Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Rosemary:
All right. That is the Prime Minister of Canada on this Monday. In case you were worried about what day of the week it is. Giving us really more answers around the major announcement from the government today. It will allow bridge financing, it will offer bridge financing for large and medium-sized companies. By large, we really do mean quite large. It has to be in the order of revenue of $300 million. So, this is not the small and medium-sized businesses that government has previously targeted. I’ll bring in Vassy and david to help us go through some of this. One of things there that stood out for me was when the Prime Minister said that the preference would be for private banks and financial institutions to pony up the liquidity here for companies, but the government is a lender of last resort. Which leads me to wonder what kind of difficulties companies are runing into when they knock on the door of the financial institutions if the government feels it has to step in in this way. There’s lots of question there is for companies about how receptive financial institutions are right now given that the government has had to step in here.
Vassy:
Yeah. The exact same thing jumped out the me in that term. We’re trying to be a lender of last resort. Why are companies at the last resort? is it a question of amount? even still, I think there are genuine questions for those financial institutions about is that. I think we need more specifics in order ascertain why and the big question for me is around how much money. It is My understanding that that is the biggest question coming out of the patch today. So we were musing prior to the press conference if this isn’t directed specifically at that sector, for example, or specifically at the airline sector, would it be of benefit to them and the number one question for them is, is there sort of a maximum on the amount of money that the government will lend to these bigger companies. If you think of airlines, in the United States there is a mixture of bailout and loans for airlines in the neighbourhood of about $25 billion. Obviously we’re a smaller economy, but our airlines are bigger companies. How much money are we talking? I think that was the one thing that I was left wondering and that depends on what the needs of these specific companies are going to be. But the estimate out of Alberta and the oil patch there was in excess of 2k4r0r billion of liquidity is needed for the bigger companies. At the end of the day, is the federal government going to be loaning out $30 billion, $40 billion? those are huge numbers actually. and it is a loan and the Prime Minister was explicit about that. This sanlts bailout. It’s a loan. It is not a blank kha*ifj – it is not a blank cheque, but those numbers will be interesting and they give us a better gauge on how effective this will be for those sectors particularly hard hit. I would also underscore all of that with, again, lots of questions about the strings attached to this money and although the government is clear that there are strings around executive pay t details that the Prime Minister admitted aren’t available yet. They will be providing those in the coming days. That fine print, I think, is going to be pretty important to Canadians if we are on the hook for $20 or $30 billion.
Rosemary:
He did say, however, and I hadn’t heard this when I was listening to bill morneau, that they have to share their complete financial structure with the government. So, you know, a company would really not have to have any access to private liquidity, be comfortable opening up their books to the government in that way. Because they are in a desperate place. I think there is some trade-off there that would make it, I don’t know, some companies may be wanting to make sure that they don’t go down that road while other companies, as you point out, probably don’t have any choice at all. But that to me was an interesting caveat that I hadn’t heard either, david.
Reporter:
Three things jump out at me here, Rosie. Obviously a lot of companies will be able to get money from conventional banks but there is a tloiments the risk tolerance that a bank is going to have or any financial institution is going to have with every company in the country is going through a difficult time and may be coming for bridge financing and support from the lending institutions. There is only so much risky debt a bank is willing to take on. and this is where the backstop of the government of Canada needs to come in. The second is the point you just mentioned on if you do come in and need to disclose your entire financial structure and take a hard look at it and find out you’re doing tax avoidance measures like moving to low-tax jurisdictions to avoid paying the full share in Canada, they’ll put some can’t on that and maybe work with you on a restructuring to start paying a fairer and better share of canadian taxation. So, theres a negotiation like there is in any loan, but it is not on repayment terms and conditions. It’s on operating terms and conditions and also on restructuring terms and conditions. and the third thing that jumped out to me, rosie, and it wasn’t about this programme announced today, it was about the Canada emergency and response benefit. Some premiers are agitating and some private sector people are agitating that the CERB is a disincentive for people to go to work. People feel it’s not safe and not going and the Prime Minister was asked directly if he would cut off the CERB for people like that. They’re not touching that at all. The sense you get, they’re willing to let the premiers drive the re-opening based on the local data and local conditions in their jurisdiction. But the Prime Minister has been asked about this enough that it’s pretty clear. They are taking no steps at the federal level, at least for now, to create financial stress and pressure on workers to go back to work. There is no talk of changing the CERB from him to incentivize people to come off the benefit and go back to work if they do not feel safe.
Rosemary:
That’s true. That’s true. Yeah. That’s true, day. But he also is not able to say that if you aren’t feeling safe to go back to work, that you can keep collecting the CERB and that will be fine for your employer.
The status quo holds. That’s essentially it. They are not going to do anything to push people off that benefit and back into a workplace. That’s going to be something that has to be managed between the employer and the employee.
