As COVID-19 restrictions continue on, Premier Scott Moe finds himself caught between a rock and hard place.
There are many who have limited sympathy for the position the Premier is now in.
We are all caught between that rock and that hard place.
For whatever flaws so many self-appointed experts have found in Moe’s re-opening, credit Moe for taking a cautious approach in what seems a generally well-thought out plan.
Unfortunately, it has left Moe caught between that rock and hard place – those saying he’s moving too slowly in re-opening the economy versus those saying he is endangering lives by moving too quickly.
For those of you unfamiliar, Moe’s re-opening plans begin this week with dental services and recreational activities like golf, fishing and camping.
What might have been lost in the criticism over why golfing and fishing would seem to be the first priority of the Saskatchewan Party government for re-opening is the abundance of caution.
Golfing, fishing and camping are self-isolating activities by nature. The government even went so far as to restrict golfers reaching into holes after putting or ensuring that people from different families/households are not allowed in the same boat.
This first stage would be followed by the second phase starting on May 19 on the Victoria Day long weekend that will include other retail like clothing and footware stores and barber and hairdresser salons.
The next three phases have no specific dates attached to them, but will include increasing public gathering restrictions to 15 people, then 30 people and then unlimited gatherings as the government gradually opens up other businesses like bars and restaurants (initially, to half-capacity) and ends restrictions on public parks.
Unspoken in all this is the fact that the still-rather-limited measures in the third phase (the limited bar openings, that will still require six-foot social distancing requirements) won’t even begin until at least June. And that may optimistic, depending on the province not having another outbreak.
The day after the Premier unveiled his re-opening plans, Saskatchewan Health disclosed a major outbreak in the north that necessitated a travel ban to what is, essentially, half the province.
As we would later learn, the outbreak was centred in the struggling northern First Nations/Metis village of La Loche – a community of 3,000 people five hours north of Saskatoon that now accounts for 40 per cent of province’s active COVID-19 cases.
Moe says it’s really no different than what would happen if this outbreak occurred in a rural village or town. Some are sceptical of this, but it does underscore the difficult place Moe finds himself in.
The longer the restrictions are in place, the more public frustrations grow.
For example, the Saskatchewan Health Authority last week could not address when we might see the health system again provide elective surgeries.
This is a frustration for many, given that dental check ups and far less important things hair like hair salons, cosmetologists and tattoo parlours are re-opening far sooner.
Last week, 65-year-old Aberdeen accountant Garth Hetterly told the Leader-Post that he has been waiting since October for bone spur surgery in his neck and that he is now off work as a result.
This pandemic has put us in a tough spot.
But the tough spot that Moe still finds himself in has a lot to do with the fact that SHA is still offering dire warnings about what would happen if we did lift restrictions.
In its latest modelling projections last week, the SHA was still talking about 254,756 Saskatchewan cases and 3,075 deaths if we did away with all current restrictions right now.
That, too, is controversial but it does underscores one thing: We all remain in a tough spot.
Murray Mandryk has been covering provincial politics since 1983.
