Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Rosemary:
Okay, a brief press conference from the Prime Minister today. He is headed to parliament hill for a noon appearance when the house reconvenes with real people instead of virtually as they did yesterday and as they will do tomorrow. I’m bring in Catherine Cullen and the host of “power & politics” Vassy kapelos. Not a lot of news in the press conference today, other than the snowbirds are headed across the country to entertain us all at various locations. I mean, primarily there today to highlight the student aid package that will be discussed and debated and perhaps even tweaked based on some suggestions the opposition parties might have today. Vassy, I’ll turn to you.
Vassy:
That’s where My questions remain after listening to the Prime Minister’s comments. What he did was reiterate what he did last week around student aid. We know they will get something like or the program is designed to be something like what the CERB is, sort of a chunk of change for the next four months while they are off. Many students, of course, unable to find jobs in order to pay for tuition and other costs they have, like rent coming up in thefall. But they’ll get a smaller amount. It’s $1, 250 a month or that increases to $1750, I believe itis, if you have a dependent, so a child for example, or if you are a student with a disability. There is some criticism from both opposition parties, the conservatives and the NDP around what they would like to see in the legislation. The conservatives, for example, have said that they want to see more incentives built into the legislative framework for students to work, and the NDP has really focused on the idea that if you are a student with skid or with a disability, why should you still be earning less than somebody who can access thecerb? so the big question I have is to what degree are those criticisms reflected in whatever the liberals and the government introduces into parliament today in the legislation? will this be reflected in the legislation? will they have made changes to it? will those incentives, for example, be in there? a number of student groups don’tlike that. Also a criticism around international students. They are not part of this to anydegree. There are some allowances for them to work more under the current construct, but nothing for them to be covered in this instance, and many of them are stuck in Canada at this moment. and will, ultimately, the legislation be broadened at all for students with dependents or who have a disability, will they be able to access more money? none of those answers really forthcoming from the Prime Minister today, so I guess we’llhave to wait and see in a little while when that legislation is introduced, but certainly the process so far has been the opposition parties get it on theweekend. They send in their criticism, they work with the government and then what results in the en dis sort of an amended piece of legislation to what degree we just don’t know at this point.
Rosemary:
and we haven’t see nit at this stage, and I’m not sure that they’ve even settled on what the final version will be.
Vassy:
Exactly.
Rosemary:
We’ll figure out more at noon what’s going on there. I would point out to the conservatives’ claim that they want more incentives for work, think one of the problems is there’s not a lot of work out there. We know there is some essential front-line work that might be available, whether it’s helping in long-term care centres or farming or those kinds of things. It’s not clear how many jobs will be there for students. The other thing that there was alot of questions about that interested me a lot is the federal-provincial guidelines. There are a set of guidelines. I tweeted out this sort of sevencriteria this morning. They seem very specific, but they can also be very much interpreted by each province, and then the province can make adecision based on what’s happening inside their own province. I guess one of the concerns right now is what’s happening, what’s unfolding in Quebec, eventhe Quebec public health officeryesterday, catherine, said that the plan to reopen businesses by the end of may, a lot of businesses, is high risk. a risky bet. I don’t know how reassuring thatis to people inside Quebec or whether there’s anything more that will be done to sort of mitigate the idea that we are betting on public health.
I mean, I thought the very first question to the Prime Minister was an interesting one, rosemary. Perhaps the question in some ways more interesting than the answer because we didn’t get a lot of new information from the Prime Minister. But this question of, okay, these guidelines have been set forth. Why not have specific targets that the provinces, the territories and the federal government agree to? the Prime Minister was asked about this in a couple of different ways today and really put the emphasis on the fact that this is – these are not federal guidelines. These are guidelines that the various parties agreed to. He talked about the importance of collaboration, you know, that he feels all provinces are beingprudent. But particularly in the case of Quebec, both with going back to school and reopening the economy, the suggestion from both the premier and health officials there is that part of the figures that they are looking at that allows them to think that they can start to go down this road of reopening, and we should say they are doing it gradually, they say they are going to watch the numbers for the next couple of weeks before they move forward on this, but the premier has talked about a stabilization in the death rate outside of long-term care homes, and I think there are some serious questions about whether or not that is indeed the right marker here. and should there be specific markers set forth in terms of numbers? it’s very true that when you talk about the outbreak across the country, it’s something you hear time and time again, that there are different pictures in each province and territories, and even then within the province and territory. I mean, we talk about New Brunswick, for instance, who’s one of the first provinces to lay out its reopening plan, and perhaps that had people across the country particularly anxiousas they see Saskatchewan and newbrunswick. As of yesterday, New Brunswick had no new cases for ten days, so a dramatically different situation than what we’re talking about, for instance, in terms of Quebec. But the Prime Minister today really not – certainly not offering anything in terms of criticism and really putting theemphasis on collaboration and working together. I also thought it was interesting what he didn’t say, rosemary, when he was asked about whether or not he would still provide the same assurances that the food supply is secure. He said last week there will be enough meat but you might see prices go up. I would want to be careful aboutreading into his answer. It’s not clear that he’s saying, well, I can’t say the food supply is still secure, but he certainly didn’t go that far. He said it’s unprecedented. It’s a priority for us and something we are watching carefully.
Rosemary:
I guess the concern inside the plants is the health and safety of the workers who are in very confined places and not necessarily the food, but obviously the question was asked because Donald trump yesterday was suggesting that these meat plants in the United States will have to stay open. Vassy, I’ll get you to weigh in on the federal-provincial guidelines. I get this was a collaborative effort, they all signed off on this, there are jurisdictional issues at play, and much to catherine’s point, it would be hard to set targets given the state of the virus across the country. That might not make sense. I mean, they have said things like we need to see a decrease in cases, we need to see that there’s more testing, there’s more ability to trace cases. But still, it does make you wonder what happens if a province does something that other provinces or the federal government is uncomfortable with, knowing – I talked to Mr. Skeet yesterday, that they might change their mind on things.
Vassy:
Yeah, I think the bottom line is this question is being asked of the federal government about their guidelines because there is a province right now that is an outlier, and Catherine outlined it. You have New Brunswick and other provinces like Saskatchewan or Manitoba or even British Columbia, which have a far lower caseload of COVID-19, lower number of deaths, fewer number of deaths, and they are proceeding with more caution. They are not saying go back to school in two weeks. They are not reopening major sectors of the economy in three weeks, and so the question then to the federal government becomes: what are you going to do about it? or are you going to do something about it? and I think it really highlights some major jurisdictional issues right now, and I’ll – I think the health Minister has gone further than the Prime Minister, or where the Prime Minister wouldn’t. She was explicit last night, we will not intervene. and I think that the guidelines are part of the conversation because if the federal government sets out, okay, here’s the baseline of where you have to be before, for example, kids can go back to school, well, then, if you don’t meet that baseline, the expectation think of Canadians would be, well, the federal government’s going to say something to Quebec. The federal government does not have any intention of doing that, and I think in two weeks that will be a very real, live, active issue. So it’s fine to say, and it’s understandable, given jurisdictional issues, that this is Quebec’s ball game. This is premier franÇois legault’s decision to make, but if in fact in two weeks the number of cases is still above 700 in Quebec, if in fact – and understand the argument being put forth about long-term care versus the rest of society, but lots of people in the rest of society work in long-term care homes, and if in fact the numberof deaths, for example, is stillwhere it is right now and you don’t see a decrease in the number of cases and Quebec says we’re still going ahead, well, what does the federal governmentdo then? is there intention not to intervene or not to say anythingor not to hold back any kind of, I don’t know, funding? I’m not sure what. If it is, I mean, that’s what they’re indicating right now, and I think it becomes sort of less theoretical and more practical, and you know, in a few weeks, when that decision isso present for so many quebecers. and I should also point out, to be fair to Quebec, it’s voluntary. You don’t have to go back to school. For the kids. For the teachers and staff who have expressed concerns about not having adequate ppe, for example, it is not a choice.
Rosy, if I could quickly jump in and point out, further to Vassy’s point, though, just how poorly it would be received in so much of Quebec if indeed the federal government were to sort of flex their muscles in all of this. I think that’s probably true of any province, but when it comes to Quebec, in particular the idea of the federal government sort of reaching its hand in would probably not be very well received. That would, of course, depend on the particular dynamics of the situation, though.
