Trudeau promises more Canadians to receive COVID-19 emergency benefit

apply for the canada

emergency

response

benefit

or cerb, we will tell you

more

about who can apply, when to apply, how to apply. I know many of you have already done it. We also hope that the Prime Minister will speak

more

about the fact. that some of Canada's big banks are actually cutting their credit card interest rates after a lot of pressure from the finance minister and the government, so we'll take a closer look. I know many of you have had concerns about this as well, Prime Minister. justin

trudeau

will address

canadians

as he does every day from his country home in rideau and we will broadcast it live to you when he begins, followed, of course, by our regular federal briefing by cabinet ministers and federal officials from public health, but let's bring my colleagues. vashi capelas cbc power and politics presenter and cbc's david cochran here from our parliamentary office this is a day that many people have been waiting for because it means that some help is on the way and certainly if you look at my twitter account um many people have already applied the cer r b vashi and anecdotally just from Twitter uh the Twitter sphere seems to be going pretty well yeah the application process itself Rosie seems to be relatively problem free and of course getting into this.

That was a big concern given the system that existed for ei and how overloaded it was. The government said they insisted that this new stream was created to combat some of those technical difficulties and, again generally, anecdotally. It seems that the system itself is working now, that does not mean that it covers everyone who hoped to be included in this program. There are still many people. I will highlight, for example, students or certain self-employed workers. or self-employed people who feel like they can't access this program and we hope to hear something about that from the Prime Minister, addressing some of the gaps not only in the cerb program but also in the wage subsidy and the enterprise program that was announced. last week, so I recognize that those gaps exist.

I don't know exactly what the answer is to filling them, but I think the pressure continues on the government to, I guess, address the problem and try to find ways to mitigate some of the effects on people who don't necessarily qualify. I would also highlight another topic that I expect there will be many questions about and that is the equipment and supply of personal protection that we have been talking about for days, the context changed last week because at the end of the week the president of the United States decided to invoke a law that would limit production and export instead of those supplies to Canada, either blocking or limiting them.

I'm seeing a notice now that uh, premier 4, ontario doug ford, did an interview with city tv in which he said that ontario is about to run out of ppe in a week. I'm waiting to see the clip for myself, but that's certainly a big concern last week that we heard about. prime minister of quebec lay francois lay talking about that province being finished, we know that there are big obstacles right now thanks to white house politics, so I think a lot of questions are going to be directed to the prime minister about that and how the federal government plans to address some of these big issues, yes that's fair to say with certainty, right on the side of your screen you will see some basic information about the cerb that you will see that the government wants.

You must apply according to your date of birth, your month of birth, instead of doing it anyway, it will be approved. They just don't want me to do it all at once because they want the system to stop and it seems to be By doing that, we'll talk to someone in a moment, David, what do you expect from the PM today? Yeah, Rosie, I don't think they wanted you to tell the Canadians because they don't want to overload the system if it fails. Now we know who. blame it on piggybacking on what vashi said about the loopholes in the system, cerb is a program that was created to get money quickly, but you know it wasn't perfect, although the implementation of the registry certainly seems to be going pretty perfectly today.

What I was told today is that we will get a very clear message from the Prime Minister that they recognize the gaps in the system for people like the self-employed, the contractors who have had a catastrophic drop in income due to coveting 19, but not an income of 100. drop which is the standard for the cerb and a commitment from the prime minister that they are going to take action to address that they wanted to get as much money to as many people as possible, that's why they implemented it so quickly and As the Minister of Finance said , it's hard to roll out a program quickly and cover absolutely everyone, so part of the process has been rolling it out, getting feedback from people about who's been missed and who's been caught up in this, and then finding ways to do it. patching those cracks in the system, so some specific details on that today from Justin Trudeau and a broad assurance that they're trying to make this as universal as possible, it's just that they're working in a ridiculous circumstance right now in terms of policy making and that they are going to take action in the near future to catch the people who have not been caught in this safety net that they have built on the fly, so that is what I think would be the news that would emerge today because we knew the portal was going to open, we know it's open, we know it's gone well and just to piggyback on what vashi was saying, our colleague Cynthia Mulligan is there from the city as the person who did the interview with Doug Ford and what he told her. that Ontario had a shipment of three million masks stopped at the Canada-US border and I couldn't get in and without the ability to resupply, based on that, it says Ontario could be out of prime personal protective equipment line in about a week.

I've been talking to people at the federal level involved in procurement over the last few days. The irony is that because of the measures Trump has taken, Canada is now very dependent on China and they need a good week of shipments and a couple of planeloads leaving China to make everyone feel a little better, so when you see people blaming china like donald trump has for what's happening here, there's probably a reluctance to do that at the canadian federal government level right now because when they depend so much on that country for frontline medical equipment that you need that kind of tough talk that doesn't really help your costs.

Well, good perspective because I know I myself have

receive

d emails and tweets from people who haven't lost. all their income and they're wondering what happens now, so if the government is looking to catch some of the people who may have been left behind, uh, those people and certainly the students, the prime minister was asked about that again yesterday, he says they are on the case and will have more to say about it in the next week or days because of course students trying to find work for the summer months to get enough money for tuition just aren't going to Find It right now, so obviously it's another big crack in the policy that the government is very aware of.

Let's consult with someone now who has already applied for the

benefit

s program today. Marissa Verdone is a chiropractor who is currently at home with her. two children and she joins us from Hamilton, Ontario. Good to see you, Melissa. Hello, so you applied. Tell me how it went, what time you did it and how it was. It was actually super easy. I wasn't sure how fast. I would make it. It was around eight in the morning. I decided I was going to try to apply online, so I logged on. I have a cra um account connected online and an error message appeared which I am not sure about.

Whether it has something to do with my account or it's just a busy day so I decided to try calling so I made a phone call with a busy signal and then called again again and got through, there were a few questions. about my sin and they asked me my year of birth and then there was a recorded message explaining exactly what the c e erv is, how you would qualify and that you had to make sure you met all the um prerequisites in order to apply and then once that was done, I pressed a button, um, I gave it, that was, I actually just pressed a button and then it said you qualified, you'll

receive

your direct deposit within three to five days and that was it.

That's easy enough, let's see if you get it in the three to five days. That's the part that also has to come to an end, so tell me what's happened to your income since the beginning of all this. I am a chiropractor, I am a sole proprietor and self-employed person. I work as a contractor at a couple of clinics and my last day of work was March 20th. I went to care for intensive care patients. That is, our university has allowed us to enter. treating acute or

emergency

care patients is a really gray area right now, that was my last day at work and I haven't worked since, my kids can't go to school obviously or their daycare.

It's been closed since March 13th so I've been home every day, all day, taking care of them and that's a full time job, I mean I know every parent can relate to that right now so the cerb yeah uh Looks like you qualified, you'll receive it in three to five days, how does that offset your loss of income? In terms of covering your expenses, it makes up for some things, I mean, obviously, I'd love to be. at work, firstly, to help my patients and, secondly, to earn an income that in some ways meets the standard to which we are accustomed, but at least it is better than nothing.

I think I would probably speak for most people who say that. I'm home, I'm safe, I'm healthy, my kids are healthy and my family is healthy, and right now this is an unprecedented time that really is the most important thing to me, so every little bit helps us. We're going to do the best we can with it, save it and we're being very careful with what we send and I think her husband is still working so obviously that helps their situation as well. He is working and he is funny because he helps me knowing that he still receives income, but he also scares me because he goes to work every day.

He's in the manufacturing industry, so it's obviously considered an essential service and now they're going to help her change her manufacturing lines. and protocol and he's pretty involved with it to help me make face masks which is amazing I'm happy to do it yeah I feel so good that they're doing that but it's scary because he goes to work every day huh , exposing. himself, the company has taken some precautions, but most people still go to work, there are about 1,500 employees, and they come home every day stripping, you know, showering, doing the best they can, washing their hands, all those important things, but not us.

I don't know what comes into the house every day, so that's scary, but I think from a mental health standpoint, I think it's really good for him to be able to be at work, yeah, it's been hard, It's very difficult, yes, it is, I'm sure. I'm I can also leave the house and sometimes that helps um yeah um so you said this will help how long could you go? Do you think financially if you just received this, no one really knows? Of course, when is this going to end, but how long do you think you could be funny?

When I was talking to the gentleman from CBC at the screening of it this morning, he was asking me, do you know what you think if this happens? This lasts 18 years. months to two years and to be completely honest, I'm not thinking about that right now. I'm really just trying to take it one day a week at a time and do the best we can, no one really knows what's going to happen. I don't see myself off work for that long, I mean right now we can see patients this way via teleconferencing, we can also go to work for acute and emergency patients, as I mentioned, and to the clinic.

The clinics I work for have asked me if I'm interested in doing that, the challenging thing is obviously putting myself out there and being patient with anything, but I don't think I can go that long without seeing my patients. just the profession I'm in you just don't feel like yourself unless you're helping people it's very difficult can I ask if there's anything else the government can do for you if they'll listen to you while we wait for the prime minister? Is there anything else you think people like you could use in terms of financial support or just in general, anything you can think of anyway.

I think the government is doing the best it can. I think the government is doing a good job, to be honest, I think. They are doing the best they can right now things are changing day by day and we all have to remember that I am grateful to have the benefit of cerb um. I think it will help. I think it will help many. There are many people that we all know and who really don'tIt's helping them right now in terms of me professionally. It would be nice if it was a little clearer in terms of what we can and can't do as essential workers, but otherwise.

