Protect the Health of all People in Canada
- Provide free mass testing immediately in public areas, not hospitals.
- Enact massive investment in the public health system. Bring all private clinics and care homes into the public system, with union rates of pay.
- Take emergency action to dramatically increase hospital beds and ensure the supply of medical necessities like ventilators, test kits and masks.
- Take into public ownership all companies producing vital medical equipment and drugs.
- Take emergency action to provide clean water, health facilities and isolation facilities on all reserves and in isolated communities.
- Equal help for all, regardless of legal status.
- Stop all detentions and deportations of immigrants.
Guarantee Safe Working Conditions
- Ensure hygienic conditions for essential workers and shut down non-essential workplaces.
- Provide full protective gear and regular testing for all health care and care home workers.
- Provide fully-funded child care and/or child support for all health care, care home, and food/commercial workers.
- Protect workers’ rights to refuse work in unsafe conditions.
Protect Workers’ Income
- Pay immediately a guaranteed living income to all workers: laid off, quarantined, self-isolating, on reduced hours or self-employed without work.
- Time and a half for all “essential” workers
- Freeze payments on all high interest loans (credit cards, pay-day loans, etc) with no penalty.
- Provide support for small businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19, including if needed waive rent, access to interest free loans and to government income.
Provide Housing for All
- Waive mortgages and rent. No evictions or mortgage foreclosures.
- House all people who are homeless or in overcrowded conditions.
- Convert empty buildings and hotels to living spaces.
Provide Accessible Public Services
- Provide public services for those in isolation, precariously housed or without housing, including food, basic supplies, medical help and mental health support.
- Provide free public transportation in all urban centres and between urban and rural communities so everyone can access needed services.
- Nationalize the big internet and phone companies (Bell, Rogers, Telus and Shaw) to provide a universal, low-cost public service. This service to be provided free during COVID-19.
Bail Out Workers, Not Corporations
- Introduce price controls and all necessary actions to prohibit profiteering from the crisis.
- Refuse corporate bailouts, instead bring corporations asking for bailouts into public ownership
- Implement democratic involvement of workers and communities in decisions.
- Make banks and corporations, not workers, pay the cost of this crisis. Outlaw tax havens and repatriate funds. Nationalize the banks.
- Introduce a millionaires’ wealth tax to raise the billions needed.
