Government needs to act quickly to deal with coronavirus: School of Public Policy

By Derek Craddock

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – As more cases of COVID-19 are reported in Canada, the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy says all levels of government need to work together to deal with the crisis.

The school released a list of recommendations Wednesday morning on what the federal government can do to help those affected by the coronavirus.

“We have to start thinking about really making sure we are prepared for the number of cases that are going to unfold,” said Lindsay Tedds with the school. “We also have to think about making sure we minimize transmission and then we also have to think about how to deal with the global economic recessions.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced $1 billion in funding for provinces to deal with the virus.

That includes money to ensure items like surgical masks and face shields are well stocked for health authorities.

The government is also lifting the one week waiting period to access employment insurance benefits for those missing work while sick.

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While the changes to EI are welcome, The School of Public Policy was hoping for another measure.

“We don’t have universal paid sick leave and we are going to need this,” said Tedds. “We need to make sure people stay home when they are sick and those people need to have the incentive to do so and paid sick leave is how you do this.”

Tedds added countries like Singapore already have universal sick leave in place and the UK is moving towards implementing it.

Other recommendations the school is making to the government include support for low-income households and ways to stimulate the economy.

“We’ll need to expedite tax refunds,” said Tedds. “We can also do top-ups to tax credits that are already going out like the GST/HST tax credit, the Canada Child Benefit, guaranteed income supplements to seniors.”

Tedds said now is not the time for austerity measures as that would leave vulnerable people to weather COVID-19 alone.

She said governments need to forget about their current financial plans and help those affected by the virus.

“Now is a time to put a brake on everything else you were thinking of and address this with the seriousness that it needs to be addressed with.”

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