BREAKING: Trudeau extends emergency wage subsidy, thanks Taiwan for gift of masks

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed media on Friday, on the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe day, focusing on unemployment figures.

Trudeau said that over 7 million Canadians were on CERB, and that employers had applied for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) for nearly 2 million employees. Trudeau would then announce that the CEWS would be expended beyond June, "to help kickstart our economic reopening and boost jobs." Trudeau said more details would be released next week.

Trudeau then announces that Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains would being leading a new "Industry Strategy Council." The council's intent will be to "take a deeper dive into how the pandemic is affecting specific sectors and how to best support them."

Trudeau also touched on the $500 million to support arts, culture, and amateur sports, saying that Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault would be announcing more details today at noon.

Regarding transit, Trudeau said that public transit was "an essential part" of growing economies and helping people move reliably. When asked about aiding transit systems that are making huge cuts, such as the TTC, Trudeau said the federal government was always looking at helping provincial governments with their transit systems.

Regarding seniors, Trudeau said that they have "worked very hard" on helping all Canadians make up for lost paychecks. "Seniors, many of whom are on fixed income, did not see that disappearance of their incomes at the same time, though some did, and qualified for the CERB," said Trudeau.

"We have made investments through increasing the GST supplement... We'll have more to say very soon on how we continue to support the seniors who built us this extraordinary country, and to whom we owe so much thanks."

When asked if Canadians should be returning to work in lieu of potentially unsafe work conditions, Trudeau said that safety came first.

Trudeau said he would not be weighing in on specific cases in provincial jurisdiction, saying it's a "Well established principal in Canada and a hallmark of our values as a country, that no one should be asked to work in unsafe conditions."

Trudeau was then asked about the 500,000 surgical masks donated to Canada by Taiwan, and was asked if he would acknowledge the gift, as his Foreign Minister was unable to do.

Trudeau did what Philippe-Champagne could not do—thanking Taiwan by name.

Trudeau was asked about whether he was standing up to the Chinese regime and about China's bullying tactics, which were called out by Australia's government, Trudeau said that his response was to provide for Canadians and to keep Canadians safe.

"We will be asking difficult questions about how we're making it through this pandemic, how it came to happen, how we can learn from this... My focus, rightly, is doing everything I can to get Canadians through this," the prime minister said.