Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Rosemary:
That is the Prime Minister of Canada on this Tuesday just outside of his home. He is going to participate in the COVID-19 committee that will kick off at noon. Lots of bits of news in that press conference from the PM today, specifically that the Canada-United States border will remain closed for another 30 days. It was set to expire in a coupleof days’ time and the Prime Minister said there were concerns on both sides of the border to reach this agreement and keep that border closed to non-essential travel for another30 days. I’ll bring in My colleagues Vassy kapelos and david cochraneto go through the other bits of news we heard there. The other headline was some changes to ceba, the emergency business file. I know you’ve been following that closely, Vassy.
Vassy:
Yeah, and that’s because we have been hearing from people unable to access that. This was controlled out with the wage subsidy program. What it is is a $40, 000 loan. If you pay it back by the end of next year, it is interest free and a quarter of it, $10, 000, isforgivable. a huge uptick, 6, 000 businesses, have already accessed that. The process is straightforward. You do it through your bank and it’s been successful from most businesses we’ve heard from. The Prime Minister addressed right at the outset, sole proprietors who pay themselves through dividends or who hire contract workers or in a hair salon and are a contract worker were not able to access that money, which is target at your fixed costs, rent, for example, bills. You can maybe use the wage subsidy. The parameters were that had to have a payroll between $20, 000 and $1.5 million. That’s why so many people felt like they were left out today. That basically is eliminated. If you are paying yourself through dividends or if you justweren’t able to access it prior to today, it sounds like you will be able to apply now. The details on the timeline were not provided at this point, but we’ll pay attention to the briefing to see if they’re made available there. The other thing is that if you are a newer business, so you haven’t filed a tax return yet, those are also people we’ve heard from and the Prime Minister said Minister Mary ng, the Minister for small businesses, is working on a potential solution for that. So we’ll pay attention to see if any information comes out from that because I hear from a lot of those people as well, this is going to be very, very welcome news to a lot of sole proprietors in this country. I think will will still be questions of why it took so long. Right from the first day it was announced they were saying, wait second, we need to access thattoo. It’s been eight weeks but it’s good that it’s here, but it did take a while. I will be looking for the specifics on how and when to apply and what conditions will be on that. The federation of independent business praising this decision.
Rosemary:
An interest-free loan of $40, 000 would be impossible to get right now, having the ability to get right off $10, 000. I would think, Vassy, getting any kind of loan, given the state of the economy and the risk that a bank might be able to take on right now would be difficult for some small businesses.
Vassy:
Yeah, it does sort of depend on the circumstance of the business, but that $40, 000 number, from people I’ve heard from, a, the accessibility of it, the fact that it’s come veryquickly. You apply. It’s a super easy process apparently through your bank and it has been a success and very welcome by them. Yeah, getting money from your bank right now, the risk assessment is different than it would be in normal circumstances. We know that it’s not been easy for bigger businesses. That’s why the federal government announced a loan program that hasn’t opened up yet, but will be available. Small businesses if they have the choice for an interest-free loan versus one where they have to pay interest, they would go for the former. The commercial rent program, we’re still anxiously waiting for details on that. I keep hearing from small businesses on that. This is supposed to apply to April, may, and June. This is the program that subsidize through the landlords. There are some details out through the cmhc, but the government hasn’t been able to confirm them. Those details not formalized. a lot of landlords not sure if they will participate. The last month it would apply tois 11 days away. Anxiously waiting for those details.
Rosemary:
Another one of those cross-jurisdictional issues that tend to be more complicated. David, the issue on the border, not surprising, but a relief to people worried who are seeing the cases in the United States and realizing opening up the border does not make sense.
David:
This is not a surprise to people paying attention to both sides of the border. Transmission issues in Ontario, Quebec, and all over the United States. Interestingly, the Prime Minister in answering questions talked about the border closing down but also looking to when the world opens up and a bid fora seat on the u. N. security council and a process of reflection he hopes the international community will go through, strengthening the world health organization and changing how our international institutions operate post-COVID-19, comparing it to the post-second world war era with the breton woods conferencethat led to the creation of manyinternational institutions whichguided the peace and stability following the second world war and whether or not there will bethat spirit of enhanced multilateral cooperation after all of this, given what we’ve seen in the rise of isolation and nationalism in the united kingdom, russia, the United States, china, and tensions in international trade conflicts and the tightening of borders, when we go get to a point we can loosen borders after the health risk diminishes, if not goes away, what sort of a world will we be left with. It’s something the Prime Minister has given thought to. We have seen the read-out of allthe international leaders he’s spoken to as we get closer to a campaign for that seat. It’s interesting how he views what Canada’s role could be in apost-COVID-19 international order, including the improvementand reform of the world health organization. Canada not following the United States’ lead of yanking funding and wagging its finger saying there needs to be a clearinvestigation and inquiry into what happened, but leaning towards strengthening and fixingthe world health organization, instead of burning it to the ground as some would have them do.
Rosemary:
This government is a big proponent of multilateral ism and multilateralorganizations, but does go that the Prime Minister is saying that is a stronger argument for why Canada should win that seat at the security council, that it could play that role in a way that is more needed, given what we’re living with now.
David:
He talked about that. That’s his international agenda. On his Canada agenda, he was saying the federal government is prepared to invest in a national framework on testing and tracing. Interestingly enough, the approach by the federal government by and large has been to allow the provinces to make decisions in their own jurisdiction and acting as a banker and a backer as needed, but we have not seen the testing and tracing get to the levels the country would like it to be and where people would like it to be, particularly in Ontario and Quebec which is the epicentre. He is saying we are here and we’re going to ramp up and invest in this. They’re going to have to get the provinces on board and jurisdictional issues will be a thing there, but a forceful message from the Prime Minister that they want to move on this, they have the money to move on this, and declaring in a public way that they have the intention to move on this. I think this week when he has his weekly call with the other first ministers might be a chance to put some momentum behind this idea, that the officials will be dealing with on a fairly consistent basis to figure out what that looks like.
