"Businesses urge steady, cautious approach to restarting Canadian economy
The organization representing Canada’s largest corporations is urging the country’s first ministers to take a co-ordinated and cautious approach to reopening the economy and lifting stay-at-home orders to combat the coronavirus.
Goldy Hyder, president of the Business Council of Canada, wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers and territorial leaders before their weekly meeting Thursday evening, urging them to listen to health authorities before restarting the economy.
“Governments should not feel pressured to move faster than public health considerations permit. A slow, steady and carefully calibrated approach to restarting the economy is the best possible way to maintain public confidence and avoid future lockdowns,” Mr. Hyder wrote. “Decisions should be based on sound medical analysis, accompanied by widespread, systematic testing and contact tracing of positive cases.”
Earlier this week, Mr. Trudeau said Ottawa and the provinces are in discussions about reopening the Canadian economy in phases, but emphasized that Canadians should assume the current restrictions will be in place for weeks.
On Thursday, Mr. Trudeau repeated his view that current restrictions will need to continue for weeks. He said a phased-in reopening of the economy cannot begin until measures are in place for “massive” testing and contact tracing, in addition to clear evidence that cases have declined.
“I think everyone understands that until we have a vaccine, until we are in a place where there is proper treatment, there is a massive amount of testing, we are not going to be able to talk about getting back to normal,” he said. “It would be absolutely disastrous to open up too early or too quickly and have another wave hit us that could be just as bad as this one and find ourselves in a situation of having to go back into quarantine, the way we are right now, and have everything that we’ve done these past few weeks be for nothing.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/pol...ady-cautious-approach-to-restarting-canadian/
The organization representing Canada’s largest corporations is urging the country’s first ministers to take a co-ordinated and cautious approach to reopening the economy and lifting stay-at-home orders to combat the coronavirus.
Goldy Hyder, president of the Business Council of Canada, wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers and territorial leaders before their weekly meeting Thursday evening, urging them to listen to health authorities before restarting the economy.
“Governments should not feel pressured to move faster than public health considerations permit. A slow, steady and carefully calibrated approach to restarting the economy is the best possible way to maintain public confidence and avoid future lockdowns,” Mr. Hyder wrote. “Decisions should be based on sound medical analysis, accompanied by widespread, systematic testing and contact tracing of positive cases.”
Earlier this week, Mr. Trudeau said Ottawa and the provinces are in discussions about reopening the Canadian economy in phases, but emphasized that Canadians should assume the current restrictions will be in place for weeks.
On Thursday, Mr. Trudeau repeated his view that current restrictions will need to continue for weeks. He said a phased-in reopening of the economy cannot begin until measures are in place for “massive” testing and contact tracing, in addition to clear evidence that cases have declined.
“I think everyone understands that until we have a vaccine, until we are in a place where there is proper treatment, there is a massive amount of testing, we are not going to be able to talk about getting back to normal,” he said. “It would be absolutely disastrous to open up too early or too quickly and have another wave hit us that could be just as bad as this one and find ourselves in a situation of having to go back into quarantine, the way we are right now, and have everything that we’ve done these past few weeks be for nothing.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/pol...ady-cautious-approach-to-restarting-canadian/
