their flights, but those arriving from europe did not. masks were not even recommended. there were no temperature checks. people were packed in close at airport waiting areas. hand sanitizer dispensers had not been installed. not everyone received the pamphlets instructing them to self-isolate for 14 days. on march 17, ontario premier doug ford declared a state of emergency, calling for the closure of indoor recreation facilities, restaurants, libraries, theatres and concert halls. on march 18, donald trump and justin trudeau announced that the canada-u.s. border would close to non-essential travel. people entering canada would be asked to self-isolate for 14 days. family of canadian citizens, students and foreign workers with visas would be allowed to enter. truckers and flight crews carrying essential goods did not need to self-isolate. theresa tam, chief public health officer of canada and head of the public health agency of canada (phac), said on march 19 that canada would not know for two or three weeks if country-wide social distancing efforts have curbed the spread of covid-19. on march 24, 35 members of parliament met in order to discuss bill c-13, the covid-19 emergency response act. to maintain social distancing in the face of the highly contagious respiratory illness, only 35 of the 338 members of the house of commons convened to debate the legislation. the commons agreed "to see the application of standing order 17 (sic) suspended for the current sitting to allow (its) members the practice of social distancing." on march 24, 2020, a small number of mps from each party met in the house of commons to vote on an $82-billion emergency spending legislation, known as bill c-13. the passage of the bill was stalled due to the federal government's proposed clauses that gave the finance minister the right to spend money and raise taxes without the approval of parliament until december 31, 2021. after criticism from the official opposition over the minority government's "power grab" which was considered undemocratic, a revised bill was agreed upon the next day that would permit the government six months of special spending powers until september 30, 2020, with oversight from a parliamentary committee. the house of commons' health and finance committees began holding weekly virtual meetings during the pandemic. meanwhile, dr. theresa tam was quoted as saying regarding canadians' need to wear face masks: "most people haven't learned how to use masks" and "there is no need to use a mask for well people." on march 28, sophie grégoire trudeau announced her full recovery and thanked her well-wishers via social media. the unemployment figures for the month of march were that the economy had shed 1,000,000 jobs, pushing the official jobless rate to 7.8 percent. april vancouver, british columbia during the covid-19 pandemic on april 19. on april 2, trudeau said that he foresaw the expiry of the covid-19 crisis to occur only in july. on april 2, american president donald trump slammed 3m after invoking the us defense production act of 1950 to get the company to produce n95 respirators and on april 3, canadian officials protested a move by trump to block 3m's export of n95 masks for use by doctors and nurses as covid-19 cases were projected to soar in ontario and quebec. deputy prime minister chrystia freeland said canada would "do whatever it takes to defend the national interest." on april 6, the trump administration agreed to a deal with the 3m to import more than 166 million respirators from china over the next three months and allow 3m to continue exporting its us made respirators to canada. on april 5, queen elizabeth addressed the commonwealth in a televised broadcast, in which she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return". she added, "we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again". on april 6, trudeau introduced extra aid for the canada emergency response benefit (cerb), saying "there are groups of people who aren't benefiting from who probably should." also on april 6, theresa tam, the cpho of canada, noted that people with covid-19 may be contagious even if they are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic. she advised the use of a "non-medical face mask when shopping or using public transit" because "a non-medical mask can reduce the chance of your respiratory droplets coming into contact with others or land on surfaces". tam offered advice on how to use "a cotton shirt combined with rubber bands" to create a diy non-medical face mask. on april 7, trudeau brought up the topic of masks, where he said, "if people want to wear a mask, that is okay. it protects others more than it protects you, because it prevents you from breathing or... or... speaking, uh... 'moistly' on them." he immediately regrets his word choice and says, "ugh, what a terrible image." the unusual word choice has led the creation of a remix song, "speaking moistly", based on the speech. on april 9, the federal government released modelling that, even with strong public health measures, showed between 11,000 and 22,000 deaths over the course of the pandemic, with that number being closer to 300,000 deaths if no measures had been taken. trudeau warned that "normality as it was before will not come back full-on until we get a vaccine for this", and that residents would "have to remain vigilant for at least a year." the same day, trudeau sent a letter to the provincial and territorial premiers to consult about invoking the emergencies act. while consultation with the provinces is a required step before the act can be triggered, the prime minister's office said there was no present plan to enact it and that doing so remained a last resort. on a conference call between trudeau and the premiers later that day, the premiers communicated their unanimous opposition to invoking the act. on april 10, the rcmp disclosed it has been asked to enforce the quarantine act, 2005. penalties for violations can include a fine of up to $750,000 and imprisonment for six months. one reporter said that the rcmp "could enter homes to enforce quarantine act orders if canadians don't self-isolate... will do physical checks to enforce it." it was reported that the