Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a grand plan Wednesday to address social
inequalities laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic and create one million jobs
during recovery, while also extending emergency measures for a second wave of
Covid-19 that he said could be worse than the first.

“Canada
is at a crossroads,” Trudeau said in a televised address to the nation.

“We’re
on the brink of a fall that could be much worse than the spring,” he said,
contrasting the more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday with the
47 on March 13, the day Canada went on lockdown.

“In our
four biggest provinces, the second wave isn’t just starting, it’s already
underway.”

“It’s
all too likely we won’t be gathering for Thanksgiving (on October 12), but we still
have a shot at Christmas,” he said.

Earlier in a
so-called throne speech, read by Governor General Julie Payette at a joint
sitting of MPs and senators, the government vowed to eliminate homelessness,
hasten Canada’s fight against climate change and introduce national childcare
and pharma care programs.

It said it
aims in the short term to also restore employment to pre-pandemic levels, and
both extend and broaden emergency aid measures to keep the economy rolling.

“Do we
move Canada forward, or let people be left behind? Do we come out of this
stronger, or paper over the cracks that the crisis has exposed?” Payette
said in the speech.

The
government’s plan calls for direct infrastructure investment, training to
quickly skill up workers, and incentives for employers to hire and retain
workers.

Exceeding
Canada’s 2030 carbon emissions reduction target of 30 percent below 2005 levels
will also be a “cornerstone” of job creation efforts, according to
the speech.

“The
economic restart,” Payette said, “is now well underway.”

“This
is not the time for austerity,” she said, hinting at additional
debt-financing, albeit at record low rates, for Canada’s recovery, alongside
taxing “extreme wealth inequality.”

Polling
shows most Canadians are satisfied with Trudeau’s management of the crisis so
far.

But the
“bold new solutions” outlined in the throne speech will require
parliament’s nod in the coming weeks.

If all three
opposition parties reject the minority Liberal government’s grand New
Deal-style reforms, Canada will be heading to the polls in the middle of the
pandemic.

The Tories
and the Bloc Quebecois said they would vote against the speech, while the New
Democrats urged even more social spending and paid sick leave for all in order
to get their support.

It is arguably
an awkward time for sweeping policy changes, or as critics suggested, to dare
the opposition to force snap elections.

The
Conservatives elected a new leader only last month: Erin O’Toole, who is not
well known to Canadians.

Both O’Toole
and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet are isolating after testing
positive for Covid-19 and did not attend the speech.

Trudeau,
however, insisted he needs to test parliamentary support for his policy goals,
as Canada’s circumstances are dramatically different than when he won his
mandate last year.

Under the
pandemic, the country’s jobless rate peaked at 13.9 percent in May, while the
economy contracted at a record 38.7 percent in the second quarter.

Ottawa has
already doled out more than Can$300 billion (US$230 billion) in emergency aid
in the last six months.

The costs of
the new measures are to be outlined in an upcoming budget.

An Abacus
Data poll, meanwhile, indicated that if an election were held now, it would
likely result in another minority Liberal government.