Justin Trudeau at feminist conference while markets crash, coronavirus spreads

Canada is facing an economic crisis. Albertan oil companies are facing insolvency and the country is facing a dramatic run on the loony. As well as this, coronavirus is spreading across the country with 60 confirmed cases. Despite all this, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is spending his time at a feminist conference.

The conference in question is the SheEO global summit that is taking place in Toronto, Ontario. SheEO’s website makes clear that Trudeau will have plenty of “quiet spaces to reflect, integrate and breathe” and “healthy, nourishing meals and snacks.”

During this conference, Trudeau was quick to illustrate his feminist values, saying “women come forward with purpose driven businesses with a desire to change the world … we need to support you to be as successful as you need to be.“

The prime minister's offical itinerary for today says that Trudeau will spend all day at different feminist events across Ontario. Starting at 9:45, Trudeau will be speaking at the aforementioned conference and from 4:45 onwards, he will "participate in an after-school STEM Workshop for Girls hosted by Actua."

All this is happening during one of tumultuous economic periods in recent Canadian history. Last night, the shares of Albertan oil companies plummeted after Saudi Arabia and Russia flooded the market with oil.

This crash in the markets is also coinciding with the rapid spread of coronavirus, which has now infected 60 Canadians. The coronavirus pandemic is looking increasingly serious, with Alberta confirming their first case. British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec also has multiple confirmed cases.

All this may very well trigger a recession across Canada—made clear through the plummeting shares of Alberta’s oil patch companies.  

This market crash has come after a meeting between Russia and the OPEC countries where they could not reach a deal to cut the production of oil. This has triggered a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia who are now competing for a larger share of the market.

This will directly impact North American oil companies who simply cannot compete with Saudi Arabia. As well as this, Canadian and American companies have gone into significant debt in order to expand their operations—relying on the fact that oil prices will remain at $50 to $60. Now, oil prices are in the $40 range, possibly sinking as low as $30—making the production of oil in North American unprofitable.

The most sudden consequence of this is that gas prices will fall at the pumps. Justin Trudeau is yet to address this crisis.