Covid-19

[Tracker]

[FrostyWinnipeg]

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/western-canada-lottery-corporation-extends-time-period-for-prizes-to-be-claimed-1.4886714

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

I'm usually with you on things. Not here. That's not the way I interpreted it, i.e., them treating the COVID as a slight delay to the season.

I see this as a staged cancellation/postponement approach as new data comes in versus just cancel everything now. In two weeks, maybe they say August. Another month they say cancelled, who knows, but it does keep some of us hopeful that something can be salvaged this year knowing we may not be able to. I guess the ongoing discussion here is what's the threshold where the pin needs to be completely pulled on seasons that were paused and upcoming seasons to be played. Right now I still have a sliver of hope that something can happen where we can get sport back this summer/fall.  No false hope just wait and see, hope for the best prepare for the worst.

So, they start the season in August & on the first weekend they have a hundred thousand CFL fans attending 4 games.  The virus is still present but in numbers the government feels safe enough to allow large gatherings like a CFL game. Out of that just 1% come to the games asymptomatic. They don't know they're sick. A thousand people at the 4 games start infecting people around or near them. Then start talking NHL & NBA playoffs, MLB & MLS & everything else going on with life getting back to normal out in public.  Borders open up, air & vehicular travel starts again. Things will get shut down fast after new infections occur & then we're back to where we started.

This is why I agree with JCon. We need a vaccine before sports can start up again. How many people are actually going to go to a sporting event with tens of thousands of people packed in all around them if there is no vaccine knowing the presence of the virus is probably around them? Run the risk of infecting others, getting sick & infecting loved ones? I would say most people would be afraid to go.  

That's why going out in public is nerve wracking right now. Going grocery shopping feels creepy. Using a machine at the till at the cashier or ATM machine raises questions of how we could get infected. Or when you bring groceries home we are told that the virus can live 3 days on plastic or hard surfaces. So then, are we infecting our homes if we don't wipe down doorknobs, keys, smartphones, countertops, etc. even in 4 months? How about the steering wheel on our personal vehicles? Now we should think about going to football games with 30,000 other fans in  August? I just can't see how that is going to be possible.  I'm not being negative but pragmatic & honest. It just is what it is. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by SpeedFlex27

[Tracker]

• Hours

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney initially announced the benefit March 19, and opened applications that week.

“Albertans are doing their part to keep each other safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19. We are doing ours by assisting Albertans and their families, protecting jobs and supporting workers and employers,” Kenney said.

The one-time payment of $1,146 was open to Albertans required to isolate by public health guidelines or who had to take care of a dependent who was isolating, who also had a significant decrease in income and no other source of compensation. According to the province, the Alberta Emergency Isolation Support program was meant to “bridge the gap” while awaiting federal financial support in the form of the CERB.

 

But over the past few weeks, many Albertans who went to apply for the benefit say they were faced with long wait times and denied applications for seemingly no reason. 

[Noeller]

I don't know about the provincial process, but I heard that since the federal payment program opened, they've been processing 1,000 applications per minute (!!!) which I can't even wrap my head around...

[tacklewasher]

5 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I don't know about the provincial process, but I heard that since the federal payment program opened, they've been processing 1,000 applications per minute (!!!) which I can't even wrap my head around...

I know this is a bit of an aside from the Covid topic, but it does amaze me that they got this system up and running so quickly when a year ago they had trouble paying employees with the Phoenix system. I really expected this to be a cluster-f

[Tracker]

32 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I don't know about the provincial process, but I heard that since the federal payment program opened, they've been processing 1,000 applications per minute (!!!) which I can't even wrap my head around...

It was announced that as of 6:00PM EDT, one million applications had been accepted.

[tacklewasher]

3 hours ago, tacklewasher said:

Did notice today that he needs a haircut.

And Dr. Henry apologized to her hairdresser for tinkering with her own hair.

I mean, hair is important in all of this. Gotta look good

[SpeedFlex27]

My federal application just fell into a black hole. Partly because of my own stupidity & partly because the phone line to EI has crashed. I'm a school bus driver & was laid off officially on March 31st even though my last day was March 13th as schools were closed in Alberta as of March 16th.  I was on a Medical EI last year as I had my knee replacement during the summer & was switched over to regular EI claim when I went back to work in November. I still have about 6 weeks left on my regular claim that is still open until June 30th.                                          

I wasn't sure what to claim, the rest of my EI benefits or the CERB?   Very early this morning, I went to Service Canada webpage & was sent to another where I answered some questions online. I was put onto the EI page & began to answer even more questions. halfway thru I began to realize that they wee asking me questions for what looked like a new claim but I figured I would keep going as that is what it wanted me to do. When I finished I was informed my claim was done successfully but there'd be a one week waiting period when all I wanted to do was REACTIVATE my present claim. I realized that I didn't reactivate my claim like I wanted.

