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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Lack Of Consultation

Frustrated, local Chamber and restaurant believe resiliency will help businesses overcome abrupt changes

Feb 9, 2022 | 4:56 PM

The head of the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce is confident that local businesses will adapt well to abrupt changes made to Alberta’s COVID restrictions — if the first two years of the pandemic are any indication of how well they do under pressure.

Scott Robinson, Chamber CEO, believes some will relish in the demise of the Restrictions Exemption [vaccine passport] Program (REP), while others will remain trepidatious about letting the guard down too soon.

REP ended at midnight Wednesday, seven hours after Premier Jason Kenney made the announcement it was on the chopping block.

Perhaps the biggest concern, according to Robinson, was the lack of consultation.

“In a pandemic, when they’re trying to make decisions, it can be a challenge to do that, but there are institutions in this province such as Chambers of Commerce that they certainly could’ve spoken to,” he says.

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“When there aren’t consultations, and decisions are made without the complete picture, you run into unintended consequences and you’re possibly not going to be in line with people’s expectations. It’s unique times though, and we’re not sitting in their chairs.”

Some businesses don’t have the luxury of changing things up on the fly, he adds.

“A little more heads up would’ve been better,” admits Robinson, who believes the resiliency of local businesses will get them over the hump.

“Our business community has proven it has innovative thinkers and people willing to adapt. The worst is probably over, and some businesses didn’t survive, but others did, and in fact thrived. Those who are struggling will hopefully come out of it, and we’re here to help however we can. Red Deer has shown it has a robust and confident business community.”

One person who agrees is Brennen Wowk, owner, Bo’s Bar and Grill, and vice-president of the Alberta Hospitality Association — which released a statement Tuesday night.

Business operators have pivoted and adjusted to survive, despite a, “void in provincial leadership,” Wowk says.

“If there’s something to be said about the local entrepreneurial spirit, it’s that people don’t give up. Their passion hasn’t waned, and we’ll always fight for our people,” Wowk says. “Down the road, this will all make us stronger, and I think coming out of COVID, people respect local businesses in a way they didn’t before.”

But the abruptness of eliminating REP isn’t ideal, he adds. Meetings happened in a flurry Wednesday morning, he shared, in an attempt to bring staff up to speed on policy.

“We’re still not able to do our charity events, or have full capacity for shows, We’ll still suffer in that regard for now. Restaurants are kind of the heartbeat of the community, and we’ve been targeted without the data to support us being locked down. We’ve spent countless hours trying to make our rooms safe,” Wowk says.

“I think our leadership has done a poor job of communication. They rush statements out without plans fully in place, and they definitely need to engage better with stakeholders to look at questions we have. The premier spoke about moving to phase two dependent on reaching certain benchmarks, but we have no idea what those are.”

Find out more about changes that have occurred and are still to come in our recap from Tuesday.

READ MORE: Kenney apologizes for making analogy between COVID-19 and AIDS