Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Our website. We will expect an update in 15 minutes’ time. The reason the Prime Minister is not addressing the nation outside his home is that he will be inside the house of commons around 12:15 speaking to some critical wage subsidy legislation. It’s been a busy day in Ottawa and on parliament hill. Just over an hour ago, CBC news was able to report that the Trudeau government had, in fact, reached a deal with opposition parties to pass the emergency wage subsidy package. That vote will happen a little bit later today as we hear from the Prime Minister and leaders of the opposition. Let me bring in My colleague Catharine Cullen who broke this story online. What do we know about how they managed to reach this agreement because it took a little while?
Catherine:
This was a nail-biter for anyone following this closely. This is an incredibly important pieces of legislation. Everyone agrees this wage subsidy that will allow Canadians to retain a portion oftheir income and, the governmenthopes, keep them attached to their employer and remain on thepayroll. We know there were negotiations going on with all the parties, particularly the discussions with the conservatives seemed to be the last ones to reach an agreement. But we do understand from the opposition parties from the liberals that there is unanimousconsent to get this passed this afternoon. In fact, we expect the whole process only to take a few hours. There was some changes from the opposition parties, but there isanother discussion that continues to go on through all of this. We heard Andrew Scheer talk about it not too long ago, a discussion that’s been hived offbecause there was some question about whether or not the wage subsidy bill would be stopped with a discussion of the role ofparliament. Andrew Scheer said clearly they want to have that discussion separately and this needs to be forward today. There will be questions for the government about why this was such a process and a nail-biter. Of course today we are seeing some disturbing stories about the state of some facilities across the country. I think of one in montreal’s west island where we’ve heard ofa couple. It’s a long-term care facility, some seniors that passed away and the seniors being left in terrible circumstances. Another story in markham area around toronto at a facility foradults with intellectual disabilities. Some staff there initially reported as a walk-out. Staff were told they could self quarantine, but there’s not enough staff to care.
Rosemary:
Lots of concern forlong-term care centres where many, many deaths have occurred and also in a location where people are in a concentrated space and they can’t contain theoutbreak. The last time the house sat was March 24, to pass the CERB. That started to roll out seamlessly by all accounts. This is a much more substantive package in terms of economic aid. $71 billion if I’m not mistaken. Maybe walk us through what is onthe table now and how this will help businesses, Catharine.
Catherine:
The idea is that employees can stay attached to their businesses. This is for businesses of all size can apply for this wage subsidy. The government gives them money, up to 75% of the payroll, and the government is encouraging businesses to top that up and pay the full salary with help from the government, although officials have acknowledged that it may not be the case that all businesses can do that. This is considered by the government to be a key part of want to say keeping the economy intact. I’m not sure that’s quite the right way to describe it, but keeping people attached to theiremployers. We heard Justin Trudeau – was it earlier this week? it’s all blurring together. Justin Trudeau talking about wanting the economy to come roaring back when this was all over. That might be optimistic, but certainly the intent of this wage subsidy legislation is to try to, a, keep people receiving some kind of income, comparable income to what they’ve been getting even if they are no longer working, but to position businesses to move forward when we see a slackening of these physical distancing restrictions.
Rosemary:
The CERB became a much smaller portion of money and the wage subsidy program has become larger to encapsulate businesses of all kinds. and the government loosened – we saw them loosen the criteria through time, as it’s clear that it doesn’t necessarily capture everybody. So they went from having to shows 30% drop in revenue from march of last year to now making it 15% and you can use January, February, or March as proof of that drop of revenue. That loosens the criteria and allows bigger businesses to use it. Air Canada and west jet are going to use it. The Prime Minister will be in the house instead of his daily briefing at 11:15, he will address Canadians from the floor of the house of commons. The opposition leaders will also be speaking. They will be speaking to the legislation and more broadly to the concerns they have about how the pandemic is being managed by the government. There are ongoing conversations about how to do that on a regular basis. We haven’t seen the Prime Minister in the house of commons because he was self-isolating the last time parliament reconvened. As we wait to hear from cab officials and ministers, I want to talk about the challenges forfrontline workers that we’re trying to highlight every day oncbc. Dr. Melissa ewan-innes is a Dr. At the glengary hospital. Thank you for joining me.
Interview:
Thank you. You too.
Rosemary:
I know something that you are concerned about and we have heard this from other nurses and doctors about personal protective equipment. You have launched a petition about your concern. Where are things now?
Interview:
We can see we’re running low on personal protective equipment as anticipated. At My hospital we’re running lo won surgical masks, visors, and eye protection. Our paramedics don’t have any masks at all and our long-term care facilities also are really short.
Rosemary:
So when you raised this with provincial authorities, health authorities, or the provincial government, what is the response?
Interview:
So what they end up telling us is that they’re working on it. One of them said it’s like a duck. We look calm, but we’re paddling madly underneath. I was glad to see they are working with Canadian businesses to pivot and import or get donations to try to cover this, but I have to say on the ground we’re not seeing a lot of the actual equipment arriving to us and we’re really looking for that.
Rosemary:
There does seem to be a bit of a disconnect because just this week the government got millions of masks, surgical and n95 masks into the country. Obviously that has to be distributed through the system depending on who needs it. Do you think it hasn’t gotten to you or a lack of communication of which hospitals are running low? what do you think the problem is?
Interview:
They have stepped it up. First our hospital was counting weekly and now they’re counting daily. There are a lot of layers. I know that My hospital won’t Beau big priority because we’re small and don’t have a lot of COVID-19-positive patients. It will percolate down eventually, but if we could get more transparency about what hasarrived, when and where it’s going to be distributed, that would help us plan in advance.
Rosemary:
You said your hospital is smaller and doesn’t have many COVID-19 patients right now. What are your concerns going forward? do you think there will be a surge in your hospital and how prepared are you for that?
Interview:
We are expecting it. Our region is in state of emergency. We know there is community spread, so it’s just a matter oftime. While doing our best and washing our hands and covering ourselves and hoping that we won’t get too high of volumes, we’re asking people to stay home and flatten the curve in the meantime so we don’t have to brace ourselves for that rush.
Rosemary:
I’ve also heard andyou’ve talked about it too about people stealing stuff from hospitals. I don’t know whether that’s happening or if you have moved to lock down some of this equipment. Maybe people in a fearful state taking what they can get their hands on.
Interview:
I haven’t touched base with the hospital later about what happened, but we had people stealing hand sanitize on the walls. In those places where we didn’t have enough staff, they stopped stocking them. There isn’t hand sanitize there. and the masks and other equipment are under lock down.
Rosemary:
How worried are you about your health if you don’t have the equipment you need to protect yourself?
Interview:
I am concerned because some of My friends have the personal respirators if they run out of masks. I didn’t get one because they ran out. I am hoping to get one. It is not safe to do procedures knowing you could be inhaling COVID-19.
Rosemary:
What would you say to Canadians right now? it’s the Easter long weekend. People are struggling to stay home and follow the messages from public health officials. What would you say to Canadians?
Interview:
Yes, please keep that up. I know it’s tough because you want to do egg hunts and everything, but if you can stay the course and isolate at home, just tell your family to stay home.
Rosemary:
Dr. Melissa yuan-innes. Stay healthy and safe.
Interview:
Thank you for having me.
Rosemary:
As we wait for our federal update from cabinet ministers and public health officials at 11:15 today, instead of the Prime Minister, who will instead be inside the house of commons at 12:15 to talk about the wage subsidy legislation, I just want to quickly touch base with My colleague Katie Simpson in Washington for an update on the situation in the United States. Katie, the United States reporting more cases than anywhere else in the world right now. Are there any signs of optimism or hope or the curve slowing down in any way there?
Katie:
The numbers out of the United states, Rosie, are obviously staggering, but within there there are some little glimmers of hope, particularly out of new York city. Of course in new York state itself, there are more cases there than any other country, country, state versus country, outside of the United States. But what the governor of new York state has been saying, Andrew cuomo, is that they are starting to see the flattening of the curve. They’re starting to see lower numbers of hospitalizations. They’re starting to see lowers numbers of patients requiring I. C.u. Space and intubation. In chicago and illinois, that isa place where the numbers are slowly starting to drop. The mayor of chicago says perhaps if this trend continues they won’t hit the peak that they had been anticipating. We’re starting to see a shiftingof resources in the United States. The mayor of new york saying they believe they now have enough ventilators to get them through the next eight days. The surge that they were anticipating is there right now. They are cautiously optimistic and they are going to continue to monitor the situation. But they are saying that there are signs that physical distancing is actually starting to work, and it’s working so well in some places including the state of california, they’reshipping ventilators from california, where they say they don’t have the need, and are sending them to maryland. This region is expected to become a hot spot. New measures have been put in place in terms of physical distancing. Grocery stores have been – the rules around grocery stores havebeen changed, you have to line up outside – I know a lot of things are happening in Canada as well. You have to wear a mask to go inthe state of virginia and maryland. There are different pockets expecting surges.
Rosemary:
Obviously the other part of the pandemic is coping with the economy and when the United States economy starts to tank, that has an effect on everyone, particularly its neighbour. What is the president saying these days about getting people back to work? because it does seem like his goal for that changes pretty regularly?
Katie:
Donald trump has repeatedly said he wants to get people back to work as quickly as possible. He’s changed his tone on that. The American economy was soaring before any of this pandemic arrived in the United States. Donald trump wants to get back to that. It’s an election year and he wants to get the country back up and running and that is a priority for him. He’s been listening to Dr. Bird and Dr. Fauci who said the virus is going to set the timeline. No one is going to want to work if the virus is out there. Donald trump at his news conference acknowledged if he moves too soon, it could be bad for the United States. He announced his task force to open the country up and how to do that response Li. He’s said this is the biggest decision in his life about how and when to do this. The national physical distancing vol tire guidelines that are in place expire at the end of the month. The big question is is the president going to extend those guidelines. He’s describing it as the biggest decision he will make in his life.
Rosemary:
Katie Simpson reporting from her house. Katie, good to see you. a couple of things Katie said there resonate in this country as well. First of all, the shipping of equipment within countries to help areas that have been hit heavily. Just two days ago Alberta said it would ship some ventilators, I think 40 ventilators, to Ontario because Ontario has far more cases than Alberta and Alberta is seeing some success in containing the virus. Doug ford said that is more thanwelcome. There is an agreement between the premiers that equipment can be sent or shared with regions where there are hot spots. The United States there above half a million cases of COVID-19. Just to bring you up-to-date on the situation in this country, we are at 22, 000 cases, at least569 deaths. This is not all the cases of COVID-19 in this country becausetesting right now is fairly limited to frontline workers, people showing symptoms, people who have returned from travel inmost cases, but more than a quarter of the cases are now resolved. So while people are dying, and many people are dying particularly in long-term care centres, there are people getting better and that’s important to remember. As we heard from Dr. Tam, we don’t know where we are, but there is still some way to go. This idea of when restrictions can be lifted and I want to talkabout quÉbec, Catharine, becausewe have heard various things from quÉbec about the notion that they could reopen school assoon as the beginning of may. That strikes me as very optimistic and I know the premier tweeted a little bit about that last night too.