Rosemary:
Yeah. Which will be a point for people because there are people who don’t feel safe. I want to touch on the climate change point, too, before we take a break. I found the Prime Minister’s answer interesting as well around the idea of managing risk and that in the future, we have to manage risk around pandemics. But in this case, it makes sense to manage risk around climate change, which obviously isn’t top of mind for everyone right now.
Vassy:
Yeah. and it also does tie into the announcement that was made today. Especially as we discussed and we have been discussing the potential for the oil sector to be able to access this bridge financing, some caveat and some constrictions around what they have to show the climate plan that they have, if that fits into the larger picture. But not necessarily clear about what happens if a company doesn’t. I don’t even know what would qualify them as not at this point. Those details are missing as well at this point. But obvious lily some sensitivity, as David pointed out, late tore the issue and how it all factors into this loan programme.
Rosemary:
Ok. Thank you both very much. We’ll talk in the next hour, if you don’t mind as we stand by and wait for cabinet ministers to brief us today as well as federal public health officials on the picture of COVID-19 across this country. But the major announcement from the government coming much earlier today at 9:30 as the markets opened that the government will now provide this large y*erp financing, especially a large amount of bridge fnlsing for big companies like airline companies, oil and gas industry and anyone else that needs a big government-backed loan to get them through this difficult period of the pandemic. We’ll take a short break here. More on cbc news network straight ahead. I’m rose marry barton. I’m rosemary barton. [♪♪♪]
Rosemary:
Hi, again. I’m rosemary Barton here in Ottawa. Thanks for joining us on CBC news network, streaming around the world wherever you might be. Ottawa rolls out plans to help more businesses cope from the economic shock of the pandemic. The Prime Minister gave us more details about the expansion of an emergency credit, a large employer financing facility, essentially, the government providing money to large companies to weather the storm and protect the jobs of millions of Canadians. He did emphasize it is a bridge loan, not a bailout. We will talk with our reporters about that. We are standing by to bring you the daily briefing with cabinet ministers and health officials. My next guest is Alex porbet, the c. E.o. Of cenovus energy. He joins me on the phone. We tried to do facetime but it didn’t work.
Caller:
Thanks, rosemary, for checking in.
Rosemary:
I want to know, first of all, whether this facility, leeff, as the government is calling it, is something your company is interested in tapping into?
Caller:
We’ve only seen the announcements and I know the government is still working on the details. We’ll take a close look at it when it comes to out. We’ll certainly take a look at it and it’s probably a little bit early to know if we would avail ourselves of it.
Rosemary:
So does that mean you basically don’t need it, you’re one of the companies that is doing okay?
Caller:
Well, I think you’ve got to be careful using the term”okay.” the prize for w. T.I. Today is about $24.50. As I said, we went into it. We were in a pretty good position with a great deal of liquidity, but at these prices, the oil industry doesn’t work for any oil producer on the planet at these levels and all of us will be increasing our debt until we see prices improve. I think everyone is going to take a pretty hard look at it.
Rosemary:
Obviously the premier was asking for I don’t know if it was a bailout but something on par with what the auto sector got. This is about bridge financing and lending. Do you think that will be true for your company and industry Ina general way?
Caller:
The federal government has come out with on me liquidity assistance for what would call the smaller end of the industry. I think it was great news to hear them come out with something that recognizes that the large industry players are also really affected. Frankly, it’s those large industry players with their significant production that is going to help the economy come out of this. I think it’s definitely helpful now there’s something for all range of producers.
Rosemary:
One of the things that the Prime Minister said was that the government was really slender of last resort, which made me question whether financial institutions are not able to put forward liquidity for most businesses. Again, this isn’t your case, bu tare you hearing that that is a problem, that banks just don’t simply feel comfortable providing further liquidity to major companies?
Caller:
I think the – no, my experience is the Canadian banks in particular have generally been doing everything they can, but I think one of the challenges with the commodity price as low as it is right now, albeit for a relatively short period of time, I think there’s only so much lending that the banks can do with that kind of collateral just with the lower prices. So I think the combination of the banks and with the government’s support hopefully will be very helpful to see this industry through to the other side, where it can help lead therecovery.
Rosemary:
You may have heard as well that this bridge financing has a component where you need to be working towards the climate targets. Cenovus has been ahead of some of that, but is that generally something that would be comfortable for the industry, to make that part of the condition of bridge financing?
Caller:
Yeah, I think – I can only speak on behalf of our company, but I know we have been reporting in compliance with thegovernment’s task force for I think going on three years. You alluded to the fact that we have already made very significant commitments to improve our g. H.g. Intensity over the next decade. That’s nothing that’s particularly worrisome to us. and I know that most of our competitors have done the same thing. So I think the industry has thatissue in – certainly in its sights. I think everybody is largely moving in that direction.
