Citizens applaud Canadian leadership in COVID times

The past couple of months have clearly shown how our safety and well-being depend on leadership that is willing and able to take hold of complex, expert advice and turn it quickly into well-conceived national strategy - built and delivered with supportive collaboration at all levels of government. COVID-19 related policies and programs have been rolled out in mere days and weeks. A pause in partisan thinking is timely -- to ensure we identify, appreciate and commit to memory the kind of leadership we will need as we move forward.

Having banged our pots in tribute to the courage and dedication of Canadian health care providers and other essential workers, it is now time to beat drums in appreciation for the leadership Canada has had during the COVID-19 pandemic. We applaud Prime Minister Trudeau, his colleagues and advisors, and the provincial leaders, for a daunting job well done.

Specifically, we praise and congratulate the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada for:
• encouraging speedy development of health policies necessary to safeguard our health as soon as the dangers of the virus were recognized;
• appreciating and responding to wide-ranging economic issues resulting from mitigating actions taken;
• holding daily briefings that provide us with the information and the hope we need, with strategies for staying safe, and with announcements of programs that deliver relief to the many sectors of our society.
• working on a global response with international bodies and heads of state, and for building collaborations with provincial, territorial and municipal leaders, who have played critical roles in local delivery of a coherent national response to the crisis.
• listening to the voice of citizens and swiftly modifying programs to be more inclusive and effective.

Our safety has depended on these components of strong leadership and on Prime Minister Trudeau’s ability to keep us marching together toward a shared goal of containing an enormous national threat.

We feel privileged to be weathering the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Citizens of many countries have been far less fortunate and we thank Prime Minister Trudeau for his leadership in a time of national crisis.