Rosemary:
Yeah, I think that – I think you’re right to point that out, and the Prime Minister would be, as someone from Quebec, an mp from Quebec, very sensitive to the fact that any even appearance of intervention would not fly particularly – well, with any premier, and particularly with franÇois legault. and I will just say, it’s not even clear, as we’ve all talked about, what could be done, other than maybe some strong language, which would already be enough to probably irritate a lot of quebecers who have a different view, I think, of protection of their jurisdiction probably than many provinces, so maybe I’m being overly sensitive to quebechere too. Okay, I’m going to put you both on hold for a couple minutes, if you don’t mind. We have finished a little bit earlier with the Prime Minister because parliament is returning today. The house of commons in a reduced capacity, but people there in person, Prime Minister making his way there. Andrew Scheer, jag meet Singh andothers, to discuss this legislative aid package for students. $9 billion that will – the government hopes – be passed quickly in order to try and get that out to students quickly. But as we wait for that to happen at 12, there are a couple of other things happening in the country right now. We talked about economies reopening, Manitoba, My home province, going to announce details of that, and we’ll get to that story as well. One of the initiatives that Ottawa announced recently, I believe it was just last week, was a lot more money for vaccines, for scientific research, to try and better understand just what we’re dealing with, and Mona nimar is Canada’s chief science advisor and now a member of the task force. Good to see you again.
Hello.
Rosemary:
Thank you for making the time. So there has been a lot of discuss over the past even five days about immunity, herd immunity, do we have it, can we get it. What are you hoping to better understand around the issue of immunity that you don’t understand now? I would imagine we really don’t understand anything right now, but you tell me.
Well, you know, indeed we don’t understand much about the immune response to this new virus, so it’s very important to be doing both basic research into the immune response to the virus, but also to understand the percentage of the population that has been exposed to the virus. Right now we were testing only people who were showing symptoms, so we don’t really know how many people have actual symptoms and have been infected. and why this is important, number one, it gives us a better idea of the infection rate of the virus. and the second one is, you know, just in terms of immunity to thevirus, there are two ways that you can get it. One is through vaccination, and the other is through natural immunity, that is you were infected, your body has developed the mechanism to fight the virus and has succeeded in overcoming it, which means that there are antibodies in your blood that we can detect. This, of course, does not guarantee that you will not get reinfected again and that the response – you will not have symptoms, but generally speaking, and that’s the basis of vaccination, the response will be milder in general. Now how long will this immunity last, that’s another very important question that we need to tackle as well.
Rosemary:
and so the idea that we would make public health decisions around herd immunity, that the fact that we would, youknow, try to grow our immunity strength sort of naturally, that has been something that Dr. Tam over the weekend said is not a concept she supports right now. What are your views on using that as a public health concept even?
I think we have to be very careful precisely because we don’t yet understand who are the people who are most vulnerable to the disease. Let’s remember, 80% of people who are infected actually do well, don’t need hospitalization and don’t need any ventilation or anything like that. However, we still don’t know exactly if there are more vulnerable populations, more vulnerable communities. So sending people out there and saying go get, you know, infected because you’ll develop immunity is actually very risky. Now if things happen, you know, sort of naturally in the context of distancing, in the context ofyou’re going shopping, going about decreasing the number of interactions so that we don’t overwhelm the health care system, so that we can actually detect very quickly those who are infected and also trace their contacts and isolate them, I. E., can we manage new infections, that’s another story.
Rosemary:
The serological testing, the blood testing that would be I think hugely useful as we try to understand the immunity part of this, that is not, to My understanding, something that we are even able to do. We are not necessarily confident in those tests at this stage. is that of concern to you as you take on this new task force?
I mean, for sure you have to be careful about what you’re measuring, so the tests have to be validated and making sure that we don’t get false positive, false negative, ET cetera. There are several tests on the market that, you know, provide different levels of confidence. They are not all good. I think that if we are to certify people, whether individually you are, you know, positive or negative, we have to be extra, extra cautious. We need virtually 99% specificity and confidence. But if we’re looking at a general sort of understanding of how many – what’s the percentage of people that have been infected, I think we can afford, say, 95% specificity on the basis that with the large numbers the false positive, the false negative may cancel themselves out. But when you start, you know, giving, like, immunity passports, then you better be very, very careful about, you know, what you’re certifying.
Rosemary:
Right. I just want to ask you a little bit about the listing, the easing of some public health restrictions in different places in the country, and you know, we heard the Prime Minister there saying everyone is in charge of their own jurisdiction, everyone is making their own decisions based on what is happening inside their province. The notion that we would send children back to school first, this is something that Quebec isdoing, and it is, as Vassy was saying there, a bit of an outlier in terms of that approach. Children, as we know, are not getting the virus at a very highrate, and they are certainly not getting very severe symptoms, broadly speaking. Do you think that that is a safe risk for a province to take, that children should be safe enough sent back into society without the same kind of restrictions that the rest of us are living under?
Interview:
Look, in an ideal world we would have already tested for the presence of the virus and the presence of immunity in children to really better understand whether they are or not a vector, how they are getting infected, how they are developing resistance to thesymptoms, ET cetera. Unfortunately with the situation of everybody in the world just fighting over scarce resources for testing, we haven’t been able to do this yet, but these are some of the studies that the immunity task force will certainly be – you know, doing and getting the results from. So it’s a matter of, you know, calculated risk and tolerance for risk in different places in the country. Look, the reality is we’re unlikely to have a vaccine by September, so the question is, you know, how long are children going to stay home. Are we gonna be home next September. So I guess these are the kind of calculated risks that different provinces are taking, and I think the most important thing is to be prepared to test very – you know, more people and also to reverse measures if you see that the situation is worsening.
Rosemary:
As we saw – this will be My last question for you. As we saw the modelling yesterday from Dr. Tam, it did show a lot of encouragement for the population, broadly speaking, but that there were still these really serious and severe problems within long-termcare and within places where there are people living together, congregate living situations. and that 79% of the deaths in this country are related to long-term care. What worries you the most about that situation, knowing that thecurve is sort of being flattenedoutside of those situations.
Well, first of all it is a most unfortunate situation that, you know, we didn’t predict, and what worries me is the fact that we have people going and working into these long-term care homes, and they are going back in society and they are going back home. So I think that we definitely need to ramp up our testing massively. I think in those settings we need to be able to do regular and ideally every day testing torapidly determine who is infected and really care for them and for their families.
Rosemary:
Okay, Mona nemer, thank you. It’s always good to get your brain and your perspective on all of this. We do appreciate it very much.
Thank you very much, rosy.
Rosemary:
That’s Canada’s chief science advisor, Mona ne’er in Ottawa. Very good to talk about a scientist about this stuff that is complicated for us to comprehend and get a better understanding of the parts of this that really need to be figured out in order for these restrictions to start to be eased across the country, whether it be in the weeks ahead or in the months ahead. As you heard there, a vaccine still a long ways off. Manitoba is a province today that is going to release some of its plan to reopen the provincial economy today. Public health officials say that they will also, as other provinces in this country, be taking a, quote, cautious approach. The cbc’s ken Macintosh joins me from Winnipeg. So, cam, we know that all the provinces and the federal government have agreed on these sort of broad guidelines. Do we have a sense of how Manitoba’s going to tackle this? because Manitoba has been doing okay, all things considered.
Reporter:
Yeah, the caseload here has been quite low, only 272 cases overall. The vast majority of those case shave recovered. We’ve only had six deaths, keeping in mind we’re talking about people’s lives here, but when you look at the data, the numbers, the numbers have been encouraging, and there have been some factors that have played into that, geography and timing mostly. Expect what happens here in Manitoba to be methodical, slow, deliberate and quite likely veryfluid. This won’t be a risky bet. Premier pallister has always been talking about lives over livelihoods, but you know, recognizing there’s a need to balance both. So what we’ll likely hear from the province today is a plan that will get some services going again. We’ve been hearing from, say, like, the hair industry that they expect to be going again inmid-may. We’ll see some of those servicesthat people depend on start to reopen, keeping in mind we haven’t gone as far in our closures as some other provinceshave already. Some industries, like the construction industry, are stillgoing here in Manitoba. So we’ll see this kind of methodical rollout. I don’t know if we’ll see any real solid dates attached, otherthan kind of a beginning date. What they’ll do here is they’ll look at the data. The chief medical health officerhere has been very big on talking about a seven-day average, seeing how many people present with symptoms and basingtheir decisions on that. and I expect that we’ll hear from the premier today that, youknow, once things reopen, they may not be open definitely, thatthey will reserve the right to close things again should they see the numbers start to move ina negative position. The other thing I would look forhere today is a decision on schools. Last week the premier kind of said off the cuff that, you know, schools are done for the year. The chief medical health officeropened the door a little bit earlier this week saying that perhaps elementary schools couldcome back at some point. So looking for something definitive there today.