I think we're all doing well and again it's just one day at a time. I mean, there's no point in complaining right now. I feel pretty safe, so I think we're good, that's good. good enough for now I agree Marissa thank you I'm I'm glad it went so well for you this morning and I appreciate you taking the time for us today. Thank you so much. Have a great day. You too stay healthy. Pleased to meet you. Marissa Verdone in Hamilton, Ontario. Okay, it's nice to put some faces to this experience as people. uh, fight to apply for cerb today and try to recover part of your income.

I'll bring uh vashi and david back to talk a little bit more about that. I mean, I'm actually surprised the phone worked so well. Well, in that case, Marissa couldn't get through online for whatever reason and she was able to call and get authorization. I think maybe I'll post it, maybe I won't, but there we have the three. screenshots of how easy it is, basically, if you connect to the internet with three clicks of the mouse, that's it, because ultimately the goal of the government is to get this money as quickly as possible to as many people as possible possible.

I'll come to you, yes, and that's what they said from the beginning. The idea is to capture a wide swath of the population. They had said that you would have to attest that the bar would be lower than, for example, ei. and that's the case, there are just a few questions that you basically have to say yes, I have no income, I have no income, etc., every month you will have to do the same thing to continue accessing that money. but like you said Rosie, it's pretty simple, pretty straightforward, so I think from a technical application process standpoint, this act looks like this program is working.

I'd like to highlight what you did before, though just to keep it in mind. Think as we listen to the Prime Minister trying to figure out where the government is going for those people who don't fit into the program, so the people who perhaps have the most important message I keep getting are the people who have lost most of their income, yes. almost everything, but not every penny, so they're not at zero and they're really struggling to be able to find any kind of help from the government right now, so I'm very, very interested to know, as are you. said yesterday the prime minister acknowledged that there are gaps in both this program and the wage subsidy program that they are working on to address those gaps.

I'm very interested in knowing exactly how they're going to do it because, as we've been Saying that in the last few weeks four people have lost most or all of their income time is essential, just as if we're now heading into April to another rent check to another billing cycle and I think they need that money, okay? the prime minister of canada is coming thank you for that bashi good morning everyone this morning recognizing that today is a painful anniversary two years have passed since the tragic accident of the Humboldt Broncos from coast to coast we also remember very much the 16 lives that ended soon and many more that changed forever if you lost a friend, a teammate or a loved one if you are still rebuilding and recovering I want you to know that we are here for you and will always be here for you The Humboldt community, along with all Canadians who stand behind you, have shown incredible strength and resilience, and just like the people pulling out the hockey sticks or wearing the jersey, you remind us that together we can get through even the darkest moments right now as we face a challenge like no other we lean on our friends and family and let them know that they can lean on us too the next few weeks and months won't be easy but we will get through this together I'm sure many of you I watched the queen yesterday afternoon and her message of unity and resolve is more important than ever.

No one should feel alone in this. No one should wonder how they will weather this storm without the support we have brought in over the past few weeks. range of new measures to help families and workers, older people and business owners get through this, together we have introduced the most important economic measures of our lifetime that will help millions of people, including the benefit of Canada emergency response if you have lost your paycheck. Whether you are caring for someone who is sick, has been laid off, or lives with a disability, the CERB is there for you.

This benefit is now available starting today. If you were born in January, February or March, you can visit canada.ca. and apply online if you can't apply online don't worry you can call 1-800-959-2041 since it opened this morning. 24,240,000 people have already applied successfully. All others will be able to submit their application another day from this. week, depending on your birth month, we know you need support as soon as possible. We have to make sure this system works for everyone. If you are using direct deposit, you will receive money three to five days later. The cerb is meant to help everyone.

Canadians who need it and millions of Canadians will receive it starting this week. There are some people who do not qualify yet who we need to help if they are working hours reduced to 10 hours per week or less. We will announce it soon. how will you qualify for cerb this is to help you if you are a contract worker or volunteer firefighter. We'll also have more to say for those who work but earn less than they would with the benefit, I'm thinking in particular of home care workers or long-term care jobs, long-term care workers who care for people vulnerable seniors and I know there are also many college or university students who are wondering what kind of job they will get this summer. support now and we are working to offer it as soon as possible for people in all of these situations.

We see you, we will be there for you and we are working as hard as we can to give you the support you need. At the same time, we also announced a new 75 per cent wage subsidy to help you keep your job and help businesses keep their employees on the payroll at this time. We are drafting legislation and talking to other parties before parliament sets the wage again. The subsidy implemented as quickly as possible supporting you and your family is our top priority. Your Finance Minister Bill Morneau will have more updates soon, but here's the bottom line Whatever your situation, we're working to get you the help you need if you were born in January, February or March and had to stop working due to the virus, you can now apply for Canada Emergency Response Benefits starting today at canada.ca, otherwise you can submit an application later in the week depending on your birth month, many of you need it. quality help quickly and we want to make sure the system works for everyone.

If you opt for direct deposit, it should take three to five days to receive an initial payment. The emergency benefit is meant to help all Canadians who need help now, but I know. There are some people who still need support and may not yet qualify. Their hours have been reduced, for example, to 10 hours or less. We will soon announce how you can benefit from Cerb. We will also have news about the people who win. less money now than with the benefit, I'm thinking for example of home care workers or people who work in long term care and of course if you're in c-jep or in college you're probably wondering what are you doing.

What we are going to do this summer is you obviously need help too and we are working very hard to find solutions for you, at the same time we are working on legislation and cooperating with opposition parties to recall parliament and put in place the measures we have. announced as quickly as possible, finance minister bill morneau will provide additional details soon, but here's what you need to remember, whatever your circumstances, we are doing everything we can to help you, we are working very hard to give you a break and help you manage. your financial situation banks also have an important role to play because they will be able to help companies continue their activities and families pay their mortgages today I want to thank the six main banks and certain cooperatives for agreeing to halve the interest rates of credit cards for Canadians experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic and certain credit unions cutting credit card interest rates almost in half for people experiencing financial difficulties due to the pandemic will provide them much-needed debt relief.

I want to thank Minister Mourinho for his excellent leadership on this issue and we need to see even more actions like this in the future because this is a time to think about each other, not the end result. I want to recognize the Canadian's new initiative. Chamber of Commerce launched in partnership with our government the Canadian Business Resilience Network will help businesses of all sizes get through this difficult period, not only get through this difficult period, but will drive our subsequent economic recovery, this is based on what we have already done to help business owners we have a three point economic plan supports business owners including through new loans while safeguarding jobs with the wage subsidy and helping those who no longer have a paycheck with the cerb we are here for you to get through this and keep our loved ones and our frontline workers safe.

All Canadians must do their part. Don't forget that you are shaping our future today. What the next few weeks and months look like is up to you. It depends on whether they stay home and help protect. the vulnerable and make sure our hospitals are not overwhelmed, every citizen has to do their part because people who may have to go to work, like lab technicians and healthcare workers, truck drivers and farm workers, are doing more than their share. We are making sacrifices to allow the rest of the population to stay home. The best way to thank them is to continue following public health guidelines.

This is how we can all protect our own health and theirs. The line is open. Good morning, Prime Minister. Leading reports in Ontario reportedly told Disney News this morning that Ontario could run out of personal protective equipment within a week and that the United States halted a shipment of equipment last night. I'm wondering what your reaction is to that, that looming shortage in Ontario and can you tell us if the US has actually stopped any shipments of goods to Canada? We are working very closely with all the provinces and monitoring the levels of personal protective equipment and the challenges they face both in terms of procurement and ensuring that our health officials, health workers across the country are getting the kind of help they need.

We continue to have productive and positive conversations with the United States, emphasizing to them that health care supplies and workers across the border are very much a two-way street. and we must continue to allow ourselves to be there for our neighbors because it is in our collective interest minister champang had a good conversation with secretary pompeo this morning those conversations continue and we hope that those supplies will be delivered from the beginning. We have been working with the premiers of the provinces to ensure that they have enough medical equipment to protect their healthcare workers and we are very aware of the concerns in terms of there not being enough equipment in the coming days and that is why we are working.

It's very, very difficult to secure those supplies around the world and also start producing them here in Canada. I can say that we continue to have very productive conversations with the Americans. Minister Champagne spoke with Secretary Pompeo this morning and we hope that those products will be question delivered, I guess just to repeat that question? Have any shipments we were expecting to receive been stopped? Have you received any assurances from the Americans that they will allow them to pass like I said? There are very productive conversations underway and we look forward to those shipments being delivered.

Thank you, next question, thank you, Melcy, next question. Jim, the Canadian press line is open. Good morning, we were wondering if you could tell us about any of the efforts to ensure that people. quarantined who needs to be quarantined, do you have anything to tell us today about whether anyone has been quarantined and if so, is there any number on that? Thanks, anyoneReturning to Canada is subject to a mandatory quarantine order, which means you have to go directly home from the airport and stay home for 14 days. Public health officials are following up with several of those people, particularly some of the highest-risk or challenging cases.

We are confident that Canadians across the country are obeying quarantine orders and taking action. Be sure that you are doing everything necessary to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. The next question is: does it make any sense beyond normal quarantine procedures if the quarantine law has been invoked in special cases and people have actually been forced to be quarantined in centers or other places under the quarantine law, from the beginning there were a number of measures that we took on flights returning from muhan, for example, on flights returning from various cruises where we had mandatory quarantines and centers that we have facilities available for people who return to Canada and for various reasons cannot self-quarantine at home or your home is too far from the airport.

