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 Tuesday, giving us an update on his government’s approach to fighting the pandemic. a little earlier than usual because he will be at the COVID-19 virtual committee that gets started at noon eastern and we’ll bring that to you live as well. Let’s bring in My colleagues,
Vassy cal» – Vassy kapelos and David Cochrane. I cut you off early because the Prime Minister came out. Obviously the big announcement today for seniors. Lots of people tweeting me wanting more information, primarily when is it coming. Vassy, over to you for all that.
Vassy:
I was getting the same tweets so I quickly texted the spokesperson for minute sh er Schultz, the Minister for seniors, who says it will be automatic. So, if you are already receiving old age security or the guaranteed income supplement, or both, you will automatically get this money and that will happen within a matter of weeks. As soon as possible. is thigh don’t anticipate any big hang-up about that. I know there are questions about your own eligibility for it or if you had it clawed back. I’m working on getting those answer as as well so we’ll try to update viewers throughout the day. But the big news is you don’t have to, much like the opposite of the CERB or student benefit, you will not have to go into a portal and apply for this. It’s automatic. The total cost of the programme is about 2.5 billion and you heard the nature of the questions both the Prime Minister and Minister of seniors, do they need to do more? are they considering more? and I thought the Prime Minister’s answer was interesting because we’re all clinging to any sign of a prediction about how long this scenario might last and his answer was that this is the money for right now and we know that they calculated this amount of money based on increased incremental costs for seniors. Instead of taking public transportation or getting groceries delivered. But if this were to continue longer, he used the example of six months. If this type of quote-unquote shutdown or lockdown would happen, then the amount of money or the programmes through which that mean is delivered could be amended. That is similar to things that the government has said and the Prime Minister specifically about other financial aid measures. We know that there is always the possibility that they are extended. The cost already is quite great when you put it together. Looking at deficit of $250 billion and that is just for the next few months. If this scenario lasts longer, which is the biggest because we’re seeing various provinces re-open parts of their economies, it look like the federal government is signaling at least, and just signaling – there are no details – that it is prepared to offer more assistance if necessary.
Rosemary:
Yeah. and just to – lots of people are also asking me, so it’s 6.7 million Canadians who have the o. a.s., old age security. and of that, 2.2 million who are eligible for the guaranteed income supplement. So, the people really struggling the most who will get the biggest top-up here of $500. They have done a couple of other things, the government has. The one-time special payment through the g. S.t. and then they did allow flexibility around pulling out your rrsps in terms of the minimum withdrawal needed. I’m going to get you to talk about the border there because I thought the Prime Minister had interesting things to say on the day when the senate is hearing from the c. D.c. and Dr. Fauci about how the United States is far from out of the woods yet.
Reporter:
Yeah. The deal to keep the border closed except for essential traffic expires on the 21st of may, but sure doesn’t sound like there is any rush to re-open that beyond the current conditions that are in place right now. I mean, there may be, as the deputy Prime Minister suggested a relaxing or broadening of what constitutes as essential travel as more economic activity returns to normal. But the usual free for all of Canadians and americans crossing that border seems a long way away. Like lot of things seem right now a long way away. It seems like this could go on to the point that the three of us will be qualifying for o. a.s. At a certain point. [laughter]I want to just go back to that, about the aid announced for seniors. One of persistent questions has been why has it taken so long to get to direct financial aid for people who are on fixed incomes and that kind of answers the question. If you look at this response as an economic emergency room where the government has had to do triaage on absolutely everything, it is the people who lost all of their income, who needed the immediate and urgent help and that is where things like the CERB and e. I. things came into place because it was a catastrophic loss of income. What you’ve seen with seniors, most seniors, not all seniors, is an a incremental erosion of the buying power and incremental increase of their expenses and this is why, because of the fixed income there was no catastrophic drop in their income, it was a gradual rise to things like dispensing fees because you can’t get three months of prescriptions now. You can only get one month. This is why it has taken a little bit longer. and as for the questions of why only a one-time payment, it wasstomy what we saw with the Canada child benefit where families got up to $300 per child as a one-time payment. I was just speaking with someone in the Prime Minister’s office. These are buttons they can press again and again and again as needed. They needed to create whole new programmes for the wage six did to put the floor under the vast majority, more than I think it is about 9.5 million Canadians that are getting aid right now through both of those programmes. This is different if you are relying on market investments and that is a whole other conversation. God forbid if we’re still locked down in six months they can do more here by pressing these button and make changes to r. S.p. Withdrawals and things like that. a first big step for seniors here. I don’t know if this will be the entirety of what we see in terms of support for people over the age of 65.
Rosemary:
Thank you, both. If you get the o. a.s. Top-up for couple or per individual. Old age security is not calculated per couple. It’s per individual. So if you are living with your husband or wife, you will get $300 each. It’s different than the g. S.t. Which is based on a couple, so in case you were wonder action that, too. Let’s bring in someone who has been wanting to hear more about that and that is joan mcdougall and she is retired and she relies on her investment income. She is based in halifax. Nice to see you. How are you?
I’m fine, thank you very much.
Rosemary:
Good. You were throng all of these announcement this is morning. I know you’ve been on red alert for some news for seniors. What do you make of what the Prime Minister and the ministers had to say?
You know, it’s interesting because the Prime Minister has been saying, at least for a month, probably two months now, that he has our back as a Canadians. and actually, after today’s announcement, My back still feels a bit breezy, if you will. [chuckling]the announcements, I think, are positive. Every little bit counts when you are on a fixed income. and that is good. It does help to offset some of the rising costs that we’re seeing. But, you know, there was an election fronts increase o. a.s. By 10%. this is last fall. and also for widows benefits by 25%. nothing was said about that tad and I know he indicated it is a short-term and hopefully a stepped approach. I would wonder is that still going to happen? both of those benefits would impact me significantly and I think for many seniors as well. My worry, I guess, is more deeper and long-term. I’m one of the lucky seniors. My day-to-day expenses haven’t really been imkt paed that much. I can still manage them. So My worry is deeper and maybe it has to do with the crisis in the financial markets where we’ve been saving and having invested our retirement savings. and that is what causes me the stress and I want it addressed to some extent. I would have loved to have seen today something like having a choice. We could have left all of our risks invested because not only would you get a bit of a tax cut for next year, but it would allow time for the portfolio to recover a bit hopefully on the heel. and we don’t really know – the Prime Minister mentioned today six months. That jolted me. I was thinking three months. Six months would be – that has a lot more impact. Most seniors, myself included, I think one of our main goals, if you will, is to live independently as long as we can. and to do that, you need to have market stability in the money that you’ve invested. No matter how small or large it is. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more addressing of that and maybe that will happen in the next few days.
