Morneau says Ottawa will announce support for those quarantined due to COVID-19

TORONTO — The federal government is preparing to undertake measures designed to protect Canadians and the country’s economy from the outbreak of a novel form of coronavirus.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Friday that the federal government will soon announce support for Canadians who are quarantined to prevent the spread of the virus known as COVID-19.

He also said the government will increase its risk adjustment provision in its forthcoming budget to ensure that it is ready and able to respond to COVID-19, which has caused dramatic drops in the stock market and has sickened dozens of Canadians and hundreds of thousands more globally.

Morneau, however, would not say how much he is willing to increase the risk adjustment.

“It’s important to keep in mind that what this will mean for the Canadian economy ultimately depends on the depth and geographical spread of the virus and these things cannot be known, until they are known,” he said in a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto.

“Our government is planning for every contingency.”

While oil prices have dropped and many Canadians have seen their travel plans upended by the virus, Morneau said it is too early to predict all of the industries that may be affected.

Given the uncertainty, the government will continue to monitor the impact and Morneau promises it has the tools to respond swiftly.

Asked following his speech what those tools are, Morneau would only say: “We have the capacity to both help businesses if they go through challenges, if that happens, or individuals if they find themselves either having to be away from work for a short period of time or a longer period of time.”

Morneau said he has been in touch with his international counterparts to decide how to address the outbreak.

At a G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, he said he talked about the need to enhance global risk monitoring and on Tuesday he discussed with his G7 counterparts “the potential for greater collaboration and co-ordination.”

The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate target by half a percentage point on Wednesday in hopes of helping the country’s economy cope with the impact of COVID-19. The move followed a decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut its key interest rate by the same amount on Tuesday.

Morneau also used his speech to address blockades in February that resulted in cancelled train service and temporary layoffs as demonstrators across the country tried to stop construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in B.C. that’s opposed by Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs.

Demonstrators blocked rail lines in B.C., Ontario and Quebec for weeks as critics called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step in and stop the protesting with immediate police force. Trudeau instead opted to allow his ministers to engage in discussions with demonstrators to resolve their concerns.

“From the very beginning, we knew that we could not cut corners and that dialogue, no matter how difficult, was the path we had to follow,” Morneau said.

“While many were critical, our approach has delivered results.”

Morneau said that he sees the issues around the blockades as being “largely resolved,” but added, “will things happen again? I can’t predict.”

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press