NDP warns of second economic shutdown if school reopening plan goes wrong

The NDP continues to hammer away at the Saskatchewan Party’s back-to-school plan.

On Friday morning, NDP Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon held a news conference warning that if the school reopening results in an outbreak of  COVID-19, it could spell economic disaster.

“If the Sask. Party fails the test to reopen schools in a safe way, and if the virus spreads in a significant way, we’re going to be dealing with a forced economic shutdown again and that’s something that workers and local businesses simply can’t afford,” said Wotherspoon.

He was joined by a woman who lost her business because of the losses she suffered due to the pandemic.

Carole Carman owned the Boards n Beans Cafe in downtown Regina. She says when the lockdown first happened, she and her co-owner were happy to do whatever they needed to do to help keep the community safe, but the restrictions put on her business made recovery impossible.

“When we reopened we were only allowed 18 people in the shop, so even if we were full every day, all day, we still would be unable to make our bills,” she said.

That’s a big reason why Carman, who has school-aged grandchildren, is angry with what she calls a lack of a plan to reopen schools safely.

“Once the return-to-school plan came out, we had already shut down the cafe because there was just no way we could make it work,” said Carman. “But suddenly (government officials) seem to have abandoned that safe reopening they had for all these businesses and at great expense to these businesses.

“Suddenly it’s OK to put 30-plus people in a room with no barriers, no Plexiglas, with nothing in between them. Suddenly kids are being treated differently than adults.”

Both Carman and Wotherspoon say it is critical that class sizes be made smaller as part of the reopening plan.

“It’s just the unpredictability of kids. If they were to split the classrooms and make them smaller, I think they would have a better chance of distancing and maintain some of the rules they put in place for businesses,” said Carman.

Wotherspoon says the Sask. Party needs to step up and revisit the plan to reopen schools to ensure classroom safety and to protect the economy.

“When we look at the failure of the Sask. Party to ensure a safe reopening, what we recognize and what people and local businesses recognize is that this isn’t just a threat to lives in Saskatchewan, but also the livelihoods of people within our economy,” he said.