Trudeau joins provinces in pushing tougher line
TRUDEAU JOINS PROVINCES IN PUSHING TOUGHER LINE AS COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE TIGHTEN RESTRICTIONS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made clear Monday his government is out of patience with people ignoring advice to stay home and potentially spreading COVID-19 in the community.
“Enough is enough. Go home and stay home. This is what we all need to be doing,” Trudeau said at a press conference outside Rideau Cottage, where he is self-isolating.
Health officials across the country have warned Canadians to go outside only for essential reasons and to avoid gathering in large groups. Restaurants and bars have been closed and workers across many industries have been sent to work from home.
Despite those restrictions, social media was full of images over the weekend of people throwing large parties, gathering in beaches and parks, playing sports and generally ignoring the government’s recommendations.
Trudeau was quick to scold those people and made clear his message applied to them.
“We’ve all seen the pictures online of people who seem to think they’re invincible. Well, you’re not.”
Other world leaders have made similar pronouncements, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson putting his country into lockdown on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering easing restrictions and tweeted that, “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.”
Trudeau has so far resisted calls to use the Emergencies Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that allows the government to close businesses, overrule provincial and municipal governments, conscript people into service and restrict travel.
Trudeau announced an extensive advertising campaign would roll out beginning Tuesday to emphasize the message further, but also made clear more aggressive steps like the Emergencies Act could be put into force.
“We’re going to make sure this happens whether by educating people more on the risks or by enforcing the rules if that’s needed. Nothing that could help is off the table.”
He said some people don’t seem to understand they’re not only putting themselves at risk, but also their loved ones.
Trudeau stressed one reason he has been reluctant to use the act is that it would supersede provincial rules.
As of his Monday morning press conference, before a scheduled conference call with premiers, he said no provincial leader had asked him to bring the act into force.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney both said later in the day they preferred to set rules locally.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu particularly stressed the need for travellers to go directly home when they return to Canada and go into a 14-day self-isolation period.
“We want people to take this seriously,” she said.
Hajdu said the government was looking at a variety of stricter measures and did not rule out the use of police to enforce orders.
“There are a number of ways that quarantine orders can be enforced and those could include random inspections, those could include hotlines,” she said.
Both Quebec and Ontario announced a mandatory closure of all non-essential business in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.
Ontario’s restrictions begin Tuesday evening, giving businesses a day to shut down, while Quebec has told businesses to close down as quickly as possible.
Pharmacies, grocery stores, and other essential services will remain open, but anything non-essential in both provinces will be closed and both governments made it clear they’re prepared to have police enforce those closures.
Ford said students would not be returning to school on April 6 as originally planned, and that the new measures were necessary to prevent wider outbreaks.
“This is not the time for half-measures. This decision was not made lightly and the gravity of this order does not escape me, but as I have said since day one, we will and we must take all steps necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
Quebec Premier François Legault said his province would effectively be closed for at least the next three weeks.
Trudeau’s own self-isolation began on March 12 after his wife contracted the virus, which means it could come to an end later this week, but he stressed he is going to follow the advice of experts.
“I am going to make sure that we continue to follow all recommendations of public health officers, particularly around staying at home wherever possible and self-isolation and social distancing.”
As of Monday morning, the government’s latest update revealed there are now 1,474 cases of the virus in Canada and 20 people have died from it. There are 340,000 cases globally. The Canadian Olympic Committee announced Canadian athletes would skip the Tokyo games, unless they are postponed.
Trudeau also announced a host of research funding Monday. A Vancouver biotech company is getting funding for drugs that could be used to treat the virus and hopes to be in clinical trials this summer. A Quebec City-based company is also getting funding to work on a potential vaccine, as are researchers at the University of Saskatchewan. There is also money available to the National Research Council’s labs to help it scale up production of a vaccine when one is discovered.
The government also announced funding for Toronto digital health firm Blue Dot, which has software that helps model the spread of diseases.