EDITORIAL – A failure to communicate as Henry throws in the towel on gyms
(Image: Govt of B.C.)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
CONFUSION REIGNS SUPREME in B.C.’s COVID-fighting strategy.
Dr. Bonnie Henry threw in the towel yesterday on trying to get gyms and fitness facilities to toe the line on shutdowns, announcing they can re-open tomorrow with certain limitations.
Some of them, of course (including a few in Kamloops) ignored her pre-holiday order to close anyway. Enforcement of the order was so lax and ineffectual that it had become obvious it was pointless.
Though Henry claimed her turn-about had nothing to do with pressure from the gyms and from the gym-going public, that insistence is suspect since she was unable to provide a clear explanation of what’s different now compared to the situation a couple of days before Christmas.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Actually, the situation in December was different since we now know more about Omicron. But there’s a lot we still don’t know.
The confusion we’re seeing here is mirrored by what we’re seeing in the U.S. (and yes, Biden’s popularity has suffered). It’s all fine and well to say one should make “evidence-based” decisions but when the evidence isn’t entirely clear, it can be tough walking a straight line. Blaming Dr. Henry for changing course is a bit like blaming a blind person for walking erratically.
If you could, explain to me why the nearby pubs are allowed to be jam-packed (their parking lots are usually pretty full) but the Gyms were mandated closed. I did expect and tolerate a degree of uncertainty given the sudden onset of the pandemic and the unknowns about the virus (although protocols for viral infections should’ve been known and ready from previous viral research) but after a few months I came to expect better clarity and more mandate consistency and ultimately enforcement. I do understand that enforcement is not the responsibility of Bonnie Henry.
She was given authority, but not the power to enforce it…..
A government bureaucrat once again showing the disconnect between its sheltered, well-paid position against the contrasting, opposite realities many have to face. Bonnie needs a reset.