Catherine:
It did seem to be perhaps defending or clarifying his position when he fwooeted last night saying any decision we make about coming back to school will happen in consultation with the health authorities. The premier said there is still a possibility in quÉbec of getting students back to school in some fashion in the spring, even in May. That may strike many as a surprise given the state of the outbreak in quÉbec – I haven’t looked at the numbers recently, but Canada’s worst-hit province, a significant proportion of the cases. We were talking about some particularly troubling cases, one involving the state of the long-term care facilities there. So that discussion I think will be an ongoing one. It will be interesting to see ifour officials get asked about that today because the tone fromottawa has been more cautious than that.
Rosemary:
Obviously when to lift the restrictions will be something the government health officials will need to address. Every region is at a different place in the fight against COVID-19, so things may happen at different times. Catharine, we’ll talk to you after this. Let’s go to the deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa.
With the Easter weekend having begun. We all need to stay strong and continue practising physical distancing. That’s how we can take care of ourselves, our family, our friends, our neighbours and our whole country. This year’s celebrations will feel very different. I know My family tomorrow will be celebrating together on zoom, but it is crucial for us to continue to follow these rules. [voice of interpreter] I know that this ISS special time of year. Easter just started and sahib is around the corner. Canadians must continue to practice physical distancing, stay strong and stay at home. This year our celebrations will be very different. It is essential that we continue to follow the rules. By doing so, we can protect our loved ones and our neighbours. [end of translation] Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa tam, Dr. Njoo, pablorodriguez. Dr. Tam, please.
Bonjour, hello, everyone. I will begin with the usual update on the COVID-19 cases in Canada. There are now 22, 559 cases, including 600 deaths. Again, these numbers change rapidly over the day as provinces report. For the lab testing, we’ve completed tests for over 400, 000people with now over 5% confirmed positive. As Canada continues to improve our testing to track where the disease is spreading. Yesterday I mentioned that many of the deaths that have occurred in Canada have been linked to long-term care home outbreaks. While we all need to stay physically away to protect our loved ones in these high-risk settings, we need to find new ways to connect and support. Check to see what options are inplace to get regular updates, tovolunteer to help from outside or virtual entertainment that can help. I read a quote from mark hill, the chief of the six nations first nation in Saskatchewan. The community is grieving the loss of one of their community members. His words resonate. When all of this is over, we will hold each other close, but right now we need to show unimaginable strength and make sure we do not lose any more lives. To save lives, families, communities, and businesses across Canada have shifted theirbehaviours to help break the chains of transmission of COVID-19. It is amazing to see grocery stores with tape on the floor marking the 2-metre space at which people must stay apart. Schools are using technology to connect students by virtual classrooms. This long weekend, keep doing what we need to crush the epidemic curve. Stay home and find ways to connect virtually such as playing a board game.
Thank you very much, Dr. Tam [voice of interpreter] now we will hear from Dr. Njoo.
Hello, I will begin with an update on the number of COVID-19, there are 22, 559 cases of COVID-19 in Canada, including600 deaths. As for lab testing, we have completed tests for over 400, 000people. Now over here 5% have been confirmed positive. Canada continues to improve testing to track where the disease is spreading. Yesterday we mentioned that many of the deaths that have occurred in Canada have been linked to long-term care outbreaks. While we all need to stay physically away to protect our loved ones in these settings, we will need to find new ways to connect and support. Let’s find out what options are available to get updates to volunteer to help from the outside or to give support and supplies. Mark hill, elected chief of the six nations grand river reserve in southwestern Ontario recentlylost a member of his community. He said yesterday, when this is all over, we will hold each other close, but right now we need to show unimaginable strength and do everything in our power to make sure we do notlose any lives. To save lives, families and communities and businesses across Canada have shifted theirbehaviours to break the transmission of COVID-19. It is amazing to see grocery stores with tape on the floors to mark the 2-metre space of which people must stay apart. Schools are using technology to connect with students by a virtual classroom. This long weekend, let’s keep doing what we need to do to crush the epidemic curve. Stay home and find ways to stay in touch virtually. For example, play a board game with family members online. Take up our call # staycationforthenation.
Now we will hear from the government leader in the house. [end of translation].
Our government has responded by developing an action plan and legislation that matches the country’s needs. We have come forward with a plan for a wage subsidy to keep workers connected to their jobs. Today the house has been recalled so the M.P.s can consider and pass this importantlegislation. [voice of interpreter] earlier this week, on Monday, I sent draft legislation of the wage subsidy bill to opposition parties. This is a testament to how important collaboration is for us, collaboration and team-work. We have all been in talks throughout the week. Each party has views on the best ways to protect Canadians, but we all agree on one thing, acting now is essential. We must support Canadians and we will. [end of translation] parliament met previously to pass legislation to help Canadians affected by COVID-19. This will be done again today. All parties in the house have settled on the wage subsidy bill and this shows the success of collaboration. I want to be clear, as we move forward during the COVID-19 crisis, our government has firmly committed to parliament accountability. [speakinfrench] [voice of interpreter] the health and finance committees are meeting regularly via teleconference and this allows committees to hold the government accountable for its decisions throughout the COVID-19 situation. I also wrote to the house speaker to ask him to look into ways that we can innovate and hold house of commons deliberations in new and different ways, which might include virtual sessions. The speaker of the house of commons got back to me very quickly, saying that his team had started to look into different options. This is very promising. There are some promising avenues. and I welcome My colleagues from opposition parties to join us in this ongoing reflection. The house of commons has a crucial role to play. [end of translation] these are trying times for Canadians. They are looking to parliamentarians to work as teamcanada to do the right thing. We are committed to doing that. We will work on that together and get through this together. [voice of interpreter] we are determined. We are working as a team. We will get through this together. Thank you.
Thank you, Pablo. [end of translation] bill, please.
Good morning. Thanks to all of you for being here this morning. I would also like to wish everybody who is celebrating with their families in person or virtually a happy holiday weekend. I’m very glad we’ve been able to reconvene parliament today in order to pass this emergency legislation. Canadians have come together in extraordinary ways to save live sand to stop the spread of COVID-19, but as you know this has a real impact on our economy. From the start we have been clear that our approach is firmly focused on people. We have been listening to Canadian workers and businesses throughout this crisis. I have been on the phone, like many of My colleagues, for hours each day, hearing from business leaders, union leaders, and interested Canadians about how to make sure that our programs are helping Canadians to get through this pandemic. We want to make sure that these programs are simple and easy to use, flexible to the needs of as many Canadians as possible. We’re doing this to ensure Canadians get the help that theyneed. That includes the business owners who create jobs and provide the goods and services that we all rely on. [voice of interpreter] since the start, our approach has been firmly focused on people. We have been listening to business leaders and Canadians throughout this crisis. Every day I spend many hours on the phone. I speak with My colleagues, business leaders and union leaders. I have conversations, because we all want to ensure that our programs work well. We want our programs to be simple, easy to use, and flexible to meet the needs of as many Canadians as possible. This approach will enable us to deliver the help that Canadians need. [end of translation] proposing to support employers who have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 with a wage subsidy of 75%. businesses, non-profits, and charities, they’re all able to apply for the Canada emergency wage subsidy if they’ve seen a 15% reduction in revenues in March or 30% reduction in revenues in April or may. Businesses can do this by comparing their revenues to the same month last year or the average revenues of January and February of this year. and non-profits and charities will have the option of whether or not to include government contributions when making their calculations. The wage subsidy will provide upto $847 a week per employee for up to 12 weeks. This support should help employers to keep their employees and, in many cases, torehire them. [voice of interpreter] today I will table bill c-14, a bill to support employers who have been impactedby COVID-19. It is a 75% wage subsidy bill. This will help businesses, non-profits, and charities. They will be able to apply for the wage subsidy if they have seen a 15% revenue loss this March or a 30% revenue loss in April or may. Businesses can use the referenceperiod of last March or January and February of this year. Non-profits or charities will be able to include or not government clickses in their applications. Employers will be able to receive up to $847 per week per employee for up to 12 weeks. We want to ensure that employerscan keep their employees on the payroll or rehire employees. [end of translation] owners and employees work together for decades, sharing in successes, supporting their families and supporting our communities across the country. In this time of deep uncertainty, this program will provide families with assurancesthat paycheques are coming in. Now is the time for everyone to work together and come together. I’m calling on all parliamentarians to pass this bill swiftly so Canadians get the support they need urgently. [voice of interpreter] during these very uncertain times, our government is providing assurances that cheques are on the way. I call on all parliamentarians to quickly adopt this bill so that all Canadians receive the help that they need and quickly. [end of translation] ensuring all Canadians that are making sacrifices to save lives, that we have their backs and they canfeed their families and keep a roof over their heads. There can be no further delay. Canadians are counting on us.
Thank you, bill. We are ready to answer your questions.
Three questions on the phone, one question and one follow up. Operator.
Operator:
Thank you. Please press star 1 if you have a question. Our first question. Please go ahead. [voice of interpreter].
Question:
Hello, everyone. My first question is for ministers morneau and Rodriguez. Minister morneau, when will the wage subsidy be paid out? we’ve heard three weeks, six weeks. Do you have any more information regarding dates? and, Minister Rodriguez, what’s in the bill you will be tabling today? what concessions have you made?
Answer:
Thank you for your question. The wage subsidy is urgent. We need to send out cheques to businesses as soon as possible to help businesses and their employees. Thanks to the bill we will be table today, businesses will also be able to receive support from banks and we said last week that it might take three to six weeks for the wage subsidy. Now we’re saying two to five weeks, but we hope it will be even quicker if possible. We are working tirelessly every single day. We are working hard to see just how soon we can get the money out, but I would like to assure everyone that the wage subsidy will be paid out in the next fewweeks. [end of translation] we know how urgent it is to get funds to businesses so they can be paying their employees. It’s the reason why this legislation is so urgent. We know with this legislation employers will be able to go to their banks to get funding. We also know that this allows us to move forward in getting the funds out rapidly. a week ago we said this would take three to six weeks. Now that’s two to five weeks. We’re aspiring to do this as quickly as possible. We’re hoping to be on the shorter end of the time, but we will do everything we can to make sure the money gets to employers and employees.
