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 with the latest response to the pandemic. The announcement today, $75 million in new funding for the half of the indigenous people in this country who live in urban centres or offreserves, to make sure that theydon’t, as the prime ministersaid, fall through the crack sand it follows other announcements for first nations, met is communities and Inuit of more than $300 million that had been made previously. Before I talk, though, to my colleagues about what a lot of the questions are around, airline travel and if you should get your money back, about contact tracing and testing, want to turn our attention to the story we’ve been talking about throughout this as we concentrate what has become the epicentre of this virus and that is in look-term care centres. and because that happened, primarily in Ontario and Quebec, hardest hit, hundreds of soldierand military medical personnelwere deployed to play a criticalrole both here in Ontario, inthose long-term care homes andin Quebec. Lieutenant colonel james stalkeris with battle group one and hissoldiers are help doing some ofthat scare and facilities acrossthe greater area. The lieutenant joins us now. Good to see you.
Good morning.
Please call me rosemary. [ laughter ]
Thank you for making thetime, because we wanted to highlight the work many soldier shave been doing. Can you give us a sense of things people are doing inside the long-term care centres?
I want to thank you for your interest in our work there. The work they’re doing, soldiers, sailors and aviators, as well is tremendous work. It’s the shift breakdown in thehomes, a mixful medical personnel lead by a nurse and team composed of medicaltechnicians. So the medical teams will do clinical work and direct patient care for residents in thefacilities. They disinfect, cleaning, laundry and food pottering and even light organizational work for the homes. It’s an integrated team and the team itself is integrated into the larger staff metric within the home and the facilityitself.
So they’re doing anything they can to help, whether they have medical training or not? is that fair to say?
That’s correct. We’re there as a supportingagency, to support the civil authorities and support those people in any way we can.
So you yourself have been deployed to Kandahar and lead other big organizational, logistical missions with the g2020summits. How is this different, given thenature of the work and how didyou prepare for it?
Well, it’s a great question. I think that every mission is singular and every mission ha sits unique challenges but this is more unique than most. This is a way for us, really, toserve. and I think that military personnel are driven first and foremost by a desire to serve and this is how they can servecanada and Canadians in their hour of greatest need. So if I would offer one word to describe the mood or the tenor here it would be motivated and motivated to help has brought out a greater response to thiscrisis.
What kind of training did thenonmedical soldiers get? I understand there was a30-minute video on do’s anddon’t’s around COVID-19 and iwonder want was that enoughpreparation, for, as you say, amission so unusual that it’sunprecedented?
I would offer the soldier shave been preparing longer thanthat. Tbg1 was formed as a rapid response unit in response to thecovid crisis and the potential of forest fires and other domestic emergencies and we deployed back in early April. There’s frequent handwashing, personal and training equipment and distancing, ET cetera. There was a specific training for this mission in terms of care for elderly residents and advanced training in the donning of personal protectiveequipment. So I think they are quite well prepared for the task.
That’s good to know. and you talked about ppe. Obviously that’s critical for all of you keeping one anothersafe, as well. and are soldiers, are they wearing n95 masks as a rule of thumb or how do you make decision about who wears them and who doesn’t?
It’s a good question. The decision on which Poe to wear and what situation is driven by medical guidelines, by the provision of advice of medical authorities, be it the public health agency of Canada, be it our own health network. So they have stark guidelines on what Poe to wear, in whatsituation, depending on the level of risk and depending on the level of potential infection and we conduct ourselvesaccordingly. So whether it’s a breakdown by zone or whatever the case maybe, we follow the infection and patrol guidelines for each.
So your systematically wearing an n95 mask, would that be fair to say? sometimes you might wear regular surgical mask?
All I can offer is that we follow the guidelines of medicaladvisers. They offer a range of guideline son the situation and we conduct ourselves accordingly and found that would be the best practise.
We had confirmation there was one soldier who contractedcovid-19 in Ontario and then more in Quebec. Can you give us any sense of whether that number has increased and how you are, then, protecting one another, given that happened and everyone was aware that was a part of therisk, I guess?
Every deployment has risked and this is one of the risks on this deployment. I’ll answer the second part of your question first. I can’t get into specifics because there’s matters of medical privacy. This is all subject to the bestadvice, again, of the medical professionals who are a part of the comprehensive team toassist. In terms of the numbersthemselves, unfortunately, I’mnot the authority for that and any numbers to provide you would be preliminary, so the next government update is scheduled to be released on the 29th, providing the most consolidated and accurate figure.
That’s great. Let me ask you this, lieutenantcolonel, it would seem this could be emotionally draining. You know, the prime minister talked at one point how soldiersshouldn’t be looking afterseniors. I think everyone agrees this is something we need to correct moving forward. I only have about a minute left, but how are you dealing withthat, the deep sadness of this, as well, the emotional toll itstaking?
There is certainly a serious human aspect to this and how my soldiers are dealing with it is in terms of giving back. In the few off-minutes in thehomes, they have been goingabove and beyond to help otherresidents. I do want to report of onesoldier who is quite a giftedpiano player and in his sparetime, he plays piano in one ofthe homes and immediately liftsthe spirit and one of the humantouches we can add.
Lieutenant colonel stalker, thank you to all of you and your colleagues for you’re doing. We do appreciate it, sir.
