you have any questions, iencourage you to go to thewebsite to learn more. We continue to work around theclock to ensure that canadiansget this support they needduring this critical period. Thank you.
(Voice of Translator):
Thank you very much, C.R.A. and now I’ll give the floor tom arc miller, Minister of –
I WOULD LIKE TO BEGIN FIRSTBY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT WE’REGATHERED ON THE TRADITIONALTERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUINPEOPLE. GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. LONG-STANDING SOCIAL ANDECONOMIC INEQUALITIES MEANINDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES COULD BEDISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED BYCOVID-19. MY SOLE PRIORITY IS THE HIT ANDSAFETY OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLESIN CANADA, AND AS SUCH WE’REFOCUSED ON THE HEALTH RESPONSETHAT WILL SAVE LIVES. TRANSFER OF $305 MILLION INFUNDS TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUSCOMMUNITIES AND ORGINISATIONSACROSS CANADA HAS BEGUN. THE FUNDING WILL ADDRESSIMMEDIATE NEEDS AND TO HELP THEINDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES TOPREPARE FOR AND TO REACT TO THESPREAD OF THE VIRUS. WE KNOW THAT EACH COMMUNITY, EACH NATION, HAS ITS OWN UNIQUENEEDS AND THE INDIGENOUSCOMMUNITY SUPPORT FUND ISDESIGNED TO GIVE THE MAXIMUMFLEXIBILITY TO ADDRESS THAT. WHILE THE MAJORITY OF THOSEFUNDS ARE FLOWING DIRECTLY TOCOMMUNITIES, $15 MILLION WILL GOTOWARDS INDIGENOUS ORGINISATIONSPROVIDING SERVICES TO INDIGENOUSPEOPLES IN URBAN CENTRES ANDTHOSE LIVING OFF-RESERVE. AS ANNOUNCED ON MONDAY, THESEORGINISATIONS ARE INVITED TOSUBMIT THEIR APPLICATIONS ONLINENOW. I DO READILY ACKNOWLEDGE THATTHESE FUNDS MAY NOT BESUFFICIENT. Speaking French:
We continue to work with indigenous communities and partners in the provinces and the territories to ensure that the necessaries such as P.P.E. S, including handsanitizers and otherdisinfectants are ready tot tryto stem the propagation ofcovid-19. In cooperation with thecommunities we will continue tofurther plan and provide staffon the ground such as medicalstaff as the situation evolves. We also have providedrecommendations and protocols tosupport communities, and thesewere translated into manyindigenous languages. This content includes protocolsfor self-monitoring for healthcare workers in the communities, as well as directives on socialdistancing, especially for vulnerable peoples. These are directives that must be followed. So far we have sent on –expedited 400 requests for materials and for health care centres and testing centres, people have what they need and we are working as hard as we canto obtain further testing kits to be able to provide them to rural and remote indigenous communities based on need. As of April 9, there are 40confirmed cases in the first nations communities on reserve sand five cases in inuitcommunities in inuvik. [end of translation]and five in nunavik. Through this time we are seeinggreat leadership in action asthe communities are takingstrong and necessary andinnovative measures to preventthe spread of the virus. For example, the at-homelandinitiative to help the families in the Northwest Territories tomove on Tom the land where theycan maintain safer physicaldistances than if they were toremain in their homecommunities. Some communities are adaptingcommunity spaces to supportself-isolation measures andothers have ready-to-movestructures in order to haveadditional space available. For communities that requirealternative healthinfrastructure and resources, weare exploring all options. With our partners to best meetthe communities’ needs. We’re getting resources out thedoor and are standing ready to have additional resources. I recognize the concerns, inparticular in the remote andfly-in communities. I would note that we’re activelyworking to expand the nursingcontracts and assessing the needfor other health professionalssuch as paramedics and firstline responders to help theemergency responses. We’ve also recommended firstnations with upcoming electionsnot to proceed with elections atthis time. As a result of the currentpublic health risks. We have introduced a temporaryregulatory option, the firstnations election cancellationand postponement regulations to have first nation leaders to have roles for up to six monthswith a potential expansion asleaders focus on preventing thespread of COVID-19 for the nextyear. The decision of whether to holdscheduled elections in thecurrent context of the spread ofcovid-19 remains with firstnations. In addition, I recognize thatthis unprecedented situation canplace unprecedented financialburden on indigenous families, especially the most vulnerable. The indigenous services canadaincome assistance programmeprovides funding to allow firstnations to match rates andeligibility of their province ofresidence. As a result of this programme, British Columbia first nations will receive$300 per month, per adult, aswas announced by the governmentof British Columbia for current incomeassistance clients living onreserve. We have seen a lot of positivemeasures taken by the indigenouscommunities to protect theirpopulations. I want to recognize, again, their important work and thestrength they have shown. But let me be clear – this isjust the beginning. We know more support will beneeded and we will be there tomake sure that no indigenouscommunity is left behind. By working together we can savelives. To those in isolation I want toassure you that you are notalone. Canada will be with you everystep of the way. [speaking indigenous language]
Thank you, Marc and we’ll be pleased to answer any questions.
