Trudeau offers rent relief for businesses affected by COVID-19

thank you for that bashi will talk to you both of you after this now the Prime Minister of Canada a 2 p.

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Atlantic time we will observe a minute of silence in honor of Constable Heidi Stevenson and all the victims of the Nova Scotia shooting I also want to remind everyone that at 7 p.

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Atlantic or 6 p.

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Eastern a virtual vigil will be held to remember those who were taken from us too soon too soon and support their friends and family during this particularly difficult time I hope that many of you will join us and wear red today in a show of solidarity let's come together to support these communities who suffered immeasurable loss let's celebrate the lives of those who left us too soon let us remember the families friends loved ones whose absence will linger for years and lives you can find more information at nova scotia remembers calm has been Christian this past week has been particularly painful and heartbreaking for all Canadians and the people of Nova Scotia at 2:00 p.

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today we will observe one minute of silence to remember constable Heidi Stevenson and other victims of the shooting in Nova Scotia at 7:00 p.

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there will be a virtual vigil at 6:00 p.

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Eastern at 6 p.

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Atlantic time at 6 p.

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Eastern Time this will be an opportunity for us to show the families and friends of the victims that we are there to support them I do hope that many of you will join us and will wear red as a sign of solidarity for more information you can consult the sun the sight nova scotia remembers calm with its provincial and territorial partners not only to get through this crisis but to position our economy to rebound once it's over and a big part of this work means listening to the concerns of Canadians and making adjustments we go along one thing we've heard is that small businesses are having trouble making rent because of CO vid 19 if you've had to close up shop because of public health recommendations if you don't have a lot of money coming in because people aren't spending as much these days you may be worried about losing your office space or not having a coffee coffee shop to reopen after this crisis so last week we said that we're planning on introducing the Canada emergency commercial rent assistance and today I can announce that we've reached agreements with all provinces and territories to lower rent by 75% for small businesses that have been strongly affected by kovat 19 for April May and June the government will cover 50% of that reduction with a property owner covering the rest if you are a small business that has been strongly affected by kovat 19 and you're paying less than $50, 000 per month on rent you'll be eligible to receive this support you will also be there for nonprofits and charitable organizations that are struggling right now we will also have more to say in the coming days about rent support for larger businesses last week I announced our intention of introducing the Canada emergency commercial rent assistance program and today I'm able to confirm that we have reached agreements with all the provinces and territories to lower rent by 75% for small and medium-sized businesses that have been hard hit by kovat 19 for the months of April May and June the government will cover 50% of that reduction whereas the owner will cover the rest this support will be available to small businesses that have been hard hit by kovat 19 and whose monthly rent is less than $50, 000 charities and nonprofit organizations will also be eligible under the program and very soon we will have other news for larger corporations later today I will be talking to the Premier's of the provinces and territories and we have a number of items on the agenda for one thing we will be continuing our conversation on the gradual reopening of the economy Canada is a huge country that it's clear that the pandemic has not hit each region the same way we are a Federation that means that we have to adjust our response to the realities in each province and territory but reopening the economy whatever province or territory is concerned will have to happen gradually to ensure that the progress that has been achieved will not be lost there must be significant coordination at the national level so we will be working with the provincial and territorial governments to establish principles and recommendations that will ensure the safety of Canadians but I want to be quite clear when it comes to reopening the economy that will not happen overnight it has to be done one step at a time if you do not want us to start from scratch every single person must continue to be vigilant and to follow public health recommendations from the beginning of this crisis we have seen what has been happening in Singapore in Japan and South Korea and in some places we have seen the locate the challenges associated with reopening the economy so we must be very very careful every place may have a separate approach so if you see the that one provinces is going to relax its rules you must still continue to follow the rules in place where you live otherwise there's a real risk that we will lose everything that we've done thus far as I said yesterday we are witnessing troubling scenes in seniors homes and long-term care facilities right across this country that is unacceptable and government will be there to help members of the Canadian Armed Forces will be deployed following an official request from Ontario and Quebec and the Minister of Public Safety has accepted those requests the reconnaissance work is underway in those two provinces and we are now on identifying the work to be done and the next steps Ontarians and Quebecers and all Canadians can count on us in this crisis we are deploying the army to provide urgent assistance and help the provinces to take control of the situation and we know that that's not a long-term solution we have also given millions of dollars to the provinces to beef up salaries so that our seniors receive the care that they need and deserve long-term care facilities across the country is extremely troubling it's unacceptable and our government will be there to help the provinces members of the Canadian Armed Forces will be deployed after the Minister of Public Safety received and approved two formal requests from Ontario and Quebec reconnaissance work is underway in both provinces were identifying what needs to be done and mapping out next steps as I said many times before we will be there for Quebecers Ontarians and all Canadians during this crisis we're deploying the military to provide emergency support to help provinces regain control of the situation but we all know that this is only a short-term solution we're also offering billions of dollars to provinces to top up the pay of essential workers and make sure that elderly Canadians get the support they deserve later today I'll be meeting with the First Minister's to continue our work on supporting Canadians during this time we're also going to talk about reopening parts of the economy Canada is a vast country and some regions have been hit harder than others during this pandemic we're a federation so we have to adapt our response to the realities and challenges of each province and territory but I want to be clear that getting back to normal will not happen overnight it's going to take time it won't be as simple or as easy as flipping a switch it'll require a lot of coordination at the national level and our government will be there to do that work we will be working with the provinces and territories to establish principles and guidelines to start reopening the economy safely over the coming weeks you'll hear more talk about reopening but you need to know we're not out of the woods it's absolutely critical that everyone continues to follow local Public Health instructions as we move forward for now these instructions are the same for all Canadians no matter where you live you should be staying home as much as you possibly can you should be washing your hands regularly and you should always keep a safe distance of 2 meters from others that is the only way for us to make it through together super creamy soup coming this summer come on Cilla better they kissing on telephone Oh Schatzi oh thank you so much good morning first of all I'd like you to comment on this commercial rent program there are some business owners that they had to shut down their boutiques or their restaurants can you tell us when will that money be delivered to them and don't you think you should have acted on this earlier well we know that this is an extremely difficult crisis and as and that small businesses have been hit hard by this including restaurants and other businesses that have had to shut down completely because of kovat 19 that's why we recognize that even with the wage subsidy fixed costs for these businesses are a real challenge that's why we will be covering 75% but their rent for April May and June and we'll see afterwards what's necessary for those businesses that are hardest hit bike Ovid 19 no we have already introduced a program of access to credit for businesses they can receive up to $40, 000 to help them to pay their costs in the interim and the money to pay their rent will be getting to them as soon as possible and that will help them in April a follow up yes has a follow-up mr.