Rosemary:
You know, I’ve seen – Winnipeg is one of the places where they quickly adapted some streets, closing streets to allow people to have more physical distancing when they got outside. is there a sense that that kind of stuff will happen quickly too, letting people back into parks, letting them go back to the forks where you are. I can see in the background. Letting them outside and getting into outside environments more?
Reporter:
Yeah, I think there’s definitely a push towards that, keeping in mind people there’s been an issue to get things going here again. I don’t think we’re going to see playgrounds reopened. There’s some question about whether campgrounds might be reopened on some sort of maybe limited capacity or, you know, without public amenities in them. We could see that. Premier’s been very clear that large events, like festivals, sporting events, are going to Bethe very last thing. So I don’t think anyone should be expecting to go to a CF game this summer. All the major festivals and events for the summer have been largely cancelled or delayed anyhow. But yeah, just getting people out on the streets, getting people into common areas. We may see those restrictions loosened up. Right now we’re on a restriction of groups of 10 or less. We may see that opened up a bit, and once we start seeing that opened up, we could see things like restaurants maybe come back on a limited capacity, that sort of thing. But you know, definitely the approach here in Manitoba will be slow and it will be methodical.
Rosemary:
Okay, cam macintoshin My home town of Winnipeg today. Thanks for that, cam. Appreciate it very much. Manitoba, just another province today that will give some more details on how it will do this. As you heard there from cam, the caseload very, very different than you would see in Quebec, Ontario, and even indeed in Alberta because of some large outbreaks happening in meat packing plants and other places there. We do know that all of the provinces have agreed to sort of watch how things unfold over periods of about two to four weeks because we believe two weeks is sort of the incubation period for the virus. So that would give provinces a sense of how things are going as they continue to ease back on restrictions. But what everyone will tell you, certainly what Dr. Tam was telling me in an interview I did with her over the weekend, is none of this is going to go back to any sort of normalcy that you might imagine. There will have to be a lot of adaption in the way you’re living, working and travelling. Just because cam mentioned it there, and because the Prime Minister was asked about it, the issue around the cfl, the Canadian football league. They have, actually, made a request for some financial aid, $150 million, because they, a, don’t believe they’re going to be able to start their season ontime. If they do start their season, won’t be able to have audience at the stadiums, and they are looking for some support. The Prime Minister did say there are discussions with different parties, different issues like this, so he didn’t shut it down entirely, but it certainly is something that is for discussion, and I would imagine there will be other businesses and sporting events like this that would be looking for support. and I guess the question is, if you crack the door open, how much do you have to give to everyone else. Just update you that we are standing by for – there is a regular noon press conference today, but it will only be public health officials who will be in attendance there. Instead at noon we will see the vast majorities of ministers andmps who might be in town inside the house of commons for a virtual sitting on the government’s COVID-19 plan. Today the focus primarily on that legislation to try to get $9 billion of various kinds of aid to students across this country. Now as we’ve been talking about through the past hour, there is a lot of different things happening inside Quebec. Schools, yes, but also an announcement yesterday that some businesses are gonna gradually reopen in May as well. Debby Donnell plans to open up her two shops if she can, but she does have concerns about keeping her customers and employees safe. Good to see you, Debbie.
Good to see you, rosy. Thanks for inviting me.
Rosemary:
Yeah, a pleasure. So you own lingerie stores, so not necessarily essential businesses at this stage. and I guess you’ve been working with on-line shopping. How has it affected your business, the pandemic so far?
Interview:
Well, obviously, you know, we went from being a flourishing business with two boutiques, bra-fitting boutiques, about a month and a half ago to literally being closed. So there was a lot of scrambling. There’s obviously – obviously there was concern about the safety and security of customersand clients, so we made the decision before the government mandated it to close because of the type of business we offer where we’re in very close proximity to clients. We didn’t feel we could really manage the social distancing aspect at that time. There was so much still unknown a month and a half ago. and so we closed our stores, andthen went into panic mode of, well, we’ve cut off all of our revenue, we still have all theseexpenses. At that point the April rent wasdue, we had all kinds of still government bills, deductions at source, we had lots of expenses, and no revenue. So My husband, My daughter and manager of one of My stores and myself all worked together to get an on-line store up and running in about three weeks, which normally takes three months.
Rosemary:
Wow.
Interview:
So we all worked really hard on it. It was a family collective effort, and we started the on-line store which is always –I’ve always been reticent to do because bra-fitting is a very personalized experience, and we specialize in many different sizes, so we literally normally assign a bra fit specialist to fit a client one on one, and so when we couldn’t do that, doing it on-line is a little bit different. So in the last – since the lastmonth, I guess, we have had the on-line store running. It is a big adapt – it takes a lot for myself and our clients to adapt to. They have been great. We have been getting some orders. It’s definitely not enough to pay the rent, but it’s definitely helping somewhat. It made me feel like I could do something and respect all the measures in place.
Rosemary:
So you did have eight workers too, if I’m not mistaken, and I guess you’ve had to lay them off because if you – I wouldn’t imagine you’d be able to cover their salaries and rent and anything else.
No. I wish. At the time, again, you know, so much has changed in the last month and a half, I kept My staff on for about three weeks, paying them a little bit of a reduced salary, just to be able to wait and see what was happening. At the time the CERB wasn’t evenofficial. So after about three weeks, I felt comfortable that at least there was something in place for them to support them, even though I couldn’t, you know?
Rosemary:
and what about the rent situation and just keeping the actual physical properties going? I know there’s a little bit of credit that’s been offered from the government. How have you been dealing with that part of it?
Interview:
Well, that was just announced Friday, and it sounded great at the time. All of My friends called me up and said rent subsidy, just what you were hoping for. The problem is the devil’s always in the details in these situations, and when the more information came out over the weekend about it, it turns out that it’s really the landlord has to agree to participate in the program and then take a cut of 25%, and so My communications with My two landlords this week, they have been flexible about pushing rent payments, but they are not sure they are going to participate in the program, for various reasons. There’s not enough details out yet, but May 1 is two days away.
Rosemary:
Yeah.
Interview:
So there’s a lot of stress. There’s a lot of trying to move money around that we don’t necessarily have. There’s a lot of loaning personally, you know, into the business, just try to keep it afloat.
Rosemary:
So tell me how you feel, then, about the notion that you may be able to open up in some capacity in a few weeks’ time? does that – what concerns do you have around that?
Interview:
I have a lot of concerns about the safety and security, as I did before, of our clients and My employees. You know, I have two boutiques. They are both set up very differently, physically with space. So I have been thinking about it since the announcement, you know, can we still again offer the services – well, we won’t be able to offer services the way we have been offering it because we can’t get within that six feet distance with clients. But maybe there’s a way we can offer some of those services, slightly differently, and maybe we have to restructure the layout of one of our stores I think we would be able to accommodate. So I really think it’s a – for me personally, there’s a lot of anxiety too about Poe and cleaning products. Like, I haven’t been able to find cleaning products in the last month and a half, two months. So to be able to – and I have found a few things, but to be able to do it and clean regularly to the degree I think it needs to be done, I’m not sure. So I’m not – I’m not – and I’m – at the same time, I’m also not sure about how the clients are going to react and will they come to the store. You know, our revenue is not all of a sudden going to be, boom, back to the way it was, so I have to be very cautious about the expenses that I currently have and how – with, again, limited revenue and how that’s all going to tie together. So a lot of things to think about.
Rosemary:
You’re sort of in Avery micro way living with what governments are dealing with, right? like the economic pressures that you are not going to be able to sustain and then trying to make sure everybody is protected and going to be healthy. Do you think that it’s happening too quickly in Quebec or do you think that this is the right timeline? what’s your view?
Interview:
I don’t know. It’s really hard to say. I mean, I’m a bit nervous based on where Quebec lies in comparison with the rest of the country and the rest of the world in terms of our curve versus, you know, opening at this stage. Obviously we’re not a school. We are dealing with adults, so think it’s easier to kind of control the flow of people in and out of the store, limit the number of people that can be in at one time. Maybe even ask them, which I mean – possibility, to wear a mask. But it’s very different in this environment in My store than it would be, I would think, in a school or a daycare. So yeah, I’m concerned. I’m not guaranteed that I will open, definitely both My stores on the 11th. I’m going to have to do an assessment, talk to My staff. Again, measure things out and see if we think we can do anything, and then – even then, like I said, it will depend on if people come in.
