Our politicians have chosen to be better in crisis
The Saskatchewan Legislature was a quiet place Monday, but that wasn’t why it was better. The quiet was simply a byproduct of politicians choosing to be better.
It wasn’t perfect. It will never be that. We live in imperfect times and knowing precisely what to do to stop this COVID-19 pandemic — especially what we should be doing locally — is beyond the grasp of most mere mortal politicians.
We are told by the World Health Organization that overreacting is better than not acting and that our true enemy right now is fear of making a mistake and the greatest risk in a pandemic is delay and indecision. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done when your job is to keep the economy running and deliver needed health and education services.
About all we can ask of our political leadership this week — about all we can ever ask of any politician at any time — is to be better. Monday, they responded to that clarion call.
Premier Scott Moe, Health Minister Jim Reiter, Education Minister Gord Wyant, Opposition Leader Ryan Meili and the entire Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly cast were better Monday. For this, we should thank them.
Yes, we could dwell on how Monday’s announcement to close the schools (as of Friday) and casinos and restrict visits in nursing homes to compassionate visits with family came after too much dithering by a premier and Saskatchewan Party government far too reliant on its inner circle.
There may be problems in Moe’s adviser group, but — unlike what’s happening south of the border, where Republican/democratic responses to COVID -19 are frighteningly stark — we seem less divided on political lines in Canada.
The Jason Kenney government in Alberta and Doug Ford government in Ontario have been more proactive, far ahead of the Moe government and Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government that’s dithered on both airport and border security.
We could rehash today the problem with Moe trying to catch the NDP with its pants down by calling a snap spring election. We could restate how it would have been ridiculous to go ahead with Wednesday’s presentation of the now-postponed 2020-21 Saskatchewan budget, but the government wisely decided to instead present an expenditure statement knowing its revenue numbers were likely wrong.
We could even dwell on the many inconsistencies we have been hearing that led us to chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab telling us Sunday there was no need to close the schools and then telling us 24 hours later that while the “risk remains low ... there is strong public support for this.”
Some have accused the politicians of being tone deaf. But we can’t afford to be tone deaf, either, and talk over the things that most need to be hammered home right now: Things are changing by the hour. We need to support best practices based on the best scientific information available. And, most importantly, now is the time to pipe down the rhetoric and actually listen to one another.
The latter was a byproduct of politicians being better on Monday. They took to heart Moe’s commitment to remove politics from the assembly. And they quietly and respectfully listened to each other in Monday’s question period.
Meili asked about vulnerable First Nations, shortages of personal protective equipment, the need to scale back elective and non-emergency surgeries, beds and ventilators in ICUS, the need to close licensed childcare facilities and paid sick leave. Moe didn’t have all the answers. He likely didn’t have enough answers, but the ones he had were thoughtful, respectful and productive.
For the first time on Monday, there was sincere recognition we are in a hell of deep hole and we will need to work together to climb out.
Will this approach survive? Will we return to the usual squabbling and finger-pointing? Who knows? But let’s heed Meili’s words spawned by this crisis: “We have a common enemy and that’s the virus.”
Let’s encourage this new-found quiet reason for however long it lasts. It’s what we need in these troubled times.