Hard times call for desperate measures
Whether Canadians voted for Justin Trudeau's Liberals or not, I must say I am impressed with the way our prime minister has conducted himself during his daily COVID-19 coronavirus updates from Ottawa.
I am not a Liberal, but he has remained calm, consistent, humble, logical, up front and honest, compassionate, and follows expert medical and scientific advice (especially from Dr. Tan, and quite possibly, America's Dr. Fauci and Dr. Brix or even CNN's Sanjay Gupta); and he doesn't shift the blame on to others or any of his predecessors or the provincial/territorial premiers or the media.
I also took note that he practised "social distancing" long before the U.S. Trump administration did so. Being six feet apart is a lot better than being six feet under.
That being said, I feel that Justin Trudeau should seize this moment and take an initiative to implement new socially progressive programs, like a universal basic income and a national pharmacare program.
Our country needs a
Franklin Delano Roosevelt "New Deal" approach to some of our country's socioeconomic ills. Out of the Great Depression (1929-39) and the Second World War (1939-45) came Social Security and Unemployment Insurance, and in Canada's case, Family Allowance (or the "baby bonus"). Many of our European allies implemented universal public medicare (including a pharmacare) system in their respective countries long before Canada did. Now, hard times call for desperate measures.
Under the Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, we saw Ottawa help our nation's newly unemployed (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), small businesses, postsecondary students, GST tax credit recipients, seniors, children and families, and so on. That's fine, but the CERB (Canadian Emergency Response Benefit) should be extended to cover Canadians with disabilities, caregivers and low- and moderateincome seniors.
Lastly, our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and indeed, Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King and all highly paid government officials and heads of Crown corporations should follow our Commonwealth partner and New Zealand's Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Adern's example by temporarily cutting their salaries by 20 per cent for the next six months. Trudeau and King and others should remember John F. Kennedy's own word's: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
Many people are now making sacrifices, and losing their jobs and businesses, and many people, through no fault of their own, are realizing the devastating effects of poverty in their lives. Surely the least our highly paid government officials can do is take a temporary pay cut. As a famous Vulcan once said; "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."