Anyone else embarrassed to be an Albertan these days?

I was born and raised in this province, but the egregious displays of anti-social partisanship when it comes to disobeying health guidelines have me feeling sick to my belt buckle. 

Anti-maskers say they’re “rising up” against government control, but all I see are deliberately-uninformed misanthropes putting our population at risk. These people aren’t red pilled freedom fighters, they’re entitled brats. How ironic that “freedom rallies” and the attitudes of those who attend are ensuring government emergency measures stay in place even longer?

I understand I may be preaching to the choir here; if doctors and scientists can’t convince the so-called “patriots” to expand their view, it’s hardly likely a *socialist* newspaper columnist in libtard national park is going to hit the magic notes. 

But with COVID-19 creeping into the community at an unprecedented rate, finding its way into our schools, our hospitals and our seniors homes, those of us with a platform should be shouting from it: for the health and safety of us all, and particularly for the vulnerable, we’ve got to do a better job of flattening the curve.

That means all of us. Because as much as Jasperites would like to believe this rests on the visiting public, the latest spreads have come from within the community. The biggest hot spots have shown to be social gatherings and workplaces. We all have lockdown fatigue, but you and me and our families and friends have all got to buckle down and follow the directives broadcast by our health officials. This isn’t the time to mess around.

Resort towns have a significant knock against them when it comes to virus transmission: namely, we’ve got lots of people living in close quarters, i.e. staff accommodations. Here’s where it’s going to be hard for those living in these situations to resist the pressure to hang out, to socialize, to party.

But dudes and dudettes, you’ve simply got to.

I know everyone feels invincible in our 20s, but we can all admit our aunts, our grandfathers and our parents are not. We’ve got to look up, as a community, and realize who our actions are hurting.

As much as we have factors working against us in Jasper, we can also consider ourselves lucky. We’ve got big, open spaces around us. We’ve got a connected network of community partners who are working in our best interests. We’ve got good community buy-in.

But we need to make sure we remain vigilant. Cultivate a culture of good practices. Don’t give in to pressure to let your guard down. 

We’re at a critical point. We know the stakes. We have nothing to be embarrassed about if we act like it. 

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com