Tag Archives: Border

QP: A surreal skeletal experience

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The benches were spare as the Commons was on a skeleton crew for today’s somewhat unusual session. That said, all of the leaders were present, so that makes things a little more worthwhile. Andrew a Scheer led off, still with mini-lectern on desk, and in the absence of applause, he read a statement about the mass-shooting in Nova Scotia, before asking the prime minister for an update on the situation. Trudeau stood up to read his own statement about the situation and whom he has reached out to. Scheer then turned to the question of the supply of ventilators in the country, to which Trudeau read that they have sent 400 to provinces, and that Canadian companies would start supplying 30,000 new ones by May. Scheer then worried about the information coming out of China, to which Trudeau read that from the beginning they followed the best public health advice and recited a timeline going back to early January as to when they first started reacting to the outbreak in Wuhan. Scheer asked about three planes which reportedly returned from China empty, to which Trudeau recited by rote that they have teams on the ground in China to coordinate the procurement and shipment of necessary equipment but there are challenges because of global competition. Scheer asked about the cuts to pandemic preparedness, and the disposal of protective equipment, to which a Trudeau said that they looked into the situation and that equipment had expired five years previous and that they need to come up with better systems to manage these stockpiles. Yves-François Blanchet was up next, and worried about the fate of seniors during this time, to which Trudeau read that seniors need support and that the government was working to protect their income security with existing measures and extended programmes delivered through the United Way. Blanchet was unimpressed, and wanted a clear, written response to the Bloc’s suggestions, to which Trudeau assured him they were continuing to work on measures that were proposed by the opposition. Jagmeet Singh was up next, and he worried about students who are not eligible for CERB, to which Trudeau read that they made changes to the Canada Summer Jobs Programme, and the wage subsidy to help employers hire students. Singh demanded that the CERB be made universal, for which Trudeau reiterated that they were looking at ways to support students who don’t qualify for the CERB, with more initiatives on the way. 

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Roundup: Which party will blink first?

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Because it was Saturday, prime minister Justin Trudeau returned to a more casual demeanour for his daily presser – unbuttoned shirt, no tie, sweater, and blazer. There weren’t quite as many announcements today either – that they had reached an agreement with the Americans to extend the partial border shutdown for another 30 days; that there were new ads coming with famous Canadians in order to remind people to stay inside (and notably, the list was different in English than it was in French, because we have different famous people who don’t necessarily cross over); and that some $306 million was being allocated to help more Indigenous businesses who don’t normally get funding through traditional banks, so these funds would be coming through Indigenous financial institutions and administered through the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (and it sounds like this had been asked for weeks prior).  As well, two more plane-loads of N95 masks had arrived, and more were on the way.

The lingering question, however, remains what sort of return to Parliament will be happening on Monday, as the Conservatives continue to press for more in-person hearings with a reduced complement of MPs, while there has been no word whether the Speaker has been able to get any kind of virtual hearings set up (which we don’t actually want, because it will be very, very bad for Parliament in the long-run, and no “surely it’s 2020” is not a good response when I say this). It seems the Conservatives want three or four in-person sittings, while the Liberals’ last known offer was one in-person sitting per week, plus a virtual one for a longer quasi-Question Period, while the NDP want a second virtual one (again, with the reminder that the Speaker hasn’t even said it’s possible, nor do we want them). And then Elizabeth May declared that she didn’t want any in-person sittings and would withhold unanimous consent on any motion that included them (but as the Greens don’t hold official party status, her consent is not required for any negotiation between parties). We’ll see what kind of deal gets struck at the last minute, and which party will blink first, but this is all a bit ridiculous.

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Roundup: CERB is go

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There were a lot of early piece of news in advance of Justin Trudeau’s daily presser – Doug Ford complaining that the province only had one week of supplies left as three million masks bound for Ontario were blocked at the US border (some half a million released later in the day), and Andrew Scheer helpfully demanding a “temporary” expansion of charitable tax credits.