Rosemary:
It looks like the testing in Ontario is dropping down to numbers that the government would not want to see. I will come back to both of you. Thank you so much. As we talk about the economy reopening, it is some reopening across big parts of Canada, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, they’re all freeing some reigns on the economy. Let’s speak to some of those business owners. In Toronto is ramie ha la lee who owns a clothing store and in Vancouver is Dr. Kumar rija. I’m going to start with you. You own a cotton retail business and you could reopen, but you decided not to. Tell us about your thinking.
Interview:
We have stores in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. We want to make sure when we’re putting out decisions, we are taking care of our employees and customers right across those locations. So we’re not opening yet until we see a little bit more, see what the businesses that open today and in the coming days do. For us, we’re planning on opening June 1. and that will be by curbside pickup and by appointment. We will give our employees time to figure out what this new reality looks like and work fromthere.
Rosemary:
Do you have what you need in place to do this, Plexiglas’s or P.P.E.?
Interview:
That’s a part of it. The announcement came last week or the week before. Not too much time for us to ram pup and get procedures in place. To be honest, for the last eight or 10 weeks, we’ve been in a hold pattern to figure out what this is going to look like and this new reality will look like. First and foremost, the safety of our team is paramount. That’s where we’re prioritizing. Just like you said, we’re putting those pieces in place now to go June 1.
Rosemary:
How has your business been doing? I don’t know if you have an online component, but how have you been doing since the shutdown?
Interview:
Yes, we’re a primarily online business, so for us that piece of our business has continued to exist and has little to no disruption. Retail does make up a piece of the puzzle for us which has definitely been difficult, but this is a difficult situation for everyone. The retail industry in general has been hard hit, as well as the hospitality industry. The online business has seen some increase kind of I would say – it hasn’t made up for the decrease in retail, but definitely some of that overflow from physical retail has gone online, but we’ve been closed to close to three months now.
Rosemary:
Have you or will you tap into any of the government programs, the wage subsidy, the rental offer, the business loan that we were just talking about there?
Interview:
Yeah, so we’ve tapped into the business loan. We were able to tap into it kind of in the second go. I know they made some adjustments to the size of the payroll. So we were able to tap into that. The wage subsidy right now, we’re working through that. I know that many members of the start-up community have spoken originally when they were sayingyear over year that excluded a large or a significant proportion of employers that hadbeen going beyond that [indiscernible]. whether we are going to qualify for that, we don’t have a final determination there yet. We do qualify for that 10% piecethat they announced early on, sowe have taken advantage of that.
Rosemary:
Do you think that this has happened at the right speed? it’s hard to know obviously, butontario, Kings the cases have been so numerous, it’s gone slower. Are you comfortable what’s gone on in terms of reopening?
Interview:
I think for Ontario specifically the numbers are still going up. I don’t think the testing and the tracing is where people would like it to be. That’s why we’re cautious and taking this more cautious approach, delaying the opening Little bit. When we do open, we’re going to limit the number of people we can have in our spaces and react from there. As you said one of our other locations is in Quebec, which is the other epicentre of all of this in Canada. So those two places, we’re keeping a very close watch over that. Vancouver is a little better, but not far behind.
Rosemary:
You had a store in new York?
Interview:
Yeah, we did. We were about to sign a long-term space there right before all this happened. So we have put a pause on the expansion in new york fork now and we will circle back hopefully once things go back tonormal.
Rosemary:
Ra mi helali, nice to meet you. I appreciate your time. He’s a co-founder of kotn, a retail business. Let’s go to our next business because British Columbia is going to reopen. Dr. Kumar shivdarasmi operates askin clinic there. You’re going to correct me. I see it. Shivdasani, that’s much easier. You are opening today. Tell me how you’ve prepared.
Well, My time at the hospital, I had a sense this was not going to be business as usual when we opened up again. So we were able to procure P.P.E. and – we’ve not even announced our opening. We wanted to go into it slowly. We’ve had clients contacting in and booking with us. We’ve been booking 15 minutes additional in between every client and patient to allow for cleaning and fewer people in ourwaiting area. We have a large waiting area to begin with. We’re slowing down the patient flow and built another treatmentroom to allow for more space forthe treatment. I’ve hired more staff. We’re expanding our hours, againnot to have as many people in the space at once.
Rosemary:
I would imagine because you’re a skin care centre, you have a lot of things that other businesses are trying to understand right now, whether it be P.P.E. Or equipment to disinfect. Has that given you a bit of an advantage?
Yeah, we – I remember being at the superstore buying the hand sanitize for My clinic and we had these – I’m going to show you one. We had these big – a bunch of these back in January. and I thought, I don’t know for how many we’ll need. Maybe we’ll get a few – they’rethe colour of My clinic and get a few anyway. We were buying quite a few hand sanitizer, gloves. We have a cleaning service that comes in to clean. We sanitize our equipment between clients, between patients anyway. So much of what we were doing we were doing already. I mean, we didn’t tend to necessarily – My technicians, laser technicians, will now be wearing face shields which we didn’t typically wear. We didn’t typically wear goggles. These were things that needed to be sourced out and obtained.
Rosemary:
Are you worried about your safety or your staff’s safety, given the proximity of the work that you have to do on your clients and your patients?
Worry isn’t – I don’t think “worry” quite works for me. I think we’re doing absolutely everything to reduce the risk of protecting ourselves and our patients. Short of just not seeing anybody ever again and just staying in My own home, I think this is – I feel confident. We’ve taken all the measures suggested, you know. We’re instituting questionnaires. People are – before they get to confirm their appointment, we’resending them questionnaires, document, have you been – have you had symptoms? have you been near anybody who’stested positive? have you been travelling? and we’ll be questioning them again as they come in the door. We’ve got hand sanitize everywhere. We’re really experienced seeing patients before COVID-19. I’ve been listening to the Prime Minister every morning in his daily report. We’ve had Bonnie Henry speaking to us in British Columbia every afternoon. We talk about the social distancing. I mean, it’s physical distancing of course, but the sense of – idon’t know, I’ve really enjoyed this and never felt better being Canadian, listening to the Prime Minister, listening to Bonnie Henry, coming together to come through this together. I’ve been in touch with many colleagues in My business, doctors in general, I work at the hospital as I said. They were really kind enough working together and there’s been such camaraderie and coming together helping each other to do this. As difficult and even scary as times are, I think it’s really – it’s us working together and helping each other that’s really going to get us through this. It’s really made me determined to do better for My patients.
