Skip to content

Chilliwack-Hope MP Strahl calls on federal government to deliver plan to safely ease restrictions

‘Canadians want to know the plan to bring these lockdowns to an end’

Mark Strahl, MP for Chilliwack—Hope, spoke to the restrictions Canadians have faced over the past year, calling for a plan on when they would be eased.

The speech was part of the hybrid sitting in the House of Commons on March 23.

He highlighted job losses, seniors being isolated and families being separated, and a rise in overdoses and mental illnesses.

“It’s been a year since governments in Canada and around the world locked down their citizens in order to fight the COVID-19 virus,” he stated. “While they were accepted as being necessary at first, Canadians want to know the plan to bring these lockdowns to an end.”

He said a million Canadians have lost their jobs “and the dignity that comes with them.”

He noted that seniors are “locked away” from loved ones, and that the impacts on young people will be long-lasting.

“Overdoses and mental illnesses are skyrocketing and the impact of these lockdowns on our children will take decades to address,” he said.

He also noted that restrictions are different for different settings.

“And while you can watch hockey at the bar and shop in the hundreds in big box stores, faith communities are prevented from meeting together, their buildings empty,” he said. “Our physical, mental, spiritual and economic health has suffered long enough.”

His speech was part of a push to get the Liberal government to show Canadians they have a plan to ease restrictions, which Strahl referred to as lockdowns.

“It’s time for this government to deliver a real plan to get us out of these lockdowns. Because we just aren’t meant to live this way.”

READ MORE: COVID-19: ‘A slow and steady increase’ pushes B.C. into the third wave, top doctor says


@CHWKcommunity
jpeters@theprogress.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.



Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
Read more