'Hassle' for tourists: Letter from June 2021 shows P.E.I. business group seeking relaxed COVID controls
CBC
A group of prominent business leaders on P.E.I. lobbied Premier Dennis King to ease pandemic restrictions heading into the peak of the 2021 tourism season, according to a letter obtained by CBC News through freedom of information legislation.
Two weeks after the letter was sent, at least some of the group's wishes were granted when King announced the sudden end of P.E.I.'s mask mandate and a reduction in COVID testing at the border.
"These milestones are taking place sooner than we had originally planned," King said during a media briefing on the morning of July 9.
Less than two hours later, at noon of the same day, the province's mask mandate was gone. It was reinstated in September, as case counts started rising again with the arrival in Canada of the Delta variant.
At the time of the briefing, P.E.I. had confirmed 208 cases of COVID-19 in the previous 15 months. That number rose to 233 by the Labour Day weekend, and did not hit 300 until Oct. 1.
By comparison, with the Omicron variant surging in the first days of 2022, the overall case count as of Tuesday was 1,864, with 1,159 of those considered active.
The P.E.I. Business Continuity Group, which includes businessperson Kevin Murphy as a spokesperson, was formed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its mission was to advise the province on measures to help the business community and to nudge Prince Edward Island toward a safe emergence from economic lockdown, according to the group's website.
In a letter to the premier dated June 24, 2021, members of the group said the province's approach to managing the pandemic – then more restrictive than those of the other Maritime provinces – would harm Island businesses.
"We all want what's best for P.E.I., but unless we make some immediate changes, we will be at a disadvantage," the letter states.
The group requested a meeting with King to allow for a "fresh discussion about extra cleaning requirements, six-foot distancing, masks, shields, to ensure we are keeping people safe, but not putting undue hardship on businesses compared to our competitors in other provinces."
It's not clear whether such a meeting took place.
The group's letter called the step of testing visitors at the P.E.I. border "unnecessary and cumbersome," particularly for those who are fully vaccinated, saying related entry delays and lineups "would send the wrong signal to potential guests.
"We are very concerned with the implications of the opening plan both on our businesses but also on the negative impact it is having on our guests who basically do not need the hassle when planning a vacation."
Matthew Jelley is one of the tourism operators who signed the letter, and the person who emailed it to the premier.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.