I run a communications and executive advisory firm; since mid-March, our clients have scrambled to navigate the grand mess caused by the COVID-19 crisis, racing to keep pace with the needs of employees and customers while trying to plan for whatever the pandemic brings next.

Right now the biggest anxiety for many organizations — at least those in relatively stable sectors — isn’t about Zoom calls or work-from-home policies. It’s fear of missing the moment. As much as COVID-19 presents challenges, it also presents opportunity, and no leader wants their organization left behind once the dust finally clears.

Smart companies are already scouring for opportunities, leveraging whatever data they can gather. Not to do so is to risk being outpaced by competitors who had better foresight and the courage to act. For businesses, COVID- 19 proves the old hockey aphorism: you need to skate to where the puck is going.

Governments must have the same mindset. No one has a COVID-19 crystal ball, but in some instances the ground shift brought on by the coronavirus has revealed policy opportunities with such clarity that they now seem obvious.

Take, as one important local example, the temporary extension of active-transportation routes along nine of Winnipeg’s most scenic streets. This extension should be made permanent, at least from spring through fall — not only because Winnipeg families are embracing these routes in enormous numbers, but because the health and economic rationale makes an indefinite expansion objectively compelling.

Things that are easy, cheap and pay a big dividend are things we should be pursuing. Consider four reasons: 

1. Current levels of physical activity are stubbornly low, which translates into enormous, avoidable health spending and reduced business productivity. Federal data show just two in 10 Canadian adults meets Canada’s physical activity guidelines. Among kids, it’s one in 10.

Health-care spending in Canada is already wildly unsustainable. The Conference Board of Canada has noted provinces are now spending up to half of all revenues on health care, making clear that better disease prevention efforts and wellness promotion — such as helping people become and stay active — are the only sane and financially sustainable options.

Right now we have throngs of people engaging in pro-health behaviours, walking and cycling on safe, scenic, accessible streets. Bike stores are sold out as people discover (or rediscover) the simple pleasure of gliding along a quiet street. As any change-management expert will tell you, when the wind is in your favour you don’t start rowing against it.