A Canadian’s Manifesto

This is my plea.

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of social distancing. I am pleased to see, this morning, a lot of local businesses putting things on hold while we ride this wave. Thank you for doing your part.

But it’s not enough.

I beg people to start listening carefully.

I beg people to stop being in denial and say this is all media hype: it’s not.

I implore you to do your part and stay home as much as you humanly possibly can.

The government is doing its part and implementing financial measures to help Canadians survive this. Big businesses should to. Small business owners don’t have the luxury to help, being busy surviving, but multi- million dollar corporations can.

I call on Credit Card companies, who make billions of dollars in interest yearly, to really consider giving a break to everybody! I call on banks to give mortgage payment vacations so owners can buy the vital things they need to stay confined to their homes, shall they require to. I call on Landlords to consider helping their tenants as well. If the bank lets them skip a mortgage payment or two, maybe then they can pass the generosity to the ones who pay their bills.

The government is doing a lot, and at the same time not doing enough. We need to move quickly. We needs to mobilize resources and move to setup some temporary facilities, where covid-19 patients can be quarantined and cared for. We need people dedicated to deliver food and necessities to those self-isolating. We need more PPE for our front line workers. We need more ventilators. A LOT MORE. We need the army to come in and enforce self-isolation.

BORDERS, INCLUDING THE US BORDER, NEEDS TO BE CLOSED TO NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL, MEANING OPENED ONLY TO COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC. I appreciate the fact that the federal government is now limiting international travel, but leaving travel opened to the USA, Mexico and the Caribbeans is counter productive. We need the army to come in and enforce self-isolation. We need to do WHATEVER IT TAKES.

I BEG everybody to do their part. As Justin Trudeau said, “ALL CANADIANS, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, SHOULD STAY HOME”

Stay safe.