Were it not for the kindness of friends sending gallows humour video clips and cartoons, I would be asking my doctor to prescribe me Prozac. These last two months have brought real meaning to “You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.”

What is gone from life right now is the liberty to come and go as I please. Gone are Sunday dinners with family, and as much as I appreciate the Facetime visits, it does not replace the warm hugs from the grandchildren. Gone are weekly luncheons with the ladies and the banter about what most would consider our mundane lives. And I am tired of cooking meals and want a dinner out where someone serves me a meal.

I regret not having seen the optometrist, dentist and doctor before the shutdown, which is a reminder not to procrastinate in the future. I wish I had gone to the hairstylist too, especially when I view the grey halo on my head. (My husband thinks COVID-19 has caused me to prematurely grey, haha.) I loathe wearing a necessary face mask and sharing muffled conversation with my new best friends, the grocery store workers, and then trying to punch in my credit card pin number while wearing my fashionable robin egg blue nitrile medical-grade rubber gloves.

I cannot clean one more closet or cupboard or shampoo another carpet. As much as I initially enjoyed viewing various Netflix series, I am bored with watching television. I cannot bear to read or hear another report on the virus and the devastation it has caused or will cause globally. And I am embarrassed to admit to all my trivial inconveniences considering the true pain others have suffered, either because of illness or economic harm.

Being isolated gives ample time to ponder deeper thoughts, which may not be a good thing as it invites a growing list of fears to take hold. Foremost is the fear that my family, especially that my husband, children or grandchildren will become victims of the dreaded virus.

Although I am thankful that our province has been relatively unscathed when compared to other provinces, territories and nations, I fear that may change with the recent outbreak in the Far North. And my heart breaks for the families that have or will suffer harm either from the illness itself or the fallout from the shutdown.

I fear the “new” normal, will not be as enjoyable as the old normal thanks to this apocalyptic virus. There is fear of the unknown, that being the economic crisis projected for this country, province and city in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Clearly, many small businesses will not survive the shutdown and those that do may feel the need to reduce staffing to ensure survival. Will young families be able to financially survive a prolonged period of unemployment? What happens to all those unemployed people who are trying to provide food and shelter to their families, and who through no fault of their own, are at risk of possibly losing their homes when the mortgage and loan deferral options expire?

I find it hard not to be annoyed when learning that larger corporate bodies, especially in the hospitality and sports industries, are asking for tax concessions and financial assistance from governments. Yes, I realize they employ people who need work, but it has been long understood that small business is the backbone of our economy.

Our resource sectors are in desperate straits, especially gas and oil, as commodity prices have bottomed out and, in both Saskatchewan and Alberta, this industry is at risk of shutting down. For that reason alone, I am annoyed that Unifor wants the government to order the Co-op Refinery to accept the arbitration ruling. (It is a rather ironic demand given that unions lambasted the government for interfering with the collective bargaining process when the government passed essential service legislation a few years back.) It is hard to empathize with Unifor, when all around us people are worried about having any job at all when the province re-opens or having to return to a job that puts them at risk.

Every worthy group wants more money from the government to aid in surviving this pandemic, and it is easy to agree with their various causes. But where do they think the money will come from? The reality is the government gets its money from taxpayers, and sadly, taxpayers are also suffering duress. It is the chickenand-egg question. If taxpayers are not working, they do not pay tax. Those who are working cannot pay enough tax to meet the demands.

And I am truly angry at all three levels of government who have amassed huge debts and thus cannot adequately assist Canadians during this time of need. The interest alone from these government debts would go a long way to providing this city, province and country with necessary support.

We have our civic government asking the provincial and federal governments for money. The provincial government asks federal government for money. And our federal government is more focused on gun control than economic crisis control. (It pains me to admit I agree with Trudeau on banning automatic weapons, but this is not the time to wage a new battle. Rome is burning!)

At some point, our governments are going to have to make tough financial decisions and the public will have to lower their expectations of governments.

On the upside, it is heart-warming to see children enjoying time with their parents. It also gives parents the opportunity to be involved with their children’s education, which should be a real learning experience for the family.

Hopefully, we have learned some lessons from this horrific experience. A couple of weeks ago, the dotard south of the border tried to prohibit the needed health related Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from entering Canada.

Rather than just supporting existing and out-of-country entities, perhaps now is the time we should focus on using tax incentives to attract new industries that produce these PPE products to our province, as well as other industries that manufacture other essential goods.

If I remember correctly, it is Canada that provides some of the raw product needed for manufacture of some PPE goods. Saskatchewan is touted to be the birthplace of Medicare. This city has a top-notch vaccine and infectious disease control centre. Maybe we could expand on our reputation and become a centre for production of health care related products. What I have come to believe is that we cannot continue with our same old, same old status quo attitudes.

There may have to be a reset in our economy and perhaps it is overdue.

-Elaine Hnatyshyn