That's why we have institutions and those are being used about a week ago that I was talking about. uh the end of your isolation is coming, can you tell us when it will happen? I intend to return to the office in the next few days, but my work will continue for the time being at home. We know that's what we're asking of everyone. We are telling people to stay home as much as possible and as we have seen in recent weeks, it is possible to do so and we are working very well from home in this particular circumstance.

Yes, I may have to return to parliament or go to the office at some point over the next few days or weeks, but I will continue to work from home as much as possible. You may have also mentioned in your statement that the coming weeks and months will not be easy. Could you explain in more detail that I understand that the curve depends on the decisions that people make and that you will publish information, but in concrete terms, what does this mean? It means that people should expect to stay home for many weeks and perhaps many months.

We'll have more specific answers for people once we've completed our modeling and that will give people a better idea of ​​what might happen with each model and each projection. shows a lot of variability depending on the actions we take as individuals and as a society staying home and continuing to isolate and practicing distancing is the best way to get out of this as quickly as possible, but this will be a problem that will last for weeks and possibly a month thank you merci january good morning mr

trudeau

i would like to hear your comment on the work of parliament has been suspended and in parliament for three weeks that means the democratic process is not really going on and yet you are a minority Government, so what?

What do you say to people who think you are circumventing opposition parties and governing alone? On the contrary, that is exactly why we called Parliament to debate very important legislation that will help workers and businesses with the wage subsidy and I am looking forward to being in Parliament and seeing it withdrawn in small numbers so that we can continue to do our important work as parliamentarians at the same time. It is important to say that there are many parliamentarians throughout the country. who were elected to represent their communities who simply cannot come to parliament at the moment and that is why we are very seriously considering ways to bring parliament together virtually.

We know that it is important to allow our democracy to continue to function fully and We want to give an opportunity to all parliamentarians, not just those who live close to parliament, to represent their citizens and we will continue to work on that in the coming days and weeks on the idea of a virtual parliament. What type of model are you considering? Would you be prepared every day for question period or would you be a bit more flexible since we are in a crisis? Well, I think we're hearing a lot of good ideas in terms of how we can make our processes and our institutions stronger in this crisis and I think it's even more important now that we have a strong democracy and strong institutions when we face a crisis and it's That is why we are working with other political parties and our institutions and parliamentary experts.

To continue to give confidence to the people of Canada that our democracy is working, that parliament is working, and that we remain strong even in these difficult times, it is very important that we continue to strengthen our democracy even during a crisis, especially during a crisis. That is why I am looking forward to seeing Parliament reconvene in a reduced state in the coming days so that we can pass important legislation that will provide wage subsidies to employers so that people can continue to keep their jobs even at this time when very few people are functioning, but more than that we have to look for ways to virtually convene parliament so that parliamentarians from all over the country who were elected to do their job of representing their citizens in normal times and in times of crisis can make themselves heard. it's just about people who have proximity to parliament or the ability to get here, we need to look at ways that our democracy and our institutions can stay strong and embody and fulfill the functions that Canadians need, that's why I'm very uh I hope with Looking forward to conversations with other parties and experts about how we can continue our institutions even in this difficult time.

No, I haven't changed my last name yet. Now the benefit of Canada's emergency response. There are a lot of people who are falling through the cracks right now and I wonder what they are going to do and how long they can last, so what kind of changes are they going to make to fill those gaps? Will it be retroactive? Well, we're currently looking at a couple of different, uh. type of people who are being left behind and not eligible for that benefit, we have seen people with massively reduced hours but who continue to work and who should be able to access the cerb, some people may only be working 10 hours a week and are earning only 500 a month and we think they should have access to the cerb, so in the next few days we will announce how those people can apply to receive the Canada emergency response benefit.

We also realize that in some areas, e.g. long term. In care centers there are workers who earn less per month, they do very important work for society, but they earn less than what they would receive with the new benefit, so we want to guarantee that the people who do this can continue to make a important work and now we're looking at how we can give them a little more money to make it worthwhile to keep those jobs and continue doing that work once again. We will have more to say about that. that in the coming days the Canada Emergency Response Benefit is there to help millions of Canadians.

We have moved quickly to try to help as many people as possible as quickly as possible and that is being implemented today, but at the same time as we recognize that there are groups of people who do not benefit from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, who They should probably think specifically about people who have seen their hours massively reduced to 10 hours a week or less, perhaps making a total of 500? a month that they are in a precarious situation and that they would really benefit and should benefit from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, so we will announce in the coming days how people in that situation will be able to apply for and receive the Emergency Response Benefit from Canada. from other groups of people who perhaps work in long-term care facilities or nursing homes who do extremely important work, especially today, but who don't actually earn as much a month as they would if they had lost their job and were receiving the response benefit, that's why we are looking carefully at how we can increase their pay a little bit so that they will do better by staying at work instead of taking time off work and receiving the emergency response benefit.

These are fine adjustments that we knew. We would have to do it because in any program that tries to help as many people as possible, there will be exceptions that we will have to cover and we will continue to work to make sure that we do it right and that everyone gets the help. What they need now is the fact that the wage subsidy does not suit all businesses, what can be done about it and what can be done to stop the steady decline of the economy? Well, now we are in a situation where what we have to do to deal with the health crisis is damaging the economy and also creating an economic crisis, but we have to make decisions because we have no choice but to close the economy to overcome this crisis. as soon as possible and we can get those economic engines back up and running as quickly as possible in just a few months, and to get through these difficult months, we are providing assistance directly to workers and businesses so they can weather this crisis with subsidy loans. salary and access to credit also for large corporations, so we are there to ensure that when the economy recovers at the end of this crisis we are in a good economic position and are able to get economic activity going again.

Hello Prime Minister Tom Perry with TBC um I just want to go back to that city's news report on the mask shipment. The United States blocked that shipment of masks to Canada. Are you aware of any other shipments that have been delayed or blocked and you said you were expecting the shipment? to get there if not, what are you going to do? Well, we continue to have constructive and productive conversations with US administration officials who understand that essential services and supplies are largely a two-way street between Canada and the United States. They are interconnected and interconnected in many ways, from the primary resources that flow to American companies to manufacture the equipment so desperately needed both in North America and around the world, to the actual shipments of products that go from Canada to the USA. that go from the united states to canada we will continue to work together we are going to make sure that the goods and services that are essential continue to flow and I hope that those shipments arrive soon and we will continue to work with the Americans to ensure that those products essential to protect Canadians come to Canada and we are sure they will.

The US Centers for Disease Control recommends that people wear masks when going out in public places. Canada hasn't gone that far, so why is there a reluctance on Canada's part to make those types of recommendations given that some health care experts say it's a good idea. I'm not going to make health recommendations to people that I don't think politicians should have an opinion on health solutions or fixes, I know that. That Dr. Tam will share new thoughts on masks in less than an hour and I encourage people to continue listening to her and the health experts and professionals on the best way to keep ourselves safe and the best way to we can provide for our loved ones. sure what's the best way to keep our healthcare workers safe uh right now brian mullin global news prime minister some of the countries that have had the most success flattening the curve, like germany, attribute it to testing, so, Why aren't we doing it? more testing is lack of people to administer tests lack of test kits or lack of resources every day we are doing more tests than the day before we recognize that large-scale testing is a key element in flattening the curve and dealing with For the long term prognosis of this pandemic, we will need to continue to do more and more testing to get those answers quickly and to be able to monitor the spread of the coronavirus through our population, that is why we continue to do more testing.

That's why we're creating more test kits, that's why we continue to develop new solutions for testing. Testing will be an essential part of how we get through this. We recognize that testing is essential when it comes to our ability to overcome this pandemic. That's why we're doing more testing every day and that's also why we're securing new test kits, a larger number of kits so that testing can be done more quickly, because we know that overcoming this means the government buying testing kits. massive tests. delivered to the provinces so that testing can increase. We have already received deliveries of test kits and will continue to deliver more and more test kits from around the world from companies in Canada that are developing them.We know that more testing is needed. kits and that is what we are working on prime minister kevin gallagher with ctv national news we are hearing that hospitals in border cities, specifically Windsor and Sault Ste Marie, are telling health professionals, nurses and doctors, that they have to choose between which institutions to go to work in cannot work in both the United States and Canada, should Canadian health professionals now have to make that decision to reduce the rate and potential contamination of cross-border work they could do if they decided to work in Canada? or the premiers and provincial mayors of the United States are making extremely difficult decisions and are choosing to do the right thing to protect their own citizens and their own communities and continue to help our neighbors.

We need to get that balance right and it's going to take some time. difficult decisions, but we know that an essential part of this path forward is not only keeping Canadians safe, which must be our top priority, but also helping the world deal with this global crisis and that is what everyone is trying to do. do. Well, we realize that our prime ministers and mayors across the country and particularly in cities on the border are facing very difficult decisions and their primary responsibility is to ensure the health and safety of Canadians, while at the same time recognizing that we are facing a global situation and we need to be there to help our neighbors if we can, I didn't really get a question, answer that question specifically, but I need to move on because there is another answer here that we are looking for, you can bet we are from this report that Prime Minister Ford is talking about.

