Geoff Orr
Mayor of North Saanich
2020 has been a year to remember or perhaps forget!
Ten months of COVID-19 pandemic has tested all of us in ways that we could not have imagined. Notwithstanding the significant disruption both personally and professionally, we have responded and adapted in a manner that has been truly remarkable.
The importance of connection, compassion and community has been highlighted and we will emerge stronger as a result. This has been a particularly difficult time for folks with family members in long term care homes.
Our new normal was challenged these past weeks with the increase in positive COVID-19 cases locally and across the Province. A pertinent reminder that we must continue to observe the Provincial Health guidelines and orders with respect to mask wearing, personal hygiene, social distancing and restricted gathering.
As we look to 2021 there is hope. Vaccines have been approved and health officials are implementing measures to provide inoculation across Canada.
This process will take time so it is important to approach each day as a day to be grateful for our health, our family and friends, and the wonderful place that we live.
We have a shared responsibility to one another over the holiday period and beyond. Reach out to someone that you haven’t talked to in a while. Check in with a neighbour that you haven’t seen in a while. Amplify the positive and tuck the negative away.
Love is the magic that will sustain us.
Geoff Orr is the mayor of North Saanich.