Rosemary:
That is a lovely reflection to end on, doctor. I appreciate you taking the time. My apologies for not doing a good job with your name. Dr. Kumar shivdasani, it sounds like you’re doing a lot of things to get the centre reopened and to protect your staff. I appreciate you making time forus.
Thank you.
Rosemary:
Nice to meet you.
as we wait for our regular briefing that happens at the top of the hour with federal cabinet ministers and public health officials. I AM difficult with names that are difficult and both of those gentlemen tested me, but both had interesting stories about either the amount of thought process that goes behind reopening a medical skin care centre, as you saw with Dr. Shivdasani, or a retail store where you don’t feel ready and you feel responsible for protecting everybody. It’s a lot of work that these smaller and larger businesses are having to do to get ready for the reopening of the economy that we would all like to see in some way, but knowing the onus is really on them to make sure their businesses are well prepared for this. Vassy.
Vassy:
I think that’s a good way to put it and both of those stories were emblematic of the regional issues in this country. This has been accentuated in the last week. Take British Columbia, eight cases over the last days. We’re looking at triple digits in Ontario, a lack of testing, and inconsistencies when it comes to testing. It’s supposed to be at 20, 000, and it very rarely is close to that. I think you got that sense from the first business owner who was talking about reopening part of his operation in Ontario and the nerves that those businesses feel. Toronto mayor john Tory even talked about who is supposed to be taking care of this P.P.E.? is it coming from the government, is it the business, is it supposed to be a partnership? nothing is set in stone. I hear from a lot of businesses who are having some difficulty navigating that. In British Columbia obviously a lot of the responsibility falls on businesses, but they are dealingwith a very different situation right now. They are opening restaurants at 50% capacity with different rules. They just extended the order in Ontario that limits gatherings to five people. For me it accentuates the regional differences and also accentuates the issues behind a lack of congruency or a lack of consistency about what do I needin order to reopen safely.
Rosemary:
David, this speaks to what you said before, the need may be for a national piece on the tracing and testing because obviously each province is struggling in different ways and that trickles down to the rest of us too.
David:
Some of the country has a real robust system of testing and tracing. To build on the British Columbia example Vassy was talking about, Bonnie Henry described it, it brings anticipation in the reopening, but also apprehension and anxiety. That is the challenge for a lot of people as we go into this great unknown of what the reopening is and how safe is it. The supply of businesses will be there more as re openings happen. Will the demand be there, will people feel comfortable enough to avail themselves of these services now that they’ve started doing these things themselves or are picking up curbside.
Rosemary:
That’s what these businesses are trying to do, to shore up support. We will take a break. We are standing by this hour for the federal cabinet ministers’ briefing. More details on the Canada emergency business account loan program that the Prime Minister has announced has widened a little bit further to capture some of the people it had left out and also confirmation this morning that the United States-Canada border will remain closed to non-essential travel. We will have more after this short break. I’m rosemary barton. You’re watching cbc news network. [[♪♪♪]
Rosemary:
Hi again. I’m rosemary Barton here in the nation’s capital. Thanks for joining us on CBC news network and streaming wherever you might be around theworld, on our website, and our app. This hour lots of news coming from the Prime Minister after his daily pandemic address. Canada border restrictions with the United States will remain in place for another 30 days to June 30. The agreement was set to expire. There will be support for small businesses through the Canada business account that allows forinterest-free loans. So far 6, 000 businesses have applied and received funds underthat program. Now it has been expanded to capture people who had not been captured in the initial criteria. We will bring you updates from the leaders across the country no matter where you are, including now federal cabinet ministers in this city as well as federal public health officials. So many COVID-19 deaths, long-term care in Ontario has announced changes in the system here. The cbc’s mike crawley joins me from his home in toronto. What did the Minister have to say about this, mike?
Reporter:
Rosemary, Mary lee Fulton announced this will begin in September, an independent non-partisan commission. There’s not a lot of details about it, reference checks, no idea who will be on this commission, what sort of a time-frame to report on this. She was questioned in question period and here is what she had to say.
Our government is looking at capacity and wait lists, expert panel for a staffing strategy. We have been moving decisively and swiftly because Ontarian deserve it.
Reporter:
This falls short of what some people have been asking for. They want a full independent public inquiry led by a judge with a full mandate to explore everything around the long-term care system. The government has inquiries into sars and elizabeth wetlaufer’s killing of people inlong-term care homes. This is not a full public inquiry.
Rosemary:
It would seem that perhaps the government was forced to make some announcement because there was a lot of pressure, not only from opposition parties but the public at large. You have to wonder if the mandate might change if people don’t feel comfortable with the terms, but what kind of reaction are you hearing so far?
Reporter:
For a lot of people outside the system, what’s the difference between an independent commission, a publicinquiry, a review, it sounds like semantics. The NDP Clearly has been pushing for an independent public inquiry because the ford government has held what they call independent commissions in the two years since they’ve been in government and the last independent commission that the ford government had was looking into the finances of Ontario and it came up with a number that the previous government led a $15 billion deficit which is the number the government wanted it to uncover and later turned out to be not true. There are some questions whether this is the opposition independent NDP Said it was smoke and mirrors. Andrea horwath spoke in question period as well.
No one has asked for another ford government controlled commission. We owe it to the staff and residents who love their lives to get to the bottom of this, we owe it to their family members, their friends, their communities.
Reporter:
Lots of people with lots of questions about how the virus was allowed to get into Ontario’s long-term care homes at a time they knew the pandemicwas coming. Most of those deaths, rosemary, happened after the end of March when premier doug ford said we’re putting an iron ring around seniors in Ontario. So it’s curious as to why some of the staff developed infections and so many residents, thousands of residents, came down with COVID-19 infections and 1, 600 people with died.
