Coronavirus Updates Canada: Trudeau Announces Help For Energy Workers, But No Big Bailout for the Industry Yet


Canada is investing $1.7 billion to clean up orphan wells and millions of dollars for emission reduction efforts as COVID-19 continues to batter the country's already struggling energy sector.

By Anya Zoledziowski

Apr 17 2020


ON THURSDAY, PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU SPOKE WITH PREMIERS ABOUT TOPPING UP SALARIES FROM SOME ESSENTIAL WORKERS. PHOTO BY SEAN KILPATRICK (CP)

Updated at 12:30 p.m. (EDT): Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced new measures that he said will support Canada’s struggling energy sector workers who are at risk of losing their jobs.

The measures are also intended to help the environment, Trudeau said.

Canada is investing $1.7 billion to clean up orphan wells and inactive wells in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, Trudeau said on Friday. The prime minister also announced a $750-million emission reduction fund through pollution reduction efforts, with a focus on methane, and $75 million to help cut offshore emissions in Newfoundland and Labrador.



Trudeau said an estimated 10,000 energy sector jobs will be maintained thanks to the investments, 5,200 in Alberta alone.

“This public health crisis must not prevent us from taking action to fight the climate crisis,” he said.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney applauded the orphan well-related investment on Twitter.

“This is critical to getting thousands of people in the energy sector back to work immediately,” Kenney said.

Trudeau also introduced $500 million in support for the arts, culture, and sports sectors.

The money will go to Heritage Canada, so that artists, “rising stars of sporting association,” and related organizations can receive wage support or funding if they’re experiencing liquidity problems.

The government is also providing $962 million to regional development agencies and the Community Futures Network to support small businesses, many of which are based in rural communities. Another $270 million will support early stage developers and innovators who don’t qualify for the wage subsidy, Trudeau said.

According to City News, U.S. and Canada officials also have agreed to extend the border closure for another 30 days.

Parliament could sit Monday

Outgoing Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer wants a small group of MPs to sit in Canada’s Parliament for four days out of the week, despite ongoing government-mandated physical distancing measures geared towards fighting COVID-19.

The government has said previously it’s considering virtual alternatives to house meetings, but Scheer is eager to get back to real-life meetings.

He said MPs need to sit in the House, so they can hold Trudeau’s Liberals to account.

Parliament is set to sit on April 20, unless all four parties agree to continue the current pause.
Canada could be flattening curve

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Canada is starting to decrease from day to day, according to Health Canada, but several outbreaks are still causing concerns.

The total of COVID-19 cases is now doubling every 10 days or so, according to Canada’s top doctor, Dr. Theresa Tam. In March, cases were doubling every three days.

As of Thursday night, there were 30,670 cases of the virus and 1,250 deaths across the country. Outbreaks in long-term care facilities make up nearly half of all deaths.

A personal support worker who worked at a nursing home in Toronto’s east end died of COVID-19 on Thursday.

Altamont Care Community centre has recorded eight COVID-19-related deaths, including the worker, and 42 cases of the virus.

Outbreaks in long-term care facilities have resulted in a higher COVID-19 death rate than Canada had originally projected.

Trudeau told reporters on Friday that 125 members of the Canadian Armed Forces with healthcare training will be providing support for workers in long-term care facilities in Quebec.

Trudeau spoke with provincial and territorial premiers late Thursday to discuss topping up the salaries for support workers who make under $2,500 per month. More details are expected soon.


Outbreaks elsewhere

Three guards who work at a Brampton, Ontario jail have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting Peel Public Health to declare an outbreak.

Health authorities are now rushing to test inmates and, according to the Toronto Star, 12 symptomatic inmates are in quarantine.

In Alberta, there are now at least 12 cases of COVID-19 linked to the Kearl Lake oilsands facility, near Fort McMurray. Two cases are on site and another 10 workers who tested positive are offsite.
Canada and Wuhan to collaborate

Ottawa is funding a project to develop rapid and cheap COVID-19 screening tests that is collaborating with Wuhan Institute of Virology, a high-security, infectious disease facility located in COVID-19’s birthplace, the Globe and Mail reported.


The project, one of at least 100 research projects funded by Ottawa to fight COVID-19, will be spearheaded by a University of Alberta professor, Le Xiaochun, who will receive $828,000 to develop equipment that will allow for the tests.
Breakdown of cases

Tam has said two days in a row that evidence suggests a slow down in new COVID-19 cases in Canada. Even still, new cases—and deaths—are still being reported. As of Thursday night, Canada had 30,670 cases and 1,250 deaths.

