Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Rosemary:
Hi, everyone. I’m rosemary Barton here in Ottawa on CBC, CBC news network and on our CBC app around the world. We’re expecting the Prime Minister’s COVID-19 update to start within minutes outside his home. He is expected to talk about that announcement you heard last hour and that is a new plan to support seniors. It’s something that many of you have been asking about over the course of the last number of weeks. and just to give you some of the highlights, it will be a one-time tax-free payment for Canadians who receive o. a.s., old age consulter, the pension top-up. One time $300 tax-free. If you are on g. I.s., the guaranteed income support, you will get an additional $200. So, a total of $500 tax-free in a one-time payment. There are 6.7 million seniors who use o. a.s., who are eligible for o. a.s. In this country. So, that is a big amount. and the whole package costs $2.5 billion. Again, this was something that a lot of you had been asking about and the government promised an announcement in the coming days and here we are. I’ll bring in My colleagues knowing that I may have to cut them off very quickly. The host of “power & politics”, Vassy kapelos and david Cochrane both join me, here in ottawa, of course. I’m sure you all got te mails and tweets the way I did. a lot of people were desperate for something because there have been, for seniors, some additional costs, whether it be getting things delivered or, you know, groceries are a little more expensive, those kinds of things. This will come as a relief to a lot of people and then there will, of course, be questions about whether it’s enough and whether there should be more as there always are with these kinds of things. It didn’t sound like it was out of realm of pocket that there couldn’t be more, Vassy. But for now, it is a one-time payment.
Vassy:
For now it is the one-time payment. and you’re right. The big question that I’m hearing so far is whether or not this is enough. It was interesting to hear the Minister for seniors, deb schultz, sort of show us exactly what they came up with that number based on and it’s exactly what you laid out, rosie. For example, you can’t take public transit anymore. You have to rely on taxis. Tough get your groceries delivered, that is an increased cost as well. Increase in dispensing fees for pharmaceuticals. That kind of thing. So, it’s those smaller incremental costs that the government has decided this is what that money is going to address. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t additional needs for seniors and particularly additional asks of the government driven largely by opposition parties and, of course, obviously groups that represent seniors and chief among them is if you need to use some of your retirement savings in order to buy you some time to get through this pandemic, or you need to access them, is there a way the government can reduce the amount you’re taxed naer?
Rosemary:
Ok. We’ll talk more about that after we hear from the Prime Minister.
Interpreter:
Announced a new contribution to support the vaccine alliance. These organisations distribute vaccines to the most vulnerable around the world and save millions of lives. Most recently, it has been helping developing countries to respond to outbreaks of disease such as COVID-19. Once we have found a vaccine, Gavin will be helping to distribute it to those who need it. This is good news. Because in our interconnected world, in order end the pandemic in Canada, we must defeat the virus everywhere.