Bill C-13 - The Federal COVID-19 legislation as well as a dangerous congregation of homeless people in Victoria

Bill C-13: a federal act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19, has now received royal assent. Several elements of this legislation are discussed on the show.Bill C-13 created the Emergency Response Benefits Act. This act will provide a monthly payment of $2,000 to people out of work. One important element of the act is that the monthly benefits will not be available to any worker who “quit their employment voluntarily”. So: don’t quit your job if you wish to remain eligible for financial assistance. Another provision of Bill C-13, that has not received much public attention, are amendments to the Patent Act that permit the Minister of Health to authorize anyone to “make, construct, use and sell a patented invention to the extent necessary to respond to the public health emergency described in the application”. This would permit companies to manufacture things like ventilators, or drugs, that could otherwise be protected by a patent. There is provision for the payment of compensation to the owner of the patent. Also discussed, in the context of the provincial Public Health Act orders, are the large number of homeless people who are camping, congregating, and lining up together, outside of the Our Place Society facility in the 900-block of Pandora in Victoria. While Our Place has stopped providing some services, it is still providing three meals a day, washroom, and other services, from its single location. While all with the best of intentions, this has encouraged the unsafe gathering of large numbers of people in close proximity.Meals, and other services, need to be provided in a distributed fashion, so as to remove the incentive for the large group of homeless people to continue congregating in one place. Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the legislation discussed.