The government should be commended on aspects of their COVID-19 response. Premier Scott Moe announced the province鈥檚 plan to reopen Saskatchewan on Thursday, April 23. The Sask Party put together a comprehensive plan beginning on May 4 to be enacted in five stages. 鈥淥ver the next several weeks, restrictions will be gradually lifted,鈥� Moe related in a story written by Jordan Stricker for the Assiniboia Times.
Although Moe understood the necessity of allowing the province鈥檚 businesses to reopen, the premier reminded the public to maintain their physical distancing. 鈥淟et me be clear, many of the physical distancing restrictions and rules are going to remain in place,鈥� he inserted. 聽聽
NDP leader Ryan Meili agreed with the plan on balance, but sensed the Saskatchewan Party鈥檚 5-staged blueprint lacked important details 鈥� specifically on how the government planned to manage those who would continue to experience financial difficulties years after the crisis ended.
"What we still have yet to see is any meaningful discussion of how the Sask. Party plans to support communities, individuals and families through this time," Meili stated in a CTV interview. Meili鈥檚 correct 鈥� the province needs to address social needs with more dollars. Still, the Federal Liberals must do more of their share as well 鈥� the agricultural industry鈥檚 sure to need additional federal help in 2020-2021.
Although Meili and Moe are ideologically estranged, they agreed on employing a cautious approach. Moe鈥檚 five stage plan is also health-based, even if somewhat amiss on social spending.
Further to the right, a movement based on getting things back to as they were before January 2020 has taken root in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The worldwide anti-lockdown movement is prevalent in the United States with 956,000 coronavirus sufferers and 53,742 COVID-19 deaths as of April 25.
These anti-lockdown societies are fractured into subgroups. Yet, the anti-lockdowners all consider social and physical distancing as imposed tyranny.
鈥淲hat was once a roaring economy, the nationwide social distancing limitations coupled with statewide shutdowns has brought the thriving, record-low unemployment-economy to a screeching halt.聽We must get back to work and the only way to do that is to reopen the economy and liberate America,鈥� said a representative from a Trumpist group known as ... Liberate America, of course.
Liberate America, along with a cluster of like-minded organizations, wanted state governors to immediately revise their COVID-19 laws, regardless of the consequences. 聽
Reviving the world鈥檚 economies is vital for business owners and employees. But the coronavirus is lethal. COVID-19 is contagious. Rejecting lockdown measures meant to fight a disease spreading across North America is nothing less than fatalistic.
We must defeat the curve 鈥� a tiresome, but honest phrase. And remember 鈥� COVID-19 blows in any direction 鈥� easterly or westerly 鈥� northerly or southerly. 聽聽
In Saskatchewan, there鈥檚 a focus on COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, but Alberta鈥檚 faced an alarming number of cases in April. Headlines in the April 25 Calgary Sun talked of an eruption of COVID-19 in the Wildrose Province鈥檚 meat plants, where workers tested positive for the virus at processing facilities in High River and Brooks.
In Brooks alone, 387 active cases of COVID-19 were reported on April 24, compared to 57 active cases in all of Saskatchewan on April 25.
In northern Alberta, Imperial Oil鈥檚 Kearl oilsands project connected to 32 cases of the virus, including people who鈥檝e revisited their home provinces after spending time in work camps 鈥� some of these cases meant COVID-19 moved from western to eastern Canada 鈥� a conflicting route according to some prairie narratives.
Saskatchewan must begin opening on May 4, but each revitalization phase can only be completed with full attentiveness to the directives of the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Moreover, the provincial and the federal governments must work harder at helping Canadians in financial risk during and after the crisis.聽 聽 聽 聽聽