Rosemary:
Okay, Debbie, you represent a lot of voices in the country right now, and you know, it is – it’s very, very hard what everybody is going through, so I wish you lots of luck and if you do reopen, I hope it goesokay. Thanks so much.
Thanks, rosy.
Rosemary:
That’s Debbie donnele. She is in Montreal. All right, a we wind down here our coverage on CBC television and await the return of the house of commons at the top of the hour, let’s bring back vassykapelos and Catherine Cullen. Wanted to get some different perspectives on there. I thought it was super interesting to talk to Debbie. All sorts of things I haven’t thought about, in terms of the spacing out of a business. I thought about that for restaurants but not really for boutiques. Even that, the timeline that is there for those businesses in Quebec, is very fast if you have to readjust how your business is going to work and make sure you have cleaning supplies and Poe to equip yourself and your staff. That all seems very challenging to me in that timeline, but maybe I’m wrong. Vassy?
Vassy:
Yeah, it’s fast. The timeline is interesting, but it underscores for me what I think so many business owners in this country are facing. While they are in the most acutely painful part of this crisis right now, having to have shut down, it’s not like it’s going be painless after that. The process of reopening and even if your business is open is not an easy one, and even the idea that you’ll have to limit the number of customers in, the questions around will people feel comfortable – I think that’s a bigger societal question too. Will people feel like they can go to restaurants when they are open? do they want to go shopping in person? are they feeling comfortable and safe if they do so? all of that is going to impact at the end of the day not just our health and our safety but the bottom line, the amount of revenue these companies can generate. and I think that right now we are still understandably focused on – and the government is focused on sort of bridging the gap between the point in the beginning of March or the middle of March and probably the beginning of the summer, let’s say, in most places across the country. But what happens after that is not going to be easy, and I think even something else that Debbie hit on around commercial rent, the program that the government announced last week, I’m hearing from so many people who have landlords who are unsure if they want to participate. The program working predicated on their participation, and there’s not a huge amount of incentive for landlords to do so because they are having to agree to take a hit when it comes to the rent, and so I think that’s something to keep our eye on as well.
Rosemary:
Yeah, and that’s such an interesting point about what people are gonna be prepared for mentally. We’ve all been in this state now of sort of a deep freeze at home and not being allowed to be close to people. We know that it’s working. We’ve seen that from – certainly from the numbers yesterday, and then how do you go around and say, okay, you can start to ease back. How willing will people be to dothat? Catherine, I’ll get you to weigh in here. When they maybe are frightened, legitimately, or have concerns around how this is going to go.
and I think that’s a very legitimate point, something we’ve been talking about a lot and reflected by some public opinions here. It’s interesting to talk about the other side of the equation, rosemary, when Saskatchewan put forward its plan for reopening we had some reporting by our colleagues in that province saying that the Saskatchewan plan, a lot of that reopening, still several days out, May 4 I believe was the first deadline, but that they were already seeing people in the streets that weekend. People were reporting that their neighbours were starting to congregate. La presser has a story today in Montreal talking about parents who are starting to let their children play together right now because there’s talk of schools reopening despite the fact that public health officials say it’snot something you should do. I think it highlights the range of reactions to this. You also raised personal protective equipment. That’s going to be a really big question. I was talking to a doctor who performs medically assisted deaths saying that she couldn’t get gowns right now, right? so doctors who can’t get equipment, and then you wonder about businesses like the one we just heard from that are looking for that kind of thing.
Rosemary:
Yeah, okay, thank you both for your help with the coverage. I appreciate it very much. We are standing by at this hour to bring you inside the house of commons and for a briefing of public health officials. The focus here in Ottawa today on trying to get that legislation for students passed very quickly. We will leave you here on CBC television. You can now watch on CBC news network”, CBC. Ca. ♪
Rosemary:
Hi again. I’m rosemary Barton here in Ottawa. Thank you for joining us here on”cbc news network”, our cbc newsapp and cbc. Ca. Here are some of your top stories this hour as we continueto track the pandemic in this country. Ottawa is trying to expand support for young people during the pandemic, for students. The Prime Minister just talking about the federal government’s plans to provide, for instance, grants of up to $5, 000 for students who volunteer in any way for help in containing the pandemic, an overall package of $9 billion, really targeted towards students, whether it be their own emergency assistance benefit, which is less than the CERB but still a certain amount of money for students, or other things that they can use to try to sustain themselves until the next school year and beyond. The house of commons is going todebate that aid package. It was unveiled just last week. There are already some concerns from opposition parties who weregiven the draft legislation overthe weekend. Andrew Scheer pushing for changes, including, he says, a need for incentives for young people to get jobs rather than collect the emergency benefit. Of course the problem with that is there aren’t really a lot of jobs right now, as anyone who isunemployed right now certainly knows, and that would be the case, of course, for students. The Prime Minister also revealedon maybe a little happier note today that the canadian forces snowbirds will salute Canadians doing their part in the fight against COVID-19, and we all know we’re doing our part in some way. They are going to fly across thecountry beginning in nova scotiathis weekend. I imagine we’ll get updates on when they might be in your sky, something to look forward to, perhaps. In today’s daily briefing on thecovid-19 pandemic, trudeau was also asked about Canada’s meat supply because there have been anumber of outbreaks in Alberta. There was one of the poultry plant in British Columbia and other places. a large number of cases where workers have been hit with the pandemic, and lots of questions around whether that is going to lead to food security problems in this country. The Prime Minister specifically asked whether he would follow the lead of the United States and order meat processing plantsto remain open in order to make sure there is enough supply in the chain. Here’s what the Prime Minister said about that.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
We understand how important it is to ensure the supply of food to Canadians right across the country. We are watching with interest and concern some of the issues some of the issues facing meat producers and the supply chain across the agricultural industry. We need to make sure that those supply chains can keep functioning, but we also need to make sure the people who work in those supply chains and will continue to need to work in difficult circumstances over the coming weeks and months as we continue to battle COVID-19 are kept safe. The priority for us is both things: keeping people safe and ensuring a good supply of food to Canadians. We will make sure we’re doing them both together.
Rosemary:
Okay, and we will show you now inside the house ofcommons. That is the speaker of the house, Anthony roda, there on your left, not appearing on a zoom screen, as he did yesterday, but actually inside the chamber where the leaders and the Prime Minister will be shortly taking questions and talking about that legislation the government hopes will get passed quickly for student aid. On the right of your screen is where our noon briefing, our daily briefing, happens from cabinet ministers and officials, public health officials on the federal level about the state of the pandemic in this country. We are expecting that to just Bethe chief public health officer and her deputy today. Ministers will be inside the house of commons doing their legislative and parliamentary work today. I will cut away to the house as soon as I see it start to get real exciting. Right now they are just presenting petitions. Dr. Tam, I see, has entered the room there. Maybe I’ll just bring in quickly my Ottawa colleague, cbc’s Catherine Cullen, the host of “power & politics”, Vassy kapelos. I don’t know that we know any more about how quickly this legislation will happen, Vassy, and forgive me for putting you on the spot, but I would imagine we have seen that every time legislation is tabled there are, you know, things that are amended by the opposition parties, and sometimes it doesn’t go necessarily as quickly as the government might like.
Vassy:
Yeah, it’s kind of gonna depend on how much agreement the government was able to get from the opposition parties by making changes to thelegislation. The process that it’s kind of gone through in previous iterations, I’m thinking, for example, of the CERB or the wage subsidy legislation, two separate pieces of legislation, is the government gives that in advance to the opposition parties. They comb through it. They come up with some proposals for it, and then there’s this sort of set of negotiations that takes place and the government decides or works with opposition parties to sort of reflect those criticisms or those changes that the opposition parties were hoping for in the legislation TA certain degree. What we don’t know – and then it’s sort of adopted. Then everybody offers their support for it. That is a multi-day process. What we don’t know at this pointis have they arrived at some kind of agreement. Are there changes to the original bill that will be reflected in what is introduced in the house of commons today, and if that, in fact, is the case, will that then mean that opposition parties support the product that’s put forth and everything gets passed and it goes right ahead? all of those are question marks right now and there are a numberof potential stumbling blocks ifthe legislation isn’t to the liking of the opposition partiesthat could delay the passage of it as well.
Rosemary:
Let me check with where we are at. Dr. Tam probably talking at thispoint. Should we go there as we wait for the house of commons, for things to unfold there? yes, let’s do that. There is the chief public health officer Dr. Theresa tam. We will pull away from this as far as activity gets going in the house of commons.