Thank you very much, indeed.
We’ll take a short break and more on the battle after this short break. You’re watching CBC newsnetwork.”
Rosemary:
Hello again. I’m rosemary Barton here in Ottawa. Welcome to our special COVID-19 coverage on CBC news network, streaming, on our website around the world. Ottawa has pledged more support for indigenous people during the pandemic. The Prime Minister announced $75 million in new funding for groups that help indigenous people living off reserve and in urban centers. Also ahead, hard-hit Ontario and Quebec are struggling to reach testing targets so we’ll look at how the provinces are dealing with that during this crucial re-opening phase. This is happening as some provinces consider using some contact tracing apps. As we know, some people further along on all of this than others. I’ll bring in My colleagues, vas sy kapelos and catherine cullen. I didn’t speak to you after the Prime Minister because I wanted to get our lieutenant colonel in to talk about that. But there were a lot of questions, not surprisingly, about testing and contact tracing in light of the fact that there will be a call with first ministers, with premiers tonight, Vassy.
Vassy:
Yeah. and we know that this will be the subject of that – or one of the subjects of that call as I was exactly a week ago with the premiers when the Prime Minister conducted the now weekly conference call with them. Think that there are a couple of questions that remain for the federal government and for provincial governments. We know – we heard from the Prime Minister that there is the desire on the part of the federal government to see capacity ramp up. There is obviously the caveat, that depends on where you live. There simply isn’t the demand for testing in, for example, British Columbia right now as there is in Ontario because of the sort of place we are on the curve – on the curve where the virus is concerned. But there aren’t a lot of specifics being offered by the federal government other than the testing capacity right now across the country is 60, 000. It should be higher. How much higher? what exactly do you want to see when it comes to contact tracing? what I’m not clear on at this point, I guess, is like if there is a strategy that’s going to be put in place, clearly the provincial government needs to say this is what we need, depending on whatever province you’re in. But besides money, is the federal government going to play more of a role, I guess? and I know there are sort of points of conflict there. I don’t think that the federal government, from My conversations, is happy with necessarily all the plans that have been presented so far or the degree to which they’re being presented. So they’re not complete at this point. So I wonder where that conversation is going and I do think it is somewhere to watch. Dr. Teresa tam, who we’re waiting for right now, will be asked more about this and yesterday had some very interesting comments that I was interested in just because it talked – she talked about sort of the reasons why we weren’t at that capacity. We were only at half the capacity right now. and a lot of it has to do with criteria, which Catherine and you both flagged earlier. So, where can you get with symptoms, without symptoms, how many tests. What do you have to be presenting in order to get the tests? and that wildly varies depending on where you are in this country. and so you wonder if there needs to be a more consistent approach with that or – I think there are a lot of factors that go into it. But the bottom line is if we’re re-opening our economies you need to be testing a lot more and aggressively contact tracing and I don’t know who’s leading the charge there.
Rosemary:
Yeah. I think that the conversation last week, from what I understand, people were receptive to the notion that the federal government, as we’re talking about, is willing to put up money, people, equipment, whatever they need for provinces to move forward with this. I guess the question is, where is the ask from the province. What specifically are they asking for. What is the federal government willing to do? but you’re quite right that that broadening of testing is also part of this. We talked about Saskatchewan doing that as of Monday. Vassy before we went on air, you were talking about Alberta because Calgary is now testing asymptomatic people and it’s showing with some pretty dramatic things, too.
Yeah. It’s super interesting. I think they have done, as of two days ago, 3500 asymptomatic [inaudible] in Calgary and the bulk of the cases by far, three quarters of them r in the Calgary and brooks area. That is why the a. H.s. and Dr. Hinshaw, the chief medical officer, decided to target asymptomatic testing there and what it showed is – I can’t remember the exact number. I don’t have it on hand. Out of the 3500, I think it was 100 asymptomatic cases, but still a number of them. Presented positive. So, that’s fascinating because we know about asymptomatic transmission but we now have data to back it up very specifically in a province in this country. and then they also found that the number of asymptomatic cases who had had contact with a known positive case was greater. So I think it was something around 75 positive cases there.
Rosemary:
Exactly. 123 tested – I only know this because I was given the numbers.
Vassy:
I need someone in My ear, too. [laughter]
Rosemary:
123 tested positive and 75 tested positive and they had contact with someone with COVID-19.
Vassy:
Yeah. It’s super interest because what it shows – it shows the importance of significance of contact tracing, first of all. It shows, second of all, that asymptomatic trans submission a real thing and how much of a real thing? how pervasive is it in society in there are not a lot of other province you can look at right now to find data to determine the answers to that question. and the answer to that question so central when we talk about re-opening the economy. We have to know to what degree this virus is invisible among us in order to be safe in emerging back into society.
Rosemary:
and let me bring in Catherine here. It is so fundamental for the second wave which Dr. Bonnie Henry was talking to matt Galloway about this morning on “the current” and said, listen, there are no pandemic where there’s no second wave. and the fear is that the second wave is worst than the first.