trudeau I'd like to have you comment on long-term care facilities in Quebec some have the sense that you were dictating to the provinces or lecturing them and the prime ear the premier has been saying it's a simple solution it's been known for a long time the government has to increase its transfers to the provinces and so now will you do that well I can tell you that all Canadians are asking questions about what is happening in seniors homes and long-term care homes this is the type of reflection that we all have to engage in and all levels of government as well as to what we should have done and also what we must do in the coming months and years the fact is that we will be part of those conversations because the federal government must be part of the solution and we will be part of those discussions when they happen but right now our emphasis is getting through this crisis and and helping the provinces to regain control of the situation we will be there to support Canadians we will be there to support our seniors in trouble these days obviously all Canadians are asking themselves questions about this situation that has allowed so many of our elders to be so incredibly vulnerable took over 19 and related issues we need to do better and we will be working with the provinces on ways to move forward we will of course be there to have conversations about increasing supports to the provinces for for healthcare we've seen a significant needs on healthcare across the country we will have those conversations in the future right now our focus is on making sure we're giving all the help we need during this crisis to the provinces and specifically to Canadians right across the country male CEO Parata operation system thank you merci danke Shoen captain Levi canadough I just want to come back to rent I'd like to know what will the provinces what percentage they will be covering where the money will come from and in what proportions and what this will really have how this will really work well for businesses that are paying $50, 000 in rent or less that have been hard hit by kovat 19 we will allow them to pay only 25% of their rent in April May and June of the 75% that they will not be paying the land the landlord will absorb 25% and the federal government and the provinces will absorb the other 50% the proportion between the provinces and the government is 75% for the federal government and 25% for the provinces but you will receive more details about this announcement in the following hour a follow up Catherine know with respect to the top-up payments for essential workers you are giving billions of dollars to the province and we know that this was on the agenda of your discussion with the Premier's of the promises and territories last week have you reached an agreement with them and if not what is where's the log jam yes we've made a lot of progress in our discussions with sea premiers last week obviously the different provinces have different circumstances there is a certain reality in Ontario in Quebec Quebec has already taken action British Columbia has already had taken action as well in its own way and we will be there to support them in what they're doing and perhaps add on to that but other provinces are not facing the as much of an of an intensity in terms of the pandemic so we're not totally certain how or they're not certain how they want that aid to come and in the coming days we will be talking to see what makes sense for everyone but we are there to help and to ensure that our essential workers have the necessary support to continue to do their work we have been working over the past week with provinces on topping up the pay for essential workers particularly those in long-term care facilities we recognize that they are doing particularly important there they're always particularly important jobs where they're particularly difficult and complex circumstances right now but all provinces are in slightly different situations so number of provinces want to move forward very quickly others had a few questions about how it would apply in their province where the pandemic is hitting less Hardware budgetary constraints are different and choices are different we are getting very close to having an agreement with all the provinces and we should be able to move forward soon okay that's all question just oh thank you now see next question Laura Osmond that can't eat impress slide open good morning Prime Minister I wanted to ask you about the cost-sharing agreement with the provinces for the rent subsidies are they sort of set in stone at this point of it still being negotiated and if so are different provinces making their own deal with the federal government or will it be consistent across the board Minh is better suited for the more technical briefing a little bit later but I can tell you that we have worked out this agreement with the provinces and the program as it is right now is how we're just going to unfold thank you some businesses are saying they have no revenue they can't cover that 25% and there's now that they've shut their doors they don't think they're going to be able to reopen them unless they get full support is there more how coming for them is what do you say to those businesses this is an extremely difficult situation for Canadians for businesses right across the country we recognize that kovat 19 is hitting some people harder than others some areas harder than others and unfortunately this is something that we are grappling with we are trying to help as many people as possible the businesses that have no revenue and are unable to make even the 25 percent rent well they still have access to that $10, 000 of forgivable loans with a total of $40, 000 available from the banks that $10, 000 actually represents an average month's rent for a small business in this country which means a quarter of that can actually last for four months this is aid that we've given to small businesses made available without them having to in debt themselves further to try and ensure that we get through this with as many of the small businesses that are they the motors of our economy the principal employers across the country I get through this difficult time and come back strong afterwards maybe not down that kissed oh thank you now see next question Adam URIs New Brunswick telegraph line open thank you / mr.