When Trudeau did begin his presser, he spoke about the fact that the CERB was now online and thousands of applications had already poured in and the system hadn’t crashed. He also said that they were working on getting other benefit programmes in place for those whose hours were reduced, those who were still working but making less than they would be on CERB benefits, or students who didn’t qualify for benefits, and that there would be announcements for those soon. He also mentioned efforts at getting debt relief during the pandemic, and that they were working on bringing Parliament back to get the wage subsidy bill passed. During the Q&A, he spoke largely in generalities about working with the provinces and the US on resolving the issues around protective equipment (and by the end of the day, it seems that the mask issue had been settled and the Americans would once again allow shipments to flow to Canada), and that he was trying to find some kind of flexibility for a “virtual” parliament (which is a very bad thing and he should stop right there).

One thing Trudeau would not offer an opinion on was the mask debate, saying that it was not up for politicians to make these kinds of recommendations. During the ministerial presser shortly thereafter, Dr. Theresa Tam essentially reiterated her same advice that the only time you really need a mask is if you’re showing symptoms, and it could be helpful if you’re in a situation where physical distance is difficult – like on public transit – but repeated again that it’s not an official recommendation and that medical-grade masks should only be for medical personnel. And yet, despite this, everyone spent the rest of the day saying there were “new” mask guidelines (there weren’t), or that Tam had somehow reversed her previous position (she hadn’t), and there wasn’t a lot of focus on the fact that she repeated over and over that the problem with masks is they give people a false sense of confidence and they slack off on other measures like physical distancing or handwashing. But hey, everyone’s an armchair infectious disease specialist these days, so that’s what matters, right?

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Roundup: Data-sharing and demanding models

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For his morning presser, prime minister Justin Trudeau noted that he was planning a teleconference with the premiers that evening to talk about coordinating their efforts, and better data sharing. He also stated that they had received 1 million new N95 masks the night before, and that they were working to validate the 10 million other masts they got over the past several days and were distributing those to the provinces as well. He got more questions on modelling the pandemic, saying that it was still coming because the data wasn’t there yet, and said that those returning to Canada from abroad posted a “real risk” to the entire country if they didn’t follow the rules and immediately self-isolate.

During the ministerial briefing that followed, Patty Hajdu wouldn’t entertain questions on whether or not she trusted the data coming out of China, saying that they relied on WHO data, and dismissing some of those concerns as conspiracy theories, which had the pundit sphere in a tizzy the rest of the day. Mark Miller also said that they were considering requests from a couple of different First Nations about military field hospitals being set up in their regions, while more money for pandemic preparedness was flowing. Bill Morneau had a separate appearance before a teleconference of the Commons finance committee (which was a bit of a gong show), where he stated that they went with hard-and-fast rules for compensation that could mean that there are gaps in coverage because that was the fastest way to get compensation out the door. (Of course, he didn’t spell out the capacity challenges, which just leaves him vulnerable to more baseless criticism).

[Maclean’s has updated their Q&A on symptoms and where to get testing]

As for the debate over producing the modelling, we’re seeing some provinces promising to roll theirs out – Doug Ford promising it’ll be today – but I’m having a hard time trying to see what it’s going to do at this point that will be of any real help. I am very convinced that we don’t have enough good and consistent data right now (and there are several experts who say we don’t have enough to do proper modelling just yet), and if people want to see how bad it can get, just look at Italy or Spain. I also don’t trust in the capacity of the majority of my fellow journalists to interpret any of this modelling data anywhere near correctly, given that they have proven to be proudly innumerate already during this pandemic (and a good many of them can’t handle basic civic literacy when they cover politics), so I am largely convinced that they are demanding the models for the sake of easy narratives, such as a screaming headline about worst-case scenario death counts. (Seriously – I have been in this industry long enough to know that’s exactly what’s coming). And I also fail to see how it would offer any kind of reassurance to the public, especially as they can see the death counts in other countries as well as they could a headline about worst-case scenario modelling in Canada – add to that the additional confusion of the disputes over methodology that would follow. Models aren’t data, and according to one data analyst I know, no one will read the technical quotes associated with any released modelling, and it will serve as disaster porn – and she’s right. I mean, certain outlets who shall not be named relied on dial-a-quote outrage from certain familiar sources to bolster their case for demanding the numbers be released, in the face other outlets getting opinions from specialists who are saying it’s too soon to have good data on this. But maybe I’m just pessimistic.

https://twitter.com/moebius_strip/status/1245825513072951297

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Roundup: Supplies, spin, and rent

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Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s daily presser was on the theme of medical supplies – signing agreements with three major medical suppliers in the country, MOUs signed with five other companies, and some 3000 other companies who have volunteered to help the government with those supplies in whatever way they can. Trudeau also noted that they have allocated an additional $2 billion for new personal protective equipment, largely by way of bulk-purchasing, and that more supplies would be arriving within days. As well, the government is tasking its next-generation manufacturing supercluster with scaling-up these kinds of producers to meet the domestic and global demand. Why this became a somewhat fraught issue is because there are places in the country where PPEs are being rationed, and Quebec stating that they were days away from running out – though Trudeau said that in some cases, it may be the medical providers who were rationing because they were trying to preserve supplies for an anticipated surge of cases.

