Prime minister Justin Trudeau once again began his daily presser talking about the tragedy in Nova Scotia, and recounted some of his conversations with RCMP members and Senator Stan Kutcher (who not only represents the province but has a background in mental health). He then turned back to the global pandemic, noting that it has made inequalities more pronounced, and with charities spread thin trying to provide support, he announced that $350 million was being set aside as part of an emergency community support fund. He then announced that the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would be available as of Monday, and starting today, a calculator would be available on the CRA website for employers to calculate what they would be able to apply for. He also talked about the kinds of contributions that the innovation superclusters have been making to the current situation, for a bit of good news. During the Q&A, Trudeau had more information about the reports of the two planes that returned from China empty that he wasn’t able to answer during QP on Monday, this time noting that because of the severe restrictions in China as for how long they were able to remain on the ground, while supply lines to the airports have been frustrated with checkpoints and delays, it forced them to take off empty for the time being. Trudeau also said that the promised gun control bill was nearly ready to be tabled before Parliament was suspended for the pandemic, but wouldn’t promise that it would be tabled before regular sittings resumed. As well, regarding that meat plant shut down because of an outbreak, Trudeau said they were trying to ensure domestic supply though it could affect prices.
I've been muttering about the need to support NGOs who do benefit access during #COVID19 since at least mid-March. And in the weeks since, I've heard directly from more Canadians than I can count who have questions about CERB, EI, CEWS + There is a BIG need for help to get $ help
— Dr. J Robson (@JenniferRobson8) April 21, 2020
Normally July is the switch-over month when CRA uses new tax data to adjust how much CCB, GST credit, CWB or GIS to pay out. But this year, filing will be delayed for millions of Canadians, in part due to the extended deadline (which was the right thing to do) &…
— Dr. J Robson (@JenniferRobson8) April 21, 2020
1) as many "on time" returns as possible so benefits can be updated — that's where the money today can help; 2) a contingency plan for handling cases where someone doesn't/can't meet the June 1 deadline and will otherwise have CCB or other important benefits stopped soon.
— Dr. J Robson (@JenniferRobson8) April 21, 2020
Meanwhile, the Procedure and House Affairs committee was meeting (remotely), and we found out that the Clerk of the House of Commons says that there’s no way they’ll be able to facilitate any kind of “remote” sittings until mid-May at the earliest, and that he told the Government House Leader this before the government bullied through their motion on Monday about one in-person sitting a week and two-virtual ones. In other words, they knew that the virtual ones couldn’t happen, but they acted as though they were, so they can say “Oh dear, looks like we can’t hold those sessions,” and stick to the one in-person sitting per week at a giant waste of resources to keep flying MPs in and out for a single day, rather than at least having the three in-person sittings per week which was perfectly reasonable. And no, this isn’t saving any of the staff exposure, because they would need to be in the West Block whether the MPs were there in person or “virtually” (which will include some MPs in the Chamber). Add to that, they only have the capacity to run at maximum ten “virtual” committee meetings between the Commons and Senate in a week, as the government also likes to pretend that they’ve been trying to ensure that as much of Parliament is functional under the circumstances. That’s not true, and even their planned “accountability sessions” for the next month are not actual sittings, but “special committee” sessions, even though some MPs have tried to paint them otherwise. It’s been one big exercise in preening that only makes the Conservatives look like they were right.
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 21, 2020
The Queen
Just a quick note to add that yesterday was the Queen’s birthday in her natural capacity. The Queen of Canada’s official birthday isn’t until Victoria Day, for the record. But the Queen and Prince Charles did send condolences to Canada for the tragic deaths in Nova Scotia.
The Queen's message to the people of Nova Scotia: pic.twitter.com/sucHkZM0FC
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 21, 2020
A message of condolence from HRH The Prince of Wales to the people of Canada. pic.twitter.com/KeKr8iMAy9
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) April 21, 2020