canadian forces intelligence command medical intelligence cell (medint) has submitted reports on the outbreak in wuhan since january 2020. on april 11, parliament re-convened to pass bill c-14: covid-19 emergency response act, no. 2, and thereby adopt the cews. as with the previous sitting on march 24, 35 mps stood in for the full complement of 338 members due to the need for covid-19 social distancing. government briefing notes detailed "a bureaucracy reluctant to put inbound china passengers in mandatory quarantine or close borders to arrivals from other (covid-19) hotspots." yves-françois blanchet supported trudeau when he "raised health and safety concerns over holding regular meetings (in order) to respect physical distancing". all that was needed to debate and to pass the bill to spend $73 billion were five hours. on april 15, trudeau warned against premature reopening of the economy, stating that "in order to get to that point, we need to continue doing what we are doing now for many more weeks". anti-lockdown protest in vancouver on april 26. catherine mckenna announced on april 16 that the ministry of infrastructure and communities sought shovel-ready infrastructure projects to receive in the 2020 construction season some "largely unspent" funds that had already been budgeted. on april 20, parliament's temporary suspension for five weeks expired and it voted to sit only once weekly on wednesdays. on april 28, it was revealed that "79 percent of all deaths in the country" were to that date connected with "long-term care and seniors' homes." on april 30, the parliamentary budget officer warned that the federal deficit for fiscal year 2020 could be in excess of $252 billion. may shelves void of disinfectant and sanitizer in a canadian supermarket. on may 1, 2020, royal assent was granted to bill c-15, to implement the canada emergency student benefit (cesb), after a cursory one-day consideration by 35 mps. it established a subsidy programme for secondary school graduates and post-secondary students. students who cannot find employment or are unable to work due to the covid-19 pandemic are eligible for ca$1,250 per month from may through august 2020. on may 4, trudeau discouraged canadians from displaying complacency due to the lifting of economic restrictions by provinces, emphasizing that it was "extremely important" for citizens to continue practicing social distancing and personal hygiene to prevent the spread, and not go out "unless you absolutely have to". he explained that although the country was on a "positive trajectory", "we are not out of the woods, however, and it requires us to continue to remain attentive and vigilant and following the instructions set out by our public health officials." also on may 5, the canadian red meat industry was granted access to federal covid emergency subsidies. by may 8, 60 percent of covid-19 fatalities were in quebec, which has around 20 percent of the nation's population. montreal was called "the epicentre of the pandemic in canada." on may 11, trudeau, morneau and bains in a press conference said that "a bridge financing facility for large employers that need help to get through the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus." one stated goal was "to avoid bankruptcies of otherwise viable firms wherever possible... companies that use the lending facility will have to commit to respect collective bargaining agreements, protecting workers’ pensions, and support national climate goals. rules on access to the money will place limits on dividends, share buy-backs and executive pay." the large employer emergency financing facility (leeff) will only target companies with annual revenues in excess of $300 million. on may 12, parliamentary budget officer (pbo) yves giroux raised the possibility that the federal debt "will hit $1 trillion because of pandemic relief spending." giroux said it was possible that pandemic programs could cost "more than what the entire federal government spent last year on everything", roughly $338 billion. also on may 12, it was announced by minister of international development karina gould that $600 million would be contributed by the taxpayer to gavi, "a vaccine alliance that improves vaccine access for vulnerable children around the world." also on may 12, health canada issued a press release with the announcement that the ccitf serological test would be administered to one million canadians over the next two years. the government has selected diasorin to manufacture the tests. on may 14 lufthansa group announced it would resume flights between toronto and frankfurt as of june 3, as part of its resumption of global business. on may 15, conservative leader andrew scheer told a press conference that the conservative caucus wanted parliament to resume sitting as normal on may 25 and desired to withhold their consent to the 35-day rolling adjournment that prevents the regular operation of parliament. scheer observed that "elected members of parliament come here to be a voice for their constituents." because all-party consent is required to suspend the animation of parliament, it will need to resume sitting. on may 19 during a press conference with justin trudeau and theresa tam that the 20th week of 2020 versus the same figures in 2019 saw a drop of 88 percent in land border crossers, and a 98 percent drop in international air travel. the following day cpho tam reversed her decision from march on the wearing of masks and began asking canadians to start wearing masks. on may 21, the canadian armed forces, who had been tasked previously in operation laser with care for the senior citizens in the long-term care facilities of ontario and quebec had potentially been victimised by a covid-19 ssev. the disease affected 25 soldiers as of this date, but neither the caf nor the dnd would divulge details. on may 25, parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defence anita vandenbeld disclosed to the third sitting of the resumed 43rd canadian parliament that 36 soldiers from operation laser had been infected with covid-19 disease. vandenbeld corrected for the record cheryl gallant who had been under the mistaken impression that only 28 soldiers (12 positives in ontario and 16