Quebec’s ‘risky bet’ could be a liability

As one who is actively playing his own role in helping to ensure that provincewide COVID-19 mitigation measures are successful, I am gravely concerned about Quebec moving ahead with an economic reopening plan which stands in stark contrast to the more cautious and responsible approach being taken in Ontario. Quebec’s approach has been characterized as a “risky bet” by Quebec’s own top public health official, Horacio Arruda. Ottawa-Gatineau is, in many regards, an integrated community. As mitigation actions in Quebec are scaled back and more Quebecers become likely to contract the virus, it is safe to assume that the daily flow of traffic from Gatineau to Ottawa will bring greater risk of transmission rates in Ottawa. This may be especially true for Ottawa’s medical community, which is accessed by thousands of Gatineau residents every year. In short, Quebec’s

“risky bet” could become our liability.

If Ontario cannot convince Quebec to carve out Gatineau from the planned reopening measures, then the City of Ottawa, province and possibly federal officials must consider some type of restriction on the cross-border movement of Quebec residents into Ontario. These restrictions should stay in place until such time that: 1) it can be demonstrated that the changes implemented in Quebec have not resulted in higher COVID-19 case numbers in Gatineau and other areas close to Ottawa; or 2), Ontario is sufficiently advanced in terms of its own reopening that the two provinces are essentially moving in lock-step. The objective should be to ensure that the hard-won gains we have made in getting the virus under control in our city and province do not inadvertently become the casualty of an overly aggressive economic stimulus plan in our neighbouring province.

Baxter MacDonald, Greely