Everyone,
We have witnessed many encouraging signs in the past week. The pandemic math is improving in the majority of our communities. We remain safely at work. We have no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection. We are receiving positive acknowledgements and accolades from our customers. Our people are extending gratitude and kindness to healthcare front-liners and directly supporting efforts to assist the food-insecure in our communities.
Government restrictions on the construction activities are being lifted in Ontario and Quebec. More people are returning to our offices and sites. We continue to see customers re-open facilities and awaken dormant business activities.
But the virus is hurting the B&M community and will continue to do so. It is disrupting lives and livelihoods. It is weighing on emotions and taxing mental wellbeing. For those who have fallen ill, it took a physical toll. Some of our colleagues have lost loved ones. One such person was a retired B&M’er who worked almost 50 years for our company as an electrician and later as an FM project manager. He was a great friend to many in the Toronto office including me.
I hope that each of you can see that we cannot let our guard down as long as the threat lingers. A tradesperson who works around electricity can never be complacent about the risk. Instead, there must be keen awareness and respect for a dangerous and powerful force. We must sustain the same attitude and vigilance with respect to COVID-19.
Each of us remains vulnerable to the virus. As our communities and workplaces re-open, our risk of exposure will grow simply because there will be more people in our personal orbits.
Please continue to do everything possible to protect yourself and others. Wash, wipe, and repeat. Stay home if you are under the weather. Stay clear of others. A colleague who was perfectly fine yesterday may be ill and contagious today without even knowing it. Clean shared surfaces, vehicles and tools. Wear a mask when you cannot maintain physical separation from others. These are small sacrifices that each of us must continue to make.
I wish you all a safe and enjoyable weekend. Happy Victoria Day or “May Two-Four” or “Journée nationale des patriotes’’to all of you north of the border.
Bruce
