York Region urging feds to go further on international travel restrictions

Council is sending Ottawa a message that should travel should be banned from countries with variant strains of COVID-19

Newmarkettoday.ca
Feb. 1, 2021
Alan S. Hale

While the federal government announced today that Canadian airlines are cancelling flights to popular vacation destinations such as the Caribbean and Mexico, York Region is urging further restrictions, including banning international travel from countries with the variant strain of COVID-19.

York Region currently has among the highest concentration of the faster spreading U.K. variant cases in Ontario, and regional council is calling on the Canadian government to take steps to stop more cases from being allowed in the country.

"Given our diverse community and the mobility of the community we have here in York Region, and the fact that we do have a high concentration (of variant cases), gives us merit to ask the federal government to do that," said Markham Regional Councillor Frank Scarpitti, who made the motion at a Jan. 28 meeting.

"I think advice and encouraging the public to do certain things is helpful to a certain extent, but I think when we have something this critical, something this important, it's no more a thing of advice, it's a matter of taking action," he said.

York Region medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji said current quarantine measures are not stopping the new variants from making their way into the region.

"There is no question in my mind, and we have pointed this out on many an occasion, that the quarantine hasn't really worked very well. We have always expected people coming from the U.S., people coming from internationally, to be potentially carrying the virus and not being detected," Kurji told council.

"I know that the province has been working hard with respect to restricting the number of travellers coming in with COVID-19 positivity. But you have seen from the media reports the numbers of folks with COVID positivity landing at Pearson every week. The latest number I heard on the media was about 700 or so. That is not acceptable; that is much too high. The public health system doesn't have the capacity to be able to constantly follow up with folks who are coming in with such high numbers of COVID-19 when it is preventable."

In addition to travel bans and restrictions, York Region councillors called for mandatory testing on arrival at international airports. Vaughan Regional Councillor Linda Jackson noted that Premier Doug Ford has called on the federal government for such a policy to be put in place and argued that York Region should throw its support behind the idea.

Premier Ford announced this afternoon the province is implementing stricter mandatory testing for those coming into Ontario from outside the province.

The mandatory testing order for international travellers will come into effect on Monday at noon at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, and will soon apply to land border crossings between provinces and the U.S. in Ontario.

Whether or not York regional council's call actually helps influence the federal government's travel policies, Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said it is important that the region take a public stand on the issue.

"Motions like this one are just to get on the record. I'm sure the federal government is looking at several different options," he said.

"I do think that sometimes it is important to get on the record ... The measures we are advocating are very much in keeping with the transmission of COVID-19."