Parses captions for PM Trudeau's daily speeches and presents them in a more human readable format
Rosemary Barton here in the nation’s capital. Welcome to our special coverage on CBC news network” and streaming right around the world on our app and on our website. We’re standing by this Monday to hear from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who will take questions from reporters in a few minutes, at 11:15 eastern from his home. We are not expecting anything terribly new in the Prime Minister’s update on this Monday, but the Prime Minister is expected to generally update us on some of the measures that the government has taken over the past few months, at this point, whether it be economic or health measures. It is also the first time that the Prime Minister will speak to reporters since the black lives matter protests that happened across the country on Friday, and the Prime Minister attended one of those, of course, on parliament hill. We heard earlier from Andrew Scheer and Yves franÇois blanchet. The hybrid COVID-19 committee will meet later today, and the noon briefing with cabinet and public health officials. More provinces are reopening today or moving into the next phases of that. Newfoundland, Saskatchewan are lifting more restrictions while Ontario later this afternoon plans to lay out its next steps. It’s still in the phase one of things in this province. Montreal businesses earlier today announced the government injection of millions in relief funds, including some additional commercial rent help for people, for businesses in downtown Montreal. I will bring in My colleagues now, the host of “power & politics”, Vassy kapelos, and the cbc’s David Cochrane. Good to see you both. Hope you had a good weekend. As we wait for the Prime Minister here to emerge, as I said, Vassy, not necessarily to announce anything huge today but to sort of give us we think an update on where things are at.
Vassy:
Yeah, I think an update specifically around uptake of various programs that the government has rolled out, and we are entering, as you could hear from opposition leaders today, sort of a period where a lot of these programs are coming to their end, or close to their end. Like the CERB or the wage subsidy program. But there are sort of promises from the federal government, an din some cases specific ones, others just sort of indications that those programs will continue to some degree, and so now we’re starting to get a sense of in what way. and how much will they continue, to what degree. I think all those questions are basically going to be swirling around parliament over the next week, and so the Prime Minister is set to give a bit of an update on the uptake for those programs, and the programs that I would sort of zone in on rightnow, is, of course, the number one program would be the wage subsidy. That’s something the federal government has explicitly said that it will extend to the end of August. It was supposed to end in June. The uptake was not great. So My understanding is as of last week there were about 322, 000 approved applications. They had anticipated a million applications. They had also originally anticipated the program would cost about $70 billion total. So far they have paid out just over $9 billion. Again, that’s early last week. That’s the latest information that’s available. So the government had promised to not only extend the program in order to increase the uptake, but also widen the parameters for qualification. So you had to show a 30% decline in revenue year over year, let’ssay that’s the kind of baseline qualifier. There were some nuances to that. But that was hard initially for some businesses, even harder as they start to reopen. You mentioned Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, lots of businesses starting to reopen to varying degrees, and so the need for the program still exists, but maybe they can’t show a full30% drop. So we’ll be looking to the federal government to get some answers, and the Prime Minister specifically, on how they see this program evolving. and then also on the CERB, which we know has had a wild uptake, more than 8 million unique applicants to that program and the value of that program also increase the amount of money the government had set aside to pay for it also increased. What does that look like as people get ready to apply for their last month of that $2, 000 a month. Will it be extended? will there be variances in how it’s applied? again, that’s something that parliament is going to be discussing. and then finally you mentioned commercial rent. Today Quebec anoungsed that they’re going to sort of give a lot more money to it so that landlords don’t have to pay as much as they were, kind of take as much of a hit as they had planned to take. So that uptake on that program is also not fantastic. As of last week, at least. 16 landlords had submitted applications on behalf of 16, 000tenants for rent subsidies worth$65 million. I think they had anticipated it to be about triple that. That could be a delay in the applications are pretty cumbersome. We’re looking for an update on that program if the government is considering any changes on the federal level or expecting other provinces to follow suit with Quebec.
Rosemary:
Thank you for all that, Vassy. That’s all good information. I would say lots of people on CERB are probably a little bit anxious to hear more about what the future holds. As you say, we’re now into – if you started when it first becameavailable, you’re on your fourth week – fourth month, rather, ofthat, which ends the beginning of July. So people want some clarity around if I don’t have a job to go back to, what exactly can I count on in terms of government support. David, maybe you can pick up there. I think we don’t have a lot of indications, other than it would be some sort of ei-CERB thing, although I do believe that there’s been a suggestion it could be extended even, but we don’t really know more than that.
