(File photo/northeastNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

Re-Open Reaction

Humboldt businesses are cautious but ‘ready to go’ ahead of Re-Open Saskatchewan

Apr 23, 2020 | 2:48 PM

Businesses in Saskatchewan have a roadmap as to when they can re-open, and it has the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce excited.

The Re-Open Saskatchewan plan was unveiled by the provincial government on Thursday, April 23. The plan features five phases over the coming months. Businesses in Phase One (medical services, low-risk outdoor recreational activities) can re-open on May 4, May 15, and June 1, and Phase Two (non-essential retail and personal services) can re-open on May 19.

However, some businesses in Phases Three through Five – such as restaurants, bars, and other indoor and outdoor entertainment facilities – don’t have a set date on when they’ll be able to welcome in customers.

Whether businesses in the City of Humboldt have a set date on when they can re-open or not, Executive Director of the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce Brent Fitzpatrick doesn’t think businesses will hesitate to re-open on the first day possible.

“Everybody has been looking forward to this and planning since everything stopped… they are absolutely ready to go,” Fitzpatrick told northeastNOW. “I’m happy I’m not the guy having to come up with that plan. I give all credit to Premier Moe and his staff in coming up with a cautious, yet progressive way to get us back into business. We’re in an unprecedented time and there certainly isn’t a manual out there they could have relied on for this.”

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Fitzpatrick cautions residents to not crowd businesses and services that are re-opened, as he believes the province will throw the same restrictions between the State of Emergency and the beginning of Re-Open Saskatchewan back into place.

“I really think the business community is understanding of the position they’re in,” he said. “It doesn’t make the impact or stress any less palatable… but there’s nobody saying, ‘I don’t care, I want to open.’ They all want to open and run their businesses safely. Everybody understands the situation the entire planet is in.”

According to Fitzpatrick, restaurants, bars, and outdoor recreation in the Humboldt (including the Humboldt Historic Campground that the chamber operates) will welcome the chance to serve at 50 per cent capacity.

What gets challenging is when, or if, Phase Five will take place. It would consider lifting long-term restrictions, which includes the banning of large, public gatherings.

Multiple summer events in Humboldt, such as the Summer Sizzler, StreetFest, and the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Golf Tournament are still up in the air. Fitzpatrick said the organizers can’t stop planning, because they don’t have a firm opening date, and they can’t cancel without knowing it won’t be allowed to take place.

“[Organizers] don’t want to have anything that will put people at risk,” he said. “It’s still a case of the public good outweighing the finances. If there is an outbreak… it’s been shown where there have been heavy concentrations of people. Until there is a vaccine, I think that’s the world we’re going to be in.”

In the meantime, Fitzpatrick still encourages residents across the province to support local businesses.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow