U.S., Canada take different approaches to restarting economy

Both the U.S. and Canada confronted harrowing employment statistics Friday, with two million people losing their jobs in Canada last month for an unemployment rate of 13%. There were 20.5 million Americans who reported the same fate, bringing U.S. unemployment to 14.7%.

But as President Donald Trump leads a U.S. charge to reopen shuttered businesses and easing stay-at-home orders, Canada is taking a go-slow approach, extending a federal wage subsidy program through June and counselling against unsafe work.

“It is a well-established principle in Canada, a hallmark of our values, that no one should be asked to work in unsafe conditions,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during his daily news conference.

“We’re going to have to be very careful to ensure that we’re doing what we need to do, right across the country to ensure the safety of the people who are working.”

But Trump is champing at the bit to restart a presidential re-election campaign that hinges on his ability to resurrect an economy that was stopped in its tracks by COVID-19. And he’s seizing on the images of Americans protesting at state capitols to make his case.

“The people are going to force it,” the president said Friday in a telephone interview with Fox News. Not all states will reopen at the same pace, while those that do will continue to insist on keep-safe practices, he said. In some cases, COVID-19 may flare back up, but that will simply be the cost of doing business, Trump suggested.

Some people — including Democrat governors in states that are moving more slowly — don’t want it to come back “for political reasons,” he said. “We may have fires and we’re going to put the fires out.” It’s a different story in Canada. B.C., for example, is eyeing mid-May for a gradual reopening of retailers, restaurants, salons, libraries, child care and some parks.

Quebec has reopened retail stores outside of Montreal. In Ontario, some retail stores are reopening this weekend. Nonurgent surgeries resumed this week in Alberta, and retailers will begin opening next week.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia

Freeland, asked about the different approaches in the two countries, avoided mentioning the United States by name. “Smart” and “sensible” Canadians understood from the outset the importance of physical distancing and shutting down the country to combat the virus, she said — and still do.

“The same sensible, prudent, smart approach needs to guide the restart, and I think Canadians understand profoundly that the biggest mistake we could make right now would be to squander our hard-won gains,” Freeland said.