Rosemary:
This is obviously so different from 2008 and 2009 because of the fact that we’ve had to sort of shut down the economy, but the oil industry has been affected by the low price in oil, by this dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia. It was really the worst of the worst of the worst for the oil and gas industry. How are you approaching it differently because it is such an unprecedented kind of event? and do you think you will be able to come out the other side and be doing the same type of business you were before?
Caller:
Rosemary, My own vie won that is this is a – this is an extraordinary situation. I can’t recall if it’s two blocks ones or three blocks ones, but I fundamentally do not believe when the world comes out of this, whether it’s in two months, six months, eight months, I don’t believe that the fundamental reliance on oil and gas is going to change. I think people will be driving cars. I think people will eventually get on planes. We’re already seeing, for example, in china, who is obviously much further ahead in their recovery, we’re seeing refined product demand getting back to where it was before the pandemic. So I do think we’re going to get back there. I think as long as companies have access to temporary liquidity to get them through that short, sharp period, I think you will see the oil and gas industry be one of the industries that drives the recovery as we come out of this.
Rosemary:
One last question to you. Last week there was a lot of noise made in Alberta. The premier was not happy. The green party interim leader or the house leader, Elizabeth may, and the bloc leader also talked about the oil sector being dead. Obviously this accounts for a 10% of Canada’s g. D.p. and employs a lot of people. What was your reaction when you heard that notion being thrown around, that this is perhaps thetime to dramatically shift in a different direction?
Caller:
I mean, I just think on its face it’s a ridiculous comment, rosemary. If you look at the 2008/2009 crisis, it was actually the Canadian oil and gas sector which led the Canadian economy back. We employ 14, 000 indigenous people and we contributed $128 million to Canada’s g. D.p. So suggest this is a sunset industry, it’s not a serious comment. When we come out of this, the canadian government is going to need revenue sources to take on this incredible deficit that we’ve had to take on to deal with the pandemic. I think it’s going to be incredibly important that the largest industry in the country is healthy and able to contribute and continue to provide revenue to the government, as we have for the last 50 or 60 years.
Rosemary:
Just quickly, Mr. Pourbaix. Have you had to furlough or lay off employees? can you give me a sense of what you’ve done on that front?
Caller:
No. What we did rather than that is asked employees all the way up to myself and the board to increase levels of pay cuts and we have kept all of our full-time employees working, albeit with modest pay cuts.
Rosemary:
Thank you, Alex pourbaix, for getting your voice on today. That is the c. O. of cenovus energy. We are going to go to the federal briefing happening here in Ottawa with the deputy Prime Minister.
[voice of interpreter] who do exceptional work every day, particularly in the fight against this pandemic. Thank you for everything you do to keep us healthy and safe. You are our real heroes. [end of translation] to all of Canada’s front line healthcare workers, we know this is a particularly challenging time. This is national nursing week and I would like to thank all of the nurses across Canada who are doing exceptional work every day, and in particular during this fight against the global pandemic. Thank you for everything you do to keep us safe and healthy. You are true heroes and we appreciate it so much. Today we will hear from Canada’schief public health officer, Dr. Theresa tam, the deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Njoo, the president of the treasury board, jean-yves Duclos, and Minister patty hajdu.
Good afternoon, everyone. The latest numbers are 69, 156 confirmed cases, including 4, 906deaths, and over 32, 400, or 47% have now recovered. Labs across Canada have tested over 1, 118, 000 people for COVID-19 to date, with about 6% of these testing positive. In the past week, we’ve tested an average of 26, 000 people daily. These numbers change quickly an dare updated regularly on Canada. Ca/coronavirus. We are at the start of another week, after celebrating our mothers and caregivers, whether with us in our home, just a virtual connection away, or our beloved and unforgettable in their memories, we understand their nurturing. Nurturing is the silent catalystthat speeds up the healing of our cuts and scrapes, calms our fears, and gives us a reassurance that everything willbe okay. This brings me to a recognition of some of the important nurturers in our society. Today marks the beginning of national nursing week. We know that nurses deliver carewith the special power of nursing. We are aware of the many sacrifices they have made to be there for their patients in every area of healthcare during this crisis, but their impact goes beyond this spanning every area of healthcare services, from education, the development of guidelines, the deliver of things like vaccination, infection control, and contributing to research and innovation. Nurses contribute to wellness everywhere, and we are also verymuch better for it. So this week, let’s thank the nurses, with a 7:00 PM cheer from your driveway or shine a light in your window for all nurses. Tuesday nurses are commemoratingthe 200th anniversary of florence nightingale. Slowly, but with unshakeable purpose, she raised the standards and profile of nursingand put an indelible focus on the education of nurses. So in appreciation for the nurturing, daily sacrifices, deep expertise, and unshakeable professionalism of nurses everywhere, shine a light in your window on Tuesday night. Thank you. Merci.
Thank you very much, Dr. Tam. [voice of interpreter] and now I give the floor to Dr. Njoo.
