Hotel clerks, opera singers and thousands of other northern Ontario workers seek government aid

Like thousands of others across northern Ontario, Vivienne Smith has been worrying about paying her bills, while worrying about getting sick.

The 48-year-old lost her job at a Sudbury hotel in mid-March, just a few weeks after moving from Timmins to live with her boyfriend.

"I don't think it sunk in right away. It was like a vacation at first," says Smith, who is originally from Kirkland Lake.

"As the weeks went on, the no paycheques: it hit home quick."

She would spend entire days on hold from 8:29 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the federal government, hoping to find out when her employment insurance might come through.

This week she applied for the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit and was thrilled to hear that she would get $1,500 deposited in her account in just a few days.

"It's been tough. It's been tough. There's been a few tears shed," says Smith, who has been trying to find another job in the middle of this pandemic. 

Peter McGillivray also applied this week for the so-called CERB, promising Canadians out of work because of COVID-19 $2,000 per month.

"I never thought I'd ever have to apply for government help to help me along, so it's been a bit of sucking up that pride muscle," he says.

The Sudbury-based opera singer says he would travel around the continent to different gigs to make his living, meaning he was safe if one or two performances were cancelled.

But McGillivray says it's been "demoralizing" to see the entire entertainment industry shut down. 

He says the other popular safety net for artists is to have a partner with a steady job. But McGillivray's wife has been laid off as well.

"I've been really lucky as an artist. Most artists live pretty close to the edge. I've had a pretty solid middle class income for most of my career," says McGillivray.

"We're doing what we need to do to get by and keep our home and keep our bills paid and keep our credit intact."

There aren't exact numbers yet on how many in northern Ontario are among the 5.7 million Canadians expected to apply for the new emergency benefit, but Sault Ste. Marie Liberal MP Terry Sheehan says it's safe to say it's in the "thousands."

"People that applied on Monday are contacting me as early as Tuesday night saying they got paid. I continue to get people calling back saying 'Thank you, thank you, thank you! The money's in my bank'," he says.

"I've never seen, in my 25 years in business and politics, any level of government moving this quickly."

Sheehan says he's proud of how "nimble" the federal government has been in responding to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19, and is confident the aid program can be adapted to deal with any further downturns.

That could include the shutting down of large industrial workplaces such as sawmills and mines if they end up on the provincial non-essential list or decide to halt operations in the face of bad market conditions.

David Macdonald, an economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says there could be a second round of layoffs in the months to come if citizens and businesses begin declaring bankruptcy en masse.

He says that is what the emergency benefit should prevent, especially if the money gets out quickly.

"Programs shouldn't be perfect at this point," says Macdonald.

"In a crisis the goal shouldn't be perfect policy, it should be fast policy."

Macdonald says the government has been "pretty cagey" about releasing unemployment statistics during the pandemic, especially those for specific areas like northern Ontario.

He says a fuller picture of how under the weather the Canadian economy really is should come Thursday with the release of monthly unemployment numbers.

"It's going to be pretty bad, I don't think there's any doubt about that," says Macdonald.

"March or April will likely be the highest unemployment rate month since the Second World War."