Did you know, that if one spouse works full time, and the other receives ODSP Disability income, if that working spouse, gets furloughed, or laid off, and applies for the Covid 19 federal support benefit, ODSP will claw back those funds from the ODSP Recipients benefit dollar for dollar? How does this allow workers, to support their vulnerable family members? This was the answer from the ODSP Disability office, to my disabled husband, who recently suffered a heart attack! Why is this happening during a National Emergency and global pandemic? What use, will the Federal Assistance be, to a furloughed worker, if it is deducted dollar for dollar by the Province? It leaves us in the same reduced financial situation! No income from work, and having to live solely, on the paltry amount left over after clawbacks by ODSP? How can a worker help his/her vulnerable family members to prepare for sheltering at home, and purchase enough supplies to survive, in this national and global pandemic? Yet, both Federal and Provincial Governments strongly advise us to stay home? With the ODSP mandates, as they stand, how is this possible? I find it strange that neither the Federal Government, nor Provincial Government, has even addressed this? There is literally a media blackout on these questions. Why is this so? In calling a certain MPP's office, to ask these same questions, one of the responses given to me by his Representative, was; "We don't want anyone defrauding the system...not you of course!" This obviously insensitive, and cruel comment, should not be directed to the public by a Representative, speaking on behalf of an elected Official! Especially during a health crisis! I don't see how a worker, asking legitimate questions, has anything to with "defrauding" the Province! I don't understand why no one is addressing ODSP Disability Recipients, directly, in their public messages, to alleviate the stress and uncertainty, to answer any questions during a global pandemic? Seems cruel to ignore the most vulnerable...when the Provincial Government "claims" they wish to "protect ALL the People in Ontario?" Does the Federal Government know that this is happening, at the provincial level, during this crisis? The discretionary funds promised by the Provincial Government, to ODSP Recipients are not available at ODSP Offices. ODSP Caseworkers, whom have received many calls, have no information to offer, nor funding! There are many, including low-income senior citizens and ODSP Disability Recipients, out of food and supplies. Not only due to having little or no funding, but unable to obtain their necessities due to others' hoarding!

This will give all of us some hope during the pandemic and the future.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the country are in dire need of support during this crisis, but they are excluded from accessing the support of CERB. Many students do not qualify. If students made less than $5K in 2019, they don’t qualify — even if they didn’t have time to earn an income on top of full-time studies. Graduating students that are entering the job market do not qualify even though they have no income and are likely carrying heavy debt loads. People collecting disability benefits could be left behind. If you’ve lost a job or other income source to COVID-19, but you also receive some form of support — like disability pay — you don’t qualify. Many part-time workers are not eligible. Part-time workers who have had their hours cut back, but still have some income,do not qualify. If someone has two jobs and loses one of them, they cannot access CERB. Even if their income is reduced to almost nothing, they won’t be able to access the CERB. These exclusions are real people who — without support from CERB — won’t be able to pay their bills or feed their kids. In a crisis of this magnitude, we need to make sure everyone has their basic needs met. . But the CERB program as it currently stands excludes millions. We still have a chance to make it better — a chance to ensure no one is left behind. Will you add your name?

Many people are making $11.30- $27 an hour to risk their safety, and/or endanger their vulnerable housemates. This is grotesquely unacceptable. Personal care workers across Canada make $11-15 an hour work in close contact with vulnerable and sick people all day. As an RPN/LPN in Ontario, I can make $22 an hour being a nurse in my town. Is that enough to put me and my elderly parents that I live with the highest risk situation our country has seen in years? Meanwhile white collar workers are relying on us all to provide them with food, groceries, clean long-term care homes, and healthcare, while they get to remain in the safety of their nice condos and houses that they own. COVID-19 has made many more poor people risk their safety than wealthier ones, and in a rich and developed nation, that is shameful. Please sign this and share widely, - a fellow concerned citizen

This fund was promised in mid March to help Albertans affected by Covid-19 as an advance fund to the one put forward by the Federal Government that won't be accessible until April. To date, the Alberta relief website still states that the information on how to apply is coming soon. It feels like Mr Kenny is playing a game of dodgeball with us. Myself and many others have been self isolating due to illness, or looking after someone who is. We need this package yesterday.

This would stream line the entire process. There would be no need for EI claims (therefore no need for extra staff, which equals less chance of exposure), no need for OW reporting (again, more workers could be at home), no need for mortgage deferrals, bans on utility cut offs, student loan deferrals, ect, ect. ALL of these issues, and more, would no longer be a problem period. This would also address the concerns of people the current programs do not cover by giving the people who are left out allowences as well.

Many of us will not be re-hired after being laid off, mostly because of our age (and because of our higher wages compared to what our less experienced co-workers are receiving). Instead of us struggling with a lower income from EI (and perhaps welfare when EI runs out), allow "pre-seniors” to start receiving their OAS and GIS earlier. Our pension incomes would likely be significantly higher than EI benefits. Transitioning our vulnerable demographic into retirement and thereby “socially distancing” us from workplaces could also help reduce pressure on the health care system.