So as usual three question son the phone before returning to the room. and one question and onefollow-up. Operator?
Thank you. Merci. Please press star 1 at this time if you have a question. our first question [speakingfrench]please go ahead.
Question:
Question. Why yes, My first question is that I want to come back to the unemployment numbers that we sawyesterday. Huge numbers. We also read your ownprognostics, your own modeling, looking at a pandemic that could go on until next year. Now we’re clearly in a recessionalready. and is it possible that we could fall into a depression and that is the case that we’re already over $100 million for theprovinces, I mean $300 billion, that is what it would take to next year. is that what you’re looking at?
Answer. First, I’ll give it to misscarla qualtrough for the important numbers. But let’s be clear that Canada’s going through an emergency situation that we have never seen before over the past many generations in terms of health and the economy. and that’s why prime ministertrudeau was very clear thatwe’re going to do everything to make sure that the families and the workers have what they need to make it through. If we didn’t want to do that, we would end up with a huge social crisis in Canada. We also took rapid measures to secure our country in terms ofwhat’s happening socially. That is ensuring that employer shave the means to pay their workers and to retain them so that through the wage subsidy we are lucky in our fiscal capacity in Canada compared to the otherg7 countries. and Prime Minister Trudeau said it very clearly that we will continue to use this capacity and this fiscal capacity to intervene and support as long asit’s necessary. C.R.A.
Answer. Yesterday we announced thatthere’s about one million jobs that were lost. As Mr. Duplois said, we have the fiscal capacity. We are quite lucky to have thatcapacity. We understand that our measures are in place for the 16 weeks. and the Prime Minister and cabinet has started looking at whether this should be extendedfurther. All options are on the table. We continue to assess the situation and if we do need Togo further, we do have the ability to do so, but we are quite conscious of the amount of money that this is taking. So this is a very serious decision that the cabinet musttake.
Question:
(voice oftranslator): follow-upquestion. But is it really on the table tocontinue with those supportmeasures of the same scale? miss qualtrough, you saidyourself that you’re aware ofhow much this is costing. Of all of the options that areon the table, is it possible tomaintain this support at thesame level?
(Voice of Translator):
Answer. Absolutely, absolutely that’s on the table. But we have made that decision. We’re not there yet. and we don’t know how the situation will evolve. This really depends oncanadians’ actions and that’show long the pandemic will last. We continue to assess the situation day-to-day andeverything is on the table.
(Voice of Translator):
Thank you, next question, please.
Our next question is fromalthia rah with the ““huffingtonpost”.” go ahead.
Question:
Thank you for taking My question. My first question I think is better placed for Mr. Duplois. I’m hearing – it’s a bit specific – I’m hearing aboutthis, so I’m assuming thatthere’s other cases across thecountry, but I was contacted last night by a man who was told by his employer that everyone in the office will have to take a25% pay cut because the federal government is only paying 75% of the wages. and for context, nobody at this company has been laid off yet. They’re considered an essentialservice. So I’m wondering what your reaction is to this? and might you have a message for employers who are doing this and employees who are being toldthis? thanks.
