at one point, dix even suggested that travel restrictions would be un-canadian: “we don’t live in that kind of state here in b.c.”
horgan professed “absolute outrage” at the out-of-towners flooding tourist spots on vancouver island over the easter holiday weekend.
at the same time, he also suggested he was powerless to do anything to stop it: “what do we do? arrest them?”
“we can restrict ferry travel,” horgan conceded. “we’ve done that in the past, but not necessarily to good effect.”
what changed in the interval between those comments on april 7 and monday’s press conference?
“we never said we couldn’t do it,” horgan insisted monday. “we said it would be logistically challenging, and it is and remains so.”
logistics had nothing to do with it. the timing was prompted by the government’s grudging realization that it had to do something in the face of growing public outrage over the spectacle of so many rule breakers.
there was also the impact of the rising covid-19 case count in hospitals, critical care units and especially on front-line doctors, nurses and other health care workers.
in their share of monday’s briefing, health minister dix and dr. bonnie henry detailed the mounting evidence of a system in danger of being overwhelmed by the more transmissible variants.