As the Premier looks into the possibility of banning visitors from other provinces from coming into the province, the tourism industry is not in a hurry for that to happen

Hospitality and tourism businesses have been devastated by COVID-19 and a ban of inter-provincial travel would be another blow to the industry.

The Province’s Minister for Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, Ravi Kahlon was on the NL Morning News and was asked what he was say to an industry that continues to get kicked during the pandemic.

“Well, I’d say a couple of things. I’d say first that our number on priority is to keep our communities and people safe. That has got to be the number one priority and by the way that benefits them as well,”  he said.

“When people feel safe, they actually go and buy from their businesses and that’s been our goal and it’s proven to be successful if you look at the job numbers alone.”

Kahlon was also full of praise from Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry.

“Second I would say that was some push back towards Dr. Bonnie Henry for some decisions she’s made but I would say she has been the most friendly public health officer in the country when it comes to business,” he said. “We were the only province that continued to have a construction industry fully opened, manufacturing fully open. We’re the only ones west of New Brunswick that currently allow in dining in restaurants.”

He says those kinds of decisions from Dr. Henry show that she has been as flexible as she can while trying to balance public safety as well as the economic situation.

“I was talking to folks from business organizations across the country and they’re all telling their associations to look at B.C. as a model of how you can continue to have businesses operate during a pandemic in a safe way and so we’re going to continue to do that,” Kahlon said.

“I appreciate it’s a challenging time and nobody wants to see drastic changes but we don’t want to see a massive shut down of the economy and so if it means small adjustments here and there, I think that’s the prudent way to go.”