NDP Leader Ryan Meili. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME file photo)

By Lisa Schick/CJME News

The ‘Re-Opening Roadmap’ needs more: NDP

May 6, 2021 | 10:50 AM

Both criticism and praise have been coming for the province’s “Re-Opening Roadmap” since it was announced Tuesday, and even the Opposition NDP can find something good to say about it.

On Wednesday, NDP Leader Ryan Meili said there are a lot of really good things in the plan.

“I hope we get to follow that schedule. I would love to see that happen,” said Meili.

But Meili also thinks there needs to be more in the plan, including metrics to watch for relating to hospitalizations, caseloads and variants

“We need to keep our eye on the ball and not just count on vaccines alone. We have to have a full plan,” explained Meili.

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“What the premier gets confused about is the idea that the vaccines are the only thing. Everywhere that has been successful in bringing down their cases with vaccines as part of the strategy has also used public health measures.”

There is a caveat in the plan that if case or hospitalizations get too high, then the plan could be paused, but no numbers or thresholds were given.

Meili said the possibility of a pause wasn’t really emphasized by the premier, just Scott Moe’s confidence that numbers will go down as vaccinations go up.

“We remain again with a little bit more of a glimpse at his roadmap, but still largely driving blind with Scott Moe at the wheel,” said Meili.

The NDP leader wants there to be a Plan B in place in case numbers do get too high.

“There’s never been a Plan B, and we’ve seen that in the last two months where, despite a rising third wave, the premier was unable to respond and, in fact, responded in ways that made things worse,” said Meili.

Meili also looked ahead as he was giving his thoughts, saying this pandemic will eventually either be over or greatly controlled, and at that point Moe will have a lot to answer for.