The heads of the Sunshine Coast’s four local governments have released an open letter to Sunshine Coast citizens addressing concerns over visitors from off-Coast during the provincial health emergency.
“We are doing so well on the Sunshine Coast right now to flatten the curve. But we are hearing from you that you fear it will have all been for nothing if we can’t stop visitors from coming to the Coast,” said the letter signed by Sechelt Mayor Darnelda Siegers, Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) chair Lori Pratt, and shíshálh Nation Chief Warren Paull.
“There is no question that tourists are not welcome right now. Our economy depends on visitors, who we will welcome again once we are on the other side of this pandemic. Our message since March is the same today: Stay home and explore the Sunshine Coast later.”
The letter said local government officials hear the concerns that visitors “can stress grocery supply chains, and increase the risk of transmitting a deadly virus.”
In his own message to Gibsons residents this week, Beamish said: “I, along with other elected officials on the Sunshine Coast, have made representations to Dr. [Bonnie] Henry and to Adrian Dix, B.C.’s minister of health, requesting that they address the inter-regional travel by residents and visitors in stronger terms.”
Beamish said local governments have suggested a provincial order “to prohibit all non-essential travel on BC Ferries and that only Sunshine Coast residents be allowed to travel between Langdale and Horseshoe Bay,” but notes that there’s little likelihood of that happening anytime soon.
At her April 17 briefing, Dr. Bonnie Henry suggested that, in fact, less strict guidance on travel within the province is being considered, but it’s still some weeks away.
“We have restricted non-essential travel within the province – we need to loosen that up a little bit, but do it in a way where we can detect if people have illness,” she said. “We need to all be very sensitive, and this is something that will not change about staying home and staying away from others if we are at the least bit ill, particularly for the coming weeks and months.”
Henry also said health officials will need to find ways to make it possible for people to “check on our families [and] be able to connect with our loved ones.”
Beamish called the influx of long-weekend visitors unfortunate and something that shouldn’t have happened, but also said he was concerned about the reaction.
“The negative reaction to these visitors was immediate and understandable… Signs appeared in the community, chastising visitors and demanding that they go home,” he said. “While I struggle to make sense of the behaviours of some visitors, I am also reminded that our community has many seasonal residents who own property in Gibsons and on the Sunshine Coast. In many cases, these people are our neighbours.”
Beamish called on Coast residents to remember that travellers to the Coast and people visiting vacation properties “are not violating any orders and may have legitimate reasons for being here,” and to give each other the benefit of the doubt.
“I know that it is tough at this time to view visitors as other than threats to our health, but it is only by working together, as a united and supportive community, that we will recover socially and economically,” said Beamish.
“And if you are anxious about tourists in our community and want to express your concerns, please be respectful. In a few weeks or months, we will urgently need visitors to come to the Sunshine Coast and support our businesses.”