[Here is another Q&A with infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, and a discussion on the current debate about masks.]

Meanwhile, the National Post hears from a bunch of government insiders who claim that the attempt to get the power of taxation without parliamentary approval was about trying to hold leverage of the big banks who have been reluctant to loosen lending requirements, which is an explanation that makes absolutely no sense, and makes me again repeat that there appears to be a cadre of jackasses in Morneau’s office who have been responsible for many of this government’s missteps and woes, and we shouldn’t trust them.

And while I’m on the subject of jackasses, I spent much of yesterday on the Twitter Machine trying to remind people that rent is provincial jurisdiction, so constantly hounding the federal government is a waste of time. This was met with numerous people who insisted that the federal government could invoke the Emergencies Act to claim that power. The mind boggles. Why in the hell would the federal government invoke the tool of last resort to intrude into landlord/tenant legislation when the provinces are perfectly capable of doing so on their own. It makes zero sense. Add to that the people crying out that the federal government should immediately give money to renters, as though there were a mechanism to do so. It’s taking the CRA three weeks to retool their systems to deliver the CERB, which is a pretty breakneck speed to ensure that the system can do what’s being asked of it and hopefully not fail doing it (because their computers are not magic, and you can’t just type “give everyone $2000” and expect it to happen. It’s impossible). And no, there is no analogous funding arrangement to healthcare or post-secondary, as others were trying to claim – those are funding envelopes to provincial governments that come with agreements. They don’t go to individuals, and they are not spending in provincial jurisdiction over the objection of any province. The number of people who seem to think otherwise is astounding.

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Roundup: Social distance or else

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Justin Trudeau’s Saturday presser had a couple of items of news – the first was that the Northwest Territories was shutting its borders to non-essential travel, which was a move Trudeau supported. That was announced just hours before it was announced that the Territory had its first confirmed COVID-19 case. While other provinces may want to contemplate shutting their own provincial borders (which would be incredibly difficult, particularly given Charter rights around freedom of mobility), the Territories are isolated enough and mostly fly-in, so that makes it easier – something you can’t say about the other provinces except maybe for Newfoundland and Labrador (and to an extent PEI, if they closed the Confederation Bridge and halted all ferries). Trudeau also noted that the government was working with airlines to get flights into countries that have closed their airspace in order to get Canadians out, naming Peru and Spain as their first priorities.

The more salient – and perhaps poignant – point was made by Patty Hajdu at the ministerial presser that followed, where she stated bluntly that if Canadians don’t voluntarily do more social distancing, the government may have to implement measures that will start to encroach on their civil liberties – in other words, harsher police enforcement of quarantine orders and orders to shut down the country like we saw in places like Italy. Where a really big concern is where all of these Canadians – snowbirds especially – are returning to the country and we’ll see how many of them properly self-isolate upon their return. There are warnings to the effect of “Go right home, don’t stop for supplies first,” which will be hard for a lot of people, but that message will need to be drilled home effectively.

We also have some news on the return of Parliament on Tuesday, where 30 MPs will come back to pass the extraordinary spending measures and question Bill Morneau about them, followed by the Senate on Wednesday to pass the bill in their chamber. (My look at what this Skeleton Parliament may look like is here).

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Roundup: Tightening the border even more

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There was news today from Justin Trudeau in his daily presser (which will happen again today, but I suspect we’ll all be working through the weekends for the foreseeable future), which was not only that the government was working with industry to both increase the capacity at companies which produce medical equipment, and to help other companies retool in order to produce supplies that may be necessary in the near future – something that is akin to a wartime scenario. Trudeau also said that the government had come to an agreement with the United States to essentially suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement, and that for the next 30 days (at which point the agreement sunsets), any irregular border crossers trying to seek asylum in Canada would be returned to the United States.