So, now in the system I have two claims going simultaneously. Usually when I want to reactivate my EI claim during Xmas, I call the 1-800-206-7218 number & they do it over the phone in 2 minutes. I thought doing it online would be easier but nope. This morning & all day long I called that number to try to straighten everything out. At one point over & over 32 times in a row & I was told the call failed every time.

So, now I have 2 claims simultaneously going. No way to call & I can't go down to an EI Office to get this thing sorted out. What a mess. There is no instructions online for people who still have active claims but went back to work.  All I can do now is keep trying. But if I don't have this resolved by the end of the week because I can't call, I'm going to get my MP office involved as there's nothing else I can do. 

Edited April 8, 2020 by SpeedFlex27

[Floyd]

3 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Not angry at all....did it seem like I was angry?  I guess the people trying to subtly underplay the pandemic is annoying.   In regards to Trudeau, it directly impacts me as my gf is self employed and has had her income drastically reduced.  We know many people in the same situation so as a non-Trudeau supporter, I went from very impressed with him to utterly disappointed in his lies.   We'll see how long it takes them to alter the CERB to actually do what JT claimed it would do from the start.  Fortunately, I continue to work (Im "essential" lol).  Although I have lost money on my side business too.

 

@J5V  you find it amusing when people suffer financially?  Speaks volumes about you.

As a small business owner of two corporations, you are completely full of it in terms of CERB... its already altered and rolled out faster than any govt program I've ever heard of

So if your GF is a legit small business - $50K salary - you understand... if she sells one sewing machine a month, then she can go on EI like the rest of the country...  either way its a win

Scheer would have been paralyzed.  No doubt - we'd be hearing platitudes and talking points and kissing ass to Trump

[J5V]

5 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

My federal application just fell into a black hole. Partly because nof my own stupidity & partly because the phone line to EI has crashed. I was on EI last year as I had my knee replacement during the summer & was switched over to regular EI claim when I went back to work in November. I still have about 6 weeks left to claim until June 30th when my present claim expires.

I wasn't sure what to claim, the rest of my EI benefits or the CERB?   Very early this morning, I went to Service Canada webpage & was sent to another where I answered some questions online. I was put onto the EI page & began to answer even more questions. halfway thru I began to realize that they wee asking me questions for what looked like a new claim but I figured I would keep going as that is what it wanted me to do. When I finished I was informed my claim was done successfully but there'd be a one week waiting period when all I wanted to do was REACTIVATE my present claim. I realized that I didn't reactivate my claim like I wanted.

So, now in the system I have two claims going simultaneously. Usually when I want to reactivate my EI claim during Xmas, I call the 1-800-206-7218 number & they do it over the phone in 2 minutes. I thought doing it online would be easier but nope. This morning & all day long I called that number to try to straighten everything out. At one point over & over 32 times in a row & I was told the call failed every time.

So, now I have 2 claims simultaneously going. No way to call & I can't go down to an EI Office to get this thing sorted out. What a mess. There is no instructions online for people who still have active claims but went back to work.  All I can do now is keep trying. But if I don't have this resolved by the end of the week because I can't call, I'm going to get my MP office involved as there's nothing else I can do. 

I feel your pain as do many thousands of us. They've had how long to set this up and it's just a mess. Download yourself an autodialer and set it for 5 minutes or so and it'll dial in for you repeatedly until it connects. You need to talk to a human and I don't know how else you can do it.

Good luck.

[Floyd]

6 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

My federal application just fell into a black hole. Partly because nof my own stupidity & partly because the phone line to EI has crashed. I was on EI last year as I had my knee replacement during the summer & was switched over to regular EI claim when I went back to work in November. I still have about 6 weeks left to claim until June 30th when my present claim expires.

I wasn't sure what to claim, the rest of my EI benefits or the CERB?   Very early this morning, I went to Service Canada webpage & was sent to another where I answered some questions online. I was put onto the EI page & began to answer even more questions. halfway thru I began to realize that they wee asking me questions for what looked like a new claim but I figured I would keep going as that is what it wanted me to do. When I finished I was informed my claim was done successfully but there'd be a one week waiting period when all I wanted to do was REACTIVATE my present claim. I realized that I didn't reactivate my claim like I wanted.

So, now in the system I have two claims going simultaneously. Usually when I want to reactivate my EI claim during Xmas, I call the 1-800-206-7218 number & they do it over the phone in 2 minutes. I thought doing it online would be easier but nope. This morning & all day long I called that number to try to straighten everything out. At one point over & over 32 times in a row & I was told the call failed every time.

