As I try to wrap my head around the tragic events of April 18-19 in Portapique, Wentworth, Debert, Shubenacadie, and Enfield, I think about the worse case scenario.
What if we weren’t in the COVID19 pandemic?
What if there was no health order from Dr. Strang or message from Premier Stephen McNeil to “stay the blazes home”?
Those what ifs leads me to my next thought.
How many others would have been killed? How many others would have been on the roads that the gunman travelled in his 12-hour reign of terror?
The shootings have left the province, known for it’s peacefulness and friendliness, feeling heartbroken and numb from an act that feels more like it’s from a movie. I hope we never again experience this.
I also think of the spot where the gunman’s killing spree came to an end thanks to the RCMP. On a normal Sunday morning at about lunch time, the Enfield Irving Big Stop is usually busy. It’s packed with families having breakfast, brunch, or lunch and talking about their weekend and the week ahead.
How much more tragedy would have happened if the Big Stop, Tim’s and BK had been operating normally, pre-COVID19 restrictions.
The more I think about it, the more I fear how much more heartache we could have experienced if not for COVID19.
So as many of us are getting annoyed with the restrictions such as physical distancing and staying home. It could very well be that COVID19 is what saved N.S. from an even more tragic death toll from a gunman that didn’t care who he killed.
In the end, COVID19 and its restrictions put in place may have been a blessing in disguise.
- Pat Healey
