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Trudeau’s daily coronavirus update: ‘Canada hasn’t seen this type of civic mobilization since the Second World War’ – Maclean's

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4 years ago

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In his April 1 brief to Canadians, the PM asked Parliament to resume and stressed that everyone has to ‘answer the call of duty’ in the fight against COVID-19. Here’s the full transcript.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a daily update on the coronavirus crisis each day in front of his home in Ottawa. Here are his remarks for April 1, 2020.

I want to start this morning by wishing everyone a happy Sikh Heritage Month. Every day Sikh-Canadians make our cities and our neighbourhoods stronger. And right now, when people need help most, you’re stepping up once again. In Regina, you’re delivering supplies to your neighbours. While in Mississauga you’re donating to the Siva food bank. It just goes to show that we are all stronger together, supporting each other. You are doing your part and so many others are doing the same.

[translated from French] To the people on the front line, thank you. To the farmers and truckers, to the people delivering air cargo, to nurses and doctors, you are working 24/7 so we can eat and take our medications. You’re protecting our health and the health of our families. Your government is there for you. And we all say thank you.

[speaking in English] Our government has introduced a three-point economic plan to protect jobs, help people laid off and import businesses. If you’re worried about your job, we’re helping employers keep you on the payroll with the help of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. Later today, Minister Morneau, Minister Ng and Minister Bains will provide an update on this 75 per cent wage subsidy.

But what I can say is that it’s going to be available for businesses big and small that are not publicly funded and have seen a 30 per cent or more decline in gross revenues. That includes everything from bars and restaurants to charities and nonprofits. Applications will soon open through the CRA.

Like I said on Friday, this money is for workers. Employers will need to attest they’re doing everything they can to pay the remaining 25 per cent of people’s wages.

These are unprecedented times, and will require us to pull together as a country and trust each other as Canadians. So there will be stiff and severe penalties for trying to take advantage of this system and of your fellow Canadians.

These are unprecedented times, so we’re taking unprecedented action. And while we put this measure in place, we’re continuing to move forward on the other two prongs of our economic plan. To help business owners worried about rent or other bills, we’ve brought in new loans. To help people who lost their paycheque, whether they’re freelance or been laid off, we created the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. And on that front, I have some good news to share.

Starting April 6, you will be able to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). A reminder, if you are getting the wage subsidy from your employer, you can’t collect the CERB. It’s one or the other. You can’t get both of these benefits. For the CERB, you can register online at Canada.ca. By selecting direct deposit, you should receive your payment within three to five days. If you can’t apply online, don’t worry. You can call the Canada Revenue Agency for help over the phone. By mail, you’ll get your cheque within 10 days.

After applying, all you need to do to keep getting this benefit is check in every month to say that you are still out of work. And if you have already applied through EI, you’re all set up. You don’t need to do anything on April 6. We’re putting measures in place so we don’t overload the system but I can assure you that everyone will get their money.

Later today, Minister Duclos and Minister Qualtrough will have more details on this whole process, from eligibility to applying, to getting your cheque. But the bottom line is this: we’re getting you the help you need when you need it.

We have a plan to protect jobs, to help those who’ve been laid off, and to support businesses that are having cash flow problems. And we’re not done yet. We’re going to keep working hard to make sure you’re getting the support you need. This is the largest economic program in Canada’s history.

So I’ve asked the House leader and the Deputy Minister to reach out to the other parties about bringing back Parliament. This must be a Team Canada effort. Governments of all orders across the country are stepping up to fulfill their responsibilities to Canadians.

Canada hasn’t seen this type of civic mobilization since the Second World War. These are the biggest economic measures in our lifetimes to defeat a threat to our health. These historic measures will support Canadians to stay home to defeat COVID-19.

But the government alone cannot win this fight. We all have to answer the call of duty. This is service that most of us have never been called upon to do.

We, each of us, have to live up to our end of the bargain. We must fulfill our collective responsibility to each other. Listening to public health rules is your duty. Staying home is your way to serve. So be smart about what you do, about the choices you make. That is how you will serve your country and how we will all serve each other.

How well we do this right now determines where our country will be in two weeks or in two months. It’s in our hands. It’s in your hands.

[translated from French] We all have a role to play. We have a collective responsibility. Where we are in a few weeks or a few months does not depend on me but on you.

I am calling on your civic duty to protect others. If you do not follow the public health guidelines you’re putting others at risk. You all have a moral obligation to remain home. We all have a moral obligation to take care of each other.

It is by working together that we will come out of this. It is by remaining true to our values that we will stay who we are as Canadians.

Thank you.

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NHL’s Ottawa Senators reach downtown arena deal with National Capital Commission

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50 mins ago

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September 20, 2024

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OTTAWA – The National Hockey League’s Senators and the National Capital Commission have reached an agreement in principle to build a new arena in downtown Ottawa.

The NCC and the Senators announced at a joint press conference Friday that the arena will be part of a development of the LeBreton Flats site.

The team had entered a memorandum of understanding with the NCC to develop the downtown LeBreton Flats area, with a deadline of Friday to reach a deal.

The Senators will be purchasing a 10-acre site from the NCC, which team president and chief executive officer Cyril Leeder called a significant step forward. He said next steps will include working on the design of a new facility.

The Senators have played at the Canadian Tire Centre in the western suburb of Kanata since 1996.

The 25-kilometre drive from Ottawa’s downtown to the Kanata facility, often made longer due to traffic, has been cited as an obstacle for attracting walk-up crowds — an issue teams with downtown arenas don’t face.