Rosemary:
You are certainly well-briefed here, joan. You do follow this closely. I will say that they did make that little change on the risk by reducing the minimum withdraws by 25% for this year. But I understand what you’re saying, you’re quite right – they promised to do more for old age security, saying they would increase it by 10% once a senior turns 75 and they promised to do that by July and that would have been more significant than what they have announced as a one-time payment today. That is worth asking the government whether they intend to follow through with that. and whether that could have solved some of the problems here. What is the main concern for you then? it’s that you can’t sort of budget, not knowing that you have, you know, some of your money in the markets and you’re little worried about that?
Caller:
Yeah. My money is basically invested. Maybe I would have been better to put it in My mattress, I don’t know. [laughter]but that is My worry. It’s more of a little bit of a long-term. I’m going to be 75 in October. So, I’m getting up there where you can look ahead and hope that you’re going to have enough to live on, certainly and maybe just a little bit left over for your kids and grandkids. So, that worry is mine. Short term, yes, I’m seeing rising cost in food. Flour and things like that. But for me, I guess I’m a lucky senior that I don’t rely on that and it is a day-to-day, I haven’t noticed a lot. I’m not spending a lot because I’m staying at home basically. That could change as the market opens.
Rosemary:
Sure. Sure.
So I don’t want to count My chickens yet. [laughter]
Rosemary:
How are you doing, just in terms of living with this. You said you’ve got kids and grandkids. I’m not sure if you’ve been able to see them yet, given the situation in Nova Scotia, which is not too bad right now. How are you coping it with emotionally, if you don’t mind me asking?
I’m pretty good, I guess. I’m basically coping. My son lives in Edinburgh in England and I’m more worried about him because it’s a bad situation there. But we’re able to get online and chat. My daughter lives pretty close to me and she has two young grandchildren. I found that a lot harder. You know, I have recently been going over doing some backyard visits, if you will. At first the kids were up on their deck and I was down in the yard. and we’re venturing a little bit closer. So that’s good. But you still can’t give them a hug. You can’t promise a sleepover or sit and read with them. All the things as grandparents you love to do. and that is heartbreaking. and they always say that with older people, isolation is harder. and I think it really is. and especially as it relates to your family. When they’re quite close. It’s a big change for everybody.
Rosemary:
Yeah. Can I ask – I had a man on last week, a senior, older than you. But also living at home and doing very well. Do you worry, given what you’re seeing with long-term care centres, about your future and how that might be managed or have you thought about, you know, the fact that you would want to stay in your house much longer? because it is a sort of scary situation, I think, for a lot of people right now.
Oh, absolutely. I think – My mother died last year prior to COVID-19. She was 98 and she lived in a long-term care facility and she got excellent care. But I recognized at the time those poor people, the staff were run off their feet. and they were underpaid. Most of them had to take two or three jobs. As for myself, I want to be as independent as I can for as long as I can. and seeing on a first – seeing that up close with My mom made me want to put it off to as long as I can. But I mean, basically the important thing is that the government or collect governments do something to rectify that situation. It was heartbreaking to see all these people dying on their own in these homes. But really jolting for somebody in their mid 70s myself because I expected or I assumed that as My end of years, if you will, that I would be in these homes, too. and I assumed they would be safe and I also assumed that I have enough money to see me through, to tide me over for My needs. and then have a little bit leftover. So I really think that’s the important thing, that we get that situation in these homes taken care of. I think a lot of it has to do with the age of the homes and the buildings themselves. My mom was in two separate nursing homes. One had a much better building structure and that made a huge difference in the care. For example, the nurses could see all the people in their little units where their station was. In the newer home where mom went to, that was impossible. So, and then you have these homes and in halifax, for example, who are having terrible difficulties. I think that is a 10 or 11-storey apartment building, if you will. Very narrow hallways and I did go in there to visit a friend last year. I was shocked because all I could think of was if there was ever a fire in that building how would they ever get out? and one of two seniors that I was visiting, I don’t think she could get up at the same time in the morning as her roommate because it was so narrow. It was terrible. Terrible way to end up. So I think that’s a really important thing. For everybody. Collectively for seniors and I do worry about it. I’m hoping that I can put that situation off for as long as I can.
Rosemary:
Well, you look like you’re nowhere near there so I’m glad to see that and I’ll try to get you an answer on what the government plans to go do with o. a.s. With their election promise. I promise to do that for you. Joan, thank you for talking to us. Good chating with you and I wish you good health and hope you get to see your grandkids pretty soon.
Thank you.
Rosemary:
That is Joan mcdougall in Halifax, a senior reacting to the news today that the government is increase,, giving you a one-time tax-free benefit if you have old age security of $300 and additional $200 if you are on a guaranteed income supplement. But I want to turn our attention to someone else who’s doing something difference than usual right now as we all try to find ways to pitch in and help in different ways in our communities and this is Saskatchewan’s opposition leader. He’s dusted off his stethoscope and returned to practicing medicine to help in the fight. Dr. Brian bailey is currently the MLA For saskatoon and the leader of the new democratic party there and he joins us from saskatoon. Good to see you.
Good to see you, rosemary. How are you doing today?
Rosemary:
I’m good. I think you are in your political office there, in your actual job office. Tell me, though, why you decided to do this.
You know, we’re just seeing so many people stepping up and so many exceptional ways across the province, across the country. and I certainly wanted to be part of the effort in responding to COVID-19, having the family medicine training. I wanted to be able to help out and be part of the team that’s responding to COVID-19, especially in the core neighbourhoods and the city of Saskatoon where I live and work.
Rosemary:
and what have you been doing? you’re a family physician. Have they just thrown you in there, or what kinds of things have you been doing?
Kind of just threw me in there. I’m working at COVID-19 testing site at an inner city school. So, there we test people for COVID-19 as well as address any other health needs they might have. and I also work at the lighthouse, which is the largest housing shelter in Saskatoon and I’m doing a weekly clinic there as well.
Rosemary:
and have you – were you concerned at any point about your own safety? did you contemplate the risk involved in doing this?
Certainly we had those conversations. My wife’s a pediatrician so she’s working with patients as well. and we have two little kids so we want to make sure that we’re able to keep taking care of them. Really that comes down to the same kind of risks that everyone is taking in health care as well, though. and just means being really careful and making sure that we’re using the right protection and being cautious about cleaning up when we come home, etc. But we know it is a risk. We could end up catching COVID-19 and that is the same risk anybody is working in health care takes.
Rosemary:
What about this virus do you find so disturbing? either from something that you’ve seen up close or snag you’re hearing?
It is such an invisible threat. It’s something that can catch up with people and it’s so hard to know and so you have to be constantly vigilant. Think about the community of la louche where it’s far in the north. People probably thought it’s unlikely to come there and now it’s the worst community outbreak in the country. and it’s just such a sneaky virus and you have to be so careful to avoid getting it.
Marcy:
That leads me to have you put on your other hat. and Saskatchewan has done pretty well in terms of containing thou break there. I’m not sure how many cases you have today. But what is your assessment of the the re-opening strategy the premier has put in place, given that in northern Saskatchewan there is something different happening there?
I think that northern situation really needs to give us pause and make sure that we’re approaching this re-opening really carefully, understanding what the cues will be to back off if we start to see a big spike in cases and that is My big hope is that the premier and the leadership will make sure that they’re being led by data and not by dates. That they’re not locked in by such and such a date, that they’re making sure to watch the case load and ready to pull back if we do see an increase. We all want to see the economy open up again. We all want to be interacting with our friends and neighbourhoods and shopping and doing all of those normal parts of life so we want to make sure that that’s done in a way that is really, really safe.
Rosemary:
Ok. So good to talk to people who have these other professions and get back in them to help out. I commend you for that. Thank you for making the time. Appreciate it.
Thank you so much. Have a great day.
Rosemary:
You, too. Thank you for speaking with me. As we’ve been talking about, the government’s announcement today really focused on seniors. $2.5 billion to help many seniors who get old age security and guaranteed income supplement. We’ll talk about that and more after we take short break. The COVID-19 committee in parliament is sitting at the top of the clock. We’ll bring you that, too. I’m rosemary Barton. This is CBC news network.
Rosemary:
Thanks for joining” streaming wherever you are, on our app or CBC. Ca. Millions of older Canadians can expect to see a bit more money in their bank account. There will be $2.5 billion in financial aid to offset some particular extra costs that may have happen. The federal government says it will continue to work with the provinces to find lastingsolutions. We’ll hear more from federal minister and the prime minister any minute now as the COVID-19committee ramps up its virtualsession at around noon, butbefore we get to that, I’llbring in My colleague, davidcochran and vassey kapelos foranother take on what we’ve heardfrom ministers and the Prime Minister. Vassy, you had more details, because joan was great. She knew a lot and brought upthe points that I had wanted totalk about, too, which was thepromise the liberals made aboutold age security during theelection, that they wouldincrease it soon, I think injuly, was the intent.
Vassy:
Both she and you reminded me of that promise, that the liberals made, ibelieve, back in September of that year and it was a two-partpromise directly addressingsenior’s issues with incomesupport. With the oas, once you turn 75, you would get a 10% increase andthen with the cpp, there’s asurvivor’s benefit for widowsand they promised to increasethat by 25%. and My understanding is, and icouldn’t find the date for thecpp promise, but you’re right, for the oas promise, that wassupposed to happen in jim. The bottom line, this is notgoing ahead and I think that issignificant because I think itwas supposed to lead to anincrease of more than $700, anextra $729 each year. The promise from the liberals isthat it would lift 20, 000seniors out of the poverty. They’re not saying it wouldn’thappen but they are focused onthese measures, specifically asthey relate to the pandemic andaddressing the need that hasarisen because of the pandemicand reading between the lines, that means this is not coming injuly. I don’t know when it is coming. They promise it is at somepoint. To joan’s point, that’sinteresting for a number ofseniors who will benefit fromwhat they’re promising with thepandemic. It’s a one-time payment and itis posed to address theincremental cost but there is anoverall feeling that the cost ofliving for seniors wasincreasing and that there neededto be more done.
Rosemary:
and you sort of wonder if you were going to do it anyway and it doesn’t require legislation – I understandwe’re in the middle of pandemic – but why not do it so that that additional bit of money comes to Joan and people like her. Anyway, David, over to you.
David:
This is one of the things the government is dealingwith. It made a lot of promises in the election and the world has been turned upside down. I was talking to people last week about the enormous deficits the country would run and facing and the plan for getting these things under control and really, the deficit spending will continue well into the economic recovery phase. We were talking about the border reopening earlier. You can’t have an economic recovery in Canada until you have a recovery in the United States. It’s such a driver of commerce and trade and we’re so intertwined that until things get to some normal, they won’tget to growth phase up here. So one of the issues they’re now looking at is going slower on allot of the election promises. At no point did that promise 45%would be on a wage subsidy as we head into the summer season in the country. So a lot of things they prompted to do, you have to wonder wherepharmacare is going to go. This is a multi billion dollar ticketed item that they we reelected on and promised to do with support from the other opposition parties and how do you move ahead with something like that when you have 7.7people getting CERB and the others qualify for the wagesubsidy. a lot of things they promised they have to go slower on because of the spike in pandemiccosts.
Rosemary:
I would say, do you move forward with pharmacareif you know you have a long-termcrisis and maybe that the moneyshould go there? back to the border, if I can, because My wonderful producer, phil, who you all know now saidthat yesterday British Columbia raisedissues around this, as well. This is another province raisingissues that we know over thepast couple of days but morethan 2500 americans wereactually turned away from tryingto get into Canada between march22nd and March 23rd. It is a live issue for premiersand it’s obviously an issue fortravelers. There are people who are stillnot really understanding thattraveling across the border isnot wise right now and Vassy, I’ll get you to weigh in.
Vassy:
What’s interesting as we weigh into the deadline for the iteration before thisexpiring, the conditions havechanged. Many of the states have, to adegree, have reopened theireconomies. Not all by any means, but a lot of them and to the deputy Prime Minister’s point, that will likely increase traffic. Does that mean they try to keep the agreement in place? it sounds like most of the premiers are on board. The word Doug ford used last week is he is adamant and doe snot want those restrictions lifted but you have to wonder what the conversation is like behind the scenes. If the economies south of the border are reopening and there’san increase in traffic, what does that mean for the borderitself? do we have the resources there needed to screen those people, to turn them away, if necessary? if in March, the numbers were high for turning back, you have to wonder if they’re lifted or the economies reopen, what that means for traffic at the border. I think it becomes a core complicated live issue for the government as we’re not in thisshutdown, lock down mode and there are these changes on both sides of the border that ultimately change thediscussion, too.