for taking my question New Brunswick premier Blaine eggs as several of the provinces employees or employers are struggling to get employees to agree to talk or turn to work suggesting it's a repercussion of the Canada emergency response Bennett said are there concerns the Canadians may instead want to stay home and collect benefit to not return to work and we just thought of when the plane plan rolled out we are facing one of the largest health crises the largest economic crisis of our lifetime and Canadians need help they need help paying their rent they need help buying groceries they need to help caring for their loved ones they've lost their paychecks they've seen themselves very very anxious about their own health about their parents health about their future we needed to help Canadians and we did exactly that helping Canadians right across the country get through this pandemic is not just about generosity it's about making sure that we are able to do the things necessary in every home across the country to be able to keep this country safe and to make sure we have an economy that can rebuild quickly afterwards this government will help Canadians who need help period currently experiencing an unprecedented situation a very serious situation a public health crisis an economic crisis as well and Canadians right across the country need support they need help to pay their rent they need help the to buy groceries or to look after their children or grandparents we are in a situation now where we must help people so that they can make the right decisions and stay home and wait until this crisis is over that is our priority that's who we are in Canada we help each other we're there for each other that's the only way that we can get through this crisis together and have an economy that bounds back afterwards that's who we are being there for each other yes sweetener Higgs also says he fears that equalization payments that some provinces have come to rely on will be less lucrative in the near future as so call have provinces struggle more than ever can you assure the provinces that they will not see a decline in equalization in the coming years equalization has a formula that has long been set and we will continue to look at ways to ensure that it's working for provinces right across the country it's important that Canadians in every province receive the services to which they are entitled right across the country that's what equalization is about and we support that principle very strongly Canada when you look at what's happening in these seniors homes now do you regret that you were not more generous with health transfers the provinces were asking for a 5% increase do you now regret that you were not more generous well I think we always have to reflect on what's happening in the seniors homes now perhaps we should have a discussion as to whether our seniors homes should be part of the health care system and governed under the Canada Health Act there are another number of suggestions that have been made and a number of discussions we can have in the coming months but for the time being my priority is to ensure that we're helping the people who are suffering now and tomorrow and that's what we'll do No do you think that that could come up against resistance from the provinces since this is their area of jurisdiction and if you did that would there be conditions with respect to the use of that money well that's a very good question and these are questions that we'll be looking at in our discussions between the federal government and the we are a federation we have to adapt to the realities of each new situation and the world in which we live and we are resolute in our desire to help our fellow citizens citizens so and to care for our fellow citizens and that's what we will be working together to do there will be a lot of reflection and discussion once this pandemic pandemic is over but for now we are working together to ensure that we are looking after all Canadians fgc BC I want to go back to what you said about the federal government coordinating the reopening of provinces you talked about guidelines what sort of guidelines is your government giving that the provinces and would you ever go so far as to tell a province not to reopen something but I think we all understand that the gains that we have made in controlling the spread of kovat 19 to this point have come because people have been very very diligent across the country about staying home about not working unless it's essential but not going out unless it's essential to both protect essential workers and specifically to prevent our health system from getting overloaded that has been successful we also have seen that because of that success we can now talk about gradually or carefully reopening economic activity in certain sectors but we have to be very very careful that's why what we're working on in collaboration with the provinces is a set of principles and elements that should be in place and should be followed as provinces make the decisions on how and what they will reopen when and and if even things like ensuring proper levels of testing across the province and contact tracing but other things like ensuring workplace safety if people work in cubicles if they work in a start-up with beanbags if they work on a shop floor if they work in a in in a food production facility what are the measures that need to be put in place to keep them safe these are principles saying you need to make sure that workplaces that reopen are safe in health norms but what those actually are what that will look like will be up to the provinces and the local jurisdictions to determine but we need to make sure that as we look at economic reopening we are grounding ourselves in the principles that will ensure that we don't allow for further spread or a new spike of kovat 19 and if there are cases that start to research us likely will happen here and there that we are able to manage control and reduce them rapidly we got a lot more details on the Nova Scotia shooting this morning and the timeline with the gunman we do now know that there was a call made to 911 P were informed that the gunman was wearing a uniform our safety uniform as well as driving a car that looked like an RCMP car and yet there was still no emergency alert do you see that as a failure on the part of the RCMP right now we need to be there for the people of Nova Scotia for the families and communities that are grieving and give them all the support we can part of that support needs to be answering their many many questions questions about what happened during the incident what happened to their loved ones but also questions about the police response and what exactly happened and what could have happened differently or better those questions are things that we are going to need to answer and we're going to work very hard to ensure that those questions are answered Ian wood CTV News prime minister the Nova Scotia emergency response teams in Halifax and the shootings took place in rural communities across the province it took over 12 hours to apprehend the shooter and the RCMP have highlighted that this was a very difficult situation to be in are you confident that the RCMP is adequately resourced in rural communities I think these are questions that people are going to be asking right now in Nova Scotia but indeed all across the country and there are questions that we don't have the answers to yet we need to understand exactly what happened understand how the response was understand where the response could have been better with different resources or different protocols in place and ensure that as from any tragedy of this scale we learn and we improve to make sure that it never happens again many of the financial aid measures that have been announced so far whether they be personal or for business have only been committed at this point through June but with no end of the restrictions being loosened you yourself just said earlier that we're not out of the woods yet should people and businesses expect those aid measures to be extended or will they be on their own come the summer as we've seen from countries around the world there is a lot of reflection on how we reopen the economy how it happens gradually whether there is a scaling down of certain measures where a certain whether certain measures need to be continued fully for many more months these are reflections that we will of course engage in with businesses with Canadians over the coming months as we look at careful reopening as we continue to remain closed and vigilant in other areas the situation is ongoing and as we have been from the very beginning we will adjust and adapt to what we see actually happening we will be there to support Canadians in the right way in both ensuring that we get through this health crisis and ensuring that we come back as strongly in terms of the economy as we possibly can but the only way to be able to do that is to make sure that for now and for the coming weeks we remain extremely vigilant and we keep up with the social distancing rules Brian Mullen Global News Prime Minister following up in some of the previous questions some businesses say the rent relief announcement is too little too late and they've already had to close how concerned are you that the long-term impact of this shutdown could be permanent for some sectors of the economy we move forward on access to credit for small businesses quite quickly we tried to ensure that through the Canada Emergency Response benefit and the wage subsidy that there be responses to businesses and to workers as quickly as possible to allow them to continue to pay for their groceries and their rent at home and support their families we know certain businesses are extremely hard hit and that's why the access to credit and support for the rent is going to be important but we also see that this is the greatest economic impact an event of our lifetimes and it is going to be extremely difficult our focus is on recognizing that first of all our economy and our businesses were in excellent shape before the services that were needed the activities we had as a country we're going very very well this is an event that put us into deep freeze put us into hibernation as it were and everyone had to stop and hold while we let this wave of covin pass through and our ability to hold well depends on many things but including government's ability to support people to demonstrate that we will be there to make sure that as many as possible of our businesses will be able to bounce back afterwards now we are working to try and get help out to as many people as possible some sectors are more hard-hit than others but we know at the end of this people will need to travel for work for pleasure people will need to go to restaurants people will need to become tourists again in different places across the country and around the world there are businesses that are hardest hit now who will be able to restart later and that is our focus on trying to get through this moment of hibernation which Canadians are doing quite well as as you would imagine and a follow-up question about violence against women in rural areas this has long been an issue looking back at the Renfrew County massacre in 2015 which left three women dead and this recent mass shooting what can the federal government do to ensure the safety of women in rural remote areas who are at risk of violence we have made significant investments over the past years in shelters for victims of domestic violence of shelters of women facing gender-based violence we move forward with a gender-based violence strategy we are looking at stronger gun control measures that will include things like red flag laws that will give people the capacity not just to remove guns but to prevent people from acquiring new guns if there are issues around domestic violence but we recognize that there is so much more to do and that is why as a government and as Canadians we need to continually pledge ourselves to be allies and solutions in the fight against gender-based violence merci beaucoup cystic american families a penalty yes it's a month and that is the Prime Minister of Canada with his daily kovat 19 briefing you could see there on the trees behind him the a touch of Nova Scotia tartan to commemorate the victims lost last weekend because there is a virtual vigil later this evening let's bring in Bashi cappellas and the CBC's katherine cullen to go over a bit of what the prime minister had to say some relief coming for commercial rent for small businesses Bashi I'll let you go first yeah so the announcement today highly anticipated by small business owners right across the country who are worried about having to pay that rent in a few days time or a weeks time on May 1st the announcement is that the government will reduce what will enable commercial property owners to reduce that rent so that the tenant the business owner is only paying a quarter of it other than that they'll provide forgivable loans to the landlord about half of what the the remaining balance in order for the overall rent to kind of be reduced but specifically the rent for the small business owner to be reduced the you take away here is who qualifies so you have to pay less than $50, 000 the business has to pay less than $50, 000 in rent and also has to show that their revenues have dropped by 70% the Prime Minister signaled that there would be additional help coming for bigger businesses where rent is higher than $50 $50, 000 rather he didn't specify exactly what that rent would be I think for me the big takeaway right now are sort of the outstanding questions is how will this process work how fast can the money actually get out the door obviously given the timing of it and there were a number of questions to the prime minister from you know visa vie businesses who already which already had to close because they for example weren't able to pray their April first rent in this province in Ontario if you didn't pay that rent landlords could actually kick you out by April 16th and the landlord's of course need that rent as well to cover their mortgage so it's a bit of a cyclical saying this is if you you know will be welcome news certainly for a number of businesses that were worried about this very specific issue but it will depend very much on how fast that money can get out the door and as you said because they have access to that loan the the $40, 000 $10, 000 of which would be forgivable you could imagine that that the the owner of the business could go rent free for a period of time if they are able to tap into the loan as well so yeah even yeah even if they're having financial problems I mean a Kathryn I'll get I'll get you to weigh on this because I know you're working on it today I am struck that by the fact that they were able to come up with a deal with the provinces because this is provincial jurisdiction and they did manage to get that done relatively quickly I think yeah a lot of discussion about federal provincial jurisdiction right now another issue that the Prime Minister raised there which is the top-up for essential workers something that is going to be I think a key element in trying to address the situation in long-term care homes in particular Prime Minister signalling there that those discussions are still underway in terms of how it would work our understanding is that the provinces are gonna have quite a bit of say in who is deemed an essential worker but obviously long term care homes workers in there people who are particularly as the Prime Minister put it the other day financially vulnerable but would be one one of the targets of this money also interesting to hear him weigh in on the process of reopening rosemary obviously yes we heard Scott Moe Saskatchewan premier outlining his provinces five-phase planned for reopening the first phase of that beginning May 4th today we're expecting to hear from New Brunswick's plain Higgs they have a four phase plan we'll learn a little bit more about how that works but the Prime Minister is saying there there are going to be guidelines elements he said that that they they hope that the whole country can agree on in terms of where the standards are for how this reopening happens he was asked by our colleagues Salima shifty essentially whether or not anything was going to be mandatory was was the gist of the question he said that there there are principles and elements that should be in place and should be followed so it will be interesting to see how that that balance is struck between what federal government is looking for here and what the provinces want to do yeah because the federal government can say things and can give guidance it doesn't mean that the provinces have to follow that to the letter okay I will come back to both of you thank you very much Vashi and Catherine first though I want to talk a little bit more about how the Prime Minister's started out his briefing today and that's talking about Nova Scotia because there will be an online vigil held tonight to pay tribute to victims of last weekend's shooting there for more on how people are grieving we've reached Tory Finney he's a co-organizer of tonight's vigil and he joins us from bass River Community that neighbors porta pick good to see you a good to see very editorially xi8 you being here thank you so much for having us so I know lots of people are I don't know if looking forward is the right word but people are you know anticipating this tonight because they are sort of desperate to connect with one another right now tell me what what people can expect and why you want to do it sure tonight's event is going to consist of message messages from political figures as well as spiritual leaders musicians and celebrities and the reason I guess there's a group of us several dedicated volunteers who've been working together to put this this together for the the community the prog the country but especially the families how how important do you think this will be given the fact that no one can really get together right now because of the pandemic extremely it's vital typically we would be gathering together you know at churches and community centers but we can't right now and we have to do something and this is a great way for for us to come together for an hour and a half to to celebrate the lives of these fantastic people and to help our communities start to heal you said you're gonna have some celebrities I would be not doing my job as a journalist if I didn't ask you to give us a little hint of someone we might be we might hear from or who might play some music or or so have a message for Nova Scotia I would love to be able to do that and I just encourage everyone to tune in and join us and and we can celebrate it together well you're good at your job too then if you're not answering let me just get a sense from you I know you're a community over from porta pick and and I don't know the region very well that Brett reskins certainly been painting a good picture of the place for me how are people doing from what is your sense of how people are doing given given the community and the way the way they live together I don't I think we're still in a state of shock here we haven't had time to process this it's been a matter of days that's all I can really say I mean it's devastation and I hope that the vigil tonight will be the start of a healing process but time will tell did you know anyone who was killed Torrey is that part of why you wanted to do this or in these communities you don't have to look far to connect people you know my personal reasons are just I had an opportunity to work with this amazing group of volunteers and I just I couldn't say no to that and it just kind of went from there and I'm really honored to be a part of it well we're we're very pleased you're doing it and and our thanks to all the volunteers who are putting this together so quickly I do think it'll be important moment for Nova Scotia but also the whole country Tori Finney thank you good luck with the vigil tonight I appreciate it thank you so much Tori Finney is one of those organizers of the vigil and don't forget you will be able to watch it live here on CBC News network as well as CBC throughout the Atlantic provinces it starts at 7:00 p.

