4-day-work week scheme post-COVID-19, not a priority for now for Trudeau

“Right now we’re very much focused on getting through this particular crisis, and we’ll have plenty of time to talk about particularly creative idea on moving forward, but I’m not going to speculate on what any of them might be,” Trudeau continued saying. (File Photo: Justin Trudeau/Facebook)

For the Canadian Prime Minister, the federal government has a lot more pressing matters to attend to in this time of the crisis.

Justin Trudeau was asked on Wednesday, May 27 by a CityNews reporter if Canada will consider a four-day-work per week schedule once the pandemic crisis is over. His response in his daily briefing was that a lot of people are “thinking creatively about what the post-COVID world could look like” but he would not speculate about it for now.

“Right now we’re very much focused on getting through this particular crisis, and we’ll have plenty of time to talk about particularly creative ideas on moving forward, but I’m not going to speculate on what any of them might be,” Trudeau continued saying.

Just a week ago, this scheme was floated by New Zealand through its prime minister’s Facebook live video. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that a lot of people are suggesting it.

“Ultimately that really sits between employers and employees, but as I’ve said, there’s lots of things we’ve learned about COVID and just that flexibility of people working from home, the productivity that can be driven out of it,” she said.

Ardern also encouraged the people to think about it especially employers or in positions that can decide what works best for their workplace.

“It certainly would help tourism all around the country,” she added, explaining that if people had more time for breaks, they can travel more; which would be a big win for the travel and tourism sector that’s affected by the pandemic crisis.