Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it's a fundamental principle of life in Canada that no one should have to go to work if they don't feel safe doing so. Trudeau made the comments today as the country confronted some of the worst unemployment numbers in history — nearly two million jobs lost last month and an unemployment rate of 13 per cent.
Metro Vancouver's transportation authority has reversed its plans to cut service and rescinded layoff notices to 1,500 people as it works out an emergency funding plan with the provincial government. Translink and the province say in a joint news release that they are working on a comprehensive solution to address the financial impact on the service because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government's emergency wage-subsidy program will be extended beyond its early-June endpoint. The program covers 75 per cent of worker pay up to $847 a week to try to help employers keep employees on the job in the face of steep declines in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
British Columbia Finance Minister Carole James says she doesn't want to sugar coat what will be a hard road ahead as labour force figures show the province lost a quarter of a million jobs in April. Combined with jobless figures in March, almost 400,000 people were unemployed.
A new survey suggests the COVID-19 pandemic has given Canadians almost absolute trust in doctors. The Proof Strategies annual trust index is usually completed in January but when Canada went into a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus the public-relations firm decided to ask the same questions again in early May.
Greyhound Canada is temporarily slamming the brakes on all of its bus routes and services as ridership plummets amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The transportation company says starting May 13 it will halt all routes until passenger demand recovers.