Well, thank you very much for the question. and we all hear from your question that we all have responsibility to go through this crisis. The federal government clearly has an important role to play. and it has been demonstrated over the last few weeks to Acton an emergency manner in a way which is making the lives of millions of Canadians, you know, unsustainable in making endsmeet. We expect and I think we have communicated that clearly to all business leaders across canadathat we also expect businesses to do their own work, to – to meet their own responsibility. and we do this in a variety ofways. and one manner which is certainly very strong and think that much appreciated is through the 75% wage subsidy. Now that wage subsidy is targeted to those employers who would and who are experiencing an important fall in theirrevenue, in their income, and decisions have been brought on that particular programme by the minister of finance just a few days ago. That’s 75% paid by the federalgovernment. However, we do hope and in some cases we would expect that employers would add another 25%so that wages – the full wages would be paid. But we are understanding that not all businesses will be able to fill the gap between the 75%and the 100%. now for those other businesses that are not currentlystruggling, at some cases or even invited – or even adding to their business – business activities because of particular circumstances and we would understand and we certainly would expect those businesses to maintain their workers and to pay them at the level which would normally be the right level because in those cases businesses would be going through circumstances very different from the circumstances of other businesses that are currently being very challenged.
Okay, a follow-up?
Question:
Thank you. So as a follow-up and I’m goingto ask this to ministerqualtrough, if you want to weighin, please go ahead. To be fair to this employer I dothink that their sales havedeclined but the idea whenyou’re seeing people in your ownfamily laid off and you’re justtold that your salary is goingto be cut by a quarter becauseottawa is not paying your fullwage, you know, as if ottawa waspaying your wage last month, that can come as quite a shock. But I want to ask about thecrcb. and there was a report in “thestar” yesterday that anyone whoapplies for creb is given creb. So is the message to canadianswho now are, you know, havefallen through those cracks thatcurrently exist, self-employedcanadians and those with reducedwork hours, basically anyone inneed of financial help, is thegovernment basically saying toapply to CERB and use it as aninterest-free loan and pay itback next year if you don’tspecifically qualify for CERB? instead of waiting for thegovernment to come forward witha programme that helps thesepeople specifically?
We’ll turn to Carla for an answer to that question.
Thank you. I’ll answer your second questionfirst, Althea a. So the CERB was by design created as a simple straightforward automaticprocess. We built integrity measures in at the beginning like social insurance number verifications, but there’s also integrity measures built in the end and during the process at ourbackend. So we know, for example, how to verify if someone has income ordidn’t have income, and I hearyou. But we also know how very honestcanadians are. and the trade-off would havebeen to build these integritymeasures so show me your o. R.e. and prove your income and itwould have taken months todeliver this to that manymillions of Canadians. So on the one hand the integritymeasures are straightforward atthe beginning, but we willwhether in the upcoming weeks orin the tax time next yearreconcile accounts and make surethat people didn’t game thesystem or fraudulently saysomething that wasn’t true.
Thank you, Minister. On to the next question, please.
THANK YOU, THE NEXT QUESTIONFROM RADIO-CANADA (Voice ofTranslator):
You have thefloor.
Question:
(voice oftranslator): question. Yes, hello, thank you very much. I was wondering whether you have obtained guarantees from all opposition parties to make sure that the wage subsidy programmewould be adopted without a hitchtomorrow, if you’d have to be around for a few days again?
(Voice of Translator):
Answer. If I may, I think that all parties in government or in the opposition understand how urgent the situation is. All parties work together over the past few days to ensure that the significant programme, the largest measures in Canada’shistory can be voted on quickly and voted through quickly byparliament, by the house ofcommons. We understand and as the leader of the house understands best, there have been all kinds of discussions over the past fewdays, but the house leader of the government of Canada and the leaders in the house of the opposition parties are doing everything they can to ensure that this programme can be passed as quickly as possible within the next few days byparliament.
