Despite what the union for workers of an Alberta meat-packing plant has tried to do, they were unable to prevent the opening of a local meat-packing plant, Cargill. They had the largest COVID-19 outbreak in North America. There were 921 known cases at the plant that has 2,000 employees. A worker in her 60s died and her husband was later hospitalized with COVID-19.
 
In mid-April, Cargill announced that the plant was temporarily shutting down operations for a couple of weeks. The meatpacking plant, Cargill, supplies 40% of the beef in Canada. It has now announced that they would resume operations with one shift. They also said that operations would resume with added safety measures in place.
 
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer in Alberta said that the Alberta Health Services officials have inspected the facility and that it appears to be safe. However, Thomas Hesse who represents the United Food and Commercial Workers union said the workers are afraid, and they have tried to get a stop-work order from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety. Their efforts have failed despite ongoing negotiations.
 
At the time of this article, the situation had not been resolved. The efforts on the part of the union have not succeeded, as they haven't been able to convince the government or legal authorities to step up to ensure that the plant stays closed due to safety concerns. The union lawyers are looking at new strategies.
 
Despite the company’s desire to resume business as usual, they still need to convince the employees that it is safe to do so. Many of the company employees are reluctant to return to work at the plant due to safety concerns. This isn’t just a problem for Cargill but it appears to be a problem for other businesses that want to resume business as usual.
 
Many of the businesses, such as Cargill, have to act quickly to fix the problem so that employees are comfortable with returning to work. A rally was held at the facility and face masks with the words “Safety First” was embossed on them. Cargill sent out a statement to employees that said any employees who are healthy and eligible to work have been asked to return to work.
 
Health officials have said that the majority of the plant's employees are healthy and those who were sick have recovered. Cargill said that they are grateful to their workers for their dedication and resilience as the plant and community walk through this pandemic.
 
The union website reads: "If you are healthy and have been called and cleared to return to work, you should report to your supervisor. "If you don't think it is safe to work, then don't."
 
According to a union survey conducted on 600 workers, 80% said that they do not want the plant to reopen and 85% reported that they are afraid to go back to work at the plant despite its reassurance of being safe.

The Canadian Education Minister has canceled in-person classes for the remainder of the school year. School officials have been trying to figure out a way to safely open, in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta school leaders have started to envision how classes might look when students are permitted to return.
 
Education Minister, Adriana LaGrange sent a letter to the school boards to confirm that in-person classes will be canceled for the 2019-20 school year. They are making a plan to help get students back to school. Teachers have a lot of questions about this, as they would like to prepare for what will ultimately be a new way of teaching. They want to know exactly when students will be allowed to return to their school buildings and what type of public health measures will be initiated.
 
Things will look very different than what the students have been used to before they classes in Mark. Premier Jason Kenney said that there is the possibility of bringing classes back as early as the first week in September. There is no indication as to whether or not the government will attempt to have the students make up for a lost time.
 
It is assumed that when the classes do resume that the students will still need to be separated. Grades K-12 is planned for Stage 2 reopening based on the provincial government's COVID-19 plan. The date that classes may resume will be based on the rate of new infections, intensive care unit cases of COVID-19, and hospitalizations.
 
Restaurants, businesses, and campgrounds are all expected to reopen with restrictions. It is reasonable that schools would be required to also adhere to certain restrictions no matter when they are allowed to resume classes.
 
A group of Red Deer Public School principals and vice-principals have come together to determine how students can safely resume classes when Alberta’s chief medical officer of health has said that it is ok to resume in-person classes again.
 
Superintendent Stu Henry admits that if social distancing is still in place when classes resume, it will have serious implications for the schools. It may change the way classrooms are arranged, staffing, student transport, and the way that classes will be taught. Classes being taught in the morning and the afternoon seem to be an option under consideration.
 
Red Deer might follow the lead of Quebec by keeping juniors and seniors at home, where they are doing distance learning. This would allow them to spread elementary students out across several school buildings throughout the city.
 
This would likely result in the need for more buses to transport the students. However, no one knows for sure what recess would be like if they were not allowed to open up playgrounds or gyms.
 
The following school year is sure to be impacted if staff members become ill. All are hoping for a miracle but in the meantime, no in-person classes will resume for the current school year.

Most people can see that every market has taken some financial hits, even the real estate market. Calgary has a 24% lower sales average than the past five-year average. This is on top of having a drop in energy prices. Despite a promising start in March, sales in the real estate market dropped in Alberta by 9% and new listings declined by 15%. The chief economist of AREA, Ann-Marie Lurie admits that these are unprecedented times with lots of uncertainty. There is no surprise that so many are concerned with the local housing market.
 