Rosemary:
I found that the prime Minister’s word’s today were far more definitive thanpast. This is about preventing transmission from the outside to the inside, he said, and that will be an essential part of how we evaluate and we’ll be careful about international travel, including United States, before we feelit’s time we won’t do anything. But as David mentioned, the pressure on the americanpresident and the pressure exerted by the americanpresident is another point. We’ll go to the chief public health officer right now and we will shortly take you inside thecovid-19 committee when it getsunderway. Let’s listen.
Among these, including personal support workers, orderlies and patient attendant shave lost their lives due to complications of COVID-19. Remember on this 200th anniversary of florencenightengail’s birthday, shine alight and make an extra light for those who work around the clock to be there for us when we need them most. Thank you. Merci.
There are now 70, 342confirmed cases, including 5, 149deaths and 33, 254 or 47% nowrecovered. They are theft ed over 1, 145, 0005across Canada. We’re testing an average of26, 000 to 28, 000 people a day and these numbers change quickly and are updated regularly on the website Canada. Ca/coronavirus. Last week, I mentioned thedisproportionate impact andsevere outcomes of COVID-19 onour seniors, particularly thosein long-term care and assistedfacilities. An estimated 20% of COVID-19cases are linked to long-termcare homes, but over 80% of alldeaths are among seniorsresiding in those settings. These people include nurses whowe are celebrating on thisnational nurse’s week, but alsothe personal support workers andthe many other essential staffthat deliver care and servicesto our elders, parents andgrandparents. Healthcare workers not onlydeliver health and personal careservices, but they alsoestablish familiarity, friendship, they offer companionship and they have personalinteraction and provide simplehuman kindness, all of which isas vital as any medicine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, their work has becomeimmeasurably harder. They have shown up and despitestaffing shortages and their ownfears, they worked long hoursand have taken extra shifts andin some cases, they haveisolated from their ownfamilies. Tragically, some of the leastcompensated and recognised ofthese workers, includingpersonality support workers, orderlies and patient attendantshave lost their lives due tocomplications of COVID-19.
Rosemary:
Ok. we’ll pull away from the federal briefing. You can watch that on ourwebsite. We’ll go to the virtual covidcommittee where we will find the prime Minister taking questions.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Our focus has been to get the help out to Canadians. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, our priority from the beginning is to make sure that Canadians get the support they need. We moved very quickly to get thecanada emergency response benefit out, to get the wage subsidy out and to helpcanadians in this unprecedented situation and we recognised that will be challenges and we’regoing to work through thosechallenges, but our priority, every step of the way was to make sure we helped as manycanadians as possible.
We’ll go to Mr. Elvis now.
Can the prime minister confirm this has been given to federal employees?
Right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Our focus has been on helping as many people as we can. The decision from the very beginning was to get the help out to people and to figure outwith retroactive action, ifnecessary, where and when they may have been fraudulent use.
The next question.
Mr. Speaker, this came from a memo issued by a deputyminister. Did the Minister’s office or the prime Minister sign off on thismemo?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Agdsituation, our focus has been on helping as many people as possible as quickly as possible. and other people, other parties might have made a different choice had they been ingovernment, but our focus was getting help out to people when they needed it as quickly as possible and cleaning it up.
Mr. Speaker, I asked simple question, did the Prime Minister or his Minister sign off on this memo issued by the deputy Minister? yes or no?
Right honourable prime
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, we have been focused on getting help out to canadianswhen they need it and that hasmeant, yes, there will be things we need to clean up after the fact and work to fix. But getting that help intocanadian’s pockets during this pandemic was our priority.
We’ll go back now.
I’m asking the prime minister to show accountability. Did he or his office sign off on this memo.
The right honourable prime
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, My office and I have been absolutely focused on getting the help the canadiansthat was necessary. Perhaps, as Mr. Alba pointsout, other parties would have been slower to get the moneyout. We were flowing money to people who needed it.
Obviously the prime ministerdoesn’t seem comfortable with the answer. Will he at least, then, commit to every individual case of fraud or will he write it off as the story is said?
The right honourable prime
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, in this unprecedented situation, Canadians have lost their job sand Canadians have lost theirpaycheques, don’t know howthey’ll be able to support loved ones and pay for theirgroceries. We made a decision as a country that we would be there for them, and that has been and will continue to be our priority.
We’re asking a simple question here, will he commit as a government to enforce the rule of law that says that if someone commits fraud, that it will be followed up and pursued?
Right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Mi rand as a government is to support Canadians, is to protect them and that is what we aredoing, by giving them the support they need through this unprecedented situation. Perhaps other parties don’tthink it’s as important to support Canadians. Wee will keep focused on supporting Canadians.
That’s not what I’m askinghere, Mr. Speaker. Conservative support legislation allowed supports to go through. What we’re asking about isfraud. All along we’ve been told fraud will be detected through audits after the fact and expect that to happen. Can the Prime Minister at least confirm that this will happen?
Right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Whtwe needed to move quickly to help Canadians, we knew that there would be a need to cleanup after the fact, to go after fraudulent cases and we will dothat. But our priority now and in the coming months is to ensurecanadians get the support they need and our economy comes roaring back. That’s what we’re focused on. (speaking french).
We will now be continuing. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yesterday, the prime minister announced large employers emergency financing facilities, freight. Even better, he announced these loans were conditional and that they not be guilty of taxation. Wow! the rather abusive tax evasion or avoidance. Businesses that take advantage of tax havens and who do so legally will still have access to this emergency credit. Why is the prime minister continuing to support profitprofiteers?
Our priority is workers across the country who may lose their jobs and who have lost their jobs and that is why we are moving forward with measures to support workers and that will continue to be our priority.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I hear the prime minister say no tolerance for taxavoidance, I – or tax evasion, I AM thrilled, butunfortunately, that’s not the reality on the ground. Avoidance is a legal use of taxstrategies, all five major bank stake advantage of it, big corporations and we have to fight back against thesecompanies. Can the Prime Minister and government act to make illegal what is immoral? the right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Whefinancing facility, we said those who wish to reserve thetaxpayer’s money under these exceptional circumstances have to have contributed by paying their fair share of taxes. That is why we are putting in place measures that look closely at the tax structures of these companies before lending money to them.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. When a bank moves its most profitable activities else wherein Canada, they’re in Canada but registered in the Bahamas or another tax haven, do they consider that that company is doing its fair share and paying taxes in Canada?