I have a couple of cynical theories about this move – one of them being that it’s a sop to the Conservatives, who have been crowing about this as other border closures have been taking place. The other theory, which has been put forward by some Washington-based journalists, is that this was in part to offer cover to Donald Trump so that he could take more extreme measures along his southern border. There is also the pragmatist aspect to this – resources are tight with other border closures and screening, so ensuring that there are enough people to man the irregular crossings like Roxham Road, where asylum claimants need to be processed, screened, and now isolated in a federal facility for two weeks, was likely going to stress their resources and capacity. The flip-side of this, however, is that it pushes more people to unmonitored crossings that are further afield, especially now that the weather is warming up, and if they cross there, they won’t be screened and won’t be tracked by public health authorities, and could easily become new vectors for infection – essentially making the government damned if they do, damned if they don’t. The humanitarian aspect of this decision is also a pretty big deal, and does damage to our international reputation, but in this time of crisis, I’m not sure how much anyone is thinking of that, and if it makes it seem like they’re taking action – even if it’s one that will inevitably have more negative consequences than positive ones – then that may be the trade-off for other political considerations at this point in time.

Meanwhile, Here’s an updated Q&A with infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch on COVID-19. Justin Ling worries about the patchwork of information coming from different levels of government as it relates to the pandemic. Ling is also concerned about the government’s tepid response to the pandemic relating to prisoners, and the decision around asylum seekers. Chantal Hébert gives her assessment of how the country’s political leaders are responding to the crisis. Colby Cosh offers some reflections on the state of the pandemic and where it may lead us.

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Roundup: Big border closure, big aid package

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As the impact of the pandemic starts to be really felt in Canada, there is a new kind of rhythm starting to take shape in Ottawa, which is essentially that we get our daily press conference with Justin Trudeau, followed by ministerial press conferences, one after the other, and along the way, the daily briefings and pressers from the different provinces creep up in there as well. Today’s Trudeau press conference outlined the agreement to close the Canada-US border to non-essential traffic, and to outline the broad strokes of the $82 billion in economic measures (when you include tax deferrals) designed to help the country cope with the pandemic. He also said that measures specific to the airline industry and oil and gas sector were coming later in the week, including significant measures to remediate orphan wells in Alberta, which means that the federal government has now assumed a chunk of the province’s environmental liabilities, and both the companies that left them and the province that didn’t properly regulate their remediation are going to be let off the hook, so slow clap for that one.

Other measures included in the package were a suspension of federal student loan repayments (made interest-free), and distinctions-based funds for Indigenous communities, along with additional funds for shelters and the homeless. Not everyone is happy with those measures – the small-business lobby says that the measures aren’t enough to stop layoffs because the wage subsidy is only ten percent, which they say isn’t big enough. And in case this weren’t all bad enough, the price that Canadian oil is going for fell to its lowest level ever. So that’s fun.

We also learned that negotiations are ongoing between the parties – and Chambers – to temporarily recall Parliament in order to pass spending measures that were announced yesterday, and that could happen as early as next week, because there is a forty-eight-hour window after the Speaker agrees to the request. Part of the issue is the negotiation around how many MPs to recall – quorum for the Commons is twenty, and fifteen for the Senate – because they want to ensure proportionality. Pablo Rodriguez stated that he also wants to ensure that it’s MPs who don’t have to travel by plane to get here, but Jagmeet Singh was on TV yesterday saying he’s ready to come back, which kind of defeats the purpose, especially if we’re trying to encourage Canadians not to travel.

[Maclean’s has updated their Q&A on symptoms and contacts on where to get help.]

Meanwhile, Heather Scoffield gets a personal perspective on the aid package announced today, while Kevin Carmichael weighs in on the debate around the package – whether it is preferable to favour speed and not precision – by finding that the details are a bit too finnicky, but also notes the “elasticity” of the aid, which can expand or contract as need be as it progresses. In this thread, the Parliamentary Budget Officer finds it not targeted enough (though I’m not sure that it’s his job to weigh in on policy decisions like this). Economist Lindsay Tedds also has some suggestions on how provincial governments can step up given that the federal aid package only goes so far.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1240331137517367298

Good reads:

