The restrictions went into effect Monday, restricting Manitoba and Quebec from entering Ontario only for material reasons.
KENORA, Ont. – The decision to limit travel between provinces is an attempt to prevent Western Canada’s COVID-19 variants from entering Ontario, says Greg Rickford, MPP of the Kenora-Rainy River, although hoping it won’t take long and there may soon be a return to a regional approach to reopening.
“What has become remarkable about the stage, the wave we are in right now, are the variants, especially the British and Brazilian variants that come from western Canada,” Rickford said during a virtual media conference on Monday.
“I hope this won’t take long, but we’ll have to see these numbers decline.”
Restrictions on non-essential travel between the provinces went into effect on Monday. The new measures were introduced by the Ford government last Friday along with a two-week extension to the statewide stay-at-home ordinance.
Ontario has reported record numbers on a daily basis for the past few days, with 4,447 cases reported on Monday. Hospital stays are also at record levels: 2,202 people were admitted to intensive care units with COVID-19 and 755.
The majority of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario are the result of a worrying variation.
Rickford said the inter-provincial travel restrictions are about reducing mobility as worrying variants are rapidly spreading in parts of western Canada.
“It applies to cottagers,” he said. “There are tight exclusions. This is primarily a home stay order. The OPP has the option of enforcing this for non-essential trips. There may be people here who can return to Manitoba unhindered. “
The Ontario Provincial Police have established checkpoints at entry points along the Manitoba border that are monitored around the clock.
According to Const. Jason Canfield with the Kenora OPP have passed the border near Kenora between 150 and 175 vehicles since the restrictions came into effect and only one has been turned away.
Allowable reasons for crossing the border include medical appointments, work, transporting goods, traveling across Ontario to another destination, and indigenous peoples exercising contractual rights.
Traffic from Ontario to Manitoba will not stop and Ontario residents returning to the province will be allowed to enter.
“If people came to Ontario for their primary residence, we wouldn’t stop them,” Canfield said. “We don’t stop people from going out.”
All personal vehicles will be stopped so officers can speak to inmates to ensure they are driving into the province for a material reason while transport vehicles are allowed to pass unhindered.
Canfield said staying home orders reduced traffic in regional towns and cities and staffing checkpoints did not deter human resources from other police activities.
“We always hope people make the right decision not to travel when they don’t have to, especially when ordering from home in Ontario,” Canfield said.
“There are penalties that we could impose. But education will always be our first point of attack. We are not out to incriminate people, but if it is necessary or we think the training is not working, we could impose a fine. “
Businesses in northwest Ontario have been hard hit due to COVID-19 restrictions, and Rickford said the government will continue to provide assistance through the Northern Ontario recovery program.
“We continue what we did. It continues to be a significant relief, ”he said. “We have doubled the small business support program. It works very well. People get parts of their taxes, energy bills, and resources to pay for the PPE. To be able to do it a second time while we stare at his third wave. “
Rickford added that the province is still at risk and he is confident that the number of people who continue to pursue public health measures will continue to fall and that easing of restrictions could mean that.
“There are signals that this will be an effective way of tackling the spread of COVID and its variants, and I hope we can move to a regional model in the next few weeks, particularly with schools as ours change Improve numbers. ” he said.
