Peel Region to order sweeping business closings in rebuke of Ontario’s COVID-19 measures

Theglobeandmail.com
April 20, 2021

Peel Region’s top doctor is ordering sweeping new business closings to combat the third wave of COVID-19, as Premier Doug Ford faces growing pushback over his government’s pandemic plan.

Lawrence Loh, Medical Officer of Health for Peel, will issue a new order on Tuesday to direct all businesses with five or more cases of COVID-19 within the past two weeks to shutter for 10 days, The Globe and Mail has learned.

The closings will be ordered when at least five cases are deemed to have been “reasonably acquired” in the workplace, and will take effect as early as Friday. The names of the businesses will be published on Peel’s website once they’ve been notified. The region includes the cities of Brampton and Mississauga.

The measure, known as a Section 22 order, will allow Peel Public Health to close workplaces while investigations are under way into cases and sources of transmission “without risk of continuing spread.”

Critics have argued that Ontario has left too many businesses open amid continuing workplace outbreaks and more contagious variants. The changes, Peel said, will be in effect as long as the region is under a shutdown or lockdown provincial order.

“We are seeing the highest rates of transmission in our community than we have seen throughout this entire pandemic. Workplaces that remain open continue to be a driver of cases in Peel, as they have been throughout the course of our emergency response,” Dr. Loh said in a statement to The Globe.

Dr. Loh also said that in the absence of provincially legislated paid sick days, Peel Public Health calls on employers to provide paid leave for all employees impacted by COVID-19 or the new safety measures. Businesses such as health care, first responders, critical infrastructure, emergency child care and education will be exempt. Peel Public Health said all affected employees must self-isolate and are not permitted to work in any other workplace.

The changes are modelled after similar measures introduced earlier this month in British Columbia, which allow provincial inspectors to expedite the closing of workplaces with COVID-19 transmission for 10 days or more.

In March, Peel Public Health also ordered Amazon Canada to cancel all shifts at its facility in Brampton after hundreds of workers tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks. Under the new order, Dr. Loh can order closings with far fewer cases.

The Ontario government over the weekend was forced to reverse new lockdown measures in the face of public outcry. Just two days after announcing that playgrounds would be shuttered and police would have extraordinary powers to stop people on the street or in their cars, the government backtracked, although other outdoor recreational amenities remain closed.

Progressive Conservative ministers on Monday blamed a “communications” failure for the weekend chaos, and said they were trying to limit people’s mobility by instituting measures such as shutting down playgrounds.

The opposition NDP called the government’s management of the pandemic “a horror story” and repeated calls for more closings of non-essential businesses and enhanced sick pay for workers. Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca called on Mr. Ford to resign.

Meanwhile, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is pressing the province to reverse its decision to set up checkpoints at land crossings between Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., calling it a nightmare for residents. The province on Monday set up checkpoints with Quebec and Manitoba as a means of slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Mr. Watson said the city has to staff five land and two ferry crossings with 50 to 100 of its own police officers, and said if the province doesn’t change its policy, it should at least pay for the resources.

“This came as a complete surprise to both me and our chief of police. There was no advance consultation. I would have told the Premier that this would be a waste of time, resources and effort,” he said.

Alex Hilkene, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott, said provincial modellers have pointed to limiting mobility into the province as a way to stop the spread of COVID-19, and that Mr. Watson has previously called to limit interprovincial travel.