This is – [voice of interpreter].
This is not about concession but about team-work. All parties support the bill. We have been in talks all week. We have been finding ways to continue to work together. For example, we will be increasing the number of committees that will sit during this time, industry committee, government operations, and the ways and means committee as well. That committee will be tasked primarily with studying different ways that we can meet virtually. That committee will look what other countries are doing, for instance, in england. They will look into ways that members can continue to meet in this context of the pandemic. If the committee determines meeting virtually is the best way to proceed, that’s how we will proceed.
Question:
Follow-up question. Where are the negotiations at atthis point? April 20 will be the deadline tosuspend the house. So do you have any idea what will happen after April? also, Dr. Njoo, in your opinion from a health standpoint, is it safe to have members physically sitting in the house?
Answer:
We are in constant communication with our colleagues and other parties. We are recalling the house. Some members wanted to recall the house for several days of sitting, but when we sit, it’s not just the members that we have to take into account. There are security agents, technicians, interpreters, political staff, those who clean the chamber, and we must consider all of these people in our deliberations.
From a health standpoint, I’dlike to repeat what we’ve said thousand times. The most important thing is to keep 2 metres apart and practice physical distancing. That is the best way to stay safe. We must ensure that physical distancing is upheld. Furthermore, a lot of cleaning and sanitizing is crucial as well.
Question:
Hello. I have a question for Minister Rodriguez. QuÉbec made a suggestion yesterday. They raised the possibility of reopening schools and day cares as soon as May 4. What is your opinion on that, especially given that Prime Minister Trudeau said we would return to normal life very progressively?
Answer:
It’s not up to me to opine on decisions made by the government of quÉbec. Maybe My colleagues would like to weigh in.
Let’s have Dr. Njoo answer from a health perspective.
The epidemiology and the curve is different in every region and even in different municipalities. The government of quÉbec is keeping a very close eye on the situation in quÉbec in each of its regions. In Ottawa we within the federal government are always studying best practices and evidence-based studies which inform our decision-making, and all decision-making must be cautious and judicious.
Question:
Follow-up question. I have a question about long-term care facilities, especially for senior citizens. This crisis has been evolving for weeks now. Seniors are a very vulnerable group in Canada. is it time for the federal government to step in and help provinces to better help senior citizens?
Answer:
Thank you for the question. The federal government and the public health agency of Canada are playing a leadership role. We have a special advisory committee on which we sit as well as our provincial and territorial counterparts. We are constantly following all developments. Seniors and long-term care facilities are absolutely a priority. In fact, in our advisory group we just discussed best practicesand guidelines for this population. We at the federal government areresponsible for giving best practices and guidelines to the provinces and territories. Then provinces and territories and even municipality s municip these guidelines into action based on their individual situations.
Thank you, doctor. Next question. [end of translation].
Operator:
Our next question is from Melanie marquee, “la presse.” go ahead. [voice of interpreter].
Question:
I have a question for whoever might like to answer, either Minister freelandor Minister Rodriguez. This morning we heard 129 temporary foreign workers from Mexico have arrived in Canada and were not tested for COVID-19. There have been calls for the federal government to step in and not leave everything up to the private sector or to industry. What are your thoughts?
Answer:
Thank you for your question. Our farmers and workers in the agri-food industry have made it very clear that temporary foreign workers are essential for food production and food security in Canada. We must ensure continued food security in Canada, especially in the current context. I would like to emphasize that all temporary foreign workers are subject to the federal quarantine act, as are all incoming travellers to Canada. Yesterday the RCMP made an announcement. They announced that they will work closely with all local police groups, including the sÛretÉ du quÉbec, qubec provincial police, they will work with groups to enforce the quarantine act. The federal quarantine act does absolutely apply to temporary foreign workers. That’s essential.
Question:
Follow-up question. Okay. So the temporary foreign workers, once they arrive at a canadian airport, once they land, are they tested for COVID-19? are they checked for symptoms?
Answer:
All incoming travellers who arrived in canadaare checked for symptoms. If a traveller returns and has symptoms, that individual is immediately quarantined, but everyone who returns to the country or who enters the country must self-isolate for 14days, whether or not they have symptoms in the past few days we’d had some conversations withthe provinces as well as with the RCMP. The RCMP has already begun to cooperate and collaborate with local police forces in order to ensure that the quarantine act is enforced. [end of translation] when it comes to temporary foreign workers, Canadians know from ourfarmers that their work is important to ensure food security. This season is an essential moment for farmers to begin their work. Temporary foreign workers, like all people, canadian and non-canadian alike, entering Canada from another country are subject to mandatory 14-day quarantine. The RCMP has announced, announced yesterday, that the RCMP working with local police forces would be assisting publichealth in ensuring that those quarantine measures, which are obligatory, are fully enforced.
Thank you, deputy Prime Minister. We’ll now turn to the room. Rachael.
Question:
Rachael ha ins from CTV national news. My questions are for Minister Freeland and Dr. Tam and perhapsdr. Njoo as well. But you’ve just been saying in response to My colleague’s question about long-term care homes that you will be issuing guidelines to those facilities. We’ve heard about long-term carehomes where the staff walked outin markham. There have been some dire conditions described of long-term care homes in quÉbec. Are these guidelines going to beenough? what is the role of the federal government to do more to make sure people know their loved ones in long-term care homes arebeing taken care of.
Answer:
I’ll start and then turn it over to Dr. Tam who has been working a lot on this. The situation in long-term care homes is very, very concerning, and it’s maybe particularly concerning in this holiday weekend when a lot of us can’t see our parents or our grandparents who are in long-term care homes. So the first thing I would say is although it is really, reallyhard, it is essential for non-essential people not to enter those long-term care homes. That is a real danger to the people who we love who are there. We have been – we – it is absolutely the case that people who are resident in long-term care homes are a particularly vulnerable group of Canadians. We have been working very closely with the provinces to put in place measures to protectthe safety of those people even more. British Columbia has shown real leadership in, for example, banning people from working in more than one long-term care home at a time. As you heard from Dr. Njoo, it’ssomething we’re very focused on and we will be coming out with guidelines very soon. Dr. Tam.
As I’ve said repeatedly, this is the key at-risk population for this epidemic, this pandemic. So the guidelines for long-term care homes are probably on our website right now. If not, very soon. It is an evidence-informed guidance and it is supported by all chief medical officers of health all across the country. I think these recommendations, I’ll name a few, to me might be one of the key legacies of this particular pandemic, which is how do we ensure better safety and support for residents and staff and visitors in these settings. So, for example, some of the keyrecommendations of the guidance, as we just said, includes the fact that volunteers or visitorsshould be restricted to essential work only on essentialin terms of, for example, feeding or for very much some compassionate reasons, but they would be very limited from that perspective. Given the evidence base on the possibility of transmission fromasymptomatic/pre-symptomatic people, for example, staff who might be entering from the outside even before they know they could have symptoms or being infected, we are recommending training and monitoring the compliance for the infection prevention controlmeasures, which includes wearinga mask for the duration of the shift or the visit. So that is an additional measurethat we are recommending. But that’s only one layer of measure. The whole way that long-term care facilities must support social distancing, for example, during meal times you cannot have people congregating. You cannot use common items without cleaning and proper disinfecting as needed. Really good screening for any kinds of signs and symptoms of COVID-19, whether they be visitors, staff, or residents. and as Minister Freeland has just said, one of the key recommendations is to identify staff who work in more than one location and prevent this from happening wherever possible. I know there are realities as to how that might roll out. I’m really heartened to see not just British Columbia, but many other provinces just in the lastday or so announcing some of thestricter measures that they’re putting in place to protect residents of those residences, of those facilities. So this is the moment to really step up I think on everything we can do to prevent the introduction and spread in thosefacilities. Thank you.
Question:
I’ll just go back to Minister Freeland and Dr. Tam on this again. a lot of these guidelines are based off of the fact that people are still going to work and will still be in these facilities to actually follow the guidelines, but that doesn’taddress the fact that people don’t want to go into these long-term care homes where thereare outbreaks and doesn’t address the fact where in dorvalsome of these people were left in their diapers for days or aren’t taken care of properly. How concerned are you that theseguidelines will be taken into effect if there’s not even the workers there to follow them?
Answer:
These are incredibly horrific reports that we’ve all been seeing, really heart-wrenching situations. The guidelines that are coming out, either right now or very soon, are going to be important measures in helping to protect both the people who are in long-term care facilities and also the people who work there. Both groups are entirely deserving of protection and absolutely everyone in Canada needs to be doing more to protect them. Do you want to add anything, Dr. Tam?
I think you may have seen some of the provinces coming in to support people who work in these facilities because they’renot necessarily being paid, for example. So some of the measures, for example, in British Columbia is to actually support care aids and others who do provide absolutely important functions, but they’re not being supported enough to do so. For example, the recommendation to have a possible limit and work only in a single facility has reality checks to it. You have to put supports in place in order for people to actually follow those kinds of recommendations. So I think you will see that the provinces are all very seized with this issue and it’s both from a guidance and infection control perspective, but also support from an employment perspective as well.
Thank you, doctor. Ashley.
Question:
Ashley Burke CBC news. How do you prevent these last-minute negotiations to passlegislation during this crisis?
I’m going to let Pablo who has been profoundly engaged in these talks, he may look a little more tired today than usual, answer that.
Answer:
These discussions arenormal. We’re working as team Canada andthat’s what we want as a government. We tabled a bill, a very good bill. There weren’t that many conversations around the bill because it’s for all Canadians. There were some conversations around the sitting of the house, this and that. But the objective here is to work together. This is what we’ve been doing with all the parties throughout the week and on a regular basis, I have to say. We have to see how we can move on, making sure that M.P.s can do their job, that parliament can do what it has to do, but maybe in different ways. We have to be creative. We are asking Canadians to be creative and to stay home. That’s why I wrote to the speaker of the house, asking himto explore the possibilities of virtual sittings. He’s doing that with his team. I’m asking My colleagues from other parties to work with us onthis also, see how we can make things differently a bit so we can move on together in this different period of time as we do our job.
Question:
You mentioned there are some promising options on the table for a virtual parliament. What are those options? would you say yes to smaller in-person sittings? we have heard that could take upto four weeks.
Answer:
There are sittings ofcommittees. The committee of finance and health are meeting virtually. We are going to add other committees, for example, industry, human resources, government operations, and also the procedural committee. This one is tasked with something extremely specific. The committee has to analyze how we can do this differently to take into consideration this pandemic, the fact that on the one hand we can’t tell canadiansto stay home because that’s the way to fight this and then come here every day and meet. When we come here, it’s not only the M.P.s that come here, the cleaning people, the security people, the technicians, the clerks, political staff, interpreters. So it brings a lot of people together. Let’s see if there’s different ways to do this.
Question:
Mackenzie grey fromctv news. When the Prime Minister announced a change to the wage subsidy, he discussed the idea that there would be supports for home care workers who could make more money on the CERB than going in to work. I think that ties into My colleague’s question about possibly staying at home to make more money. Can you outline what will be in the bill that will encourage those at care homes to continue to go to work.
Answer:
I think the Prime Minister identified correctly that we need to think about all the Canadians and how we’re supporting everyone. So in the wage subsidy bill, clearly what we’re doing is we’re making sure employers can keep their employees attached to their enterprise, but allow them to get funds and keep connected. The emergency response benefit will allow those who may have been laid off to continue to get funding for themselves and theirfamilies. We’re trying to help every Canadian that finds themselves in a difficult position because of COVID-19, that means that home care workers and essential workers in many categories are people we need to look at to make sure they’re continuing to work, being encouraged to work. There is work that is going on right now that is considering this issue. I don’t have anything specific to respond to right now, but I will in the near term have things to respond on that front.
Question:
There is nothing in the bill that addresses that issue the Prime Minister talked about when he announced the changes to this?
Answer:
To be clear, the bill today is the wage subsidy bill. It’s helping literally of the 19million people who work, roughly15 or 14 million of them are attached to employers. It’s looking at those employers that have been impacted by COVID-19. There are other things we need to do. As you’ve seen, we’ve been addressing things on a daily basis as we get through the challenges that we’re facing. So that continues to be important and we’ll have more to say. [ please stand by ]that that particular long-termcare facility. Speaking of that and as we wait for the Prime Minister to speak around 12:15 in the house, theselong-term care facilities are ofparticular concern, particularlyfor the elderly who are veryvulnerable, obviously in theface of this pandemic, in factdr. Tam suggesting that one ofthe legacies of the pandemic maybe in terms of how we treatpeople in long-term carefacilities and many families noware faced with an awfullydifficult decision of do theyleave people. Or do they take them out andtake care of them themselves. I mentioned earlier, staffwalked out when they found outthere were a number of positivecases in that home. Laura made the call to pull herdaughter emily out of theresidence earlier this week due to an outbreak, participationfor adults with disabilities. Emily developed a fever and shemay be sick. Laura is now concerned she won’tbe able to provide the care herdaughter needs for long. and laura and emily join us nowfrom Ontario. Hello.
Hi, how are you?
Good. How are you? good to see you both.
Can you say hi?
Hi, Emily. Laura, how did you – I guess tell me how you got here. You decided there was no choice for you but to pull Emily out.
Yeah. So on Tuesday, we got notification that there was possible outbreak with a cough, a fever and runny nose. So we made the decision, our family made the decision to takeemily out of participation house so that we could hopefully – so she wouldn’t get COVID-19 and if she did, then we could care for her one on one.
and how difficult a decision was that for you, because imagine Emily had a – her life is all in largely in the house, she’s got her routine there, and it means you have to take on all that care now.
Yeah. Our house, emily’s been living at participation house for twoyears. and the reason why she moved in there was it was getting harder and harder for us to physically take care of her. So it was a hard decision. But it was also an easydecision, like we had to do it for Emily and that was just it. But we don’t have all the equipment an the care for her. Right now I’m isolatingupstairs. and with Emily by me so I’mdoing the care one on one for 24hours.
and were you working beforethat? have you had to take a leave in order to pick up all this additional care for yourdaughter?
No. I’ve always been staying at home with Emily, just because of the nature of her disease, what have been doing is a lot ofvolunteering. I do a lot of volunteering in the community at the city, at our children’s treatment centre and our local school as well.
So you do have some concerns, I guess Emily had a bit of afever. I don’t know if she’s displaying any other symptoms. What do you think is going on right now in terms of herhealth?
So when we brought Emily out on Tuesday, she actually had fever or a low-grade fever of37.5. and with emily, she rarely evergets sick. So for her to have a fever, evenjust a slight temperature, meansthat something is going on withher. So she had the fever Tuesday andwednesday morning. I gave her some tylenolwednesday. She fell asleep and woke up andthen she was fine. So I was just thinking oh, it’sjust a cold, it was just a cold. and Wednesday and Thursday, sheseemed fine but then thursdaynight in the morning at like2:30 in the morning, she startedscreaming out with a lot ofpain. At first I thought she might behaving a seizure. I gave her seizure medication. That didn’t stop. I was so worried I didn’t knowwhat I should do, where I shouldgo. and we just kind of road it outand then around 6:30 in themorning, she fell asleep. and then when she woke up, shedidn’t have the fever. and she was fine. and then we found out in themorning that participation housewas confirmed with COVID-19 and intalking to participation houseand telling them emily’ssymptoms, they agreed that emilymost likely does have COVID-19.
So from what I understand there were about ten residents there that had COVID-19 and two staff members. What dune about what happened when staff were informed aroundthat? did people say they didn’t want to work from? who was the consequence of that?
I don’t know the specifics, but what I heard from one of the senior staff was that they had the meeting and they had to tell the staff and then by the time the end of the meeting, it was – the staff, the other staff just started leaving and just they just up and left except for two senior members. They were just left to their own to deal with this crisis with these vulnerable people.
How is Emily doing now? I have a scheduled meeting to talk to a nurse on Sunday, APR a. M. so I haven’t been able to dothat. Public health I had called and they are on holiday. We are in no-man’s-land rightnow. We don’t have any help. No one is offering to give usany guidance whatsoever.
How is Emily doing? is the fever gone? any other symptoms or is she doing okay right now?
She’s doing okay. It fluctuates. Like right now she doesn’t have fever and all of a sudden like in the afternoon she seems to be spiking the fever at night she seems to get more pain. I am trying to do the regimen consistently of Tylenol. and I’ve been crushing thetylenol and giving it to her. The worst is if like we have to – I have to be with her at night just to make sure shedoesn’t have a seizure, because when she does get tired or her temperature goes up, she is potential for a seizure.
So I don’t know how long you can do this if normally she has two support workers with her. Obviously you’ll do whatever it takes for your daughter but what do you need? what do you need the government to hear, whether the provincial government or federalgovernment?
The first thing is to havetesting. I’m just going on the assumption that she has it. So we need testing but I can’tgo out and get tested. Because Emily can’t – together tested, I have to expose my husband and My son to this in order to get her downstairs. and even I can’t go and get tested because if I do, I can’tleave Emily by herself. So we’re stuck upstairs here. There’s other people, other populations that are in the sameboat. I’ve also been told that emilyhas a fever of 37.5 that’s not afever, she won’t get tested. Even though she’s been in along-term care facility that hasconfirmed cases of COVID-19. and that’s just not right. The other thing is that we need, like, the long-term carefacilities like participationhouse, we need to have the ppesthere constantly. Like they’re going to get sick, the staff are going to getstick. They are going to get sick, theyare going to spread it to theother vulnerable populationbecause we need like the facemasks because there’s going to be saliva, there’s going to begerms sending right into yourface and a mask, a face maskover the mouth is not going tocut it. It’s just not going to do that.
Public health Ontario says they are not on holiday say today so there should be somewhere there and someone should be watching and reach out to you so you don’t have to wait until tomorrow. Keep us up to date. I know these are trying time sand particularly with the decision you’ve made which make sit even more challenging.
Okay. I just wanted to say Jane has reached out, and someone is going to help us with thetesting.
Okay. That’s good to hear. Jane the former health ministerwho’s returned to do some work as a doctor because she is at rained doctor. Laura, thank you so much. It’s really important part of all this. and we appreciate you making the time for it. and Emily, thank you. Bye.
Bye.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for being sopatient. Thanks Laura and Emily. Take good care. We are wishing for the best foryou. As we wait for the house of commons to get underway, it will be sort of the regular procedural and pomp and circumstances around the speakers parade but of course limited number of Np’s inside house to debate the wage subsidy legislation which now it appears everyone has agreed on. All the parties have agreed on. Before I get that coverage, want to bring in a small business owner and he is tattoo artist and works out of his shop in British Columbia. How are you?
I’m great. Thank you. How are you?
I’m good. So you I guess you are not doing any work right now. That’s just impossible. Tell me what your situation is.
It is. We had a government order to close a few weeks ago and so obviously complied, try to keep everybody safe. So as of right now, yeah, there’s zero work going on. I do miss My shop. But there are challenges associated with that as well.
Do you have employees?
I am My only employee. I do have two understudies working with me but I am a microbusiness. I’m a very business artist, I’mbooking into 2023 but right nowit’s dead.
What does that mean for you? a wage subsidy is not going towork. What kind of aid are you looking for or able to get from yourunderstanding?
I’ve applied to the CERB, ceba, also I think it’s thebctrs, a rent subsidy. BDC the cdea, the emergency business account one I guess. So for me, the idea of a subsidy or a wage subsidy, yeah, itdoesn’t apply to me so I feel like there could be possibility of falling through the cracks on that one. As a micro business and I just want to point out that with thegovernment’s – and I do appreciate everything they aredoing. I think the government is doing great job of really trying to help people but I want to caution that they don’t forget about the small guy that has to somehow survive. and I feel like after this is all over, many little businesses that are massage therapists, hairdresser, artists, musicians, they are the ones that are going to be feeling this after the fact because there isn’tnecessarily the help because we are not a big beacon of light in the context of what Canada is and so forth.
Initially it was only for small and medium businesses and then they grew it because theyrealed they needed to cover morepeople. So the business loan part of it, the $40, 000 you get access to maybe if you qualify, would that be enough for you to keep paying the rent and just make sure the business is there in a few months or is that not going to be enough?
That would get me through –I figure five to six months of just kind of having a survival fund to just make sure that when go back to work that my business is still there. I’ve spent a lot of money, effort, I love My business, I’veput a lot of money and effort into making a clinical, clean, beautiful spot, and to losethat, and beyond that even is after the aftermath, there’s Alan and a debt associated and if eel like that’s a follow burden for me to start from groundzero, hopefully still have my business but having that burden of that weight to have anotherloan, another debt to try and pay off while not being able to make any money right now. So I feel like it could be compound problem where if could say one thing to our Prime Minister, it would be don’tforget the small, smallbusiness, the fiber of our society but allow us to have survival plan when we come out on the other side we are not burdened to make it a grant Nita loan. 50/50, let’s be in thistogether, let’s meet halfway, not here’s a nice big debt for you at the end of it all and hopefully you can make it back and pay your taxes again sothat’s what I would like to seehappen, yeah.
Message received probablyanyway. Appreciate you coming on and good luck to you. Stay healthy and well.
Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Okay. Thank you. You probably saw in the corner of your screen there the speakers parade as they entered into the house of commons. So we are expecting this to –do we have a sense of how this is going to unfold and how quickly this might happen at this stage?
Relatively quickly, I willsay. Over the course of perhaps anhour, two, a little longer. We are still waiting to get the specifics from government houseleader. In fact I think we might get some details right now.
Yes, I think the spouse how is speaker is speaking. Here is the speaker of the house of commons.
To see the application of standing order 17 suspended for the current sitting to allow members to practice physical distancing and encourage all members to follow this and other recommended best practices during today’s proceedings. Therefore, members to speak, and address the chair may do so fro many seat in the house.
THE INTERPRETER:
In addition we will suspend the sitting every 45 minutes for one minute to allow employees who provide support for the sitting to substitute each other safely.
Finally I ask that all members tabling a document or moving a motion sign the document and bring it to the table themselves.
THE INTERPRETER:
I wish to inform the house that pursuant to order 283 I sent a notice calling the house to meet this day and on Thursday, April 9, 2020, I sent each member message explaining the reasons for this recall. I now lay on the table the notice calling the house tomeet.
Government house leader.
The speaker.
THE INTERPRETER:
Mr. Speaker, we are gathered here today in a time of great concern and uncertainty about thecovid-19 pandemic. This is something we have never been through before.
Delivering a message, we will not let you down. We will not forget you. We will support you in this time of crisis. So Mr. Speaker, I believe if you seek it, that you will find unanimous consent for the following motion.
THE INTERPRETER:
That notwithstanding any standing order special order or usual practice of the house, a, the application of standing orders15, 17 and 56.1 be suspended for the current sitting. B, the government responses to petitions 431-00046 to 431-00123be tabled immediately and that those two questions on the order paper numbered q260 to q-308 andq-310 to q-368 be made into orders for returns and that the returns be ordered immediately. Tuesday March 24, 2020 and this day shall not be considered as sitting days for the purposes of standing orders 341, 511 and 110and subsection 2812 of the conflict of interest code for members of the house of commons.
Okay. This is the liberal house leaderrodriguez going through a lot of parliamentary procedural talk, which is important but in many ways also incomprehensiveable to the rest of – incomprehensible to the rest of us and canadianswho don’t follow it. Essentially what he is doing is laying out how this is going to unfold today and over the next few hours. You can see inside the house, ofcourse, very few members are there in the west block and the ones that are there, forinstance, the two MPs over his left shoulder, one from ottawaand one from Montreal are people who were able to drive in to participate in what is appear to happen in the house. I did see the Prime Minister to the left of Mr. Rodriguez as well. This will be his first time back in the house in many weeks because of course the househasn’t been sitting but also because he was self isolateing. I’ll bring you in to get into the coverage a little bit. This is a very heavy procedure, not even thing I will pretend to understand every moment of. The thrust of what is going to happen today, and we are expecting to hear from the Prime Minister momentarily is the wage subsidy legislation will become law by the end of the day and businesses will be able to start tapping into that.
That’s right. Essentially what’s happening is they are saying let’s suspend the rules, we are going to do things differently because these are extraordinary circumstances. Some of the key pieces of information we have gleaned thismorning, I think the thing that lot of Canadians are going to care about if this is money they are relying onto pay their bill sis what finance Minister during his conference earlier, he said this point we are talking between two to five weeks before the money goes out the door and they are hoping they can do this sooner rather than later. You just heard Rodriguez talk about the importance of workingtogether. That’s something we are hearing from all the political parties, a very heightened sense of awareness that they are notparticularly, the Canadians are not interested in any suggestion that there are political gains being played right now, thatthere’s any partisanship. At the same time, particularly the opposition parties are interested in showing canadianstheir relevance in all of this, how they are contributing to this discussion, the improvements they have suggested to this piece of legislation, the improvements the government has accepted and things they still think the government should be doing. The government trying to show that it wants to work together but that it’s also respecting the importance of parliament in all of this, right, that there is sort of a healthy discussion about how to make sure these measures are applied to as manycanadians as possible, are helpful to as many as possible and the money gets out the door as quickly as possible.
One of the concessions although Mr. Rodriguez didn’twant to call it that but one of the compromises the government agreed to in a bid to allow for more accountability at a time when parliament is still suspended is that three additional parliamentary committees will be stood up to work virtually beyond the health committee which had a couple meetings and the finance committee and that will help as well. I know parliamentary committee is not something everybody is glued to but that’s where a lot of deep scrutiny of legislation and government decisions happen. and so if there are now going to be as many as five parliamentary committees watching and looking at what measures are beingtaken, that will certainly address some of those concerns around accountability. I’ll just give people a sense of what will happen after this. All the leaders will be given Chance to speak and will hopefully bring that all to you of course starting with the prime Minister the leader of the official opposition, the leader of the nbp. The parliamentary leader of the green party has come from the coast to be here today. We’ll hear more about not only the bill but also some of the concerns that any of the opposition parties have around what is maybe not being done, what the government could dobetter. Then it should move into committee of the whole which means that essentially the house of commons, before the house of commons becomes a committee and there will be rounds ofquestions. We probably won’t cover that live throughout the day. But we will of course continue to monitor it. I wanted to maybe touch as we listen and wait for the Prime Minister to speak on the issue of temporary foreign workers because ms. Freeland gave clearer understanding of what is happening there after the block leader raised concerns about it this morning.
In a response the word that came to mind is a french word, muscular response from the federal government. They are saying anybody who comes into the country regardless of whether you are Canadian or temporary foreignworker, you have to self quarantine, self isolate for 14 days. That’s a requirement now. and she talked about the fact that police forces are now getting involved here. The RCMP in ensuring this take splace. Anybody who comes in and is symptomatic will immediately self isolate and everybody is expected to quarantine. They know the agricultural workers are essential, crucial in many cases to gettingcanada’s food supply into the grocery stores into the places where Canadians can access them but they know there is concern about the transmission ofcovid-19 from anybody coming from out of country so trying to strike that balance today. Freeland talking about the importance of tho sing a cultural work – agricultural workers but also the importance of the rules being respected.
We will continue to monitorwhat’s happening in long-termcare centres. I had laura and emily on earlierfrom participation house inontario where they are copingwith cases of COVID-19 and laurapulled her daughter out to makesure that she was safe. But the focus is also, and moreparticularly perhaps, onlong-term care centres witholder Canadians inside andparticularly this case in quebecwhich we are expecting thequebec premier who is going totake the day off to show up at apress conference at 1:00 easternto talk about that case which isfairly horrifying. I think that’s probably the wayto qualify it. But that also came up in thepress conference.
Yes and in fact we heard minister Freeland say the conditions are horrific. We have covered it here at CBC. We had an excellent piece last night on the national. It came through from themontreal gazette and I reference that report because of the language where someone referred to it as concentration camp-likeconditions which is nauseatingto say. We know two people have died inthis long-term care facility, that there are other deathswhere they are still lookinginto the cause and that by thedescription of some of thepeople who have been in contactwith people inside or staffworkers who have been insidethemselves but people wereessentially patients, residentsleft to their own devices is theterm they were used. They were dehydrated and left insoiled diapers or sheets for aday if not several days untilthe federal government was askedtoday should you be taking astronger role? do you not need to step in whenyou see the seriousness of whatis happening? the response is well, we aretaking a leadership role. They put out new guidelinestoday. We have seen it come out, guidelines that detail all kindsof things, when screening is to be done, procedures for reducingcontact through all kinds ofmeasures, everything fromcleaning and whatnot, thequestion is whether or not thatgoes far enough. We should say in the case ofthat one long-term care facilityin montreal, the localhealthcare authority has takencontrol of this particularfacility and all the reports weare get is that conditions havedramatically improved butnonetheless the story isincredibly upsetting andeveryone wants to know what canbe done to prevent moresituations like this.
and of course this is not the only instance of this. It started effectively inbritish Columbia with an outbreak in a long-term carecentre on the lower mainland. There’s the traffic situationhappening where I’m not notissues how many deaths we are atbut a remarkable number ofpeople dying in a smalllong-term care centre. and so the idea that betterguidelines would be needed issomething I think that first ofall the provincial public healthauthorities have all agreed onbut one of the changes they madein British Columbia was to limit workers interms of how many places theycould work, how many facilitiesthey could go to. Sometimes long-term care workers in order to make up completesalary work at multiplelocations and of course thatwould lead to the spread ofcovid-19 so British Columbia shut that downcompletely and is only lettingpeople work in one location, totry and limit that. Other provinces have done thatbut some have not.
Interesting to hear Dr. Tam talk about the challenges with that because part of what this does is makes us reflect onwhat’s being asked of the people who work inside these facilities and she said if you are going to say that’s what people should do you need to think about how to support them and my understanding was she meant economic support.
Yeah. That’s right. Because they still need to make the same amount of money. The challenge here as it is in other instances in dealing with the pandemic is the jurisdictional issues around this obviously healthcare exercises healthcare, making decisions around healthcare is provincial jurisdiction so thelong-term care centres would beas well. All the public health agency ofcanada can do and all thefederal government could do inthis instance is to provideguidance which is what they havedone for now. So that also a story we arecontinuing to monitor and as isaid, the Quebec premier isgoing to be part of the briefingat 1:00 which gives you an ideaof how serious the situation was in that one long-term carecentre in montreal and howseriously these things have to be dealt with quickly becausethe other thing Dr. Tam saidthat I also thought wasinteresting was because of thefact that this virus obviously, well obviously attacks peoplewho have underlying conditionsbut the most vulnerable in oursociety, particularly oldercanadians. One of the legacies of COVID-19may be to make some substantivechanges in terms of how we treatolder Canadians going forwardand in these long-term carecentres it can’t be just likethis. There has to be another way tomove forward and I know so manyfamilies have having a hard timecoping with this. The Prime Minister stepped out. He is now back. You can see him to the left ofpablo rodriguez and he isexpected to be the first personto speak. Let me just dip in to see if mrgsomething about the bill at all.
For the purpose of dealing with the unique circumstance sand the time period of thecovid-19 situation and recovery. That’s it, Mr. Speaker. [applause]
THE INTERPRETER:
Unanimous consent of the house to move themotion. Agreed. Heard the terms of the motion. is it the pleasure of the house to adopt the motion? carryied. Pursuant to order made earlier today the house will now proceed to statements by ministers. The honorable Prime Minister. [applause]
Mr. Speaker. I rise here in this moment, in this house, as our generation faces its greatest challengeyet. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, of all those Canadians who saw our nation through difficult, tumultuous times in our history.
