Amidst COVID-19 Crisis, Trudeau Says Canadians Stand By N.S. Families Facing Tragedy
OTTAWA – The Prime Minister has given daily updates since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Over the weekend and into Monday, he had to continue with those regular briefings even as the country entered a period of mourning with the deaths of at least 19 people killed by a gunman in Nova Scotia.
The victims include a veteran RCMP officer, a teacher, nurses, correctional officers and other members of Portapique and nearby communities.
“This day is made all the more difficult because of the precious lives lost and the senseless act of one person. Just how could this happen? We may never know why, but we do know this. No one man’s action can build a wall between us and a better day, no matter how evil, how thoughtless, or how destructive,” he said.
“Canadians are kind and generous. We are there for each other and we look out for one another. As families grieve the loss of a loved one, all Canadians are standing with them.”
The Prime Minister thanked first-responders, acknowledging the risks they take on the job. He said the pandemic will prevent mourners to get together in person, but he encouraged people to join an online vigil to be held at 7 p.m. on Friday through the Facebook group Colchester – Supporting Our Community.
Over the weekend, the Prime Minister announced various measures related to COVID-19. They include more than $306-million to support Indigenous businesses via short-term interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions as a first step for more support to come. The funding will be provided through Indigenous financial institutions and administered by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association.
“We’ll have more to say soon on what else we’ll do to help Indigenous businesses and the people who rely on them,” Trudeau said on Saturday.
The Prime Minister also confirmed that the border with the U.S. will continue to be restricted, with only essential travel allowed, for another 30 days.
On Sunday, Trudeau announced that employment, workforce development and disability inclusion minister Carla Qualtrough has launched a COVID-19 advisory group to address key issues faced by those living with disability. He says the work is being done in partnership with organizations like the Rick Hansen Foundation, whose work aims to remove barriers for those people with disabilities.
“We’re addressing key issues, like equal access to health care and information, as well as support on jobs and income. And we’re doing all of this work with you at the table,” Trudeau said Sunday.
In that address, he mentioned briefly the tragedy in Nova Scotia as news of the event was just beginning to roll out.
He also praised the efforts of Dartmouth restaurant The Canteen, which has turned its facilities into a community kitchen from which the community members cook and serve meals to those in need.
RELATED: The Canteen Reopens In Dartmouth To Make Meals For People In Need
In addition, Trudeau told Canadians that measures to mitigate the spread of the virus and not overwhelm the health system seems to be working.
“We’re seeing the numbers trend in the right direction, so we need to keep doing what we’re doing, and keep being extremely careful, and we will get through this together.”
In his answers to reporters’ questions, Trudeau said the government is strengthening oversight on key businesses and their exposure to foreign takeovers.
“I think we’ve highlighted that, certainly, as we look at challenges around supply chains for essential medical supplies and personal protective equipment, as we strengthen our own domestic industry and production, we wouldn’t want a foreign investor to be able to take that product that’s being made for Canadians in this moment of crisis and send it overseas,” he said.
The government also wants to ensure that startups “with brilliant ideas” who may be facing financial difficulties during the pandemic would “remain Canadian for the coming years,” he added.
The Canadian economy’s reopening won’t be quick and simple, he noted.
“Again, people need to know that it’s not going to suddenly reopen in any part of the country overnight to what it was before,” he said.
“We’re going to have to be very, very careful, very gradual, very progressive if we are to prevent the kind of resurgence that would send us all back into lockdown as we were before. We want to make sure that what we are doing now is not for nothing, that we manage to get through this with the kind of containment and control approaches that the proper measures will allow for.”
Given the pandemic’s varying impact on provinces, Trudeau says many of the decisions about a careful restarting of the economy are better made provincially.
“What we’re working on coordinating with the provinces is a set of principles and approaches that can be applied at different moments and in different ways across the country,” he said, noting that conversations with provinces are ongoing.
“We want to be there to ensure that there’s testing capacity, that we’re supporting on contact tracing, that we’re remaining consistent in the messages that Canadians are hearing from different orders of government across the country about how to be very, very careful to not allow for a resurgence of COVID-19 just as restrictions start being eased.”