April Fools Came Early

Earlier this week the provincial government of British Columbia, at the hands of Premier John Horgan, Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, announced what they titled a “three-week circuit breaker” to “bend the curve and protect people”. Additionally, young people in the cohort from 20 to 39 were blamed for the surge in COCID-19 cases. They were told to “not blow this for your parents and neighbours and other who have been working really really hard marking significant sacrifices, so we can get good outcomes for everybody”. Since the announcement, that same cohort has taken to social media to highlight their sacrifices, reinforce their roles on the front lines, and demand an apology from the Premier.

As a refresher, the following restrictions have been imposed:

·        Restaurants, bars, pubs must only provide take-out or delivery service. Dine-in service is prohibited, except for outdoor patios.

·        Indoor, adult group fitness activities of any kind are cancelled.

·        Previously announced limited indoor worship services has been suspended.

·        Travel continues to be limited to essential travel.

·        Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort is closed.

These latest restrictions come at a time when British Columbians were starting to feel optimistic about 2021 and looking forward to going back to a life of normalcy – or as close to it as possible. We’ve been told that the measures would come into place at midnight on March 30th and would remain in effect until April 19th.

However, if we’ve learned anything with this government, let it be this: there is no finish line in the never-ending game of Go-Go-Stop.

To give the government some benefit of the doubt, it is only fair to include their stated motives for driving these latest restrictions; Adrian Dix is quoted as saying they are a result of:

·        Rising case levels

·        Possible new variants of Covid-19

·        Increased transmission

·        An increase in more severe cases

What is most noticeable about these justifications are the items we don’t hear about anymore. Let’s remember the government’s initial reasons for imposing their latest COVID-19 restrictions:

·        People weren’t wearing masks enough

·        There was too much pressure on our health care system

·        We had a scarcity of ventilators

·        DEATHS!

It’s interesting to note that the restrictions have not improved, but the reasons for them in the first place certainly have.

This leads to the biggest frustration most British Columbians have with our federal and provincial governments – decisions that are largely based on a feeling and not empirical evidence.

Here are three examples:

1- Adult Team Sports

Soccer, hockey, baseball, and basketball are just a few examples of adult recreational spots which were all cancelled on December 2nd. Since then we have never heard from the government as to how many cases of COVID were transmitted due to adults playing team sports.

2- Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort – How many new cases were occurring in Whistler to justify shutting down the entire town? Whistler has since announced that they will not reopen for the tail end of the ski season and will only reopen for the beginning of its summer season on May 21st, 2021.

3- Restaurants – A major employer in our province and massive contributor to our taxation system. The last and only other time our province restricted in-door dining was back on March 20, 2020 when cases, hospitalizations and deaths were rising sharply, and we knew almost nothing about this virus. It is worth noting that it took the province 60 days to lift these restrictions and today, deaths are near zero.

This BC government would gain a lot of credibility if it stuck to evidence-based, data-driven policies. A simple example would be to state how many new cases of COVID-19 have been transmitted within dine-in restaurants and provide a target we need to get to in order to open these businesses back up.

The issue is two-fold, the BC government either has the data or they don’t have the data. If this NDP government wants to preserve any level of respect from millions of frustrated British Columbians, they need to simply come clean - if you have the date, share it in its entirety; if you don’t, how are you going to gather it? Regardless of the answer, they need to start acting accordingly or their messaging will fall on deaf ears.

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