Hosts Brad Nickason and Nancy Furness have their monthly update with MP Ron McKinnon for the Month of October. As we enter the beginning of the expected second wave of COVID 19 we see numbers of those infected and in need of hospitalization on the rise. The focus once again is on the federal governments response and the best practices for our community.

Above all else the messaging from all levels of government is that we need to continue to practice social distancing, wearing masks when out in public, and thoroughly washing our hands.

Most provinces across Canada have adopted the use of an app developed by the federal government that allows for the user to be notified when they have been in near proximity to others who have been found to be infected, without actually recording their location. At this time the provincial government feels that they are able to keep up with localized outbreaks and that the use of this app has yet to be instituted. As we see numbers rise this may change.

On the positive side of things Parliament has been adapting to our new reality and have held their very first online meetings via Zoom. While there are some procedural issues that need to be ironed out, and online meetings do lack some of the sidebar opportunities afforded the attendees of an in person meeting, the overall integration of this technology into parliamentary proceedings in the future could result in a number of positive benefits such as reduced carbon emissions.

In response to the advent of online meetings, Parliament has been forced to adopt a new means of counting votes which, unfortunately, is much more time consuming than the standard methods. Again there are efforts being made to streamline this process and there is even an app in development that will allow parliamentarians to vote remotely.

At this time it appears that there are at least three different strains of COVID 19 and while the all may effect us differently, we know that even the same strain can have vastly different effects on different people. Most importantly we know that a significant portion of the population could be asymptomatic, in which case they probably have no idea that they are spreading the virus.

Several vaccines are in the final stages of testing and we should have some idea as to their effectiveness next month. Stay Calm. Stay Safe.