This shipment that was blocked yesterday Are you aware of shipments of personal equipment to protect medical personnel or any other type of shipment that has been blocked by the United States? We have recognized in recent weeks a number of situations where shipments from different countries around the world have been delayed, they have not arrived with as many products as we expected to see, this remains an ongoing problem, but specifically with the United States, We are working with them to ensure that the orders Canada has placed are delivered. We expect those shipments to arrive, some shipments come with less equipment than we wanted or were delayed due to actions taken by several countries, but we will continue to work to ensure that Canada receives everything it needs and that is the Prime Minister of Canada with his report diary on greed 19, the pandemic on the same day as the cerb, the emergency relief benefit is now available for Canadians who have lost their job due to greed 19.

There is a lot of news from the prime minister. I'm going to start where we left off if we can and I will. bringing my colleagues vashti capelas and david cochran and this is following a report from city tv um that we haven't confirmed yet, but it was in an interview that Premier Ford suggested that he was going to the province of Ontario and that he was going to run out of PPE soon, in the next week, because a shipment had been held up at the border and she, the prime minister, didn't say those words, but I understood what he was saying as yes, that's happening the furthest that he What I would say is that we expect those submissions to line up again and again with each of the questions that he received on this very topic and just to be specific about what the prime minister had said, he identified a submission of The US had stopped him over the weekend with three million masks and what he told City News was that within a week, I think, as he checked Rosie, within a week the personal protective equipment for frontline workers in Ontario, so that's the number. of cases in the spread of this virus, that is a very important thing to say, so the prime minister was asked several times if he knew that was the case, especially the last question from one of our ctv colleagues and he said that would not recognize that that specific shipment had been stopped.

It was not specific about the United States. He said he understood that, as with shipments around the world, there are delays. Some of them have been detained, but he wouldn't do it specifically. Let's say, for example, that those three million masks were held up at the border, yet he said conversations were taking place with people in the United States in the administration. He identified a specific conversation this morning between Foreign Minister Francois Philippe Champagne and Secretary Mike. Pompeo and then went on to say exactly what you identified there, Rosie, we expect those shipments to arrive, so that's the most we could get out of that, I mean, there's still a lot of questions about whether other shipments are being blocked.

Just one, I'm not clear yet, obviously, you know, the number of masks, for example, the n95 masks that we receive from the United States, is significant. I don't know if it's half of all the masks Canada receives or if it's three. sectors such as how detrimental it will be to supply in various provinces if there are no longer shipments coming from the United States and what exactly happened in those talks. I know that our colleagues have asked for a readout, for example, of the call between Minister Champaign. and Secretary Pompeo to try to see where the United States is on this, if there is any propensity to move forward on the issue, I mean, the prime minister didn't necessarily specifically address whether or not that's going to change in the near term. but he tried, I think he tried to at least sound optimistic that he could, yes, he did, although he was also very careful to explain the meaning of Thereabashi very well in his language, because he obviously got into a blame game. or publicly reprimanding the United States for stopping a shipment uh i i'm not sure how that would happen um it also seems like this is the case and that the message has been sent that this has to stop i i' I'm also curious who stopped the shipment.

Was it border control that stopped the shipment? Where were they ordered not to go further? I mean, there are a lot of questions around that. Hey David, I'll let you have your say wherever you want. Yes, Rosie, I think so. You are seeing from the Prime Minister that he is dusting off the NAFTA negotiation strategy in terms of his public comments, no matter how specific and direct the journalists' questions are, he is going to repeat a common message that we are working with . United States on these raw materials, important essential materials and essential workers flow both ways across the border, it is in everyone's best interest to resolve this and he will not take the bait by saying something that could inflame the president of the United States or enrage to Donald Trump that we saw.

I think throughout NAFTA the motto in the prime minister's office at that time was: we don't respond to words, we only respond to actions. Well, now we have very specific actions at a very urgent time that have a very material impact. but because what's at stake in this is literally life or death for some people, there's a lot of reluctance, you know, to say something explicit in public that may sound harsh and make people feel good, but ultimately long term causes a lot of damage in a very delicate situation, so there is a lot of work behind the scenes to try to work on opening the US border to these medical supplies and at the same time working furiously in places like China or Brazil or other places where They can make masses to obtain alternative supplies.

I'm serious, like when NAFTA's Rosie depends on the US for everything it exposes them to a lot of vulnerability, especially with the current mentality of the current administration, so they have to look for as many possible avenues of support as they can. The other news is Cerb. The application process was launched today at six o'clock. Nearly a quarter of a million people have been able to sign up, so it's a good sign that the system is holding up as the rest of the country wakes up, especially in the west, and starts applying more. and more pressure could begin to be put on the system, but while the two thousand dollars a month that we know are going to arrive begin to be deployed, a promise from the prime minister to expand the criteria to help people who have had their hours has been reduced drastically, but they're still working and also to find a way, a topic we talked about yesterday, Rosie, to keep people financially healthy if they work in, say, a long-term care home, but they earn less going to work and risking that if you left work and got from the c-e-r-b an acknowledgment of that problem, a promise to do it and an acknowledgment that the wage subsidy as it is currently designed is also not broad enough and they are working on making the contribution whatever your situation we are working on. get you the help you need so that these programs are not completely universal because some people like us are still working, we are still receiving a salary, but it will be as universal as necessary and they will expand the criteria on a case-by-case basis.

A new example of something falling out of sight appears, Ashley, I'll have you test the cerb before you go with a guest, those are those are the attempts, I guess, to fill in some of those gaps that you were talking about, yeah, those . are the gaps that have been identified to us by so many Canadians who write to us, I would especially highlight those people who have seen their hours or income drastically reduced but not eliminated completely, the prime minister indicated that david said that there was additional help or that they will be specifically addressed in quotes in the next few days, we don't know how that will be implemented or what degree that means, for example, that they will be able to take advantage of the entire CRB.

He was also specific in In his language, he said that if you work 10 hours or less, you earn only 500, he had specific terminology and then also people who work in nursing homes, for example, who do not earn, who would earn more if they were to work? cr erb instead of working, so it seemed to have a specific subset of people who the government is trying to cover with some sort of, I guess, second wave of cerb, but we don't have the details yet on to what extent they will be covered and exactly how that will work, it's just coming in the next few days.

I must say it's okay. I'll be back with you two shortly. Thank you very much for that. I must tell you another little news. Expect at noon the Prime Minister to hint that Dr. Tam Canada's chief public health officer has cited new thoughts on mask-wearing in this country, so of course we'll have it for you at the top of the watch, but while we've been talking about this. new benefit the cerb doesn't cover everyone, including my next guest, abigail uh gelfand, and she joins me in Toronto. It's good to see you Abigail, hello, thanks for having me, so tell me what you're doing and why you think you won't get caught.

I agree with the emergency benefit, yes, so my husband Joel and I run a small community martial arts school in North York, it's called House of Combat, which we are working on, I guess what I would qualify as a very reduced schedule, our facilities have been closed since March 14 and we have been able to move some of the classes online, but certainly not all. We have incredible support from the community, but we have members who have requested refunds or credit. It's affecting everyone across the board, including our members, so we understand. that and not everyone can take the online training or benefit from it in the same way, so we are in that position where we are working on a very small income and have the huge overhead costs of maintaining the facilities. while it's closed, so a couple of questions would you say because the Prime Minister has just suggested that people who work less than 10 hours a week or earn around 500, I think he said a month they will receive some support, would you fall into that category? less than 10 hours a week for less than five hundred dollars a month too, but because we're a small business and things are very week to week and month to month, it's very hard to tell if you have other employees. with the wage subsidy program not yet implemented that would be of some help so not really, our employees are treated as contractors, there are students we pay to help with classes only when classes are held on the premises, then.

It wouldn't be relevant and there were also small business loans that they made available. I know you obviously have a place where this normally happens and you need to keep it running. Have you ever thought about it? using that or is it a possibility, I mean, being debt free is really important to us, we have built slow and steady, we have been around for over 10 years, in this capacity we have two small children, we have to pay rent. for our department, um, debt just isn't something that makes sense for us inright now, but we would be open to it because we want to sustain what we have built, so what are you going to do?

For how long? You continue without going in much and without some kind of solution, it seems like there could almost be a solution for you, but not quite right, so I mean we have some kind of plan B and that really involves shutting down our actual facility and you. knowing that working at other people's locations is more of a private training modality, it would be heartbreaking and we wouldn't be able to serve as many people as we currently do and I would lose some of the community aspect, but I would be able to. Hopefully when this is over it will provide some support for our family which has to be a priority right now.

I only have about 30 seconds, but how stressed are you? How anxious are you dealing with all of this on a day-to-day basis? day to day, I'm anxious trying not to be, I have two little kids under three, and you know, we're just trying to hold on and not worry about what's not here yet, it's okay, Abigail Gelf, and you own the studio martial arts house of combat. with your husband there in Toronto, thank you very much, listen, I hope the best for you and, yes, hang in there like you said, thanks for showing us, okay, thank you, stay healthy, while we wait for our briefing from the federal government. officials at the last minute just a reminder that we expect some news from doctor teresa tam regarding the use of masks in this country.

We will leave them here on cbc television, you can continue watching them on cbc news network and cbc.ca. and welcome once again to our ongoing cbc news special, i'm rosemary barton, live here in ottawa, if you join us on cbc news network or stream everywhere on the cbc news app and around the world on cbcnews.ca, here are just some of the news of the day. Big developments on Covet 19: The federal government has officially launched the emergency response benefit for those who have lost income due to Covet 19. The Prime Minister confirmed just moments ago that more than 240,000 applications have already been received.

