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Quebec, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick made tentative first steps last week toward plans to allow businesses to operate again. Ontario has now released their rough guidelines, which say that current restrictions will only lift when COVID-19 numbers have been declining for weeks.
The blueprint presents the phases and stages by which businesses can slowly return to normal. But no timing is set in stone and it depends how effective current public-health measures are to stop the spread of the virus. As well, the province has struggled to test enough of its residents to get a full picture of the pandemic in the province.
For now, medical experts say it is just too risky for life to return to normal until we can answer questions such as whether and for how long someone who has contracted the virus is immune to it.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
The Canada Revenue Agency has begun to accept applications for the government’s wage subsidy program as of today. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said nearly 10,000 businesses had already applied this morning.
Much of the federal funding so far is to build a bridge for businesses to get them to the COVID-free future, whenever that is. But those businesses will get there with a lot of debt – something banks are keenly aware of.
A lawsuit has been launched against a company that operates a number of long-term care homes in Ontario. The coronavirus outbreak has exposed just how vulnerable seniors were in these homes.
And for those who like milestones: there are now more than three million documented cases of the coronavirus around the world, though the real number is surely higher. About a third of known cases are in the United States.
André Picard (The Globe and Mail) on the dangers of reopening schools too early: “Embracing ‘natural immunity’ means you are fine with children spreading disease in the community and, by extension, having a significant number of adults infected so they, too, can develop ‘natural immunity.’ There will be a cost to that approach: lots of natural sickness and many natural deaths.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Canada’s political leaders in a time of crisis: “Incumbent leaders across the country have been getting the thumbs up for leadership. And why not? We’re all stuck inside watching them earnestly, often tirelessly, talk us through the crisis day-to-day. Most citizens are in a mood to overlook glitches and even past decisions that look like mistakes now.”
Rita Trichur (The Globe and Mail) on Canada’s rating agencies in a time of crisis: “Taxpayers are ultimately on the hook for these costly asset purchases, which is why legislators, securities regulators and antitrust authorities have an obligation to investigate whether credit ratings in a slew of industries were too rosy prior to the coronavirus crisis.”
Philip Slayton (The Globe and Mail) on whether we will one day regain the freedoms we are losing now: “In the liberal democracies, as the COVID-19 juggernaut flattens everything in its path, it is suddenly the time of the Strong Man, the political leader who juts out his jaw and proclaims to frightened and grateful followers that he will do what has to be done and whatever it takes. He tells us that big government and a state-run economy will save and protect us all, now and for the indefinite future. If we have to forget freedom, so be it. It’s worth it to stay alive with a roof over our head and a full belly.”
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