Reporter:
and that moment where she says I try to be an optimist, but history has shown us it’s led to be the case. and then we want to see them respond almost instantly when it hits and they want the system to be up and moving so efficiently. He said that financial and logistical concerns really should not be an issue here. It should not hold us back. It sounds to me like it is a manner of saying that money should be no object when it comes to this. But I would contrast with that what we heard of the head of the Canadian medical association yesterday at a senate committee saying that we are not prepared for a second wave, certainly sandy bushman flagged testing as an issue. Also the availability of personal protective equipment and just what he described as an ailing health care sector in general that has been overwhelmed by this. All the work that needs to be done. So we hear opt – optimism from the Prime Minister but there’s concern. It’s quite a pivot, but we should talk about airlines as well.
Rosemary:
Yes, please do.
Reporter:
Just because there was – the Prime Minister faced quite a few questions about that and because we know a lot of Canadians are interested in this issue. Many people, of course, had their trips canceled because of the COVID-19 outbreak that has affected international travel and I just thought it was so fascinating to see the way the Prime Minister really set up a dichotomy there, right? yes, we know people want their money back but also want a functioning airline sector when this is all over and we heard him being needled by our colleagues to say surely people who have money tied up that have travel vouchers that feel like they won’t be able to use this is not fair to them. The Prime Minister would not put it in those words. He talks about these two competing concerns that there are conversations going on right now to try to find a fair outcome for everybody. But the idea that folks are simply going get their money back, as we have seen in some other jurisdictions around the world, I don’t think that the Prime Minister offered people a lot of hope on that front. They’re work towards some sort of a solution. But a full refund? he seemed to suggest something like that really could sink the airline industry in Canada.
Rosemary:
Well, that’s probably accurate. He called them careful discussions. Our colleague Ashley Burke has done a lot of work on this, obviously. But it is – it is interesting because, you know, if you look at the case of air Canada,, where they have now moved to layoff more than half of their workforce and they obviously, you know, can’t keep going even with the wage subsidy, have not yet tapped into the large business of emergency funding and if they were then to be asked to repay to Canadians all the lost money and tickets that I don’t know what would happen to them. and I guess that is the Prime Minister and airlines’ real concern. I’m not saying that Canadians shouldn’t get their money back. It’s just you can see how the pressure of that would be enormous on an airline company right now. Maybe – I don’t know. Would the government step in to fund that directly? that seems pretty – that seems like a pretty crazy idea, too. I don’t know. [laughter]
Reporter:
When you put that on the table with the other concerns that the Prime Minister raid during the course of that press conference, this does leave into that question about sick leave. B.c. Premier john Horgan wants a national program in order to fund sick leave. This is something that NDP Leader jagmeet singh here in ottawa has been talking about as well. Of course, that is so important when you stop and think about it in the context of all of this because everybody does agree that we don’t want people going into work because they don’t feel like they can afford to take the time off of work even if feel like they are sick. How do we fund that? we know that major business organizations in British Columbia or businesses should not have to shoulder this cost, but when the Prime Minister was asked about it today, he said yes, it’s a significant issue. So is making changes to long-term care facilities and talked about child care and so the list of things that need funding and attention in order get society back up and moving keeps growing, rosemary.
Rosemary:
Yeah. Ok. All right. I’ll leave you both right there. Thank you both very much as the briefing gets under way. There is also – that is Vassy kapelos and the cbc’s Catherine Cullen. There is also a virtual COVID-19 committee that is happening today. The Prime Minister will not be in attendance from what we understand. and so there is Michelle rempel, conservative M.P. for calgary. But if you want to continue watching that part of our coverage, you can do that still on cbc. Ca/politics. But we will bring you today the briefing with cabinet ministers and public health officials here now. That is the president of the treasury board. Let’s bring that to you live right now.
Good afternoon and Bonjour. I will start with the latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada. There are now 80555 case, including 6062 deaths and 41, 108 cases of 51% have now recovered. Labs across Canada have tested over one million people with 5 a% testing positive. We’re currently testing an average of 28, 000 people daily and the number change quickly and Krupp dated on Canada. Ca/coronavirus. So, it is time to have “the talk.” that is the talk about what some refer to as quarantine fatigue. As things are begining to re-open, we want to get out. But at the same time, many of us are still feeling trepidation. is the time right? how do I keep myself and My family safe. These are valid concerns. COVID-19 has not gone away and the struggle is not over. So we need to talk about the practices that will allow us to go out smart and stay safe. There are still uncertainties and there are things that we know now that will keep us safe. Including that we need to proceed with caution. Since we’re going to be living with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future, we’ll need to pace ourselves and go out smart by remaining vigilant with public health measures to prevent the spread of the virus and this includes fiscal distancing. Two meters from others. Keeps us far enough away from coming into contact with potentially infectious droplets when people laugh, speak, sing. Avoiding touching common surfaces and objects reduces the likelihood of contaminating our hands with infectious droplets to avoid touching our mouths, eyes and nose stops us from infecting ourselves. Cleaning our hands after with soap and water for 20 seconds but with hand sanitize er while you’re out destroys the virus and makes sure you don’t infect yourself. Extra layers like wearing a nonmedical mask or face covering where COVID-19 may still be active and you can’t keep a two-meter physical distance provides additional protection to prevent the spread of infectious respiratory droplets, even if the carrier is not showing any symptoms. Thank you. Merci.
