In his recent public statements about the pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken to using the language of war — appropriate for describing a threat so deadly and so fast-moving. But Canadians need more than metaphors. They need information.
Asked on Wednesday how this crisis might end, the prime minister insisted the story was still being written. Challenged to explain what the future might hold, Justin Trudeau directed everyone’s attention to the present.
The prime minister’s language on Wednesday was particularly stark.
“This is the largest economic program in Canada’s history,” he said of measures the federal government has outlined over the last three weeks to keep the economy alive.
“Canada hasn’t seen this type of civic mobilization since the Second World War,” he said of the massive effort to reorient Canadian society around a single overarching goal.
He referred to the pandemic as a “fight” Canada must win. The goal, he said, was to “defeat” COVID-19. And he returned to a theme of service.
“We all have to answer the call of duty,” he said.
Trudeau’s use of wartime language might help people understand how serious the current situation is.
Grim numbers, long timelines
But public pressure for more information is increasing. How long might we be in this battle? How brutal could it get?
That desire for answers has been intensified in recent days by the Trump administration’s decision to release a projected death toll for the United States and the leak of a Canadian document that suggests at least some virus-related measures here could be in place until July.
Ultimately, the question for the prime minister is whether he is saying or doing enough to properly prepare Canadians for whatever might come next.
Asked about the future on Wednesday, Trudeau declined to be precise.
“I’ve said from the very beginning that there are a wide range of scenarios that we have been looking for, that we’re planning for, that we are trying to work towards as a government, as a country,” he said. “We know that they’re going to be in place for a number of more weeks, perhaps more months, but everything