Rosemary:
We certainly know the federal government too very much wanting to have a conversation about how this unfolded after it’s over. Mike crawly in Toronto. Thank you so much for that. Appreciate it. I will bring back My colleagues the host of “power & politics,” Vassy kapelos, and David Cochrane, as we wait for cabinet ministers and public health officials. Those two days off has fried My brain. I think it’s the pressure on governments, first probably at the provincial level because it is their jurisdiction, will be intense to start to get answers for people on what could have been done better, what went wrong, and what the problems were, whether it was staffing, infrastructure, or funding. I can’t imagine this is the only independent commission or inquiry we will see about long-term care homes in this country, Vassy.
Vassy:
and the question will there be one at the federal level as well. It sounds like in Ontario there will be something, but to mike’spoint it’s not what the opposition wanted looking back and we won’t have to wait for ever for the results of that or that’s their intent and what they said today. There are big questions in Quebec and Nova Scotia and questions about continuing care in certain parts of Alberta as well. Most of us have been looking to the model of British Columbia, which the government there acted a lot earlier on some of the conditions it placed on long-term care homes. But those conditions still underline the major issues in this country, which is they limited the number of homes people could work in. Why are people working in more than one home? because they can’t make enough money in just one home. and the pay being a problem in many provinces, which points to the prospect of the federal government looking into this. The other thing that a lot of provinces are talking about, andthey have been to be fair for years, is more money from the federal government in health transfers. They have asked for more. The escalator was kept to what was promised by the previous government. Will the federal government havea certain pocket of money to increase funding for long-term care in this country and will there be strings attached. I’ve had the opportunity to interview a number of premiers about the prospect of that and most of them are none too pleased about that idea. They’re protective of their jurisdiction over long-term care, but there will be big questions from the federal government if they’re going to hand over more money, which might be very necessary about what kinds of strings they couldattach to that money. I think already premiers areresisting that. But depending on the outcome of commissions like what Ontario just announced, they might not have a choice.
Rosemary:
This is nothing new to the federal government and provinces and territories with wait times. Provinces may not like it, but if Ontario is bank rolling a fix, they might have the right to demand certain issues. I’ll give you 30 second, David.
David:
Strings attached, not a new thing. Complaining about strings attached, also not a new thing. Often they get to the end of the negotiation where they take the money and the strings because they want an expansion of the health services of the people they represent. We saw this with the mental health strategy. The provinces want it poured into the base transfer. The feds say that eats into charges and not an expansion of services. Touching on what Vassy said about the workforce. It’s not just because they don’tget enough hours and make enoughmoney, but they’re hired as part time and don’t have to be paid benefits. People are making minimum wage and taking maximum risk. The whole labour situation in these homes needs to be looked at as well as the governance.
Rosemary:
Thank you both verymuch. I’ll take you to the daily briefing. This is the president of the treasure board, jean-yves Duclos.
Minister of small business, export, and international trade, as well as Minister anand.
Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. As usual, I will start with the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada. There are now 78, 499 cases, including 5, 857 deaths, with 39, 498 cases, or 50%, now recovered. Labs across Canada have tested over 1, 337, 000 people for COVID-19 to date, with about 5% of these testing positive overall. We are now testing an average of26 to 28, 000 people daily. These numbers change daily and are updated daily on Canada. Ca/coronavirus. Before I begin, I want to offer My sincere condolences to the canadian forces snowbirds team who tragically lost one of theirmembers while another was seriously injured in an accidentthis weekend, as part of a mission to lift the spirits of the country, we turn our thoughts to them in reflection of sorrow. My reflection on the weekend wasthinking about what we’ve been through this winter. I’m heartened by Canadians as a collective. There is still a difficult path ahead, but it was confidence that we have what it takes because of the ingenuity and caring I have witnessed. We’ve all gotten outdoors and are enjoying warmer weather. Last weekend was a chance to do that. I know it’s a bitter-sweet opening up of our outdoor spaces. Some areas where COVID-19 is still active need to be extra cautious, but everywhere we needto maintain the basics of socialdistancing and limit our core bubble. Even with the slow growth of theepidemic, we are not out of the woods, no country is. We know there is no certain pathaway from COVID-19 and the only safe route is the one we take together, with cautious and calculated steps forward. This will be a summer of more restrained movements and virtualcelebrations than we are used to, but to keep the curve down we have to keep our public health practices up. That is why we have to hang ontothis safety rope and not let go. Throughout, I have seen the sacrifices Canadians have made to prevent any more illness and tragedy from befalling us. It is the way Canadians have done this with kindness and ingenuity that we will give whatit takes and get through this together.
Rosemary:
That’s Dr. Theresa tam with her daily update. If you want to continue to watch this briefing, you can go to ourwebsite, CBC News. Ca. We are going to the virtual meeting of the Prime Minister.
The intellectual property that Canadian health organizations are developing associated with researching vaccines and treatments and tests for coronavirus are valuable targets for the chinesecommunist party-backed hacking. Has the Prime Minister or any member of cabinet been made aware of breaches?
The honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
As a government, we take extremely seriously the safety and security of canadiansand our disrupt property. That’s why the Canadian security establishment is doing extraordinary work in keeping Canada and Canadians safe. We receive regular updates from the CFC and all our intelligence agencies on what we can do and continue to do to make sure Canada is protected.
The Canadian security establishment has indicated that there is a heightened risk and increased measures are needed to protect Canadian national security interests at this time. Could the Prime Minister let us know what additional measures the government is taking to heed these increased warnings and protect Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
We have over the past years increased the resources available to the c. F.c. Because we know how important it is to be remaining vigilant and protecting canadian networks, institutions, and the safety andsecurity of Canadians from cyberintrusion and cyberattacks. We continue to ensure that our national security agencies have the tools necessary to do what is needed.