Thank you. Hello. As usual, I will start with the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada. There are now 69, 156 confirmed cases, including 4, 906 deaths and 3, 100, roughly 47%, recovered. Labs have tested over 1, 118, 000 people across Canada for COVID-19, with about 6% of these roughly testing positive. In the last week, we’ve tested on average 26, 000 people daily. These numbers change quickly an dare updated regularly on Canada. Ca/coronavirus. We are at the start of another week, after celebrating our mothers and caregivers, whether with us in our home, just a virtual connection away, or beloved and unforgettable in ourmemories. We all share the understanding of the power of their nurturing. So My weekend reflection was on the fundamental human need for this most powerful force of good. Nurturing is that silent catalyst that speeds up the healing of our cuts and scrapes, calms our fears, and gives us a reassurance that everything willbe okay. This brings me to a special weekof recognition and acknowledgement, as some of the important nurturers in our society. Today marks the beginning of national nursing week. We all know that nurses deliver expert care with that special power of nurturing, and we have been very aware of the many sacrifices they have made to be there for their patients in every area of healthcare during this crisis. However, their expertise and impact goes far beyond this, spanning every area from education to the development of standards and guidelines, the delivery of public healthcare programs like immunization, the prevention of infection and control, and contributing to research and innovation. Nurses contribute to wellness everywhere, and we are all so much better for it. So this week, let’s all thank Canada’s nurses. Join a 7:00 PM cheer from yourdriveway. Draw a thank you sign for healthcare heroes in your community, or shine a light in awindow for all nurses on tuesdaynight. Why Tuesday? because nurses everywhere are commemorating the 200th various of the birth of florence nightingale, who revolutionized the field of nursing. It was a revolution that startedsmall, implementing hygiene and hand washing practices to save lives, by preventing the spread of life-threatening infections. Then slowly, but with unshakeable purpose, she raised the standards and profile of nursing and put an indelible focus on the education of nurses. With daily sacrifices, deep expertise, and unshakeable nurses everywhere, shine a lightin your window on Tuesday night.
Thank you, Dr. Njoo. Now I give the floor to Mr. Duclos.
Thank you, Chrystia. Hello, everyone. The Prime Minister’s main message today was about protection, keeping people safe, and also establishing a new credit program for large corporations. It is to protect workers and ensure that their collective agreements are respected and it is an investment plan to guarantee jobs, given the situation we’re living through. Second, we want to establish a solid mechanism, given the situation we’re facing, for landowners and managers. We want to avoid companies from going bankrupt. We want to ensure their pension plans are properly managed. Also, we want to protect the resilience of our economy when we do restart our economy. We hope it will be lasting and we need to make sure that large corporations will be supported, but showing that they’re fighting climate change and have solid environmental measures in place. They have to guarantee that they’re maintaining supply chains and also with small- and medium-sized companies, they arethe very fabric of our economy. So all of this is part of an emergency plan that is both fairand transparent and universal. Thank you very much, Chrystia.
Thank you very much, jean-yves. We’re happy to answer your questions now. Thank you. [end of translation].
Just a reminder that we have a hard stop at 1:00 PM, so we will start on the phone with three questions and three followups, and then turn to the room. Operator.
Operator:
Thank you. The first question is from “the Canadian press.”
Question:
[voice of interpreter] hello. Mr. Duclos, can you explain the logic behind this support for large corporations. and the airline sector, for example. We know that their medium or short-term future might be difficult given the situation. What guarantees can you give that all this money that will bespent on these companies and keeping them afloat won’t be fornaught, because they will be doing layoffs, they’ve had to cut business?
Answer:
These are emergency loans. They’re not blank cheques. So these loans will be offered to ensure we can support a transition from this crisis to avoid some of these large corporations from having to shut their doors and layoff thousands of workers. They will have to also cut supply chains that are very important between these large corporations and small- and medium-sized companies. As I said, they are the very fabric of our economic growth and economy in Canada, and notably in Quebec. So we have to make sure we protect our economic fabric throughout this crisis that we need to restart our economy, andwe know this involves an emergency loan plan for some of these large corporations. It’s not a blank cheque. In most cases, these large companies will prefer to continue to get liquidity from traditional financial markets, but they should be able to turn to canadian governments in some conditions, but there will be requirements that will be in place.
Question:
Thank you. I understood that these were loans, Mr. Duclos. But I would like to – for you to explain what will be happening for airlines. Will governments be giving companies funding to airlines? we’ve seen automotive companies did not pay back government loans. What is the logic behind helping these companies financially, particularly airlines, when we know in the short and medium term and perhaps the longer term, that they will have less and less business?
Answer:
One thing we know is these airlines will continue to see sizeable losses. What we know in the longer term is that we will need solid airlines in Canada. From a structural and a nationalperspective, these airlines and transporters in general will play a major role to protect the fabric of our Canadian economy. It is very important to protect airlines and transporters in Canada. We need to be solid so that one day we can get out of this crisis.
Next question, please. [end of translation].
