Madeline Jafarnejad
Toronto Mayor John Tory announced the launch of an Economic Support and Recovery Task Force to help protect businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis on Monday.
Tory has been in self-isolation since Friday after he returned from a mission to the UK and told CP24 from his home that the effort will support segments of the economy that are most impacted by COVID-19.
“I’m confident we will get through the economic impact of this pandemic by listening to people and doing the smart, responsible things we can do to help them,” Tory said.
Some of the business Tory identified that will be most affected by COVID-19 included tourism, hospitality and entertainment.
He said the task force will be conducting conference calls with key stakeholders including Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson, Budget Chief Gary Crawford and other representatives from the affected industries starting Monday.
“What we are asking them is what can we do to help you now and help your employees now and what can the other governments do to help you,” Tory said.
“For example, the federal government has announced $10 billion (in economic relief) but we need to make sure that money is spent properly to protect jobs and protect the economy,” he said.
Tory remains in self-isolation for another week and a half but says the task force will continue to ask other governments what they can do to help Toronto businesses.