Peel Region’s push to reopen concerns Toronto’s mayor, as COVID-19 shows signs of rebound

Thestar.com
March 1, 2021
David Rider and Celine Gallardo

Toronto is not ready to say when COVID-19 restrictions should loosen, Mayor John Tory said Friday, conceding that he’s concerned about a push by neighbouring Peel municipalities to soon reopen restaurants, hair salons and more.

Tory said he and Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s public health chief, are in “very active discussions” that include local businesses on what should happen March 9 when Premier Doug Ford considers the current stay-at-home order and grey-zone lockdown for Toronto and Peel.

Toronto officials are closely watching a rebound in COVID-19 spread, after a sustained decrease, including rising cases of highly transmissible “variants of concern” that have sent cases soaring and disrupted recoveries in other countries.

They are also watching plans for mass immunizations, which got a shot in the arm Friday with news that Health Canada has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie wants her city to go straight to red-control zone reopening March 9, saying COVID-19 indictators in her city, as well as Brampton and Caledon, show they are ready to safely end the stay-at-home order.

Businesses that can open -- with restrictions -- in red zones include restaurants, bars, hair salons and gyms.

Crombie told CBC Radio’s “Metro Morning” on Friday that Mississauga residents are travelling to other municipalities already in the red zone.

“Oakville is open, Halton is open -- my people are ending up having to go to restaurants in Oakville and we want them to eat at home, we want them to shop local,” Crombie said, adding she has seen no sign that this has spread the virus.

“Mississauga is the third-largest city in Ontario -- we don’t want to be held back if we’re ready.”

Her comments came one day after Peel leaders, including Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and Caledon Mayor Allan Thompson voted unanimously to move the region into the red zone if COVID-19 case counts remain below 100 per 100,000 residents, with acknowledgment that Peel public health chief Dr. Lawrence Loh “makes the decision and recommendation to the province solely.”

Tory, who in past conversations with regional mayors has called for a unified front on restrictions, told reporters after an unrelated Friday morning announcement that Canada’s biggest city is not yet ready to make a recommendation to Ford.

“I am certainly in no position, based on the numbers I see, to say we should go to red or yellow (zone), as much as I wish we could,” Tory said.

“We’re going to base our decisions here on that very careful balancing act that goes on and has gone on throughout the pandemic” -- looking at COVID-19 indicators while considering the “needs and sacrifices” of businesses.

“We’ve begun those discussions as to what we can do safely that is going to, hopefully, allow a degree of reopening to begin, but we have to keep a very close eye on these numbers and make sure that what we’re doing is not setting ourselves up for another lockdown that is going to happen later.”

Asked if he’s concerned about the prospect of more municipalities joining York Region and others near Toronto loosening restrictions, with people moving back and forth and possibly sharing the virus, Tory called the potential impacts of “region-hopping” on infection levels a “relevant consideration.”

Crombie told “Metro Morning” that Mississauga should go to the red zone even if other parts of Peel aren’t ready, and that political leaders will be “very disappointed” if Loh gives counter-advice to the province “and he knows that.”

“I think if the premier is aware that the three mayors of the region of Peel feel that our communities, our cities, are ready, and we think our businesses and our residents have been vigilant driving down the numbers, and hospitals are holding their own, then I hope that to be an encouraging sign, a signal to him that we’re ready to go,” Crombie said.

In an interview, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said limited reopening in Peel and Toronto could lessen risk by reducing traffic to businesses in nearby zones.

“Never have restaurants been busier in Vaughan and Oakville,” with customers travelling from Peel Region, Brown said, adding he’s hearing about the unfair competition from Peel businesses including ski hill operators.

“I think there’s undue strain on other areas of the GTA of residents from Toronto and Peel going to those amenities. And those amenities can only handle so much capacity.”

On Friday, Peel Public Health reported 133 new cases in Brampton, 88 in Mississauga and 15 in Caledon. Brown said he believes indicators are good enough to move Peel to the red zone while being ready to “put the brakes on” if cases spike.

While not committing Toronto to a business reopening, Tory did announce the city is ready to proceed with spring and summer recreation programs and day camps that will trigger the hiring of almost 10,000 seasonal staff, many of them students.

People wishing to be among the roughly 9,000 recreation staff and 900 gardeners and parks workers can join online information sessions starting in March.

The city is accepting applications now at https://jobs.toronto.ca/ for recreation jobs including those at summer camps, and aquatic and lifeguard programs at city outdoor pools and beaches. Applications for gardeners and parks handy-workers will be accepted until March 27.

Janie Romoff, the city manager in charge of the recreation programs, said she has a “huge playbook” on how to keep the programs safe for participants, and will adjust to any changes in restrictions and infection levels.

The city also on Friday opened registrations for a return of an expanded “CafeTO” program allowing restaurants and bars to install patios in curb lanes of some roads, as well as sidewalks and other public space.