Thank you, right honourable prime Minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We will be assessing on a case by case basis the applications for the large employer’semergency fund and facility. We do not expect the major banks to access these funds, but we will ensure whoever does apply for these funds is transparent with the way they are managing their money, including their international operations before we lend them money.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Now consumers are paying more and more with their creditcards. This is profitable for visa andmaster-card who chargeunbelievable high fees, almostten times what people pay ineurope and australia and costingour retailers a fortune. Can the Prime Minister do thesame thing as done in europe andaustralia and limit theinterchange fees to 0.3%, thankyou. Right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Th. We are always seeking to reduce costs for consumers. We are working with the financial institutions and the major banks to find help and provide access to people who need it. We’re always looking at ways to lower costs for consumers, but right now, we are sending money to consumers who need it the most across the country to get through this crisis and that is what we shall continue to have as a priority.
Yes, the question wasn’tabout consumers but aboutretailers. a credit card that charges 2.5%or 3% per transaction lowers profit margins and enriches our credit card companies to the detriment of our retailers. I invite our Prime Minister to be inspired by practises ineurope and Australia and limit the interchange fees to 0.3%. right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
We are continuing to work with the major banks and credit card companies to help consumers during these exceptional and difficult circumstances. Of course, there are things thatwe’ll be able to look at in the longer term, as well. Thank you.
We’ll now go on to miss quan.
Thank you. Instead of providing a universal direct payment for all, the government has decided to implement a programme that leaves many people behind. a single parent with foursingle-aged children lost herincome but she’s not eligiblefor CERB. It has been more than weeks, andstill no action. Will the Prime Minister step inand fix this gap so that thesingle parents and theirchildren can get the supportthey need during this pandemic?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
I’mhappy, Mr. Speaker, to correct the honourable member to point out that we actually moved in the most rapid and simplest possible way in providing income replacement to millions upon millions of Canadians who need edit with the Canadian responsebenefit. However, as the member pointsout, when one moves quickly andefficiently, there will be gap sand that’s why we’ve been working diligently to try to fill those gaps. We want to make sure thecanadians need help get it.
Mr. Quan.
The Minister of employment has been aware of this for three weeks and says she was looking into it and still there’s noaction. The truth of the matter is that single parents and theirchildren, depending on spousal support and child maintenance are not getting support. Will the Prime Minister fix thisgap.
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
We recognise the particular challenge faced by families, by single parents, by families with young children, which is why we increased the amount of thecanada child benefit to be able to support people in in this particular moment. We have looked to fill further gaps with the response benefit, well over seven millions have access to that.
Mr.. Quan.
That does not replace spousal and child maintenance, Mr. Prime Minister. Across the country, there is no national standard to address the homelessness crisis, leaving communities at heightened risk. Canadians who are homeless or living in sub standard housing have no access to bathroom facilities for basic hygiene. Those lived in shelters cannot practise social distancing. The problem is particularly acute in My riding, in the downtown east side. While the British Columbia government has implemented an initiative to house some of the homeless population in empty hotels in the short-term, supports on thefederal government is needed tosecure permanent solutions postcovid-19. Will the Prime Minister committo providing matching funds andtake the right to adequatehousing seriously?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Know the honourable memberwouldn’t want to have inadvertently mislead the house. The fact is the federal government almost immediately sent significant, hundreds of millions of dollars of resources to shelters across the country to enable them to createfacilities, including renting new spaces, to be able to house people who are homeless without increasing the danger or spread of COVID-19. I recognise there’s always more to do, but as we demonstrate with our national housingstrategy, we are serious ab outfighting homelessness and supporting the vulnerablecanadians and we will continueto.
Miss quan.
The Prime Minister must know that the money that the federal government sent is deficient. Many people still remain homeless and they are at risk. Cutting chronic homelessness by50% over the next decade is not good enough and that is this prime Minister’s national housing strategy. Will the government stop making empty promising and ensure everycanadian has the right to housing and will he pop up the support for provinces to at least match their funds?
The right honourable prime
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, cutting chronic homelessness by 50% is an ambitious goal that no one else has ever been able to do as government and we are well on track for it. I would suggest the member opposite not dismiss that as empty promises because we have demonstrated the actions on it. But I recognised there is more to do. There is always more to do. and we will be there, continue to be there for vulnerable people including homelesscanadians.
Miss quan.
I would remind the Prime Minister it was the federal liberals who actually eliminated the national affordable housingprogramme in 1993 and so we have this homeless crisis today as ares ult liberals and we invancouver east have the third largest urban indigenous population in the country. Yet, we got less than 2% of the pandemic urban indigenous housing funding. They’re over represented among the homeless population, why.
Right honourable prime
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, we recognise there is more to do on supporting urban and indigenous peoples. We have moved forward both to the Minister of indigenous services and Minister of crown indigenous relationship to address the challenges facing urban aboriginal populations. We will continue to work withthem, to recognise these are amongst the most vulnerable people in Canada who deserve the right support from all orders of government and we will be thereto support that and increase that in the coming years.
Now on to Mr. Bergen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m hearing in My riding that individuals who are dealing with service Canada through the mail are experiencing delays and it seems that the mail that’s going to service Canada has not beenopen. In fact, one of My constituents sent documents including adoctor’s note two months ago on march 12th as being told now that she must resend those documents because they’ve never been opened. Can the government tell us, is this a wide-spread problem andhow are they dealing withunopened mail that is happeningin service Canada?
The honourable Minister.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure the honourable memberwe’re doing everything we can in service Canada to meet the expectations of Canadians. We have unprecedented volumes but have redeployed thousands of staff to front line services by phone and by other means and we had to close a number of the centres because of COVID-19concerns, of the safety andwell-being of Canadians.
Miss Bergen.
Thank you, some speaker. So is the Minister aware, is this a wide-spread problem? is this happening rarely orfrequently? I’m hearing about it and I knowfor many M.P.s, we are at thefrontlines of dealing and helping with the constituents who are not only wanting to get support but are also trying to get programmes unrelated tocovid-19. is unopen mail a wide-spreadproblem with service Canada?
Mr. Speaker, I’m happy to look into the particular case that the honourable member brings up and I AM not aware of unopened mail to be awide-spread issue. In this particular case, I’mhappy to work with the member tosee what happened in thisindividual case.
Miss Bergen.