Interpreter:
Thank you. Good afternoon. As usually, I will begin with the latest figures about COVID-19 in Canada. There are now 80555 cases, including 6062 deaths and 41108 have now recovered. This is equal to 51% of the cases. Labs across Canada have now tested over 1, 377, 000 people with COVID-19 with about 5% of these testing positive. We are currently testing an average of 28, 000 people every day. These numbers change quickly. and are updated regularly on Canada. Ca/coronavirus. So it’s time to have “the talk”. that’s the talk about what some refer to as quarantine fatigue. As things are begining to re-open, we want to get out. But at the same time, many, many of us are feeling trepidation. is it the right time? how do I keep myself and My family safe? these are valid concerns. COVID-19 has not gone away and the struggle is not over so we need to talk about the practices that will allow us to go out smart and stay safe. There are still uncertainties and lots more things to learn. However, there are things we now know that will keep us safe, including that we need to proceed with caution. Since we’re going to be living with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future, we’ll need to pace ourselves and go out smart by remaining vigilant with public health measures to prevent the spread of the virus and this includes the following measures. Physical distancing, two metres from others. This keeps us far enough away to prevent coming into contact with potentially infectious droplets. These droplets are produced when people cough, sneeze, laugh, sing or speak. and this includes people who do not appear to be ill. Avoid touching common surfaces and objects. This will reduce the likelihood of contaminating our hands with infectious droplets. By avoiding touching our mouth, nose and eyes, we will not infect ourselves. Cleaning our hands, often with soap and water for 20 seconds or with hand sanitizer. While you’re out and after you get back this. Will destroy the virus and ensure that you don’t inadd verdict tently infect yourself or contaminate the things that you touch. Wearing a nonmedical mask or face covering where COVID-19 may still be active and when you cannot keep a two-meter physical distance will provide additional protection. This will help to prevent the spread of infectious respiratory droplets, even if the wearer is not showing symptoms. By continuing with tried and true public health measures we get out safely and ensure that we can keep COVID-19 down. Thank you very much. Merci.
Good afternoon. Bonjour. Earlier today, the Prime Minister responded to the calls from urban indigenous organizations across the country for more support and announced an additional $75 million for organizations supporting first nations living off reserve and Inuit and mÉtis living in urban areas. Over the past eight weeks or so, we see leadership at all levels to protect the most vulnerable. Our elders and youth. and to take collective action to support those who need it the most. Women’s groups, shelters, health supports, assistance with food delivery has been assisted by community-based organizations across Canada. In March, we provided $305 million in immediate support through the distinctions-based community support fund. This enabled first nations, inuit and mÉtis communities to address their specific needs as they prepared for, to react to – and react to the spread of COVID-19. The fund included $15 million for support to first nations living off reserve or inuit and mÉtis living in urban centers. Not only including major cities, but also smaller towns like timmins, Ontario or prince george, British Columbia. this funding helped 94 organizations support ago variety of measures to help youth, homeless by providing food baskets, child care, mental health supports and sanitation and protective equipment. We’ve been able, for example, to support the important work of community-based groups like the urban native youth association who’s supporting indigenous youth with self-isolation activity packages, technology and education assistance as well as financial support for frontline youth workers. We’ve also been able to support iqaluit community to the – who are providing inuit elders with care package of nutritious food and personal hygiene products and the north slave mÉtis alliance offering essentials like groceries, prescription refills and child care expenses. Other initiatives are providing assistance many in navigating and accessing a full range of government and community health, housing and social supports, hiring emergency response coordinators, increased emotional support and wellness counseling to name a few examples. But this wasn’t enough. We’ve also been able to fund organizations who are engaging in indigenous youth during this pandemic or providing technology support in the form of internet connects for family comput kerrs or prepaid phone cards for elders just to name a few. Today’s announcement marks a five-fold increase in the amount of funding for urban indigenous organizations and I want to take a brief moment to acknowledge members of parliament from all who pushed very, very hard for this announcement to happen.
Interpreter:
Since My last update last week, the number of cases on indigenous reserves is stabilizing. We saw 201 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on reserves, 156 have recovered. We can also confirm that the 16 cases in Nunavut northern Quebec have also recovered by looking at the number of cases that have recovered. We know that the curve is flattening. These are encouraging results and suggest that a number of communities have st oped the spread of the infection. However, we must remain vigilant. We must continue to follow the situation closely.
Unfortunately we’ve seen a steady increase in the numbers of confirmed cases in the blood tribe Alberta. As of may 20, there are a total of 13 case in the community and we’re in close contact with the blood tribe departments of health to support the community’s pandemic response plan, mitigating further spread of the virus by ensuring individuals self-isolate as appropriate. Initial contact tracing has shown some evidence of household transmission and extensive social interactions among individuals who have tested positive for the virus. While these individuals did not present severe cases of the virus there is, of course, the potential for wider community spread and want to reiterate the importance of physical distancing, limiting social gatherings and, when possible, staying at home. Together, by making this conscious effort, we can slow the spread of COVID-19.
Interpreter:
As the flooding season is ending and the forest fire season is beginning, we understand the additional complexities that COVID-19 will present in the case of an emergency evacuation. Indigenous services Canada is continuing to work with the provincial and territorial governments and first nations partners to put in place plans and an emergency response plan that are efficient and guarantee the safety and security of all. $48 million over five years starting over 2019-2020 and under the fire smart to support this capacity of first nations to manage forest fires. This will continue and will help to ensure the resiliency of first nations communities to deal with this growing threat.
