For his Friday presser, prime minister Justin Trudeau had big headlines but few details – that the government was going to boost the wage subsidy for small and medium-sized businesses to 75 percent from the originally announced ten, along with a few other tax deferral measures to help businesses retain their liquidity. The details, however, aren’t going to be released until around Monday, but Trudeau stated that it was more important to get the message out that this help was on the way so that they would ensure that these businesses retained their employees (or even re-hire them) rather than lay them off so that they can collect EI or the new emergency benefit for the duration. Speed over perfection is the new motto of the times. (On a side note, Andrew Scheer was going around taking credit for this subsidy, when I know for a fact it was other people working behind the scenes, but Scheer needs to try and justify his existence).

This announcement came in the wake of a new PBO report that estimated the size of the deficit based on the measures that had been announced to that point, but what was particularly significant was that his modelling was that physical distancing would be in effect until August, which sent the various reporters into apoplexy, as they started demanding to know how long that Trudeau thought that current conditions were going to last – as though that was a question he could reasonably answer at a time where the Quarantine Act has only just been enforced, and we have returning snowbirds who think that these rules don’t apply to them, and where it’s still too soon to see how much of an effect the current measures have had. Quebec is seeing a spike in cases because their spring break was two weeks ahead of everyone else’s in the country, and it’s showing up in the data now.

It was also worthwhile noting that Bill Morneau and Stephen Poloz had another joint press conference today – Morneau to reiterate some of the messaging around the new wage subsidy, and Poloz to take questions about the emergency rate cut that the Bank of Canada announced shortly beforehand, where they cut rates to 0.25 percent, which is as low as they’re going to go, but to also engage in quantitative easing (which is not actually printing money as he spelled out). Their joint appearance seems to be remain under the aegis of trying to reassure the public and the markets that our fiscal heavyweights are on the case, but when this is all over, we will need to see our parliamentarians examining the relationship to ensure that monetary policy truly remained independent and not coordinated with fiscal policy, no matter how dire the economic situation.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau says that he’ll continue to work from home, despite his 14-day self-isolation period being over (which makes sense as he is still solo-parenting).
• Chrystia Freeland says she is urgently discussing the Americans’ plans to return asylum seekers to their countries of origin. (We knew this was going to happen!)
• Marc Miller is asking Indigenous communities to postpone their elections for the duration of the pandemic.
• General Jonathan Vance is putting the Canadian Armed Forces on a war footing as a result of the pandemic.
• There are concerns that the pandemic is going to “hollow out” the charitable sector, both in terms of fundraising and volunteers.
• Conservative leadership candidates have been told to stop fundraising and making calls to members while the race is suspended.
• Alberta’s health minister threatened his neighbour and other critics as massive conflicts of interest rear their heads.
• Kevin Carmichael walks us through the Bank of Canada’s latest emergency rate cut and their move into quantitative easing to keep markets afloat and liquid.
• Heather Scoffield praises the efforts to stave off bankruptcies in the face of the pandemic so that the economy can be restarted on a stronger footing.
• Chantal Hébert boggles at Peter MacKay’s apparent decision to self-immolate.
• Susan Delacourt worries that the pandemic is going to fuel not only populism, but a greater demand for isolationism in the face of a global problem.
• Chris Selley suggests keeping some of the changes we’ve been making to accommodate the pandemic once everything regains a sense of normalcy.
• My weekend column looks at the underlying commonalities between the political troubles this week, and why the political backrooms in this country need cleaning.

Odds and ends:

Colby Cosh delves into the medical history books and finds that the father of medical triage spent time in Newfoundland, and wrote of those adventures.

Hey tweeps! Want to read #UnbrokenMachine while you’re social distancing? Here’s your chance to get it at 25% off. https://t.co/PpC4ovVe7S

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 23, 2020

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