On May 27, the Nova Scotia government announced the next steps towards reopening the economy. Restaurants and bars will be able to open for dine-in starting on June 5th; personal services such as hair salons and barber shops will also be allowed to open, as will gyms, veterinarians and health providers like dentists and optometrists, as long as they follow protocols issued by their associations. CHNE asked Cape Breton – Canso MP Mike Kelloway if he thought his riding was ready to reopen.

The MP said he agrees with the province’s timing. “I think we are ready, but we have to be ready with the right mindset and the right practices in place,” he said. “That’s the protective wear. For example, in the past three weeks, we’ve been looking if the province does open up, will our office open up? What does that look like? We’ve been going through lot of different scenarios of the plexiglass, of taking appointments so we can know when people are coming in and we can clean and disinfect as we go throughout the day, and order gloves and masks and things of that nature. So, we are going back to normal but it’s not quite normal in the sense that we’re still in this.” Kelloway said it’s important that people follow social distancing rules and wear masks.

In terms of providing businesses with the personal protective equipment that they need and making sure that local pharmacies have it in stock, Kelloway said the federal government is assisting the province. “The Government of Canada, with the Minister of Procurement, the Minister of Health meets on a regular basis with the counterparts of each of the provinces to ascertain what is needed, how much is needed and I think that’s going well.”

He continued, “There are certain things that don’t require PPE, like the social distancing aspect. … There are certain things we can do as a society, then there are certain things we need to do as government or governments and that is to ensure that people have access,” he said. “That will be the challenge. It is a challenge for all governments.”