Yes, We Are In This Together

We are entering a critical time in our life with COVID-19, and we had best up our game – fast. It starts with acknowledging where we have gone wrong, recognizing where others have done well, and adjusting. Continuing to tell ourselves that, “Well, thank god we aren’t in the United States!”, is false comfort. Schisms in society are starting to show, and I expect that trust in government is fragile. In a crisis, trust and confidence are everything.

Case in point: On Friday the CEO of a small company shared some of his frustrations with me. I thought I would put out a tweet to see how others would react. And, boy, did they react! I wrote:

“Received today from an SME CEO: "We are not “all in this together”. People working in the private sector are getting crushed & facing widespread unemployment while people in public sector are not feeling the same economic pain – yet are calling all the shots." #cdnpoli

Some interpreted the post as an attack on the public sector and perhaps a call for the public sector to share the pain. Others suggested that my decision to post the message signalled that large companies agree with that sentiment. Both interpretations are dead wrong. I quickly added a second tweet to clarify:

“I think the point of this SME CEO message was not to have public sector suffer too! Rather it is: allow businesses to open fully, complying with safety regulations so they too can have a shot at earning a living. The immediate government focus has to be on rapid testing.” #cdnpoli

What I heard in the message was a cry for help – one that reflects the views of many, many entrepreneurs and business owners of all sizes across this country. They are saying, in effect, “I need to be able to make a go of it.” With or without a pandemic, employers know that the safety of their workers and their customers comes before all else. What I hear them saying now is: “If this is the new normal, please trust us to do all we can to keep people safe. We know what the rules are. And if some people break the rules, shut them down – but don’t lock down the rest of us.”

We have to find a way to get both the private and the public sectors back to work safely. Our lives and our futures are inextricably intertwined. For the past six months, our public servants have been doing their level best to mitigate the pain that has been inflicted on the private sector and those in society who are most vulnerable. I commend them for that.

But here’s the thing: If we don’t help businesses get back on their feet soon the unavoidable consequence down the road will be cuts to the public service when the time comes to rein in runaway deficits and debt.

The best thing we can do – for each other and the country – is to responsibly open the economy.

We need to recognize as well that the businesses most at risk are small-and medium-sized enterprises. If we deny them a chance to open soon, we may see economic carnage that would far exceed what we have already seen.

To safely reopen the economy, governments must improve and expand their ability to test, track and trace the spread of the virus. That includes approving the use of newly developed tests that have already been rolled out successfully in other advanced democracies. All of us as Canadians need to do our part by complying with health guidelines designed to keep us safe.

I fundamentally believe we are “all in this together”. But together we can to do better.