THE INTERPRETER:
103 year sago today, young canadiansoldiers found themselves in the trenches in France, thousands of kilometers from home. The next day, they mounted on hill 145 and took part in the final battle. Today on the eve of this somberanniversary, we remember their courage and sacrifice. We remember those soldiers who shaped the country we knowtoday.
20 years later, many we resent to the front again. On the evening of November 14, 1940, My grandfather, the youngnp for Vancouver north, rose in his seat to speak to the war effort but first thanked all those senior members who allowed him to speak before them because his leave from the RAF had expired that night and he was to ship out soon. Jimmy Sinclair would stand the next three and a half years ineurope and north Africa, far from his young family, far from his work in this house ofcommons, and far from his constituents in britishcolumbia. Serving his country in the best way he knew how. He would return to the chamber in early 1944, a mere few months before d day, conadeians to continue with the sacrifices and efforts required to win. This is the year which will decide a rapid victory or a longwar. a year when our fighting men must be given every conceiveableaid and support andencouragement, every man, woman and child in Canada, no matter the personal cost. These were trials that shape dour country and more, ofcitizens. and now, once again, we are being tried. But Mr. Speaker, this is not award, that doesn’t make this fight any less destructive, any less dangerous. But there is no front line marked with barbed war, no soldiers to be deployed across the ocean, no enemy combatants to defeat. Instead, the front line iseverywhere, in our homes, in our hospitals and care centres, in our grocery stores andpharmacies, at our truck stop sand gas stations. and the people who work in these places are our modern-dayheroes. Separated from their family, risking their own health, theyhead to work every day so thatwe can eat, so that we can heal, so that we can do our part. Because every one of us has arole to play in helping shieldour country from the threat itnow faces. In hard times, courage andstrength are not defined by whatwe say or do loudly in public, but by the actions we takequietly in private, like stayinghome. Even as we stand apart, we stand United in our resolve to do whatwe must until COVID-19 isdefeated.
THE INTERPRETER:
Mr. Speaker, we are here today to enact the emergency wagesubsidy. This is the largest canadianeconomic policy since world warii. This subsidy will enablecanadians to keep their jobs and get a paycheck during thiscrisis. That is what we will be voting on this afternoon. This subsidy is based on steps that have already been taken to come to the assistance ofcanadians like loan guarantees to small businesses and the emergency response benefit. Once again, here in the house, we are called upon to support those in need, and I know we will not let them down.
Mr. Speaker, as canadaconfronts this crisis, we are all called to serve. To fight for and alongside each of our fellow citizens, to fight for someone’s mother, forsomeone’s grandfather, forsomeone’s neighbor. Our job as Canadians is to uphold the dignity and sanctity of every single human life, whether they be rich or poor, young or old, ailing or healthy. That is our duty. Without reservation, withoutpause, we must fight for every inch of ground against thisdisease. We must be there for one another as we spare no effort to safeguard our collective future.
THE INTERPRETER:
Over the coming weeks and months, we will face a number of obstacles. We will go through periods ofuncertainty, fear and uncertainty will continue to Beau part of our daily lives. and unfortunately, together, we will mourn the loss of lovedones. Even if we take every possibleprecaution, the situation may get worse before getting better. That is the sad reality our country faces. Our determination to put an end to this virus and our commitment to look out for one another will be put to the test. But I know that we are up to thechallenge. Canadians are among the most fortunate people on earth, despite the challenges we have yet to overcome, despite the wrongs we have yet to right. Ours is a country where we lookout for one another. Where we take care of eachother. The generosity of spirit andcompassion, this was alive long before this virus reached ourshores, and it will survive long after it’s gone, because it is who we are.
THE INTERPRETER:
Mr. Speaker, our country is inmourning. Too many families have lost loved one because of thisdisease. One of the greatest cruelties of this disease is that it denies us the opportunity to celebrate their lives and grieve among their family. On behalf of all Canadians, want to offer My deepest condolences to those who have lost someone they love to thisdisease.
However, this holiday weekend also marked the coming of rebirth and new life. Easter is a time wherechristians honor the passion, sacrifice and resurrection ofjesus of NASA rhett and – Nazareth and his teachings of compassion and love. The covenant of god made with the sons of Abraham, Issac andjacob, Sarah, rebecca and lea hand the heroism of Moses who led his people from from bondage tofreedom. a time when Hindus celebrate new year and the spring harvest. and even for those who are notcelebrating, spring is always time for renewal. These moment s remind us thatlove, courage and fortitude are the antidote to despair. There is no challenge we can’tovercome together. So let’s make a solemn promise to each other this week to do just that.
THE INTERPRETER:
Over the long weekend, let us make commitment among ourselves to do what needs to be done for as long as it takes. and here in house, let’s do our part to fulfill that commitment. Let’s make our responsibilities and come to the assistance of those in need.
Mr. Speaker, as I stand heretoday, I think of the young men who died taking the risk. I think of the great estrogen ration who grew upside down –the greatest generation who died during world war ii. They showed us how to fight for what we believe and sacrifice for what what we hold deep. Today across this country, the last members of this great estrogen ration live in nursing homes – this greatest generation live in nursing homes, in small apartments and in the homes they built so long ago with their ownhands. They are the ones most threatened by this disease. They fought for us all those years ago. and today we fight for them. We will show ourselves to be worthy this magnificent country they built. and for them, and for theirgrandchildren, we will endure, we will persevere, and we willprevail.
The leader of the opposition.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is perhaps very fitting that we are meeting here on this day, holy Saturday. The day between the sadness of good Friday, the day christsuffered and died for our sins, and Easter Sunday, the day he rose and conquered death. For we are clearly in the middle of great hardship and suffering, but we have every reason to look ahead and hope. and towards the end of the health crisis we are currentlyfacing. Our hope is founded on the ingyknewty – by the resilience of humanity and by the examples of previous threats which we have all overcome. Mr. Speaker, the path month has tested us. We have been told to stay at home away from families andfriends. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, religious gatherings, have looked different this year. We have relied on Skype or face time to stay connected instead family dinners, church services or weekend gatherings. Stores and restaurants have been told to close their doors. As a result, almost 6 millioncanadians have lost their jobs. The businesses that are still open are worried about how they are going to hang on.
Despite all of our efforts, more than 22, 000 Canadians have fallen ill and unfortunately over 600 Canadians have died. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have lost loved one. In the coming days and weeks, our actions will be more important than ever. Now that the government has finally presented itsprojections, we know what toexpect. We must continue to follow public health directives. and we must act together as anation.
On behalf of the officialopposition, I want to acknowledge all of the canadianswho are going above and beyond in these unprecedented times. To the nurses, the doctors, the truck drivers, the grocery storeworkers, cleaners, pharmacists, farmers, and other essentialworkers, we say thank you. To the parents struggling with schoolwork and their own jobs, we say thank you. I’ve always had respect for the teachers that have influenced mylife, Mr. Speaker, but after spending the last three weeks trying to keep My children up to date with their studies, I have newfound respect and admiration for what they do each and every day of the schoolyear. To the churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, food banks, shelters, and other organizations helping canadiansduring these difficult times, we also say thank you. and to the public service working hard each and every day to make sure that Canadians get the help they urgently need, we say thank you.
THE INTERPRETER:
Canadian shave important questions about the situation we areexperiencing. Our economy is at a standstill and even though the government is announcing programs, funds still aren’t flowing tocanadians. We have a deficit of$184 billion. and years of discipline will be necessary to get the canadianeconomy back on track. New government documents released to the house committee also paint a concerning picture.
New government documents released to the health committee also paint a concerning picture. As one reporter put it, quote, the documents show a government persistently downplaying the threat of coronavirus until itwas. Other countries like south koreaand Taiwan ramp ed up testing and secured medical equipment earl yon which allowed them to flatten the curve quickly, preventing their economies from being completely shut down. We were told for weeks that the risk of COVID-19 to canadianswas low. We now ask why that risk assessment seemed to changeovernight. Why did the government wait so long to enforce travelrestrictions? why were travel travelers not originally screened? why do we have a critical shortage of medical applies? why is it taking the government so long to sign contracts with companies that are offering to provide much-needed medicalequipment? why are other countries furtherahead of us when it comes totesting and tracing? these are some of the questionsthat Canadians have, and theydeserve answers. and while we know that mistakeshave been made in the past, conservatives are focused onlooking to the future on howbest to get Canada through thiscrisis, keep our citizenshealthy, and get our economyback on track. The Prime Minister said we needto prepare for a second andperhaps a third wave. Canadians want to know how thisgovernment is preparing to getahead of those waves.
THE INTERPRETER:
and this is why the conservatives are demanding regular opportunities to ask the prime ministertrudeau Minister and the house of common s about all aspects of the government’s response to thecovid-19 crisis. We also want to hold weekly parliamentary committee meetings where Np’s can move motions, callwitnesses, and ask ministers and government officials questions. We cannot make for this pandemic to end to hold our government toaccount. Parliament has a crucial role to play right now. Through debate, discussion, and regular questions from theopposition, we will obtain better results for Canadians.
Parliament has a violate role to play now – has a vital roll to play now. Through debate and discussion we will get better results forcanadians. Today’s emergency legislation ISS good example of this. When the government first announced a 10% wage subsidy, conservatives and small business owners across the country raisedconcerns. Other countries were offering far more, and it was clear that10% was just not going to cutit. So we pushed for a significantincrease. a few days later, the wage subsidy was raised to 75%. credit unions weren’t originally allowed to deliver the $40, 000emergency interest-free loans. This left many business ownerswho use credit unions, especially those in rurallocations, left in the lurch, making itarder for them to getthe support they needed. We called on the government tomake changes and now creditunions can deliver these loansas well. The need to show a 30% revenuedecrease to qualify for the wagesubsidy meant too many new andseasonal businesses didn’tqualify. We raised this concern and nowthere is more flexibility. and this week, we rolled up oursleeves and worked with thegovernment to ensure thatbusinesses have the certaintythey need to keep theiremployees on the payroll.
THE INTERPRETER:
Conservatives have been part of team canadasince day one, offering constructive solutions to improve the government’sresponse to this pandemic.
We know there’s still mo rework to do. Conservatives have proposed meaningful solutions such as rebating the gist to small businesses that have collect edit in the last year to provide amuch-needed cash injection. We have also suggested usingloss of earnings, subscriptionsor orders as a way to ensurethat more businesses qualify forthis wage subsidy. and we have put forward ideas tohelp our energy and charitablesectors like increasing thecharitable donation tax credit.
