By Lyonel Doherty

The Town of Oliver hopes to address concerns about COVID-19 this summer by erecting signs promoting social distancing.

On Monday, council supported Dave Mattes’ idea to establish signage in both official languages in prominent locations such as Lion’s Park.

The discussion was started by Aimee Grice who acknowledged that local residents are concerned about farm workers coming here from Quebec.

“A lot of it for me has to do with the nature in which Quebec kids associate with each other; they are very communal and go from farm to farm. To me, there doesn’t seem to be any way to contain a spread should somebody in that community have the virus.”

Grice said part of the concern right now is there is no work for them for at least another month.

Water councillor (and fruit grower) Rick Machial said the bulk of workers show up two or three weeks before cherry harvest.

“I haven’t seen that many around town. I think it (the COVID-19 concern) is getting to be a little overblown (here),” he said.

Machial agreed that it’s tough to keep Quebec migrants physically apart.

“I don’t know how we are going to do it . . .  hopefully they cooperate and stay apart.”

Machial said while tents can be kept apart in the orchard, workers will often socialize with a beer under a tree.

“I’m not going to be a cop,” he said emphatically.

The farmer said the fact is these pickers are needed here and will come, adding that bylaw officers can enforce social distancing rules in local parks.

Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger said he thinks if more orchardists provide amenities such as wash stations and kitchens, “that will alleviate much of the problems down the road.”

(File photo by Richard McGuire)

Mattes suggested making signs in French and English promoting social distancing and other tips to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Fellow councillor Petra Veintimilla said this is a fabulous idea. She noted that young people from Quebec are already on alert coming from one of the hardest hit provinces in the country.

Veintimilla reported that Loose Bay campground will undergo an audit from AgSafe BC to ensure compliance and safety. She also mentioned the idea to provide wi-fi and laundry facilities at the camp, which will keep people at Loose Bay instead of congregating in town.

Grice said it will be important to ensure that prejudices against Quebec migrants do not get overblown this year.

Randy Houle, director of development services, said bylaw enforcement will do its best this summer, but made it clear there is no public health orders for social distancing. If there are more than 50 people in a group, bylaw can do something about that, he noted.

“If they are out there sitting in group (of fewer than 50), the best we can do is advise them not to.”

Mayor Martin Johansen said he has been answering questions about this “hot button” issue for the past 10 days.

“People just do not think that these people (migrants from Quebec) should be here right now. They’re concerned about the hospital getting overloaded, they’re concerned about the elderly in our community, but there aren’t any orders restricting people from travelling here.”

Johansen said that inter-provincial travellers don’t have to self-quarantine once they get here.

“We have asked the ministry about that but they, at this point, are not willing to do anything or put any orders in place. The only language we got from them is putting a contingency plan in place in case something happens. Our question back to them is why shouldn’t we do something before something happens? Why should we plan for the worst and wait for it to happen? It’s kind of frustrating.”

Machial reiterated how important farm workers are, stating they are a “key part of how we survive as a species.” He noted they do work that nobody else wants to do.

Mattes said the concern from locals is built around fear that somebody in this group has COVID-19.

“They are making the assumption that everyone who comes from Quebec has it, so we are all at risk.”