Grande Prairie—MacKenzie MP Chris Warkentin says partisan politics must be put aside as the country continues to battle the spread of COVID-19.
Warkentin, along with all other Members of Parliament, will be taking an extended leave from the House of Commons after a regularly scheduled constituency break. He believes it’s the best decision that can be made at this point in time.
“We don’t want to part of the problem; we don’t want to be [potentially] travelling with the virus back and forth, spreading it amongst one another and then going back to our constituents and possibly being spreaders of the virus.”
Warkentin says with all the information publicly available to not only politicians, but members of the general public, the best things people can do right now aree keep a keen eye on updates and follow proper protocols when it comes to keeping as healthy as possible.
“As the health minister announced, between 30 and 70 per cent of Canadians will at some point come in contact with the virus,” he says.
“I think all the health officials have made it clear that the vast majority of Canadians who catch this virus will not have any severe negative impacts… but there are certain people within our communities to the virus and will have complications.”
Following the COVID-19 positive test result for Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Warkentin says he backs and respects the decision Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family made to self-isolate.
“Those of us in public life who spend a lot of time travelling and meeting hundreds, if not thousands, of people, have a responsibility to simply curtail the exposure we might cause the spread of the virus in an expedited fashion.”
Parliament will not be back in session until at least April 20th.