OH, THE PLACES WE CANNOT GO
FROM BANFF TO THE ALGONQUIN HIGHLANDS, CASA LOMA TO GREEN GABLES, CANADIANA IS ALL CLOSED, BUT SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL TRYING TO GO VISIT THE BEAUTY SPOTS.
Tourism is a liability in a pandemic, and has mostly stopped, but not entirely.
Places that drew crowds were the first to close, and will be the last to open, but not without some friction along the way.
From Banff to the Algonquin Highlands, Casa Loma to Green Gables, Canadiana is all closed, boarded up and roped off on threat of fines for violating an emergency order. Most hotels closed after revenue fell 90 per cent and occupancy dropped to single digits. But at Canada’s beauty spots, some people are still trying to go and take that picture.
This was evident in Toronto, where police on Thursday set up barriers and had marked vehicles with lights flashing at the perimeter of High Park, a large forested area, in west central Toronto. They were trying to stop people from going to look at the cherry blossoms, rather than watch a livestream online as the city suggests.
“Maintaining proper physical distancing will not be possible as thousands of people visit the park annually to view the cherry blossom trees. Park reopening dates will be announced when the bloom period concludes. Blooms are weather-dependent,” the city said in its announcement of the closure.
Icebergs, like cherry blossoms, are such a tourist draw to Newfoundland in the spring they had to close the whole province after realizing people were taking the ferry from Cape Breton unchallenged. Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the chief medical officer of health, announced Wednesday that the new measures will take effect Monday.
Only people whose primary place of residence is in the province, asymptomatic workers in key sectors and people in extenuating circumstances who are pre-approved by her office will be allowed to enter. Incidentally, an example of those circumstances was the imminent death of a loved one, not a desire to watch icebergs pass by.
The situation is similar across the country, in the places they put on postcards. The Rocky Mountaineer has delayed departures until at least July and has been offering credit.
Toronto’s Victoria Day fireworks at Ashbridge’s Bay, which draws crowds onto the eastern beaches, are cancelled.
In Prince Edward Island, Cavendish, about 40 kilometres northwest of Charlottetown, transforms from a sleepy seaside village of just 300 residents into a resort area every summer with thousands of tourists trying to connect with the red sand and shining waters described in the popular novel Anne of Green Gables.
Today, however, the province is closed to nonresidents, even seasonal cottage owners, under an order that was easier to enforce than in other provinces because you can only get to P.E.I. by air, ferry, or the Confederation Bridge.
“Come the middle of September it becomes a ghost town, so it’s going to be really strange to have that ghosttown feeling in the middle of June,” said Dan James, a longtime resident and the owner of Kindred Spirits Inn and Cottages in Cavendish.
James says he is in favour of P.E.I.’S plans to keep its borders closed, even though it is hurting his business.
Not only is it good for the health and safety of Islanders, but it sustains P.E.I.’S reputation as a pristine sanctuary.
“We have a number of guests from New York City, for instance, who are emailing us saying, ‘I will do anything to come up there right now. P.E.I. is my safe place,”’ James said. “It’s just reinforcing the brand that we’re safe, that we have such a low rate of infection.”