CEO of Regina chamber of commerce in favour of mask mandate

With mandatory masks now here in Regina, the city’s chamber of commerce believes it’s a better option than the other on the table.

“When you look at the alternative, which is shutting down the economy again, this is where we want to be,” Regina and District Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hopkins said.

“If we shut down the economy, we could be looking at businesses closing (and) we could be looking at employees losing their jobs. It would just exacerbate the challenges that we already face.”

The province’s new public health order came into effect Friday, calling for people to wear masks in all indoor public places in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. It’s hoped the move will limit the spread of COVID-19.

Hopkins said there were some larger stores already leading the charge when it came to mandatory masks.

“At the end of the day, what this is really about is protecting people as much as possible and I think for most businesses, the vast majority of businesses, they want to make sure that the environment is as safe as possible for their customers as well as their employees,” Hopkins said.

While the economy has been open for a few months, Hopkins said COVID-19 is continuing to cause challenges in the business world, and there’s still no end to that in sight.

“The impact of COVID-19 on the economy is still there …,” he said. “The hotel industry has been hammered by COVID-19, the food services industry has been hammered (and) retail has been impacted as well.”

He said there already have been some businesses that had to close permanently due to the pandemic and he said more could be facing that same fate.

“This is very, very challenging for businesses and will continue to be until we get on the other side,” he said.