York Region is scheduled to go into stage 3 of reopening this Friday. The province has announced this change because our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 are working. In Stage 3, gathering limits will increase to a maximum of 50 people when indoors and a maximum of 100 outdoors. This change also comes with more responsibility. We will need to remain diligent washing our hands and wearing masks when needed. We need only look to the south to see what happens when people do not take the pandemic seriously.
While most Canadians have been focused on COVID-19 the Prime Minister this month has been caught in another scandal. I have summarized the scandal in this issue to help you follow what happened.
Lastly, the Government released a fiscal snapshot that showed COVID-19 relief programs have not been cheap. The cost is $343,000,000,000 so far and increasing.
Update on Government Emergency Aid Programs
Some of the programs announced to help inpiduals and families get through COVID-19 are being updated regularly to make them more accessible.
These are some of the recent changes that have been announced.
- The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) – Will be extended to December and will have some of the restrictions eased. This will make it more accessible to businesses hardest hit by COVID-19 and providing scaling relief to businesses getting back on their feet.
More info on all the programs can be found here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/
Understanding the WE Scandal
It is easy for the Government to get away with things when they are difficult to understand. This is a quick summary of the scandal.
In early June, the Liberal Government gave the WE charity 912 million dollars to run a program that would pay students for volunteer work. The Prime Minister confirmed that this was a sole-source contract (there had been no other organizations asked to compete for the contract). This was strange because the Canada Summers Jobs Program has basically been providing the same service successfully for over a decade.
The media and other politicians began looking into the relationship between Trudeau and the We organization. Not only was his wife an ambassador of the organization, but his brother and mother had made more than $300,000 dollars in speaking fees from them. It began to look like Trudeau was rewarding the WE organization for their steadfast support of the Liberal Government and his family.
This smelled like blatant corruption and after public pressure, the government cancelled the contract.
The Ethics Commissioner is now investigating, and the Conservative Party is calling for the RCMP to investigate this as a criminal matter.
Since then, each new detail has made the scandal look worse. The Finance Minister also has ties to the organization but was still involved in the decision to award the contract. Then, one Liberal told the house that the WE organization could have made over 40 million on the contract.
When politicians asked for the Ethics Committee to investigate the contract, the Liberals stalled out the meeting for 4 hours.
It is clear the Prime Minister is hiding something.
COVID-19 PPE
Many organizations are still struggling to provide masks and other PPE. I have continued to work with suppliers to make sure that our front line workers have the tools to do their job safely.
Thank you to the organizations and inpiduals that continue to supply PPE to the communities.
The Canada Confederation of Fujian Association stopped by to donate Personal Protection Equipment. I then sat down with the association and Senator Oh to discuss the great work they do, and the fight against COVID-19.
I have been happy to help secure Personal Protective Equipment for seniors groups so that they can continue with their excellent work.
Opening Up
Businesses dealing with COVID-19 have had to renovate and change the way they operate to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I have been visiting local businesses to speak with the owners about how their business model has changed and to hear what we can do to help them stay open.
Visiting Skyview Fusion with Senator Victor Oh.
I congratulated Hub Climbing on their re-opening. Thanks to Steve and the team for our tour. Come by for fun and good exercise.
Fiscal Snapshot
COVID-19 has forced the Government to spend billions in relief programs. This year instead of a budget the Government released a fiscal snapshot. The snapshot updated Canadians on how much money had already been spent. The number was staggering, over $343,000,000,000. I did a short video talking about this spending and the concerns I have. Click the picture or the link below.
