Image Credit: Twitter / Government of BC

By James Peters

COVID-19

Plans to re-open B.C. economy to be unveiled next week: Horgan

Apr 29, 2020 | 2:33 PM

VICTORIA — The premier of British Columbia says his government will unveil plans next week to restart the province’s economy.

But John Horgan says government is acting cautiously, because “we still have a lot of work to do.”

Horgan addressed the public in a news conference Wednesday afternoon (Apr. 29), shortly after cabinet agreed to extend the province’s COVID-19 state of emergency by another two weeks to May 12.

The premier said the government’s plan to ramp up economic activity must gain the confidence of both workers and customers.

“It’s not just going to be the flick of a switch,” Horgan said. “The consuming public has to be comfortable and confident when they go into a restaurant that they are going to be safe. Similarly, workers in that sector need that confidence as well.”

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While provinces such as Saskatchewan and P.E.I. have been the quickest off the blocks to announce easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Horgan says that is a race B.C. doesn’t need to win.

“I didn’t want, as other provinces have done, to lay out a plan talking about the future because that gives a signal to the broader public that all is well, you can come out of your home and get back into your regular behaviour,” noted Horgan. “We are not there yet.”

“When people see government starting to loosen the restrictions, they assume that that’s game on; that’s the green light to proceed to regular activity. That is not the case,” he continued. “We still have work to do in British Columbia. Dr. Henry will be tabling the results of her modelling next week. We’ll take that to cabinet and that will form the final determinations on how our restart will begin.”

Horgan said the latest modelling presented by Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, will inform the initial plans to be unveiled next week. He said public safety will continue to be first and foremost.

“That will be the foundation of the plan. How can you operate safely? How can we ensure that there are processes and guidelines in place so the public has confidence that they can once again get back to a regular schedule of consumption.”

Tuesday, Education Minister Rob Fleming said plans were in the works to have more students return to schools before the end of the current school year.

A day later, Horgan seemed to indicate a return to regular classes in schools is not being considered.

“We don’t anticipate a regular return to education as we know it until into September,” said Horgan. “But we do expect a gradual increase in the number of students in classrooms and we’re working with all of the stakeholders, whether they be support staff, teachers, administrators, trustees, to make that happen.”

Meantime, Horgan called on employers and employees do abandon the “heroic” mindset that has long led employees to attend their workplaces despite feeling ill.

He noted that behaviour has been demonstrated to have exacerbated the spread of COVID-19.

“What we discovered with the poultry facilities, for example, is that the majority of the cases that were connected to that one site were people who were still working — including the federal inspectors. That just can’t continue.”