By Laurie Adkin and Debra Davidson, National Observer, March 25, 2020
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
RE: Economic Recovery Planning in response to COVID-19
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned are reaching out to you today in full acknowledgement of the tremendous challenges you are currently facing to navigate our country through the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, we do not request your attention lightly. We are, however, gravely concerned about the potential for regrettable decisions to be made in such times of urgency. In particular, we would like to raise concerns regarding news that the Globe and Mail reported on March 19 that the federal government is preparing a $15-billion “bailout package” for oil and gas companies. Given that your government’s announcement seems imminent, we worked hard to prepare this letter collaboratively, in only two days, and in 24 hours we have gathered 265 signatures from Canadian academics at 33 universities, as well as 12 associations.