Operator:
Ryan malty from the national post. Please go ahead.
Question:
This is for Dr. Tam or perhaps Minister hajdu. I’ve been talking to people about Canada’s ability to produce large quantities of vaccine when one is found for COVID-19. I wonder if that’s a concern foryou, if you think the resources are here. I know Canada does produce a lot of vaccine, but those factories are already full of other orders.
Answer:
Well, thank you very much for the question. and, in fact, that’s part of the work we’ve been doing in terms of working with promising companies across the country, particularly when it comes to vaccine production. Certainly we have a ways to go, as you know. There is quite a bit of work to do in the space of vaccine creation and production, but that is something we are workingon. My colleague Minister Bains has been extremely active in this space, making sure that canadiancompanies who have the capacity or desire to do that have support from the government to quickly ramp up. Maybe I’ll turn to Dr. Tam to speak about where the international community is at in terms of vaccine development.
Well, I think we’re still in this relatively early stage where there’s a lot of research, which is great news. I would say over 100 different candidates being looked at right now as potentials, some going into early-stage clinical trials, so it is still early stages. Nonetheless, we are engaging allthe capacities in Canada to havea look at what is the realm of possibility. We don’t have a lead candidate yet, but we are monitoring all of these and looking at domesticcapabilities linked to it. So it is a rapidly evolving setting, but we are looking downstream to when you have to vaccinate the population and thesupplies. So really the whole pipeline from beginning to end is going to be looked at from a preparedness perspective. But right now you can’t actuallysay, here is the vaccine, that will be the most successful. That is still undergoing evolution globally, but we are part of that research internationally. So I think we need to look at every option. Some of the investments that Canada puts in May not pan out to be in the end a successful candidate, but we still need to contribute right now and maximize all of our options.
Ryan, follow up.
Question:
Yeah, I just want to ask two. When I spoke with people in the industry they say Canada makes most of its own flu vaccine every year, but there’s obviously – well, one, only about 40% of Canadians get the flu vaccine, so this would presumably be larger. Those factories are tied up making that vaccine. I wonder if as a public health measure if you would reduce the amount of flu vaccine being mad ea year to made a COVID-19 vaccine, should we get there, obviously?
Answer:
I think it’s dangerous to think about things in a zero-sum way like that. We can’t keep our eye off influenza as a highly contagiousand also leading to thousands ofdeaths across Canada and the coinciding of a spike of the flu. I don’t think we would want to be in the position of decreasingthe production of an extremely valuable and important vaccine to increase the production of another. What we’re looking to do is expand the capacity and have companies across Canada that canproduce the potential COVID-19 vaccine. I’ll also point out that I thinkit’s really important that we work with the international community on the COVID-19 vaccine, as we know no country is safe ifthere is one case of COVID-19. So Canada has been working aggressively in partnership and contributing financial resourcesto the acceleration of discovering a vaccine and the eventual production of one.
I would just add that it’s not a very simple analysis because the COVID-19 vaccine, whichever is a potential candidate, may not be grown on the same platform as the influenza vaccine. For example, if you have an egg base influenza platform, that might not be how your COVID-19 vaccine is going to be produced. So it depends on the technology as well.
Thank you, doctor. Operator, next question, please.
Operator:
Our next question, your line is open.
Question:
[voice of interpreter] good afternoon. I have a question for Mr. Duclos. I’d like to follow up on a question that was asked earlier by a colleague to the Prime Minister about the easing of thelockdown. In case of doubt, should we stay at home? do we have doubts about security? can I – if I do and I don’t want to go to work, can I continue to receive the CERB?
Answer:
We are in a space where there are big doubts and safety is a question. There are a lot of households, and this is on the minds of manyworkers. There are basic rules. We have to have a good relationship with our worker, and in appropriate cases we may need help from public officials in provinces so that we can allay fears with the – and by working with employers. That’s the main objective. We want to ensure the safety of workers and also the feeling they have of being safe at work. a large part of our individual well-being depends on our well-being at work. In this difficult context which creates both doubts and insecurity, workers need to be supported by their workers and they expect appropriate measures in this work situation.
Question:
If the school or the factory where I work opens its doors, I have to reach an agreement with My employer, but at the end of the line who knows if I’m eligible for the CERB because I don’t feel it’s safe and I have fears.
Answer:
You say it quite correctly, if I feel there are health and safety issues at work, I have the responsibility to talk about this with My employer and to talk about it with health officials and experts. If the response is not as satisfactory as I want as a worker, if the basic conditions and the employer-employee relationship – well, it should be done correctly. In that case, the CERB is there to help and support millions of workers financially who do not have the ability to go to work safely or if they have to take care of a child at home or lost their job because of COVID-19.
Thank you very much. Question from the room now. [end of translation].
Question:
Minister hajdu, we just had mental health week. I’m wondering, how concerned are you about a secondary mental health echo pandemic that could happen because of all of this?
