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:
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau co-hosted a virtual town hall today with leaders of developed and developing countries on how to deal with the world wide economic melt down that has been created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The co-hosts of the town hall were UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness.
- It is not a matter of chance that the meeting was proposed by Canada as the UN General Assembly prepares to vote next month on which ten countries will be added to the five permanent members of the Security Council for two year terms beginning in 2021. Under the regional voting system Canada is competing against Norway and Ireland for one of the ten two year seats.
- The House of Commons met today as the COVID-19 committee, with opposition parties pressing the Government on how it will respond to the disturbing findings in reports from the Canadian Armed Forces about conditions in some long term facilities in Ontario and Quebec.
Provincial:
- The province announced today that it is extending the mandate of the Incident Management System Long-Term Care Table. This table is set-up to make immediate decisions to deal with issues in LTC homes including staffing levels, infection management and resources. The table was established in April as a way to expedite support for the sector.
- Long term care continued to dominate the provincial announcement today. The Minister discussed inspections over the last year, and noted that inspectors are now at all five homes cited in the Canadian Armed Forces report. It was also reported that these homes had been flagged by inspectors prior to COVID-19, and the Minister acknowledged that her department is in the process of addressing the concerns that were outlined.
- The Premier also discussed transit, and said that no major transit projects will be cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. The Premier made these comments on the heels of announcing the signing of the “Ontario-York Region Transit Partnership Preliminary Agreement”.
James Barry
Executive Secretary Treasurer
IBEW Construction Council of Ontario