Rosemary:
We’ll pull away and talk with My colleagues. There’s an interesting and useful exchange, potentially, off the top there between the prime Minister and conservativeM.P., dan albas, reporting apost in the national post. This is something our colleaguecatherine cullen has donereporting on. It was interesting what theprime Minister had to say ordidn’t have to say.
Vassy:
Dan Alba’s is questioning the prime ministerwhat, according to the nationalpost, amounts to a directive to staff who are dealing with the claims for the CERB to, basically, do not impose – the quote is do not impose a stop pay and so the idea being if there are fraudulent claims, at this point, get the money out and don’t prohibit that money from getting out. The questions I are around, how do you know the claims are restaurants and how do you assess that? what is the mechanism for doing so and those were some of the questions to the Prime Minister, too. The reporting from the national post says the estimate at this time is about 200, 000, potentially, up to 200, 000fraudulent claims, which would, obviously, be, if that’s $2, 000a claim over a number of months, we’re talking a lot of moneyhere. The Prime Minister was asked whether or not his name was on the memo, whether he endorsed the memo. He would not directly answer that question and what we’veheard from the employment minister in the past is that, basically, this will be sort ofdon’t ask now and re coupe money later type of policy and I think there are general questions to be asked how that will work going forward. I noticed, for example, on –you have to log into Myra to reapply for it each month andthere’s a button to press if you need to repay any money. My guess, the way in which you figure out whether somebodyshouldn’t have received it, idon’t know how many areintentional. There could be some doing it bymistake. Remember, you have to basically check a couple of boxes on Page saying I haven’t been working for 14 days and I ameligible. Just simple questions. So if the scope is 200, 000people, that’s a big problem for the government and there are genuine questions about what happens going forward. and I think the questions to the prime Minister were more so about this memo, should this Bethe directive at this point? should they, in fact, be handing out money rather than stopping the money before it gets out to what amounts to fraudulentclaims? the Prime Minister reiterated is getting the money out right no wand ask questions later.
Rosemary:
He said there will be things to clean up after thefact. I mean, I think you would get questions if you had done it the opposite way, too, no, no, we’regoing to verify everythingyou’ve told us and take two weeks to get you the money as opposed to the way they’re doing this now. I mentioned this yesterday, David, because the next round ofcerb is up online now and you have to apply for it everymonth. If you know your company is hiring you back under the wage subsidy programme, expect for the government to come calling at some point. I don’t know how aggressive they will be, but this is not a free lottery situation. There can be and will be, according to the governmentfollow-up on this.
David:
This was always intended from roll-out, this wasintended to be a post paymentcompliance process. Essentially, it’s the same thingwith the wage subsidy. We remember the prime ministerat the Rideau college saying ifyou’re thinking about takingadvantage of this, don’t. That was his warning to theemployers on the wage subsidy. It’s a similar thing here. and so I think the fact there isfraud is not surprising. The 200, 000 claims, timeses2, 000, that’s $400 million amonth. Up spread that out over the 16weeks of the programme andthat’s $1.6 billion infraudulent payments, if the mathand memo that the post obtainedis, in fact, accurate. As big as those numbers are, it’s a small percentage of whatthis programme is and what it’sintended to do. But all of these things, becauseof the urgent need to rush itout so fast, it will be anafter-the-fact complianceprocess. If you get this money, it willbe tied to your social securitynumber and caught at tax-filingtime next year, is what thegovernment has been saying. So you may be pulling a fast oneon the government now and moneymay be going out the door thatshouldn’t be going out the door. But the intention, because ofthe way the payments is made, itwill be caught or you’ll bedragged into court or forced todeal with it after the fact ifyou knowingly sign up for abenefit you do not qualify forand are not supposed to get. So I suspect the vigorousness atwhich all of this is pursuedwhen the different settles onthis pandemic will be the truetest of this for the government. They set up a programme thatthey knew and said from thebeginning would lead to gettingpeople that they didn’t need andqualify for. It’s how they deal with it inthe reclamation of theunnecessary funds that will bethe true test of the integrityof this programme.
Rosemary:
Of course, there’sa difference between knowingly doing this, knowing youshouldn’t be doing it and making mistake because it is hard for people to navigate and you don’tknow what will happen in the next couple of weeks in your lives and I don’t want people to run around panicking either. I’ll come back to you both, because we’ve been talking a lo tin this country about the reopening of the economy and the balancing act that has to happen in terms of public health restrictions and trying to get people back to work in some way. and all of that is closely tied to trying to avoid a spike in new cases and we are seeing some of that in countries where it had seemed as though the pandemic was under some control, whether it be south Korea and even in Wuhan where, of course, this all originated. Now it’s entire population being tested because there has been an outbreak of cases, again, inwuhan. So I wanted to bring in someone who knows infinitely more, an infectious specialist. Good to have you. I will say that when I heardwuhan having this outbreak, and don’t know if that’s the place it seems to have originatedfrom, the virus has originatedfrom, it was very worrying tome, as we are slowly moving in this country towards reopening. So how should we read what’shappening in Wuhan or in southkorea or other places that are further along in the life cycle of this virus than we are?
I agree with you and looking forward to what’s happeningthere, we want to take all of those situations and use them to our advantage so we can learn more and accordingly respond. It’s not surprising, though, when you pull back on yourrestrictions, you’ll see more cases arise and the point is, you want to identify the casesquickly, isolate and put these small fires out so there won’tbe a big fire. That’s the main goal goingforward.
Rosemary:
We’ve heard that from our public healthofficials, as well, that in the case of Wuhan, to give people, in case they don’t know, they plan to do testing of 11 millionpeople, the population in thatprovince, and say it could be done within ten days. That’s a staggering effortthey’re throwing at this. But is it something we could replicate here? we are not at that kind of testing level, it would seem tome.
In china, the government has quite a bit of control over the population and it’s not the same thing here. We can still do broad-spectrumtesting and look at where all ofthe cases are and try to put outthese small fires where we can.
Rosemary:
What about contacttracing? there’s been a lot of questions around testing itself and whether it needs to expand beyond the criteria we see right now and has done that over the weeks of time. But if we move to a situation where we’re not testingeveryone, but we do want to be able to trace where they are, do you have, in your mind, a sense of how big that contact tracing team would need to be?
I can’t give an exact number but I agree with you the generalprinciples. We need a big team to do that. It’s quite painstaking work. We can’t be testing people who just have symptoms. We have to broaden that definition and go into certain targeted areas that we know are higher risk, like in the hospital or long-term carefacility and those situations, you may have to do repeatedtesting, even of people whodon’t have symptoms. It’s very, very important withour response going forward.
