Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says all Canadians must be responsible and stay at home and practice social distancing. In his daily address Trudeau reiterated the need for Canadians to do our part to keep our elderly, healthcare workers and the most vulnerable in our communities safe.
When pressed by the media, Trudeau said the government is not ready to invoke the Emergencies Act. He said those measures to force people to stay in small groups or at home are being enforced at the provincial and municipal levels. He said the federal government is not at that point yet, that provinces would have to exhaust their own resources although he did not rule it out entirely again stating everything is on the table.
Trudeau announced that Parliament will hold an emergency session on Tuesday in order to pass legislation that will help the unemployed get Employment Insurance benefits faster and boost Canada Child Benefit cheques.
He addressed the fact that Canadians are frustrated when they call Service Canada and don’t get through, but he reassured those thrown out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic that public servants are working around the clock to clear the backlog of applications see in the last week.
Trudeau says several airlines are stepping up to arrange flights to bring thousands of Canadians abroad home. The first flight from Morocco landed in Montreal last night.
The Prime Minister ended his address by thanking the millions of Canadians who are staying at home and practicing social distancing especially children whose lives have also been drastically altered by the outbreak.
There are more than 1,400 cases of COVID-19 across the country and 19 people have died.
