Pulling
together
What
helps makes success in fighting a widespread disaster such as the Covid-19
virus attack is a community pulling together. A government obviously needs to
lead the charge. Citizens need to buy into the plan to defeat the foe. And all
parts of the community, particularly businesses large and small, need to
participate. That is what we hope we have in Alberta right now.
In
his address to Alberta citizens and resident on Friday, Jason Kenney, Premier
of the province of Alberta, announced a new program to bring as many elements
of the community together to help fight against the pandemic, saying “If you
are a manufacturer, if you produce goods that could be in any way useful to
this fight against the pandemic, we ask you to come forward, offer your help
and show us the kind of Alberta spirit in innovation in production that we can
generate to help fight the pandemic.”
Kenney
went on to say he was “deeply touched by the outpouring of support we’re
seeing from private and non-profit organizations, both foreign and domestic.
When times are tough, Alberta’s spirit of ingenuity and generosity always
answers the call. Albertans are leaders, and I’m humbled to see our province
leading and giving back in so many ways. The offers and innovation we’re seeing
take place across our province right now will help our government meet the
demands and challenges we face today, and the ones we’ll face in the future.”
The
program highlights Albertan ingenuity and generosity. Over the past week, more
than 1,100 offers of support have poured in from private and non-profit
organizations through the Government of Alberta’s Bits and Pieces program including
offers of passenger and commercial vehicles, hotel rooms and mobile trailers,
food and water services, hospital gowns, face masks, ventilators and other
personal protective equipment.
The
program is named after the “bits and pieces program” established by Canada’s
Minister of Munitions and Supply during the Second World War, C. D. Howe. The
program coordinated innovative production and procurement efforts from across
the Canadian economy to support the war effort.
·
Bruce
Urban, the owner of Western RV, reading a post from one health care worker who
needed to stay away from her family in case she might pass on the virus, offered
up “whatever you need, whenever you need it” to Laura Schnell, who said that
every day when she leaves work, she sanitized her car when she could find
wipes, showered as soon as she walked in her house in the evening and that also
did her laundry every day. Two of her children are toddlers and her husband has
underlying health problems that put him at higher risk. (from a Global
News piece). Urban went on to say, “These medical workers are scared,” he
said. “And they put on a brave face every day and they go to work, and they
have to come home to their families. They’re scared, they’re on the front
lines, they’re human beings.” He and his employees are working to ready and
send out at least a half dozen RVs to people who need them to rest and keep
away from others.
·
Another
example is ATCO, the Alberta-founded and based company that got its start
providing trailers for the oilpatch and is now best known to Albertans as a
provider of gas and electricity, which has offered to contribute up to several
hundred trailers if needed. These could be used for COVID testing, treatment
and quarantining, especially in rural and remote areas without adequate medical
facilities.
·
Calgary-based
Fluid Energy Group has signed a letter of intent with the federal government to
produce hand sanitizer.
·
The
Rocky Mountain Soap Company in Canmore received certification from Health
Canada to create a naturally derived hand sanitizer that is available online.
·
Alberta
Garment is transitioning to produce hospital gowns.
In
addition to many local companies offering and innovating to provide products,
Alberta’s post-secondary institutions are leading in areas of research, with a
group of researchers at the University of Alberta working to develop a
virus-killing medical mask.
Municipal
Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu also praised the groups and individuals who have
offered all they can to support those who need help. “We look at every
submission and we. . . I look forward to continuing to watch [these generous
offers] pour in for the good of our province and our people. This will help us
meet the demand for critical products and services and to keep Albertans safe.”
Kenney
reiterated that “Winning the battle against COVID[-19] will involve all of
us. Government obviously has a big role to play, but at the end of the day,
victory will depend on the strength of our entire society, on families, on
charities, on businesses [and] on civil society groups.”
While
our case numbers continue to rise, so too does the level of volunteers, both
individuals and businesses, to assist their neighbours in providing shopping
services, personal protective equipment, health products, meals, and a myriad
other products and services.
No comments:
Post a Comment