Sackville Deputy Mayor Ron Aiken was one of the many Sackvillians whose plans for Thanksgiving were dashed by orange level restrictions that came into effect on Saturday, October 11, 2020.
Aiken says he was briefed about the move to the orange phase on Friday just before the public announcement, along with other municipal leaders from around the province. But the province did share any additional information beyond what it shared publicly.
Town council’s meeting tonight will not be affected by the orange restrictions, he says, though talk of eventually returning to in-person council meetings will be quiet for awhile.
“We’re having it virtually like we usually do,” he says. “And it looks like we will for awhile now because of these new restrictions.”
Aiken says council has to get on with the business of the town, and the COVID response is largely out of council’s hands.
Back in the summer, town council had discussed the idea of a COVID-19 emergency fund, though the conversation focussed on concerns over council funding private businesses.
Councillors took no action on a fund, but did request a survey of local businesses to find out how they were being affected, and what they would need to weather the COVID storm.
The results of that survey were presented to council last week, the night before a new outbreak in Moncton signalled that the second wave may have arrived in New Brunswick.
Aiken says that although an emergency fund is not on the agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting, he’s interested in pursuing the idea.
“If staff haven’t looked at where we can get the money for that,” he says, “I’m going to push them to do it.”
“It’s something I think we we really have to do, especially with the second wave,” says Aiken. “I don’t think people realize that second waves are worse than first ones.”
Whereas initially the virus relied on international travel to spread, the difference is that now it’s in Canada, he says. “It’s here and it will take off the more contacts we have,” says Aiken. “So it’s potentially worse than the first one.”
Aiken says that he’s hoping if Sackvillians take public health protocols seriously, it will mean a shorter period of restrictions in the end.
“I would just encourage everyone to follow the rules as strictly as they can,” says Aiken. “If you start sort of relaxing them a bit, it lasts longer. So be rigorous about it right now, and you won’t have to very far down the line.”
Sackville Town Council meets online tonight. The meeting will be live streamed on the town’s Youtube channel, and people may also join via Microsoft Teams.
