Chrystia Freeland Removes COVID-19 Income Supports and Announces Replacements

Politics Insider for Oct 22, 2021: Liberals Plan ‘Targeted Approach’; CPC Stuck on Vaccines; Moe problems

Welcome to a sneak peek at Maclean’s Politics Insider Newsletter. Sign up to have it delivered directly to your inbox in the morning.

Existing COVID-19 income support programs will be replaced by a more “targeted” approach until the beginning of May at a cost of $ 7.4 billion, Chrystia freeland announced on Thursday, the Balloon reports. Programs ending October 23: Canada Recovery Benefit, Canada Recovery Care Benefit and Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, Canada Emergency Rental Allowance, and Canada Emergency Wage Allowance (CEWS).

At an estimated cost of more than $ 111 billion, the CEWS has been the largest by far of Ottawa’s more than $ 289 billion in direct support measures announced during the pandemic. Speaking at a press conference with the Prime Minister Justin trudeau, Ms. Freeland announced that what she said will hopefully be the “Final pivot” in terms of direct income support programs. “Existing income and business support programs will end on October 23 as previously announced. We are moving from very broad-based support that was appropriate at the height of our lockdowns, to more targeted measures that will provide help, where it is needed, while prudently managing government finances, ”he said. Thursday’s announcement includes two new programs: one is a wage and rent support program aimed at the tourism sector called the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program. The minister said this would apply to hotels, restaurants and travel agencies that still face public health restrictions.

Trudeau passport: Thursday, Justin trudeau announced that there will be no federal vaccine passport for international travel. Instead, a national proof of the vaccination system will be downloaded. in the provinces. Provincial vaccine tests will show your name, date of birth, and COVID-19 vaccine history, including the doses you received and when you received them.

“I am pleased to confirm that all provinces and territories have confirmed that they will go ahead with a national standardized vaccination test“Trudeau said. Fingers crossed other countries approve. the Balloon reports:

He said the documentation is already available in all three territories, as well as Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The federal government is paying the bill so that all provinces can make the switch.

“We are committed to ensuring that there is a national standard for a proof of vaccination certificate,” he said. “So that people can travel nationally, but particularly internationally.” It did not directly respond to a question about whether other countries have confirmed that they will accept the new vaccine documentation for travel. But he said he is “very confident” that it will be accepted around the world. Canadians can still use their old provincial documentation for travel until their province issues the new standardized version.

BC confusion: For some unknown reason, BC vaccine passports will not sync with federal passports.

It’s vaccines, Tories: As conservatives reflect on the elections that just happened, he writes Andrew MacDougall on Maclean’sthey should think a little more about the role vaccination played in preventing electoral breakthroughs. MacDougall, former director of communications for Stephen harper, says the game was “offside with 80 percent of Canadians’ views on vaccines,” and is still offside, as the vaccine dispute at Hill demonstrates.

Doing things like objecting to the “secret” Board of Internal Economics dictating the House of Commons position on vaccine mandates for Parliament, as the Conservatives did this week, is for both. score a point and lose it completely. Yes, it should have been a vote in the plenary session of the House of Commons, but that’s not really the objection here, is it? The full vote will come soon enough and then the issue will be laid out for all to see. But don’t Canadians with reservations about vaccines deserve a voice in the House of Commons? Sure, but there is no reason why the voice cannot belong to someone who is fully vaccinated. We already know that the vaccine resistant and the doubters are not responding to the government’s pleas; Watching conservatives dodge the conversation gives them additional cover. They probably won’t listen to anyone, but surely it’s better to say you’ve tried, especially when the vast majority of Canadians are watching and wondering where they stand.

Hillier used death: A Cambridge, Ontario woman is outraged after Ontario’s anti-vandal MPP Randy hillier used his late sister’s photo and personal information in anti-vax social media posts. Report the CBC:

Farisa NavabThe 20-year-old died on September 11 of a rare autoimmune disease. On Tuesday, images of Navab and 10 other people appeared on the social media of Randy hillier, an independent MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston. The posts suggested that they died or suffered from a “permanent adverse reaction shortly after receiving their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.” “They are direct lies,” he said Ammarah navab, noting that his sister died of a genetic disorder. “This is complete fake news.”

Equalization to stay: Justin trudeau does not intend to obey the results of an Alberta referendum calling for an end to the federal equalization program, CTV said Tuesday reports.

“Eliminating equalization, which is what is proposed in the Jason Kenney referendum, is something that the federal government cannot do,” Justin trudeau he said Thursday. “It must be done by the federal government in collaboration with seven provinces or territories that represent more than 50 percent of the Canadian population.” Final results were expected to be released on October 26, but partial results released by some municipalities showed that about 60 percent of Albertans who voted agreed with [Jason] Kenney.

Foreigners to blame: An investigation launched by Jason kenney has found that foreign donors provided nearly $ 1.3 billion in funding for Canadian environmental campaigns between 2003 and 2019, the National mail reports.