Roundup: The crash and the cries for stimulus

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It was a tough day on the markets yesterday as stock markets plunged at record levels over panic-selling because of COVID-19, and oil prices cratered while Saudi Arabia and Russia got into a pissing contest. Bill Morneau held a post-market-closing press conference to assure Canadians that there was fiscal room to deal with the situation, but he spoke in frustrating platitudes and generalities as he so often does (because this government is largely incapable of communicating their way out of a wet paper bag), but it needs to be acknowledged that his budget challenge has become a lot more complicated, particularly as the oil shock is going to impact federal revenues as well as Alberta’s. But seriously, the whole Conservative “spent the cupboard bare” narrative is bogus and economically illiterate, and they are actively spreading misinformation about it.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1237104005425139712

Around the same time, Jason Kenney held his own press conference, saying that all options were on the table for dealing with the downturn on the province’s economy – and then immediately ruled out a sales tax, which would stabilize the province’s revenues. Because that might make sense. Rachel Notley says that he should scrap the budget and re-do it, given that its assumptions are now proved to be useless, but other economists say it’s likely not worth it at this point, and it would be better to have a fiscal update in the near future.

And then come the demands for some kind of fiscal stimulus plan, but one of the things they’re pressing is that measures need to be timely. Maclean’s talks to four economists about what they think such a plan could look like for the best impact.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1237235733762473984

Good reads:

  • Canada recorded its first COVID-19-related death yesterday, and the health minister says she’s aware some provinces are in need of more supplies to deal with it.
  • The Chief Public Health Officer warned Canadians against going on cruises, and François-Philippe Champagne says that they may not evacuate future cruises.
  • Liberal MP Anthony Housefather is in self-isolation after he attended a conference in the US where attendees were later diagnosed with the virus.
  • It turns out that Ontario’s stockpile of masks that it acquired post-SARS has expired in advance of the COVID-19 epidemic. Oops.
  • David Lametti introduced a bill to criminalize “conversion therapy” in Canada.
  • The government has been looking to find some “easy wins” to help ameliorate Jason Kenney’s demands, according to briefing materials.
  • A senior Canadian military commander says that Iran-backed Shia militias embedded alongside Iraqi security forces are a bigger threat than ISIS fighters.
  • The Commons transport committee will be studying how the Boeing 737 Max planes got approval in Canada as being safe to fly.
  • Former Canadian ambassador to China, John McCallum, didn’t appear at the special Canada-China committee as he was scheduled to.
  • The RCMP say they will limit facial recognition to cases involving child exploitation, but won’t stop using the technology.
  • Here’s a look at the challenge of moving and preserving the art in the Centre Block during the renovation process.
  • Conservative riding associations, candidates, MPs, and leadership candidates are all upset at the party’s decision to claw back half of their Elections Canada rebates.
  • Peter MacKay announced a plan involving using RRSPs for housing down payments. Jennifer Robson drags the plan in this thread.
  • Doug Ford claims Ottawa is “dragging its heels” with infrastructure spending. Catherine McKenna says the province hasn’t forwarded any approved plans yet.
  • Susan Delacourt notes how COVID-19 is starting to impact MPs, particularly now that Antony Housefather is self-isolating, and politics is a tactile business.
  • Colby Cosh looks at how the strict federal regulations on cannabis stores is having unintended consequences, including inducements for robberies.

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: The crash and the cries for stimulus”

  1. The cupboard was bare throughout the whole Harper era thanks to profligate tax breaks to the wealthy and wholesale mismanagement. But petty liar poilievre still carries on the tired conservative mantra that they balanced the budget. You are continuously correct when you say the Liberals have real messengers. There were none before the election, certainly not during it and none now. While the conservatives conduct their leadership contest is now that the Liberal attack dogs should be calling them out. That unfortunately won’t happen and Canadians will again be tempted to elect a bankrupt party “policy” in the next go round. After the current government virtually bankrupts itself mitigating the Covid19 fallout over the next year the tories predictably will criticize the Liberal for spending “so much”money.
    Tories are simply deplorable.

  2. “It turns out that Ontario’s stockpile of masks that it acquired post-SARS has expired in advance of the COVID-19 epidemic. Oops.”

    It’s good practice to rotate stocks of emergency supplies such as masks and needles, but folks who work in health care know that most of these hard goods — unlike medications — have a shelf life much longer than the manufacturers state. These so-called end-of-life dates are established for two reasons. One is to put a firm time-limit on the makers’ liability. The other is to force users to buy the same supplies more often than is actually necessary. “Expired” medical supplies and equipment are often donated to health authorities overseas, safe it the knowledge that they are still fit for purpose.

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