Good evening, let’s start with today’s top coronavirus stories:
Ottawa, provinces in talks to reopen economy in stages; Trudeau and Scheer face criticism over travel
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today resumed his daily press briefings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying Ottawa and the provinces are in talks about reopening the economy in phases, but Canadians should assume the current restrictions will be in place for weeks.
He also said more is coming this week to address situations in which businesses and individuals don’t qualify for the federal support programs that have already been announced.
Ottawa is spending $130-million to help communities in the North, he said, with more than half the money being sent to the three territorial governments for their health and social services.
Separately, both Trudeau and Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer were forced to defend trips they took with their families that appear to flout the physical-distancing measures they’ve spent weeks imploring people to observe. Trudeau travelled from Ottawa into Quebec spend the weekend with his family. Scheer flew on a government jet with his spouse and five kids from Regina to Ottawa in anticipation of the return of Parliament.
Meanwhile, government officials have been unable to meet for nearly three months with Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor who are imprisoned in China because jails there are closed to visitors during the pandemic. They’ve been held there since December, 2018, in apparent retaliation for the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of U.S. officials. A Global Affairs spokeswoman says the government is trying to find a way to gain access to Kovrig and Sparvor.
On the international front: U.S. President Donald Trump’s May 1 target for restarting the economy is “overly optimistic,” his top infectious disease adviser Anthony Fauci said today, after a battle erupted between Trump and state governors over who has the power to lift restrictions.
The number of new cases of COVID-19 is easing in some parts of Europe, including Italy and Spain, but outbreaks are still growing in Britain and Turkey, the World Health Organization says. “The overall world outbreak, 90 per cent of cases are coming from Europe and the United States of America. So we are certainly not seeing the peak yet,” a spokeswoman told a briefing.
India has extended until May 3 a countrywide lockdown for its 1.3 billion people as the number of coronavirus cases crossed 10,000 despite a three-week shutdown.
Economy: The International Monetary Fund has released its latest economic outlook for the year. It is forecasting that the global economy will contract by 3 per cent and Canada’s will shrink by 6.2 per cent. It also projects they would rebound 5.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively, if “the pandemic fades in the second half of 2020 and containment efforts can be gradually unwound.”
Business: Johnson & Johnson is bucking the trend by increasing its dividend while lowering its full 2020 forecast, saying it expects its medical device business to begin recovering in the fourth quarter as delayed elective medical procedures start to resume.
Sports: The Tour de France has been added to the list of sporting events called off in the wake of the pandemic. The world’s most famous cycling race may still happen this year, but will not start on June 27 in Nice as scheduled.
Keep up to date: Catch up on the latest developments in today’s digest here, including Ontario’s schools will not reopen on May 4.
Know the rules: Here is a province-by-province guide to what’s allowed and open, or closed and banned.
Do you have a story or anecdote you’d like to share about the people fighting COVID19 on the frontline? Tell us about the great things our health-care workers are doing - and what you’re doing to thank them - and we’ll publish a selection in The Globe and Mail in print and online. You can use the form here or send an e-mail to audience@globeandmail.com.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Obama endorses Biden: Former U.S. president Barack Obama has endorsed his former vice-president, Joe Biden, giving the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee a boost from the party’s biggest fundraiser and one of its most popular figures.
Colby Cave Memorial Fund launched: The Edmonton Oilers organization and Colby Cave’s family have created a memorial fund to support mental health initiatives and programs providing access to sports for underprivileged children. The 25-year-old Oilers forward died on Saturday after being placed in a medically induced coma and undergoing emergency surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain.
Trebek pens memoir: Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, who was diagnosed last year with stage four pancreatic cancer, has written a memoir. The Answer Is: Reflections on My Life will be published July 21, the day before his 80th birthday.
Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner dies: New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner, oldest son of George Steinbrenner, has died at his Florida home from “a longstanding health issue,” the team announced. He was 63.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stocks jumped today as optimism that the Trump administration could move to ease coronavirus lockdowns overshadowed worrying earnings reports from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 560.43 points or 2.4 per cent, to 23,951.2 the S&P 500 gained 84.12 points or 3.05 per cent to 2,845.75 and the Nasdaq Composite added 323.32 points or 3.95 per cent to end at 8,515.74.
Canada’s main stock index resumed its climb in a broad-based rally despite another drop in crude oil prices. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 182.49 points or 1.3 per cent at 14,258.43.
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TALKING POINTS
The next COVID-19 crisis? Canada’s cash-strapped cities
“Cities will need help. But they are also going to have to make sacrifices – big ones. Cities like Vancouver can’t expect to just sit on billions of dollars in real-estate holdings (with significant cash assets) and cry poor at the same time.” - Gary Mason
Avoid participating in Canada Takeout Day if you care about the health of our nation
“No matter how well-intentioned, a large-scale celebration that puts undue pressure on these fragile food operations is a potential recipe for disaster.” - Alexandra Gill
LIVING BETTER
With no end yet in sight to physical distancing, some Canadians may be feeling overwhelmed as they juggle domestic duties, childcare, homeschooling and working from home. That can lead to parental burnout, one psychologist says, stemming from increased stressors and depleted resources. Symptoms include emotional distancing and losing pleasure in being with your kids. Here are some ways to help restore balance, including redistributing household chores and holding regular family meetings.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
‘A ghost town’: With tourist access cut off, Banff unemployment soars
The streets of Banff, Alta., sit empty on April 13, 2020. (Photo by Todd Korol for The Globe and Mail)Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
Banff Avenue is deserted. The Goat’s Eye Express is swinging empty above Sunshine Village. The tourists, apple-cheeked after a bluebird day on the local mountains, are long gone. The gates to Banff National Park – the oldest in the country – swung shut behind them to help slow the spread of COVID-19, which to date has killed 44 in Alberta, with 1,651 confirmed cases. For now, only essential traffic is allowed through.
The town’s mayor, Karen Sorensen, says hotels are running at about 3-per-cent occupancy, and at least 5,000 people have been laid off. Unemployment in the mountain town has hit 85 per cent, according to local MLA Miranda Rosin.
Banff might be one of the communities hit hardest by the country’s pandemic-related economic collapse, but it’s not alone. A number of Canadian tourism hotspots, from Tofino, B.C., on the west coast of Vancouver Island, to Cavendish, PEI, are bracing for a blow. Data from the Tourism Industry Association of Canada says the travel sector could lose up to $6-billion a month during the pandemic and nearly 800,000 jobs in total. Read Nancy MacDonald’s full story here.
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