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atlantic time 6:00 p.

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Eastern make sure you tune in for that I'm rosemary Barton continuing coverage now on CBC News Network and cbc.

ca [Music] hello again I'm rosemary Barton here on CBS news network and streaming around the world on CBC CA or on our news app we are following all the day's developments today of course on the pandemic the Prime Minister has just announced more help for small businesses this time in the form of commercial rent relief an agreement that he made with the provinces all provinces have agreed to this we'll have some of those details in a moment we will also – at the top of the hour very soon hear from federal ministers in Ottawa on the Cova 19 situation but first we do want to turn back to Nova Scotia because the RCMP this morning revealed a detailed timeline of how that shooting rampage played out the one that left 22 people dead last weekend it includes some chilling new details about how the gunman was able to carry out those killings and elude law enforcement for 13 hours until he was then killed by the RCMP all of this of course as the as the RCMP continue to face questions about the response and why'd emergency alert was not activated and will also as I mentioned earlier talk about that virtual vigil tonight planned for 7:00 Atlantic and 6 p.

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Eastern time let me bring in the CBC's Brett Ruskin who is in porta pick again today to go through some of what we found out from the RCMP there were lots of sort of sort of jaw-dropping details Brett in particular we now know that the the fact that the gunman was dressed as a police officer and had an RCMP vehicle certainly seemed to allow him to elude police and resulted in in other deaths that's right so I mean let me situate us to where we are here first of all police blockade there that is the one Road to Porter pick Nova Scotia you can see a memorial there with people gathering to lay flowers and know for victims victims families and so it was down that road way that this all began and there were a series of of checkpoints or perimeter is set up by RCMP we don't know exactly where they are but again this being the one road there may have been one here and then there's another major intersection down the road from there that could have been another spot where a perimeter was set up we heard from the superintendent that in his 30 years of policing he can't think of any more horrific of a circumstances then looking for someone who looks like you that's what officers were doing they were searching for a shooter who looked like them in their uniform in their police car it must it perhaps assisted them or facilitated his escape from those perimeters because he was in that car that is a possibility if there's all cars going around we heard that there was 25 units that responded immediately to the scene here if there was one car that slipped out we heard that it may have been going through a field at one point there could have been a vehicle going through a field that could have been a suspect that could have been the shooter as well and we certainly know that he when he was apprehended he was no longer in that vehicle and no longer in the uniform which he had discarded so that also became part of how they did manage to to to capture and ultimately kill the gunman to bring that's right so he didn't have the vehicle but but while he did have the vehicle I just wanted to mention one more fact about the fact that he had these clothing as well as the vehicle of the RCP vehicle because we had heard rumors about this but it was confirmed in this news conference that at at least one situation and again with a police officer himself he pulled someone over using his replica police car walked up to that person as if they were being pulled over by a genuine authentic police officer walked up to their window and shot them in their car so just horrific details that we are hearing and the police car that he was driving the replica police car was then swapped out he took a silver SUV and then a third vehicle which was a Mazda 3 which he acquired by killing the occupant of that vehicle of 54 year old woman from Shubin acne then continued on to that gas station in Enfield Nova Scotia just near the airport International Airport here and that is where he encountered an officer who spotted him recognized him and then opened fire and killed him there in that gas station that is how all of this wrapped up after again 14 hours of this manhunt that began here and ended far away nearly a hundred kilometres away in Nova Scotia in Enfield ok Brett Ruskin again imported pic Nova Scotia today thank you for that bread appreciate it let me just highlight a couple other things that stood up for me only because they are questions that that may come up with federal officials as well first of all that one of the guns one of the weapons the gunman used was traced back to Canada but others seemed to have been obtained in the United States so there will be questions about how the how he was able to get them here from the United States the RCMP also suggesting today that there did appear to be a list of individuals the gunman was targeting because he went to particular homes and knocked on the door including one home where they would not let him in and so they talked a little bit about that as well there were also questions about the emergency alert again the RCMP saying that they had believed that they had contained the area which was not in fact the case as we now know alright we'll continue that coverage of course through the day and on to the vigil later tonight let me bring in my colleagues CBC's catherine cullen and ashley Capella's as we wait for federal ministers Vashi i know you're going to be part of that vigil later you know what the officials are walking in but but maybe I'll just get you to quickly weigh in on some of the issues there that I think are going to resonate in terms of accountability and questions on a federal level that the guns are certainly important and the emergency alert as well yeah the emergency alert for sure we heard from the RCMP today that at the time they felt the suspect dead or alive was within the perimeter that they had secured but that alert therefore didn't go out it just came out on Twitter to a degree so still some questions about that also accountability questions you heard at the end of the presser there with the prime minister around resources rural resources for the RCMP that's a shared jurisdictional issue for sure between the federal government and the but it took me about 30 seconds to look up a study from last May that the Committee on Public Safety did looking into that very issue which very firmly established that resources there were wanting I think you know going ahead obviously we don't have all the details but those are gonna persist as questions to okay I'm gonna turn away from both of you for a moment if you don't mind and bring us to the federal briefing led by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland let's bring that to you now live going to end this press conference at 1:00 p.

m.

sharp indeed a few moments before 1:00 p.

m.

in order to observe a minute of silence to honor and mourn the victims of the Nova Scotia shooting okay dr.