Question:
(voice oftranslator): follow-upquestion. Now after this isolation period, I’m wondering what would be anacceptable level of communitytransmission that would allowauthorities to say now we cantake our foot off the brakes alittle bit. is it zero percent, 5%, 25% ofcommunity transmission?
(Voice of Translator):
Answer. Once again this is something which is better answered bydr. Njoo with public health. I’ll give him the floor.
(Voice of Translator):
Answer. Thank you. As we said during our modeling briefing is that it will reallydepend. Everybody is doing their best right now, all Canadians are doing their best, and it’ssomething that we have to keep an eye on. Perhaps 1% of the population will be infected during the entire pandemic in Canada. It will last a few months at least for the first wave. and then we don’t know what will happen for the smaller wave later on. So we need to be monitoring thedata. At the beginning of the epidemiccurve, we don’t know when the peak will be, because as we said that it’s only in retrospect that we can really see whether we are on the lower portion of the wave and then we can see that we’re past the peak. For now that’s the key message that we want to send out –everybody has to do their part, all Canadians must continue with their public health measures. That is physical distancing and so on. We hope that we’ll get good results from that.
Turning to the room. Starting with global. You have been so patient, mike.
Question:
Okay. is this on? okay, cool. What percentage of the positivecovid cases are being contact traced right now? and how important is that tracing to getting these restrictive measures removed or reduced or getting us back tonormal?
Dr. Tam?
So I know that within –across Canada, all of the provinces and the territories are doing contact tracing on thecases. At the same time as we’re asking people who have any kind of symptoms to stay at home, and, of course, the self-isolation asdirected from public health. So that is a very key part ofthe current response. and that we know that this virusa very difficult virus toascertain who might be infectedor not, so this is why thesocial distancing measures andstaying home is so criticallyimportant right now. Moving forward though, absolutely, as we get this firstwave under control, the absolutekey is having sensitive systemsto detect any new cases and thento do rigorous contact tracingaround those cases.
Thank you.
Question:
and this is – have another question aboutlong-term care facilities. and are we – is the federalgovernment considering anymeasures or regulations orfederal oversight to ensurelong-term care facilities areprotected from this or anyfurther pandemic?
So as everybody has seen, some of the key drivers of the outbreaks in Canada are thelong-term care facilities. So together with all chiefmedical officers this isprobably one of the top areas ofcollaboration right now. I think that you have seendr. Henry and others in theirjurisdiction, enacting some veryimportant policies andmeasuring, not only from theperspective of really keyinfection control measures, butalso measures to reduce theamount of movement of the staffbetween the facilities, that isactually very important. and also what kind of supportpeople need to ensure that thathappens. So right now the specialadvisory committee, our keypiece of work is looking at theguidance related to how to doinfection prevention control inthis population. Really vital. and so I think that from thefederal side, right now at leastfrom the public health agencyside, we’re providing thefederal guidance on the nextmeasures.
Thank you.
Question:
Hi, Dr. Tam. My question is for you and I’dlike to follow-up on what you’resaying there about the federalguidance for new measures forlong-term care homes as I’mfollowing. I know that in British Columbia they’resaying that the measures were toprevent the workers from workingat one facility and then workingat another facility. Part of these measures are goingto recommend to premier ford andpremier legault in quÉbec as well to follow those samemeasures that were put in British Columbia?
So this is expert guidance but also it will essentially Beau consensus position from the special advisory committee and we provide and advise acrosscanada. and just stay tuned becausewe’re actively working on this right now.
Question:
and My next question would be for ministerduclos as well as Dr. Tam. That the RCMP will enforce the quarantine act and following upon compliance measures that public health is doing now. Some of these measures would also include being able to take people into custody rather than just a court summons. So why is this change in policy necessary to get the rcmpinvolved? is it because there were so many people that were already violating the quarantine act? why are we stepping up thesemeasures?
