MEDIA RELEASE
January 18, 2022

 

KELOWNA CHAMBER CALLS FOR IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS, GREATER ENGAGEMENT WITH BUSINESSES, AND USE OF REGULATIONS OVER PROHIBITION AS PROVINCE REOPENS GYMS AND FITNESS CENTRES.
 

Kelowna: - The Kelowna Chamber is calling on the Province to improve communications and better engage businesses following their announcement that gyms and fitness centres can re-open under specific conditions.

The announcement by the Province comes less than 24 hours after B.C. had amended the previous order late Monday, imposing an “indefinitely” element to the order. That change caused short term shock waves in that sector though it appears the change was only to give the province time to hold Tuesday’s news conference allowing for greater clarity. Gyms and fitness centres can now re-open as of Thursday if they have COVID Safety Plans in place. They will require capacity limits and will need to continue to require vaccine cards (proof of vaccination). All other restrictions remain in place for another month including the closure of bars and nightclubs.

“Working with the businesses in those specific sectors will create safer environments and greater buy in by business leaders who clearly have had trouble understanding the government’s recent decisions,” says Jeffrey Robinson, Chair of the Board for the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.

“We fully understand the Province needs to take action to get a handle on the pandemic and our Chamber appreciates the efforts and dedication demonstrated by health care professionals,” added Robinson. “With that said though, government at all levels need to provide the public clear data that backs up why they are making the decisions they are making, unfortunately that hasn’t always been the case.”

The Kelowna Chamber believes government at all levels need to better communicate the rationale for their decision-making as it is essential to maintaining public trust. A renewed commitment to engage those being impacted by restrictions is also needed so that specific sector by sector regulations can be put in place to allow businesses to safely continue to operate rather than imposing complete closures.


FOR MORE INFORMATION
Dan Rogers, Executive Director
dan@kelownachamber.org