Tam please hello everyone and Bonjour Toutatis hello everyone as usual with the latest numbers on kovin 19 in Canada there are now 40 2, 750 confirmed cases including 2117 nine deaths to date labs across Canada have tested over six hundred and forty three thousand people with over six and a half percent of these testing positive as outbreaks and long-term care homes continue to define one of our biggest struggles and deepest heart aches with kovat 19 I want to highlight the work of those who have injured and those who have rushed in to help I'd like to do this in a personal story shared with one of my staff this is the story of Michelle a nurse in Nova Scotia who was recently reassigned to care for covert 19 patients at a nursing home to minimize any risk to her family she has decided to live in a hotel for the duration of her work assignment sensing her unease her three children wanted to give her a boost and let her know they understood so in a poem they and with a little help from dad wrote my mom is a hero so make no mistake if the world ever needs her she'll do whatever it takes we know that she worries please don't we're fine we know the world needs a hero so it's can borrow mine healthcare workers across Canada are going the extra mile every day to care for our most vulnerable we cannot let their sacrifice or the personal risk they are taking to be in vain however these weeks have been hard on everyone whether at home or on our supply roads in grocery stores pharmacies or on the front lines of health care no one can measure one person's struggle against another there is always more to the story if you are struggling at home with anxiety fear violence Polymathic substance use or other concerns there's help you can find a full range of supports through our new wellness together canada portal that is dedicated to providing resources for mental wellness you can access the portal through Canada's EA / coronavirus website or the Canada covered 19 app I'll end by paraphrasing Michele herself to all of our essential service heroes out there stay safe to everyone else please please stay home and stay within your bubble give a hug to your loved ones hug it out for our heroes and for all those who are isolated while they cannot hug their own stay home safe lives Canada thank you ok well thank you very much dr.

Tim and that was a very touching story thank you very much Michelle and thank you very much especially Michelle's three children you guys are right your mother is the hero and thank you for giving her up and lending her to other people for a while okay metals are done that pack a lot and now over to dr.

Howard you go ahead Howard thank you first of all here are the latest numbers on Kovac 19 in Canada there are now four to 2, 750 confirmed cases including 2179 deaths to date labs across Canada have tested over six hundred and forty three thousand with over 6.

5 percent of these testing positive breaks in long-term care homes continued to define one of our biggest struggles and deepest heart aches with kovat 19 i want to highlight the work of those who have endured and those who have rushed in to help to do so I'd like to tell you a personal story shared with one of my staff this is the story of Michelle a nurse in nova scotia who was recently reassigned to care for kovat 19 patients at a nursing home to minimize any risk to her family she has decided to live in a hotel for the jury of her work assignment sensing her unease her three children wanted to give her a boost too and let her know they understood in a poem they wrote with a little help from dad my mom is a hero so make no mistake if the world ever needs her she'll do whatever it takes we know that she worries please don't we're fine we know the world needs a hero so it can borrow mine every day health care workers across Canada are going the extra mile to care for our most vulnerable we cannot let their sacrifice or the personal risks they are taking be in vain however these last weeks have been hard on everyone whether at home or on our supply roads in grocery stores pharmacies or on the front lines of health care no one can measure one person's struggle against another there is always more to the story if you were struggling at home anxiety fear violence problematic substance abuse or other concerns there is help you can find a full range of supports through our new wellness together Canada portal that is dedicated to providing resources for mental wellness you can access the portal through the Canada CA / coronavirus website or the Canada kovat 19 app I'll end by paraphrasing Michelle herself to all our essential service heroes out there stay safe to everyone else please please stay at home and staying within your bubble give a hug to your loved ones hug it out for our heroes and for all those who are isolated while they cannot hug their own stay home save lives Canada thank you dr.

mu and now you very much dr.