Answer:
Well, thank you very much, mike, and it’s a great question. We did just have mental health week. We know that it’s not just a secondary wave, it’s actually happening right now that many Canadians are experiencing distress in proportions that we haven’t seen in a very long time, whether it’s anxiety or depression, increased domestic violence, increased substance use. That’s why we’ve been focused on making sure we don’t wait until the resolution of the pandemic to provide resources, but ratherthey’re there right now. I’ve talked about those resources. I’ll remind Canadians you can have access to free support through the wellness port at Canada. Ca/coronavirus. That site has a number of usefulself-assessment tools and resources you can use and get a connection to professionals. We’ve also transferred money to provinces and territories for both treatment, by the way, as well as mental health supports. That’s in addition to our previous contribution through transfer increases in the last mandate. But there will be more to do. We know that this secondary pandemic, if you will, is just in many ways – I would say it’sjust as urgent as this one because of course people are struggling for a whole bunch of reasons, including our young people, and we need to be all focused at every level of government to help people managethrough these difficult times.
Question:
You talked about the wellness together portal. I’m just wondering, does that have enough supports there? do we need to do other stuff? is there enough funding? is there anything else we need to do better?
Answer:
So far I’ve heard good things about the wellness together portal and provinces and territories have their own tools and accesses to professionals in their own jurisdictions. I think there’s always more to do to understand what’s working and what’s not working. I think the challenge, having come from this sector, in some ways in My past, the challenges that oftentimes there isn’t the diversity for people. The way we treat substance uses are usually standard. I’m looking forward to having more fulsome conversations with other provinces and territories, providers, about how we can all do a better job talking about mental health and mental wellness. I think we also have to as a society continue to work on breaking down barriers to talk about mental health in a way that doesn’t create that barrier of stigma that still exists for people to talk about how they’refeeling. Many people are feeling sad and lonely and scared and those are okay feelings to have. We need to reach out and encourage everyone to speak to our families and professionals when we need to. Thank you.
Question:
Rachael ha ins from CTV national news. My first question is for Minister hajdu and Dr. Tam. Schools in some areas of Quebec are opening today, even though the numbers there are still relatively high. How concerned are you that kids are going to be used as guinea pigs in this reopening that we’re seeing and does that concern you?
Answer:
Well, I think as we’ve all said and all the chief medical officers agree, we need to do things slowly and cautiously. I think the Quebec public health authorities I’m sure are monitoring this extremely closely to see what the initial school opening would be like from a COVID-19 perspective. But as we just spoke about mental health and other aspects of secondary effects, they’re also monitoring that side of things too, not just illness. It’s a complex piece of decision-making, but also it is in some ways – you have to support parents and individuals for making that decision and also teachers. So kids are connected to teachers and their families, andthe families could be connected to grandparents, for example. So individual situations of riskthat I think are actually a bit different, and that needs to be looked at, at a more local level. To be sure, we know that children on the whole, particularly younger kids, do exhibit milder symptoms and haveless of a severe outcome. So I think that goes into one aspect of it. It is a balancing between that and the need for kids, particularly vulnerable kids, I think that’s – I know that in the public health domain, peopleare concerned that closing down schools only impacts the most vulnerable. The other thing is that childrenof essential service workers as well that need maybe some support from a school perspective.
Question:
Minister hajdu, do you have anything to add?
I think Dr. Tam covered it well.
Question:
As a follow up, we are seeing some very large cities opening up, like Toronto, for curbside pickup, but there are still again high numbers of cases there, more so than in other places of the country, where they are not reopening, even New Brunswick had pushed back some dates of school opening. Are you concerned about this imbalance of openings that we’reseeing across the country?
Answer:
Well, thank you very much. I think each jurisdiction is using the guidance framework that the provinces and territories, with the Prime Minister, worked out to make their own jurisdictional decisions along with the guidelines that Dr. Tam outlined. Premiers and local politicians are weighing decisions about how to resume some functioning of their communities, while also protecting people’s wellness. I think, as Dr. Tam talked about, the decisions are being driven through epidemiology that’s local in its context and a risk-assessment process. When Dr. Tam talked about the downside, the coming down of thepeak, I think that’s where we’reat. I think all premiers and municipal leaders understand that there will be a period of adjustment and that we will have to be taking these decisions, carefully monitoring the outcomes of these decisions, andadjusting them. I think we can anticipate that there will be adjustments as we go through the next phase, because of course this is a whole new way of behaving, not just for leaders but for the citizens who live in those communities. I think there are simple messages Canadians can take withthem, no matter which jurisdiction, wash your hands, don’t go anywhere if you’re sick, and make sure you keep your two-metre distance from people and out in the community. That will help reduce risk for the community. Thank you.