Canada is a member of international organizations like the W.H.O. Because we expect to receive accurate and timely information that enables us to make timely decisions on the actions we need to make to keep Canadians safe, but if the W.H.O. Doesn’t validate and verify that information they share with member states, it puts us all at risk. Over the weekend the international development Minister said it’s not the W.H.O.’s responsibility to question the information provided by china in this pandemic. Right from day one, Canada has made bad decisions based on bad information from the W.H.O. The crisis is not over. is the government continuing to trust without verifying the information from the W.H.O.?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, Canadians well know that this is a global crisis that is hitting locally in every country around the world and we need global institutions to counter this. That is why we continue to support the work of the W.H.O. However, as we go through this, it is clear there will need to be improvements to the W.H.O., to the international institutions that serve us, and Canada will be there as we have been there in asking questions and in demanding answers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
[voice of interpreter] yes, payroll is important, but that’s not a fixed cost. So once again, I’d like to ask the Prime Minister, what has the government done to help businesses with fixed costs, pursuant to the motion adopted by the house? and I wouldn’t remind if you took longer than I did to ask myquestion.
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
Thank you, but I will be brief. We have implemented measures to help with commercial rent. This is an important and a significant cost for many businesses, and we’re working closely with provinces to ensure that we offer support to businesses to help them with these fixed costs, including rent.
Mr. St. Marie.
Mr. Chair, the rent assistance program is not working. The c. P.f. is asking for this program to be overhauled significantly. For example, the requirement of having lost 70% of revenues is excessive and is going to leave many s. M.e. S behind and where the owner does not have a montrealing as well as change. When they try to qualify for theprogram, they need the owner of the program to collaborate and that’s not always is the case. According to the Quebec retail council, 40% of businesses that would be allowed to apply to this program says that the ownerdoes not want to participate. Has the government evaluated theeffectiveness of this program? what is the government going to do to make this viable?
is the right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
From the very beginning we have brought forward programs to help. As we’re watching the impact of these various situations, we are trying to close any gaps in the program and improve the programs. We’re continuing to review the program to see how we can strengthen and improve it. At the same time, we in the liberal party, we recognize areas of provincial jurisdiction and we will work closely with provinces or the relevant jurisdiction in areas such as rent. So we will work closely with Quebec and the other provinces.
Mr. Ste-marie.
In terms of provincial jurisdiction, the Quebec Minister of finance does not agree with the Prime Minister and he said the program was announced by the federal government and its administration is completely under the cmhc. This is not at all provincial. Chair, the Quebec restaurant organization surveyed its members, and two-thirds said they are very or extremely concerned about paying their rent in coming weeks. In terms of rent support, according to the survey, at least one out of four restaurantowners will have a hard time signing up for this program. What is the Prime Minister goingto do?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
We established programs to help small business workers, Canadians, families, that are facing great challenges during this crisis. and this is why as the situation evolves and as we understand where we need to make improvements, we are tweaking programs. We are looking at alternative mechanisms and small businesses. We’re going to work with landlords as well. We know there’s always more to do and we’re going to be there for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Mr. Ste-marie, a 30-second question or less, please.
Well, s. M.e. Fixed costs go beyond rents for many sectors, such as hotels, hair salons, andeven zoos. What is the government going to do for fixed costs for s. M.e. S besides rent support?
The right honourable Prime Minister in 30 seconds or less.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
We earlier announced an expansion of the $40, 000 loan program for small businesses who were not eligible. Now small businesses that have employees that are contractors or business owners that are sole proprietors will be able to have access to this $40, 000 loan and this will help them with fixed costs.
[end of translation].
The next question goes to Mr. Julian.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Canadians are suffering during this pandemic, but some very wealthy are profiting. During world war ii there were laws against profiteering, but this government seems to be providing incentives for profiting. The corporate bailout is open to companies that use tax havens, which is 90% of Canada’s largest privately traded countries. Why did the government not shut the down to lee ff to those using tax havens.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have increased substantially the resources available to revenue Canada to go after tax avoidance and evasion and the billions of dollars and we will continue to do exactly that. We have no patience for those who don’t pay their fair share of taxes for the government or the country. At the same time we need to make sure we are supporting workers right across the country whether they work for large companies ornot. Perhaps the NDP is willing to put aside the tens of thousands of workers in Canada’s 90% of company. We will not.
Mr. Speaker, not a single company listed in the panama papers, no company listed in the paradise papers or in the aisle of man scam have been convicted or charged with tax evasion, they can all get the corporate bailout. Other countries have banned companies from getting bailouts. Why has this government not done the same?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
Mr. Speaker, as a government we have taken seriously the responsibility of cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion and making sure everyone pays their fair share. If the NDP Really wants to continue on this approach, they should start naming countries they feel will not be eligible and explain to their workers why they don’t qualify for the help other Canadians get. We need to work first and foremost on supporting workers, but if the NDP Wants to start listing companies where their workers shouldn’t be helped, please go ahead.
Other countries have done it and the Prime Minister, with respect, should be doing the same thing. There’s the big banks as well. In the last economic crisis with the Harper government gave $60 billion in help as the banks raked up profit during this period. This is going even further. The banks can and do impose penalties, fees, and interest on any deferrals they approve and they’re benefit ting from near-zero bank of Canada rates. The government has tools to cut the banks’ profiteering, why don’t they using them?
The right honourable Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
Again, Mr. Speaker, we see the NDP Long on rhetoric and attacks, but short on specifics. They will not name the companies they think employees should not be getting benefits like other Canadians because of the companies they work for. I’m waiting for the NDP To start naming companies that shouldn’t receive the leeff. On the other side we will continue to work with the companies that have made strong measures to support Canadians and will be doing so in the coming months. We know we need to work together to get through this and businesses large and small are part of the solution in this country. We will keep working with them for the benefit of all Canadians.
Mr. Julian.
