OTTAWA—Provincial governments are looking to Ottawa for more direction as the country attempts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic through a patchwork of provincial responses.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs told reporters Monday the federal government should invoke emergency powers to help the country navigate the coronavirus crisis.

“I think we need standards across the country … Rather than any of us being in a position where we are kind of deciding on our own what we need to do, I think consistency across the country,” Higgs told reporters in St. John.

“It would start to unify our approach as a nation.”

The premier’s warning came in advance of a scheduled conference call between provincial and territorial leaders and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has so far resisted granting Ottawa emergency powers as the Canadian government addresses the pandemic.

The federal Emergencies Act allows the government to take extraordinary — and often controversial — powers to deal with extraordinary crises. The Trudeau government says it has not yet needed to take that step.

Still, some provincial leaders are asking for more direction on what is to be done to combat the crisis.

A senior official with the Nova Scotia government told the Star the province was looking for support on converting its manufacturers to a “war footing” — transitioning away from their usual products to badly needed protective and medical gear.

“(We’re looking) for some supports so that they can start producing some items that are necessary, because they’re not going to be able to produce what they’re normally producing,” the source, who spoke on the condition they not be named, said in a phone call from Halifax.

The province’s large manufacturers — companies like Michelin and Stanfield’s — could retool to make protective gear, the source said.

At Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford, who has already mobilized Ontario industry to tackle the pandemic, emphasized he has been working closely with Trudeau and provincial leaders to ensure they are all on the same page.

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Ford indicated Ontario is supportive of any emergency measures the prime minister takes.

“I know every premier feels the same as I do. It’s going to be up to the prime minister to make that decision,” he said prior to a conference call with Trudeau and the other first ministers.

“But we have to make sure that we’re making decisions as a province, because the situation in Ontario is not the same situation maybe in another province, be it PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia,” Ford said.

“Every single province is different, so we want to make sure that we still have the authority to make the decisions that we require for the, for the health and the economy in each province.”

Canada had recorded 1,432 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, as well as 42 suspected cases and 20 deaths.

Federal authorities are urging Canadians to stay indoors, if at all possible, for the foreseeable future. Simple actions like properly handwashing can slow the spread of the virus, officials said.

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Speaking outside his residence at Rideau Cottage on Monday morning, Trudeau said his government is hoping Canadians will voluntarily comply with emergency directives without Ottawa having to invoke emergency powers.

But Trudeau said the federal government remains open to toughening its policies around enforcement.

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“Every step of the way, if we see that measures aren’t being taken up properly, aren’t being followed, we will look at different measures that could be necessary to enforce these rules,” Trudeau said.

“We’d rather not. And we know that millions of Canadians are doing their part but those who are not doing their part are putting at risk everyone else including the eventual recovery of our economy and the well-being of millions of Canadians.”

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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