With high-profile events like the Queen City Ex being planned around Saskatchewan this summer, the province’s economy could see a huge post-pandemic boost.
With the province planning to remove all COVID-19 guidelines on July 11th, these events have the potential to go off without a hitch.
Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison says these events will not only kickstart the economy, but they’ll also reignite people’s social lives.
“Those are very important economic events, but I think they’re really important social events as well,” said Harrison. “Part of the reason why we wanted to provide clarity as far as what the reopening plan was going to look like was because of the need for industry to plan events like the Ex, and many like it across the province as well, that are going to be very, very beneficial for Saskatchewan.”
When asked if people would be hesitant to go back to big social events, Harrison pointed to the United States as an example, adding he believes things will get back to normal much sooner than people think.
“Things have got back to normal quicker than, probably, people thought they would, not amongst all, but I think there is a pretty high degree of willingness and desire on the part of a large part of the public to go back to normal,” said Harrison. “I think that there will be a bit of a transition period, but I would suspect it’s going to move quicker than some people think it will.”
Harrison added that when Saskatchewan reopens, the vaccination rate will be higher than any other jurisdiction’s reopening rate.
