Justin Trudeau downplays early reopening of the Canada-U.S. border as he announces more aid for businesses
OTTAWA-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is downplaying U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that the Canada-U.S. border could reopen soon, saying there will be "many more weeks" before restrictions ease.
In the meantime, Trudeau said Ottawa will spend more to help small- and medium -sized business owners pay their office rents for the next three months at least.
Julian Altrows, co-owner of The Shore Leave, a South Pacific-themed tiki bar on the Danforth, however, said he has had to close his business in the wake of COVID-19 after he couldn't afford to cover off April's rent.
"It's a little too late for us," he said because his business has already been evicted but he says it could be useful for some. "Three months rent - if that's how much it is - would really give some places a chance to survive. It's a great idea."
In his daily pandemic briefing, Trudeau said there will be "considerable time" before the Canada-U.S. border reopens. In French, he said Canada and the U.S. can anticipate that there will be "many weeks to come before we can talk about relaxing the current restrictions at our borders or when it comes to physical distancing."
And in the short term, Ottawa will help cover the next three months rent - for April, May and June - by providing forgivable loans to commercial landlords, Trudeau said. Many of the details of the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance are still to be worked out with provinces, which have jurisdiction over property owner-tenant relationships.
Trudeau underscored again Thursday that Canadians "have to be disciplined and stay the course" and said the government would continue to tweak its programs for as long as needed.
In a separate briefing, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said there have been nearly 29,900 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,048 deaths, nearly half of which are in long-term care homes. She said that 93 per cent of deaths are among those over 60 years of age.
Thursday's reported deaths exceed projections the federal government released last week (of up to 700 deaths by April 16) by more than 300. However, Tam underscored that the rate of growth of the epidemic here is slowing down.
She said much of the difference is due to the nature of the epidemic here, with many outbreaks in long-term-care facilities, among older age groups, and in those with underlying conditions. Tam said Thursday that federal modellers are now projecting between 1,200 to 1,620 deaths in Canada by April 21.
Tam said that if the measure of a society is how it treats its vulnerable citizens, then "This pandemic has revealed the chink in our armour."
She also warned, "There are other vulnerable groups who urgently need our attention," with greater impacts feared on homeless populations.
On that, Trudeau said his government is weighing how better to help provinces cope, including sending military support to Quebec which has asked for soldiers to help in long-term-care homes. And Trudeau said he'll discuss more wage supports for long-term-care workers with provinces tonight.
To date, he said, Ottawa's business-aid programs are easing the crunch.
He said 195,000 loans have been approved under the business lending programs, leading to $7.5 billion in credit being made available.
"It's a start," said Trudeau.
CIBC economist Benjamin Tal welcomed Thursday's announcement, saying it is the right approach for Ottawa to pay portions of commercial rent directly to landlords, and to seek repayment next year from business owners.
Tal said in an interview that's the only way many small- and medium-sized businesses may take up other federal aid like the wage subsidy to keep on their employees, or apply for loans to take on more debt.
If they do, he said, it will ensure that the crucial employer-employee links are maintained, reduce anxiety among workers, and when the recovery starts to kick in, will make for a smoother and quicker restart.
Tal said in a CIBC discussion note this week that the take-up of aid through the previously-announced interest-free loan program for businesses "is far from overwhelming."
Until now, small- and medium-sized businesses with revenues between $50,000 and $1 million were eligible for $40,000 in interest-free loans. If repaid by 2022, Ottawa would forgive 25 per cent of the amount. And larger corporations have access to government guaranteed credit through programs run by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada.
Now the federal government is expanding the Canada Emergency Business Account to businesses that paid between $20,000 and $1.5 million in total payroll in 2019. A government document said this new range will replace the previous one of between $50,000 and $1 million, and will help address the challenges faced by small businesses to cover nondeferrable operating costs.
All businesses regardless of size are eligible for the federal wage subsidy program that pays 75 per cent of salary up to $847 a week if an employer can show a 15-per-cent drop in monthly revenue in March compared to last year, or the average of January-February revenue this year, and a 30 per cent drop or more in the following months.
Tal said the federal assistance to date has been "swift and sizable" amounting to nearly 8.5 per cent of Canada's overall economy, the fourth highest share in the OECD. But he said many businesses didn't meet the earlier requirements to qualify for the repayable loans, if for example business owners don't report income large enough because they pay themselves dividends, or if they are operated by a sole proprietor in a business name from a personal chequing account.
And many have also been reluctant to keep employees on, even with a wage subsidy, if they didn't foresee any prospect of reopening soon and being able to cover their operational costs like rent.
The prime minister said businesses who spent between $20,000 and $1.5 million in total 2019 payroll will be eligible to receive a loan "to cover operational costs and other immediate needs."
Asked about how soon the Canadian government will reopen the economy, Trudeau said he would be discussing that with the provincial premiers on a call tonight.
Pressed about whether he saw Trump's remarks about opening the Canadian border as representing a danger to Canada, Trudeau suggested Trump's remarks reflected more the fact that the Canada-U.S. friendship is "unlike any other."
"It was a recognition that we'll do things differently perhaps than other countries but there is still a recognition that we need to continue holding the measures that we have in place for a good while to come still," Trudeau said in English.
On Wednesday, Trump signalled he wants to reopen the border with Canada soon.
"Our relationship with Canada is very good. We'll talk about that. It will be one of the early borders to be released. Canada's doing well. We're doing well. We'll see, but at some point we'll be doing that. In the meantime, nations that are heavily infected " We have a lot of nations that are heavily infected. Some are getting better, some are still on the way up, unfortunately. We're keeping very strong borders with those nations, but with Canada, we are talking about different things."
Earlier Thursday, Trump chaired a video conference call with the leaders of G7 countries.
A White House readout of the call said G7 leaders "agreed" on the need for a co-ordinated global response to the pandemic and toward launching a global recovery. It also underlined that Trump aired his complaints about the WHO.
"The leaders recognized that the G7 nations annually contribute more than a billion dollars to the World Health Organization (WHO), and much of the conversation centred on the lack of transparency and chronic mismanagement of the pandemic by the WHO. The leaders called for a thorough review and reform process," the White House said.
"G7 leaders also discussed efforts to pool their research and talent to combat COVID-19 by sharing all relevant epidemiologic data and emerging best practices, making research data and results publicly available, and providing access to the world's most powerful supercomputing resources. Going forward, G7 leaders tasked their ministers to work together to prepare all G7 economies to reopen safely and on a foundation that will allow the G7 nations to reestablish economic growth with more resilient health systems and trusted supply chains."
Trudeau said little other than to say that G7 leaders on the call "all recognize" how important it is to collaborate on the science, including vaccine development and treatments for COVID-19 and that the WHO has an "important role" in fighting the pandemic.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Canada-U.S. relationship "in fact is working really, really well," in the crisis.
"I can guarantee one thing," she said. "Decisions by Canada's border are taken by Canadians, full stop. Our government will only do that when it is appropriate and it is not a risk to the health and safety of Canadians."
The federal government has still not announced any specific help for the oil-and-gas sector, where multiple blows including diminished shipping capacity, winter train blockades, low prices due to the global supply fight between Russia and Saudi Arabia, and now the plunge in demand due to the COVID-19 crisis have slammed the industry.
With a file from Josh Rubin
Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc