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Good afternoon, / Bonne après-midi,
The past six weeks have been extremely difficult for Canadians.
More than 47,000 people have gotten sick and sadly more than 2,600 have passed away.
Seven million Canadians have lost their jobs.
Businesses have been forced to close their doors and too many may never reopen.
Le confinement est difficile, mais il nous permet de ralentir la propagation du virus et d’empêcher que notre système de santé soit surchargé.
C’est pourquoi les provinces se préparent à revoir certaines restrictions sanitaires.
Au Nouveau-Brunswick, les premières restrictions ont été levées vendredi dernier. Les parcs et les plages sont rouverts, et les familles peuvent maintenant se réunir entre elles.
Prince Edward Island is looking to resume some elective surgeries at the beginning of May.
In my home province of Saskatchewan, phase one starts on May 4th with the reopening of medical services like dentists’ offices and optometrists. Outdoor activities like fishing and boating will also be allowed.
Nous attendons tous ces nouveaux développements, mais les premiers ministres et les responsables de la santé provinciaux disent que les mesures de distanciation physique et d’autres restrictions vont devoir rester en place pendant encore des mois.
C’est pourquoi le premier ministre Trudeau doit immédiatement présenter aux Canadiens un plan sur ce que qu’il va faire pour soutenir les provinces et les territoires alors qu’ils revoient les restrictions sanitaires, en plus des directives nationales en cours de développement.
That is why it is incumbent on the Prime Minister to immediately present Canadians with a plan outlining how his government will support provinces and territories as they revise health restrictions, over and above the national guidelines that are currently being developed.
In the last two years, the Liberals cut funding for pandemic preparedness and destroyed millions of masks and other medical equipment, without replacing them.
So, what is the plan to replenish the national stockpile ahead of a potential second wave?
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Provinces will also need additional personal protective equipment to support workers as businesses reopen.
Given that frontline healthcare workers are still struggling to get the critical equipment they need to stay safe, how is the federal government planning to get additional supplies to support businesses and their employees?
The government keeps talking about getting much needed medical supplies from China.
But supply flights have been forced to return from China empty.
Just last week, we learned that a million face masks were defective and couldn’t be distributed.
Test kits have arrived contaminated.
Relying exclusively on the PRC is clearly not the solution.
So, what is the government doing to ramp-up production here at home?
How many Canadian companies have successfully re-tooled?
At the beginning of March, the government said they were leading a bulk purchase of new ventilators. It is now the end of April and Canada still has not received a single one.
The Prime Minister owes Canadians an explanation and a plan to fix his mistakes.
We recently learned that more than 50 companies are still waiting for approval from Health Canada to distribute test kits. When will this backlog be cleared?
As provinces ramp up testing, they will need these test kits.
So, when will new federal modeling be released?
Depuis le début de cette crise, les libéraux sont lents à réagir, et leurs échecs coûtent cher aux Canadiens.
Leur échec à fermer nos frontières a permis la propagation du virus.
Leur échec à maintenir nos réserves nationales a fait en sorte qu’il n’y avait pas assez de fournitures quand les hôpitaux canadiens en ont eu besoin.
Leur échec à établir de bons programmes en premier lieu ont fait en sorte que des entreprises et des travailleurs ont été oubliés.
From the beginning of this crisis, the Liberals have been slow to react and their failures have cost Canadians.
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Their failure to close our borders allowed the virus to spread.
Their failure to maintain our national stockpile meant that there wasn’t enough medical supplies when Canadian hospitals needed it.
Their failure to get programs right the first time have allowed businesses and workers to fall through the cracks.
Liberal failures cannot be allowed to derail provincial efforts to revise health restrictions and get our country back on track.
Conservatives support programs that put a floor under Canadians’ feet during this crisis.
But the government has imposed such a low ceiling that it is now preventing Canadians from being able to stand up.
The CERB only helps people that work less than eight days a month.
The wage subsidy has such restrictive criteria that many small businesses don’t qualify.
And the new rental assistance program only helps businesses that have lost 70% of their revenue.
The result is that as provinces start to open their doors, businesses are going to close theirs. Because the Liberal government has made it impossible to stay afloat.
That is wrong and that must be fixed.
Les conservateurs vont continuer à présenter des propositions pour aider les petites entreprises et les travailleurs.
Nous proposons un nouveau programme pour jumeler les étudiants aux emplois dans le secteur agricole et des poissons et fruits de mer.
Nous recommandons des façons d’améliorer le Compte d’urgence pour les entreprises canadiennes, notamment en éliminant l’exigence sur les comptes commerciaux et en assouplissant les critères d’admissibilité pour inclure la baisse de revenu.
Et nous proposons de rembourser la TPS que les petites entreprises ont collectée ces douze derniers mois pour qu’elles aient un fonds de roulement essentiel.
The government needs to start listening and implementing our solutions so Canadians can get the help they need.
Thank you very much.
Happy to take your questions.
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