{"id":3477,"date":"2020-03-19T17:23:25","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T21:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/?p=3477"},"modified":"2020-03-19T17:27:06","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T21:27:06","slug":"emergency-action-required-now-to-stop-covid-19-and-deep-recession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/emergency-action-required-now-to-stop-covid-19-and-deep-recession\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Action Required Now to Stop COVID-19 and Deep Recession"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Covid19-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3478\" width=\"366\" height=\"191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Covid19-2.jpg 940w, https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Covid19-2-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Covid19-2-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 366px) 100vw, 366px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic threatens the health and well-being of all the world\u2019s peoples, the most vulnerable being working people, Indigenous Peoples, the unemployed, the poor and the elderly. It will take urgent action by the Canadian government, and cooperation by the international community to save tens of thousands of lives, and to prevent a deep recession or even a depression from ruining the lives of working people around the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>In Canada widespread privatization of public services and\ncuts to healthcare have increased the danger that the pandemic will\nspread.&nbsp; Over-loaded hospitals and\nhealth-care providers, combined with widespread poverty, inadequate housing,\ndeclining living standards, precarious work, have exacerbated the crisis and are\nthe consequences of 30 years of neo-liberal policies enacted by Liberal and\nTory federal and provincial governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In sharp contrast, the governments of China, Cuba, Vietnam, and\nDPRK have responded quickly and effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic in their\ncountries, and contained the virus and treated those infected, saving hundreds\nof thousands of lives, through rapid deployment of healthcare resources and\npersonnel, including the construction of sixteen emergency hospitals in the city\nof Wuhan and region in China, and the building of a 1,000 bed hospital in a\nperiod of one week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cuba and China have also sent doctors and medical teams to\nItaly which is now the epicentre of the virus\u2019 outbreak in Europe, while the\nCuban government is making available to all countries the 22 drugs it has\ndeveloped to combat COVID-19, including Interferon alfa-2b which has proved\neffective in treating 1500 cases of the virus in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The socialist countries have been most effective in\ncombatting the coronavirus because they can mobilize all of their publicly\nowned resources to address the pandemic, while the capitalist countries must\ndeal with multi-national drug companies and private for-profit healthcare systems.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research and technology leading to the development of\nvaccines against COVID-19 must not be monopolized by Big Pharma and the\nvaccines sold for fat profits.&nbsp; The\nvaccine patents must be publicly owned and used to secure the health and\nwell-being of all humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Canada, hospitals and healthcare workers are confronted\nwith a national healthcare system that is grossly under-funded after thirty\nyears of cuts, and unable to deal with the anticipated 15 to 25 million people\nwho will contract the virus as the pandemic spreads.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Canadian government must take the same kind of urgent action to save lives today, and to save livelihoods as well. \u00a0\u00a0The announcement of an $82 billion public expenditure by the Canadian government, including $2 billion to provide immediate assistance to working people who qualify for EI, and $5 billion for those who don\u2019t qualify and whose jobs and incomes have been negatively affected by the pandemic <em>is a start<\/em>, but it won\u2019t be sufficient for very long.\u00a0 Considering the cost of housing in the cities where the majority of Canadians live, the <em>maximum payment<\/em> of $900 twice a month won\u2019t even pay the rent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Further, there are disturbing signs that the government may attempt to undermine civil, labour and democratic rights with the imposition of emergency measures which it claims may be needed to fight the pandemic. This must be defeated and exposed as a threat to democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediate action needed to contain the pandemic in Canada\nincludes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Healthcare:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Eliminate the requirement to produce health insurance cards; provide healthcare and treatment to all who need it<\/li><li>Immediate funding for hospitals to open closed wards and beds, including capital funding for new hospitals, staff and equipment where needed<\/li><li>Immediate funding to expand hospital and healthcare staff across the country based on need, with attention to Northern and Indigenous communities, many of which have boil water advisories while almost none have hospitals or adequate healthcare facilities and staff to meet the crisis\u00a0 <\/li><li>Immediate funding for home visits to the elderly and those quarantined or self-isolated, on the basis of need, to include provision of food, drugs, and other necessities<\/li><li>Make prescription drugs free and accessible<\/li><li>Require insurance companies to cover COVID-19 and all illnesses contracted abroad by Canadian residents<\/li><li>Immediate funding and oversight of long-term care homes, where the elderly and infirm are in greatest danger, where staff-patient ratios are very high, and staff are contract workers often working in several homes simultaneously<\/li><li>Immediate funding of public health services, including expanded testing for the COVID-19 virus, and restoration of public health units closed or cut by right-wing governments<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Further, the US and Canada must immediately lift the sanctions it has imposed against Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Russia, among others, which block access to medicines, medical equipment, food, and other necessities, and which contribute to the spread of the virus and the resulting illness and death of the most vulnerable. Instead of sanctions, militarism and regime change, Canada must adopt a foreign policy that advocates global peace and climate justice, global public healthcare and pharmacare, public education and development based on the right to national self-determination, free of external interference.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Canada must also call for an end to the illegal blockade of\nCuba, which has caused widespread shortages and rationing following the Trump\nadministration\u2019s tightening of the blockade and activation of chapter 3 of the\nHelms Burton Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Closing the Canada-US border will not stop the virus from spreading across North America, and across the world. Only a well-funded public health system can make a difference\u00a0 &#8211; a system that is completely lacking in the US and in many other capitalist countries around the world.\u00a0 It is the absence of a strong public healthcare system in the US that poses the biggest threat to Canada today.