A previous deal to redevelop LeBreton Flats and build an arena under former owner Eugene Melnyk collapsed in 2019 following a fallout between Melnyk and business partner John Ruddy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Toronto FC balances MLS playoff push against upcoming Canadian Championship final

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50 mins ago

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September 20, 2024

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Coach John Herdman finds himself between a rock and a hard place ahead of Toronto FC’s game Saturday at the Colorado Rapids.

With just four regular-season games remaining, eighth-place Toronto (11-16-3) needs points to stay above ninth-place Philadelphia and 10th-place D.C. United in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. The two chasing teams are both three points behind with a game in hand.

The eighth- and ninth-place teams meet in a playoff wild-card game, with the winner moving on to take on the first seed in the East (currently Inter Miami).

But Herdman has to balance his playoff push with Wednesday’s Canadian Championship final in Vancouver against the defending champion Whitecaps — a chance to lift a trophy and secure a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the elite club competition in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Injuries are another concern.

Both captain Jonathan Osorio and Italian star Lorenzo Insigne had to leave the 2-0 mid-week loss to visiting Columbus. Herdman said while both are “OK to be put on the team sheet,” the extent of their weekend participation will be decided with one eye on the cup final.

Defenders Nicksoen Gomis and Henry Wingo are out with hamstring injuries.

On the plus side, Shane O’Neil returns from suspension and fellow defender Kevin Long, who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, is expected to be available for some minutes off the bench.

“There will be some (personnel) shifts for sure, to accommodate the cup final, but at the same time there’s still players that are trying to earn their right into that cup final, on form,” Herdman said after training Friday.

After Vancouver, Toronto returns to league play, visiting the Chicago Fire on Sept. 28 before returning home to host the Red Bulls on Oct. 2 and Inter Miami on Oct. 5.

Colorado (14-10-5) sits fourth in the Western Conference, tied on points with Seattle but ahead in the standings because it has played one less game than the Sounders.

Former Toronto coach Chris Armas took charge of the Rapids last November, inheriting a team that finished last in the Western Conference at 5-17-12. Colorado was 28th in the Supporters’ Shield standings, five points ahead of cellar-dwelling Toronto (4-20-10).

Colorado goes in Saturday’s game seventh overall in the league, with nine more wins and 20 more points than last season.

The Rapids are coming off a 4-1 loss at Sporting Kansas City that snapped a three-game win streak.

“There’s going to be nights like that,” Armas said after the mid-week defeat. “The 29th game (of the regular season) in MLS I believe. You can’t have your good stuff all the time. And we’ve had it for most of the season.”

He called the loss “probably a wake-up call.”

“Everyone’s fighting for something. Everyone’s got something to play for in our league. Every team is capable,” he added.

Colorado is 9-2-3 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this season, unbeaten in its last nine league games (7-0-2) there since a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on May 11. Toronto has not won there since a 1-0 decision in August 2008, going 0-5-2 since.

The teams played to a scoreless draw the last time they met in suburban Commerce City, in September 2021.

Colorado’s roster includes Canadian forward Kimani Stewart-Baynes as well as former CF Montreal midfielder Djordje Mihailovic, one of the Rapids’ designated players.

Defender Reggie Cannon made his debut for Colorado mid-week. The U.S. international joined the Rapids as a free agent following a stint with Queens Park Rangers in England’s second-tier Championship and three seasons with Boavista FC in the Portuguese top flight.

Toronto fired Armas in July 2021 in the wake of a humiliating 7-1 loss at D.C. United, the club’s sixth-straight defeat. Under the first-year coach, Toronto (1-8-2) was winless in seven and languishing in last place in the league.

Assistant coach Javier Perez ran the team for the rest of the season with Bob Bradley taking over as head coach and sporting director prior in November 2021.

Bradley was axed in June 2023 with TFC mired in 14th place in the East at 3-7-10, having won just two of its last 17 matches (2-7-8) in all competitions.

Assistant coach Terry Dunfield served as interim coach until Herdman arrived in October 2023.

Armas went on to serve as an assistant coach at Manchester United under Ralf Rangnick and Leeds United under Jesse Marsch, who succeeded Herdman as Canada coach.

“He’s a smart coach,” Herdman said of Armas. “He gets the best out of his players in terms of intensity and he recruits players that fit that style of play as well.”

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024



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Supervised consumption site to stay temporarily closed after fatal attack: Kingston

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51 mins ago

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September 20, 2024

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KINGSTON – The only supervised consumption site in Kingston, Ont., will stay temporarily closed while the city says it carries out a review of its operations and security after two people were killed in a nearby attack.

In a news release this week, the City of Kingston says “substantive operational changes” need to be made at the Integrated Care Hub.

The city says the hub’s services are “crucial to support the most vulnerable in our community and it will reopen and reopen safely.”

Police say officers were called on Sept. 12 to a nearby encampment where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people, killing two and injuring one.

The suspect is facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Police have said he was not living at the encampment, but at a residence nearby.

Mayor Bryan Paterson quickly called for the encampment to be cleared and the hub closed, a move denounced by a community legal clinic as premature and misguided.

The city says it will leave up a security fence blocking access to the Belle Park encampment and police will keep a presence in the area.

The city says further information will be provided when a reopening date is confirmed.

The move comes after the Ontario government announced last month it would close 10 supervised consumption sites by no later than March 2025 and prohibit any new ones from opening.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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