Premier John Horgan has given the task of setting out guidelines on reopening the province to WorkSafeBC and one local MLA isn’t impressed with the planning or what he calls the lack there of.
While appearing on NL Newsday, Kamloops North Thompson Liberal MLA Peter Milobar said when Horgan announced WorkSafeBC was being added in, it took everyone by surprise, including WorkSafeBC.
“To hear the Premier today say that while we should have more rules for people or guidelines for people by the end of the week but early next week, well people want to reopen on Tuesday,” he said.
“How does the Premier think people are going to magically get their businesses ready to operate safely if they don’t know what the rules are until Wednesday or Thursday of next week?”
Milobar said there’s confusion for something as, what he calls, simple as a hair salon adding there’s also questions for Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry.
“Has the order been removed as of Tuesday?,” Milobar asked. “According to the Premier’s schedule they’re allowed to be reopened on Tuesday but there’s no guidelines yet for them to follow on Tuesday.”
“Dr. Henry says ‘Well they need to follow guidelines to be safe.’ But no one knows what those guidelines are and we’re not sure if the order to stay closed by Dr. Henry is still actually in effect until the end of May or will that be removed on Tuesday?”
Milobar says business owners have plenty of questions that need answers, first of which is how to acquire sufficient personal protective equipment.
“Secondly, what the actual official rules are going to be and there’s a big worry that they’ll go out and spend tons of money on things like plexiglas and things of that nature, if they can even find it, start to install it and then find out from WorkSafe a week down the road or a month down the road that that’s all wrong and they’ve got to do it a totally different way at another great expensive cost,” Milobar said.
“So the Premier and his ministers need to step up and make it very clear to people what the rules will be moving forward for them to safely operate their business.”
Added Milobar, “to be fair to WorkSafe, again, this is what it’s been like all along. The premier will come, have a press event on a Wednesday or Thursday, basically say we’re working on it, throw it over to some other agency at the last second and basically keep putting his hands up and say, Don’t talk to me, go talk to them.”
“We’ll WorkSafe found out about this last Wednesday. It’s not reasonable to think they’d have everything in place right now.”