Mr. Speaker, they haven’t used a single tool and people should come before profiteering. It’s time they understood this. Amazon is owned by the world’s richest man who has made money off the backs of workers during this pandemic. Amazon is on the dirty dozen list of most dangerous employers. Instead of defending workers, this government is helping amazon with government money. They have given them a sweetheart contract to take over from the post office. Why support amazon’s profiteering with federal funds?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
We know how important it is to get personal protective equipment out to places across the country that need it quickly and urgently. That’s why we’re working with amazon Canada as a distribution space, but there is a company perhaps the NDP is suggesting that amazon Canada employees shouldn’t be receiving benefits from the government. We think that employees regardless of the companies they work for, large or small, should be getting the help that they need and we’re ensuring that the help goes directly to employees. Those are things with the wage subsidy and others that we are focused on to make sure that Canada can come back strong, both health-wise and economy-wise once this is through.
Rosemary:
We’re going to pull away now from the COVID-19 committee. We usually just take the leaders’ round there, the questions and answers to the Prime Minister. We will go back if there are more, but we’ll take you to the federal briefing with the ministers and public health officials back to that. That was the Minister of procurement, and we are going Togo back to the president of the treasury board.
[voice of interpreter] 6, 000 companies are already benefit ting from the Canada emergency business account. We had an announcement regarding the 30-day extension regarding the border measures with the Canadians. We will now be pleased to answer your questions. [end of translation].
Thank you, Minister. Three questions on the phone and turn to the room, one question and one follow up. Operator, over to you.
Operator:
Thank you. Le devoir.”
Question:
[voice of interpreter] I don’t know if one of you might be able to answer me, but it regards the operations of parliament. Will it continue to sit? because many sitting weeks were missed, I was wondering if it might be possible for you to sit during the summer?
Answer:
As you stated, we are going through an unprecedented situation. As you know, we focused our attention on managing this coronavirus, but we also have to work with opposition parties in order to focus on other issues and that is why we are continuing to discuss with the different party leaders.
Question:
Follow-up question. So this is not something that we’ve thought of. I have a question for Minister anand regarding ventilators. We seem to want to purchase moreof them, but as far as I know there aren’t any provinces that have stated they have a lack of ventilators. is there truly a demand for that?
Answer:
Thank you for your question. It is important to have a short-term and a long-term plan. We don’t know what’s going to happen with this COVID-19 pandemic. and so we’re going to have to put in place plans for the weeksand months to come as well as for the year. It’s important to have the equipment that Canadians have now and in the future. [end of translation].
Thank you. Operator, next question.
Operator:
The next question is from Laura osmond from “the Canadian press.” please go ahead. Your line is open.
Question:
Good morning. For Minister anand, I wanted to ask you about domestic companies retooling for medical supplies. As the economies are reopening and they wanted to be getting back to their usual business, how long do you foresee them making these supplies and should it be something that we consider in the very long term having more domestic production of these kinds of things?
Answer:
It’s a very good question and as I just responded in french, I’ll say the similar thing in English, that we don’t know how the pandemic is going to affect regions throughout this country in the short and the long term. We also believe that it is important that healthcare front line professionals have the equipment they need now and in the months and years to come. So our approach in terms of contracting, both domestically and internationally, is to ensure that we have a steady supply of goods coming into Canada. We’ve had 34 flights coming in from china recently. But you ask about domestic production, and it is there that it is so incredibly important to focus on because we want to make sure that Canadians stores of personal protective equipment and other supplies will be available and the short and the long term. That’s why we have contracts in place, to ensure a steady stream of these supplies over the short and the long term. This applies not only to surgical masks, but also n95 masks. We have a company in Montreal, medic om that will be producing masks in the coming weeks and months. and also gowns and hand sanitize are important for us to have these supplies on hand ready to serve Canadians as we move through the next phases of this pandemic.
Follow up, Laura.
Question:
Thank you. For Dr. Tam, I wanted to ask you. What does it tell us, if anything, that 50% of confirmed cases have now recovered?
Answer:
Yes. So obviously we want to see the number of active cases, what we call active cases, those who have not recovered to go down. and it takes a bit of time for people to recover as well. So that’s tracked for that purpose. Of course it’s also important for planning purposes and indicates whether the health system is still able to cope. So the number of recovered and, therefore, the number of active cases are important from that aspect. Basically all of the indicators that we are tracking all continue to show that the epidemic – the first wave is slowing down across the country but at a different pace of course, depending on where you are.
Thank you, doctor.
Operator:
Lina dibb, “the Canadian press.”
Question:
You said you see that the epidemic is going down but not at the same pace everywhere. Now that almost everywhere is reopening or planning on reopening in a few days, what data are you going to be looking at specifically? what’s the first time that maybe this is not going well and we should be shutting down again?
Answer:
So at the special advisory committee which consists of all the chief medical officers of health, we actually put out the criteria for reopening, together with some indicators. So one of the first criteria is, of course, that you have control of the actual epidemic transmission. With that you look at the number of cases, both linked and unlined to outbreaks. That’s important because you want to see if there are any cases that suggest that there’s community transmission for which further investigation needs to be done. Obviously testing and contact tracing is very important to support the tracking of these indicators. and you want to see of course case counts, but also hospitalizations, I. C.u. Rates, and deaths going down. We have been tracking other indicators. Some of them are more useful than others as the epidemic waveprogresses. We talked about this effectivelyreproduction number, and that ishow many people a specific case would transmit to. For some jurisdictions, this is no longer a very good indicator because they have such lower numbers of cases, but for otherswe know overall in Canada that is tracking just below one, thatis one of the ways that we’re also tracking this, but depending on where you’re at that indicator may or may not beuseful as well. So we’re tracking the disease indicators in conjunction with of course indicators showing that hospitals still have capacity to cope. We’re tracking – we’re making sure that – well, provinces primarily making sure that people have plans when they’re reopening and that workplaces are supported to do reopening safely. and also that we continue to keep importation of cases low. So these indicators are sort of already established as part of the foundation for a national approach, recognizing, though, then there would be regional differences in the timing and how they implement this very cautious reopening.
Question:
[voice of interpreter] thank you. Question for Mr. Duclos. Why did you increase the eligibility for this $40, 000 loan program? is it because not enough people had access to it?