Unfortunately, the problem will likely continue through the next quarters. Even before the pandemic, Calgary had a sluggish housing market with sales and prices continuing to drop since 2017. Despite this, the nearly 10% decline in March sales this past year doesn't seem too bad. However, what it means is that home sales are 24% below the five-year average. New listings in and around Calgary have dropped by nearly 19%, which might take some pressure off the huge overstocked market.
 
What has contributed to the failing housing market in Calgary is the fact that they were already having problems due to oversupply and price declines, in addition to the oil price crash. The reduced demand for supply may help to prevent further price declines.
 
In Edmonton, sales didn’t take such a steep hit. Sales only dropped by less than 2% to 1,304. However, this is where the housing market for Edmonton had just a year ago. Tom Shearer, a Royal LePage broker said that the beginning of last year was the hardest year of real estate that he had ever experienced.
 
AREA canceled open houses two weeks after the WHO (World Health Organization) declared a pandemic. It doesn’t make sense to show a home when self-isolation and the virus itself make sellers and buyers wary.
 
Consider that there is a new normal for most markets and the housing market is no different. May agents are resorting to digital technology to sell homes. Although people want to walk around and see things in person, this just doesn’t seem possible. However, if they are willing to view it online then they can find realtors who have posted his or her listings online. They are typically able to see the interiors and exteriors of the home that they are interested in.
 
The region that was hit the hardest was Fort McMurray. Sales in this region dropped by 30% in March of 2019. This was the lowest since 2016. Current sales are tracking at 21% lower than the previous five years.
 
Grand Prairie also took a significant hit. It is the oil-and-gas community in northwestern Alberta where sales have dropped by 19% over the last year. Reports indicate that they are continuing to drop without a real end in sight. The new COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on practically every industry and every market in Canada.

Everything from carnivals to music festivals has been canceled due to COVID-19. Many of these festivals mark the opening of festival season and the summer for many Canadians. It is clear that a lot has changed and will continue to change as cities begin to reopen. This is sure to be a summer unlike any other.
 
Many major city-led events, cultural programs, and conferences have already been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, through June 30. This would also include the popular Caribbean Carnival, and Pride parades; which typically attract thousands. Calgary Stampede organizers have canceled this yard annual rodeo and exhibition. In Ottawa, this year's bombastic Canada Day celebration will be a virtual show.
 
Edmonton and Winnipeg are known for their folk festivals but unfortunately, they have also been canceled. This means that it is likely that fairs throughout Canada will also be canceled. This sounds like the makings of a very boring summer. However, it is better than the alternative, which is more deaths due to exposure due to the lifting of restrictions too soon.
 
Those living in the city look forward to spending time in the pool, at the park, and playgrounds. The closures create a cultural shit, unlike anything that Canadians have seen before. The long winters make the anticipation of summer more appealing.
 
The summer is a festival season in Canada and creates not only cultural value but also significant financial losses. It also affects the restaurant and tourism sectors. Many people are suffering in silence and simply waiting for the day that they can once again, here the sound of music.
 
Thankfully, some find it impossible to express themselves without music. This has led to a movement across the world, which has resulted in many musicians holding virtual concerts. Everyone from Lady Gaga, John Legend, Coldplay's frontrunner, Chris Martin, Keith Urban, Pink, Jan Arden, Natalia MacMaster, Rob Thomas, and more have held virtual concerts.
 
Social distancing is undoubtedly difficult for many but it is equally as difficult and frustrating for the thousands of musicians who just want to entertain. Even though many musicians have had to cancel their tour dates, they still feel compelled to entertain.
 
Many local musicians are also going live and CBC music is finding out who they are. Keep up with the many musicians who are contributing to the movement by following @CBCMusic on Twitter.
 
Music is universal, which is probably why it stirs up so many emotions. You can listen to practically any type of music that you want to from your favorite musicians simply by logging onto your computer, which is probably something that you do every day anyway.
 
Now that you are already online, just search for local virtual concerts and you’re sure to see a line-up that will appeal to you. If you’re not satisfied with what we have to offer locally, then look for national virtual concerts. The music will do on!

Local Canadian arts programs have received $500 million in federal funding amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear when it will be distributed and who will receive the funds. It is expected that the recipients of the funding will be non-profits, music organizations, television production, and national sports organizations.
 