Remember that The program just started this morning at 6 a.m. ET Prime Minister says millions of Canadians can expect to see that money as soon as three to five days Here in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford is sounding the alarm in an interview with City Television City TV . That his province could run out of crucial medical protective equipment within a week he suggested that a mass shipment had been held up at the US-Canada border. There are also many questions for the Prime Minister on that front, returning to the emergency aid benefit. I should note that the Prime Minister says they're now looking at additional criteria that would try to capture some of the Canadians that aren't captured based on what's out there now, so they're trying to expand that so that as many people as possible can try to get it. . access to the emergency financial aid package.

Of course, I'm joined by my colleagues bashi kapelis, the host of power and politics, and david cochrane from our parliamentary office as we wait for federal officials, cabinet ministers and health officials to come in and talk a bit. a little bit more, I don't know if any of you have any news, but maybe I'll just stick to the point I ended with earlier and that is this thought from the beginning. Minister there might be something new to say about wearing masks in this rapidly evolving country, and I think for some people, a potentially confusing situation, but even yesterday, Dr.

Tam said she was talking to provincial officials and looking at all the science and evidence about whether there was a benefit for asymptomatic people by wearing those vashi masks and then I move on to you, David, yes, the message from the beginning has certainly been different than what it is now and that's not the case. That's just not limited to just this jurisdiction in the United States, in fact, last week this really seemed to evolve rapidly with the center for disease control they are issuing this kind of voluntary national recommendation for everyone to wear masks and that is very different from what we've heard from our public health officials and even US public health officials earlier throughout this entire pandemic when they said that because at that time the evidence did not point to asymptomatic transmission, it doesn't it was necessary for people to not have to wear masks all the time. time and that is different from what we have seen in other countries, take for example South Korea where there was a lot of mask wearing and therefore a discussion arose from that and what also evolved is the science behind of asymptomatic transmission.

Now there are a lot. of studies and I preface it by saying that I am not a scientist, I just have heard of them. I have also been listening to every report from public health officials and they have pointed out an evolution of the studies that now show a greater degree. of asymptomatic transmission which seems to underpin the change in advice south of the border and Dr Tam has hinted that her position has also changed a bit in recent days to recognize that and the Prime Minister said very specifically that there would be news from Dr .Tam on that, so I'm wondering if there will now be a specific recommendation for all Canadians, much like the CDC issued in the United States, to wear these types of masks and if so, that's an important difference. with respect to where we started, let's say.

Even a month ago, in the spread of this virus and the advice that was being given, I would point it out again, although the science behind asymptomatic transmission has also changed a lot, yes, that's right, and a lot of things have changed very quickly about how It's the public. health advice and how different public health officials issue that advice and why they are doing it. It will also be interesting, obviously, the advice from the CDC in the United States is that if you want to do this, do it as a volunteer, yes. uh, and the other, the other information that dr. tam has talked a lot about david and then I'll have you weigh in is that what can't happen is Canadians walking around in medical masks because that's obviously while We're hearing these stories about such a desperate need for ppe.

You know, Canadians can't wear surgical masks on the street because that just doesn't make sense when health care workers should be the most protected, David, yes, especially now as the United States shuts down. shipments across the border and tell 3m it can't export things like n95 en masse to allied countries that have fought world wars on the US side and have one of the world's largest trade deals with US partners that it doesn't They are allowed to have medical services. supplies that they have been entitled to for decades, yes, look, science has evolved on this. The different countries rushed to arrive so early.

You've seen places like Taiwan, for example, move very quickly in this direction and they've had a lot of success in flattening their curve and a lot of people attribute that to masks, a country like Germany is now dealing with this, they're being pressured to expand their orders for massive public orders, but germany is also a country that has been very successful in flattening its curve and certainly keeping its mortality rate much lower than many other countries. What those two jurisdictions have in common is not masks, but widespread testing and tracing of people, and that has allowed them to get ahead of the spread in many ways by knowing exactly who has it exactly who they talk to exactly where they are and then taking steps to keep people inside and isolate them from other people and give them the medical, mental and financial support they need so that they don't spread it in their communities, so while there seems to be a growing consensus among governments and public health officials that using non-surgical masses in public will help, there is certainty that the tests to track physical distancing and isolation absolutely work, so I think there has been a reluctance to bet that the people wear mask in public because, and Dr.

Tam has mentioned this himself about this false sense of security, they don't want people to think that just because you have a mask it protects you beyond something like washing your hands. would do in terms of keeping the germ away from you so it's been a challenge and I know some people are really sincere on this and argue that Canada has been left behind on this but it's not just this country there are a lot of countries that are slow to get there, even those that have been very successful, like Germany, which has done much better than the countries with which it shares borders or very close borders, like France, for example, and even you know many aspects economic and travel links to Italy even without the necessarily shared border, yeah, I think the other concern and you've suggested it is that somehow the idea of ​​wearing a mask would make you less likely to do things other than public health.

Officials say it's actually more important to physically distance and wash your hands. The CDC says to wear a cloth mask if you want. This is simply not a directive, so I would make some kind of homemade mask and still practice physical distancing, but if you're going to be somewhere where that's not possible or becomes more challenging, like a grocery store, like if I didn't know the elevator of an apartment. So, those are the places to use them, but otherwise, you still have to do them. other things I just want to make a point about that Rosie, quickly, the mask is not so much to prevent you from getting sick, although it could be useful, but to prevent you from spraying your droplets everywhere if you are asymptomatic or symptomatic. and infect other people my mass protects you your mass protects me and that has been a constant public health message in Canada since day one, if you have any symptoms, wear a mask so you don't make people sick, okay , here is the deputy prime minister.

I have a statement from Premier Doug Ford regarding this suspension of protective equipment. He says that, in fact, global shipping delays and recent US border restrictions have severely impacted Ontario's inventory and left the province with a week's supply of medical equipment. We'll talk more about that after this briefing. Christopher Freeland is very important here unless, of course, he is doing essential work like stocking supermarket shelves or he is on the front lines of our healthcare system and if he is doing that essential work, thank you very much. What I know is that many Canadians are struggling to make ends meet today, so I'm happy to say that applications for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit are now open to ensure the system works.

We are staggering the days Canadians can apply. in your birth month, Canadians are resilient, we are survivors, I know we will get through this together. Canadians should continue to practice social distancing, physical distancing, rather than staying strong and staying home, unless they are doing essential work, like stocking grocery store shelves or providing health care. attention I know Canadians are hurting right now and that's why I'm pleased to announce that Canadians can now apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to ensure the system works properly. We are staggering application days based on your birth month. We can demonstrate again the postulate of overcoming this crisis together and today we are going to hear from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr.

Teresa Tam, and the Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Howard, they knew both the President and the President of the treasury board, jean-yves du The club's health minister, Patty Haidu, is here and also available to answer your questions. Thank you, Dr. Tam, please, hello everyone. As always, I will start with updating the numbers of 19 Covet cases in Canada. There are now 15,822 cases and 293 deaths. Most worrying are our new outbreaks in hospitals and long-term care facilities that are occurring in several provinces, and we are also hearing about young people hospitalized due to

covid

19 and people as young as 20 dying from the disease.

This is a serious health threat. It threatens everyone, and although older people are most at risk, no one can predict when a critical illness will strike someone of any age on the laboratory front. More than 339,000 people in Canada have been tested to date, with about five per cent confirmed positive, and will continue to do so. testing at a high rate to track where spread is occurring. Good news. British Columbia recorded a lower number of cases this week compared to last, although it is stilltoo early to tell. This continues to encourage us that our collective action can slow the spread of this virus. pandemic and while there is cautious optimism we must not relax any of our efforts to practice physical distancing, wash our hands frequently and cover our calves to protect the most vulnerable, as I noted yesterday, our collective scientific knowledge about Kovit 19 continues to grow Now that more countries have had higher numbers of cases and analyzed transmission patterns, it is clear that transmission of the virus occurs more frequently than previously recognized in infected people, just before they develop symptoms.

This is called presymptomatic transmission. There is also evidence that some infected people who never developed symptoms can also transmit the virus. This is called asymptomatic transmission. We still don't know what role pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission plays in driving this pandemic, but we know it's happening with this emerging information, the special advisory committee. The 19th Kelvin has reached a consensus that wearing a non-medical mask, even if you don't have symptoms, is an additional measure you can take to protect those around you in situations where physical distancing is difficult to maintain, such as in the public transportation or maybe.

As a grocery store, a non-medical mass can reduce the chance of respiratory droplets coming into contact with other people or landing on surfaces, so using a non-medical mass in the community has not been shown to protect the person. who uses it, it is an additional benefit. The way you can protect other people by wearing a non-medical mask in the community does not mean you can go back on the public health measures that we know work to protect you, so you should continue to practice physical distancing and good hygiene, such as wash your hands frequently and regularly. disinfect high touch surfaces and I want to emphasize that it is extremely important that we keep the medical mass supply where it is needed, healthcare workers need medical masks, we are still in a very critical stage of the greed 19 epidemic in Canada and this This is not the time to relax. our preventive measures as Canadians we may not show our pride outwardly, but our hearts are full of pride and we are determined people, when someone says flatten the curve, we say we will do it, we are stronger together and we will get through this together, so things Everything will be fine thank you dr tam dr new please okay bonjour good afternoon as always I will start by giving an update on the number of covet 19 cases in Canada.

