ROB MURRAY: I have an incredibly special guest joining me on the program right now – Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. It’s a real pleasure to have you on the show. Thanks for joining me today.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: I’m glad to be at with you Rob. I’m unfortunately only arriving virtually in Canmore and Banff. It’s a part of the world I know and love very, very well, and I hope you guys are doing well.

RM: I’m wondering why you’re actually wanting to do some outreach to our area of the country this morning.

JT: I’ve been reaching out across the country, virtually, for the past few months, because it’s a time where I can’t travel and get out there and meet as many people as I’d like, and people are anxious. One of the things that I think has been really reassuring for Canadians across the country during this time of significant stress is to see that different orders of government are working together and focusing on this pandemic. The federal government being there to support people with CERB, with the wage subsidy, with the small business account, with various supports for this pandemic, is something that I’m happy to reassure people that we’re going to keep up through this second wave and beyond.

RM: You mentioned working together at different levels. Do you do a lot of work with the Alberta government together on pandemic response?

JT: We do. We sent about $19 billion to all provinces throughout the summer in order to work on supporting the most vulnerable, support for the health care system, support for PPE and for testing, things like that. I’ve had about 20 calls and First Ministers meetings with the premier since the pandemic began. Look, we’re not always going to agree on everything obviously, but the role of the federal government in this is to make sure that provinces are able to make the right decisions and manage the pandemic in the way that they see fit, and make sure that we have the supports for them that allow them to do just that. This is a moment where we’re all in this together and no part of the country can be free of the pandemic until the entire country is free of the pandemic. That’s what we’re focused on.

RM: Our tourism economy has been particularly hard hit here in the Canmore and Banff region. Are you going to be looking at additional supports specific to this sector, or do you feel the systems you have in place are adequate?

JT: The systems that we have in place have done a big job since the beginning but we’re always looking at particular challenges. I know that places like Banff and Canmore are so dependent on international travelers, on American travelers, and there’s no amount of support so we can give that will compensate for that. We’re really just trying to support people to make it through, to hold on, because we know once this is done everything’s going to come roaring back and we need to make sure we haven’t permanently lost some things and hurt people’s livelihoods so badly. We’re going to continue to support. We’re working with the provinces as well to try and see what more sector specific supports we can give. We’re also understanding that we can’t keep these borders closed forever and we need to be ready when we can start loosening the restrictions to be able to move forward, which is why we’ve actually got a nice partnership with the Alberta government on new border protocols. It’s a pilot project that’s going to allow testing on arrival and then testing again a few days later that can give us the data to actually move forward when the situation allows in a quicker way to get people traveling again. There’s a lot of things we’re doing, but we’re always looking at how we can help people directly even more.

RM: This rapid testing pilot project is really innovative here in Canada. Do you expect it to be more widely available at airports to maybe precipitate the return of some form of international tourism at some point in the near future?

JT: Well, it really depends, first of all, on the data we’re able to collect. Decisions need to be based on science and on what the experts say works to keep Canadians safe, because that always has to be the first thing. We’re going to keep people safe, we’re going to do what is necessary, and I know that restrictions and shutdowns are really harmful to people’s businesses which is why we’re there to provide supports directly to those businesses and people to make it through. The only way we get through protecting our economy is if we do what we need to do to prevent the second wave from being strong, to control the spread of the virus. You can’t build an economy unless you’ve controlled the spread.

RM: You mentioned CERB earlier. That program, in its first iteration, has come to an end. You’ve done some tweaks. You’ve rolled out a few new programs. What’s the reception been from the individual side of things for the supports there?

JT: CERB was designed for when there was a total shutdown. It was designed to say, “Stay home. We’ll send you $500 a week. Don’t go anywhere. You don’t need to work, and we’ll control it that way.” That worked through the first wave, but obviously in this second wave a lot of people are wanting to go back to work or are needing to go back to work. There’s a need for a program that’s slightly more flexible. What we’ve done is we’ve boosted Employment Insurance so it’s still $500 a week, the same as CERB, but there are more mechanisms for training, for working while on claim, things like that, encouraging people to get back into the workforce when there are jobs available. At the same time, we’ve created the Canada Recovery Benefit which is equivalent to EI for people who are self-employed or contract or gig workers who can’t normally access EI. We also need to make sure that EI expands so eventually it captures all those people if we’re going to have a truly modern system, but for now the message is – the federal government has been there since the beginning to support people. We’re going to continue to do so, not just because it’s the right thing to do on a moral level. It’s because it’s the smart thing to do on an economic level. For us at the federal level – to take on debt that communities, individuals, and businesses don’t have to is one of the ways that those communities, businesses, and individuals are going to be able to bounce back afterwards, and low interest rates at the federal level means that we can, all of us, afford for the federal government to do this.

RM: I can’t imagine when you signed up for this job that you thought you’d be leading a country through a pandemic. It must be pretty heavy weight to bear. How are you personally holding up?

JT: Thanks for asking Rob. I really miss traveling across the country. I love meeting people, I love connecting with people, and that’s been tough on everyone through this time that we have shrunk our circles down massively. But the idea that the federal government can actually be there to directly support people and get us through this time like it’s a wartime effort is really, really meaningful. If you get into this job as I did to help people, to serve the country, to make a difference…in this crisis, being able to do things that really impact people’s lives and give them the reassurance that we’re going to continue to be there for them, whatever it takes, for as long as it takes until we get through this…it’s a pretty privileged time to be a leader.

RM: It’s been a real pleasure having you on the show today. Thanks so much for joining me.

JT: It’s a pleasure, Rob, but like I said I’d much rather be there in person where you are. I know winter’s coming. I hear Norquay is open already. I’m very jealous of where you guys are.

The transcription of this interview has been edited for syntax.

Filed under: covid-19, justin-trudeau