VICTORIA (March 29, 2021) — Following today’s announcement of new public health restrictions, the BC Liberals are calling on John Horgan and the NDP to start being honest with British Columbians instead of sending mixed messages and urgently focus on important supports to those who will be most impacted by the new rules.
“Today’s announcement was a gut punch to people in every corner of the province who have done everything they were asked and more to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. For weeks now we have heard from the Premier that people could plan vacations and that we were on the right track, despite rising case numbers and hospitalizations,” said Interim Leader of the Official Opposition Shirley Bond. “British Columbians have worked extremely hard to follow the lead of Dr. Henry and public health officials but John Horgan’s mixed messages and lack of clarity has caused a lot of confusion and anxiety.”
Since Horgan’s March 17 comments that he was “confident that we’re on the right track”, the rolling average of seven-day cases — which is a key determinant of their strategy — is up 29 per cent. In the last six days B.C. has seen the start of exponential growth in new cases.
“We’ve had a year to get ready. A year to set up an online booking system. A year to prepare for a third wave. A year to make sure that every system of protection is up and running for exactly a time such as this. And yet, everything the Premier touches has been mismanaged and delayed,” added MLA Renee Merrifield, BC Liberal Critic for Health. “All of us – especially political leaders – have to be honest with British Columbians and not send out mixed messages. The NDP government needs to communicate clearly with British Columbians, rather than have the Premier say one thing, and the public health officials another.”
The BC Liberals have been consistently raising questions inside and outside the Legislature about the upward trend and how government was going to respond to the data. In the race of variants versus the vaccine, B.C. is losing the battle. This requires precision on how the rollout proceeds and the Official Opposition will continue to ask difficult questions and advocate to protect vulnerable populations.
“This announcement should have come with further supports for struggling small businesses most impacted by these sudden changes, but instead countless restaurants have once again been sideswiped and forced to make changes on the fly without any financial help from John Horgan and the NDP,” added MLA Todd Stone, BC Liberal Critic for Jobs, Economic Recovery, and Innovation. “Where we are today is a direct result of a policy failure by John Horgan and his government. This could very well be the death knell for so many local businesses teetering on the edge in communities throughout our province. It’s unacceptable the Premier had no specifics or supports ready to help.”