We are over the age of 60 and were forced our of the work force because of health reason. They offer help to those that have just lost their jobs for 15 weeks how ever we are left behind. Now with Covid-19 we can't even go look for part time work. I believe we are not alone with this short fall in CPP. We are unseen by our Government and will get no help .

793 people died of CoV2 in Italy on March 21, surpassing its own record set only 1 day prior. The death toll & confirmed case count in Italy & places all over the world show no signs of abating. In Canada the number of deaths leapt by 50% overnight. China is one of the only countries thus far that has managed to curtail the spread of CoV2 & has done so by mounting a war-like effort against the virus. Without social intervention, CoV2 spreads at exponential rates. This does not simply mean "quickly", it means that the more it spreads, the more quickly it will spread. The humanitarian, personal, social & economic consequences also compound exponentially. Every day that we don't act costs us tenfold on the other end.The cost of inadequate or delayed action is a humanitarian & economic catastrophe.

We need to be smart about how we respond to the pandemic. And consider the costs. Our short-term costs may turn out resulting in the greatest benefits long term. At the very least, we need to buy ourselves time to come up with an effective longer term plan.

We are entering the very rapid rising part of the epidemic curve. Social distancing measures needed to control this in the absence of increased testing capacity will be extreme. We are a week or so away from large numbers of COVID-19 cases entering our ERs and ICUs. Based on what has happened around the world, we know that ICUs will be overwhelmed, and our doctors will have to make decisions about who gets a ventilator, "which" person's life is worth more than another's. We do not want these decisions to have to be made. We need to reduce red tape for diagnostic testing so that highly skilled scientists from outside public health labs can contribute labour and resources.

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 is now a global pandemic with over 300,000 confirmed cases, and 13,000 dead.[1] In Italy, the country now hardest hit by the virus, the medical system has been crippled. So many people are critically ill that there simply aren't enough intensive care beds or ventilators to keep people struggling to breathe alive. Doctors have been left with the horrendous task of having to decide... who gets to live, and who is left to die, often alone.[2] Governments across Canada are closing schools, restaurants, and public facilities, and encouraging everyone to practice social isolation to curb the spread of the disease.[3] Many people are isolating and practicing social distancing during essential trips out to get groceries and medicine. But the stark reality is that too many people are simply not taking this threat seriously.[4] With the exception of essential services such as food, utilities and health care, everyone must stay home. An immediate national lockdown will make sure people take this threat seriously, and we have NO time to waste. Social distancing is our best defence against COVID-19. If we can "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the virus, fewer people will need critical care all at once.[5] If not, the situation in Italy shows us what will happen: people will die by the thousands. Experts agree. Dr. Michael Warner, medical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, says Canada “should have enforced a mandatory lockdown from coast to coast a while ago”, and doctors at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster just wrote a dire letter to BC chief medical officer Dr Bonnie Henry, warning that we are on the same trajectory as Italy and that we “must close non-essential businesses, and enforce the critical need for social distancing so that the health care system is not overwhelmed.”[6,7,8,9] The lack of mass testing makes the true scale of the crisis in Canada unknown. This is the most critical moment for us to act, right now, while we still have a chance at preventing the virus from bringing our healthcare system to its knees. Sources: [1] Map of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Global Cases [John Hopkins University] https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 [2] 'A generation has died': Italian province struggles to bury its coronavirus dead [Guardian] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/generation-has-died-italian-province-struggles-bury-coronavirus-dead [3] Coronavirus: Here's what's happening in Canada and around the world on Saturday [CBC] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/coronavirus-covid19-canada-world-march21-1.5505520 [4] "Call people out:" Dr. Bonnie Henry wants us to get serious about social distancing [Daily Hive] https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/dr-bonnie-henry-social-distancing-coronavirus [5] Flattening the Coronavirus Curve [New York Times] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-curve-mitigation-infection.html [6] Canada should be on lockdown to stop COVID-19 spread, doctor warns [CBC] https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1714164803998 [7] COVID-19: Doctors push for lockdown, warn B.C. could become like Italy [Vancouver Sun] https://vancouversun.com/news/covid-19-doctors-urge-b-c-government-to-take-more-drastic-measures/ [8] ‘We need to do more’: Fraser Health doctors send dire letter to Dr. Bonnie Henry [Abbotsford News] https://www.abbynews.com/news/we-need-to-do-more-fraser-health-doctors-send-to-dire-letter-to-dr-bonnie-henry/ [9] A letter to Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, from doctors at the Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster https://www.scribd.com/document/452662584/Letter-from-doctors-1 https://www.scribd.com/document/452662585/Letter-from-doctors-2