COVID-19 - The Canadian Response

It has been a surreal month of March – in particular the last few weeks. So much has happened. So much has been learned. Yet, there remains so much to do and yes much more to learn. It is true that relative to some other nations the Canadian response and situation is relatively better. At a time when hope is essential many take comfort in knowing that our situation is at least better than country x or country y. Nothing reflects the Canadian culture more than that. If there is one thing I hope we learn about ourselves during this crisis it is the need to evolve from that cultural trait of ‘good enough’ or ‘better than’.

I have spoken out about the lack of a coordinated response on the health emergency and the pace of the economic response more recently as I feel both come from that sense of comfort we have developed as people – as a nation. This virus doesn’t respect the tame or the tepid. Those who have “defeated” it did so with speed and vigour. We need to do the same.

Too many interpret the critique as criticism of governments. That is not the intent. Rather it is a critique of us. All of us. Are we doing everything that we need to fast enough? I would suggest that our response as Canadians has been, well, quintessentially Canadian. We have been deferential to our historic jurisdictional issues. We have acted cautiously. We encouraged or wanted to persuade when more clear, specific directions were in order. As always though, we get to the right place. Eventually.

We have seen that in both our health and economic response.

We are getting there.

Eventually.

What we need is coordinated leadership, with a clear plan, and tangible evidence of people working together to reassure us. At the outset of this crisis, I stated that this is when Canada can really work. Despite some frustrations I stand by that. Yet, I think there are things missing. How come we have seen the photos of G-20 leaders all working together but not one of our Prime Minister and Premiers? How come I hear regularly of the direct involvement stakeholders, particularly businesses, have had in working collaboratively with other governments to identify solutions together in other countries but not in Canada? Consultation is not collaboration.

There are many lessons here to learn from and we don’t need to wait until after the crisis is over to do so. It is true that relative to others we have indeed done a good job in responding to the crisis and this is particularly true of our health care leadership. Canadians owe them a great deal of gratitude. In this war on the virus they are our front-line heroes.

The week ahead, according to Dr. Theresa Tam Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, is an “extremely critical time to #FlattentheCurve.” She goes on in her series of tweets and concludes with a reminder that “another cause of rising mortality is overwhelmed health services, unable to provide intensive care to a high volume of critical cases.” All Canadians are responsible for their own actions and need do exactly as our public health officials are requiring of us. Our immediate actions can save lives today and lead to a better tomorrow.

The same can be said for the economy too.

There is no question that the virus is akin to a meteor hitting our economy and it saddens me every time I hear from businesses of all sizes the pressures they are feeling and their struggles to keep employees employed. In fact, the Council just had an emergency Board meeting this week to take stock of the situation and hear from a cross sector of CEO’s and how they are handling the situation and given their global operations what can we learn from the experiences of countries. I thought I would share with you the top line:

1.   There is a need to act with urgency. Speed matters more than perfection. 

 2.  While governments are in crisis mode, they must find a balance between measures to support the health and safety of Canadians and those required to shore up the economy. 

 3.  Clarity and consistency are needed in the application of what is deemed an essential service across the country to avoid disruptions to supply chains.  

 4.  Governments must help the private sector keep as many people employed as possible, both to maintain continuity of service and avoid job losses that will make for a more difficult recovery. 

 5.  Immediate infusions of liquidity and capital are required to support key sectors such as energy, aviation, retail and tourism/hospitality. 

Just as this week is shaping up to be a critical week on the virus containment front it is shaping up to - perhaps be the most critical week on the economic preservation front - as it is expected the federal government will turn their attention to the support needed by larger businesses. We anxiously await learning more about what that looks like and hope the government gets it right as there is simply too much at stake.