David:
Yeah, I think there’s also the issue of whether you can make any permanent decisions about the life of any of these programs in the absence of knowing whether or not there’s going to be a second wave of this pandemic, what the severity of it might be, how this re openings that we’re seeing across the country could trigger more spread of the virus. If you look at the data from thestates, which is a different experience, some of the states started reopening in a big way, Florida, California, Texas, they’ve got some problems. You’re seeing a big surge in numbers. and the number is do you keep pushing ahead with that or do you back into a lock down and how do you support people if you have to retreat from these reopenings. So that creates a public policy problem that is driven entirely a economical situation. It goes beyond the philosophy ofpaying, you can stop CERB now, but you may have to bring it back, or do you make it a regional thing. If Prince Edward Island can fully reopen its local economy, exclusive of people coming in and out of its province, or if Newfoundland and Labrador can do the same thing because of their low case levels and relatively isolation and ability to control access in and out, do you make CERB more difficult – for like an ei, more regionally based? there’s a lot of variables that go into any of these conversations. I suspect we will get the math update on that from the Prime Minister. This will be his first public comment since he went to the protest on parliament hill on Friday and knelt in solidarity with anti-blackracism protesters, and cabinet is meeting today, which it doesn’t normally do on a Monday, and I’mtold that one of the big issues that they are talking about at the cabinet table today is policing. It is racism, and what next steps would be and what concreteactions the federal government can take. You know, this is an issue that’s really exploded in the United States, but obviously Canada is not immune from it, and certainly not, for example, completely clean hands when it comes to dealing with these issues. So that’s something that governments at every level of the country are dealing with, and the federal cabinet will be dealing with particularly today.
Rosemary:
and we know that Prime Minister did discuss it with the RCMP commissioner on Friday, but we didn’t really get an update on how that conversation went, so perhaps he’ll have more to say about that too. Thank you both. I want to now turn our attention to one of the provinces that has done very well in containing the virus and is now actually entering the third phase of its COVID-19 reopening plan, and that is Saskatchewan. Among other things, that means that salons, spas and some other services can now open their doors. The owner of a spa in Saskatoon is resuming some services today. Good to see you, Jess.
Thanks for having me.
Rosemary:
Well, so I’m in Ontario, and very jealous of this reopening stage in Saskatchewan, because we are obviously nowhere near that. But tell me how you have prepared your businesses for this. I’m sure you’ve anxiously been awaiting it, but how have you gotten ready for it?
So we opened for massage therapy on may 19, so we’ve Hadar little bit of time of trial and I roar of what works and whatdoesn’t work. Aesthetic services are more personal. We are definitely having closer contact, we’re right in that space, so that means more sanitation, more policies put inplace. We’ve been working really hard and following the Saskatchewan health authority’s guidelines. There isn’t really, unfortunately, an outline for aesthetics specifically. There is for massage therapy departments from the insurance providers. However, aesthetics just doesn’thave that. It’s really been on our own to figure out what level we want Togo to, how thorough we want to be, and so we’ve kind of taken the angle that the safer the better. Obviously I don’t want to be responsible for anybody getting sick or any sort of, you know, pandemic growing in our community.
Rosemary:
So tell me what that looks like then. What has changed practically inside your salons? what kinds of things have you had to buy or adjust?
Everything’s changed. It is, like, basically I always – I’ve been saying it’s like starting a business all over again. I’ve had to relearn everything, every policy, every protocol had to be re-written. That means extensive P.P.E. So we have our team showing up in the morning in their clothes that they were wearing from home. They change. They have P.P.E. Changes stations where they change into their P.P.E. That means a uniform, a clean sanitized apron, protection glasses, surgical masks and nitrile or hybrid gloves, depending on the service. and then between every single client there’s an additional time added on to each service and they will have to change all of their P.P.E. Again. So it’s just like coming into a whole new protocol for every single service that we do, and we’ve had to cut back on some services that weren’t specifically safe or there were things in that service that couldn’t be done safely. So you know, we cut those as well.
Rosemary:
It sounds to me like a huge expense as a business owner. I guess you don’t have a choice, but it sounds like a huge expense.
