Roundup: A need to recall the House again

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The day began not with Justin Trudeau, but rather Andrew Scheer, who pre-emptively held a press conference to say that the emergency legislation passed last week wouldn’t cover the new wage subsidy, before he both took credit for things that I know for a fact he had nothing to do with, and demanded that the government cancel the increase in the federal carbon price (never mind that gasoline prices are at decade lows at the moment and the additional $10/tonne wouldn’t even be noticed) and that the CRA refund all GST and HST collected in the last six months.

When Trudeau held his own presser a short while later, he talked in large generalities about their three-point plan for the economy, with the CERB available as of Monday – and warned that people could get either the wage subsidy or the CERB, but not both – before saying that they were going to have to recall parliament again to pass yet more measures. (Reminder: I’ve been calling on Parliament to keep sitting as a skeleton crew this whole time). During the Q&A portion, Trudeau was again asked how long this was expected to last, to which Trudeau – and later his minsters – repeated that how long this lasts depends on everyone following directions and abiding by physical distancing (which apparently people are having difficulty with as Toronto is enacting even more measures to enforce it). At the ministerial press conference, Patty Hajdu stated that it looks like the federal stockpile for pandemics may not have been adequate in part because successive governments didn’t allocate enough funds to it – as said stockpile is now being distributed to provinces who are facing shortfalls in protective equipment while the government scrambles to source more of it both domestically and from abroad.

Bill Morneau and Mary Ng held their own presser with the details over the wage subsidy programme later in the afternoon, and said that it could be three to six weeks before this gets up and running (and it would have been nice if they could spell out the reasons why rather than just platitudes). The costs of this programme are also going to be very large, and you can bet that fuel calls for people to “restart the economy” sooner.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1245436895250632707

[If you’re following the mask debate, Dr. Theresa Tam outlined some clearer guidelines yesterday].

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer, and other MPs are making a show of donating their automatic pay raises to COVID-19-related charities.
  • Here is a look into the issues around domestic supply of N95 masks, and the fact that they aren’t produced in Canada, so we need to procure them from abroad.
  • Emergency room visits are down across the country, but that could mean that people aren’t coming in to treat heart attacks, strokes, or appendicitis.
  • The Information Commissioner is warning public servants working from home to keep proper records during this unprecedented period.
  • As expected, MPs are trying to use the current situation to force changes to the Standing Orders to allow electronic and proxy voting (which is a very bad thing).
  • More provinces are putting up barriers at inter-provincial crossings, including Quebec over the bridges between Gatineau and Ottawa.
  • The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador wrote to the prime minister about the province’s fiscal situation, which is dire as they can’t get new borrowing.
  • Here’s a look at how Ontario has dropped the ball on the rent issue during the pandemic.
  • Kevin Carmichael looks to history for how “temporary” programmes wound up being a lot more permanent, and points out some of the slippery slopes we’re on.
  • Carmichael also explains why the Bank of Canada has turned to BlackRock, TD Asset Management and CIBC Mellon to help manage their current market activities.
  • Chris Selley demands to see the government’s modelling around the pandemic, and says we could assume they are flying blind without it.
  • Matt Gurney points out that testing has been inadequate (especially in Ontario), and the real indicator of the pandemic’s severity may be hospitalizations.
  • Colby Cosh looks to the current scientific literature to try and gauge how big of a problem COVID-19 really is.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: A need to recall the House again”

  1. “During the Q&A portion, Trudeau was again asked how long this was expected to last, to which Trudeau – and later his minsters – repeated that how long this lasts depends on everyone following directions and abiding by physical distancing (which apparently people are having difficulty with as Toronto is enacting even more measures to enforce it).”

    What impatient babies these reporters are, wasting their Q&A with the same-old, same-old every day. “Are we there yet? Daaaad, are we *there yet*?” They’re just itching for him to invoke the Emergencies Act — i.e, stop the car and turn it around — so they can screech about another “power grab.” Or hold him to a fixed date or infection/deaths range, so that they can later point fingers and say “you lie!” if the end result changes. The correct answer, is we’ll get there when we get there, and a lot depends on whether or not the “kids” hold to good behavior. Not throwing spitballs at the teacher.

    Judging by the press and punditry’s childish reactions so far (and the bad-faith opposition they cape for), and the public’s seeming inability to comprehend or accept scientific realities for things like climate change and vaccinations, I wouldn’t trust them to take complex statistical modelling for Covid-19 seriously either.

    If they want to be treated like adults, act accordingly, and stop undermining the experts with both-sides pontificating and repetitive questioning. The prime minister is neither an epidemiologist nor a fortune teller. If the armchair critics don’t like it, let them go to medical school and/or run for office, and see if they’d do better. They are not the man in the arena.

  2. Press wants the BIG number for headlines and academics want to fun over methodology, but neither is helpful to the general public particularly the people who are self-isolating and it won’t scare them to change.

    Can’t recall the exact event, but didn’t Jody Wilson Raybould admit ordering her underling at Justice to suppress a report ordered by Cabinet? If so it’s weird for her to be joining in “release the modeling” stuff?

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