Thank you. I’ll start and then Dr. Tam might want to add. We all know that making sure that this situation is resolved as quickly and as safely as possible requires the cooperation and the work ofeveryone. and that’s why we have made it clear over the last few week sand days that we expect everyone and every traveller from outside of Canada and inside of canadato follow this strictself-isolation, not onlyguidelines but – not onlyrecommendations and guidelinesbut these are requirements thatpeople must self-isolate for 14days. We understand that most and thelarge majority of canadiantravellers understand and applythose measures. But we are also mindful thatthere are a few that mightrequire perhaps more seriouscare, in particular – andthat’s why we’re working withsecurity agencies and policeforces across Canada to makesure that when that is needed, and you understand that this israrely needed, that thecollaborative engagement of allpolice forces and including thercmp, may be required and may beimplemented. But, Dr. Tam, you might have apublic safety prospective onthat as well.
Yes. I think that it’s really to give us the range of tools that might be needed. Of course we’re asking everyone that when you are issued an order from the federal government on the quarantine act that we expect that to befollowed. We are contacting people and for the majority of the time you can find them in their rightful place of self-isolation andquarantine. But this is just a range ofmeasures. and then our peace officers whoare designated under thequarantine act can then takenecessary measures. and the quarantine act has verypowerful penalties. But what you don’t want is tojust apply the really high endof the – those measures. You want to sort of make surethat, you know, fair warningsare given, and education isgiven. and calibrate what you may wantto apply to a particular personnnot following the quarantine actin a sort of calibrated way, ifyou like. So it’s to look at the range ofinstruments and how youimplement this that the RCMP iscurrently looking at.
Thank you, Dr. Tam. I want to turn back to thephone. Operator?
Thank you. Merci. Our next question, [speakingfrench]is from brian slatt with “thenational post.” please go ahead.
Question:
Hi. I had a question for Dr. Tam. I wanted to ask again about contact tracing. We know that it’s a very resource intensive process wit ha small army of people to make phone calls and so on. When you talk to your provincialcounterparts, what is your sense of having the capacity to do this properly? do we have enough people in place or are we getting there?
Yes, this is a topic of ongoing situational update if you like in an ongoing basis. What I have been hearing is that people do have the human resources they need, but we’realso there to support as needed in terms of surge. Of course we have been monitoring and forecasting, say, if there’s increasing in the cases and increasing incontacts. and so you may have heard that we are looking at rosters of, ofcourse, students, retired public health or medical workers. Provinces are doing thatalready. So you will see that some jurisdictions have already Putin that surge and others if they should require it and we can help in any way, we have that being pulled together as well.
Question:
The other thing that people talk about with contact tracing is the possibility of technology, including cellphone locationdata. What kind of discussions are you having about that now, including whether it’s possible to do this without violating privacy laws?
I think that is an area of great interest to everyjurisdiction. There are many, many innovators with lots of different ideas. So we are pulling together group amongst the provinces and the territories to gaugeinterest. and I do believe that there’s significant amount of interest. But there’s a lot of innovators. and we need to look at eachother’s innovations as you say, in particular as it pertains to things like privacy. I do think that there’sdifferent ranges ofapplications. Some are off course for contacttracing, but others are more to sort of giving people a look sothey’re nudged to do the right thing in terms of socialdistancing. So the range of differentinnovation. But we are together evaluating some of these.
Thank you, doctor. Next question, please.
Thank you. Our next question is fromcatherine tiny with CBC news. Please go ahead.
Question:
Hi, thank you for taking our questions on this good Friday. a question for Dr. Tam. From February, the health officials were aware of the pressures for P.P.E. S. and I’m wondering whether a pushto get supplies in February wereadequate, with the officialsstill advising the governmentthat the risk of the spread herewas low?
