By Jack Hauen and Sneh Duggal
Liberals take on "virtual question period"
With Ontario's legislature currently on hiatus due to COVID-19, the provincial Liberals decided to take a virtual approach to question period, listing the items they would have grilled the Progressive Conservative government on if the House were sitting.
Here's what questions we'd ask Premier @fordnation today in Question Period: https://t.co/IRbhpcQ4pQ#onpoli #cdnpoli
— Ontario Liberal Party | Parti Libéral de l'Ontario (@OntLiberal) April 27, 2020
The Liberals stressed the importance of "broad-based testing" and "effective contact tracing" as governments move to reopen their economies.
"Can Premier (Doug) Ford please provide a detailed and transparent explanation as to why Ontario has yet to hit its daily capacity for testing, even though he expressed his 'impatience' about this situation several weeks ago?" the Liberals said their first question would be.
The province said Monday in its daily release of COVID-19 data that 12,550 tests had been done the previous day. Premier Ford said on April 8 that he wanted to see a boost in testing to align with the province's capacity to analyze around 13,000 tests at the time. Officials later released a testing strategy that outlined a goal of 14,000 tests by April 29, but this goal was less than the 18,900 tests health officials had previously said they wanted to reach by April 17.
The Liberals also offered a follow-up question: "Can Premier Ford explain if he believes it's safe to re-open Ontario's economy if we are not able to do enough testing to guarantee our safety?"
The PC government released its framework for reopening the economy on Monday afternoon and included in its criteria "ongoing testing" and new ways of testing.
Federal wage subsidy
Ottawa opened applications on Monday for its 75-per-cent wage subsidy for businesses.
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) provides companies with up to $847 per employee per week for up to 12 weeks, and is retroactive to March 15. Employers should start to receive the benefits on May 7, the federal government said in a release.
"This $73 billion benefit will put Canadians back on the payroll and help our economy stabilize as we continue our fight against COVID-19 and look forward to our economic recovery from the crisis," National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier said.
Employers can apply for the CEWS through the Canada Revenue Agency.
New COVID-19 cases in Ontario
The province reported 424 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, for a total of 14,856 since the start of the pandemic. There have been 8,525 resolved cases, and 892 people have died.
The province reported 12,550 tests completed on Sunday.
Hospitalizations stand at 945, up from 800 one week ago. Of those patients, 241 are in the ICU — and 191 of those are on ventilators. Health Minister Christine Elliott said the rise in hospitalizations was partly due to patients being moved from long-term care homes into hospitals.
"The fact does remain that we have been able to expand our hospital capacity significantly in order to deal with COVID-19," she said in the government's press conference Monday afternoon.
Elliott added that cancer surgeries will be "at the top of the list" once elective surgeries are able to return.
The ministry of long-term care reports a total of 2,523 confirmed coronavirus cases in long-term care home residents, and another 1,187 for staff.
TTC workers call for emergency transit funding
The union representing Toronto Transit Commission workers says layoffs and service cuts are coming unless the federal and provincial governments step in with financial help.
The sharp decrease in ridership has caused a $90-million drop in monthly revenue, ATU Local 113 said in a release. The TTC is now planning service cuts and temporary layoffs for 1,200 workers, it said.
“Cuts will have dire consequences for TTC workers and riders,” ATU Local 113 President Carlos Santos said. “We are now on the brink of service cuts that will hurt all Torontonians, especially the essential, low-income workers who depend on the TTC every day to get to work at hospitals, nursing homes, grocery stores and pharmacies. Having less TTC service goes against physical distancing and will lead to crowding on many routes, increasing risk for coronavirus spread to those who are most vulnerable in Toronto.”
Santos pointed out that transit workers are excluded from the provincial government's $4-per-hour pay boost for front-line workers during the crisis.
Photo Credit: Steve Russell/Toronto Star
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