new finance Bill Morneau bill please well thanks Chrystia and good afternoon today I'd like to talk a little bit about small businesses and I know my colleague Mary Ann will be talking about the same subject after me we know that so many small businesses have been hit so hard during the course of this covin 19 crisis and so what we want to talk about today is a program that will help them with their rent payments for the last week or so we've been working together with provincial and territorial partners to bring significant relief to struggling small businesses and I'm pleased to say that we now have agreements in principle with all of the territories and provinces to offer the Canada emergency commercial rent assistance program through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will offer qualifying commercial property owners forgivable loans that will cover 50% of impacted tenants rent in exchange for them providing a rent reduction of at least 75% and agreeing to a moratorium on evictions and we know that this is working together we all have to do our part in supporting those who are facing economic hardship the Canada emergency commercial rent assistance program will be available for qualifying commercial property on with tenants that pay less than $50, 000 a month in rent and that have experienced at least a 70% decrease in their revenues eligible tenants will include small businesses nonprofit and charitable organizations eligible landlords who've already stepped up and offered 75% or more reductions for April or May or who would like to retroactively Lee do so can apply we expect that this new benefit will be available starting in mid-may with the first month of it around the corner we're asking that landlords try to be flexible as they work with their tenants in the coming days news of all meats and all única all dependency we now have an agreement in principle with all provinces and territories to offer emergency assistance to commercial property owners to help small businesses that have heard in hard-hit by the crisis through the Canadian housing and mortgage corporation we will be providing the owners of commercial buildings forgivable loans that are that cover 50% of the ribs in exchange for a reduction in that rent of at least 75% and that those owners also agreed to a moratorium on evictions the Canada emergency commercial rent assistance program will be offered to the owners of commercial properties who pay less than $50, 000 per month in rent and who have seen a loss of at least 70% in their revenues eligible tenants include small businesses not-for-profit organizations and charitable organizations the building owners who have offered at least 75% relief rent relieved to their tenants can also send an application retroactive Lee this program will be available as I've made me in small businesses this supports on top of the interest-free Canada emergency business account loans with forgivable portions of up to 25 percent it's on top of also the Canada emergency wage subsidy benefit and of course it's in addition to the deferral of income taxes gst/hst payments and customs duties finally we're also providing a significant credit support through the Business Development Bank and Export Development Bank of Canada and for people the Canada mergency response benefit for those of you who are off from work or on furlough our response plan the Canada's Co vyd 19 economic response plan is among the most ambitious and generous among g7 countries because we believe that by taking action now we will be more prepared to get out of this challenge when we get through it so thank you very much thanks Christian okay thank you very much bill and now we will hear from our Minister of Small Business export promotion and International Trade marrying Mary please and sole proprietors and communities across the country more help is on the way you just heard that from the finance minister we know that in this difficult time many of you are struggling to keep those lights on and you're making credible sacrifices to help to me again stay safe like flattening the curve and in May cases snip early holes in your doors down and while we've seen a severe downturn in businesses or you've had to close your doors to Cove in nineteen it doesn't mean that your commercial rents payments have to stall we've put help out there to help with your expenses by deferring by deferring customs duties and tax payments creating a seventy five percent wage subsidy and a variety of lending supports but we certainly heard loud and clear from small business owners that you need help with your rent and today is that relief and as you've heard we're partnering with the big with the provinces and territories for businesses for experiencing hardship as a result of their rent payments for April May and June and under these rent agreements we are going to be able to provide forgivable loans to incentivize commercial property owners to help their small business tenants with rent by at least 75% and to refrain from if it is eel says he just suits me a key topic this is about supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs for those who need our help the most closed their doors can now be helped with their rent payment it also means that that local furniture store that usually relies on Main Street foot traffic and stay afloat to cover the costs of their warehouse space or that self employed beauty salon owner who can't take on clients right now she's gonna be able to keep up with her bed until it's safe to open her doors again our work is far from over and we're keep listening we're gonna keep acting and we'll kiss we'll keep supporting you every step of the way to this crisis and I want to thank you needy and small business owners for your resilience during this period now super cool thank you very much thank you very much Mary now we will hear from the minister of innovation Science and Industry Navdeep Ames no please thank you very much Christian good afternoon everyone there's just Weezer that the ECU should we put I'm happy to be here today to update you on our industrial mobilization in addressing it has been the same from the start companies reach out to us online through our portal nearly 6, 000 since the start a month ago and we look at these offers against the needs of Canadians when there's a promising match we sign a letter of intent then we work with the company to support retooling and often this means bringing companies together in new partnerships and supply chains finally we finish by signing a contract or purchase so I'll start with some progress on letters of intent for medical gowns we facilitated the transformation of construction house wrap from inter tap polymer and airbag materials from auto live into fabrics that meet the strict requirements necessary to use in the manufacturing of medical grade gowns by connecting these two firms with Canadian apparel manufacturers from across the country they can now sole medical gowns with this new made in Canada fabric effectively bypassing fabric shortages with an entirely new supply chain this has enabled us to move forward from letters of intent to contracts what mustang survival gorge corey rudl and yoga jeans these companies join the ranks of Stanfield's calcio group and candy goose as Canadian apparel company stepping up to provide critical medical gowns in total contracts with these seven companies have resulted in more than eighteen million gowns with deliveries starting this week I'll share one more example of how these new partnerships in Canadian industry have helped us in the fight against kovat nineteen lumen ultra a producer of testing reagents in New Brunswick was in short supply of chemicals for production having reached out to us through that portal that I mentioned earlier we connected lumen ultra to chemical supplies in Canada so they could keep on producing reagents critical to testing now let me move on to retooling efforts on face shields and masks Canadian manufacturers have stepped up in difficult times to retool in the fight against covert 19 and many of them are from automotive sector sector that I'm very familiar with I started my career in that sector and we're working on contracts more than a dozen companies that will deliver millions of face shields including the likes of Windsor mold Dyna PLAs and ink Smith and this allows us to meet current request from provinces and territories with Canadian supplies we've also signed a letter of intent with General Motors and they're working to retool its auto assembly plant to help with the mass production here in Canada and were assisting them in this process Bravo Leandre please kisses saw I applaud all the companies who have retooled to assist in these efforts to strengthen our domestic supply chain okay thank you now and now we'll hear from the Minister of Public Services and procurement Anita and Anita please merci beaucoup Chrystia a bow Thank You Christy Aloha everyone where I begin let me say that as someone born and raised in Nova Scotia my heart goes out to everyone who lost loved ones and friends this past weekend this tragedy comes as we work to contain kovat 19 making it ever so difficult to grieve together from spending the first 18 years of my life in Nova Scotia I know that Nova Scotians are very closely knit group in these tragic times know that I and all of Canada stands with you pondan canoe continually as we continue to fight the spread of kovat 19 my department continues to make aggressive and proactive purchases of the personal protective equipment and medical supplies that will help us through this pandemic I will be addressing international procurements domestic production and I will provide an update on our procurements given the intense global demand for equipment and supplies we are facing many challenges much of the world's supply is manufactured in China and moving materials out of that country is highly complex we have experienced challenges as the Prime Minister discussed earlier this week I want to reassure Canadians that we continue to adjust and refine our logistical and diplomatic approach on the ground not just in response to supply chain challenges but in anticipation of these challenges the aggressive approach that we are taking to expeditiously bring home supplies means that we are building in contingencies over buying in some cases and implementing rigorous progress product testing progress is being made we have received six plane loads carrying supplies from China since last Friday alone and over ten carriers have brought goods back to Canada overall from China they have helped to carry millions more n95 respirators and surgical masks into Canada that are now in the public health agency for testing I want to thank Air Canada and cargo jet for continuing to step up and deliver last weekend we also received an international shipment of an important base chemical needed for producing reagent as my colleague Minister Baines mentioned at lumen ultra in New Brunswick which will allow for more kovat 19 testing the company is now gearing up to deliver reagent for up to 500 thousand tests on a weekly basis lei podrían party saw Sumi imported products undergo rigorous testing both at the source and in Canada where they are inspected by the public health agency of Canada quality issues while unwelcome unexpected given the surge in global demand for these Goods only coming from abroad domestic production is ramping up and Canadian companies are delivering I am pleased to announce with my colleague Minister Baines that this week we have signed contracts with three more Canadian companies including Jacobs and Thompson out of Toronto Windsor mold group Windsor Ontario to produce a total of 16 million medical face shields the third company Canadian Shield out of Kitchener has moved from 3d laser as 3d printing to laser cutting technology to produce masks that can be easily sanitized for reuse these are great examples of Canadian ingenuity and innovation just we ask be a pal glasses song I'm inspired by the way that these have risen to the challenge and I'm proud to say that we continue to add to our Canadian lineup some parts of the country models suggests that there may be future outbreaks even after we get through this first peak in terms of our procurements this possibility means that we are still preparing for all eventualities in light of this reality I am pleased to announce that Stryker a company headquartered in water down and with production based in Quebec City will provide us with 82 sterilization units that have been approved by Health Canada these machines allow for the sterilization and reuse of equipment like n95 respirators extending the life