BARRHEAD - The Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce has signed on to a joint letter calling on premier Jason Kenney to re-evaluate the parameters of the four-step plan for lifting restrictions, arguing that they do not allow industry to “co-ordinate their operations in a consistent and continuous manner.”
The letter is also signed by the chambers of commerce representing Swan Hills, Whitecourt, Fox Creek, Onoway and Hinton. It is CC’ed to a number of government representatives including Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken.
The letter states that the four-step plan for lifting restrictions, which was announced by Kenney Jan. 29, does not provide consistency to businesses given how the various thresholds for easing restrictions are tied to hospitalizations.
This, the letter argues, represents a “one day open, next day closed” mentality from the Alberta government.
The letter also points out the unfairness of placing rural areas under the same restrictions as larger urban areas, where the businesses and facilities generally have more space that can host a significantly larger number of patrons.
For instance, every resident of Fox Creek and Swan Hills could be inside West Edmonton Mall and satisfy the occupancy limit, but the same individuals cannot participate in recreation, dining or shopping indoors in their own communities en masse.
“By placing equal, yet unjust, restrictions across the province, there is unbalanced disparity as an end result,” the letter states.
The letter notes that in a recent conference call with the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, Kenney argued against more regional restrictions by pointing out that while case counts are falling in Edmonton and Calgary, they are on the rise in rural Alberta.
However, provincial data shows that case counts are actually dropping in the North Zone, and the fact that the North Zone encompasses 60 per cent of the province’s land mass should also be taken into consideration as it reduces population density.
“We are asking for a plan that is sustainable and reasonable. Our smaller urban centres and rural communities have been punished enough, and we cannot support this ‘Path Forward,’” the letter states.