There are now fifteen thousand eight hundred and twenty-two cases of covet 19, including 293 deaths, the majority. The new outbreaks in hospitals and long-term care facilities that are occurring in several provinces are worrying. We are hearing about young people hospitalized due to greed 19. And people as young as 20 are dying from the disease. This is a serious health threat. for everyone, and although older ages are at greater risk, no one can predict when a critical illness will strike someone of any age on the laboratory front. More than 339,000 people have been tested in Canada, of which approximately 5 have been confirmed positive and we continue to test at a high rate to track where British Columbia this week recorded a lower number of cases compared to last week While it is still too early to tell you, this continues to encourage us that our collective action can slow the spread of this pandemic, and while there is cause for cautious optimism, we cannot relax any of our efforts to practice physical distancing, distance ourselves, wash our hands.

We wash our hands frequently and cover our coughs to protect the most vulnerable. Yes, as I noted yesterday, our collective scientific knowledge of

covid

19 continues to grow now that more countries have had large numbers. of cases and we have analyzed transmission patterns, it is clear that transmission of the virus occurs more frequently than previously recognized in people infected just before they develop symptoms. This is called presymptomatic transmission. There is also evidence that some infected people never develop symptoms. They can also transmit the virus, this is called asymptomatic transmission, we still don't know what role pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission plays in driving this pandemic, but we do know that there is with this emerging information, the special advisory committee on coven 19 has come to There is a consensus that wearing a non-medical mask, even if you do not have symptoms, is an additional measure you can take to protect those around you in situations where physical distancing is difficult to maintain, such as on public transportation or in a grocery store. groceries.

Storing a non-medical mask can reduce the chance of respiratory droplets coming into contact with other people wearing a non-medical mask in the community. It has not been shown to protect the person wearing it. It is an additional way to protect other people who wear a non-medical mask in the community, it does not mean you can go back on the public health measures we know we work to protect you, you should continue to practice physical distancing and good hygiene, such as washing Wash hands frequently and regularly disinfect high-touch surfaces. I want to emphasize that it is extremely important that we maintain the supply of medical masks where needed for healthcare workers.

We need medical masks, we are still in a very critical stage of the greed 19 epidemic in Canada and this is not the time to relax our preventive measures as Canadians. We may not show our pride outwardly, but our hearts are full of it and we thank you, merci beaucoup. thank you very much dr. new and now I give the floor to the president of the treasury board mr. johnny thank you christian good afternoon everyone we are all prime minister trudeau made three important announcements this morning there is good economic news because the government is going to be supporting all these families and poor people who absolutely need this support given the difficult situation we are experiencing.

The first major news is the launch of the site where you can apply for the cerb, Canada's emergency response benefit. 300,000 people have already applied for the cerb. through the site successfully this morning, this site is working well, it is solid and we are going to continue to work very hard in this regard and one of the reasons why this site is working well is because Canadians are disciplined and they are applying Depending The second good news regarding the government's support for Canadians is that the 2.5 million EI applications that were made in recent weeks were processed quickly. 2.5 million applications in just a few weeks is more than the Canadian government usually receives. per year and of these 2.5 million applications, 2.1 of them were processed during the last two weeks, so in two weeks they received almost the same number of e.i applications as what was done in a year, as Reminder, those who have already applied for employment insurance do not do so.

You don't need to apply for the CERV because your EI applications are automatically transferred to a CERB application and the last good news is that we all have a role to play in health and economic measures, also in the banking system and in credit unions . They also have a very important role to play, we are pleased to see that they have significantly reduced credit card interest rates and we hope that the banking sector continues to ensure that all Canadians can do their part. together in this crisis and, therefore, we are happy to have the cooperation of all economic actors.

Thank you so much. Now that we are ready to answer your questions. Thanks, as always. Three questions on the phone, then questions from the room and one full question. thank you merci press star one right now if you have any questions I just appreciate the first question is michelin oro canada the needs of thousands of Canadians because they have lost income, but what are you going to do for the workers that will be affected? This payment is retroactive and with respect to the adjustments to the wage subsidy for companies, they face too many obstacles. Thank you very much for your question since we all know that this is an emergency situation that requires emergency measures and that is why for several years weeks we have done what is normally done in months or years we have been able to meet essential and urgent needs and with respect to supporting our workers and companies cerb as the prime minister said this morning we know that it covers many people, many workers who need it and includes workers who would not normally be eligible to receive benefits when they are unemployed or lose income.

This means that all workers who are not normally eligible for self-employment or people who did not qualify were not able to accumulate enough. hours if they don't have income for some reason, however, there are still gaps in cerv coverage and that's why Prime Minister Trudeau said this morning that there were three categories of people that we are looking at in more detail the culture minister and the minister of finance, minister morneau, are looking at this, there are three particular categories that are being looked at at the moment: people who have lost, for example, many hours of work but not all of their hours of work and have not lost all of their income We are talking about people who earn up to two thousand dollars that the cerv offers and also students in some cases are going to have a hard time finding a good job in the coming weeks and months with respect to the students of In particular, I would like to remind you what is already there to help them: First, there is a six-month moratorium on paying off student loans they may have had in recent months and years so they don't have to make payments. for the next six months and the interest that would have accrued during this period was also written off.

Second, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit is already helping many students. If they made five thousand dollars in income during the year, they may have lost their job in their service sector or they could have lost their job at the university, so these students are already eligible right now to receive this cerb and the third One thing we have already done, which is also very important for students, is the 75 percent wage subsidy. This will lead to employers hiring and rehiring workers, including students who would otherwise have been left without work and without income regarding to the wage subsidy itself, as we know it is very important and Minister Mourinho is working very hard to develop all the details regarding people who work 10 hours a week or less, this obviously includes volunteer firefighters who are in a very important category for many Canadian cities and we have discussed this situation in great detail, members raised this question and we are going to resolve this very key issue, so thank you, I will say it briefly in English.

What is happening currently is that the federal government is reacting in an emergency situation and in a way that we have not seen in the history of Canada's social safety net, that means we are implementing things like Canada's emergency response that benefits things that would normally take months, if not years, to implement. We are doing this because we know that what already exists is helping millions of Canadians. and we are seeing this morning the impact of that reef: more than 300,300,000 applicants have already successfully applied for a cerb, we now know that Prime Minister Trudeau said a moment ago that there is more to do and that there are three categories of people that Prime Minister Trudeau focused on a moment ago: first, those who have reduced their work hours but have not lost all their income or all their work hours, so we are aware of that also of those who would be who receive less income than the 2,000 per month Canada Emergency Response Benefit and those, such as students, who would have difficulty finding a job at the time of year when they would normally be trying to find paid work.

For your expenses now, the good news about students is that, although there will be more to come, there has already been a lot of important things for them. The first is the delay of at least six months in paying your student loans. Principal payments can be brought forward by at least six months and all interest that would normally accrue on your loans will not be payable at all, so no interest will be paid not only for the next six months but also for the next six months. that would normally be paid in the next six months will not be requested later.

The second thing is that the Canada Emergency Response Benefit is already helpingthousands of students right now because there are thousands and probably hundreds of thousands of students who have made more than five thousand dollars in the last year but who have lost their job, sometimes their part-time job in restaurants or in a store or in university as an assistant to their teacher, so there would be students who would have lost their jobs who had earned enough income last year but in that war they are eligible to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit right now this week starting today and the rest of the week and finally these wage subsidies those wage subsidies are very substantial will encourage and support businesses to rehire or hire students who would otherwise have lost their jobs so we hope this will also be very important for the students in the coming weeks, in addition to the things the Prime Minister said we would announce shortly, thank you. follow up question from minister michelin, thank you regarding the arrival of masks from the US that were supposed to arrive in Ontario, but Premier Ford said this shipment was prohibited, what about that and what about the stockpile national at this time?

I discussed this with since Premier Ford 15 minutes ago before this press conference very committed to working with all the provinces, we are working hard with the US administration to ensure that all the masks we purchase are exported to Canada very well there is very good communication with the provinces with Ontario with the premiere and we are going to continue to work very hard to make sure that they have the necessary equipment that they need so we are very aware of the situation that Ontario experienced with some masks that they had purchased in the United States and having problems crossing the border, I spoke about it with Prime Minister Ford a few minutes before this press conference and I immediately called Ambassador Hillman, who is now very busy with the issue and, more generally, we have We have been working all weekend very very hard with our American neighbors to ensure that medical supplies can continue to flow across the Canada-United States border and let me emphasize, as we emphasize in our conversations with our American neighbors, that that Flow is a two-way street in the relationship when it comes to medical supplies as it relates to healthcare between Canada and the United States are, like all aspects of our economic relationship, very balanced, very reciprocal and it is for That is why an outcome in which both sides continue to help each other is the best possible outcome. the point we have been making and we had some positive conversations over the weekend and we are going to continue to have those conversations thank you deputy prime minister next question thank you merci next question is from alex barangal from the toronto star please go ahead Hello, thank you for responding to me question just to expand on what Prime Minister Ford issued a statement this morning saying that Canada is working to try to get an exemption from the US order on preventing the export of PPE.