cycle of this important piece of equipment in health care facilities across the country just Ouisa has done all Seca Stryker I am pleased to announce that Stryker a company headquartered in water down and with production based in Quebec City will provide us with 82 sterilization units that have been approved by Health Canada these machines allow for the sterilization and reduce of equipment like and 95 respirators The Swan de santé tulipe extending the life cycle of this important piece of equipment in health care facilities across the country we have also signed contracts to meet the potential needs for up to 10 mobile health pumps these units which are built specifically for providing respiratory care so that local health authorities can address over flows of patients if necessary we are taking every precaution to keep Canadians safe the kovat 19 situation is very worrying and stressful and Canadians want to know what we are doing to protect them we are taking new steps to be as transparent as possible and to keep Canadians up to date on our work today we are launching an online report detailing the progress that we are making on procuring ok we are gonna pull away from this federal briefing the last few minutes we have heard about procurement and the creation of a new supply chain in Canada to make some of the much-needed PPE but let's go now to Vancouver Ronde Ontario Toronto I'm sorry where Ontario premier Doug Ford is making an announcement about the provinces response to kovat 19 and his request to call in the military to help at long-term care centers here is the premium what I want you to know that your efforts that your collective efforts are paying off we saw in this week's modeling that community spread is heading in the right direction that's because we're all doing our part people are staying home self isolating and our businesses have stepped up in a big way businesses across Ontario are paying a heavy heavy price to put their people and their communities first and our small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our economy they're the cornerstones of our communities our restaurants bars or hospitality and tourism sector our mom-and-pop shops have been among the hardest hit and we all have to do everything we can to support them we're allowing bars and restaurants to sell alcohol with their delivery or takeout orders we've delivered ten billion dollars in tax deferrals WSIB relief and other supports and we worked with the federal government to provide loans and wage subsidies to help these businesses stay afloat this is a strong start but we can and we will do more we will leave nothing on the table when it comes to supporting Ontario through this and today more help is here for our small businesses we're delivering emergency commercial rent leaf to our Ontario small businesses and landlords in total over 900 million dollars will go towards helping these businesses make rent and keep people employed and I know it's not just businesses paying rent as many residential renters as well and with me the first around the corner many tenants are feeling anxious about the rent right now I want to be very clear if you're working if you have an income if you're able to you must pay rent but for the countless of people out there for those who have had their livelihoods impacted for the workers who have lost their jobs we will have your back we are frozen evictions so you won't lose your home and today I lost the prime minister to work with us on a program to support residential rent tenants I want to thank Minister Clark for his work pushing the federal government for residential rent relief my friends we're doing everything in our power to help Ontario adapt to the new reality and now we must begin the hard work of recovery early next week we'll be releasing our framework for reopening Ontario's economy it will provide a gradual and measured approach to opening up let me be clear the health and safety of Ontario will always come first I want to thank all of our wonderful small businesses our cooks cleaners and restaurant staff thank you to the people who keep food on our tables thank you to everyone who's putting others first by staying at home we're working around the clock for all of you we will get through this together and thank you and God bless the people of Ontario now on by Minister Philips up Thank You premier for it and good afternoon under the leadership of premier Ford Minister Eliot and Minister Fulton we have taken decisive action to stop the spread of Cova 19 and so have the people of Ontario including the business community who have gone above and beyond to do their part but we know that some of the necessary measures put in place have come at a cost especially for small and medium-sized business owners in particular we've heard from commercial tenants and their landlords about the challenges facing these businesses as they experience challenges paying the rent support is urgently needed and that is why we're partnering with the federal government to deliver the Ontario Canada emergency commercial rent assistance program our government has committed 241 million dollars to deliver urgent and much-needed relief of more than 900 million dollars to Ontario business tenants and their landlords to receive the support property owners will be required to reduce the rental costs of a small business tenant by 75% for April May and June and commit to a moratorium on evictions by providing support now we'll help small businesses get through this challenging time so that they can be part of the coveri when the province reopens I would like to thank the federal government and my counterpart Minister Morneau for joining us in this important investment we've worked with the federal government to bring commercial rent relief and when they stepped forward our government didn't hesitate to partner in a meaningful way to provide support for our small and medium-sized businesses I will continue to urge my federal colleagues to ensure rental relief arrives as quickly as possible it cannot come fast enough today's commitment builds on Ontario's action plan responding to Coppa 19 which provided 17 billion dollars in relief for people and employers as the premier mentioned the action plan includes 10 billion dollars in cash flow support for businesses so they can keep employees on the payroll and the lights on in their businesses from eliminating the employer health tax for 90% of businesses in this province to deferring payments and interest on provincial taxes WSIB premiums and enabling property tax relief the new Ontario jobs and recovery committee we have already started to plan for the next phase Ontario's action plan reopening our province this team will work together to get our economy moving again with a focus on job creation opportunities for growth and protecting our province from future threats I want to conclude by encouraging everyone to continue to follow the advice of our public health officials as I've said before I was confident in Ontario before Cove in 19 and I remain confident today thank you well before I take questions I just want to mention that one o'clock will be joining the rest of the country in observing a moment of silence for the victims who lost their lives in the terrible tragedy Nova Scotia was past weekend my heart breaks for the families and loved ones and I want them to know that you're all in our thoughts and our prayers during this extremely difficult time we'll take questions now I'll go to the phone line first question first question comes from a Cynthia Mulligan in Summit City news please go ahead hello premier I think I'd like to start I'm sure I speak for all at the gallery where we offer you best wishes for your family after the news about your mother-in-law okay thank you something hey I actually have a question for the Health Minister please Minister we know that thousands of surgeries have been cancelled in the last month 1, 700 cancer surgeries for example thousands of other types of surgeries I know you're you're talking about getting this back online but are you worried that there will be a lot of collateral damage to people that don't have coded 19 but will still suffer their health consequences well I know that there are many people who are waiting to have surgeries performed from orthopedic surgeries to more pressingly cancer surgeries this is something that I know is extremely anxiety provoking for many people they're worried about their own health and safety but the decisions were made based on a pandemic plan that was developed by Cancer Care Ontario so those are the cases however I would say that we are going to be returning to as soon as we're able to start resuming elective surgeries once again but because we're still in the peak of kovat 19 we still are getting numbers in over the 500s in some cases over six hundreds on a daily basis that we need to make sure that we are past the peak so that we know that we will have the hospital capacity that we need in order to get back to these surgeries we are planning for them already and as soon as the chief medical officer of health and gives us the indication that that the the peak has passed that we will be starting those surgeries again immediately do you have a timeline to that is that possibly weeks and I know how incredibly busy you are and and focused on Kovac 19 but are there things that you haven't been able to get to that are falling through the cracks for example cystic fibrosis patients before this all hit they were begging for a new medication that could be potentially life-saving and yet they are so incredibly vulnerable to Kovac 19 have you been able to push that forward through at all we're continuing to work on all of the other files that are important in health I think with the cystic fibrosis medication that is something that several of them haven't been passed through Health Canada as yet so things have been slowed down as you can I'm sure understand because if Coppa 19 but we are still continuing that work and that it's it it's it's very busy with a Kovac 19 issues but the other issues are important to many people as well so we are continuing to work on them and when the chief medical officer of Health tells us that the peak has passed we'll be able to resume many issues including the elective surgeries including the work on some of these other important files as well next question next question comes from Allison Jones from the Canadian Press please go ahead hi premier I'm the commercial rent relief program the Canadian Federation of Independent businesses raising some concerns of the program is too reliant on landlords but it will go through them rather than the businesses themselves that need help how did you in consultation with the federal government arrived at the decision to make it operate this way all passes over the Minister of Finance he's handling up oh thank you thanks very much for that question and we have been in frequent contact with with Dan Kelly at the CFIB and and the program design certainly took into account many many of the considerations that CFIB and and small business owners across Ontario and Canada had in place the the important part of partnering with the landlords is that we are expecting them as part of the program to take 25% off of that of the rent so they are an important partner in this it also ensures that we can cover the broad swath of businesses because if almost everyone has a landlord so the structure of the program was meant to make sure that in our case we think there'll be hundreds of thousands of businesses in Ontario that will be able to take advantage of this it was also meant to ensure that everybody did their part there is an expectation that the small businesses will pay 25 percent of what they would have been paying and that the landlord will be getting a substantial component 75% of their expectation but but this was designed to be able to be implemented quickly that's why we use the CFI or the sort of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation as the delivery mechanism they have relationships because of mortgage insurance with 98 percent of the other landlords already so very much designed to be comprehensive be able to cover the majority of the businesses that we're targeting and that the money could be delivered quickly thank you and for I guess either the premier or either the other ministers on the military assistance for the five priority long-term care homes what was the criteria used to decide which five homes to deploy to first some of the ones in the list obviously are not even close to the the hardest hit in terms of numbers of death thank you for the question so we've been really