Rosemary:
In the case of south Korea, it appears to be one guy, for now, who was at ABA or a nightclub and now, they think it’s spread to more than100 cases, I think, linked to this one person, which is exactly what we’re trying tocontrol, the replication of the passage of the disease between multiple people. What does that tell you about the likelihood this country is ever going to get to a place where bars and nightclubs areopen? because to me, I read that andsay, Ok. that’s not happening until there’s a vaccine. What is your assessment?
I agree with that completely. So if somebody had a remarkable response and one of the problem sis with COVID-19, is we know that it spreads the best in closed space with people andthat’s, of course, what a bar and nightclub are, concerts and that type of thing. I don’t think we’ll see anything like that for two years, minimum, and I hope I’m wrong because I want to see metallicaagain. [ laughter ]
But that will be the last phase when the vaccine isavailable.
Rosemary:
There’s a great article by Dave – I lost his name now – in the atlanticabout when can I go for concert now and Dave groll, there you go. I’m sure other people can feel your pain. Thank you so much for letting us pick your brain a little bit.
Thank you.
Dr. Simon chakrabarti, an infectious disease specialist from Ontario. I’ll bring in Vassy and davidone more time to talk about what we were talking about there, reopening, maybe not a metallicaconcert for everyone, but we know the balance between making sure that things are in place in order to loosen restrictions is very hard. and I’m not sure we’ve seen people are confident that those measures are in place yet when it comes to testing and contacttracing, Vassy.
Vassy:
I think the southkorean example you brought up is so interesting. I’ve been doing reading into howthey’re contact tracing and dealing with travelers. The restricts have not only been loosened but not as clamped down as they are here. What really jumped out is the level of contact tracing, the apps that they have in use or travelers who come in that are automatically quarantined and they get an ankle bracelet andthey’re tested. The measures there are much more plenty full than they are here right now. Still, they’re dealing with that outbreak and certainly they have the ability to trace where it came from and people who may have come in contact with thatperson, but a lot of questions, does that slow down kids going back to school and that kind ofthing. It feels like we’re in the middle of an experiment. We do not have the level of testing for any province to be completely confident that they can reopen the economy, we justdon’t. That’s a fact at this point. That capacity is ramping up. That certainly is true and it depends on the province you’reliving in and the spread of the virus at this point. But I think it is interesting to see the examples of other jurisdictions and how they deal with it and what becomes soevident, even as you loosenrestrictions, it is so easy for something to happen in which you have to tighten it up again.
Rosemary:
This is probably Good time to plug that little box on the bottom of the screen, this virtual town hall tomorrow night on CBC and cbc’s news network with My friend andcolleague, Duncan mcewe. We’re asking people how you live with the virus because it’sclear we’re not moving passed it at this stage of the game yet. Things that people are doing, adapting and whether it be yourhealth, the things that you have to do personally or even your own finances and how you’llmanage that. That’s between 7:00 and 9:00 andthere’s a website, COVID-19@cbc. Ca. David, over to you on thoseissues. Because Vs Vassy rightly said, because we don’t have thetesting and contact tracing atthe scale where it should be at, it does mean that the publichealth restrictions, in someways, remain in place, even ifyou’re allowed to do more andthat’s why we continue to hearthe Prime Minister saying, keepyour distance, don’t go out ifyou’re sick, wash your hands. Those measures and thosedirectives are not going tochange, even if you’re allow dodto do a few more things.
David:
It’s almost impossible to contemplate the reality of the situation thatwe’re in all all of thelockdowns and staying at home, that was all to stop the health system from being overwhelmed, right? it was to keep the capacity and the intensive care beds and to stop an overloading of the health system like we saw initaly, for example, where it just got completely out ofcontrol. These measures aren’t about areturn-to-normal. We have today the prime ministertoday and yesterday announcingwhat are still emergency supportmeasures to help individuals andbusinesses cope with thelockdown. and we all want to look ahead to the return-to-normal and thereopening and when does theborder come back and willschools reopen like they’redoing in Quebec and when can yougo out to a bar to have a drinkwith your buddies. But, you know, there are stillborders inside the country thatare closed off. New Brunswick doesn’t wantpeople to come to New Brunswick. I was supposed to go home tonewfoundland and labrador for awedding for one of My buddiesthis summer and I’m not allowedto enter the province nowwithout permission because I’mnot a resident there and anykind of even going home to visitmy family would not beconsidered essential travel. We’re all a long, long way from a return to normal. We’re a long way from havingthis daily testing capacitywhere we can do the test traceon isolate that works so well inthe early days in places likesouth korea and have worked inplaces like germany. But are nota 100% permanent solution tothis problem. It’s a vaccine or some sort ofantiviral treatment but we donot know so much about thisvirus and we just don’t have thecoping mechanisms yet tomisunderstands well as asociety. So what we’re doing right now isgoing to be what we’re going forquite a long time. There’s the question is ifgovernments did start reopeningthings and looseningrestrictions, would people doit? there’s still a doubt and a fearand here in Ontario, I’ve gotschool aged kids, and if theeducation Minister openedschools tomorrow, I don’t thinki’m sending My kids to schooltomorrow because I’m notconvinced as a dad that it’s theright thing to do. I know there’s a lot ofimpatience and frustration, butyou can’t rush science. We solve this problem throughthe public health measures andtrying to skip this willcompound it and make it worse.
Rosemary:
The response is unprecedented and so many things we don’t know. I’ll come back to both you and turn our attention to a storyovernight. Bryan Adams facing accusations of racism and the singer has nowapologized, sort of, on hisinstagram, but the original post is drawing all kinds of attention and criticism, but this is something the Prime Minister, the Minister, public health officials have talked about and that is people in celebrity position, public high profile position saying things that can contribute to racist attitudes and to director tore ycomments.
