Over the last 63 years, anyone who has visited the PNE, Vancouver’s beloved end-of-summer fair, has probably sampled some of the Faria family’s famous midway food.

Known as the “Corn Dog King,” Jason Faria has been serving up carnival concoctions for as long as he can remember.

His stepfather, Jack Hunter, started up the family midway munchies business in the 1950s. They became famous for wild-and-crazy items like cricket-covered candy apples and last summer’s sensational deep-fried hot dogs, slathered in mozzarella cheese and crumbled ramen noodles.

Their iconic food stalls became fixtures at the PNE, the Calgary Stampede, the Cloverdale Rodeo and other stops along Western Canada’s carnival circuit.

But, this year, Faria knew the COVID-19 pandemic was poised to upset his candy-apple cart.

“Everything is being cancelled,” he told me.

“We’re staring down the barrel of an 18-month layoff. It will devastate not just myself, but hundreds of other businesses and thousands of individuals.”

The heaviest hit came last weekend, when B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said this summer’s PNE would “likely” be cancelled, though an official decision has not been made.

“This is a fair that survived the Great Depression and two world wars,” Faria said, adding he was holding out hope that a scaled-back fair would be allowed to happen in August.

As a bummer of a summer looms for the country, it’s clear the devastation of this pandemic will drag on for months.

But how long, exactly? As the shutdown continues and major events are cancelled one after the other, business leaders are seeking clarity on when a semblance of normalcy will return.

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The answer? Not for a while, maybe not for months, or a year, or even longer.

But a careful and gradual relaxing of restrictions could start sooner than that in some parts of the country.

“That is our dilemma,” Henry said.

“What we need to focus on for the coming weeks and months is just the right amount of restrictions, so that we don’t end up having those explosive growths, so we don’t end up overwhelming our health-care system and we are still able to get our society moving again.”

That could mean a re-start of elective surgeries in B.C. hospitals in May. Maybe some kids might even be allowed to go back to school, perhaps starting with special-needs kids and the children of front-line health-care workers.

The key is flattening the curve of new COVID-19 infections, and keeping it flattened, said Dr. Brian Conway, head of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre.

“I think people need hope right now,” he said. “People are getting cabin fever.”

He said the province needs to reduce the rate of new infections to less than 10 per day before restrictions can be relaxed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said some provinces may start to re-open sooner than others.

“There will be regional approaches,” Trudeau said after a conference call with provincial premiers.

“We all agreed that we need to continue to remain very, very vigilant as we carefully look at reopening the economy, about relaunching certain sectors in the future.”

Most jurisdictions say a two-week flattening trend needs to be achieved before restrictions can be relaxed.

Provinces where the infection rate has been reduced to a trickle — notably ones with smaller populations like Prince Edward Island — might be in first in line.

Others, like Ontario and Quebec, face a longer haul. And even though some state governors south of the border are in a rush to open their economies, even Canada’s most bullish premiers are still urging caution.

“I know everyone’s getting antsy, but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

“I want to be cautiously optimistic, but I don’t want people to think, ‘This is done, we’re moving forward.’”

The bottom line: there is a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel. But just a sliver.

“We’re going to be doing things differently for a year,” B.C.’s Henry said.

“When we get to that point — in a year, 18 months — I’m looking forward to a really big party.”

Mike Smyth is host of ‘The Mike Smyth Show’ on Global News Radio 980 CKNW in Vancouver and a commentator for Global News. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @MikeSmythNews​.

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