So just to situate this, youknow, I think that from about the day one that we heard about the outbreak of an unusual outbreak in Wuhan, we started preparing the health response. So absolutely every aspect of this were looked at. But, of course, at the beginning there were fewer cases. This is a completely novelvirus. We did not know necessarily where it was going. But we’re tracking it veryclosely. and our risk assessments, but also our response evolved, ofcourse, as we learned more about the virus every day. If not every hour. So those underwent a evolution as we went along. I think that it is – as the world came to respond to this particular situation with some very unprecedented measures, including a lot of the older measures that restrictedflights, etc., and the major global demand for theseP.P.E. S, of course, we havebeen escalating every singleaspect of that response asrapidly as possible. So as you have heard everysingle option was examined. So I think – I think that, again, I just want to remindpeople that we haven’t been atthis very long and everydepartment escalated and thedifferent levels of government, and we’re learning – we’rehumbled by this virus and we’relearning every single day. But I think that P.P.E. Wasprobably one of the top priorityissues in our collectiveresponse and how we are going todeal with it. So I think that, absolutely.
Question:
I would love to follow up on that but I have to ask another question for the colleagues who are chasing the low testing rate in Ontario. and they’re wondering, what is the national strategy to coordinate the testing across the country? or are you going to just leave it to the provinces?
That’s a really huge collaborative response from thelaboratories, again, from day one in getting the initial novel testing actually in place incanada. and now, of course, improving our range of testingcapabilities, not just a single type of test but more than one. But also as everybodyappreciated, just as there was global demand for things like personal protective equipment there was an equal demand on laboratory re-agents and swabs. and so all stops were pulled outfor doing that as well. But every laboratory, and everypublic health lab, have beenengaged. and we’re there to support eachof them. There’s a need, and there’s aneed for further surge andsupport for any jurisdiction, we’re all there to help.
Thank you, Dr. Tam. One question in the room and then one last question on thephone.
Question:
Hi, Dr. Tam. I have a question about thetesting. You said a number of times, and the Prime Minister said a number of times, that testing is the number one way to beat this. Ontario does have a smaller amount of testing that is being done every day. They did change the requirements yesterday or the criteria in order to get a test and it’sapplying to health care worker sand people going into a higher risk settings. How long do you think it would be until we have the capability and the equipment necessary or just the ability to test every single person who needs one right now?
Well, I think that we did achieve consensus at a special advisory committee on the key parties that must be tested because that’s the driver of theepidemic. So I think that those groups we absolutely want to be cover all of those really quickly because whatever we do in those kind of settings will determine the trajectory of this epidemic. So I think that, you know, every single day that we look at our capacity and how we improve it, including the ability to look at the domestic production of testing capabilities. So all of that are on the go. It is very dynamic every singleday. So we look at our supplies and we look at how we support jurisdictions every single day. So, you know, as the number of cases come down, of course, on the other side of the curve the demand will also be lower. So it’s a very dynamic process. But all I can say is that every jurisdiction is trying really hard to get their testing platforms up and running. Some of them might actually be changing their platforms at the same time. So here’s the sort of the different dynamics at play. But I do believe that our capacity would just keepincreasing.
Thank you, doctor. One last question on the phone. Operator?
Thank you. Merci. Our last question [speakingfrench]global news. Please go ahead.
Question:
Hi, yes, my question is for ministerqualtrough, again, on the cerbapplications. I want to confirm that the government will be I guess clawing back or recouping the money from applicants who do get the funding but aren’t eligible and when that is going to happen?
Well, thank you for the important question. So C.R.A. and service canadawill follow up with people whogot two payments of $2, 000. That’s not the people who gotmore than they thought theyshould have, and only people whosee a double payment of $2, 000will be contacted. and as I said in My remarks you don’t have to call us, we’llcall you. The idea being that we want tomake sure that overall peopledon’t get more than $8, 000during the 16 weeks. So it won’t necessarily be aclaw back situation. It might be that you can’t havemore than the $8, 000. and we’ll work with canadiansand working with C.R.A. Andwe’re still getting a handle onhow many of these doublepayments actually happened whichwere completely driven by theconfusion by applicants of theneed to apply once or twice. and we’re going to make verysure that it doesn’t produce anyhardships financially on people. and it’s why My message is tomake sure that you budgetbecause over the course of 16weeks you’re only entitled to$8, 000 total.
Follow-up?
Question:
Yes, specifically on applicants though who don’tmeet the eligibility criteria but apply anyway and receivefunding, when are you going to be verifying or conducting the verification process and trying to get that money back?
I would say that is a bit of work in progress. and that’s not too awful, but as the situation evolves and, quitefrankly, I think that the question presumes a little bit of intent on the part ofcanadians that just isn’t there. We are asking people to truthfully state if they stopped working because of COVID-19 and people are more concerned about being overly honest in Canada. and our fraud levels just aren’thigh. and we know this from other government programmes. But, absolutely, over the course of whether it’s weeks or months to follow, we will definitely verify income, verifyeligibility, and people will –it will be offset, at least during the tax time, if notbefore.
Thank you, Minister. thank you, everyone.
Rosemary:
a briefing from the federal cabinet minister sand the public health officials. I’ll pick up on the last point there by Minister qualtroughabout the CERB. Because I know that some of you have received different kinds ofpayments. and the Minister making it very clear that if you received two payments of the CERB, so a total of $4, 000, you will need to budget that because you’re not going to get more than the maximum of $8, 000 over 16 weeks. and I know that there’s also people though that got their employment insurance and then their CERB. In that case we previously heard from the ministers that that isokay. You got the e. I. from before andyou’re getting the CERB goingforward. So hard to figure out, I know, for many people. But I think that the message there from the Minister is to budget what you’ve got because there will be a limit at least for now on what the CERB is. and I’ll bring in My host – my colleague of “power & politics,”, Vassy kapelos. Sort of My host too. Anything of interest there?
Reporter:
and picking up on what you said because we heard from people who were confused did I get too much money orwhatever. and the most that you will get over the course of four months, I think that she said would be$8, 000.
Rosemary:
Yep.
Reporter:
So budget withinthat, thinking about the next four months. But also if there’s doubled up payments or something went wrong to expect a call from thegovernment. You don’t have to reach out tothem, they will get in touch with you. Because, again, a number of people have reached out. and we are anticipating ontariopremier Doug ford’s press conference any minute now, is the testing in Ontario. and the number of questions directed particularly atdr. Theresa tam about what role the federal government should be playing in sort of mandating standards when it comes totesting. Two issues that we have seen inontario. First of all, they have the capacity now – they have rampedup the capacity to do tests and they should do 13, 000 tests aday. and they’re not, they’re falling well short of it and 2, 000, previously this week. and we’re hearing that swabsaren’t available at certain assessment centres. We’re hearing that things we retaking a long time before –there’s a host of differentreasons. The criteria was too narrow. It was widened a bit yesterday. is there a role in the federal government to say, okay, here’sthe criteria and the amount percapit that you need to test andwe’ll get you those supplies. and the federal government saysthey’re supporting the provinces in those areas, but sincethere’s more questions fordr. Tam and Minister hajdu and what role the federal government has to play in this, becausethere’s discrepancies between the provinces and their ability to test.
Rosemary:
and the testing is key to get things undercontrol. We have seen that in – the prime Minister mentioned albertaand Ontario continues to be aproblem. So we’ll hear more from premier ford shortly. Thank you for your help asalways, Vassy. Vassy is back at 5:00 eastern for her show “power & politics” and she’ll have the latest on everything as she always does. I appreciate it. and so I’ll leave you with this, tomorrow the house of common swill be sitting just afternoontomorrow, and noon eastern. The Prime Minister will not give daily briefing at 11:15because he’ll address the parliamentarians in a reduced way inside of the house ofcommons. We are expecting about 20parliamentarians to be theretomorrow, including a leader of the official opposition andrewscheer and the n. D.p. Leaderjagmeet singh. The senate is set to meet laterin the afternoon tomorrow inhopes that this wage subsidylegislation can get passed veryquickly. But we know that there have beenongoing problems in terms of thenegotiation of how that willhappen. Obviously, a critical measurethat so many businesses andemployers and employees arewaiting for in the weeks ahead.
I’m rosemary Barton and I’llsign off for now. I’ll see you tomorrow for the house of commons. But for now I’ll let andrewnichols, My friend, continue with our ongoing coverage of thecovid-19 pandemic. Remember to stay safe. See you back here tomorrow. (♪♪♪)