Previously, the government sector responsible for allocating funding was not creating eligibility for the arts. However, the arts organizations that will now benefit from the funding are glad that they are now being seen as a business entity.
 
Regardless of which programs receive the funding, they all benefit, directly or indirectly. More than 70 arts organizations will receive funding in addition to local artists. The arts sector is like other sectors, which have had social gathering restrictions placed on them. They have also been one of the last to receive consideration for emergency funding.
 
Due to the recent restrictions, it has had a significant impact on the arts community. The CEO of the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary, Dale Henwood admits that they would welcome the emergency funding. If they can get some financial assistance to help retain some of their players they will gladly accept it.
 
So many involved in Canadian sports have been affected by COVID-19. The Canadian Sport Institute Calgary operates mainly at WinSport but is also involved with athletes and facilities at the Olympic Oval and in Canmore. They are responsible for paying strength coaches, trainers, support staff, athletes, and medical professionals. They have been all been impacted by the current pandemic.
 
Henwood said that it has been financially difficult. They received commitments from the government in the early part of the pandemic from the government for financial support. While his organization is eligible for part of the subsidy program, they were vague about how when they would receive the funding or how much they would receive.
 
Catriona Le May Doan, Olympic speed skater and president and CEO of Sport Calgary says that they know how much the sports community, the society, and culture would be impacted if sports were taken away. It is a big part of the fabric of the country and community.
 
Many in the Canadian sports sector are just grateful to receive the acknowledgment. The organizations throughout Canada will be watching closely to find out whether they will be eligible for the funds and how it will be allocated.
 
In Western Canada, the arts sector is facing similar challenges. Theatre companies, festivals, and presentation sectors will be looking into the possibility of receiving some type of subsidy. The funding could help us hang on until things improve. Most involved in the arts are simply in survival mode.
 
Just to put things in perspective, Arts Commons, a non-profit organization that includes the city’s largest arts organizations, which also include the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Alberta Theatre Projects, and Theatre Calgary, could lose as much as $3.2 million in revenue if they remain closed until August.

Some businesses are allowed to continue doing business and those are the ones that are considered 'essential'. However, some Alberta businesses would consider themselves to be essential. Unfortunately, they are not the ones who can make that call. On March 17, 2020, the Province of Albert's Chief Medical Officer of Health officially declared a public health emergency due to the COVID-19 crises. Ten days later, the Government of Alberta ordered the closure of all "non-essential" businesses. The dates of when this would end were not indicated.
 
Non-essential Services must remain closed to the public and if you are confused about these services, consult the Government of Alberta website. Here is the list for your consideration.
 
            •           Brick and mortar retail businesses offering exclusively non-essential services or goods (curbside pickup and online shopping, however, are permitted to continue)
            •           Private and public recreation and entertainment facilities
            •           Food courts and dining establishments (delivery, takeout, and drive-throughs are allowed); non-profit soup kitchens and work camp dining halls may continue to operate with proper risk management strategies in place
            •           Nightclubs and bars
            •           Salons, barbershops, and other personal services
            •           Non-essential health services and cosmetic enhancement services
 
The Government of Alberta has also released a list of essential services that can continue to offer services. This list is also published on the government website and include:
 
            •           Public administration and government
            •           Public safety and security
            •           Essential medical and public health services
            •           Shelter and food (restaurants are limited to delivery and takeout only)
            •           Utilities and energy
            •           Specified industrial services; natural gas, coal, and petroleum
            •           Transportation
            •           Construction projects and services required for the healthcare sector or critical municipal and provincial infrastructure
            •           Health and safety environmental rehabilitation projects
            •           Agricultural and horticultural
            •           Retail (including grocery stores, pet supply stores, pharmaceutical businesses, liquor and cannabis retail outlets, hardware stores, auto repair and parts suppliers, office product supply businesses, and medical supply centers)
            •           Financial institutions such as banks and credit unions, as well as investment management, insurance brokerages, and the Alberta Securities Commission
            •           Information and telecommunications
 
While there are still some businesses and services on the essential services list can continue to offer services, they must still implement risk mitigation measures to help prevent the spread of further infection. Such measures include social distancing and heightened sanitization.
 
There are, on the other hand, some businesses that are not considered essential services but are still allowed to remain open. If the business is not listed as an essential service but is not prohibited from offering services in a publicly accessible area, it is allowed to remain open under certain conditions. These businesses can have up to 15 or more workers on-site if they continue to follow public health orders and guidelines about physical distancing and not allowing workers to work if they are sick.

