Trudeau confirms, millions of desperately needed masks to arrive in Canada within 48 hours
“The full transcript of the Prime Ministers Speech”
Bonjour a tous.
The last few weeks have been hard in different ways for everyone. You’re worried about your job or your business. You’re concerned about your health, or the health of an elderly parent. No matter what this has meant for you, I know you’re looking for answers, knowing where we are now, and where we might be in the coming weeks and months is how we can all figure out our response.
For you, that could be planning on how to make sure the kids keep learning, even though they’re at home. For our government, the numbers and data compiled by our experts are critical to understanding the scope of this pandemic, and informing the decisions we make to keep you safe, and we’ve made sure you can access the most reliable, accurate information available to us at canada.ca/coronavirus.
We’re going to keep releasing up-to-date data on a daily basis and using it to inform our decisions. And we’ll continue working with the provinces and territories on getting new information to have a complete national picture that we’ll share with you.
Regardless of the varying models or predictions, one thing is consistently clear: the measures that have been put in place by all orders of government, from closing schools to staying home are saving lives. But this will only keep working if everyone continues to do their part.
If everyone takes their duty to nurses and doctors, to the elderly and to the vulnerable seriously. As seriously as if it were the life of their parent, or their child on the line — because it is. The cashier at the store is someone’s brother.
The paramedic saving lives is someone’s wife. That’s what’s at stake here — the lives of the people we love, the lives of the people our neighbours love. So do your part. Wash your hands. Stay two metres away from each other. And above all, stay home.
[speaking in French] ….It’s really at home that most of us feel safest at this current time. But just imagine if you were more scared of staying at home than actually going out and confronting this pandemic. Unfortunately, that’s the reality for far too many Canadians, that’s the daily lives of women who are victims of domestic violence….
No one should have to choose between being somewhere they’re unsafe and risking getting COVID-19. That’s why we’ve invested $40 million for women’s shelters and sexual assault centres across the country. And for Indigenous women and children fleeing violence, we’re providing $10 million for emergency shelters.
For other shelters, we’ve boosted funding for the Reaching Home program by over $157 million. This will help buy things like physical barriers or rent new space to keep people safe. The communities that need this funding have now been identified and money is getting to them. For people from Victoria to Hamilton and Regina to St. John’s, help has arrived.
I know we’re asking a lot right now — to stay home, to not see friends, to close your business temporarily. It’s not easy. I get that. But these sacrifices are necessary. The price of acting otherwise is just too steep.
To those who are sick right now, or have family in hospital in the ICU. To those who’ve lost a loved one, or a friend. We’re thinking of you, we’re here for you, and you remind us of what’s on the line. We all need to take physical distancing very seriously.
Done right, these measures will save lives and bridge us slowly but surely back to normal. At the same time, we’re working around the clock to get Canada the resources we need. In the next 48 hours, we will be receiving a shipment of millions of masks by a chartered cargo flight.
We’re also working with provinces to transport their medical supplies when possible, items ordered by Quebec will be on this flight. Our government has also leased a warehouse in China to help collect and distribute these items as quickly as possible. And going forward, the flights we’re chartering to get the materials here include Canadian companies Cargojet and Air Canada.
I want to take a moment to thank everyone — whether you are working in a warehouse, flying the plane or part of the ground crew for your dedication….
So this weekend, stay at home. Protect your loved ones and our front-line workers. Save lives.
I want to take a moment to talk to kids again today. Even at home, there’s lots of stuff going on, there’s lots of stuff to do. I’ll be holding a video conference tomorrow with Dr Tam to talk through some of your questions. I know a lot of you have sent them in and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Tomorrow you’ll also have a chance to ask someone who knows better than anyone else about staying inside — an astronaut. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will be live on YouTube tomorrow to talk with you, so ask your parents to help send in a question ahead of time.
[speaking in French] …. To protect your wages and the economy, we have developed a three-step plan which will help us to protect jobs, to support small businesses and to help those who have lost their income. To protect your health and the health of all our essential workers, we’re working with several businesses to manufacture and distribute medical supplies, and also PPEs as well.
We will be helping you, we’ll help you to get through this storm. We need you to do your share as well. We need you to step up to the plate. I know I can count on you. This weekend, stay home, please. Please save our front-line workers. Save lives.
Thank you very much.
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