It’s a Friday the 13th that I will remember for a long time. March 13, 2020. The famous day when we left the newsroom to work from home.
Posted on December 31, 2020 at 6:30 a.m.
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AT The Press, we like small informal bets. So, the day before, my colleague André asked us how long we thought we would have to stay at home. Can you believe I answered two weeks?
Laugh at me all you want, but, with one exception, everyone thought they’d be back in April or, at the latest, May. And, in my defense, I had launched a date in a hurry, stunned by a completely crazy week.
On Monday the 9th, back from spring break, I finished a column on the stock exchange on the train to Quebec, which was crashing fast. The fall had been so violent that the transactions had been suspended, in an extremely rare use of a mechanism established after another Black Monday, that of the crash of 1987.
On Tuesday 10, there was a strange atmosphere at the Quebec City Convention Center, where hundreds of journalists, economists, tax specialists and politicians crowd each year for the tabling of the provincial budget. The clumsy elbow greetings had replaced the handshakes.
We all knew that this budget forecasting exercise would take the edge with COVID-19 and that the figures presented would have the sole merit of giving us a last Polaroid of the state of our public finances before the pandemic.
Oh, how times have changed since! Governments are in the red from ear to ear. Ottawa will end the year with a monster deficit of 343 billion, 10 times larger than the previous year.
On Thursday 12th, the stock market continued its tumble, with a shattering loss of 9.5%. In the space of a month, the MSCI index of 50 countries around the world will have erased a third of its value, or 18 trillion dollars.
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But the States reacted quickly. Like real firefighters, they sprayed the markets with liquidity.
Riveted to the living room TV, I followed, like everyone else, the announcements of aid plans from Quebec and Ottawa. Every day, new measures, new billions …
“Mom, who’s going to pay for all of this?” my daughter asked me incredulously.
– Um, I think it’s gonna be you, sweetie. ”
During this period of confinement, things happened that I never thought I would see in my career.
In April, the price of oil turned negative, at – US $ 37 per barrel, because there was insufficient space to store surpluses. It’s like being paid to refuel your car!
In the “unbelievable but true” category, Canadians’ disposable income jumped 11% in the second quarter, as job losses were counted in the millions. Find the error.
Against all odds, the real estate market has broken records. In the midst of a pandemic, it must be done! The price of a single-family home in Quebec has reached an all-time high of $ 295,000, an annual increase of 13%. Home sweet home.
And the stock market also ends the year in euphoria, driven by the hope of vaccines. A few days before the end of the year, the US Stock Exchange’s S&P 500 index is up 15%. Who would have imagined such a fast rebound?
The title of Apple has more than doubled, that of Tesla has been multiplied by seven, that of Zoom by six … Ah, but techno titles which fly in the stratosphere, we have already seen that in 2000.
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But what fueled me the most during this extraordinary year were the questions from readers that were pouring into my inbox like never before.
How many heartbreaking stories have I received from passengers who couldn’t get their money back after their flight was canceled? Hundreds ! I wrote half a dozen columns to denounce credits that did not suit consumers. It took eight months for the Minister of Transport to ask carriers to reimburse their customers, as part of an Ottawa assistance plan that is still awaited.
How many questions have I received from readers wondering if they are entitled to the myriad of measures announced by the government? Tons !
Not easy to find. Details were trickling in. The media have played a vital public service role in helping people crack programs and get the help they deserve quickly.
I am especially happy to have been able to help the “handicapped” who ignore themselves to get their hands on a $ 600 aid from Ottawa. This special helping hand was offered to those who already receive tax credits for disabled people… that 60% of the people concerned do not seek.
“Your column woke me up. I was not aware of the $ 600 offered by the government. I requested them and they went back 10 years in my taxes. I thus obtained $ 17,500. I couldn’t believe it ”, wrote to me a few weeks later Mme Harvey.
(Re) read Stéphanie Grammond’s column on credit for disabled people
If you only knew how much that makes me happy.
Dear readers of The Press, your comments are a gold mine. My apologies to all those to whom I have not been able to respond personally for lack of time. On the eve of this confined New Year, I raise my glass to your health!
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