Lastly, I would also like the add that the delivery of essential services and supplies in first nations communities via charter flights continues with the latest flight taking off yesterday and to date 502 nurses and other health care providers have flown to or from 49 fly-in communities in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta. In addition to supporting the needs of the communities we serve, these flights also help keep communities, nurses and our other health care professionals safe. Flights will continue every four weeks until it is safe to return to the previous process. In closing, I would like to once again thank all health care professionals working in indigenous community for their dedication and tireless efforts to ensure quality and culturally-appropriate care, testing and treatment during this pandemic. Meegwetch. Thank you. Merci.
Interpreter:
Thank you, mark. We’re pleased to respond to your questions.
Thank you, Minister. As usual, we’ll proceed with the phones first and then do the room, one question and one follow-up each. Operator?
Operator:
Thank you. Merci. Our first question, please go ahead.
Reporter:
Merci. Bonjour.
Interpreter:
Mr. Miller, the federal government gave additional funding to kanestake to deal with the crisis. Using this money, which was used to pay people who were managing the road controls has criticized the fact that the federal government is funding blockades. What is your response? when you intervene, what are you doing to deal with this crisis in the Ok. park? Mr. Miller’s answer – first, I would say that it is difficult to judge people who are trying to protect their own community due to the spread of – or potential spread of COVID-19. I know that OJ – indigenous communities have been exemplary in dealing with this very difficult situation. The money that was granted to kanestake as well as to other indigenous communities across the country is being used to ensure the health and safety measures and be sure that people can respect to t guidelines set out. The health and medical advice that is being provided, far be it from me to judge how these communities are exercising their right in kanestake. There are still people who speak their language. There are some 60 people who speak their language. These are very vulnerable people. We must respect that sensitivity anytime somebody, an elder dies. It is tragic. We must understand the situation in which they are living. We’re talking about security checkpoints. Along the roads. These are not barricades, there is a difference. In the way that these checkpoints are being operated. If you had followed the news in February, the federal government has indicated it could offer its services if requested to date. Around the Minister responsible has intervened and is in discussions with the mayor and grand chief. Discussions are bearing fruit. If they need assistance and if they need help they need only call. The government of Canada remains prepared to act if needed. But they are managing the situation. and as you know obviously, if I said earlier if you followed the situation in February there is constant communication. With these communities to resolve the different issues. Follow-up question. Thank you very much, Mr. Miller. My question goes perhaps to Dr. Tam. President of the medical association said that the country is not prepared – is not prepared for a second wave and is concerned about the listing of the current maeshls. There’s a lack of medical staff and I was thinking what do you need to do and do you agree? I cannot comment on the opinion of another individual by can tell you this – Dr. Tam and I continue to work closely with our counterparts in the provinces and territories. and with all levels of government. Everyone understands that there may be a second wave. Perhaps in the fall. We are working very hard to ensure that we have the supplies of equipment required and the human resources to do the contract tracing. and enough vaccines for the seasonal flu. This is a current issue. We are continuing to work and prepare and plan. We want to be prepared for a second wave that perhaps might occur in a few months.
Thank you, doctor. Operator, next question, please.
Operator:
Thank you. Merci. Our next question, aptn. Please go ahead.
Reporter:
Hi. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Sorry. I’m wondering about the 75 million urban indigenous that you announced today. How will that divvied up and will the [inaudible] get the $. 60 million that it was asking for.
It’s Jamie, right? thank you for the question, Jamie. That $75 million will be divided up, according to the submissions that we have received as I mentioned in a previous update. The $50 million that we allocated was well over prescribed and so it is a question of allocating the remaining amounts or even in creation current amounts that have been funded to organizations that are working on the front line to provide services to indigenous peoples living in urban setings. Increased amounts and that is a decision that will be taken within indigenous services Canada and rolled out in the most expedient fashion. Obviously we strive within the department to allocate these funds in an equitable fashion to serve those who need it the most in the most expedient fashion.
Jamie, follow-up?
Reporter:
Yeah, thanks. You mentioned that – obviously you’ve heard from cap. But what assurances are you that this is going to be enough? have you heard from other indigenous organizations?
Well, it is hard to comment on the sufficiency of funds that we allocate. We looked at the profile of the amounts that were asked through a very open process that indigenous services ran in a very open submission process in a very short period of time. and noting that it was well over prescribed is a prescription of need. But I can’t frays the pandemic curve or whether second and third waves will hit and where and how. It is difficult to say that will be sufficient. Certainly this funding is one of the largest envelopes for the urban indigenous space, noting that they are service providers that haven’t been particularly well-funded in the past so it is a very significant amount and whether it is sufficient or not isn’t for me to decide. We’ll have to, as the Prime Minister says, constantly reevaluates as we trace the course of pandemic.
Thank you, Minister.
Operator:
Thank you. Merci. Our next question, please go ahead.
