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FRIDAY,MARCH27,2020| THEGLOBEANDMAILO NEWS | A
Mr. Horgan maintains that his
moves will support any national
efforts to respond to the crisis.
“It’s crucial that response and
recovery is co-ordinated, and that
we move forward in lockstep with
federal andlocal governments
under a single action plan,” he
said.
In addition to the supply chain
measures, B.C. has now joined
Ontario and Quebec in defining
essential services, which are be-
ing encouraged to remain open,
with appropriate physical dis-
tancing measures. The lengthy
list includes direct-to-public
health services, medical labs,
pharmacies, chiropractors, med-
ical wholesale and distribution,
and businesses and non-profits
that provide food, shelter, social
and support services.
It also includes care for seniors,
overdose prevention sites, estab-
lishments engaged in the retail
sale or provision of food, pet or
livestock supply, liquor, cannabis
and any other household con-
sumer products.
As well, the province has
banned the secondary resale of
food, medical supplies, personal
protective equipment, cleaning
and other essential supplies. The
new powers also allow B.C. to re-
strict quantities of items pur-
chased from retailers.
“British Columbians are wor-
ried about our flow of essential
goods, and our ability to ensure
shelves are stocked,” Mr. Horgan
said. “Emergency Management
B.C. will take a more active role in
co-ordinating essential goods
and services movement by land,
air, marine and rail.”
The province is now identify-
ing warehouses and other facili-
ties that it could take control of,
for gathering supplies and re-
sources if required. That includes
community stadiums that could
be turned into health facilities if
hospitals are overwhelmed.
Although the province does
not intend to immediately use its
powers to commandeer private
transportation, the changes will
pave the way, should that be
required. Fornow, thegovern-
ment is seeking to map out where
the pinch points are in distribu-
tion.
“Many airlines, large and
small, now have spare capacity,”
Public Safety Minister Mike Farn-
worth said. “We want to bring
them in, so that they’re able to as-
sist us. So it’s very much a co-op-
erative effort. It does give us some
considerable power, but again it’s
all about planning for the long
term, as well as the immediate
needs.”
Samantha Kent, marketing
manager for Harbour Air, which
operates one of the largest all-
seaplane airlines in the world,
said her company is ready to
help.
“Harbour Air is a vital trans-
portation link to coastal British
Columbia for both essential trav-
el and in assisting the supply
chain process. Now more than ev-
er, we are here and ready to helpsupport ourgovernment, com-
munities and local businesses.”
One immediate change an-
nounced on Thursday will im-
prove the delivery of goods, by
suspending municipal noise by-
laws that prevent deliveries at
certain times of day.
Bridgitte Anderson, president
and chief executive officer of the
Greater Vancouver Board of
Trade, welcomed the effort to
strip away barriers to transport.
“We support the increased flexi-
bility for the timing of goods
movement through to retailers
and store owners. Ensuring an
open port, trucks and trains mov-
ing freely and goods crossing the
border, is critical,” she said in a
statement. “We need our supply
chains to continue to function –
that will be of the utmost impor-
tance for society to manage its
way through the crisis.”
The chairman and CEO of The
Jim Pattison Group, Canada’s sec-ond-largest private company,
said in an interview that he is pre-
pared to back the provincial gov-
ernment through the pandemic
crisis.
“We would absolutely co-oper-
ate with the authorities, whatev-
er they ask from of us, on whatev-
er is best for the people of the
province of British Columbia,”
Jim Pattison said.
Mr. Pattison’s company oper-
ations, which has 48,000 employ-
ees, include the Save-On-Foods
grocery chain in Western Canada.
Mr. Pattison was spotted this
week in one of his grocery stores,
amid partly empty shelves, chat-
ting with customers.
“We have empty shelves in
many places,” he acknowledged,
but he predicted that the supply
chain will catch up. “We have to
adjust rapidly,” he said. “We’ll get
through it over time, and certain-
ly learn something. On the other
side, we will come out with a lot
of new experiences we haven’t
had before.”
Clint Mahlman, the chief oper-
ating officer of Western retailer
London Drugs, agreed that the
measures will help. “We are ex-
tremely supportive of thegovern-
ment’s actions,” he said. All
goods for London Drugs stores in
the four Western provinces come
through its Richmond ware-
houses, he said.
Mr. Mahlman said the compa-
ny had been offering Emergency
Management BC insights on the
supply chain, including their
stock on hand and availability. Al-
so, he said London Drugs buyers
have been offering health offi-
cials advice on finding products
required to deal with the pan-
demic, such as masks and surgi-
cal gloves.
He said items now out of stock
are the result of panic buying and
hoarding. And he said that it is
unprecedented to see similar pur-
chasing happening globally for
the same type of items in almost
every country. “No supply chain
would be expected to anticipate
that,” he said. If customers only
purchase what they need, he add-
ed, manufacturers would be able
to catch up.Supplies:B.C.joinsOntarioandQuebecindefiningessentialservices
FROMAB.C.PremierJohnHorgan,
right,andPublicSafety
MinisterMikeFarnworth
provideanupdateonthe
government’smeasuresin
responsetotheCOVID-
pandemicduringanews
conferenceinVictoria
onThursday.
CHADHIPOLITO/
THECANADIANPRESS