The oil price crash and COVID-19 is indeed causing all sorts of problems as it relates to oil demand. While Gibson Energy president and CEO Steve Spaulding said that they would not start new projects, they do have plans of commissioning new oil storage tanks.
 
Spaulding mentioned that he remains in discussions about more tanks and supporting infrastructure. There has been a huge demand for oil storage since crude prices have started collapsing amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Producers are now dealing with higher than usual inventory.
 
Gibson seemed to get ahead of things by selling off its oilfield services and some of its propane units. This would allow them to focus their attention on oil storage. With at least 70% of the business in terminals, the company is not as concerned about the oil price drop as they were during the crash in 2014.
 
The company is now in the process of building new storage tanks in Alta so that an additional 1.5 million barrels of oil can be stored. When these tanks have been completed, there will be 13 million barrels of oil storage capacity provided by Gibson at the Hardisty storage hub with 1.7 million barrels in Edmonton.
 
Spaulding says that they have had a lot of short-term interest in storage, but they are 100% leased. They lease the storage tanks to longer-term operations and not to short-term traders that are trying to store oil for future markets.
 
Gibson Energy’s competitor, Enbridge, Inc., is repurposing a pipeline that is sitting idle. It was previously used by the Mainline pipeline in Saskatchewan for storing oil. After examining their system and identifying an opportunity to use part of the legacy Line 3 pipeline between Regina and Cromer, as temporary regulated storage before the line is decommissioned next year. This create enough additional oil storage space for 900,000 barrels. Enbridge is considering developing additional options for storing oil.
 
The temporary storage and additional maintenance options to their storage tank program will help create more than two million barrels of additional storage for 2020. Alberta oil producers announced shut-ins that total roughly 705,000 barrels per day or 910,000 BPD when diluent volumes blend with oil sands production are counted.
 
With voluntary shut-ins occurring, this will keep inventories from the tops of the tanks, as crude-by-rail volumes are being quickly ramped down and spare amounts become available on export pipelines. Oil storage is approximately 80% of capacity.
 
Despite what Enbridge is doing, Gibson does not have plans of changing its approach and has no plans of offering storage to traders for future markets. Spaulding said that Gibson’s storage is not in the commodity-based market. They don’t have storage to lease out and cannot benefit from the current state of the market aside from extending existing contracts.
 
They have a clear vision of what they are willing to do and are sticking with it.

During the age of the Coronavirus (COVID19) many things have changed and one of them is the way that greenhouses operate. Greenhouses have become a more viable business now that people are afraid to leave their homes and go to the grocery store. However, not every greenhouse is doing as well as you may think.
 
Golden Acre Home and Garden, a greenhouse in Calgary, has been allowed to open, as it is considered an essential service. However, there are still many warnings to continue to practice social distancing. They have seen a steady stream of customers who are complying with the warning to wear face masks. Despite their eagerness to shop with them, unfortunately, they have a very limited selection of products.
 
One greenhouse owner said that establishing an online presence before the pandemic started gives him an advantage that others don’t have. They have supplied produce to Nunavut and Nova Scotia but are not starting to focus on the Calgary market. The orders are up by 2000% from the previous year. However, it still isn't what they would consider being a gold mine.
 
The greenhouse is expensive to run. They now have to pay for someone to do their shopping. Having an online store has kept them in business. Every day is a struggle and presents new challenges. The owner of the greenhouse admits that they are just trying to survive.
 
Alberta has designated local garden centres as essential services. Some have been allowed to offer curbside pickup of their items, which appears to be safer than allowing people to come inside to collect their items. The customer has to phone or email the greenhouse ahead of time so that we can pull the items for pickup.
 
Some of them have had no choice but to start taking online orders but they cannot do e-commerce. They are hoping that gardeners will still shop with them when the restrictions have been relaxed. This will, of course, depend on how long the lockdown remains in order.
 
According to the executive of the Canadian Garden Council, there has been a large number of Canadians who would like to start gardening. However, right now, many growers and greenhouses are struggling. There is a big push to declare horticultural products as essentials and should be considered essential to our well-being.
 
Unfortunately, despite the encouragement that people have received to do more gardening. It seems impossible for them to do without the necessary materials and products. However, the demand that one gardener is receiving is substantial but he doesn’t believe that it will be sustainable due to the lockdown.
 
While the demand for soil, vegetables, and seeds have been strong, the items that other businesses need, such as flowers, has drastically taken a hit. Despite the sudden downturn in resources, many greenhouse owners and gardeners are optimistic about the future. Even though they are down, many believe they will steadily rebound.