TORONTO – The Ontario Prime Minister lifted restrictions on Saturday that banned playgrounds and allowed police officers to ask anyone who is not at home to explain why they came out after a reaction from police forces, health officials and the public.
Pandemic restrictions imposed by Canada’s most populous province immediately met with opposition, as police departments insisted they would not use new powers to randomly stop pedestrians or drivers, and health experts complained that the rules focus on outdoor activities, rather than more dangerous indoor conditions.
The Prime Minister of Ontario, Doug Ford, announced on Friday that it is giving the police authority to ask anyone who is not at home to explain why they are away and provide their address. Tickets can be written.
But Ontario Attorney General Sylvia Jones said officers on Saturday would no longer have the right to stop any pedestrians or vehicles to ask why they were leaving or to ask for their home address.
But Jones said police can ask a person to provide information to make sure they comply with the restrictions if the officer has reason to suspect the person is attending an organized public event or social gathering.
Earlier, at least a dozen Ontario police forces, including in the capital Toronto, said there would be no random stops of people or cars.
“We are all going through a horrible year of COVID-19 and all associated with it together. (The department) will NOT randomly stop vehicles for no reason during or after the pandemic, ”Halton Police Chief Steve Tanner wrote on Twitter.
Ford’s announcement on Friday limited outdoor gatherings to those in the same household and closed playgrounds and golf courses. The decisions have sparked widespread criticism in an already blocked province. Restaurants and gyms are closed just like the school in the classroom. Most non-essential workers work from home.
On Saturday, Ford lifted the originally announced ban on playgrounds, but added that the ban on “outdoor gatherings will continue to apply,” Ford wrote on Twitter.
Ford complained about crowded parks and playgrounds, but at Friday’s new conference did not mention jobs considered essential, such as factories where the virus spreads.
“What we need: increased restrictions to reduce indoor contact, assistance to key frontline workers, paid sick leave, re-prioritization of the vaccine to affected communities,” Joe Cressy, who is on the city council, wrote on Twitter Toronto.
“What we have: the closure of outdoor facilities that we need to keep people safe and healthy.”
“I have not yet intubated a patient with COVID who became infected because he was in a playground,” Dr. Ian Preyra, who works at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ontario, wrote on Twitter.
“Warehouse worker, truck driver, construction worker … none of my patients with COVID bought this in the park. They are angry and have no voice. Shameful, ”Dr. Aman Sidhu, a lung doctor in Toronto, wrote on Twitter.
Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto, said that closing playgrounds and other outdoor recreation facilities “will harm even children and their families whose well-being we have already damaged by being forced to to close schools ”.
He complained that the new rules do not create paid sick leave or improved protections for essential workers, even if they allow “the police to target anyone they choose to approach to ensure they are properly out of their homes.
“This will not affect a white guy like me. It will target key workers and racial people. THIS is what people say when describing systemic racism,” Morris wrote in a weekly email to followers.
Ontario reported 4,362 new infections on Saturday and recorded 2,065 people in hospital receiving treatment for COVID. He called on other provinces 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 the lack of vaccines made the new restrictions necessary.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that Pfizer will double its vaccine deliveries in Canada next month, with millions more photos than expected, which will arrive in May and June.
Every eligible Canadian is expected to get at least one hit by July.
Ontario just closed schools a few days ago after insisting for weeks that they were safe. ) The new initial order to close the playgrounds angered the parents.
“The cognitive dissonance between the education minister who insists that schools are safe and then closes playgrounds is confusing,” said Jim Vlahos, a 44-year-old father in Toronto.
“There is no rhyme or reason for exterior closures.”
Owen Holliday, a 16-year-old who works at a golf course in Shelburne, Ontario, is now unemployed and said he was very upset, especially for the elderly who exercise through the sport.
“With all the protocols, the prepaid reservation, the closed clubs, the masks if you ride with someone outside the household, without gatherings after tee time, the bay is as safe as can be,” he said.