Image Credit: CFJC Today/File Photo

By Adam Donnelly

COVID-19

Clearwater Mayor prepares to declare a State of Local Emergency

Mar 22, 2020 | 2:54 PM

CLEARWATER, BC — Monday at noon, the Mayor of the District of Clearwater (DoC) says he plans to declare a State of Local Emergency for the community of 2,300-plus.

“With the COVID-19 crisis, we obviously want to get ahead of things,” Merlin Blackwell tells CFJC Today. “We’re trying to be proactive; we’re trying to support the Provincial Health Officer and the provincial government on this, especially in our community. We have one small hospital and an excellent group of local health care workers, and we’re really trying to show the community that we support what they do.”

Image Credit: CFJC Today/File Photo

The move will make Clearwater the latest BC municipality to make a similar declaration, following Kamloops’ example on March 20th, and several Metro Vancouver cities on March 19th.

Blackwell wants to ensure citizens of his community are taking the COVID-19 crisis seriously. He hopes making this declaration will help convince those in the small town to take the proper measures to ensure the safety of themselves and their neighbours.

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“What we seem to have in smaller communities, which might be a challenge, is that people think because we’re out in the middle of nowhere, [the virus] may not come here, or it may not come here as soon, they may have some warning,” Blackwell explains. “Because they’re not hearing about local cases, they’re letting it slide a little bit. We really need to let them know that you have to assume [the virus] is here because it probably is here. I think social distancing is a nice start, but I think people need to stay home. If people have no serious business being out, I think they just need to stay home.”

In a lengthy Facebook post, Blackwell outlines many of the reasons he and council members have decided to declare an emergency in the community.

Ultimately, Blackwell acknowledges that the COVID-19 crisis may take months before there’s any resolution. He says keeping people in his community safe is his number one goal at this point.

“We’re really hoping the people who aren’t getting this – the five to ten percent who are the outliers and who aren’t understanding – and the parents that have teens. I mean, that’s a difficult conversation to have, that you have to stay home for a while and social distance, and not do a bunch of social things you’d normally do. That’s the real battle we have to fight here, and that’s one of the reasons we’ll declare this Local State of Emergency: to give those people the confidence they’re doing the right thing.”