Reporter:
Interpreter:
Question. This question is for Minister ducleau with regard to airlines. Why is it we cannot say today to consumers that they will be refunded? and that financial assistance requires refunds to consumers who purchase tickets. Thank you. There is three parts to the answer I will give. First, we fully understand the frustration of consumers in Quebec and across the country. People who bought tickets, made reservations and paid and now who are having trouble getting a refund. We also understand a very difficult situation in which airlines find themselves. We know that the short-term prospects for these airlines are quite modest and even of concern. Airlines should do everything they need to do to deal respectfully with their clients. If these companies want to re-open once the crisis has passed, they will need customers and the way that they treat their customers now is essential. At the same time, to respond more directly to your question, I would say this. We are offer aing liquidity terms to companies, including airlines. But also have some for later.
So we understand –
Reporter:
What –
I’ll answer you briefly in English. So, we understand fully the frustration that consumers in Canada have when it comes to getting their air tickets getting reimbursed. This is a significant source of frustration for them, give they have reserved and paid for their tickets. We also understand the difficult situation in which air companies everywhere on earth and in Canada in particular are going through now and will be going through in the next while. So we know this is a crisis that is going to affect them for little time. and third, we believe that they are best able and presently expected to understand that if they want to have consumers in the future they need to be treating them with respect. So, given all of this, we also are offering these companies and many other companies ways to increase their liquidities and pay them emergency wages so they can go through the crisis and work with their customers in the appropriate manner.
Reporter:
Interpreter:
Complementary question. Why, when we listen to the lack of an answer, that you’re Ing the airlines rather than consumers? and I’d like to ask about seniors. Will they get the assistance you announced last week? answer – we understand that it is a difficult situation for everybody. It’s an emergency that has a negative impact on many, many people. But also on companies and we expect these companies, as I said a few moments ago, to treat fairly and rep resentfully their customers. With regard to assistance for seniors, we are working quickly. The Minister said so last week that we hope that the major investments that will be made will be made as quickly as possible. As well as ensuring that they are made properly so there is no errors made in the payment of these funding.
Reporter:
Julie van dusen, CBC. Dr. Tam, considering all the complaints about testing, that not enough testing is being done across the country, can one assume that Canadians aren’t getting the full story then on how many people are infected? in other words, the numbers you reveal every day, can one assume they’re much higher?
I think throughout this epidemic, we know that the numbers will be higher than the people who actually got tested. So during the height of this epidemic, there would have been people who stayed at home or had mild illness who would not have been tested. At this phase, the strategy involves increasing testing in the community setting for people with even mild symptoms. Now it’s quite possible – and I know I’ve heard from chief medical officers that, in fact, people are not necessarily showing up to get tested, maybe they’re not having symptoms. But there is also then needs to be more sort of systematic surveillance, systems set up to test different people in the community, particularly in high-risk settings. So I think that’s part of the strategy going forwards. All I can say is that, you know, I think there is good collaboration with provinces and territories. Every level, as you have seen at the very highest levels of government, people are ceased with the need to increase laboratory capacity and testing. So I think the – as I think I mentioned yesterday, the key is to be able to jump on any increase in cases and contact – do contact tracing really, really fast. So the other thing I would say is that’s why we have the immunity task force and the serologic testing because we know that there is a birth of the iceberg underneath that we are – don’t know about in terms of the true prevalence of the infection and who had previously been infected. So, the serological studis will help us to further understand what is the sort of proportion of the percentage of the population that may be affected and it has to be done across different areas of the country, in different age groups and setings as well.
Reporter:
Thank you. I’m wondering when you think the second wave will be coming. We have nice weather, things opening up and a lot of Canadians are talking about getting in their car this is summer and driving around.
So we’ve been messaging the importance to adhere to public health measures. Obviously this is quite a difficult period. It’s one of most difficult periods of time where people have been observing this public health advice and now some things are easing up and there is an exuberance of getting out there means that people may forget to do public health measuresful it is important that we keep reiterating these messages. I sound like a broken record, but I will be doing this all the time. Right now is not the time to forget those core public health measures like this. It’s called washing your hands, covering your cough, etc., and wearing a non medical naff you can’t keep the two-metre distance in the community where the virus may still be circulating. I think what will happen is if we don’t clamp down on any sparks, the immunity in the population, we don’t know the true immunity yet or true infection rate, if you like. If they ignite another train of transmission, you have to jump on it really fast. This virus can accelerate really quickly so we eve seen it accelerating really fast in the first wave. So, we had to be really cautious because it might not take much for another chain of escalation for trans in addition to occur. Be it small ways that they clamp down and need to suppress those so it doesn’t overwhelm the health system. Dr. Njoo talked about planning ahead for different scenarios and one of them is planning ahead for the next full winter season. We don’t know enough about this coronavirus. But many respiratory viruses increase in the winter time including influenza itself. and the planning includes making sure we have enough influenza vaccine and continuously we increase our capacity. We’re still acquiring ventilators, still building our P.P.E. Capacity. The testing capacity, all of those things has to continue to increase. So that we will be prepared for, you know, different scenarios, including even a bigger second wave.
Thank you, doctor. Mr. Mcgregor?
Reporter:
Following up on julie’s question. Some Canadians are considering flying this summer as well. I don’t know if you’ve seen the pictures from inside airplanes recently, but it is pretty much a breakdown of physical distancing, especially getting off the plane, passengers sit one row after each other, not anywhere close to being two meters apart. I’m wondering do you think, considering that airlines are federally regulated, that there needs to be tougher and more enforcement of air travel right now.
