Thank you for your question. This country was built by all Canadians, including Indigenous peoples, the founding nations and immigrants, and they are the reason Canada is a prosperous nation today. As we navigate this economic and health crisis, the government is doing everything in its power to help Canadians and Canada’s economy. Our country has never experienced anything like this before. It is much too early to predict what structural changes our economy may undergo in the months and years to come. I have no information about whether the government plans to review immigration rates. However, as senators should know, the government regularly reviews its numbers and expectations with respect to immigration while taking into account Canadians’ needs and economic and social growth. That is what the government will continue to do.

Respectfully, not quite. Every government faces the challenge of doing what it must to deal with issues and problems of the day by proposing a vision for future. It is not just during a pandemic; it is always the case, and that is what the current government is doing. Nevertheless, we have to recognize that in these unprecedented times, when millions of Canadians are suffering, the government has to focus on what it can do to help them. It has to help businesses, small, medium or large, so that once this crisis is over we can enjoy a healthy and robust economy and society. We have a vision for the future, but I have to say that in the midst of a crisis, the details of that vision are not always easy to glean.