Dear Editor:
Seeing the reaction to comments on social media I cannot remain silent. Mr. Horgan, an apology is necessary.
Hopefully, as a millennial business owner, I may demonstrate to you that we’re not all out there partying. In fact, I honestly can’t say I know of one friend who has recently attended a party.
I just want to pass on this as someone who has been following the rules. I have gone to great expense to pivot my entire company to a work-from-home environment. I have had friends in my generation impacted by suicide and substance abuse brought on by COVID 19 isolation. I have friends in young families whose marriages are teetering on the edge. The years often touted as the best years of our lives have been taken away. Then after having this time ripped from us, you as the leader of our province have the audacity to stare into a camera and tell everyone from 20-39 that [we're] the problem and [we're] blowing it.
Painting an entire generation with one brush and accusing all of us of blowing it is absurd. You need to understand an apology is in order. Not to those who have been breaking the rules, but to all those people in my generation who have followed the rules. All those people who have gone into poverty instead of work. All those people who have suffered significant mental health trauma in order to sit at home and keep others safe. Those of us who have lost people through covid and been unable to even grieve with friends. Those of us who have lost savings, friends, jobs, and lives. Those of us who have done everything in our power and are being told that’s not good enough.
While I’m sure the quickest response will be that all generations have seen those impacts, I would agree. But not all generations are being broadly vilified by the individual elected to represent the province as a whole.
The fact that you do not feel the need to apologize to ANYONE is frankly appalling.
All of these restrictions and blame come while the B.C. government releases the least amount of publicly available data compared to any other major province. You may say you’ve been forthright. But trust me, I’ve actually compared each province and their Centre for Disease Control data to confirm that’s just not true. Since the announcement, I have sought to obtain the data through my MLA. While no data has been provided, the constitutional assistant to my MLA advises “I do work at a liquor store on weekends and have seen many people, of all age groups, though definitely mainly under 40, buying large quantities of alcohol for parties.” This response is exactly what I find concerning. A generation is being attacked based on observations and assumptions.
You have vilified a "show me" generation. We are not bred like our parents to simply accept what is said in a press conference. If you want to blame us and brand us as the problem, at least show us the data to prove it.
Matt Woodall,
District of North Vancouver