Dr. Theresa Tam:
Some areas are seeing very few or no recent cases and have started their gradual social and economic reopening. At the same time, all areas of the country know that there is still a need for key public health practices, like physical distancing when we are out or in the workplace and good hand washing always. The ability to maintain these preventive practices is an important part of reopening plans for workplaces, schools and businesses. Critical public health capacity that must be in place and maintained across Canada is necessary to ensure adequate testing, to protect, alerts and respond quickly to any new disease activity. Local, provincial and territorial level plans for reopening are key to managing this next phase. These plans are based on public health criteria and balance the effectiveness of public health measures against their potential negative consequences. Likewise, these measures will need to remain flexible and adaptable to alerts and signals. Although we will be living with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future, we also know that together we can keep this virus at bay by remaining vigilant. Our collective efforts have already slowed the growth of COVID-19, bent the curve, and enabled our health system to cope. These are no small feats and they tell us we will get throughthis. Thank you. Merci. [ speaking french ] [ voice of interpreter ].
Dr. Howard Njoo:
Good afternoon. As usual, I will start with the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada. Today there are now 50, 373 confirmed cases, including 2, 904deaths. To date, labs across Canada have tested over 758, 000 people for COVID-19 with about 7% of these testing positive. Yesterday we had an update on the progress that Canadians have made in flattening the curve of COVID-19. We also looked at some of the short-term predictions from our real data forecasting models. Things are looking better, but we are not entirely out of the woods yet. We have to remain mindful that our projections are only as reliable as our actions, now andgoing forward. If we maintain measures that keep the growth rate down and prevent a rebound, we stand the best chance of remaining on thisfavourable trajectory. With these promising signs, we are increasingly hearing of reopening plans. [ end of interpretation ].
Rosemary:
We are going inside the house of commons. Leader of the official opposition Andrew Scheer is asking a question. Let’s listen in live right now.
– because of the extra revenue of companies that they have acquired. There are over 3, 000 people who work for brant, including 600 people who work for the company that they acquired, who are all facing layoffs if brandt cannot be eligible for the same wage subsidy that has been made available to other employers. This is a technicality. There are suggestions that have been made to the federal government to allow for companies in the same situation to access this program. I did ask the Prime Minister about this a week ago. I wonder if he can give me an update as to whether or not these types of criteria will be broadened to allow for more workers to stay on the job.
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
Thankyou, Mr. Speaker. We move forward quickly with measures to help as many Canadians as possible, workers who want to remain on the payroll with the Canada wage city, also people who have lost their paycheque with the Canada emergency response benefit. We moved quickly on strong measures that would hit as many people as possible, but we recognize that there are gaps. That’s why we brought in modifications in conversations with the other parties to adjust the period of time with which people could apply, for their applications to the CERB or to the wage subsidy. We are also going to move forward on other measures as they come up. I will continue to look into the issue that the honourable member has brought up in regards to the company in his riding.
Mr. Scheer.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do look forward to an update very quickly as it is the end ofapril. Worksers’ jobs hang in the balance. Mr. Speaker, province’s plans to ease health restrictions are dependent on their ability to dramatically ramp up testing. Private companies have already created rapid blood tests that can provide results in under 20 minutes. These tests have been approved for use in Europe, Asia and in the United States, but in Canada they arestill, quote, under review. Will the Prime Minister commit to fast tracking the approvals process so that provinces have access to the tests that they need?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, we are doing everything we can to ensure a fast made-in-Canada response. Thousands of canadian businesseshave applied to produce innovative medical equipment, including new test kits. As of yesterday, health Canada issued 113 new licenses for medical devices, including 15 additional test kits. Additional resources have been allocated to accelerate approvals, including recognizingor taking into account where approvals have been made elsewhere, but we will not compromise canadian sovereignty or canadian safety.
Mr. Scheer.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. In March the Minister of health signed an interim order to allow health Canada to consider exactly that. Other country’s approvals of medical products. Recent reports indicate, however, that there are over 50 companies who are waiting for approvals to distribute test kits. So has health Canada issued any approvals under this interim order?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
As ofyesterday, health Canada has approved 15 additional testing kits. We recognize how important testing is for the long-term reopening of the economy, and we need to make sure that we have that capacity right across the country. I salute the innovative canadianbusinesses that have moved forward on solutions and look forward very much to seeing themcome into place, but we cannot compromise canadian safety. We have seen what happens elsewhere around the world when faulty test kits were relied upon. We need to make sure Canadians were safe.
We are, of course, talking about an interim order that specifically allows health Canada to look at other approvals granted by other organizations, like the europeanunion. So surely the Prime Minister would acknowledge that the EU standards and the EU certification standards, when they are Canadian companies manufacturing those test kits. Obviously we are not talking about choosing between speed andeffectiveness. Other countries have been able to impose and implement a fast track system. Canada should be as well. But Mr. Speaker, in 2018, a federal government document on pandemic planning advised that Canada’s approach to dealing with pandemics should not be to follow the lead of the W.H.O. But to make decisions based on canadian expertise and intelligence. Can the Prime Minister explain why his government ignored that report.
The right honourable Prime Minister, in 30 seconds or less, please.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
First of all, Mr. Speaker, in regards to the first half of this question, we recognize how important it is to approve as reliable testing quickly, but for made-in-Canada tests, it is unlikely that they got eu approval ER United States approval beforecanadian approval. We’re going through all the steps necessary for those canadian innovators as quickly as possible. and in regards to our approach to this, we have been following international safety standards every single day, but making sure we’re protecting Canadians with all the best information wehave. We have been doing that since the public health officials gathered all the provincial health officials on January 2, and we will continue to.
Mr. Blanched [ speaking french ] [ voice of interpreter ].
Hello. While representatives of the government are discussing the treatment that should be reserved for seniors and how we’re going to get out of this embroilio, we have to understand the restrictions, and I want to go back to another challenge. I’m not going to cast anyone’s good intentions into doubt, but there are some historical issues between the bank and the government. The Prime Minister yet indicated yesterday that companies that practice fiscal avoidance would not have access to government programs. I just want to ensure that this statement was very clear and precise. Did I understand correctly that the government is implementing clear measures and clear tracking for companies that practice tax avoidance, that they will be identified and that they won’t have access to emergency support programs for COVID-19?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
Companies who do practice fiscal avoidance will face consequences in our system. That will continue to be the case, even when it’s not a pandemic. We are taking unprecedented measures with the objective of helping workers in Canada to keep their jobs and to support them during this difficult time. There is an audit process that has been established for the extraordinary measures that have been implemented, and at the same time the fight against tax evasion continues to be a priority. The United States has – we have made unprecedented investments in thecra to look at tax evasion, and we’re going to continue this throughout the pandemic to ensure that there will be consequences for any company that does not pay its fair share of taxes.
Mr. Blanchet.
Well, there is a difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. and what is legal under canadianlaw. That’s the whole scandal behind this. I want to be specific. If a bank doing business in Canada uses tax avoidance by putting money outside of the country to pay less tax in Canada, would such a bank be necessarily excluded from support programs for COVID-19?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
We’realways going to continue to be very severe with those companies that don’t pay their fair share of taxes, and that’s why we’ve established more tools at the Cara in recent years to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. Our priority to help Canadians and to help workers was to give them the necessary support, and that is going to continue.
Mr. Blanchet.
If a bank wants to profit from such programs and they use tax avoidance, will they be excluded?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
We’regoing to ensure that we support workers across the country who need assistance, and at the same time we’re going to continue to fight against tax avoidance and tax evasion. There will be consequences for all those who do so.
Mr. Blanchet.
I’m not convinced that Canadians and quebecers will be more reassured about this, but now I have another question for the Prime Minister. Can we agree that the effects of this pandemic on seniors apply to everyone over 75 years of age in the same manner? it doesn’t matter how old they are and how we manage this crisis.
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
We recognize that seniors who are the most vulnerable in general are the most vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19. Someone who doesn’t have resources or the necessary equipment and having a hard time paying their rent because they have low income, they will have additional costs for food and the delivery of medication, and they will be facing greater challenges than seniors who are financially comfortable. [ end of interpretation ].
Mr. Singh.