Answer:
Two answers. Firstly, as with a lot of other programs, this program was put in place very quickly. It was quite effective because over 600, 000 small businesses were able to have quick access to this emergency loan. I would like to highlight that small businesses in Quebec are very important to restarting the economy once we are able to do so. Secondly, we noted that with the small businesses there was a lot of diversity. There was small businesses that were still unable to have access to this $40, 000 emergency loan. Thanks to the leadership of the government but also thanks to the business community throughout the country, we were able to find a way to increase access to small businesses to this emergency account. The goal is to make sure that our businesses that were important before the crisis but that will be even more important after the crisis, we want them to be able to help us restart the economy. That’s why we needed to increase accessibility to this business account. Perhaps Minister nag might have something to add to what I’ve already said. [end of translation].
I think that’s absolutely correct and I don’t have a lot more to add other than we have been listening to businesses right from the very beginning and we’ve always committed to businesses that we would support them through this difficult time. We want to make sure we are helping our businesses manage and to help them with the operating costs that they do bear, whether it’s utilities or insurance or paying that additional 25% top-up which I know that many businesses do andover 600, 000 businesses have taken advantage of the loan and it’s those operating costs they are using this for.
We’ll go to the room starting with Kevin Gallagher from government.
Question:
My question is for Dr. Tam. Can you give us an idea what the public health concerns are for keeping the canadian-United States borderclosed to non-essential travel. What are the benchmarks that public health officials will be looking at when and if that sortof regular travel between canadaand the United States starts to commence?
Answer:
Yes. So again, that is quite a broad discussion, but at the special advisory committee, as I said, we’ve looked at some of the criteria for lifting some of the public health measures. One of the consensus approaches at the moment is that we have to cautiously lift measures within our borders first, just to see slowly what actually happens, because we’ll want to see that the cases are still suppressed, you’re still going to manage, detect, clamp down on any new spots that might come up. That’s really important. That depends on public health care capacity, protecting the vulnerable, ET cetera. Part of this equation is the international border and the measures we’ve put down at the moment, particularly the massive reduction in the number of international travellers has allowed Canada to manage this first wave of the pandemic. If there is increased volumes, we want to make sure that we have the safety of Canadians at the top of mind. So we want to make sure we not only keep up but also strengthen some of those measures. The mandatory 14-day quarantining of people who come in remains a cornerstone as we go forwards and the fact that we have to manage that and make sure that people are following that requirement, especially if volumes do go up. Some of these are the key considerations. Of course there are other considerations by other areas of the government that wants to make sure we still get the supplies and everything we need. There are special and economic impacts that can impact negatively the health of Canadians as well, so we need to also balance that. But fundamentally ensuring that whatever we do the system is still able to detect and cope with any introduction.
Question:
and just on a follow up, on the world health organization, Dr. Tam, we’ve heard from United States president donaldtrump that he is threatening to pull funding from the u. N. agency, maybe rescinding membership of the United States. It comes at a time – whether you agree with the president’s opinion or not – of increased criticism against the world health organization’s handling of the outbreak. Are you at all concerned or have any ideas about what the credibility or long-term credibility of the world health organization could look like as this pandemic continues to unfold and as we see that there’s pressure for an independent investigation to howthe W.H.O. Handled the beginning of this coronavirus outbreak?
Answer:
Well, I think, as everyone can fully appreciate, this is a completely unprecedented pandemic which in the modern era people have not seen. Every organization will have lessons learned. There is absolutely no doubt. From a Canada perspective and which I think has been made clear in many weeks that, one, now is the time for global collaboration. We just talked about international borders. Canada cannot resume some of those activities without other countries also collaborating together to reduce the transmission of the virus the W.H.O. Actually plays a really critical role in that because every country has some measure and there needs to be some – I think now more than ever there needs to be international collaboration and the W.H.O. is critical in that. I think Canada is also supporting the call for the independent assessment of the response, not just the W.H.O. Which is the secretariat to the world health organization and the assembly, it’s the member states as well. You can’t just review the W.H.O. Response, but how we all intersected with it and how eachmember state is able to respond to it. So I think that is the prudent thing to do. and I think the resolution at the assembly now that is lookingat this independent assessment at an appropriate time. Of course right now everybody is in the middle of response and this period where countries, notjust Canada, are beginning to lift those measures is a really delicate time where I think thatmassive international collaboration has to occur. So I think, you know, Canada supported that resolution and we will move forward. I think the other thing is that I think the W.H.O. is what we member states make it. We can make it stronger and better as part of our international response to futurepandemics. But there is no doubt that all of us have something to learn.
Julie, over to you.
Question:
Julie van dusen, CBC news. In light of a vaccine, is there anything you are doing to get ready to make sure that such a vaccine can be manufactured here? are you purchasing supplies related to vaccines in advance, syringes and other things?
Answer:
That’s a really good question. Obviously we are preparing for the short and the long term, and the key point in the long-term preparation is to make sure Canada is positioned well in terms of procuring and manufacturing vaccines. By all means, we are planning for that. We are ensuring that Canada would have the additional supplies that you mentioned to ensure that we can move forward with vaccinations when the time is right, no question about it.
Question:
Perhaps a little more detail from Dr. Tam about the border. Obviously there’s health concerns. Are they worried about our infection rate or are we worried about their infection rate and what has to change for the border to open?
Answer:
So, as I just said every country is dependant on all other countries. If you think about it, every country has a role in reducing viral transmission within its own borders. Of course we will be watching what is happening in the United States in terms of their epidemic and their trajectory. I AM certain that they will be looking at the Canadian epidemiology as well. So I think that does form part of the consideration in protecting each of those citizens and sort of collaborating on that, but then looking at how can we safely resume some of the activities. As I’ve said, one of the key aspects of that is anyone who isentering, if they undergo that quarantine period, you can reduce the potential risk of importation. So all of that I think comes into play, but the considerations for that international border is much more complex I think than just the technical health input. So I’m sure that leaders will be discussing all those other complex aspects to this.
Thank you, doctor. Mike.
