Regional leaders air concerns to minister
The minister tasked with securing the well-being of Canada’s middle class talked COVID -19 with political leaders from Windsor-essex this week in an effort to continue conversations about the region’s needs that began before the pandemic’s onset.
While working from home, Ottawa-vanier MP Mona Fortier, minister of middle class prosperity and associate minister of finance, reached out to Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and Essex County Warden and Tecumseh Mayor Gary Mcnamara. She first spoke with the mayors during a visit to Windsor in January as part of the Liberals’ pre-budget consultations.
“We’re very loud and clear that we need to continue to strengthen our measures at the border, and that is something that the mayors shared with me and that we’re echoing in the way we’re moving with these measures,” Fortier told the Star Friday.
Canada and the United States have a mutual ban in place on non-essential cross-border travel. The movement of trade and cross-border workers has been permitted to continue. Dilkens on Thursday penned a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to maintain those restrictions.
“Travellers returning to Canada are now subject to a mandatory 14day isolation,” Fortier said. “The message is clear. We need people to take this very seriously. We need to plank the curve, and the only way to do that is if everyone does their part.”
Dilkens and Mcnamara also expressed concerns about employment, economic security and with the “new normal we have to deal with,” Fortier said.
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit is one relief measure the federal government has in the works. The $52-billion benefit fund will offer $2,000 a month for up to four months in direct support through the Canada Revenue Agency to people who have, as a result of COVID -19, lost their jobs, or have lost their income because they are sick or quarantined, staying home to care for kids, looking after someone who is sick or are still employed but not receiving income.
“We’re trying to find a way to leave nobody behind,” Fortier said. “We’re not done. There are more measures that we’ll have to bring forward as we consider the reality that we’re moving in. We’re also looking at every element at play.
“We’re working around the clock to make sure we cover all the bases for workers and employers.”
Under federal consideration is support for post-secondary students who would typically seek summer jobs when the winter semester finishes in April but will likely struggle to secure employment under current circumstances. For now, the government’s focus is on the present, though it has put in place a six-month moratorium on student loan payments.
“We have all hands on deck, and we have all scenarios on the table so that as we move through this really bad storm, we have to find ways to support Canadians in their realities.”
Fortier urged residents in Windsor-essex to beware of COVID -19 scam text messages from those trying to take advantage of public anxiety over the pandemic. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit will be available in late April and information about applying should only be accessed through the federal and provincial government websites, she said.