The Evening Update newsletter will pause on Monday for the Victoria Day holiday, but will return on Tuesday.
Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Federal wage subsidy to be extended for three months
The federal government will continue the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) until the end of August. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he hoped the news would encourage business owners to bring back their employees. The eligibility parameters of the program will also be broadened.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce welcomed the extension, but the CFIB also called for an expansion of the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) and a major overhaul of the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said it also welcomed the extension of the wage subsidy program but it would like to see improvements to ensure more businesses qualify.
Earlier Friday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer urged the government to put out a forward-looking fiscal roadmap so Canadians can see a spending plan. A federal budget has yet to be released.
Anyone eligible for the Old Age Security pension, even high-income individuals, will get seniors’ benefit of $300
Without an income limit on access to the $2.5-billion in benefits rolled out this week for seniors, relief money will end up going to those who don’t really need it.
People earning up to $128,137 receive at least some payment under Old Age Security, and will receive the emergency benefit of $300, which is tax-free.
Ottawa has provided some focused relief for lower-income seniors, however, in the form of an additional $200 payment to all recipients of the Guaranteed Income Supplement. That program supports those whose individual income is no higher than $18,600 or whose household income is no higher than $34,416.
Seniors in Manitoba: When they receive a special cheque from the provincial government later this month, they’ll also get a thank-you letter from Premier Brian Pallister. Pallister insists the message is non-partisan.
He announced last week that every senior, regardless of income level, would get $200 to help deal with extra costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as grocery deliveries.
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Montreal streets: The city will convert hundreds of kilometres of streets into bike and pedestrian corridors to help people move around easier while adhering to public health guidelines.
Job losses in Ontario: A report from the province’s Financial Accountability Officer says 2.2 million people have been affected by the COVID-19 shutdown, and an estimated 1.1 million workers have lost their jobs altogether. According to Statistics Canada, Ontario’s unemployment rate climbed to 11.3 per cent in April, the highest since 1993.
Optional, part-time return to B.C. schools: Students in British Columbia can go back to school June 1 on a part-time, optional basis with no pressure on parents to send their kids to class, says Premier John Horgan. B.C. has managed to flatten the COVID-19 curve and the province is about to start lifting restrictions on some businesses and activities next week, which will be followed by a gradual increase in students returning to classrooms next month.
Supply-chain issues lower Canada’s N95 order: The total number of the respirator masks sought by the government dropped by almost 19 million in the first week of May because of “contract cancellations or amendments,” according to a statement from the office of Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand. On May 1, the government said it had orders for 154.4 million N95s. On May 8, that number was updated to 135.6 million.
International news: After six weeks of service, the much-hailed NHS Nightingale – London’s temporary coronavirus hospital – will wind down operations Friday. The care centre, with a capacity for 4,000 beds, never received patients in the numbers officials anticipated, despite the country grappling with one of the worst outbreaks in the world.
In the United States, President Donald Trump expressed further dissatisfaction with China over the coronavirus outbreak, saying he has no interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping right now and going so far as to suggest he could cut ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
NHS workers leave the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the ExCel centre in London, with Hunter Wellington Boots that they have been gifted. The hospital is to stop admitting new patients following limited demand for its services.Kirsty O'Connor/PA
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Trudeau urged to reverse decision on resuming approval of arms permits for exports to Saudi Arabia
Human rights advocates, including Amnesty International, Project Ploughshares and Oxfam, say the rationale the federal government used to justify its policy reversal on permitting arms exports to Saudi Arabia, a country with one of the worst human-rights records, is deeply flawed.
Ottawa announced last month it was lifting a moratorium on the approval of new arms exports to Riyadh, which was imposed in the fall of 2018 after the Saudi-orchestrated murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and amid an escalating war the desert kingdom has been waging in neighbouring Yemen.
MARKET WATCH
North America’s main indexes closed higher Friday as investors weighed concerns about sabre-rattling from the U.S. against China and weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data against growing optimism that easing coronavirus restrictions would boost activity this month. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 129.24 points at 14,638.90 as gains in energy and materials stocks offset losses in finance and industrials. However, the market is down 2.2 per cent for the week. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 60.08 points at 23,685.42. The S&P 500 index was up 11.20 points at 2,863.70, while the Nasdaq composite was up 70.84 points at 9,014.56.
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TALKING POINTS
The gig is up: Canada’s independent workers are falling through the cracks
Navneet Alang:. “In 2016, Statistics Canada pegged the share of gig workers at 8.2 per cent. Given that numerous major gig-service companies didn’t even exist in Canada at that point, that number is undoubtedly even higher now. And as the COVID-19 pandemic exposes the deep flaws in our society, perhaps it is time to confront the reality and structures of gig work so we can reframe how we think about employment as a whole.”
To kick-start Alberta’s return to the global economy, we need to think local first
Bruce Graham: “There will be many lessons coming out of this pandemic, and one is that where you live, where you work and where you need to be to do business will be less relevant. This will put increased stress on those communities that generate a disproportionate amount of their property-tax revenue from their commercial-assessment base, particularly office and retail properties that may see reduced demand after the crisis.”
LIVING BETTER
Globe Book Club: A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs takes on the absurdity of conspiracy theories
While the book, published in March, was written before the COVID-19 pandemic, it comes out at a time when some far-fetched theories have attracted even mainstream attention. This crime novel feels awfully relevant as coronavirus conspiracy theories swirl in cyberspace.
Reichs, who divides her time between Montreal and North and South Carolina, will be the first author in The Globe and Mail’s new virtual Book Club, with a livestream on Wednesday, May 20, at 8 p.m. ET.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Illustration by Mary Kirkpatrick
"Six years of my childhood in England were overshadowed by a war. Bombs and rockets were falling, sometimes daily and sometimes too close to my suburban home. And now children have suddenly found their lives dramatically changed by what is described as a war against a virus.
“I’m wondering if my great granddaughters will come out of this war with some childhood memories that mirror Granny’s? Britain during the Second World War was fighting to keep the enemy away from our shores while making massive preparations to end its power: physical distancing and finding a vaccine are perhaps the equivalents in the war against COVID-19.”
Read Gillian Sandeman’s First Person piece here.
Evening Update is written by Jamie Ross. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.