I think – sorry. So, that’s a really good question because right now what’s in place, of course, is screening before someone gets on the plane to Canada. . at the federal level, federal Canada has instituted non mandatory wearing of medical masks on planes and other federally regulated transportation. But because it is fundamentally almost impossible on a plane so the corridors, etc. There is more being done by the associations for the airlines and also to look at there is also other measures inside the plane you might be able to do in terms of how do people get to the washroom. How do you do proper environmental cleaning. How do you protect the staff and the travelers and the environmental cleaning aspects. Also, of course, we will be continuing the border measures in terms of making sure people go into mandatory quarantine. Other countries have lots of measures. Any traveler flying somewhere else needs to be very cognizant of what those are. You may actually have to be isolated for 14 days somewhere else. So, be prepared for all of those things. But I think that this is actually a very active piece of discussion in that sector. In all businesses, chief medical officer is advising people who have a plan to let us see what that is. I think the back sector is trying to pull together all the different elements of the layers of protection that it needs in order for traveler confidence, I think, to be built up. But from a public health perspective, we are pretty extremely vigilant about this because the virus has traveled to every country in the world. There’s different activities still in different countries. We don’t want that importation to occur. So as both for traveler protection going out there and for people sort of coming back in, you would expect that level of vigilance and screening and isolation to continue. But, of course, I will say that we’ll have to keep evaluating these things on an ongoing basis and I know that I’m not sure if the Minister and others will talk about this. But obviously inter departmentally there’s lots of conversations about how to safely look at air travel. Actually, the other forms of travel as well.
Reporter:
Thank you. Follow-up for Minister ducleau. You mentioned the difficulties the airlines are havingful one of those challenges that airlines are federally regulated under the Canada labour code which can be more onerous in some cases, especially dealing with termination of employees. Have you given any consideration, your government any consideration to relaxing or waiving any of the provisions of the code so that airlines can respond more agilely to the crisis we’re facing right now?
That question is not only important, but of course would be best placed with My colleague. What I can say, however, is that our top priorities of health and safety of workers. We do feel and do understands that many companies go through difficult times. Protecting the health’s and safety of the workers absolutely essential. While we believe that there are extra costs to doing this, we are also offering all sorts of different support to make sure that they not only is the government’s priority but also the priority of businesses.
Thank you, Minister. Mike?
Reporter:
Hello, Minister Duclos. So, municipalities are talk about cuts from everything from arenas and pools to essential services like fire and police. Will the federal government, either on its own or in collaboration with the provinces, provide the $10 to $15 billion that is being requested by the f. C.n.?
Very good. Minister Freeland just yesterday and Prime Minister Trudeau a couple of times in the last few days as well have repeatedly said that we are fully mindful of the difficulties that cities and municipalities go through in Canada. We are, therefore, healing them and ready to help them. However, this has to be absolutely in collaboration and we have the full support of provinces and territories. So, this discussion is ongoing and look forward to continuing I.
Thank you, Minister. Turn back to the phone. Operator?
Operator:
Thank you. Merci. Our next question, please go ahead.
Reporter:
Interpreter:
Question – My question is for Minister miller. I’d like to ask a question on behalf of My colleagues regarding the checkpoints near Ok.. I understand what you said about security. But in your opinion, are these checkpoints legitimate? answer – from the beginning when it comes to indigenous communities, I was important to ensure the relationship with the federal government to ensure that health and safety protocols were in place. With resources, funding resources to support this. Obviously you know the relationship that the federal government has with indigenous communities. If we want self-government, we must respect the choices they made. I have said this to your colleague, indigenous community have been exemplary. We see the proof of this when it comes to the number of infections and the measures that have been taken in these communities. To ensure that if there was an outbreak, it was stopped with the aggressive intervention and health measures put in place with, let’s be frank, limited resources. They have rich histories and vulnerable individuals living in these communities. The chief band council is concerned, in particular with these elders. When you talk about 60 people remaining who speak a language, you have to be careful. They have put in roadblock, checkpoints at Ok. and kanestake. It is not a barricade. We’re not talking about a crisis. We know what it is and if you follow the news from February, you would see this kind of situation as the economy re-opens will perhapss be repeatedand I have been in contact with the chief and the latest news that I had was that things were being resolved but we’re not talking about a dispute. When it comes to health and well-being of individuals and a desire to protect those vulnerable individuals. Far be it from me from judging the way in which these xlunls choose to implement the health protocols. We must continue the dialogue, of course. and the latest news that I had was that this was a situation that was being resolved.
Rosemary:
Ok. We’re going to pull away from this federal briefing. That is the Minister of indigenous services, Marc miller, talking about a situation in a first nations community where they are locking down some access to protect their community. But I’ll bring in My colleague, Catherine Cullen, to talk about the other things that came up during that press conference. Some really interesting comments from Teresa tam around testing and contact tracing, I thought, there to help us sort of better understand what they are also trying to figure out right now in terms of virus, Catherine.
