Changes to the supply chain at the end of COVID-19 is one thing local politicians are agreeing on.
Everything from fire bans to manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) and re-opening the economy was up for discussion at the Timmins Chamber of Commerce's virtual town hall. It's the second online discussion the organization has hosted with Timmins Mayor George Pirie, MP Charlie Angus, and MPP Gilles Bisson since the start of the pandemic.
With a PPE drive currently on in Timmins, a question about access to adequate PPE, and updated guidelines and education for how to use it properly as businesses start to re-open prompted a discussion about the supply chain.
Provincially, Bisson said the equipment is distributed by region.
“And they’ve been very helpful in sourcing PPE equipment so that we can keep a couple of weeks stock in places like hospitals, long-term care facilities, EMS, police etc. The bigger challenge is what do you do in all those workplaces that are going to need more and more PPE as we open up," he said.
"The province has put in place a pretty efficient and fast-tracked process for entrepreneurs who are wanting to get into the business of producing and selling PPE to the Ontario or the Canadian, the international market. We actually have people here in Timmins who have applied to that process and they’re actually pretty far into the approval process where they would get into the supply chain, but also they would get some financial assistance to be able to do that."
While working with organizations in the global economy is good, he noted a lot of the items should be made in Ontario or Canada.
"I think this proves there’s certain things that you have to do in your local economy and your provincial and national economy that are crucial to the safety of your nation and your province, and this is one of them,” he said.
Angus added that we shouldn't be in a situation again to have to crowdsource for medical supplies.
"The fact that we trusted the global supply chain and we had emergency equipment seized by the American president in a political stunt while we were still honouring our international obligations and sending supplies to the United States, as well as nurses. We don’t want to ever be in that situation again and we see the capacity in Canada to step up,” he said.
The recent partnership between Compass Brewing and Glencore Kidd Operations to produce hand sanitizer is a great example, he said.
The need for PPE has created a sense of volunteerism and entrepreneurism, according to Pirie.
He said he loves the way the community has responded, whether it's making masks or large corporations donating thousands of masks.
“There’s no doubt that the supply chain is going to be reinvented at the end of this,” he said.
With the warmer spring weather, the provincial fire ban was also up for discussion.
Bisson explained the rationale for it.
“The reason the province did this is pretty simple, is in the middle of a pandemic the last thing that the province wants is the possibility that there’s forest fires that are started as a result of campfires that have gotten out of control. And as we know there’s a lot of those that happen,” he said.
In the middle of a pandemic, he said "the province didn’t want to be in a position to have to deal with that because there’s the whole how do you keep fire crews safe, do we have the resources even to do it."
Bisson said the fire ban is one of a few things that has been brought up with the province to consider changes.
For fires, he said they've reached out to the solicitor general and Minister of Natural Resources to see if there are conditions to allow people to have one. He said they haven't responded to that in a positive way.
“The other one is being able to launch your boat this month of May whenever the ice comes off the lake, which it’s still on,” he said, adding they're also working on campsites and to see if restrictions could be imposed on what you can do so people can get out to enjoy their trailers and the outdoors.
With steps being taken to re-open the economy, Bisson is on side with the Ontario government not setting arbitrary dates. He said it has to be driven by science, data and experience to get it right.
“The cost is, not only will lives be lost if we open too early and the spread gets worse, it’s going to keep the economy closed down even that much longer. We need to make sure that we ramp up in a methodical way that we don’t end up making things worse by opening them up,” he said.
This week, a number of businesses were allowed to re-open. The list includes garden centres and nurseries with curbside pickup and deliver, lawn care and landscaping businesses, and automatic and self-serve car washes. Car dealers can open by appointment only, and golf courses and marinas can also start prepping for the upcoming season.
Enforcement of businesses following the rules falls on the municipality.
“Make no mistake about it, the individual vendors, store operators are all responsible for ensuring the safety of their workers and the safety of the clients,” said Pirie.
The bylaw officers enforcing the measures are doing general tours and will go to stores when they're called.
"There’s been no fines levied, it’s all been educational,” he said.
While the municipality is enforcing the rules, Bisson said "the conditions as to when you’re going to open your business and how you’re going to open your business is actually determined by the province."
The provincial state of emergency runs until May 12.
Bisson said they're returning to Queen's Park next week to pass a motion to maintain the emergency measures for the time being. That can only be done for 30 days at a time.
“As long as we’re cautious, we’re going to get there. Let’s not run into problems by opening up things too early,” he said.
Watch the full hour-long discussion here:
