Two Canadas: One is getting paid, and one is not.

We have a government class and the professional class vs. the working and self-employed class in Canada right now. When I hear our politicians and career civil servants talk, it’s about weeks or months more of shutdowns. When I hear real people who don’t have the luxury of government paychecks and over-inflated pensions, I hear about 1-2 more weeks before they will never be able to reopen.

Why? It’s a control issue. The Federal liberals and Provincial NDP only care about one thing—reliance by you and me, the working class, on them. We don’t have golden government pensions. We aren’t part of the connected class that can stay at home and be overpaid. We aren’t the government scientists who overestimated the impact but now warn that a second wave will come, so stay shut down. As is with the flu, there will be rises and falls in the outbreaks, but at what cost? The government allows planes to come in from China while we are told to stay at home, shut our businesses, and don’t protest and don’t make a scene. They allow our economy to cave. They allow people to lose their life savings. Why? The doctors and government experts have been wrong. The infection rate has not been the drastic case they thought, yet they try and tell us more shutdown is needed. Smart USA states protected the elderly and infirm and allowed others to work. Why was that not done here in BC and Canada? Why put generations at risk over false information?

Yes, I am concerned as I have a 79-year-old mother. I have a one-year-old grandson who lives in my home. Yes, I am concerned. But I wash my hands, I practice physical distancing because I care about them. But I also have work to do. I have deliveries. We have pruning. I shop for vineyard needs. Protections have been put in place at those stores, so why can’t others do the same? I care about the restaurant workers. I care about the single mom hairdresser who had to wait four weeks because our Prime Minister (who has a trust fund) couldn’t get his act together. People are still waiting. The single-mom or dad are losing everything. They’re losing their jobs and their small businesses. But in the meantime, the Premier with his union and government pension thinks that it's ok. There is more harm being done by staying closed rather than allowing openings with physical distancing.

We are a smart people, us Canadians, stop treating us like sheep. We lost 96% of our business in March when our restaurant clients were ordered closed. Many of them will not reopen due to length and lack of support from Federal and Provincial offices. They don’t get or want government handouts; they want to go to work. Let them change seating, let them change what they do, but allow them to try and recover! We adapted, shifted and are recovering, but what about those who believed in us when we started in 2017 and bought our wine and supported us As a Chamber of Commerce President in a town of less than 12,000, I hear stories day after day of how people will not be able to reopen. Stories about how the employers worry for their staff who sometimes lived paycheck to paycheck. Business owners worry that our main street will never be open for business and are closing down. Many will never be able to retire.

This government-imposed shutdown has killed off their business and life savings. And for those who say I am insensitive, I am not. Every life is important. But it's not just about those who recently lost their lives. It's also about those living right now. There is no one speaking up for the people who are not part of the chosen government or professional class. There are people who are worried about their future.

There is no such thing as a non-essential business or non-essential worker. All businesses are essential to that owner. All jobs are essential to that worker. I will survive, but there is grave concern out there for others. The small business person, the employee in the service sector who is shut down and for those trapped by a small minority of decision-makers who get paid no matter what. Maybe if our politicians from Federal to Provincial or municipal did not get paid until the economy opened up, then maybe things would be different. Right now, our rights as citizens and small business employers are being trampled on and supported by the professional elite and the government. It's wrong, and someone had to say something.

I did.

Ron Kubek