THE INTERPRETER:
We want the government to begin implementing our solutions so that nocanadians are left behind. This is the job of team Canada.
We are optimistic the government will listen to the ideas that we are putting forth to the benefit of all Canadians, Mr. Speaker. That will be a truly team canadaapproach. Thank you very much.
The honorable.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start by payingtribute, respectfully tribute, to all My colleagues here in the house but also I would like to show compassion first and foremost for seniors. I can’t imagine what the daily life of a senior is right now in any of the residence models that we have in Quebec Canada. They are isolated from their loved ones, they are exposed TA disease that could be mortal. Without even being able to see their children or grandchildren one last time. Such a situation is endlesslysad. and I’m also thinking about other seniors, those who are not directly exposed to the virus, who are seeing the value of their pension funds dropping, that are still isolated often in regions that are already somewhat remote. They can’t see their families who live elsewhere. I’m thinking about thoseindividuals. That’s not the topic, but I also gave recommendations and suggestions to help them as much as we can. I’m also thinking about the workers who cannot work rightnow. and for whom we are gathered here today to help. I’m thinking about young people and for them, this is supposed to be a joyful time in their lives and their lockup at home, they can’t see their friend sunless they are on their phones, with a few exceptions. and I’m also thinking about the parents that have to deal with the impatience of their youngones. I’m also thinking about people who theoretically could choose to stay home but since it is their vocation, they go to workday after day in our healthcaresystem. They are exposed to this virus beyond reasonable levels and they can’t keep two or three metres of distance when they are at work. I’m thinking about those who are working in the transportation sector who are working crazy hours in uncertain condition sand often don’t even have access to the very basic tools that they need when they are on the road to take a shower or to eat. They do not receive the respect that their job would suggest. I’m thinking about the agricultural workers who are facing particular challenges. I pay tribute to them as well. and I’d like to pay tribute Tommy colleagues for working with me and all those who are part of team Canada. The recent weeks have shown, and particularly look to know that we can work better by working together since the beginning of this situation, despite people, some people being tempted to mark political points, we have been as open and honest aspossible. Today we are going to adoptlegislation, and of course there will be some people here in the house that when times get better it will be thanks to them. and I think today we have to put all that aside. It will be thanks to our group together with 380 people chosen by all Canadians and quebecers, all members of this parliament, our fumes that at the very heart of our economic fabric in quebecwill have a crucial tool now. I’m looking at this from worker aspect. On one hand, this legislation will protect their purchasingpower. In addition to what they would give them, this will benefitworkers. and it also supports our economy because at the very basis of the billions of dollars that the government will be investing, in individuals and companies, this is to protect their future income as well. [please stand by].
[voice of interpreter] but it is the feeling of security that will fight the anxiety and fears and concerns about our future. These are one of the fundamental roles that we are playing. There was cooperation and we are happy to be a part of it. I would just like to say that we’re not going to say that we were behind whatever measure, we will be humble in that respect, start-up companies, well the Minister of finance took them into account. I appreciated that. There were strong growth companies that were particularlyat risk and that was addressed. There were social companies as well that are particularly of interest to me and they are alsopart of the program. and I’m happy that there was this component in the motion. We were able to ensure that s. M.e. Won’t have to have revenue that will only be covered by debt when they will have to start back up again, they won’t have to pay this back. So the government is establishing a measure that willallow companies to have some support that will not have to bereimbursed later. This was something that was particularly close to My heart. I am grateful to the government for this because they added thisto their thought process and that is how we are going to moveforward. I would like to call this diligent cooperation, cooperation that I think Canadians and quÉbecers expect of us. They expect us to work together in their best interest. and of course this is a democracy based on the latest choice of Canadians and quÉbecers, we have to keep an eye on things. We have to give ourselves the tools to do this. I know this is part of what we’re looking at today. I know there are some good components here, even though in My opinion there isn’t enough, but let’s start looking at this right away. As you know, we are going to defeat this virus like others have and others will after us probably. If we don’t forget science and research in this process. There are research centres that are not qualified right now for various measures and they will see their personnel go elsewherebecause they won’t be able to stay, their job won’t be as attractive to them. Every time we read newspaper headlines, we have to look at the science and see what worked well and what was done elsewhere. People doing science and research right now, researchers in quÉbec need to receive solid support. I would also like to say a few things about the CERB. It could be a victim of its own popularity one might say, but there were a few cracks that were shored up. For example, volunteer firefighters, for artists and their royalties. There are things that are now fixed include those receiving dividends in small companies. Those were changes that were made not just by various political parties but by real people. They asked for these improvements. They said, what about us? proper discussion brought about solutions. As you know, people discussed the virtual parliament. We don’t physically have to be sitting here on the benches to be able to discuss things. We can have discussions each at home with various different types of formats, but we can do. I understand that we do have to vote here, that there has to be a standardized system because wehave rules that can’t be changed. We talked about this – we’ve talked about a virtual parliament for quite some time. Unfortunately, in the spirit of openness, it’s not too late. We looked at welcoming people from abroad not too long ago in various forms in quÉbec and Canada. Mr. Speaker, I have to highlightthat, I’m concerned. After everything we’ve done and said, after the knowledge we have about the percentage of cases of coronavirus that came from abroad, and I stress with the greatest respect and affection with respect to these people, I’m very concerned that 159 mexican workers who were notgiven the COVID-19 test in mexico and who were not quarantined in mexico took a plane, landed in dorval this morning, did not undergo a COVID-19 test in Canada and werenot quarantined in one of the thousands of hotel rooms that surround the airport. They were given to an organization that brought them in various regions in quÉbec in the north and southern parts of montreal. and knowing the characteristics of this virus and having statistics saying one-quarter and one-half of people who carrythe virus don’t have symptoms and testing someone for symptomscould be useless, are we not taking a risk that we could easily eliminate? we communicated with the government privately on several occasions about this. I saw with all due respect for the individuals and institutionsinvolved, I have an open mind. I would like to indicate if the government could set aside billions for these measures, we should be able to invest to giverural communities in quÉbec and Canada confidence. Our foreign workers should be quarantined and undergo a COVID-19 test. That is the best way to serve the countries of origin and the workers as well. They don’t have a necessary expertise. Companies can’t say, oh, I’ll make some room for these workers in the basement so that they canbe quarantined. That’s not these people’s duties. It’s the state’s duty. and it’s up to the canadian customs. The 159 workers who already lefttheir country, well we should very quickly announce measures to isolate them when they arriveand give them COVID-19 tests. This could happen in quÉbec and Canada – then they would be able to benefit our economy. I would like to say, Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, thatwe’re thinking with respect to vigilant cooperation. I’m not formulating any criticism here. We have the duty to remain vigilant with respect to each other because every day we’re looking at measures to solve newproblems that are cropping up every day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We’re going to wait 30 second. We have a few technical changes, people to change places. Thank you. [end of translation].
The honourable member for Barnaby south.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In the last month our world has change dramaticically. On Thursday we learned that a million Canadians have lost their jobs. Now, this is not just a statistic. These are families that are now struggling to put food on the table, to pay for rent, to make ends meet. The government has moved to respond to this crisis, but in many cases it’s been too slow. In early March we had two suggestions. One, that the government should send direct financial assistance to all Canadians. Two, that we need a 75% wage subsidy at least, at a minimum, to ensure that people can keep their jobs and a subsidy that will support businesses and keeping workers on the payroll. Later today we will be and we’vealready supported the unanimous consent motion, but we will be supporting the legislation to make this wage subsidy a reality. But I want to urge the government that while we’re herein Ottawa, we should not leave here without knowing and without guaranteeing that all Canadians who need help get that help. [voice of interpreter] the Canada emergency response benefit, quite simply, does not cover allcanadians who need this help. Too many Canadians may fall between the cracks. Too many Canadians may fall between the cracks, as I said. [end of translation] stories that I’ve heard over the past weeks about the people who desperately need help but that are unable to access that help because they don’t meet the criteria. I think about people working multiple jobs to make ends meet who have lost their hours of work and don’t know how they will pay for groceries. They should be applying for help. I think about the freelance and contract workers who have lost most of their income and are maxing out their credit cards to pay for their bills, they should be applying for help. I think about students who depend on summer jobs to pay therent, some who work to support their families, now they have no jobs to apply for, they should be applying for help. Artists, self-employed, people who are just on the margins – in fact, there is so many examples and that’s the problem. For the last several days new democrats have been working withthe government to fix the gaps and that work is reflected in the motion that we’ve heard and in the work that will be done. I want to thank the Prime Minister and other members of government for the constructive way they’ve worked with us. But we’re not done yet. The current system discourages people who need help from applying because they still havesome income or they don’t meet all the criteria. Yesterday the Minister confirmedthat everyone who applies for the CERB will get it. So I ask the Prime Minister today, announce that all the criteria will be dropped and simply tell people, if you need help, apply for it and you’ll get it. Let’s keep it simple and let’s make sure that everyone who needs help knows that they can apply for that help and that they will receive it. The only way we can get through this crisis is if we take care of each other. We are all connected and we won’t stop fighting until every canadian gets the help they need, period. There have been heroes in this crisis, in fighting COVID-19. I want to also acknowledge thosefrontline workers who are keeping us fed, those who are keeping us healthy. It’s saddening that they don’t have the equipment they need to protect themselves and prevent the risk of infecting their families. I specifically want to mention healthcare workers, who are often sleeping in their cars or sleeping in tents to prevent thespread of infection or the risk of infection to their families. We have to do better. We have to ensure that all workers have the protective equipment that they need to staysafe. During this crisis, I also believe it’s important to make very clear that there is no roomfor companies profiting off the desperation of people. Credit card companies and otherscharging double-digit interest rates need to be stopped. We need to use all our powers atthe federal level to make sure that happens. Banks are continuing to charge interest, leaving people worse off with a mortgage deferral. In fact, they are profiting off of this crisis. The finance Minister I know has spoken with the banks, but clearly speaking nicely hasn’t worked. Banks are regulated expressly by the federal government. The liberal government has to beprepared to use the powers we have to enforce pausing interest, putting a break on that. In fact, what we also need to dois put a pause on mortgages so we can work with provinces to put a pause on rent. This should also apply for commercial rent, which would significantly help out small- and medium-sized businesses. I know in the coming weeks we’regoing to start to talk about what a recovery would look like, how people would get back to work. As we designed this stimulus, I urged the liberal government to not make the same mistakes of the past. Every public dollar that we spend must go to workers, not toc. E.o. S. executive bonuses and share buy-backs, protecting shareholder profits do not sustain or create jobs. [voice of interpreter] we can stimulate the economy and make changes that will transform our country and fight climate change. We can build housing. We can invest in public transit. We can make it easier for Canadians to use renewal energy sources. We can make our houses and buildings as energy efficient aspossible. We can invest in child care services that all families can afford and that gives our children the high-quality education they deserve. [end of translation] I also wantto talk about indigenous communities specifically. Over the last month I’ve spoken with leaders across the country. Indigenous community leaders have expressed grave concerns around the lack of capacity for their communities to deal with acovid-19 outbreak. These are communities as a result of historic and ongoing injustice that are without basicinfrastructure, where washing one’s hands with clean water is not often possible, where overcrowding and the lack of quality housing means physical distancing is also not a reality. Where access to healthcare is severely limited to the point where the nearest ventilator formany communities is a flight away. I know the government has put some money on the table, but I’ve heard two concerns. One, that money is insufficient. Two, many indigenous communitiesare finding it difficult to access that money. Historic neglect and racism has put indigenous lives at greater risk of this virus. We have to do better. Particularly the fact that in the coming weeks many of these communities will face flooding and in the summer they will faceforest fires. We need a clear plan for evacuation of these communities and a clear strategy to make sure these communities have the resources they need to respond to COVID-19. Indigenous lives matter and we need to make sure we’re prepared. Mr. Speaker, I believe in the decisions. Mr. Speaker, I believe the decisions we make in the next weeks and months will be some ofthe most important of our lives, some of the most important that any canadian government has beenfaced with. [voice of interpreter] we believe in solidarity. We believe in helping one another. [end of translation] we hear a lot of people talking about whenwill things return to normal. But I believe we need to do a lot better than normal. Normal is workers not having paid sick leave. Normal is families struggling ona minimum wage. Normal is people who are essential to our health and safety not getting paid enough to live. Normal is a public healthcare system that has been starved of funding. Normal is a society that is neither fair nor resilient. We can’t ever go back to normal. Canadians are showing their compassion. They’re showing their desire to care for one another. We should demand that of our government as well. We should demand that this liberal government embrace thosesame values. Let’s not return to the old normal. Let’s build a new normal where we take better care of each other, where we have a strong social safety net that lifts us all up together. Let’s build a Canada that is fair and resilient. Canadians are counting on us. They’re counting on us to learn from this crisis, to build a better Canada for all of us. Thank you.