I'm wondering if you can confirm that and expand on what exactly these productive conversations you're having with Americans are about. Yes, exactly that. We believe that the flow of medical equipment through the supply chain between Canada and the United States should continue without obstacles and that of course, it is a two-way street, both countries benefit from this and both countries would lose if obstacles were put in place. in the way of that flow of health care support between our two countries. We noted this in repeated conversations over the weekend and today, as the Prime Minister said, we feel we are being heard and we look forward to a definitive resolution of this situation.

It is in the interest of both countries to continue supporting each other when it comes to healthcare. Let me add that I also spoke with the global CEO of 3m, mike roman, who has been doing a great job, the company is taking a very, very responsible position, they understand the very special place they occupy right now and I would really like to congratulate to the company for their approach and for their very constructive relationship with Canada, follow up from Alex, yes, the Prime Minister mentioned that shipments from other countries have been delayed and that things are missing from the shipments that have arrived.

Do you have more details on which countries have sent things that were delayed and exactly how many things? has been missing in the shipments that have arrived in the last few days look as minister haidu as patty pointed out in one of these press conferences last week it really is a wild west when it comes to purchasing medical supplies right now this is a global pandemic and Every country in the world is doing its best in a truly fierce competition for medical equipment. Canada works very closely with all of our provinces. It is working very, very hard in the international market to get all the supplies we need.

It's hard, but that's why we have to do it. work even harder and is also why I am so grateful to all the Canadian manufacturers across the country who are stepping up to find ways we can make medical equipment the testing equipment we need here in Canada so it's a two front approach we are working hard but it is absolutely very very difficult at the moment thank you deputy prime minister operator next question please thank you mercilessly good morning madam freeland I would like to continue in French can you confirm that your government is looking for a waiver from the US, can you tell us when you expect a response in this regard from the US or how long you are willing to wait? uh yes, I can confirm the position, but Canada's position continues, which we must, as we have had.

So far I would like to highlight for Canadians what they highlighted in their conversations with our American counterparts: this is a two-way street expo canada Canada exploits a lot of medical equipment and we also have health professionals doing extraordinary work in the US .US is good for Americans at the same time, in the US it is a win-win situation and that is what we want to maintain. We have had many conversations over the weekend and I also had them today about this topic and they were positive conversations. It will quickly be possible to definitively resolve this situation since he had a meeting with them this weekend.

Did you get any guarantee? They seemed reluctant to export masks to Canada. Did you get any guarantee? those three um will receive orders that we made as a company, it is up to a country to solve its problems in this regard. Well, I appreciate it very much. They have been very responsible and the management to continue exporting their masks to Canada. We also had discussions. with 3m thank you deputy prime minister starting with julie cbc um yes miss freeland you were saying that um you spoke to doug ford 15 minutes before coming here he talked about some masks and some issues at the border so how many masks, where were you?

Coming from what the problem was and exactly how he's going to solve it, I'm going to let Premier Ford talk about the details of this particular purchase from the province of Ontario, since he chooses, we talked about the fact that some masks that had the province purchased in the United States they were having some difficulty being shipped across the border and I promised the prime minister that the federal government would do everything they could to get those masks to Canada and we will be fine, I have other questions for you, but unfortunately I have to move on to masks now, teresa tam, about the cloth masks that you say are probably beneficial for Canadians right now, why would it have taken so long considering we know how infectious this virus is and we know that Can people wear it?

I don't know, so a mask, how could that have hurt? Why didn't you say weeks ago to wear a cloth mask? So the evidence is still pretty weak. What is the evidence that has just come to light? I would say it actually came in the last 10 days. of some studies on asymptomatic and presymptomatic diseases, so I think, as I was trying to explain yesterday, there are several different types of studies and they will publish several of them at the last moment, so they are very specific studies in a care center long term, the Diamond Princess cruise ship and a hospital setting, for example, and a study from Singapore and then the last one was published on April 1.

Therefore, we have to take the evolution of the evidence as quickly as possible and, therefore, Viral load studies show that yes, people who are just before developing symptoms have high viral loads and that tells us that there is the possibility that they can transmit, we still don't know exactly how important transmission from pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic people is. are driving this epidemic, there are also other epidemiological studies, for example, in the Seattle long-term care facility, so these are very recent studies that were just published on this particular virus, so we very quickly tried to integrate that later science. on the topic or area of ​​using dough to protect others, which is what we are talking about is a non-medical dough that can be made of cloth, for example, for people who make it at home as an extra layer of protection is a bit of a cover I think the special advisory committee looked at the literature on using mathematics for this type of source control and it actually comes mostly from influenza studies and they're not very clear, so we want everyone to be aware that the science is not certain, but We believe in that, you know we always can, we need to do everything we can, it seems like a sensible thing to do, so I think we recommend that Canadians can take this additional measure in times where social distancing It is difficult to maintain, so we are our strongest.

The message really is that you should continue to maintain social distancing, that six-foot bubble and wash your hands, stay home, you're sick, all of those things are effective measures, this can add a layer of protection to prevent you from transmitting to someone sooner. that you really do it. you know you have the disease, so I think that needs to be made very clear and the other key message, of course, is that the medical math right now, as you just heard about the challenges with the supplies that need to be conserved for our healthcare workers. health and others who are taking care of patients thank you doctor next question hello doctor sen with ctv national news um for the last few days you have been saying that people should not wear medical masks so you are asking them to essentially wear non-medical masks . now as a way to prevent them and others from spreading i wonder if they could be clear to

canadians

about the guidelines when they say non medical masks what are you talking about?

Because now you know that hardware stores are closed to many Canadians. Home might be looking to make a homemade mask, so what do you suggest they use? What are those guidelines? Yes, so we will be. You know, we have some suggestions on our website, but we'll be posting more additional tools for people to think about. Think about it, we're talking about things that are readily available in anyone's home, like cotton shirts, sheets, handkerchiefs, and other materials, but We will also tell people things they shouldn't use and we have our engineers watching. the evidence on that, but I think they are simple things that are not complicated and preferably do not require sewing because I can't sew anything, so if you can get a cotton material like a t-shirt, you cut it, fold it and then put it on. elastic bands around the other type of non-medical face coverings that we are talking about and we will see what type of tools we can provide in a short time.

I just wanted to ask you a follow-up question about the test kits from the last issue. For days we have been asking a lot of questions about the shortage of personal protective equipment such as masks and ventilators, how many test kits do we have in Canada right now? Can you give us an idea of ​​how many test kits we might need if we saw? a dramatic number of cases increase and a number of people get sick, like how many test kits do we have and how many do we need to move forward. I think, as I said, you know that Canada is testing at a fairly high rate compared to many other countries and we are doing everything we can again to improve capacity in Canada.

It's not something as simple as just a kit, obviously, throughout that whole testing process there are swabs, there are other pieces, but they are also reagents that people need to use to extract materials from the swab and then test it, so that there are a lot of different components and right now Canada is doing well, but we are trying to make sure we get the right reagents, like all supplies, global supply chains are verydifficult, so we're looking at how we can look at Canadian-made solutions and we're also looking at right now validating things like faster test kits, sort of small kits that can then be shipped, for example, up north or to more remote areas that They can't We don't send the samples to a public health lab and some of the um initiatives are actually shifting um testing capacity in larger labs to higher throughput machines and procedures, so it's not just about counting to children, so again, all efforts are also primarily testing for the detection of the virus through PCR and of course we are also working on looking at antibody testing.

Thank you, Dr. Mike Global. I guess I'll stick with that. So why don't we do more testing? Is it due to lack of resources, laboratory supplies or personnel? That's why we're not testing a lot of these people who are asymptomatic or non-predramatic, so we have, um, you. We know this through our territorial federal supply discussions and guidance is provided, so we are confident that we want supplies to be used as effectively as possible, which means testing in situations where you are most likely to find infection and in higher risk situations. So, just like in outbreaks, group screening in health care workers in highly vulnerable communities, including indigenous communities, is absolutely imperative and we have to do it well in long-term care facilities, for example, for others, We have already provided instructions that if you are sick you should stay home and others are practicing social distancing in the sense that even if you are pre-symptomatic you should not be within reach of infecting other people and perhaps with additional protection like these homemade masks to that testing doesn't actually potentially drive public health actions, so you want the tests that you have and whatever you have with the populations that you're going to make a decision on after you get the test result, so If it just stays Anyway we are going to prioritize others that we are looking for, of course, people are very interested in serological tests that will help us observe the level of immunity in certain populations and a little more in our studies, for so that's a different approach. but it is something that we are also following, but the rate at which we test is quite high, but it is a little bit different depending on where you are in Canada, so we want the resources to go to areas that are, for example, experiencing the activities more intense too, okay, and we're just learning about these asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic things, but how are we going to get back to normal without higher levels of testing, like people are walking around with this virus that they're not?

I even know, yeah, obviously, when you walk, practice social distancing, of course, and so, it's an extremely good question and if you want, you'll hear many types of opinions about your population ratio. asymptomatic and contracted the infection, which is precisely why we need to do studies as time goes on, because right now our focus is on addressing this real outbreak, at some point in the near future we will see how we apply serology. tests, for example, to observe the level of immunity in the population and these types of studies will allow us to know to what extent the virus has been affecting people in a mild, very mild way or if it knows very few symptoms, if any. he has them.

It has to be done and it also has to be done in the global environment. Thank you Doctor. Now we will turn to the telephone operator. Thank you. Merci him. I didn't hear you say about recommendations. Is this something you're recommending? Canadian or not, thank you very much for your question to start. I'd like to make some key points, first of all, about medicine, I mean, that's a clear point. Secondly, another important point is that although we are talking about non-medical masks, it is really important to maintain physical distancing measures. Don't we want to give people a false sense of security?