Question:
Minister Freeland, the premier of Ontario, Doug ford, on Friday was very adamant, he doesn’t want to see the United States border reopened any time soon. Can you address his concerns about that, given that the agreement comes up in a week. Very specifically he said, if you go about relaxing restrictions at borders for travel, there needs to be ten-fold screening at airports. What pleas has your government gotten to address those concerns?
Answer:
Thank you for the conversation. We had a very good conversation with the premier on Thursday at the now weekly first ministers’ call about the Canada-United States border in particular. We are really daily, even hourly, reviewing and working onand monitoring the border situation with our United States partners. The Prime Minister was very clear today, as he is every day, that we believe in acting out ofan abundance of caution, that webelieve it’s very important not to squander the gains that Canadians have sacrificed so much to achieve, and we are going to be taking that prudent and careful approach when it comes to reviewing our border agreement with the United States. The premiers very much, including premier ford, offered some very useful input in the conversation on Thursday and we’re having ongoing conversations with the americans.
Question:
I’m not sure that was an answer, but that’s okay.
Answer:
No, that was an answer. What I said was we’re working closely with the Americans, thatwe’re taking a cautious and careful approach, and we had a great and useful conversation with the premiers, who by and large share this cautious view.
Question:
So is there a need for ten-fold increase in screening at borders as premier ford said?
Answer:
When it comes to the second part of your question, actual measures that are in place at the border, right now the situation is working well. In fact, I think particularly at the Canada-United States border, the distinction between essential and nonessential travel has managed to achieve our two objectives of keeping Canadians safe and at the same time allowing those essential goods and services to continue moving freely across the border, so that has and is working. Of course, inevitably as our economy starts to open up, something we’ve been talking about today, even absent a single change in Canada’s borderrestrictions, we will see more travel across the border. We will see more Canadians choosing to go back and forth, and we will see more business activity which will mean more essential travel. That wilill mean the federal government will need to do even more at all of our borders to keep Canadians safe and well. That is something we are workingon now and we are focused on.
Thank you, deputy Minister. We’ll go back to the phone for three questions. Operator.
Operator:
Thank you. Our next question is from Le devoir.”
Question:
[voice of interpreter] Dr. Njoo and Mr. Duclos, I want to go back to something My colleague asked you about. We’re restarting the economy. There are employers who are calling workers back. In some cases, workers don’t think they’re safe. I understand that you are trying to encourage the conversation between employers and employees about work safety, but if they don’t reach a mutual understanding and the worker still doesn’t want to go back towork, should they receive the CERB or not?
Answer:
Thank you for your question. The CERB is there to help workers in three types of circumstances. First, if the worker lost their job because of COVID-19. Second, if this person needs to take care of a child at home. Third, if this person needs help to ensure their health and safety. That is what the employer-workerrelationship reposes on. The employer has the responsibility to guarantee the health and safety of the worker at their workplace, but also they have to ensure that worker has the feeling and the reassurance of safety and that their health will also be protected. In all cases, this reassurance and this feeling depends on an important conversation between the worker and the employer. As I said, this conversation mayneed to be supported by directives and additional information from health officials and health and safety officials across the country and, notably, in Quebec. So it really depends on an individual context.
Question:
You’re still not answering My question, so I’m not going to lose My time talking more about that. But I’d like to hear what you have to say about the student CERB. The bill was adopted almost two weeks ago. There’s a certain amount of latitude being taken. We’ve heard that students will be given available jobs and that the – they will be able to Erna certain amount of money and still receive this assistance. Do you have anything more to say about that?
Answer:
Two things. The emergency support for students is offered in a much broader context. There are solid measures to increase jobs available for students. Many students will have a hard time finding a job. They’d like to find one rather than receiving the CERB for students. Therefore, we established measures to support internships, volunteer work for students, so that we can support community organizations. There’s a Canada summer job program. There are certain measures that will be there to enhance jobs, increase the jobs that are available, but there will still be some students that won’t be able to work in the coming months. The second thing that will be done in cooperation with the Minister of revenue and ms. Qualtrough, the Minister of employment, is to announce a mechanism so that students be able to receive the student CERB.
Thank you, Minister. Next question. [end of translation].
Operator:
The next question is Laura osmond with “the Canadian press.” please go ahead.
Question:
Good afternoon, this question is for Minister hajdu and Dr. Tam. Some experts have expressed concerns about the way Canada gathers important health data, particularly related to deaths that could cause a delay in getting important epidemiological data. Why is this process still behind in Canada and is it hindering Canada’s ability to gather that important data that other countries have ready access to?
Answer:
Yes, so we are in the process of looking at that data with statistics Canada, because it’s not just about COVID-19 deaths, it’s also looking at some of the other impacts. So that is actually something that is taking place. As well, we are in contact with coroners and medical examiners to look at what they can contribute to as well. We started that – building that capacity as part of our ongoing crisis in terms of drug-related poisonings and overdoses. So we are going to try to link with that platform as well. It’s a very important point. a number of pieces of data that we’re looking at right now to look at those in parallel or unintended consequences.
