On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians defrauding the Canada Emergency Repsonse Benefit (CERB) will be "punished" after a draft bill surfaced indicating that people defrauding CERB could be fined or face jail time.
"We always knew from the beginning that there would be mistakes, and indeed, there would be a small number of fraudsters who would try to take advantage of it," said Trudeau. "Now, there may be a number of people who mistakenly took both the CERB and the wage subsidy, because they weren't sure what they were going to do, or they were really worried and they just took everything - those people will simply have to pay back the one they shouldn't have been taking, and we're not looking at punishing people who made honest mistakes."
"We will make sure that we are punishing people who try to take advantage of this situation, and we've put measures in place that will allow us to go after the deliberate fraudsters who are trying to game the system for criminal benefits."
A new poll suggests that Canadians are increasingly wearing protective face masks. It also suggests that fear of a second wave of infections - as bad as or worse than the first wave - may be behind their increased caution.
A survey by the Canadian Medical Association found almost half of those asked sought medical advice by phone, email, videoconference or text during the COVID-19 pandemic - but most people still prefer in-person visits.
Could the summer months slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic? That's probably wishful thinking, according to a professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital.
In provincial news, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced today that child-care centres will be permitted to reopen as of Friday.
This includes in-home child-care providers.
There will be strict guidelines in place and child-care centres will not be permitted to open until those guidelines are met.
Guidelines include only allowing 10 people in a confined space, including staff and children; thorough cleaning; screening of staff and children; and a no visitor policy.
Summer day camps will be permitted to open as part of Stage 2.
The Ford government is proposing legislative changes to the Commercial Tenancies Act to delay the evictions of businesses deemed eligible for federal or provincial rent assistance.
If passed, the proposed legislation would make it illegal to evict a commercial tenant until Aug. 31.
In local news, the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) has cancelled all fall varsity sports. Sault College says varsity sports affected by the suspension of the 2020 fall semester varsity schedule include soccer, golf, and cross-country running.
Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers from Algoma Public Health:
- 8,251 tested
- 21 positive
- 7,806 negative
- 424 pending
- 0 deceased
- 21 resolved
Total confirmed cases by area of residence:
- 17 in Sault Ste. Marie and area, with evidence of community spread
- 1 in central and east Algoma
- 3 in Elliot Lake and area
- 0 in north Algoma
