News & Media

April 28th Update from Federal and Provincial Governments

April 28, 2020

RECENT NEWS: James Barry Responds to Decision of Provincial Government to Deem Construction as Essential

Read the letter here: IBEW Response to Ontario Govt Re: Construction Workplaces as Essential Workplaces

UPDATE: April 28 8:15:35 PM

Message from Executive Secretary Treasurer, James Barry:

Below is the most recent updates on the federal and provincial governments’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal: 

  • Canada could have as many as 67,000 cases of COVID-19 by May 5th if the worst case scenario projected by Health Canada plays out. A more optimistic projection would see the number much lower, at 53,000.  Today, April 28th, the number of COVID-19 cases across the country is 49,040.
  • And despite moves to reopen some parts of the economy and schools in some parts of the country, Health Canada forecasts that Canadians will have to live with social distancing and some other restrictions for the foreseeable future until either a virus to inoculate people is discovered or a treatment or treatments are perfected to counteract the effects of the disease.
  • At his daily briefing,  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa and the Provinces have agreed on guidelines to be followed if some Provincial Governments want to begin opening parts of a province. Among the guidelines, greatly increased testing for the virus and speedy tracking to identify people with whom an infected person has recently been in contact.
  • Trudeau said that in some parts of Canada the growth curve of new cases is flattening.  He said that means the measures the government has advocated; social distancing, self isolation and regular hand washing are working to contain the pandemic. But he added:

“We are not out of the woods yet.”

Provincial:

  • The Premier expanded on the conditions for re-opening the province. He noted that yesterday’s announcement was simply the beginning and that the government will soon be releasing sector by sector guidelines.  The Premier also said that labour guidelines for businesses will be released later this week.
  • The government announced the launch of the COVID-19: Tackling the Barriers website to help businesses overcome the unique challenges created by the global pandemic. Any businesses working to retool their operations to produce health-related products, or those that want to continue their operations in this new environment of physical distancing, can submit any potential roadblocks to the website.
  • To further help businesses address the impacts of COVID-19, the  province is also pausing or extending any existing public consultations, delaying non-urgent related consultations while the emergency situation remains in place, and considering extending deadlines for reports and audits.

James Barry
Executive Secretary Treasurer
IBEW Construction Council of Ontario

 

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