Editor:
We are now into our second month of social distancing/self-isolation and there doesn’t appear to be an end to this soon.
It is time to move past the “shut everything” mentality and develop more nuanced policies that allow people to take care of their mental and physical health during this stressful time.
According to current city policy, all “sports facilities” are closed to any use. This includes a beautiful park like Wesburn, where there is four acres of flat, grassed open space that would allow for people to get some much-needed fresh air and exercise while keeping their social distance. But, instead of making use of this great space, staff from the city spent their weekend chasing individuals and young families out of the park for fear that they might break out into an organized sports game.
Instead of closing sports facilities and encouraging people to concentrate in smaller areas or at already over-used parks such as Deer Lake, why not open sports fields and post reminders of the importance of social distancing? It makes more sense to have city staff patrol and educate about social distancing, as opposed to endlessly chase people away for no clear reason.
We are lucky to have so much green space in our city where we can take care of our overall health and keep our social distance. Let’s make policies that allow us to use of all of our green spaces.
Terry Bell, Burnaby