Reporter:
Yeah. Notably who it is that they’re going to test and this is something that we heard her touching on latelylateli that it is not enough to test the population. Generally you want to focus on the areas that there is a vulnerable population. In the past she’s talked about institutions and indigenous communities as well. Not just test broadly because, of course, that is not necessarily going to get meaningful results, although we did hear Vassy talking earlier about some interesting work going on in Alberta in terms of testing asymptomatic people but figuring out precis ably who needs to be tested and the key to making this work is to do it very, very quickly. It was interesting to hear her talk about the work going on behind the scenes when it comes to the prospect of a second wave, talking about the fact that she said they’re still acquiring vent lays tier right now, which I think would probably come as a surprise to many Canadians. Perhaps not that they’re still acquiring personal protective equipment, which she talked about, but there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to prepare to scale up as we look at the future of this outbreak, so much talk today particularly about the prospect of a second wave coming in the fall. Also this conversation about what the to do when that interacts with the prospect of flu season. Right? the need to give everybody seasonal flu vaccine. How do you distinguish between the symptoms of the flu and of COVID-19. So, preparing to have the vaccine, preparing to deal with that situation. All of that was quite interesting.
Rosemary:
Yeah. She said something – the – we need to find the iceberg underneath, I think s what she said. Meaning the people that have had the disease, had the virus before, who maybe don’t have it anymore, or have antibodies against it, it was just – it’s very interesting to talk about that and also she was asked questions about the future of travel, which I thought was particularly interesting, too. Because there are – there are people who are thinking about in the summer, do I want to go see My parents or My grandparents and getting inside a plane, the prospect of that where two meters virtually impossible, how would that work? and she says there are some conversations happening around that, too.
Reporter:
Yeah. If I’m not mistaken, air Canada in particular is the one that I’m aware of. They’re offering options for international travel. But really, let’s not just talk about seeing families but vacations as well. is that something people are prepared to do under the current circumstances. She dmraged the interesting issues, not only the spacing on the airplane in terms of getting into your seat and perhaps a lot of people have saoefnl I know there was one article in particular, a journalist describing what it is like to get on an airplane right now. I believe this was an American journalist, but not a particularly pleasant experience because you might expect that on all flights you’ll have that two meters of distancing but in this journalist’s experience that wasn’t the case. Even if you could space people out, what happens when you start moving around the airplane. What happens when you have to use the bathroom. It was interesting to hear her say that many departments are discussing travel, not just air travel, but all kinds of travel right now and what does the future of that look like? of course, that discussion intersects with the other one we were having about when we’ll see a second wave. What kind of timeframe? just so many moving pieces to this discussion and I’ll quickly mention on the topic of air travel, it was interesting to hear Minister Duclos say, vis-a-vis people getting their money back for tickets f you want to have customers in the future, you need to be treating them with respect. So, adding another dynamic to all of this. The airlines, cash strapped, people want their money back. Another element to the future of air travel in all of this.
Rosemary:
Ok. Catherine Cullen, My thanks for your help with all of our coverage today and My thanks to Vassy kapelos as well. You can see both of them later tonight. Vassy’s show is, of course, at 5:00 eastern. As parts of the country begin to re-open as we’ve been talk about, we see businesses doing creative things to install new protective measures, including physical barriers. I’m sure you’ve seen it before. Adele is the owner of plexiguards in vancouver. Good to see you.
Thank you very much.
Rosemary:
You were in the fabric business before and now you moved to Plexiglas. How busy have you been?
We were in the fabrication business so we’ve been working with Plexiglas and other materials like wood and other plastics. and we pivoted into creating these barriers, mainly to help the community and stay in business as everything else slowed down. and it snow balled. We didn’t expect it to snow ball to this extent and it’s got ton the point where we’re extremely busy and we’re just trying to keep up with the demand and get everybody ready to open up for business.
Rosemary:
When so many businesses are suffering or trying to get re-opened, as you say, can you give me a sense of, you know, percentage-wise or any kind of number about how big and how fast your – this business has grown?
Well, you know, in the last two months, I would say, it’s – when we started, it was a matter of getting one or two orders, maybe a day or every two days. and now everyone is scrambling to get open because now they’ve realized that you need these barriers to stay safe and keep your employees and customers safe. So, it’s gone up to maybe 30 to 40 orders a day. If not more. With the phone ringing literally every minute. and e-mails going off the hook. So, we are adapting. We brought a bigger team on to create these barriers and get them out and the customers themselves, the businesses that are trying to open, they are scrambling to get open and the news to them that they need these barrier has hit so everyone needs it in three days or actually I need it yesterday.
Rosemary:
Yeah. I have only a minute, sadly. Obviously it’s great for you and for your business. But I wonder, do you feel sort of like a bigger sense of helping keep people safe and get businesses going? have you had time to think about that part of it?
Every time somebody comes and picks up the product, they are so grateful that they have it and that makes us feel like we’re helping because they say thank you so much for getting it out to me. Now I can get back to work. and that feels good.
Rosemary:
Yeah. It should. I’ve been to lots of businesses with lots of Plexiglas, hanging from weird places. [laughter]but doing a good job at protecting me and the businesses, too. Addel sillavi, thank you so much. He is co-owner of plexiguards in vancouver, just one of the things that businesses are having to think about as they adapt and get ready for more of us to come to them. All right. That wraps up our coverage here on cbc news network for today. I’m rosemary barton. I’ll see you back here tomorrow morning. Andrew nichols picks up our coverage right here. You’re watching cbc news network. See you tomorrow.