Economist and Centre for Research on Globalization director Michel Chossudovsky testifies at the NCI in Quebec

Michel Chossudovsky is a Canadian economist and author, who is also professor emeritus of economics at the University of Ottawa and the president and director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

Michel Chossudovsky holds a controversial but strong position on how the pandemic response has impacted the economy.

"The lockdown under no circumstances could be considered as a means of containing an epidemic because when you want to contain an epidemic, you must make sure that your economy is functioning. So, in other words, closing down an economy simply weakens the whole fabric of society.”

Shutting down the economy is the worst thing to do during a pandemic according to Mr. Chossudovsky. But the economic side is only one of the repercussions of the lockdowns, these harsh measures also had a great impact on mental health.

“This is not a public health crisis. It's a much broader crisis which triggers a public health crisis. But the crisis is more than that. It triggers a crisis in mental health and drug overdose and alcoholism.”

Mr. Chossudovsky exposed the massive transfer of wealth the pandemic has created, making big institutions and corporations richer and everyday citizens poorer.

“Broadly speaking, it's the financial establishment. It's very powerful financial interests. We call them Wall Street. But it's broader than that. It's the powerful banking institutions, but it's also the portfolio companies like BlackRock and so on, which will acquire real economic wealth.”

Canada raised the national debt ceiling by 57% to $1.4 Trillion under Trudeau's power. Mr. Chossudovsky explained the consequences of having a high national debt, and the impact of the creditors on the decision to raise the debt ceiling.

“Essentially what's happening now is that all these governments are heavily indebted and they are taking the instructions from creditors.”