Rural Albertans applauding removal of COVID-19 restrictions, but support for Kenney still wavers

Many Albertans living in rural communities are applauding Jason Kenney’s plan to remove the province’s COVID-19 restrictions as early as next week, but the move itself may be ‘too little, too late’ to regain their full support.

“He just flip-flops,” said Mark Shorhen who works as a farmer just outside Strathmore.

“Removing these restrictions is not soon enough. I can’t really say if I support him or not, it’s just good to see him finally listening to the people and moving forward with this.”

Other rural Albertans like Alona Vynohradova agree that Kenney’s tease to lift restrictions next week will be a huge sigh of relief.

“I feel like we’re finally going to get our freedom back,” she said.

“The government thinks that it might be a good idea to keep these restrictions, but it’s just been almost two years, people are tired and no one here really follows these restrictions anyway.”

WORRIED ABOUT DIVISION

Kenney’s plan is one that brings optimism, but some local business owners are still worried about the division it could create.

Mike Scott is the owner of Mike’s Bar & Grill in Strathmore. He says the Restrictions Exemption Program (REP) alone caused his business to lose 55 per cent of sales.

Other community members have also been pressuring him to stop following government rules, but he says that’s a slippery slope.

“When we first started following the new REP rules, we had multiple people call and basically say we were segregating people, as well as a huge Facebook post on our social media that was basically calling us out for being rude and ignorant to people,” Scott said.

“If we follow the rules, we have people telling us that you shouldn't follow the rules and if we don't follow the rules then the people that have been supporting us for the last two years might not be our customers anymore so it’s a really fine line.”

Scott adds that the trucker convoy has also added fuel to the fire in Strathmore as many are fed up with the UCP government’s restrictions.

“Over the weekend, we had about seven or eight different phone calls, very negative towards us that we're still following the rules and that’s super frustrating."

At the same time, some Strathmore locals are also getting increasingly worried by a complete removal of restrictions.

Jason Fleig says his rural community needs to move forward from COVID eventually, but the UCP plan may be too quick to the punch.

“This could cause another wave, we’re already in the fifth wave and I really don’t want another one coming because it’s bad enough on the kids and their anxiety is through the roof so that’s my concern.”

TRUCKERS RELEASE STATEMENT FROM COUTTS BORDER

In a video posted to social media, a group of truckers at the Coutts Border Crossing have released a statement calling on  rural MLAs to step down and become independent, essentially leaving Kenney as a one-man party.

The statement thanked Albertans for their support of the convoy, stating that the COVID-19 mandates “have ruined our businesses, broken up our families, driven many to their suffering, in the only way they knew how, and divided us as a province, people, and land.”

“To the rural Alberta caucus, we understand what you suffered under Premier Jason Kenney who ignored your vote and refused to do what you asked as our representatives in government.”

The statement goes on to say that Kenney should be stripped of his “illegitimate use of powers” to restore freedom to Alberta and set an example of representative democracy for all of Canada.

Several MLAs have already spoken out against Kenney including Speaker of the House and representative for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, Nathan Cooper who took to his Facebook page earlier this week.

“These mandates may have served a purpose earlier in the pandemic. They were brought in on the advice of medical professionals in an effort to limit the spread of the virus and prevent stress on the healthcare system,” his post read.

“However, two years on, we can now see that the REP is having limited continued effect, and I stand with my constituents in calling on the premier, the health minister, and the government caucus to lift the public health restrictions that are causing undue intrusion into our lives and unacceptable obstruction of our freedoms.”

'NOT GOING TO HAVE THE DESIRED EFFECT'

Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams said Kenney’s move to lift restrictions was poorly timed and may not ultimately be politically successful for him.

She noted that in spite of standing against protesters who interfere with the flow of business, Kenney has not protected businesses that are negatively affected by the trucker freedom convoy.

Mount Royal University political science professor Lori Williams

“He started tweeting pictures of empty store shelves, worried about supply chain issues, but by not dealing effectively with this protest, it has potentially worsened those supply chain issues,” Williams said.

“So, a criticism that he initially meant to land on Justin Trudeau has boomeranged back and hit Jason Kenney. He has this appearance of being both hypocritical and ineffective in his policies. He's also potentially emboldened protesters like this to engage in these kinds of activities in Alberta or elsewhere in Canada.”

Williams added  that Kenney’s hesitation to lift restrictions has given the public a narrative that protesters are determining the health care policy and not Alberta’s public health experts such as Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

To add salt to Kenney’s wounds, he now faces a leadership review in April which has been fast-tracked by several UCP constituency presidents including Gordon Ferguson who represents the area of Lesser Slave Lake.

Ferguson says the REP program is what set his constituents off to call for an early review, but Kenney’s move to lift restrictions next week could save his future in the party.

“Kenney had announced in early fall that he was anticipating the REP to be on until the end of the first quarter, which is the end of March, but I think the convoys and letters from the MLAs have really accelerated that plan,” Ferguson said.

“It’s not going to hurt him right to remove these things. A lot of people don't even wear a mask anymore in our constituency, they've just had enough and I think that's true in a lot of rural communities.”