Question:
Hello, Dr. Tam. Mike, I have to ask about – president trump said on the weekend that he’s taking hydroxychloroquine. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Answer:
Well, I think My message is still much the same as what I’ve said before, which is, you know, we’re all wanting to look at viable treatments. Everyone wants an answer and a solution. But I think right now a lot of the studies are very preliminary on different treatments and the results have been mixed. However, some preliminary studies from outside of Canada suggest that hydroxychloroquine might have some role or being effective in reducing the viral load. If hydroxychloroquine is being used, it should be part of a clinical trial, for which they are already clinical trials in progress with hydroxychloroquineas arms of those treatment trials. Some of them are being funded by the CIA and the Canadian treatment for coronavirus, that’s a network that’s being supported feeds into the solidarity trial of the W.H.O., and one of them is on hydroxychloroquine. I think – it was just very recently, I can’t remember whichdate, also health Canada approved the trial for the use of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized children. That is very important as well because different age groups canhave different responses to hydroxychloroquine. So really the bottom line is that the medication must, first of all, be preserved for its current indicated medical treatment. For example, for people with lupus, malaria, prophylaxis treatment, and then we have to have hydroxychloroquine go into clinical trials.
Question:
Okay. So we don’t have any evidence as of yet that it’s having an effect. More importantly, what are the dangers of taking a drug that has not been fully tested?
Answer:
Well, I think any drug has side effects of course. So that’s part of the study in these clinical trials. Some of it might occur – the trials might start with healthy people first, but you want to see how these drugs also perform in people in different age groups and underlying medical conditions and there are drug underlying impacts as well. Every drug has its risks and that’s why you need those trials.
Rosemary:
We are going to pull away from the federal briefing. That is Dr. Theresa tam being asked an interesting question on president trump’s revelation that he’s been taking hydroxychloroquine for a couple of weeks now because of some information that it could perhaps help with the coronavirus. Dr. Tam making it clear that this medication has to be part of a clinical trial to test it on how it might reduce viral load when it comes to coronavirus. It has not yet been approved for use in this capacity. It is used for lupus and malaria and other things, but not approved for treatment of coronavirus, even though the president said he is using it. I’ll bring in My colleagues, the host of “power & politics,” and David Cochrane. It’s interesting to hear Dr. Tam’s point of view on that. Vassy, what stood out for you there in all we heard over the past hour?
Vassy:
Yeah, there was a lot. He’s taking it as a preventive measure.
Rosemary:
Yeah, you’re right.
Vassy:
Dr. Tam highlighted that the tests and the trials that are being done, this is what other doctors are saying as well, are focused on whether or not it can treat it and there’s only one subset using it as a preventive measure. It’s tiny, tiny, no way can you treat that as evidence. and also the side effects of what we have seen so far are pronounced, especially where the heart is concerned. That’s why considers are saying it’s really dangerous if you follow this. The other thing I wanted to touch on was the world health organization and Dr. Tam got a bunch of questions about the possibility of a review. Over the past 48 hours, the W.H.O. Has confirmed there will be an independent review into its actions in all of this and one of the big things is were they too reliant on information and data that came out of china on this. The fact that china was saying early on there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Dr. Tam saying Canada is supportive of that review being conducted. That is something we heard from the Prime Minister. I interviewed the Minister for international development, karina gold, last night and she also said this is something we will support. I asked about a timeline. Everyone is saying this will happen once we’re over the pandemic. Will that review happen once there is a vaccine or does the canadian government support it sooner? she said sooner. She seemed to think a review right happen before a vaccine. She also seemed to think, and this flies in the face of the actions of the W.H.O. In SARS, that isn’t the W.H.O.’s role to be skeptical of china. They have yet to answer specificquestions about the W.H.O.’s conduct or the questions that the government has right now. Should it have been so reliant on china? does the government itself doubtthe information that came out ofchina. Those answers aren’t answered right now, though they have saidpretty clearly that they will support that independent review that the W.H.O. Has now confirmed, and china, by the way, which initially resisted itsaid they will support that review will happen sometime in the future.
Rosemary:
David, maybe on that same topic because I thought it was interesting – and this is what we’re hearing from the government and Dr. Tam, that the W.H.O. is only as strong as the member states wantit to be and only as strong as the information they contribute to the W.H.O. I guess at some point it’s abouthow much skepticism the W.H.O. Needs to apply to the information they’re getting fromcertain member states.
David:
As Dr. Tam said, we’restill in the response phase in allot of ways and a delicate part of the response phase as economies start to reopen and gradually loosen the health restrictions in place. There will need to be an accountability session of some kind on the global response, national response, provincial response, and local response. Was the W.H.O. Quick enough to sound the alarm, was Canada quick enough on dealing with travel and border, were provinces quick enough on traveland were cities quick enough. All of this is will be assessed in some capacity. It’s a question of when. We are still going through and living through this, and the ability even to fly and get together and do an investigationdoesn’t exist in any meaningful capacity right now as we’re trying to figure out how to rampup testing and tracing. a little bit about what the Prime Minister said last week when he spoke about the first ministers’ meeting, it was an offer to provide personnel and supplies to help provinces scaleup testing and tracing. It could be anything from offering lab capacity, providingthem with money, or functioning as an h. R. department to connectprovincial health authorities with, let’s say, thousands of volunteers who have signed up tohelp with the contact tracing through federal government web pages. This is an idea right now, an offer from the federal government, not fleshed out morethan that. It’s a no-strings offer of support, I guess the only string that it has to be used for contact tracing or ramping up testing. That’s likely going to be discussed when the first ministers have their phone call towards the end of this week.
Rosemary:
Thank you both verymuch. Vassy kapelos and David Cochrane. You can check Vassy out on her program, “power & politics,” later today. We will leave you with what we heard from the government today, first, that the Canada-United States border will remain closed for another 30 days for non-essential travel. That is said to be much needed. Dr. Theresa tam said in her briefing that we will have to come around to the notion that this will be a summer of more restrained movements. and also the Canada emergency business loan will be expanded. Andrew nichols will pick up coverage after the break. I’m rosemary barton. This is cbc news network. Thanks for watching. [♪♪♪]