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The landscape changed as COVID-19 clusters broke out in Winnipeg, Brandon, and a few Hutterite colonies. By Friday, Manitoba was up to 418 active cases.
While some physical billboards have yet to change, electronic ones in recent days have been swapped out to feature a new “Know The Facts” slogan, along with pictures of recently adopted colour codes — red, orange, yellow and green — to denote different levels of restrictions that can be imposed if case numbers rise.
Most of the province is under the yellow code, with a few restrictions. But the Prairie Mountain health region was recently bumped to orange status, which has stricter limits on public gatherings and requires masks to be worn in public places. Some billboards in the region now bear a large orange symbol and the word “restricted.”
The ads continue to point to the government’s web page about economic programs, but the page starts with an explanation of the colour codes and restrictions in place.
When the campaign first began, the Opposition New Democrats said it ignored health concerns and was a premature taxpayer-funded victory lap for Premier Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government. Even the revamped one is using dollars that could be better spent elsewhere, the NDP has suggested.
“The premier doesn’t get it. Spending … money on billboards does nothing to make schools safe, protect workers or help businesses stay open,” NDP legislature member Mark Wasyliw said in a written statement Friday.
