March 21, 2020 - No. 9 - Our Security Lies in the Fight to Defend the Rights of All - • Government of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan

Despite the appearance that the government is stepping up to the plate, the refusal of the ruling elite to increase investments in social programs to meet the needs of the people under all conditions has created many of the problems Canadians now face, including those of a health care system and public service ill-equipped to meet the current challenges. [...] The pay-the-rich schemes to funnel state funds into the coffers of the private institutions of the financial oligarchy are the refusal of the ruling elite to change the direction of the economy to one that favours the working people, the interrelated socialized economy, and society. [...] With a view to longer-term support, the Government of Canada will ensure procurement flexibility to support innovation and build domestic manufacturing capacity to supply critical health supplies to Canadians." The problem with the plan lies in the absence of control, on the part of even the government, let alone the people. [...] The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), which represents nearly 200,000 workers, the majority of whom work in the public sector, immediately warned the Legault government that the need "to respond quickly to the crisis to ensure the health and safety of the population, must not be done at the expense of the basic rights of the personnel. [...] It said that given the urgency of the situation and the risk to the life of those who were ill, the Cuban government decided to allow the ship to dock and to receive all those on board, while strictly following the protocols established by the World Health Organization and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.