Canadians won’t rush back to normal life – even when government says it’s OK

By Shachi Kurl, Executive Director

In Donald Trump’s America, where new infections and mounting deaths show the novel coronavirus pandemic continuing to grow staggeringly unchecked, protesters thumbed their noses at Michigan’s stay-at-home orders and railed against COVID-19-related public safety restrictions, while their president unveiled a three-point plan for “Opening up America Again.”

In Canada, the debate and response are, well, a little more Canadian. My fellow Postmedia columnist Andrew Potter penned an effective oped decrying the madness of not talking about this country’s “path to normal” against the backdrop of our GDP shrinking nine per cent last month and projections by the IMF that it will contract fully six per cent by the end of the year.

The combination of such sobering economic news and a collective sense of lost control drives this imperative to imagine a return to life pre-pandemic. We cannot just stay home indefinitely.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site where it was initially published.

Image – VERONICA HENRI/POSTMEDIA