Laura, follow up.
Question:
Thank you. Other countries seem to have a more automated process for getting this type of information. is Canada’s platform sort of behind the times on this?
Answer:
Well, I think we have highlighted some of the gaps in the real-time information on thecovid-19 deaths themselves. So I think we are doing our verybest with the provinces to try and see if we can address those gaps, so I think that’s clear, particularly in the area of thisaggregated data. Statistics Canada will look at the statistical analyzes. It’s interesting that the reporting of deaths is actually not that real time overall, whenyou consider the fact that that’s a very specific outcome. But it’s something that we’re looking at to see if there’s different ways we can address that. I think access to mortality is something we have to look at right now in parallel with the COVID-19 deaths.
Thank you, doctor. Operator, next question, please.
Operator:
Our next question is from Alex ballingal at the Toronto star.”
Question:
Thank you for taking My question. I think it’s for Minister hajdu. Just, we’ve seen based on our analysis from some of colleagues in Toronto and Ontario that private or for-profit long-term care homes have had significantly more deaths from COVID-19 than public ones. I’m wondering what you think of that and if in the reviews of our long-term care system and how we care for vulnerable people in Canada, if looking at changing the way that for-profitcare is allowed, whether that would be bringing it into the public system, and that’s something you think should be looked at and done.
Answer:
Thank you very much, Alex. I think I’ve been really clear that there is this health crisis has really shone a light on some particular vulnerabilities in long-term care. Obviously data is starting to emerge about certain characteristics of long-term care that have created even morerisks for people who live there. I think our government is very open to reviewing how long-term care is delivered in this country and working with provinces and territories to strengthen quality of life and safety for seniors that live in congregate living settings, and I would say all congregate settings, although there is a focus on long-term care, there are other groups of individuals that live in congregate settingsand are vulnerable. I’m thinking of people with disabilities, for example, or other special needs that may be supported in group settings. In particular, in terms of long-term care, I don’t think there is a Minister amongst us that would disagree that we needto do a better job and the federal government can play someleadership role in this. We are having those conversations as we speak. Not only in terms of how we renew that system in the future, but also how we better support long-term care right now, in terms of how that care is delivered and under what model to ensure that seniors are saferin their homes.
Rosemary:
We are going to pull away from the federal briefing to wrap up what we’ve heard over the last hour with my colleagues Vassy kapelos and David Cochrane. Patty hajdu just mentioning that the federal government is open to looking at and reviewing long-term care in this country. Dr. Theresa tam said that thoughlong-term care cases in this country account for 20% of all cases, it’s 80% of all deaths. That’s going to have to be addressed in a fundamental way. The federal government will have to pony a fair amount of cash assome restructuring happens there.
Vassy:
a couple of things. The question about the border. This was something we saw late in the day on Friday, the premier of Ontario, Doug ford, coming out saying he was adamant. He also said with premier john Horgan of British Columbia, that they do not want the restrictions on the border eased any time soon and the number of screenings done at the border should be increased. Some questions posed to deputy Prime Minister Chrystia freelandon that. No specific answer given, but I get the impression that there is no desire on the part of the federal government to ease the restrictions. That seems to be of primary concern for premiers, obviously given what’s happening with cases in the United States. That will have long-term implications for the economy as well as the relationship betweenour two countries. That’s something to watch. The other thing is the CERB. Obviously premier franÇois legault in Quebec is echoing some of the concerns from premier brian pallister in Manitoba about that this looks like going forward. I spoke to Minister carla qualtrough late last week on theheels of the devastating numbers. She said the government is waiting to see how much of an uptick there is for the wage subsidy. How many people are covered by that and can draw away from the CERB, but if there isn’t a matthewsing over to that program, they would consider extending the CERB and not getting rid of it.
Rosemary:
David, the question of can you get it and not go to work because you don’t feel safe, it sounds like something you have to work out with your employer. I’m not sure how that will work.
David:
No matter how many times jean-yves Duclos or the deputy Prime Minister is asked about it, there is no time thereis going to be a revocation support program from workers to put pressure on them to go back to work if they don’t feel safe, when there is already a 16-week expiry on the books. You have seen some United States states where they did the reopening, business didn’t necessarily comeback, so there is not as much need for the pre-pandemic workforce. Other countries are seeing restrictions lifted and cases spike, so they pull back. On the border issue, to this point the closures and the extensions have been mutual and done by joint agreement. What happens if it gets to the point and if trump is under pressure to start reopening things in an election year and the job market and economy and trade are such a big part of what he likes to talk and campaign about. That is a situation they will have to delicately manage going forward.
Rosemary:
Thank you both. You can watch Vassy kapelos on her show, “power & politics.” and, David, you will be on “the national”. if you think you might be hired back over the wage subsidy program, don’t apply for the CERB. I’m rosemary Barton. This is the CBC news network. Andrew Nichols picks up our coverage after a short BR