Good Friday morning,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fended off growing questions about the release of the government’s projections on the trajectory of the pandemic, including whether Canadians can expect restrictive measures to fight the virus to last until July.
“There is a range out there, and just highlighting that range is not as useful or important as being able to get clearer numbers, and clearer and clearer analysis of what we are likely to face,” he told reporters on Thursday. “But everything that we are going to face will be directly linked to how people behave today.”
Testifying before the House Finance Committee, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said that the government tried to simplify the process for dispensing financial relief, while acknowledging that the measures being rolled out may not always cover those in need, such as gig-economy workers, according to The Canadian Press. “I acknowledge that presents some situations that are challenging for people if they are still earning some revenue, but we just don’t have the capability of administering multiple kinds of plans and also getting the money out to people rapidly,” he said during the committee meeting.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released an analysis yesterday, estimating that a third of Canadians who have been laid off or lost their source of income due to COVID-19 won’t be able to avail of either the feds’ Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which provides $2,000 a month over four months, or EI. The think-tank called for tweaks to the CERB, arguing that eligibility shouldn’t be contingent on those workers proving that they made at least $5,000 in the last year.
In a time of great uncertainty and anxiety, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, has emerged as a “compelling” figure who has an ability to deliver information without dramatizing the stakes, said Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. “She gives us straightforward, evidence-based information that people are craving.”
As Ottawa looks to reach communities that do not speak English or French during the COVID-19 pandemic by buying ad space in some ethnic and Indigenous media outlets, Madeline Ziniak, chair of the Canadian Ethnic Media Association, said some of these organizations are already under financial strain.
The Finance Committee is meeting again today, via teleconference, with a range of witnesses expected to testify, including reps from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy and the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Ontario.
In other scheduled events, the House Board of Internal Economy Committee is meeting via teleconference and at West Block, though its discussions “employment matters” in relation to COVID-19 will be in camera.
An opt-in poll from Campaign Research suggested that 76 per cent of Canadians are voluntarily self-isolating, according to Toronto Star.
The Hill Times