The honourable member for saanich-gulf island.
[voice of interpreter] thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to begin by recognizing that we’re on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people. [end of translation] traditionalunceded Algonquin territory. I thank them again for their hospitality and generosity. Meegwetch. I want to say a big thank you. [voice of interpreter] thank you to My colleagues for giving me an opportunity to speak on this very important day because it was through unanimous consent. Thank you very much. [end of translation] it means a lot to me that the green party is recognized in this place and allowed to speak as we gather in these entirely unprecedented times. I was moved by the Prime Minister’s remarks in reminding us of vimy. I hadn’t planned to speak about vimy. I saw My husband who was depressed walking about. He was thinking of his grandfather who was machine-gunned on victimie. His grandfather survived, otherwise I wouldn’t be married to My husband. He survived, got back to British Columbia, and ended up as chief justice of the British Columbia supreme court. But the sacrifices of vimy are not forgotten. The courage and solidarity of previous generations is not forgotten. I’ve thought in recent times that being a boomer and 1954 baby, I’m one of the last of a generation that remembers a timeof the kind of solidarity and sacrifice, not that I lived through the war or the depression, but My parents did. So the family stories become part of who you are. They’re in your bones. The notion that government stepsup, that government is on your side. and I think through years of neo-liberalism we’ve got this idea that government’s in our way, picking our pockets. I’m really relieved that in someways, the solidarity, the socialsolidarity that we will have coming out of this pandemic, will allow us to see, yeah, I’m part of My government. My democracy works for me. I hope that can be a lasting lesson. We are here together in a way that I want to acknowledge with deep gratitude. is parliament working well even when we’re at a distance? I want to thank the Prime Minister, the deputy Prime Minister, and so many different ministers for the openness to hear opposition ideas and concern. If I could share with Canadians what the last couple of weeks have felt like, working from home non-stop, 24/7. a lot of Canadians wouldn’t imagine that every single day 1:30 British Columbia time, 4:30 in ottawa, every day including saturdays and sundays, we have an opportunity to ask anything. Now, in My mind, this is how theideas have been working. It’s quite true that a lot of the things we wanted weren’t in the first bill in bill c-13. Saying it shouldn’t be a 10% wage subsidy but 75%. we made that case and individualexamples came forward. It feels through those question-and-answer sessions daily, not all of us get our questions in. I do pretty well to get our questions out there. But in My head, this is how it’sbeen working. We raise a question. We say something like, what happens right now bishop mcmennyjust contacted me and the anglican church on vancouver island has separate business numbers, but there’s only one employer, so the 30% reduction in revenue compared to some other references doesn’t work atall in this circumstance. Then today I look at the most recent version of the bill. “entity” is now redefined. It covers that specific weird example of the anglican church. There may be others who stumped the finance Canada senior officials on the phone with us every day, but when I see that in the bill, I see, oh, My question was not only a question, but it flagged an issue. This is what I keep hearing fromministers, keep telling us the gaps and sending your questions. These are the eyes and ears on the frontline able to say nothing you’ve got in place right now with all due respect is working for small business. I’m terrified that a lot of small businesses, seasonal businesses, restaurants and so on are going to go under even with the wage subsidy. But then I pick up today’s unanimous consent motion – well, I saw it before coming here – and I’m relieved to see it calls for the government to implement short-term support measures for small- and medium-sized enterprises to be non-refunded reducing the debt-related fixed costs. That’s what I keep hearing from businesses, they can’t afford topay their rent, the wage subsidydoesn’t help them. I’m here not to be just a pollyanna about our circumstances. When we come together as M.P.s and opposition and say look at what’s happening, it doesn’t work, there are too many students and others in the gig economy that are not covered by CERB, what do we do. The measures now say “without delay.” that language suggests not if the government is saying we’ve gotten this perfect, go away. What I’m hearing from Minister after Minister is we’re learningand working as hard as we can. I want to say that I do know that the Minister of global affairs and his parliamentary secretary have been available tome pretty much 24/7 for the 50 or so constituents I’ve worked to get home and I still have a dozen I’m working on. The parliamentary knows very well I have someone stranded in vanuatu. There is a real sense of all hands on deck. I want Canadians to know that. There is a spirit of non-partisanship, we are team Canada and in this together. Nothing exemplifies that for me more than the new-found best relationship between the premierof Ontario and the deputy Prime Minister. This shows stepping up to a circumstance where we’re all at risk. We’re thinking about being surrounded by death. We’re thinking about wearing ourmasks. I’ve got lysol wipes below My desk. We’re constant vigilant. We’re working together as Canadians. This must not be a moment that divides us. We must remember this and work differently in the future. Yes, I want to press for guaranteed livable income. I will keep doing that. Yes, I want to press that we tooin this place and before too long see new climate targets that meet the imperative of a looming disaster far greater than COVID-19, threatens to killmore people and wipe out civilizations. It can’t be postponed. But right now what I want to sayis a deep thank you for the spirit of collaboration. The Prime Minister spoke of the fact that this time of course isa season of many religious observances. It is passover. Happy passover to My jewish friends and family. It is also coming up soon to vasaki and in a few weeks ramadan to My islamic friends. a period of fasting and reflection. I’m finishing lent, a period of fasting and reflection. It speaks to the unprecedented nature of the crisis that we’re in, that as far as I’ve been able to determine from research at home and looking through every bit of constitutional and parliamentary history that I canfind, the parliament of Canada has never sat on easter Saturday. Good Friday, particularly in previous generations, was held sacred. The idea of meeting on easter weekend would have been impossible to imagine, but here we are and why? in about – looking at the clocki think, in about 10 hours it will be dawn in jerusalem and the first morning light of that sunrise will strike the walls ofthe church of the holy sepulcre. It is built on the spot where we’re told the original cave wasof the body of jesus christ wrapped and placed in a tomb, the rock rolled in front of it. Approximately 10 hours from now at dawn will be that remembranceof our stories and traditions and faith. The most important day of a christian calendar, the resurrection of jesus christ. The stone was rolled back and those who loved him, mary and others, thought the body had been stolen and jesus came to them disguised as a guard and said, no, he is risen. In this time we are surrounded by death and worried about our mortality and worried about those we love, we can think about what is important and after this over recognize that, yes, we can survive. We can break the bonds of death. We can have faith in each other. We can invest ourselves in love for each other and our communities. We can remember what really matters. Right now as I watch My grandkids on zoom family chats, what would I give for a hug? I would love to think about our lives as transformed by this in ways that are profound. As we recognize that for the first time in My life governments all around the worldhave decided without a hesitation life is more important than money. We have deliberately and voluntarily shut down our economies to save lives. We have deliberately and voluntarily created for ourselves as lawmakers, it’s policymakers, the challenge of an economic recovery because we didn’t hesitate to know that saving life is more important than money. When this is all over, and, please god, it’s over with a minimum loss of life in Canada and all around the world, particularly worried for those countries that lack basic healthcare. We mustn’t forget our obligations to the poorest of the poor, just as we don’t forget indigenous people in Canada and those who are most marginalized and homeless. When we get through this together, let’s remember that inthis pandemic we discovered whatreally matters.
[voice of interpreter] pursuant to order made earlier today, the house shall now resolve itself into a committee of the whole to consider matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before we begin the debate, I would like to remind honourable members how the proceedings will unfold for the next two hours. [end of translation] order made earlier today, during the proceeding of the committee, no member –
Rosemary:
Okay. This is the end of formal speeches. We heard from of course all of the party leaders inside the house about the wage subsidy legislation and now the house of commons will become what the speaker called there a committee of the whole, when essentially committee work gets done inside the house of commons. There will be a period of some questions and some answers from the government. While we were doing that, I just wanted to say in the bottom right of your screen there, you saw the quÉbec premier, franÇoislegault, not supposed to give a press conference today, but has shown up to give a press conference, where he confirmed that 31 people have died in a long-term care home outside of montreal in the month of March. Five of those are confirmed COVID-19 cases. Here is Andrew Scheer asking hisfirst question in this committeeof the whole.
The deputy Prime Minister told this house that they were already “leading a bulk national procurement effort to ensure Canadians have the necessary medical equipment.” can the Prime Minister please update this house as to how many ventilators he has secured and on what date they will reach Canadian hospitals.