Here’s a breakdown of confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases across the country:

British Columbia: 1,575

Alberta: 2,158

Saskatchewan: 305

Manitoba: 250

Ontario: 9,525

Quebec: 15,857

Newfoundland and Labrador: 252

New Brunswick: 117



Nova Scotia: 579

Prince Edward Island: 26

Yukon: 8

Northwest Territories: 5

Nunavut: 0

Late Thursday, the global total of confirmed COVID-19 neared 2 million, with more than 130,000 deaths.


 Even More Canadians Can Apply for the CERB

Canada's COVID-19 death toll by mid-April surpassed 1,000, which is higher than officials projected, and the country's GDP shrank by 9 percent in March, according to Statistics Canada.

By Anya Zoledziowski

Apr 15 2020


PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU SAID HE WILL ANNOUNCE MORE MEASURES FOR STUDENTS SOON
Updated at 12:30 p.m. (EDT): Canada is expanding eligibility for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to batter Canada’s economy,

The CERB will now include people who are earning up to $1,000 per month, seasonal workers facing no jobs, and people who have run out of employment insurance (EI) since January 1.

As of Monday, nearly 6 million Canadians had applied for CERB, a federal aid program for people who have lost work (or can’t work) as a result of the pandemic and aren’t eligible for employment insurance.


The CERB will pay people $2,000 per month for four months.

The government will also top up the pay for essential workers who are making under $2,500 per month like those working in long-term facilities, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday.

He will be meeting with the provincial and territorial leaders to discuss the wage boost, so that it can be implemented as quickly as possible, he said.

Trudeau will announce more measures for students and businesses struggling with commercial rent soon, he said.

New mental health supports

As of Wednesday, Canada is also offering an online mental health portal, Wellness Together Canada, that aims to help people struggling with anxiety, depression, loneliness, and other mental health struggles as a result of long-term self-isolation.

The app will connect people to mental health professionals—social workers, peer support, psychologists—for chat sessions and phone calls, and will provide information for those seeking a wide-range of mental health struggles, including support with addiction.

Canada’s federal government also passed its emergency wade subsidy designed to help struggling businesses keep their staff on payroll. The subsidy will pay up to $847 per week per employee for 12 weeks, with the hope that businesses will be able to keep their staff and rehire people already laid off.
Record-breaking economic shrink

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada released a flash estimate that found the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank by 9 percent in March, the largest one-month decline since StatCan started publishing related data in 1961.

GDP is the core measure of a country’s economic health.

Canada’s GDP declined by 2.6 percent in the first quarter of this year, StatCan said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released grim projections on Tuesday for the global economy, expecting it to shrink by 3 percent, as COVID-19 continues to batter international markets.

The report estimates Canada’s economy will contract by at least 6.2 percent.
Death toll higher than expected

Cases of COVID-19 are likely going to be much higher than predicted in Canada, researchers say, and the country’s current death toll, which surpassed 1,000 on Wednesday, has already exceeded a best-case scenario.

By Wednesday afternoon, Canada had reported 27,557 cases and more than 1,000 deaths and Ontario had recorded its highest number of deaths in a single day. The province extended its state of emergency for another 28 days, until May 12.

Canada had originally estimated that between 500 and 700 deaths would take place by April 16.

An onslaught of COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes account for nearly half of all fatal infections and have caused the higher than expected number of total deaths and more deaths in homes are expected.

Researchers are projecting that the number of COVID-19 cases will be much higher than Canada’s federal politicians predict, particularly if physical distancing measures are relaxed anytime soon.

While Canada Health estimates that about 10 percent of Canadians will get sick from COVID-19 with current controls in place, a study by researchers from several universities, including the University of Ottawa and the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that between 56.7 percent and 84.5 percent of the population could fall ill, depending on how long physical distancing is in place.

Amir Attarran of the University of Ottawa, one of several researchers who worked on the study, told the Toronto Star that the country has made it past the virus’ first wave, which is good news, but there will likely be new outbreaks.

“We are all pre-immune, we are all still susceptible,” Attaran said. “If we lift the self-isolation and go out, many of us could get sick. Some of us will die.”

Trudeau said it will be “weeks” before physical distancing measures can be lifted and the economy reopened.

“It would be terrible if we loosened measures too quickly,” Trudeau said, because that could result in another spike of COVID-19.

Trudeau has also said several times that life likely won’t go back to “normal” until there is a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

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