The Victoria Day weekend has long been the unofficial kick-off to outdoor season in Canada. But the COVID-19 pandemic has upended nearly every element of Canadian life, as physical distancing requirements forced the partial shutdown of the economy.
Provinces looking to reopen their economies will need to scale up and co-ordinate testing and contact-tracing to contain future outbreaks of COVID-19, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada and the United States are both "very comfortable" with their mutual ban on non-essential cross-border travel, but Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland won't say if the Americans want to extend the restrictions beyond June 21.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says plans to beef up Canada's national climate action plan and ban some single-use plastics will likely be delayed because of COVID-19.
A federal wage subsidy for employees in businesses hit hard by COVID-19 will last at least through the summer and the federal government is asking companies to rehire laid off staff — many of whom have received aid from an emergency benefit that has gone over budget.
British Columbia's minister responsible for multiculturalism says she can no longer remain silent about the rising number of hate crimes toward people of Asian heritage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