Oh, they're thinking I'm wearing a mask and don't have to practice physical distancing or wash my hands. No, that is not the case. It remains essential to continue with appropriate hygiene and public health measures. If we talk about non-medical masks, you may be sick and cough. Still, you will always have to cough into your elbow. That's another measure, maybe cough in a non-medical place. medical mask Another important point is that if you wear a non-medical mask it is more to protect others, not to protect yourself from others, if you cough these respiratory droplets will be trapped and will not contaminate others in front of you .

The advisory committee on kovid 19 reached an agreement and everyone agrees that this is another measure that we can take, it is something that can help us, but it is not necessarily a recommendation, it is an advice, thank you, very good, it is not a recommendation as such, okay, follow-up question. from mr duklow we are getting a lot of emails about volunteer firefighters that you talked about this friday what is happening is it official now that the volunteer firewires will receive the cerv or not? the answer is yes ok thank you ok next question thank you next question is from christy kirkup of the world and mail please go ahead hello good afternoon thank you again for doing this um my question relates to the cases now confirmed, particularly in the first nations that have confirmed cases in recent days and I know the chief public health officer has already done so.

He said even a case in indigenous communities has the potential to be devastating. I'm just wondering: I know that the government has already allocated funds of 305 million to support indigenous communities, but what is being done in the immediate term to support communities like the one in the north? Ontario that has no water and now has this confirmed case of Covet 19. Thank you, thank you Kirsty. I spoke with Chief Belgaard this morning about that particular case in northwestern Ontario and we will also speak with Chief Fiddler later today. uh kind of in my danger zone as a member of parliament for northern Ontario and um I will say that according to the bell guard chief uh the person is self-isolating you're right it's a lot harder to self-isolate and practice washing hands and clean your hands regularly when you have a situation where there may not be those types of facilities or people are crowded in crowded situations.

I know that my colleague, Minister Miller, has been working very carefully with all the first nations leaders around. their own pandemic plans that First Nations communities have and are working to ensure they have the resources they need to provide appropriate health care and appropriate follow-up, as well as additional supports if people are unable to properly isolate. I'm not talking about this specific case in terms of where they are, but I do know that Chief Belgaard is very confident that our government is taking this seriously and that we are there to support first nations and ensure that they have the measures they need when cases are identified and I will turn to Dr.

Tam to talk a little more about indigenous communities. Yes, of course, we work with the From a medical and public health standpoint in the response, we work with Indigenous services in Canada and our role has been, of course, to provide guidance on how to manage outbreaks in those types of settings. , so we have also issued guidance for public health actions in more remote locations. and rural environments as well and those have to adapt to the realities on the ground and I think we are offering support also to communities where it is difficult to isolate, for example in overcrowded conditions, so those are some of the measures that we are pursuing, just I wonder how to follow up.

You mentioned that in some communities adopting public health advice such as physical distancing may be very difficult or more difficult than in other places. I wonder. Do you know in a community where there might be an overcrowding issue and a person might have difficulty isolating, what options would be available or do you know that a specific plan is being looked at to potentially remove people from communities who just aren't doing it. I don't have the luxury of trying to figure out where to isolate myself. Thanks again. I know that Dr. Wong, who is the public health officer for Indigenous Services Canada, has been working with first nations communities on plans to address positive cases for some time.

There is always the option of providing additional support for alternative living spaces for a wide variety of circumstances which must be carefully weighed against the additional risk it may pose to Indigenous communities, of course removing people from their community presents a host of other challenges. which are sometimes equally risky for a particular individual, so I cannot speak for this particular case. I understood from my conversation with the ringmaster that this person is isolating at home, but of course each circumstance will be different and each community will be different. It's safe to say these are the kinds of considerations first nations community leaders are considering as they work on their pandemic plans with Indigenous Services Canada.

Thank you, minister operator, last question please, so if it is not a recommendation, these non-medical masks that you should wear, you said that you should wear it when you get close to people, although it does not protect you, it protects other people, yes It's not a recommendation, what exactly are you saying and why did it take you three weeks? We came up with this, as I said, some of the emerging evidence has been published recently, so we are incorporating it as we go and also in the international community it has been seen that different public health experts and different countries around the world are Looking very intensely at this particular issue as we have and so it is, it's really since yesterday with all the chief medical officers of health of the province and the territories that we are essentially issuing a statement that essentially states that Canadians can use these coverages or mass non-medical if they cannot maintain physical distancing, so it is a permissive statement and essentially depends on the circumstances because we want to make sure that people are practicing the public health measures that they have already recommended and not substitute this.

So this is an additional layer that someone can take to further prevent the spread to others and if I could add one more thing, I think what doctor are we going to leave in this federal briefing? Let me leave you with the highlights, although they are public health advice. Now, federal officials suggest that if you go places where you cannot properly physically distance, wear a cloth mask, not a medical mask, this is just advice, not a requirement, but it is a significant change. I just wanted to highlight that we bring it to you now. to quebec, quebec premier francois lego gives an update on his province and i'll leave it at that for today, when we look at the ICU, we have 164 people and we increase their 4 to 10.

That means that in the usual hospital beds there are two people. less, it's good news when we look at the hospitalization rates, it's encouraging, of course, it's one day, but what that means is that if we have a few days like these, we could say we're getting close to the peak and getting back to normal. closer to returning to normal life, but we are not sure that we cannot take any risks. We cannot relax any of the measures we have in place to continue doing what we need to do correctly and that means staying home as much as possible. possible for the equipment that we now have for 14 days of gloves 13 days of n95 masks 10 days of surgical masks and six days of just gowns, so as you can see our efforts are a lot on gowns right now, we are looking at the possibility . using more washable gowns than those that already exist in hospitals would of course allow us to reuse those gowns and we are still working very hard and I talk about it every morning with the companies in Quebec that are trying to get us material, but it is still going to happen.

It will take us a few weeks to get to that. A few words about pregnant women. We know that right now there is only one hospital that does not allow anyone with women who are coming to give birth. That is the Jewish hospital, so we are going to have a Look at things for women who want to change hospitals to be able to change hospitals, but in the Jewish general hospital there are many cases of greed 19, so there are good reasons why this exists rule, but I want to be very clear. There is no intention on the part of the government to extend these bans to any other hospitals, so I want to assure all women who are pregnant at this time, apart from the Jewish hospital, that they will be able to bring their partnerwith you when you give birth yesterday.

This afternoon I spoke to you about Quebec companies, Jean Boule, the Minister of Employment and Labor is going to make an announcement of 100 million to help those companies that could take advantage of the current situation to train their employees, I believe. that this is the ideal time considering that work in many companies is on hold, I think they know this during the training, among other things, all the training on how to work from home, everything digital, of course things will change a lot in the coming months. and then we are going to have the government with this program pay up to 100% of both salaries and expenses, which will allow us to first prepare for labor reorganization but also maintain more employees who will continue to be paid with their salaries, so I think this is a program really good and of course training in a knowledge-based economy is very important and will become even more so.

My daily gratitude will be for Quebecers as a whole. Yesterday we saw that Quebecers are the ones who have responded best in North America according to the guidelines, I think it is beautiful to see, on the one hand, people who are not in essential services who stay at home and, on the other hand, it is also beautiful see it and I receive all kinds of testimonies. Well, in our hospitals and grocery stores, the police officers, even in the banks, the cashiers, they are all doing their job and getting through this crisis. I want to tell you that I am very proud of the people of Quebec.

I would like to finish by repeating our three priorities and specifying that if we respect these three guidelines we are saving lives, so this is something that is important, it is not trivial, so if you do not leave your house, if when you leave you always stay two meters away or six feet away away from other people and when you return home it is very important to wash your hands with soap, so I count on all of you and I want to say also in April, let's not loosen any threads, let's keep everything tight, we hope.

It is going to be the last difficult month but the month of April will be critical the following days the following weeks are going to be critical we are going to remember this month of April for a long time but let's not let up let's not get involved in things during the month of April Spanish we can see the light at the end of the tunnel but we must continue to do everything possible to win the battle against the virus we must also prepare for the restart of our economy our labor minister jean boulay later this afternoon I will announce a new program that will help the companies to train their employees in new technologies and new organizations and I repeat my three priorities to protect ourselves, do not go out unless necessary, if you go out keep your distance and when you return home. wash your hands so we will save lives thank you my first question for you Mr.

Aruda now recommends the use of non-medical masks to the population not to protect themselves but so that asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people can limit the spread of the virus this from the director of health public of Canada, dr. tam, what do you think of this? I have the same position, I am the minister or the national director of public health of Quebec and with my different counterparts the difference is that today we said that it can be a medium and you know I wrote that it is still a draft, you know, for interprovincial purposes, but what I said in the document and I find it really important, what is proven is to stay home as much as possible.

It is possible to have physical distance, as we remember, to remind people to wash their hands every time, to protect the most vulnerable from infection by not visiting them, etc. and cover your mouth with a cloth or sleeve, in fact, what is very important is that the procedural mask must remain for healthcare workers. What is indicated here is that in no way should using a homemade mask replace any other measure, if people do that, they will not be protecting themselves. The mask you use, which you know has to be well adjusted, must be washed regularly, for which should decrease contact with eyes or mouth that can be used