Reporter:
Before I share the apology that came out, let’sstart with the original tweet. I was on Instagram and the twee twas deleted. The comment section was removed. He posted his song, him singing the hit that he had in the ’80s, cuts like a knife and shared what he feels is the blame or where the blame should lay when it comes to the virus. We’ll give you a look at thatstatement, where the key points here that a lot of people are talking about is that in layingblame, he references bat eating, wet market animal selling, virusmaking, greedy and it’s laden with expletives and talks about the fact that it’s not just he is concerned about his show. He knows that thousands have suffered or died from this virus and his message to them issaying, thanks a lot, of course, being incredibly sarcastic and he just really caused a lot of people to comment, to start conversation about what is right our fair tor someone to say. The wet market he’s referringto, of course, we’ve been hearing about when it comes to the W.H.O. and saying there wasprobably some sort of a linkbetween a wet market, which isjust a market that sells livefish or animals or poultry inwuhan, in china. However, they often reiteratedthe statement that there is tolink that has been concretelyproven. We do not know for sure. and so there have been a lot ofpeople coming out and sayingthat these kind of words andlanguage leads to xenophobictalk. Amy go who is the president forsocial justice, she said thesecomments were racist and I’llput that back up, actually. This was a tweet by a star fromasian dissent that many peopleknow and says it’s not myintention to go at or cancelanyone but to condone acts likethis. The play of words on summerof ‘69. Bryan adams say I apologize toall who took offense, but iwanted a rant about the animalhorrible cruelty in these wetmarkets and a little lessdefinitive today. I have love for all people andmy thoughts are with everyonedealing with this pandemicaround the world. Obviously going back a bit onhis statements and going back onthe terse nature of hiscomments. When you look at bryan adams, heisn’t someone who is prone tothis strong language. I mean he has 15 grammynominations, and he’s beenlotted as many know for decadesas this canadian example ofsomeone who plays around theworld and he’s turned tophotography and has taken photosof dignitaries and prominentcanadian people. As we started off, you weresaying that he is a person ofinfluence, for sure. and when you look at the tweetspeople have been sharing, theyrun the gamut from people whoused to be fans saying they’reso disappointed saying a racisthit against asian or chinesepeople and then the other peoplewho are saying, listen, I agreewith his animal right’s pointsand don’t want any animals eatenand that is something sharedfrom peta for animal protectionand they said that theyreiterated some of his commentsand support what they’re sayingand that they really want peopleto stop this all together. So all of people sharing backand forth on this one and it’sgoing to continue because eventhough the apology is out, whenyou issue a statement that hedid in the first place with suchstrong language, you know it’sgoing to keep trending online.
Rosemary:
and never took the statement down, I would pointout. Thank you for that difficult topic to talk about, but appreciate you bringing that tous. a lot of people were talking about it overnight, trying to figure out what it was allabout. But more importantly, the message that we’ve heard from many politicians and public health officials and that is that it’s important for particularly people in public positions to not spark racism against Chinese or asiancanadian or anyone around the world for the links that they might be suggesting there. Let’s bring back Vassy and davidfor one last chat before we go. and let’s go back to thesenior’s announcement today because people might just be tuning and and we’ve been trying to get more information about how quickly this will happen an droll out. Vassy, do you want to remind people where the government landed on this?
Vassy:
The prime minister signaled it was coming any day and hearing from seniors anxious to find out when that is. That day is today. If you get the guaranteed supplement that’s $200 a person. If there are two people in yourhousehold, you can get up to$500 each. It will be a one-time paymentand here is what’s key, it’sautomatic. You do not need go on theinternet or an applicationportal and submit an applicationand say that you meet certainconditions or attest to anythingbecause you are on oas and/orgis, you will receive thisbenefit. The federal government estimatesit’s about seven million seniorswho will qualify and the grandtotal is $2.5 billion. I want to acknowledge there area lot of seniors who are askingif there will be additionalsupports. and the Prime Minister, as wellas the Minister of seniors, didn’t rule that out in thefuture. But with this benefit, they werelooking to address incrementalcosts. Things because of the pandemicyou have to pay extra for, thedelivery of groceries, takingtaxis instead of publictransportation and that’s whythis is $500 and happening once. There are other requests for thefederal government, for example, to bring down the amount thatretired saving plans are taxedat. So take away some of the taxesif you have to access thatmoney. The Minister for seniors hasn’truled that out but didn’tprovide any timeline for adecision on that. That has been one of the majorasks for organizations whichrepresent seniors.
Rosemary:
Can I get you, as well, to update us on the student aid. I thought we would talk to student and it didn’t happen. But that is not working yet, butjust, maybe, to bring people up to speed on that.
Vassy:
The latest on that –and remember, this is $1250 in emergency benefit like the cerbfor students and then, also, if you have a dependent or adisability, it becomes $2, 000and I believe it was $1750 and now it’s $2, 000. I asked when this application portal opens up and at thelatest, this Friday. So we’re looking at the end of this week. I checked to see if we’re still tracking and haven’t had response but I’ll tweet it when it happens. You will have to go online and attest you’re working, fill out a couple of other qualifiers and that is how you get your money. Apply for the mycraaccount. That will ensure the money goes into your account after youapply.
Rosemary:
Do that now ifyou’re a student waiting. I know students are feeling the pinch because they can’t find jobs and looking for that aidbenefit. David, I’m not sure where you want to go and what would you like to talk about? [ laughter ]
David:
Two things, the details of the OAS and gic, that shows using the current infrastructure programme inplace, as oppose o opposed to cg the CERB. Make sure it goes to people who qualify and it’s a lever you can pull over and over and over again depending on the length ofthis. The other thing to expect details on is the extension of the wage subsidy the Prime Minister announced last week and this was a programme that would run until June and he said it would be extended beyond juneand there will be new details about that and changes to how that would work because the money is still in the – getting out the door phase in thatprogramme. But we will get details from the federal government on that at some point this week, because this just shows you, going back to the conversation about the duration of this, the need to extend some of these supportprogrammes beyond the initial plan and maybe deep into the recovery phase to allow the economy to extend and try to grow and come back and allow people to go back to work. It’s a very tenuous situation for a lot of employees andemployers. The extension will be significant piece of publicpolicy, and more details to come in the next several days.
Rosemary:
I think we’reexpecting more details on the commercial rent programme to open up this week. AM I right, Vassy?
Vassy:
People are anxiously awaiting those details becausewe’re two weeks out from the end of the last month that thatprogramme is supposed to helpwith.
Rosemary:
So listen, we’rewell into all of this and there are still new measures being announced and being fixed. So a lot of response from the government to come. Thank you both very much and appreciate it. Vassy kapelos check out her show at 5:00 eastern tonight anddavid Cochran, thank you. To wrap things up, the primary announcement from the government about seniors and something many have been anxiously awaiting. As Vassy pointed out, if you’realready receiving the OAS orgis, don’t worry, the money willcome. The government says as soon as possible and the prime minister says in the coming weeks, you’llget that to help you through thepandemic. We’ll end our coverage here on”cbc news network” and we’ll beback here tomorrow for yourregular federal briefings and a.