It is. It’s incredible the expense thatit’s – our bottom line is significantly different now, and not only is our expense for thisP.P.E. and sanitation products significantly higher, but we’re not allowed to do as many services – or we can’t, I should say. It’s not possible because of thedistancing guidelines and havingclients farther apart from each other and times that customers are entering the building had tochange. So overall our expenses are higher and our income is lower.
Rosemary:
Did you ever have moment where you thought to yourself maybe this just isn’t worth it?
No. I don’t think so. I mean, at the beginning when wefirst, you know, were closing down, I honestly believed it was going to be a couple of weeks. Very naive, obviously, at that point. There were a lot of tears, but kind of went into survival and fight mode to protect My businesses and My 150 staff across the province. and we worked really hard while we were closed to kind of get creative and continue sales, and we did lots of promotions and things to make sure we had a bit of a caution to reopen, and then of course we didn’t come into itblindly. We have been working around the clock to make sure we were prepared so that we could continue. I think because business was strong going into this pandemic, I think we’ll come out of it quite strong as well.
Rosemary:
What are you expecting for today? My sister’s in Manitoba and she’s had her nails done, so I’mvery jealous of it all. What are you expecting in terms of people showing up. They have to decide what they’rewilling to manage in terms of risk too.
I really did think that we needed – maybe the lines would be a little slower, but we opened our booking lines a week ago for reservations starting today, and we were booked solid very, very quickly. We’ve been very open and up front about our sanitation policies, about all of the extra things that we’ve been doing above and beyond to ensure the safety. The Saskatchewan health authority has been checking in, which is really great for our industry. It’s holding us accountable and make sure that everything continues to be done safely. I really just AM ecstatic that our clients and our customers are being so supportive and are excited to get back in.
Rosemary:
Good. Well, I wish you lots of luck. Thank you for telling us about how you’ve adapted. Lots of people looking forward to the same thing happening in their province.
we spoke to her in Saskatoon’s we await the Prime Minister here going to come out of his home and give us a bit of an update on the situation, his government’s response to COVID-19. I’ll bring back My colleagues Vassy and David. It’s interesting to talk to people in other parts of the country, because of course Ontario really far behind in terms of reopening at this stage. We’re still in phase one, although the premier expected to talk about what stage two would look like, although we understand not to give a date on when phase two is, and there’s been some pressure on premier ford as of late to talk more about the regional reopenings, because the situation really about three quarter of the COVID-19 cases are in and aroundtoronto, in the g. T.a., and at some point lots of people are asking does it make sense to have the same measures in place across the province if it’s not the same situation across the province, Vassy. It will be interesting to see how they manage that later this afternoon when they update people.
Vassy:
Yeah, and that conversation has really – and it’s interesting that you bring it up, because what I found from talking to a number of mayors is even – it really does depend on where you live, a, but even some who are seeing more positive results, for example, and by positive I mean the virus is, you know, a lot more dormant there than it is in the g. T.a., for example, are not 100% sold on regional opening. and I think it’s – regional approach, rather, to reopening. and I think it speaks to the intricacies of doing that. You can imagine in kingston where things are going really well, there must be a huge amount of anxiety around let’s get things going. Versus in peel or in mississaugawhere the mayors are already, you know, have been saying for weeks, whoa, we are already going too fast. What happens if someone wants togo for dinner and drive two hours into kingston. There’s some anxiety there around how are you going to manage things. How do you navigate borders within a province? it’s a really difficult questionto answer, and I think it gives us a bit of a window into why itis taking so long to answer thatquestion. The premier at first said he wastotally against it in Ontario. Then he said I’m open to it, nothing’s off the table, but there really hasn’t been much movement since then, and I do think it speaks to how complicated that might be. But at the same time, it’s a hard reality to ignore, right? if you are living in one of those areas that is not hit thatbad right now, your businesses are suffering. Your economy is suffering because you can’t reopen becauseof something that’s happening ina very different place in the province. and so it’s going to be – I’m interested to see what they say from the province today about what this phase two will look like, if it does include any kind of regional approach, how they might tackle that. But I think it gives us – the fact they don’t have a date attached to it gives us an idea of, again, how far things are behind here versus other provinces.
