Dear Editor
I have strongly supported the Saskatchewan government’s COVID-19 restrictions up to this point. In fact, I believed in the circuit breaker idea that if we really restricted ourselves for a couple of weeks, we could get back to normal quicker. But I am feeling defeated today.
Why should my daughter struggle to figure out how to do her university classes completely online or my friends be told their jobs aren’t essential, when our politicians feel free to travel to warm locales to holiday?
While my family and I stayed at home and celebrated Christmas, just the three of us around the tree, Saskatchewan Minister of Highways Joe Hargrave stated it was essential that he and his wife travel to Palm Beach, California, to sell one of their vacations properties. No, vacation properties are not essential, and no it is not acceptable to travel to the epicenter of the pandemic while telling your constituents they can’t visit their grandparents in a retirement home.
Doug Ford was correct in pointing out that there cannot be two set of rules: one set of rules for elected officials, another set of rules for everyone else. If Premier Moe and the Saskatchewan government state we must restrict our travel, that means all of us, including Joe Hargrave. If he thinks he is above these rules the least Premier Moe could do is to ask for Joe Hargrave to resign from cabinet. Hopefully, this would encourage Joe Hargrave to start following the same rules all the rest of us are trying to follow, and together we can beat this pandemic and get back to our normal lives.
Wayne Schlapkohl
North Battleford
