City Notebook: Playing catch-up
By COLLIN GALLANT on May 2, 2020.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant The acronym “ICYMI” is used as a social media short-hand for “in case you missed it,” and as May blossoms onto the scene, there’s a lot of catch-up to do. Hatters may or may not be clamouring for haircuts or a round of golf and a return to usual. Some of that happens Monday with more coming on May 15, according to a roll-out re-opening plan announced Thursday by the province. But what is “usual” and what’s next? Certainly, as far as the news goes, an endless marathon of stories about event cancellations will turn to an endless list of un-cancellations, but the short bet is for stutter steps along the way. That’s come however, alongside absolute horror stories from some long-term care facilities across this country. There will be a happy day, hopefully soon, that “Vaccine Found” is emblazoned across the front of this paper like “Peace” or “the Eagle has Landed.” But, we’re not out of the woods yet, even if limited camping is an option sometime next month. It’s expected that we’ll all be doing that in-car gut-check before buying groceries for some time, and all governments and health authorities everywhere call for caution. While we’ve been managing our disappointments to this point, now we’ll have to manage our expectations. Which, your author suspects, is the real reason why golf courses are opening up. It seems frivolous to many, but it allows means some sense of freedom to a portion of a population. And authorities know, or at least should know that some leeway is required or frustration manifests in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways. This is why police typically give a 10-kilometre cushion when considering speeding tickets. Expanded focus There hasn’t been a news story or bit of information anywhere really that didn’t include some mention or main thrust as being the coronavirus. There’s the social, economic, political, familial, bodily and other aspects to consider. It’s been a biggie. But in every conceivable area of our lives and society, there’s other news and important matters that need attention. That’s going to be a big transition. By the way… Does any one else get the sense that we’re close to hearing some particularly surprising news on the provincial political front? The situations at JBS and Cargill meatpacking plants aren’t settled to say the least. The same goes for the dust-up with doctors, general health care disputes, the AIMCo. controversy, the Fair Deal Panel, the energy sector or education as a whole. There are now fights to pick over gun control, and Ottawa’s general handling of the pandemic. Albertans generally approve of the province’s handling of the COVID crisis, but Alberta appears to be the only jurisdiction in Canada where the government is less popular today than it was in February. A look ahead A package of city hall actions and programs to help bolster economic recovery and provide relief for those hit hard by the pandemic response is to be laid out at Monday’s city council meeting. We’ll also likely hear more about how the city plans to restart some operations under a provincial plan to re-open the province from pandemic regulations. Some activities open up on Monday, with more slated for May 15. What are you most looking forward to? Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com 25-24