My question is very simple. Will the Prime Minister commit, like other countries have done, including France, Denmark and Poland, to guarantee that if a company is registered in a tax haven, that company will not receive public support. Yes or no?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, since 2015 we have made significant investments in the Cara to fight against fiscal avoidance and – tax avoidance and tax evasion. That is something that we’ve taken very seriously as a country, and there will always be strong consequences for seminwho avoids to pay their fair share of taxes. At the same time, we have been investing to ensure Canadians get the supports they need, regardless of whether they work for small or large companies.
I asked very clearly if a company is registered in a tax haven, will they get help, yes or no. and we got an evasive answer. I’m going to ask again, very clearly, other countries have done this. Poland has done it. Denmark has committed to it. France has committed to it. Will the government commit today, very simply, to see if a company is cheating the public of paying its fair share through using legal tax havens, will this government commit today to say, no, we will not give them public help if they are cheating the public of contributing to our economy, to our society?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
The work we’ve done from the very beginning has been focused on helping Canadians, Canadians who work for small businesses, Canadians who work for large businesses, Canadians work for franchises or mom and pop shops. We know that COVID-19 has caused people across the country in different sectors, in different industries, to lose their paycheques, and our focus has been on making sure that people get the help they need to pay for groceries, to pay for their rent regardless of the size of company they work for. At the same time, we continue to be very severe on tax avoidance and tax evasion. We will continue to invest in the Canada revenue agency to make sure there are consequences for people who avoid paying their taxes.
Mr. Singh.
It seems like the government is more concerned about students getting more help than they need than $25 billion of lost avenue due to offshore tax havens. They seem more concerned about families receiving more help than they need than ensuring that the companies, like loblaw, get away with not paying $400 million in taxes. Why does the government take this approach that they are so concerned about denying help to people who are in need but allow businesses to get away with not paying their fair share? why are the government’s priorities so mixed up?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
I’m sure the honourable member isn’tsuggesting that someone who works as a grocery clerk in lob laws shouldn’t be available to get support from the government because of behaviour of what their head office has done. We will continue to pursue tax avoidance and tax evasion with all the tools of this government because we take it very seriously, that everyone pay their fair share of taxes. At the same time, we’re going to continue to deliver significant help for students, for seniors, for workers right across the country.
Mr. Singh? [ speaking french ] [ voice of interpreter ].
Billions of dollars go to tax havens and is lost. The government has to pay $1.8 billion to lob laws because our tax rules allow companies to get around the rules. But this isn’t what’s worrying the government. What’s worrying the government is that students are getting too much money and are staying home. I don’t know whether the Prime Minister knows it, but $2, 000 a month barely covers the basic needs. Why? is the government making this choice? it’s a choice to make lives more difficult for students rather than dealing with the major companies that are exploiting our system.
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
What concerns the government is to make sure that workers and students and Canadians are getting the assistance they need. That is what we are working on, and that is why we have put forward the Canada student benefit, but we didn’t stop there. We know that students need jobs. That’s why we have improved the summer job program for students. We will also create thousands of jobs for students as well. We will improve volunteerism with amounts of $1, 000 to $5, 000for students. We will increase significantly assistance to students for theirtuition. We are there to help those in need, and that is the priority. Not politics. There is substance here, Mr. Speaker. [ end of interpretation ].
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and would like to split My time. Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister just said that it would be highly unlikely for a Canadian company to have received approvals in either the europeanunion or in the United States for testing kits without having received approval here in Canada. I would like to draw his attention to a company called btnx who has been approved to sell their testing kits in the United States under section d of the fda’s policy for diagnostic tests for coronavirus disease 2019 during the public health emergency. They are based in Markham, Mr. Speaker. Can the Prime Minister explain why btnx has received approval in the United States under the FDA but is still waiting for health Canada approvals for testing kits?
The honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Trudeau:
I thank the member opposite for highlighting an excellent case of an innovative Canadian company that is moving forward with a world-class product. We will ensure that it goes through the proper expectations and qualifications in Canada because we will not be giving upour sovereignty to the United States or to any other country. We will ensure that the productswe approve in Canada are safe for Canadians. We’ve seen other countries take very different approaches that we would not recommend in Canada. We’re going to ensure that everystep of the way what we do is safe for Canadians. [ speaking french ] [ voice of interpreter ].
Mr. Riaz.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the beginning of this crisis, so we have felt friction between the federal government and the various provinces, particularly with Quebec. On April 23, the Prime Minister and the Minister of health indicated that seniors residents could be a national project. They referred to the Canadian health act. Then on April 25, the Prime Minister attempted to clarify those comments, saying that he didn’t intend to get involved or interfere in areas of provincialjurisdiction. I think that when it’s a pandemic, the last thing we nee dis a constitutional crisis and government that’s trying to interfere. I would like the Prime Minister to take this opportunity to tell us clearly that there is no intent to interfere in areas under provincial jurisdiction, the health care system particularly in the case of seniors and long-term care homes. It’s already difficult enough for the Quebec government to manage this.
I apologize, the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that My colleague has seen from the beginning that there is no intention by the federal government to interfere, but rather to collaborate with all of the provinces. It’s particularly true, Mr. Speaker, in Quebec where we are seeing a very difficult situation. We are thinking of our seniors and what is happening in the long-term care homes. Mr. Speaker, we’re working in cooperation with Quebec. I’m in contact with a number of ministers on a regular basis, as well as the Minister for Quebec, and the Prime Minister who are speaking together for the commongood.
Mr. Rayes.
Mr. Speaker, Quebec decided to put in place a progressive release of the social distancingrules. For our part, for some days, the prime Minister seems to publicly be questioning these in the press conferences, that is the decisions of Quebec in particular, with regard to this gradual return to normal. Could he tell us today, in the house, if he agrees, yes or no, with the plan that was proposed by the government of Quebec?
The Minister. [ speaking french ] [ voice of interpreter ].
I will say that I’m incredibly proud of the collaborative work of the provinces, territories and the federal government to come up with a shared set of guidelines that will help us ensure that as we move together and obviously separately, given our own epidemiological situation, our own particular approach, that we have a set of guidelines that will protect the health of all Canadians. and I know that the Prime Minister worked very diligently with his counterparts, with all the provinces and territories, and we’re thrilled that there is such collaboration across thecountry. Thank you. [ speaking french ] [ voice of interpreter ].
Mr. Rayes, 30 seconds for thequestion.
I will ask it again in a simple way. I’d like to know if the federal government, the Prime Minister himself, who speaks on a daily basis, agrees, yes or no, with the return to normal plan put in place by the government of Quebec. Yes or no. It’s simple.
The honourable Minister. [ end of interpretation ].
Mr. Speaker, I think as My counterpart indicates, in fact, these conversations are gong with the Prime Minister and his counterparts across the country. This is a collaborative process, and I AM thrilled that we have as hared set of guidelines that all provinces have agreed to use to guide them in the safe practices as we move forward to reopen our economies. It’s a delicate process. In fact, much of it is being developed at a local level because, of course, situations vary so greatly across the provinces and territories. But those guidelines that are in place will ensure that province sand territories have a road map that will protect the health of Canadians. Thank you.
Ms. Blanca?
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Reports in the news about a surge in counterfeit personal protective equipment coming intocanada are deeply concerning to many Canadians. Can Minister advise us as to the extent of the problem?
The honourable Minister.
Mr. Speaker, our priority is always to make sure that we havesafe, effective equipment and supplies in the hands of our front-line health care workers. Given the complexity of the global supply chain, ensuring quality of the product is extremely important. We are working with established suppliers and distributors, as well as quality assurance experts, and we have strong processes in place to help ensure that the supplies we receive meet all necessary standards. In addition, the public health agency of Canada has robust testing measures in place. We must make sure that equipmentis safe –
Ms. Blanca?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask the minister how many shipments – or if she can tell us who is ordering these supplies.
The honourable Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process that we are following at public services and procurement is that we are ordering based on orders that have come from the provinces, based on what public health tells us they have requested.
I AM just going to stop the clock for a second. I just want to remind everyone that the length of the question should be reflected by the length of the answer. I know it’s not always easy, bu ti just wanted to point that out so that we’re well aware of the guidelines that we’re using. Ms. Block, please.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister tell us how – which companies are ordering these counterfeit supplies?
The honourable Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, as I said, are engaged with a number of diverse suppliers internationally and domestically to ensure that our front-line health care workers have the supplies that they need, and we are engaged with rigorous quality assurance controls internationally and domestically.
Ms. Block.
Thank you very much. Can the Minister at least tell us what measures are in place to ensure that Canada is only buying Poe from reputable sources?
The honourable Minister.
There are a number of points at which quality assurance is occurring, Mr. Speaker. We are ensuring that manufacturers are required to certify that they are meeting specific standards. New controls by the Chinese government for international procurement’s require additional oversight, and the pspc is working closely with public health that makes sure that there are – there is quality assurance taking place right here in Canada in Canadian warehouses.
Ms. Block.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. The CBS has confirmed border agents have stopped shipments from coming into Canada that contain suspected fake ppe. Can Minister Blair confirm how many shipments the CBS has seized?
The honourable Minister.
I can tell you that CBS very vigorously checks the quality and the providence of the protection equipment that is coming in. If it is determined that it is counterfeit and, therefore, in violation of the agreements, it is subject to seizure. I don’t have the precise number of seizures that have been made, but I can assure the member opposite that CBS is very rigorous in ensuring that no counterfeit material is allowed into the country.
Ms. Block.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister advise us as to what measures are being taken to stop these shipments from coming to Canada?
The honourable Minister.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are taking a number of measures to make sure quality assurance occurs in the country of origin with direct communication with the manufacturers, on-the-ground logistic support that we’ve engaged from private corporations, as well as the embassy in china, and then once again, when the goods arrive in Canada, they are quality tested by the public health agency of Canada.
Miss bloc.
Thank you very much. Can the Minister please advise us of what those measures are?
The honourable Minister.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, public health agency of Canada is taking extreme caution and extreme care to make sure that no defective goods are delivered to front-line health care workers. That is a process that we take very seriously because of our commitment to our front-line health care workers.
Mr. Hallen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The minimum $5, 000 income – forkrsh is cutting out albertans. Brenda is a constituent of mine who was laid off from her oil and gas job in 2018. She has been on EU from spring 2019 until earlier this year. As her EU doesn’t count as income under the program, she doesn’t qualify for CERB. She has been trying her best to find work, but like other former industry workers, she’s had a tough time. The challenge of building pipelines, compounded with the current pandemic, has only made the job search harder. Why is the government cutting out unemployed oil and gas workers, like Brenda, from receiving CERB?
The honourable Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I AM very well aware of situations like the constituent that the member speaks of and can assure him that recent changes to a regulatory changes to the CERB, if brenda’s EU expired since December 29 of last year, would qualify her, infact, for the CERB.
Mr. Hallen.
Does the government have plans for helping oil and gas workers who have been out of work in recent years and whose job search has been made even harder because of COVID-19? yes or no.
Honourable Minister.
Mr. Speaker, we are very aware of the intense pressures that oil and gas workers are facing, and let me start by expressing the great sympathy that I think everyone in this house today feels for the people of fort mcmurray, who are facing triple blow of a flood, of thecoronavirus, and of a deeply depressed price for oil. When it comes to employing oil and gas workers, the support that our government has given directly for the cleanup of orphan wells, $1.7 billion, is going to put a lot of people back to work very, very quickly.
Mr. Hallen.
Minimum $20, 000 payroll requirement is disqualifying small family businesses and self-employed businesses. This includes hard-working truckdrivers risking their lives to provide essential services, and they have been disqualified fromreceiving the loans. Be they businesses that are mostat risk from the current crisis. Lisa is self-employed and runs aconsultancy in My riding. She has worked hard to grow her business, planning to hire an employee before COVID-19 and planned to finally draw a salarynext month. Now with the pandemic, she is struggling to keep the doors open. Why are self-employed business owners like lisa disqualified from ceba?
The honourable Minister.
I want to thank the honourable member for that very good question, and to that employer and that business owner, know that we are working with her and with many across the country. We have provided many supports for business owners like her. If she has seen a drop in revenue, she can access the wagesubsidy. But one of the things I’ve heard lot from business owners like the one you just described is the enormous expense of rent, and we have just released support for rent, 75% for rent relief for those small businesses who have been severely hurt during this time, and we will continue to work to support businesses like the one you just described. Thank you.
Mr. Hallen.
Family-run nail salon in My riding is struggling to stay hope because of the pandemic. As they don’t have any employees, they don’t meet the $20, 000 payroll requirement for ceba. Yes or no, does the Minister believe that small family-run businesses, like this nail salon, are not being affected by the pandemic?
The honourable Minister.
Having grown up in a business just like the one that the honourable member just described, I can assure you that that business and every business is at the heart of the work that we do. So we very much are concerned about that business and all businesses in this country. and we will continue to listen. The work is not done, and we will continue to ensure that businesses all across the country, particularly those that are contributing so much to our communities, are indeed supported during this important and critical time. Thank you.
Mr. Hallan.
Krista owns a massage krinic and the property it rests on. She was offered a loan from her bank but worries that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the interest payments. On top of that, the land tax, management fees and utilities. She would like to apply for cebabut cannot because of the minimum 20, 000 payroll. Again, why are small business owners like Krista ineligible for ceba, and should we not list the $20, 000 payroll requirement?
Honourable Minister.
Thank you, the honourable member, for that important question. and that employer and entrepreneur is at the very heart of all of our communities across the country. I don’t think that any of us couldn’t walk down any of our streets and not see a wonderful business like that, and I want to assure those businesses that we continue to work, we continue to listen and we continue to find solutions. One of the things that we have done, of course, to help businesses like this one is to make sure that their costs are kept low. So we’ve deferred paying the stand HST and customs duties for those types of duties so that their costs are maintained low during this difficult time.
Mr. Williamson.
Mr. Speaker, democratic governments around the world have had to learn a tough lesson, a government that lies to its own people will lie to the world. Beijing’s management of their coronavirus has been called its Chernobyl moment by scholars around the world, including our own Irwin cotler. Will the government join calls for an investigation of china’s COVID-19 conduct as Australia isasking?
The honourable deputy Prime Minister.
Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying that I defer to no one in my tremendous respect for Irwin cutler who I think is a moral authority recognized by all members of this house. When it comes to reporting on the coronavirus in countries around the world, it is absolutely the case that we all help our own citizens and we help each other with candour andtransparency, and it is also the case that we need to work together. Having said that, I think all members of this house will agree that a democracy will always be more transparent than any authoritarian regime.
Canada’s ambassador to china has lavished praise. Does – of china’s response to COVID-19?
The honourable deputy Prime Minister.
Mr. Speaker, I began by saying that I think we share a high regard for Irwin cotler, and let me simply say that I personally have a very high regard for ambassador Dominic Barton who is the right man at the right place at the right time. Ambassador Barton is absolutely central to our procurement work in china today and his extensive business experience is saving Canadian lives.
Mr. Williamson.
Begrudgingly it seems the government is now open to reviewing the world health organization’s response to COVID-19. But, Mr. Speaker, officials from this international agency have thus far refused to testify before the health committee. Will the government join us in calling on W.H.O. Officials to testify before our house of commons committee?
The honourable deputy Prime Minister.
Mr. Speaker, there was nothing grudging at all in the very candid and important conversation our Minister of international development had recently with a doctor of the W.H.O. In that conversation, she talkedabout the essential role the W.H.O. Plays as the only international organization that coordinates the world’s health response, and we need that in a pandemic. She also spoke about how important it will be to have a post-crisis review –
Mr. Williamson?
Canada is grateful for taiwan’s donation of half a million surgical masks to Canada, to our country. is the government willing to support taiwan’s W.H.O. Membership as a condition of W.H.O. Reforms?
The honourable deputy Prime Minister.
Mr. Speaker, Canada’s one china policy is clear and has been the policy of successive Canadian governments. We continue to support taiwan’s meaningful participation in international multilateral organizations where its presence is important. Taiwan’s role as an observer in the W.H.O. is very helpful, and let me point out we participate together with taiwan in apec.
Mr. Williamson.
Canada’s fish and seafood harvesters face unprecedented uncertainty, and the fisheries Minister has said, quote, it is up to each individual area to determine if fishermen want to delay or stay on shore.” while this has held true for others, the Minister has refused to open up other lobster fisheries, including lfa24, despite the fact fish harvesters voted in favour of going fishing on May 6. is the government aware the fisheries Minister is picking winners and losers by imposing double standard on Canadian harvesters and adding to uncertainties in the Atlantic fishery? [ speaking french ] [ voice of interpreter ].
Thank you very much. [ end of interpretation ]. the support of both the harvesters and processors, and after considering a variety of factors, including conservation and protection [indiscernible] the health and safety of harvesters, our government is inconstant communication with provincial and industry partnersto discuss these issues.
Mr. Williamson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to the deputy Prime Minister. Would the government prefer to see its one china policy under Democratic china or under its totalitarian regime?
The honourable deputy Prime Minister in 15 seconds or less, please.
