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Trudeau offers $14B to provinces for anti-COVID-19 efforts through rest of year

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Jun, 2020 05:47 PM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is offering $14 billion to the provincial and territorial governments for measures to keep COVID-19 at bay.

Trudeau says Canadians have sacrificed too much to allow a mishandled resumption of economic activity to eliminate the progress against the disease.

He says everyone in Canada needs the same tools but local situations vary and the provincial and territorial governments "have a very clear idea" of what is needed.

There will be money to buy personal protective equipment for front-line health workers, for child care facilities to be able to reopen safely, and for municipal governments to help keep city services like transit running.

There will also be funds for workers to get up to 10 days of paid sick leave if they don't already have such benefits.

How the money is distributed will depend on reaching what Trudeau calls a "safe-restart agreement" between the federal government and each province or territory.

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