Climate is right to end COVID mandates: Westman officials

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This article was published 11/02/2022 (1686 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local elected officials in the Brandon area say the time is right to start removing COVID-19 health orders and mandates.

In the wake of protests and blockades calling for an end to mandates and provincial governments, including Manitoba’s, either completely removing or laying a path for health orders to be removed, the Sun reached out to representatives at all three levels of government for their views on the situation.

Though Westman’s Conservative MPs issued a statement Thursday afternoon calling for the end to the border blockades in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario and the harm they’re causing to the economy, both Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire and Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier said it is time to set the country on a path to ending restrictions at the federal level.

Their feelings match that of their party, which put forth a motion on its Opposition day Friday calling for the government to put a plan in place for the removal of COVID-19 restrictions by the end of the month. With the Bloc Quebecois signalling support, the motion appears likely to pass.

In an email exchange, Maguire wrote that he’s had more than 500 people reach out to him since the protests started and that the majority have expressed support for the truckers and ending mandates.

“I also want to note that a lot of the people who reached out made a point of saying they are fully vaccinated and don’t understand why the Liberals decided that almost after two years that truckers were no longer deemed essential,” Maguire wrote. “There are also some who’ve let me know they don’t support the truckers. The common message through all the calls and emails is that everyone must remain peaceful — I fully agree.

“I am hoping with the passage of our motion, the federal government will table their plan to lift the federal mandates sooner than February 28. I also believe provincial governments should be following suit and outlining their plans to do the same.”

In a phone interview, Mazier said the sooner the federal mandates are lifted, the better.

“The science is clear; Dr. Theresa Tam has stated it’s time to shift our thinking,” Mazier. “Interestingly enough, provincial governments are ahead of the federal government on this.”

The protests, he said, are proof that people are tired of dealing with the current restrictions without seeing a plan to eventually move past them.

Beyond that, Mazier said he believes Canadians deserve a break in this regard after living with these restrictions for two years and becoming one of the highest-vaccinated countries in the world.

The New York Times’ vaccination tracker lists Canada as 13th in the world when it comes to the percentage of residents with both a single dose and two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. For booster doses, Canada ranks 26th among countries.

Like Maguire, Mazier said he’s been hearing a lot from his constituents regarding mandates recently, at the same frequency they were reaching out to him about their fears when the pandemic started.

On Friday morning, Premier Heather Stefanson and chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin unveiled a plan to make Manitoba restriction-free by March 15.

The premier was asked multiple times by reporters if the decision to drop restrictions was motivated by the protests, especially the one at the U.S. border near Emerson. She denied that was the case, which Spruce Woods MLA and deputy premier Cliff Cullen backed up in an interview.

“We’ve said right from the beginning that public health orders were just short-term,” he said. “Clearly we were aiming to lift these restrictions. We wanted them in place in as short a period as possible. All along, we’ve been trying to find the balance between protecting Manitobans and ensuring that they had health care when required as well.”

He said that with data showing a decrease in the number of cases of the virus and hospitalizations and high vaccination rates, this was the day they were waiting for, when it was clear that things could be reopened. Cullen hopes Manitobans will continue to take precautions to keep themselves and others safe.

His cabinet colleague, Brandon West MLA and Labour Minister Reg Helwer, said Friday’s announcement was the result of months of work in collaboration with public health officials like Roussin.

“We have the vaccines, we’ve been watching the health-care system closely and we have the ICU capacity to respond to what’s been happening here in Manitoba and also the decline over the last week in that burden,” said Helwer, who revealed Friday was his first day out of isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.

“Following the science has always been important to this government and we continue to do so,” he said.

Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest expressed optimism about the lessening of restrictions and that Brandonites would continue to act in ways that express respect and kindness going forward.

“When you think back to where we were when this pandemic began, there were lots of people who were exercising additional precautions before it was even mandatory,” he said. “I think at the time, people just respected those who were taking extra precautions because we had no idea what health considerations they may have. I’m encouraged, but our community still needs to be cautious.”

As for whether municipal orders and mandates would be repealed, Chrest said that’s something city administration will now need to look at.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark