Vital updates:

• Chambers of Commerce across the country have joined forces to launch the Our Restaurants campaign. A report from the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions found that up to 60% of the restaurant industry could fail within three months. The campaign calls on Canadians to support their local restaurants through takeout, delivery, or physically-distanced dining in, and to let their elected representatives know that they support their local restaurants and policies that will help them stay afloat. It also calls for policy changes from governments at all levels, including:
  • implementing the proposed Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) improvements
  • eliminating the automatic annual federal excise tax increase on beer, wine, and spirits
  • extending the CECRA program and removing parent company revenue eligibility cap to aid franchises
  • implementing and monitoring a commercial eviction moratorium
  • reducing or deferring property taxes, patio fees, utility fees, and other fees as appropriate.
• As part of Ontario’s plan for students to return to the classroom in September, the Government of Ontario has released the Operational Guidance: COVID-19 Management in Schools document. Key elements of the guidance document explain:
  • The role of school boards and schools: keeping communities informed by creating a COVID-19 advisory section on both the board and school’s websites;
  • The role of local public health units: leading case and contact tracing activities, declaring outbreaks and directing closure of classrooms or schools where necessary;
  • The critical role of parents: screening their children every day before they go to school and keeping them home if they are ill;
  • Appropriate steps to take when a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, including notifying the school community while respecting individual privacy; and
  • Protocols to trigger various levels of public health responses or infection control measures. One case will trigger a public health response, two or more linked cases will trigger the declaration of an outbreak.
• Join us tomorrow morning for the next edition of GNCC Espresso Live. GNCC CEO Mishka Balsom is joined by guests Danny Pehar, Cyber Security Expert, Bestselling Author and Professional Speaker and Graeme Barrie, President and Founder, Netmechanics Inc. to examine the challenges that COVID-19 has created in the cyber security world. Participants will be able to ask their own questions of the panel and get answers to their IT and cybersecurity issues. Registration is free.

Reading recommendations:

• Social-Impact Efforts That Create Real Value, George Serfaim, Harvard Business Review
• The fear of robots displacing workers has returned, staff writer, The Economist
• Is Travel Insurance Still Worth It? Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal