At a press briefing on Wednesday, B.C. Premier John Horgan announced that there are expectations for the province to begin Phase 3 of their economic restart plan next week.
According to the Premier, Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix will be announcing the latest modelling for where the province is at with COVID-19 transmission on Monday, June 22.
“We are in a place where we can now start talking about what the future will look like,” said Horgan, expressing optimism that the updated information will be promising enough to move into the next phase of the economic reopening plan.
Phase 3 of the provincial restart plan involves restarting film production, reopening movie theatres, spas, hotels and resorts.
B.C. entered the second phase of the restart plan on May 19, which allowed eateries, retail stores, and businesses like hair salons to open for business with new measures in place to protect patrons and staff against COVID-19 transmission.
Now that the province is beginning to think about restarting the economy and social life in full steam, the provincial government is looking for public input on how to spend $1.5 billion of economic stimulus money set aside for recovery through the COVID-19 Action Plan.
“Throughout the pandemic we’ve been meeting with businesses, labour, First Nations, not-for-profits and more to get their perspective. We’ve heard lots of good ideas, and we are taking action. We want to hear directly from British Columbians to make sure the recovery works for them,” reads a statement from Premier John Horgan.
A public survey online has been launched and will be open until July 21 to inform decisions on how the government plans to spend that stimulus amount.
B.C. residents can also make their voices heard by joining a virtual town hall with Minister of Finance Carole James and submitting their ideas or questions online before 12 p.m. on Wednesday June 24.
More information about the province’s recovery plan to date can be found on their website.
