True North

A new survey found that 49% of Canadians agree with the Canadian border being closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The survey was conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of the Association for Canadian studies on March 17, 2020.

“On Friday and Monday in response to the Corona Virus/Covid 19 several exceptional measures were introduced by the government of Canada, amongst them restrictions on international travel and expanded border closings. Other measures that promote various types of distancing as the situation evolves. The spectrum/range of concerns and anxiety on the part of Canadians is likely to rise,” claimed the report. 

The poll sampled 1479 Canadians for their opinions on border closures and social attitudes with regards to the coronavirus. 

Women were more likely to support border closures, with 52% of them either agreeing strongly or somewhat with the decision, whereas only 46% of men were in support. 

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a travel ban for non-citizens, with the exception of US citizens. Both the US and Canada also mutually agreed to close their nearly 9,000 KM border for non-essential travel. 

The poll also asked Canadians about their attitudes towards social distancing, and in particular, coming into contact with people from regions heavily hit by the virus. 

A majority of Canadians were not worried about coming into contact with people from Asia and Iran. A total of 66% of people nation-wide said they were either not very worried or not worried at all about interacting with people from those regions. 

In total, only 32% of Canadians expressed some or a lot of worry about interacting with others from those areas. 

When broken down provincially, Quebec and British Columbia showed the highest levels of concerns about being in contact with people from Asia and Iran.

39% of Quebeckers and British Columbians were either very worried or somewhat worried about interactions with those groups. 

Approximately 100 masked Antifa members marched through downtown Montreal on Sunday despite current COVID-19 health recommendations to avoid large crowds and practice social distancing.

The demonstration was a part of an annual protest against police brutality.

According to police spokesperson Manuel Anglade, two people were arrested on the scene for mischief and uttering threats. 

A few days earlier, Quebec Premier François Legault announced a ban on public gatherings of 250 people or more.

Health officials have advised Canadians to practice social distancing and avoid large crowds in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Riot police encircled the large crowd of protesters as they marched through the city, setting off fireworks and other incendiary devices as pedestrians looked on.  

According to an article posted Sunday on the anarchist website Montreal Counter-Information, a group calling itself the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) took responsibility for the march. 

“Not wanting to reduce the severity of the current health crisis, it must not be used as an excuse to forget and stifle the dissent that is taking place around the world,” claimed COBP. 

“And this current situation is part of a broader ecological crisis. Obviously, crisis also means repression.”

As exclusively reported on by True North, Montreal Counter-Information was also responsible for publishing guides during the national rail blockade crisis on how to create Molotov cocktails and other means of sabotaging national infrastructure. 

On January 14, the website called on its followers to disrupt rail lines, saying that “Molotovs can greatly increase our power in the streets.” 

As of Wednesday, March 18, Quebec reported its first death due to COVID-19. Another 94 people have been infected by the virus in the province. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an $82 billion aid package to assist businesses and workers to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Trudeau announced a massive aid package, saying the funding is necessary given the circumstances.

“In these extraordinary times, our government is taking extraordinary measures,” he said.

Out of the $82 billion in new funding, $27 billion will come in the form of direct aid to businesses and individuals. $55 billion will be to help with liquidity needs through tax deferrals.

The entire package has a total value of 3% of Canada’s GDP.

Among some of the new funding includes the introduction of the Emergency Care Benefit that will provide money to those who do not qualify for employment insurance and a wage subsidy equal to 10% of employee wages for small businesses.

In addition, the government announced they will be extending the tax filing deadline for individuals to June 1 and defer payments until after August 31, 2020.

The government will also be temporarily boosting Canada Child Benefit payments, providing almost $2 billion in extra support.

There will also be a six-month interest-free moratorium on all student loan repayments.

For full details of the aid package, refer to Finance Canada.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forces many businesses and government institutions to close, many fear that Canada may be pushed into a recession.

Last week, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced a $10 billion in stimulus specifically to businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank of Canada also cut interest rates in an attempt to increase economic activity.

A recent poll suggested that 65% of Canadians are afraid the COVID-19 outbreak will affect their income, with 86% afraid the Canadian economy as a whole will suffer.

Canada and the United States will close the world’s longest unprotected border to non-essential travel to combat the spread of COVID-19.

On Wednesday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the border would be closed to tourists and those crossing for pleasure.

“We have agreed that both Canada and the United States will temporarily restrict all non-essential travel across the Canada-US Border,” he said.

“Travellers will no longer be permitted to cross the border for recreation and tourism. In both our countries, we’re encouraging people to stay home.”

President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday morning that the US-Canada border would close “by mutual consent,” noting that trade “will not be affected.”

Several reports from Canadian and American media Tuesday night indicated the US and Canadian governments were working on such an agreement.

The sources said that there will be some exceptions to the travel ban but so far the details of the closure have not been made public.

This comes just two days after the Canadian government closed the border but carved out a specific exemption for Americans.

“I know that these measures are far-reaching,” Trudeau said at the time. “They are exceptional circumstances calling for exceptional measures.”

In that same announcement, Trudeau said that no one with COVID-19 symptoms will be allowed on a flight to Canada. All international flights are now being directed to either Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

It’s unclear if the border closure will affect the movement of illegal border crossers, who to date have been allowed into Canada despite limits on legal entrants.

Last week RCMP assured an open-borders organization that illegal border crossers would still be allowed into Canada, even if the Canada-US border was closed.