  • Here’s a look behind-the-scenes of the discussions around closing the Canada-US border.
  • Two new test kits for COVID-19 have been approved for use in Canada, to hopefully speed up testing in provincial labs.
  • The IRB has suspended in-person refugee hearings for the time being, and CBSA has halted deportation orders.
  • Here’s a look into emergency federal procurement rules that can be activated to rapidly source things like medical equipment.
  • The Hill Times got a look into the deals made between parties and caucuses in both chambers to pass those four bills and to suspend Parliament.
  • CBC is suspending their local evening news broadcasts for a central CBC News Network broadcast (in place of Power & Politics), which may breach CRTC rules.
  • It looks like MPs have agreed on a subcommittee of MPs to help guide the Centre Block renovations, including a list of “do not touch” heritage spaces.
  • Jason Kenney introduced an aid package for Alberta given that the province is being hit not only with COVID-19, but also plummeting oil prices.
  • Colby Cosh offers a meditation on the nature of liberal democracy in times of crisis like the one we’re facing.
  • Susan Delacourt notes that the current pandemic means that the government has stopped talking about citizens as “taxpayers” and framing politics as transactions.

Odds and ends:

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Roundup: States of public health emergency

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States of public health emergency were declared in Ontario, Alberta, BC, and PEI yesterday, and no doubt more to come, while Justin Trudeau mused that there could be situations where the government may have to invoke the Emergencies Act, so things got pretty serious yesterday. Mind you, his ministers who also were facing the media yesterday also stated that they wouldn’t invoke the Emergencies Act without provincial consultation, and there was some explanation on one of the political shows that it would likely only be invoked because there was some kind of gap in the powers available to one level of government or another if the situation worsens. We’ll see. (Here’s more on what invoking it would mean). Trudeau also said that they may need to temporarily recall Parliament (almost certainly with a minimum quorum of 20 MPs) to pass this or any other particular EI or tax measures, so we’ll have to keep an eye out for that in the coming days. Also announced was up to $5000 loans for those who need help returning to Canada or who need assistance if they can’t get back (and some travel insurance is facing restrictions if people don’t return ASAP).

We’re also expecting the first tranche of stabilization or bridge funding today (not “stimulus”), which is expected to be in the range of some $25 billion. As well, the National Post is reporting that CRA will extend the tax filing deadline by a month, which should be also announced later today.

Meanwhile, Heather Scoffield says that Trudeau needs to act fast to help vulnerable workers, and that today’s aid package will determine just how serious he is about his pledge to have Canadians’ backs. Kevin Carmichael looks into the Bank of Canada’s rationale for the emergency rate cut, and the fact that they have thus far been carrying the weight of trying to reassure the markets while we wait for Bill Morneau’s aid package.

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Roundup: Closing the border (mostly)

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Another day, more social distancing restrictions put into place, with Ontario recommending that all restaurants (with the exception of take-out and delivery) and bars be shut, Calgary declaring a local state of emergency, and more cases mounting including three more deaths at a care facility in British Columbia. Justin Trudeau held a press conference early in the afternoon, where he declared that the border would be closed to non-citizen/permanent resident travellers – erm, except for Americans (and a few other exceptions) – which seems to be an action mostly to placate the those braying for more “decisive action” at this point given that it’s already in the country, and with all arrivals being told to self-isolate, I’m not sure the point. And the American exception may only be for a couple of more days, in large part because of the complex interconnections between the two countries that this can’t be done unilaterally. It also looks like CBSA has gotten their acts together with better screening questions at airports and airport authorities doing more to ensure proper social distancing than the chaos we saw over the weekend, so better late than never, I suppose.

https://twitter.com/PhilippeLagasse/status/1239615300225679360

https://twitter.com/PhilippeLagasse/status/1239617488188592128

As for the government’s pledge to help people pay their bills and rent, we are expecting more measures to be announced today, and we’ll see what kinds of policy levers they expect to use. On a broader scope, economists are saying that the measures to stabilize the market right now shouldn’t really be described as stimulus because of the nature of the shock, but that the stimulus will come later. Meanwhile, there is talk about the potential for a sharp rebound later in the year, once the temporary shock of the pandemic wears off.

https://twitter.com/kevinmilligan/status/1239604417340428288

Meanwhile, here’s an exploration of the uncharted territory that surrounds the invocation of the Quarantine Actand the Emergencies Act (which replaced the War Measures Act), as some have been suggestion, and how those may be a major test around Canadians’ Charter rights.

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