COVID-19 High financial cost, Canadian Rangers to help remote communities, Fines for the homeless called discriminatory

Hadassah Alencar

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COVID-19 High financial cost for Montreal

Montreal is facing an unprecedented economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The chairman of Montreal’s executive committee Benoit Dorais (ben-noire Door-ay) said they didn’t know how much the crisis has cost the city so far, or how much it will cost.

The conference was to present Montreal's audited financial report for 2019. Dorais acknowledged the 2020 financial report will diverge dramatically from last year's report. 

The city recorded a $250.9 hundred thousand million dollar surplus in 2019, an increase of just over $38 million from the 2018 surplus.

Canadian Rangers head to remote communities

Ottawa announced military assistance from the Canadian Rangers has been sent to help remote communities in Quebec’s Basse-Côte-Nord region with the coronavirus.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Rangers said they have not yet been assigned the communities they will aid. 

Communities in the vast remote area of Basse-Côte-Nord region have been affected by the virus but are seeing a decrease in cases. 

The Innu community, the Uashat mak Mani-utenam (Ou-ah-shat mack manny-oo-te-nam) Innu Nation, has reported eight confirmed cases of COVID-19, while another, the Pessamit (pess-ah-meat) Innu Nation has one confirmed case. The Nutashkuan (noot-ash-kwuan) has had one confirmed case but reports the person has recovered. 

Youth Rights Commission labels fines for the homeless as discriminatory

Montreal's commission for youth rights says the fines given to homeless individuals, in order to enforce quarantine guidelines, are discriminatory.

The Canadian Press published that several tickets with fines totalling just over 15 hundred dollars were issued to youth that lived on the street for violating public-health instructions. 

The Commission has asked the police to take into account different peoples living situations, and to consider the impact these fines have on vulnerable peoples during the pandemic.