Rosemary:
We’re still limited to groups of five, just so people know. Nothing has increased. We’re seeing the same five people all the time. There are other provinces, David, where they have managed to do this. Alberta opened up, you know, basically the whole province except for Calgary, and now Calgary has moved into a different phase as well. So it’s not like it can’t be done, these regional reopenings, although certainly there are complications to it.
David:
It can be done if you have a handle on testing and on tracing, and Ontario has had some challenges in that particular area, and I think there is probably a reflective instinct to go a little bit slower than faster because of a reopening that happens too fast leads to a re-closure that happens to abruptly. and this is the challenge that we’re going to face in this patchwork approach to this, thisquilt-like approach to this. We talk about the Prime Minister, we see him every single day, but it’s really the premiers who are driving this, driving the national response interms of what closes, what reopenings, what the restrictions are, and the federal government trying to help coordinate a way that therecould be a consistent level of safety with an inconsistent approach to reopening. and I don’t mean inconsistent ina negative way. It’s just an uneven approach. It’s different depending on where you are. I know where the caseloads are low there’s a frustration that it’s going to slow, but as we saw in New Brunswick with that doctor who came back and didn’t self-isolate properly and wasn’tquite clear on where he had been, all it takes is one slipupfor potentially hundreds of people to be exposed and we get into the larger population centres like here in central Canada, it becomes a tricky thing. So we’re entering a very difficult phase, I think, for a lot of the political leaders because the economic pain is more and more pronounced with each month, and starts to pile up, and that creates a pressure and an agitation for people who are very concerned about their financial and business losses. The weather is good in most parts of the country now. People want to get outside. Kids are going crazy and want to get out and see their friends, but the virus doesn’t care aboutany of this, and that becomes the other side of the conversation and the other side of what you have to weigh. and you just look at just how significant that chore and that task is, rosie, the Prime Minister put $14 billion on the table last Thursday in the phonecall with the premiers, and the universal reaction is that is nowhere close to being enough. So this is a massive financial undertaking to make sure it’s done properly as well and to make sure that local services can meet the extra strain and the extra need. It’s just not something that canbe done quickly at all.
Rosemary:
Yeah, and that $14 billion, it was very clear that that was the beginning of a negotiation in terms of how that money would be used, what kind of strings would be attached, although provinces never like to hear that. We are waiting to hear more, perhaps this week, about where they are at with those talks as the Prime Minister has been having these weekly calls with premiers, and certainly the deputy Prime Minister is on every premier’s speed dial, from what I understand, so there are lots of talks going on behind the scenes. As we wait for the Prime Minister, I’ll just dip quickly to david’s home province in Newfoundland and Labrador because that is another province moving into the next phase of its reopening. Groups of up to 20 people now permitted in Newfoundland. Chris o’neil Yeats is in st. John’s to give us a picture of how the reopening is going there, Chris.
Well, hi, Rosie, I have walked down and been on this street in the last few months and it’s the first sign of activity. It’s water street, our main street here, and restaurants will be allowed to open today with the usual provisos of social distancing. There won’t be any buffets here, tofu Chinese buffet will not be open today here on water street, nor will any of them. As well people today can go out and get a haircut, which a lot of people like me were really happy about. Get your nails done, get a too tattoo, but also things like weddings and funerals that people have been putting off. Those things can happen, as you said, with a limit of 20 people. Some recreational facilities, such as pools, some sports will be allowed. For the tourism industry here, this is welcome news, even though tourists are not allowed in. There’s a big encouragement on the part of tourist operators and the government, though, to encourage people to travel at home, but all this is being done with a real note of caution. This province has taken a very conservative approach, you know, to opening things up again, to some semblance of normality, because we saw a while ago, you know, you were talking about what one case could do. We had one case at a funeral home sometime ago, and it led to over 100 people coming down withcovid-19, catching the virus, being tested positive for it. It’s being done really cautiously, but people here are ready for it. It’s been three months.
Rosemary:
It has been. Good to see you and good to see water street reopening. Quiet water street is not a normal thing, so it’s nice to see some openings signs behind you. Thank you very much.
Okay, Rosie.
Rosemary:
We are waiting for the Prime Minister to come out today. I was wondering who would rush out to get a COVID-19 tattoo in Newfoundland and Labrador. Maybe some people want to mark the occasion, but this is, of course, a part of a larger picture of provinces starting to reopen across Canada to varying degrees. Here is this Prime Minister on this Monday morning to give us an update on his government’s approach to this.