\u00a0 It also poses the most serious threat to the working poor and the unemployed in the US who have no healthcare coverage, as well as those who have coverage but no protection from the virus\u2019 uncontrolled spread and for-profit healthcare system. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing the economy into what will be a deep and prolonged recession, or even depression; but it is not the cause of the coming economic meltdown. It is capitalist governments, acting on behalf of the biggest Canadian and transnational corporations that are the cause, and that have put their greed and their drive for more and more profits ahead of people\u2019s needs for strong public services, for a well-funded and expanded public Medicare system,\u00a0 for an adequate supply of affordable social housing, for good jobs, pensions and incomes that provide working people the ability to live healthy lives, for environmental action to stop climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is neo-liberal policies and capitalism on a global scale\nthat is threatening the lives, jobs, and security of working people in Canada\nand around the world.&nbsp; Racism and\nxenophobia such as Trump\u2019s recent statement that COVID-19 is \u201cthe Chinese\nvirus\u201d aim to transfer responsibility for the pandemic onto China and\nChinese-Americans in the US,&nbsp; and away\nfrom the private, for-profit healthcare system in the US.&nbsp;&nbsp; Racism and xenophobia must not be tolerated,\nand must be called out by governments and the public wherever it raises its\nugly head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Canadian government must act quickly to secure workers\u2019\njobs, wages and incomes, including the jobs and incomes of part-time and precarious\nworkers, workers in the GIG economy, as well as the unemployed, those on fixed\nincomes, in the non-profit sector, and small business owners.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Protection of Jobs and Wages:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Guarantee all workers paid sick days and\neliminate doctors\u2019 notes<\/li><li>Make EI non-contributory, and universally and\nimmediately accessible to all workers including part-time and precarious\nworkers and first time job seekers, for the duration of unemployment at 90% of\nprevious wages or 90% of an annual livable income<\/li><li>Introduce a guaranteed annual livable income now<\/li><li>Protect workers in healthcare, long-term care\nand other emergency services with the provision of emergency childcare services<\/li><li>Introduce plant closure legislation to stop\nunjustified closures and layoffs <\/li><li>Enforce the right of all workers \u2013 organized and\nunorganized \u2013 to refuse unsafe work<\/li><li>Enforce COVID-19 health advisories in\nworkplaces, with penalties for employers who violate the advisories;&nbsp; set-up hotlines to report employer violations<\/li><li>Loans to businesses must not be the publicly-funded\ncorporate bail-outs of the 2008-09 economic meltdown.&nbsp; Public funding must buy public equity (a\npublic share of the business), or public ownership of the business where it is\nin the public interest to do so (e.g. energy, banking, transportation)<\/li><li>Make the Bank of Canada the prime lending\ninstitution for public procurement and investment in public services and\ncapital spending<\/li><li>Convert military to civilian spending for public\nhealthcare, hospitals, beds, staff and equipment, medical research, testing for\nCOVID-19, and for protection of workers\u2019 jobs, wages and incomes, the sick, the\nelderly, and the poor<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Housing:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Ban evictions, renovictions and foreclosures<\/li><li>House the homeless with emergency, interim, and\npermanent social housing<\/li><li>Provide emergency housing on reserves, and in\nNorthern and isolated communities <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Debt:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Defer personal debt, including mortgages and\nloans<\/li><li>Eliminate student debt<\/li><li>Cancel credit card debt&nbsp; <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A People\u2019s Recovery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Economists warn that the recession Canada and the capitalist\nworld is now entering will be protracted and will result in high unemployment\nas a result of bankruptcies, layoffs and workplace closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers and their governments will try to download the\ncosts of the recession onto the backs of workers by cutting wages, privatizing\npublic assets and services, cutting corporate taxes, and de-regulating the\nprofiteering activities of the biggest banks, Canadian and trans-national corporations.&nbsp; This will mean doubled-down austerity, and it\nwill cripple our youth, working people, and the economy, setting us up for\nanother recession down the road.&nbsp;&nbsp; Their\ngoal is a corporate recovery, just like the 2008-09 recovery, that led to the\ncurrent recession and the loss of good jobs, value added manufacturing jobs,\nunionized jobs, public services, a real drop in wages and living standards, and\nthe absolute and relative impoverishment of the working class and the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A People\u2019s Recovery is the only way out, and the only way\nforward to a better life for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A People\u2019s Recovery means the government must adopt a full employment strategy to create good jobs and increased wages, pensions, and incomes for all.\u00a0 It means rising living standards, not falling living standards.\u00a0 It must include an environmentally sustainable industrial strategy to create value-added manufacturing jobs, build a public transportation system that\u2019s focused on free public transit and rail, an energy policy that builds on renewable energy, guarantees jobs and wages to workers displaced in the shift from unsustainable to sustainable energy, and that recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples to free, prior and informed consent over development on their lands.\u00a0 We need a recovery that includes building a million units of social housing across the country, expansion of Medicare to include pharmacare, long-term care, dental, vision, and mental health care.\u00a0 We need free post-secondary education, the expansion of social programs including a universal system of quality, public childcare.\u00a0 And we need a recovery that includes real action to stop climate change, and to end Canada\u2019s drive to militarism, regime change, and war.\u00a0 Instead the massive expenditures on war must be re-directed to fund a People\u2019s Recovery and a people\u2019s agenda for Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To win this agenda will take a united struggle of the labour\nand people\u2019s movements across the country.&nbsp;\nJust as Medicare was won in the 1960s, with mass, united, independent\npolitical action, we can win this today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the rapid\nand global deployment of the corona virus and COVID-19 show, there is no time\nto lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic threatens the health and well-being of all the world\u2019s peoples, the most vulnerable being working people, Indigenous Peoples, the unemployed, the poor and the elderly. It will take urgent action by the Canadian government, and cooperation by the international community to save tens of thousands of lives, and to prevent a deep&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economic-crisis","category-health-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3477"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3483,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions\/3483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}