“I missed doing something more rewarding than just sitting at home and getting wire transfers from the government.”

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Luca Bidini, 20, is currently in his second year as a political science major at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. After losing his job and transferring schools, Luca shares his insight on the pandemic from the perspective of America’s neighbor to the north.

Q – Hunter Rogers: Did You have a job during the pandemic?

A – Luca Bidini: I was employed, I was working at a local theater in Toronto. I worked there two years prior to the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, they shut down for about a year. So everybody was put on leave. Pretty much everybody who was put on leave was able to qualify for an emergency response befit called CERB (Canadian Emergency Response Benefit).

Q: Do you think people were abusing this?

A: Absolutely. The minimum wage in Canada is $14, and CERB ran for a max of 28 weeks, and you made $500 a week for those 28 weeks. So that was a lot of money. Basically, everyone I talked to made more money during the pandemic; than they would’ve made than actually working.

Q: Do you think you think you or others abused it?

A: I don’t consider it as abuse because it was a mandate set by the government. If it’s provided to the general population, there’s a reason that it’s provided for them. At the end of the day, you need a way to make money. I’m not in a position where I need it incredibly badly; everyone was without a job, so everyone needed some way to pay their bills.

Q: Is there anything still going on like that?

A: Even after the first 28-week period, Toronto was still in pretty bad lockdown. A lot of places still haven’t opened up, so people were without jobs. They hop on unemployment insurance. So they got 28 weeks from CERB, which is $500 per week, and they also got unemployment insurance $500 a week, and that runs year-round. There was also the Canadian Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) and that was for students not even employed, and they got $312.5 a week for 16 weeks.

Q: How was working during the pandemic?

A: I was off for about a year, and then when restrictions finally started to ease up, by the way, they haven’t eased up entirely in Toronto. Just last week was when bars and restaurants finally opened up for full occupancy. It’s been almost two years with restrictions, which is really tough. As the theater was able to reopen, we had less people that were able to come in. They only called back a number of workers; thankfully I was called back. Then I realized I was making less money working than I could be making if I was on unemployment insurance. That kind of threw me off a little bit because why am I here. I can be making more money subscribing to this government policy, but I realized it’s good getting back into the swing of things. I missed doing something more rewarding than just sitting at home and getting wire transfers from the government.

Q: What were the worst things you’ve experienced through the pandemic?

A: Personally, I really missed being at work. I know a lot of people, including myself, even if we were still making money during that period, I would’ve much preferred to be working, and to be with people, and to be seeing people. In Toronto, the restrictions were really harsh. We were in a quarantine period for months in which nobody saw each other, and everyone followed the rules very carefully you couldn’t even see your friends. It was really tough, and I know a lot of people struggled mentally. In our province of Ontario, the restrictions were much harsher than any other province because we are the biggest province in Canada. There was a lot of arguing from anti-mask sides versus people who believe in the process. It created a very diverse atmosphere. I’m not in Toronto right now, but if I were in Toronto, you can see there’s a big divide. 

Q: Do you think your country handled the pandemic well?

A: Yeah, I think compared to other countries, I mean, it’s difficult. Countries like Australia incorporated curfews; at the time, I thought something like a curfew would’ve been a good idea. I think Canada took a pretty comprehensive measure. We shut down; from my knowledge, a lot of American states didn’t really shut down. They kept going, and maybe they paid the price in some instances.