So, now I have 2 claims simultaneously going. No way to call & I can't go down to an EI Office to get this thing sorted out. What a mess. There is no instructions online for people who still have active claims but went back to work.  All I can do now is keep trying. But if I don't have this resolved by the end of the week because I can't call, I'm going to get my MP office involved as there's nothing else I can do. 

Weird how service is slower during a pandemic when the entire country is shutdown...

I called CRA today and had my small business issue resolved within two hours.

[Floyd]

Just now, J5V said:

I feel your pain as do many thousands of us. They've had how long to set this up and it's just a mess. Download yourself an autodialer and set it for 5 minutes or so and it'll dial in for you repeatedly until it connects. You need to talk to a human and I don't know how else you can do it.

Good luck.

Two weeks ha?

[J5V]

1 minute ago, Floyd said:

Two weeks ha?

In this day and age two weeks is a lifetime. They're the government!

Okay, what if you couldn't get through due to a constant busy signal. The Service Canada centres are shut down. What would you do?

[Tracker]

 

 

                                                    

[SpeedFlex27]

1 minute ago, J5V said:

In this day and age two weeks is a lifetime. They're the government!

Okay, what if you couldn't get through due to a constant busy signal. The Service Canada centres are shut down. What would you do?

It wasn't busy. It was a drop. It beeped after about a minute of silence & then a message said call failed.

[Tiny759]

9 minutes ago, Floyd said:

 

Scheer would have been paralyzed.  No doubt - we'd be hearing platitudes and talking points and kissing ass to Trump

Would love to hear more about your opinion on this. Would you mind explaining more? 

[Floyd]

2 minutes ago, J5V said:

In this day and age two weeks is a lifetime. They're the government!

Okay, what if you couldn't get through due to a constant busy signal. The Service Canada centres are shut down. What would you do?

Short answer:  I would try again tomorrow and the next day instead of calling my fkn MLA haha

We have different ideas of the speed of government ha

The fact that its rolled out at all is a miracle

[SpeedFlex27]

I just need to talk to someone to resolve this. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes. 

[Floyd]

Just now, Tiny759 said:

Would love to hear more about your opinion on this. Would you mind explaining more? 

I think Scheer was a fake smiling Harper puppet and the Conservative Party are corporate sellout losers who would have relied on a privatized health care solution too long...

Case in point - Horgan was on top of covid far before Doug Ford made a move.

[Tiny759]

Just now, Floyd said:

I think Scheer was a fake smiling Harper puppet and the Conservative Party are corporate sellout losers who would have relied on a privatized health care solution too long...

Case in point - Horgan was on top of covid far before Doug Ford made a move.

Hmm interesting, can I ask why you believe this? 

[J5V]

Just now, Floyd said:

Short answer:  I would try again tomorrow and the next day instead of calling my fkn MLA haha

We have different ideas of the speed of government ha

The fact that its rolled out at all is a miracle

I probably don't have a good handle on the logistics of this but I am in my 3rd week of dropped lines and busy signals trying to speak to a human at Service Canada. I think I have PTSD from the constant busy signal and the recording that says "due to the high volume of calls we cannot take your call right now. Please try again later". Click. I have the auto-dialer set to 300 seconds. I start it at 8:30am and my phone dials away until 4:30pm. 5 days a weeks. I'm in my 3rd week. I figure I am a pretty patient guy. I wonder how many people are in this boat with me.

[Floyd]

3 minutes ago, Tiny759 said:

Hmm interesting, can I ask why you believe this? 

I felt like Scheer ended up just repeating soundbites during the election and was nominated based on the fact that he was a harmless Harper with dimples.  It was mostly the abortion non-committal answers that were actually answers...

As for privatized health care?  I feel like its been pretty open that Cons want a more privatized health care system - watching Italy (public) and Spain (hybrid) and US (private) will soon tell us how this all works compared to Canada...

[Floyd]

3 minutes ago, J5V said:

I probably don't have a good handle on the logistics of this but I am in my 3rd week of dropped lines and busy signals trying to speak to a human at Service Canada. I think I have PTSD from the constant busy signal and the recording that says "due to the high volume of calls we cannot take your call right now. Please try again later". Click. I have the auto-dialer set to 300 seconds. I start it at 8:30am and my phone dials away until 4:30pm. 5 days a weeks. I'm in my 3rd week. I figure I am a pretty patient guy. I wonder how many people are in this boat with me.

What are you calling for?

[J5V]

12 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

It wasn't busy. It was a drop. It beeped after about a minute of silence & then a message said call failed.

Probably overwhelmed.