The MLA for Steinbach says his city is well set up to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just yesterday, the province announced its plan to gradually reopen certain businesses and recreation opportunities as early as Monday. Now that restrictions are beginning to ease, Kelvin Goertzen says Steinbach is in a pretty good spot.

“I do think that Manitoba is as well-positioned as any province in Canada to come back from this as quickly as possible and, within Manitoba, I think Steinbach and the southeast are as well-positioned as any part of Manitoba to make that comeback.”

Goertzen is not so naive as to believe there will be no negative impact to the local economy, however, he says the region will more than likely be okay.

In terms of the government’s strategy itself, Goertzen says he is generally impressed.

“Manitoba, perhaps more than any other province, has a specific plan with specific dates. I know that has been a criticism of other provinces where they release phases without real dates, but our plan is really well laid out.”

Despite genuine optimism over the province’s reopening strategy, Goertzen does anticipate it will be accompanied by an increase in COVID-19 cases.

“As you have more activity and more people interacting with each other, you will see numbers go up," he states, "and that is why we are phasing it in. We want to see what those numbers look like.”

Throughout the pandemic, Goertzen says his government has been thinking and operating on a 14-day cycle and will continue to do so. Every two weeks they will thoroughly assess the situation and determine if more parameters can be removed or if additional ones need to be put back in place as Manitoba slowly approaches its new normal.