Hang on to your face masks until fall: Toronto city council votes to extend bylaw

Francine Kopun
Thestar.ca
June 10, 2021

Toronto city bylaws requiring people to wear masks in public and keep a six-foot distance from others will be extended to October, council voted Wednesday.

Council also voted to extend the amendments to Toronto’s municipal code that require bars and restaurants serving food and drink to screen staff for COVID-19, limit the number of patrons, including the number of people at each table, and to continue maintaining customer logs.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s medical officer of health, will review the bylaws on a monthly basis and make changes as needed, council decided.

On a motion by Coun. Joe Cressy (Ward 10 Spadina-Fort York), council also agreed to urge the Ontario government to prioritize and increase vaccine supplies for the second dose of COVID-19 in hot spot communities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area and across Ontario.

So far, 72 per cent of Toronto residents have received a first dose and 11 per cent have received a second dose.

While COVID-19 infection numbers are in decline provincially and in Toronto, there is concern that the new, more contagious Delta variant, first identified in India, could stall that progress or turn it back.

City council also voted to crack down on the illegal use of fireworks, which has increased dramatically during the pandemic. With city fireworks cancelled due to COVID, more people are electing to set off their own fireworks on city parks and streets, and even off condo balconies, according to councillors.

“It’s happening every weekend – it seems like it’s a thing now,” said Coun. Frances Nunziata (Ward 5 York-South Weston).

Coun. Mark Grimes (Ward 6 Etobicoke-Lakeshore) said his office received 400 e-mails from residents complaining about illegal fireworks over the May 24 long weekend.

Carleton Grant, executive director of municipal licensing and standards, told councillors there were 144 complaints of illegal fireworks called into the city’s 311 service that weekend.

Grant called the number “significant,” adding that policing the problem is difficult, as there are 1,500 parks in the city, drawing bigger crowds than ever.