TORONTO – The Prime Minister of Ontario on Saturday revoked the restrictions banning playgrounds and allowing police that anyone not at home had to explain why they were gone following a response from police, health officials and the public.
The pandemic restrictions imposed by Canada’s most populous province met immediate opposition as police forces insisted they should not use new powers to arbitrarily stop pedestrians or motorists, and health experts complained that the rules focus on outdoor activities rather than more dangerous indoor environments.
The government of Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford announced on Friday that it gives police the power to require anyone who is not at home to explain why he is absent and provide his address. Tickets can be written.
But Ontario attorney general Sylvia Jones said officers will no longer have the right to stop a pedestrian or vehicle on Saturday to ask why they are gone or to request their home address.
But Jones said the police may require a person to provide this information to ensure they adhere to the restrictions if the officer has reason to suspect the person is participating in an organized public event or social gathering.
Previously, at least a dozen police departments across Ontario, including in the capital, Toronto, said there will be no random stops of people or cars.
“We are all going through a gruesome year of COVID-19 and are all associated with it together. The (department) will NOT randomly stop vehicles for no reason during the pandemic or after, ”tweeted Steve Tanner, Halton police chief.
Ford’s announcement on Friday limited outdoor gatherings to people in the same household and closed playgrounds and golf courses. The decisions sparked widespread criticism in a province that was already closed. Restaurants and gyms are closed, as well as classroom education. Most non-essential employees work from home.
On Saturday, Ford withdrew an initially announced ban on playgrounds, but added that the ban on “outdoor gatherings will still be enforced,” Ford tweeted.
Ford complained about busy parks and playgrounds, but at Friday’s new conference did not mention workplaces considered essential, such as factories, where the virus is spreading.
“What we need: tighter restrictions to reduce indoor contact, support for key frontline workers, paid sick leave, a new priority for vaccine rollout for hard-hit communities,” tweeted Joe Cressy, who sits on Toronto City Council .
“What we have: the closure of outdoor facilities, which we need to keep people safe and healthy.”
“I have yet to intubate a COVID patient who got infected from being in a playground,” tweeted Dr. Ian Preyra, who works at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ontario.
“Warehouse worker, truck driver, construction worker … not one of my COVID patients acquired this at the park today. They are angry and have no voice. Shameful, ”tweeted Dr. Aman Sidhu, a pulmonologist in Toronto.
Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto, said closing playgrounds and other outdoor recreation facilities will “harm the children and their families whose well-being we have already affected by forcing us to close schools.”
He complained that the new rules do not create paid sick leave or provide better protection for key workers, even if they allow “the police to turn to whoever they want to deal with them to ensure they are appropriately. being outdoors.
“This doesn’t affect a white person like me. This will target key workers and racial people. THIS is what people talk about when describing systemic racism,” Morris wrote in a weekly email to followers.
Ontario reported 4,362 new infections and a record 2,065 people being hospitalized for COVID on Saturday. It has advocated for other counties to send nurses and other health workers.
Vaccinations have increased in Canada, the presence of more contagious variants in Ontario has led to a third wave of infections.
Ford said a lack of vaccines made the new restrictions necessary.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that Pfizer would double shipments of vaccines to Canada in the coming month, with millions more injections than expected in May and June.
Every eligible Canadian is expected to have at least one chance in July.
Ontario just closed the schools days ago after weeks of insisting they were safe. The new initial order to close playgrounds infuriated parents.
“The cognitive dissonance between the education minister insisting that schools be safe and then closing playgrounds baffles the mind,” said Jim Vlahos, a 44-year-old father of two in Toronto.
“There is no rhyme or reason for the exclusions.”
Owen Holliday, a 16-year-old who works on a golf course in Shelburne, Ontario, is now out of a job and said he was very upset, especially for seniors getting their workout through the sport.
“With all the protocols, prepaid reservations, closed clubhouses, masks on when driving with someone outside the household, no gatherings after tee times, golf is as safe as it gets,” he said.