PM promises help for airlines, boosts child benefit,
Child benefit bumped; country’s first vaccine trials start in Halifax
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is committed to more help for airlines after Air Canada announced plans to slash its workforce by at least half, but it’s unclear what that support might look like.
In an emailed statement, Air Canada said Friday that it will reduce its staff by 50 to 60 per cent on June 7, leaving up to 22,800 people out of a job.
“We recognize that certain areas are harder hit than others. Airlines is a great example of something that was going well before the pandemic,” Trudeau said Saturday, while also announcing the start of the country’s first clinical trials of a potential vaccine and a $300 increase of the Canada Child Benefit for May.
Air Canada said business is down 95 per cent because of the COVID-19 pandemic and “normal traffic levels” aren’t expected to return any time soon.
“We are doing this in order to conserve cash, right-size our business for the level of traffic we anticipate in the mid- to longer-term and to position ourselves to rebuild once business returns,” the statement said. “We are working with our unions to implement these measures in accordance with our collective agreements.”
The company said its current workforce was built to handle 51 million customers a year, 1,500 flights a day and 258 aircraft: “With current realities, this is simply not sustainable going forward.”
Trudeau said the government is working with the airline industry on support, but didn’t commit to sector-specific assistance.
“We’re going to continue to work with airlines across this country to make sure that they’re drawing on the benefit packages that we’ve put forward for workers through the Canada (Emergency) Wage Subsidy,” he said. On Friday, Trudeau announced the $73-billion subsidy will be extended through the end of August. He also noted Saturday that there’s a separate bridge financing program for major airlines and other large employers with at least $300 million in revenue, called the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility. A spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents Air
Canada workers, declined to comment because the union is still in an open labour negotiation.
Meanwhile, on top of the onetime May increase, Trudeau announced the maximum Canada Child Benefit will rise starting July 20: to $6,765 annually per child under age six and $5,708 from age six to 17.
Also, the country’s first clinical trials of a possible vaccine for COVID-19 will take place at the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, which the prime minister called encouraging news. “The National Research Council of Canada will be working with manufacturers so that if these vaccines are successful, we can produce and distribute it here at home.”