I think everyone in this house believes in democracy and that is something that we are working on and demonstrating in our debates today.
Mr. Mccauley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On February 26, 2020, over a month after Canada’s first COVID-19 case, the Minister of public health tabled the public health agency’s departmental results report in this house. In it, the report stated we optimized the national emergency strategic stockpile. In their 2019-2020 report, which covers up to March 31 of this year, the plan said to enhance the emergency stockpile, and yet the Minister of public health onapril 1 said the stockpile was not sufficient. Why?
Mr. Speaker, as we’ve talked about numerous times in this house, you know, anticipating a global pandemic of this size just was a very difficult thing to do, and as we saw the demand increase across Canada, of course we realize that the pandemic stockpile which had been assembled over a number of years was simply not going to be sufficient to meet the needs of health care system across Canada. Provinces and territories were struggling, and we worked closely with our counterparts to ensure we could procure devices for health care workers across the country.
Mr. Mccauley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will note that the report tabled in this very house stated that they had optimized the stockpile, and yet they did not. The departmental report which covered up to March 31, stated as well they were to enhance it. Now is there a formal way to determine how much needs to be in an emergency stockpile?
Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and in fact the national emergency stockpile was never meant to stockpile enough protective equipment for a pandemic of this size. In fact, it’s there to provide aback up to provinces that may be having a provincial outbreak or a regional local outbreak in which they need support to augment the stockpile that they have at the province and territory level. Of course now we’re reviewing the role in terms of protection for Canadians as we move forward.
Mr. Mccauley.
The report said that they had optimized the amount of the stockpile. How do they determine what is optimized?
The honourable Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The national emergency stockpiledoesn’t just hold personal protective equipment. In fact, it’s not the majority of – thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Mccauley?
The operations committee lastweek, the public works Minister justified choosing amazon to distribute Poe in Canada instead of Canada post by saying amazon was not a foreign company and was, in fact, a Canadian company. But the – Jeff bozos took out Canadian citizenship.
The honourable Minister?
Mr. Speaker, the intention of my comments last week at committee were as follows. Amazon entered into an agreement with Canada. There is a Canadian operation of that company that is working with purolator, as well as Canada post, to ensure effective and efficient distribution to front-line health care workers, which is the priority of this government.
We have a point of order from actually – yes, from Mr. Mccauley.
I believe the time to respond should be equivalent to the length of the question. Thank you.
Yes, we are working on it.
Thank you.
We will try to get that a little bit in line.
Thank you.
Mr. Mccauley.
In the very same committee, the public works deputy minister would only state he accepted that the – or the contaminated and substandard Poe would be replaced at no charge to Canadian taxpayers. Were these contaminated non-compliant masks be replaced 100% without one penny of added cost to Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, the corporation has assured us that they will not be charging us for the masks that were defective.
Mr. Mccauley.
a spokesperson for pspc then went on to state that the substandard n95 masks would not actually be replaced free of charge if we actually used them for other non-medical purposes. Why would we pay suppliers in china full price for shoddy ppe and then use those items for non-medical purposes?
The honourable Minister.
Mr. Speaker, there is still testing going on to see if those masks can be re purposed for non-medical purposes, and so this is a question that I’ll have to report back to the housewhen that assessment is complete.
Mr. Mccauley, you have 15 seconds for a question and 15 seconds for an answer.
Okay, what is the non-medicaluse that the government is considering for these substandard masks?
The honourable Minister.
Mr. Speaker, a majority of the masks that were defective were defective in terms of theirstaps, and it’s being determined whether those straps can be replaced and then repurposed.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and through you to the Minister of small business, I would like to note that many small businesses in the Lenora riding are in the tourism industry. and this is normally a huge sector for our economy. Especially in the coming summer months, but due to border closures and due to inter provincial travel recommendations, the sector will be hit very hard, places like temple bay lodge, places like golden eagle resort in My riding are going to be struggling. Can the Minister tell the house if the government is planning any supports for the tourism industry.
The honourable Minister.
I want to thank the honourable member for that really important question, and those are certainly places where so many people have spent time enjoying those particular sights, and it’s extraordinary. For those businesses in the tourism sector and in all sectors, we’re helping them with the many measures, whether it is to help keep their employees on staff or whether it’s to help them with cash flow or help them keep their expenses low. That’s how we are helping and we will continue to do that.
and many businesses, particularly our seasonal operations, they rely on programs like the Canada summer jobs, which they may face difficulty accessing if they are not able to open on time. Similarly, the emergency wage subsidy disqualifies many seasonal businesses from being able to access it. Will the time frames be extended to support these struggling businesses?
I can confirm from the perspective Canada summer jobs that the time frame has been extended until February of 2021, for reasons exactly as put forth by the member.
Rosemary:
Okay, we’re going to pull away from this question and answer session taking place right now. If you want to keep watching it because you love politics as much as I do, you can go to CBC. Ca/politics. We are also streaming at that location the press conference from Dr. Tam. If that is ongoing. I should tell you that that is – what is happening inside the house right now is expected to last until just about 2:15 eastern. and I know this because Vassy just sent me a very detailed email, so I’ll let her explain how the rest of the day will unfold. So that was – I wanted to take a fair chunk of that because I think it’s important to get the questions from the opposition parties and see how the government is responding at a time like this, and we’re going to get more of that as the housesort of ramps up in various ways, in person and virtually. But let people know what we should expect for the rest of the afternoon, Vassy.
Vassy:
So you’re right, rosy. Until about 2:15 I’m told we can expect a question and answer session like we were just watching. The committee will then break and the house, quote unquote, will resume of course with the reduced number of MPs, and that’s when we can expect them to focus on the legislation around students that is anticipated to be introduced by the government, and we can expect questions and debate to continue on that legislation or a focus on it, rather, until early into the evening, somewhere around 6 or 6:30. It could be later. Of course it depends on how things proceed. There is quite a bit of behind-the-scenes wrangling. We were talking about how these negotiations take place between the parties to end up with a piece of legislation everyone can support, and I’m told that those negotiations are maybe notgoing amazingly behind the scenes, which could inevitably delay the passage of the legislation, though obviously I don’t want to, you know, throw any money on that yet. We’ll see how it goes.
Rosemary:
Just so people understand, typically that kind of work is done through committees, like parliamentary committees. They go off and study the legislation. They hear from people. They change the legislation. But because of the urgency and the time crunch of all this, it’s happening, as you say, really much behind the scenes with house leaders and other officials. and they try to get some place, reach some sort of compromise, which they have been able to do. It’s been bumpy at times, but everybody’s been able to get there eventually. Catherine, there were some good questions. I certainly don’t miss the clapping and whatnot. I tweeted that out earlier, because it just makes things tick along, I think, in a more interesting way. I don’t know if you want to talk about the stockpile and the Poe a little bit, if that stood out for you. I think there was some interesting questions around the stockpile because the function has changed a little bit, and I guess there’s questions about whether that is what it should be doing or what it should be doing.
Yeah, and how the nature of it is going to change moving forward too as we see the nature of so many things changing rightnow, the health Minister saying certainly, you know, it would have been difficult to anticipate a global pandemic of this size. That’s certainly part of the discussion going forward. I also thought the exchange at the end with Minister was interesting about the masks that have been compromised and hearing about how the government is going to try to see if they can be used for non-medical purposes. She indicated it was the straps that were the problem. I thought, though, rosy, some ofthe most interesting questions, for instance, when alain rayes tries to push whether they agreed with Quebec’s plan and getting the Prime Minister to weigh in. No luck there. Also very interesting hearing the conservatives asking questions about Canada’s willingness to criticize the W.H.O. and specifically china for having perhaps held back information about the severity of this outbreak, and you heard Minister Freeland saying a post-crisis review is what we want to talk about but now is not the time for that discussion. [ please stand by ]
Rosemary:
You can watch her show tonight at 5 a, eastern and cbc’s Catherine Cullen. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, as always. See you tomorrow, probably. and we will leave it here for now. I’ll just remind you that what is happening inside the house later today is of critical importance. a big package that the government has promised, $9 billion worth of various kinds of aid for students in this country. It is an emergency relief benefit of $1250. There is increased grants. There’s money for volunteer work. and all sorts of other things if you are a student in this country so you want to keep an eye on how that legislation potentially changes and whether, indeed, it does passed. We’ll see you here tomorrow for the Prime Minister’s regular briefing. Meanwhile, our coverage will continue after this short break with Andrew Nichols. Thank you for watching. See you tomorrow.