monitoring very carefully the status of all our homes and looking at who is in greatest need the staffing appears to be the main area of severe concern right now and that is a major part of how we've determined to go with these five homes but this is an issue that is changing and so if other areas other homes need assistance in this regard more will be deployed next question next question comes from Haley Cooper from News top 10 10 please go ahead hi Premera we've learned that fiat-chrysler is planning on restarting production in the US and Canada including the one in Branson on May 4th and we just wanted to know how much consultation was done with your government and why this date was selected because employees and their unions have expressed grave concerns about this early restart and their health and safety so what can you say to calm those concerns well I guess that's when the automotive industry right across North America is open within consulting with the automotive part manufacturers along with the automotive manufacturers and themselves I just got off the phone yesterday with the president of Toyota as well and the supply chain won't won't move forward without the the support of the region of North America I have full confidence in in the first of all the unions and non-union automotive park manufacturers and and in the actual auto manufacturers themselves they're very very responsible organizations they aren't going to jeopardize anything when it comes to health and safety and I've heard that right from the president CEO of many companies they're going to make sure that they practice social distancing they have proper PPE equipment for all their employees and I've been through majority of all the plants there they're very very clean well-organized and nothing is more important to these companies than the health and well-being of their employees and I know that they're in communications with their unions so I'm sure they'll be able to work things out and have a very safe working environment and premiere we hear you every day speaking about you just now health of employees the health of the people of this province and we want to know how you're doing your working day and night there's so much pressure on your shoulders you've expressed that your mother-in-law has tested positive so how are you caring for yourself mentally and physically well I appreciate I'm fine I feel you know knock on wood healthy as a horse right now and and it's not about our family it's about the 78, 000 families and long-term care and what they deal with day in and day out is about families that are worried about rent on May the 1st and they've lost their jobs sometimes a couple both of them lost their jobs and they have three kids that's what you call pressure when you can't can't meet a mortgage you know we're finding it tough to put food on the table but I appreciate it but believe me it's all about the families it's a frontline health care workers over at West Park and every other long-term care facility that are risking everything going in there day in and day out and that that's all I think about all day all night is how we're going to get through this how we're going to support the people of Ontario and as premier that that's my job to protect every single person to make sure I advocate to the federal government and push the federal government for instance on on rent you know rent alone we're doing it with businesses now we need to do it with the tenants and landlords for their residents and landlords I a lot of them are big landlords they're just hard-working people that might have a couple units and they're trying to survive and I want to I want to thank you know the federal government for all their help that they've been great by the way they've been absolutely fabulous but we need more we need more for residential rent I know the Prime Minister mentioned about long term care yesterday in the military I need his help Prime Minister if you're listening I need your help on long-term care we need funding and if we can provide funding that will help us get through this and have a better more sustainable long-term care facilities so that's that's all that's on my mind 24/7 literally 24/7 but thank you thank you so much for asking next question next question comes from Mike Rowley at CBC News please go ahead thing there just to pick up on a long-term care and your request to the prime minister on the funding side of things you've mentioned previously about the possibility of topping up the pay of long-term care workers and I guess some particular personal support workers any sense of when that's going to happen how much it's going to be because we've been hearing reports that personal support workers are leaving to going to other minimum-wage jobs because they know where they don't have to put their lives on the line well we're gonna take care of them Mike and nothing's a tougher job than what they're facing right now just imagine elven loved one husband and wife brother sister you know that has to go into this job every single day their their absolute heroes and I just want to tell him that help is on the way our minister of finances is working on a program right now along with the help of the federal government and that will be released very shortly when my follow up in your um when you look at starting to ease some of the restrictions maybe allowing some non-essential businesses to start open have you given any thought to whether the season might happen differently in different parts of Ontario because it seems that the a pandemic isn't having the same level of impact in Northern Ontario as it is in in southern Ontario and people in the north are wondering why the same solutions need to be imposed necessarily on them when you know the life in the north is is so much different so is there a possibility of some sort of slightly different regional season of lifting the restrictions yeah great great question like we're dealing with almost two different worlds you have the urban and you have the rural areas but we're all we're all connected the the problem without Mike and I fully understand what you're saying and I actually agree with what you're saying we just can't we just can't risk you know someone someone in Toronto going up north but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pass this over to the minister of finance he's putting a package together thank you thank you Mike so so as the premier mentioned we will be releasing Minister Eliot Premier myself the framework that will will speak to those very questions but as the Premier touched on obviously we are experiencing in the suburban and urban areas different realities of community transmission than they are in in some of the more rural areas the considerations are absolutely the movement of people and and the fact that people could move and may in fact be incentive to move from one area to another based on differential restrictions in some of those areas but this is absolutely you know what what the the framework is considering we're getting the very best health and science advice as well as looking at it from an economic perspective and any as you will see I know Saskatchewan I think to their credit there are further ahead in terms of their kovat issues released a document you know this is an issue that all of the provinces are going to be need to be considering because of the the nature of the size and scope of our provinces I should mention as well of course you you open up issues around cross-border we're in conversations there are two clusters of American states in the Surgenor New York related cluster and then a Michigan and Midwestern cluster so all of these are part of the complex considerations that will be part of the framework that comes together but as always I have to end by saying it'll be based on the best health and science advice and making sure that we protect the safety of Ontario workers and and I should mention the premier mention about Fiat Chrysler that conversation before you know one of the areas where there's a great deal of work being done is by labor and skills development Monte McNaughton in the ministry of labor designing the sort of skilled sort of safe workplace requirements and expectations with our health professionals so that that workplaces will have the sort of guidance that they need to open up those workplaces safety whether it's for the workers or for customers and some settings thank you next question next question comes from colin de mello from ctv news please go ahead hi just a question the premier of the Finance Minister about that framework that's coming up next week how closely are you going to be watching Saskatchewan roll out of there you know restarting at the economy and and could Ontario have a similar kind of five-step plan just like Saskatchewan have well as we've been saying Colin the first priority is making sure we we protect the health and well-being of the people of Ontario and as you know Saskatchewan has such a much much smaller population a large area and a lot of farming communities as well in Saskatchewan and I just I just got to tell you I think the world of premier Scott Moe he's one of the the champions of all the premiers we get along very well but we we always look at other models right across the province and actually we look at models right around the world see what's working what's not working and take the best ideas off them okay and just a follow-up in your in Quebec has asked 4, 000 more members of the Canadian Armed Forces to come in to help shore up the support that they only had so I know Ontario has 250 now I mean could there be a possibility that Ontario would need more members of the military to come in to help you more beleaguered long term care homes as we are you know continuing to go through these crisis yeah I had a good conversation with premier Legault last night in it and boy they're there and they're in tough tough Haulover and Quebec right now and you know we just shared advice back and forth but right now we've asked hospitals get involved public health to be involved volunteer x' retired nurses to come back as well as the military but we had a good conversation today with long-term care and the plan moving forward we have a solid plan so right now calling to answer your question we're all right I just again I'm so grateful for the you know the military these people are incredible and I mentioned it yesterday but when general Vance said you know premier something in the toughest places that you have there they're incredible they're heroes our men and women part of our military absolutely amazing so we welcome them with open arms and I just want to wish Francois Legault all the all the best and get back we think we have a tough time here it's a lot tougher in Quebec and he needs the resources and again I'm going to repeat my request to the Prime Minister that both premier legal and myself will ask the prime minister for support in long term care we all agree you know military shouldn't be their full-time job on this and but we need we need funding off the federal government and again I want to thank the federal government we are so grateful for all the funding they've given us so far they've been true partners so thank you next question next call away from an Lamoureux from Radio Canada please go ahead on a couple of issues that the premier highlighted there there are now five long-term care centers in Ontario where 250 Canadian soldiers will be helping in some of the hardest hit long-term care centers the premier also talked about a plea that he plans to make or he did make publicly but will make on the phone in about an hour's time to the Prime Minister about residential relief a rent relief which has already happened was announced today on the commercial front by the Prime Minister but the Premier's that residential rent is also an issue and finally Ontario says that like other provinces next week it will announce a plan to begin easing some restrictions that of course will be phased in over time and there were no dates given but they plan to start outlining how that might happen next week and that too will be a point of conversation between the Prime Minister and premiers who are speaking at two o'clock Eastern for a couple of hours not only about reopening economies and and how you coordinate that across the country but also about essential workers while they did reach this agreement on commercial rent today there is still the ongoing issue of how to better help support financially essential workers in this country and the provinces are very much interested in some additional financial aid from the federal government on that front as well.