PREMIER TAKES FIRST STEPS TOWARD REOPENING ECONOMY

Students unlikely to be back in class until September as Ford cautions that province has ‘a long way to go’ Golf courses, marinas and other businesses get the green light to open as Ontario eases restrictions

Ontario’s long journey back to normal begins Tuesday.

That’s when Premier Doug Ford — with the blessing of health officials — will begin the slow and methodical reopening of the province’s pandemicstricken economy.

As governments across Canada and around the world wrestle with finding the right time and right way to reopen in the wake of COVID-19, Ford made no apologies Thursday for his cautious approach.

“We have a long way to go,” the premier emphasized as he unveiled the first stage of Ontario’s road map and timetable.

While Ontario students are provisionally set to be back in class on June 1 — one day before the current state of emergency is scheduled to expire — it appears increasingly unlikely that schools will reopen until September. An official announcement is expected next week.

But marinas, golf courses and kennels will open up again on Saturday.

Starting Tuesday, retailers with separate street entrances can reopen, so long as they limit the number of customers inside to one person per four square metres to ensure physical distancing of two metres at all times.

Curbside pickup will continue to be encouraged. All indoor shopping malls will remain closed, but strip mall shops with outdoor entrances can open.

In clothing stores, only fitting rooms with doors — not curtains — can be used, with only every second one being used to allow for cleaning after each customer and to ensure physical distancing.

Ford’s move came the same day as Mayor John Tory announced that 10 kilometres of major roads will be closed to car traffic on a trial basis this weekend, including a six-kilometre stretch of Lake Shore Boulevard West between Windermere Avenue and Stadium Road, and Bayview Avenue between Mill Street and Rosedale Valley Road, to allow more safe distancing for cyclists and pedestrians.

Also Tuesday, construction workers will be allowed back at all sites across Ontario.

Pet groomers can start addressing the province’s many shaggy dog stories, but Ford said it is too soon to allow hairdressers, barbers and manicurists to resume their work.

“Look at my hair. I look like a sheepdog right now — dog grooming, I should go there, get a little clip myself,” he said. “But we have to make sure safety comes first, especially in those close quarters. We’re going to have to hold off on that for a little while.”

Car, truck, motorcycle and boat dealers can also rev up again, as can media businesses, such as film and TV post-production, animation studios and music recording. But filming or other on-site activities that require performers and workers to gather in groups will not be permitted.

Scheduled surgeries at public and private health facilities that had been delayed or cancelled due to COVID-19 can resume.

Pools will remain closed, but outdoor activities like tennis and horse riding will be allowed, as will indoor golf ranges and rod and gun clubs.

Restaurants, which have been restricted to selling takeout meals, wine, beer and spirits, will have to wait, however.

“I know it’s an area that people want, especially restaurant owners, to open up. But again, we’re going to have to get the approval of the chief medical officer and the health team before we move forward into opening up restaurants,” said Ford, hinting that the prohibition limiting gatherings to five people could soon be lifted.

“Just hang in there just a little bit longer and we’ll get through it,” he said, adding Ontario is getting back to work “thanks to our collective efforts” over the past 58 days under a state of emergency, which has forced the closure of tens of thousands of businesses. “Businesses should open only if they are ready. All of this is dependent on the numbers,” he said.

If COVID-19 cases flare up, the reopening will have to slow or even be reversed. “We must watch the trends like a hawk,” Ford said. “We need to stay vigilant.”

Finance Minister Rod Phillips cautioned that Tuesday marks just the start of the first stage of a three-phase reopening that could take months. “Turning on the economy is not as simple as flicking on a switch,” he said.

The first stage will last two to four weeks, meaning additional

“No one wants to see Ontario take one step forward and two steps back.”

ANDREA HORWATH NDP LEADER

openings may not come until the middle of June. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath acknowledged that “everyone is eager to start easing restrictions,” but said the government needs to dramatically ramp up testing and contact tracing.

“No one wants to see Ontario take one step forward and two steps back. We don’t want to see more people getting sick, and freshly reopened businesses having to close again,” said Horwath.

As Ontario prepares to restart its economy, a new academic study makes sweeping recommendations on dealing with the fallout of COVID-19. A 21-page report by the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy urges the government to think big and act boldly as it moves toward economic recovery.

Munk School academics Drew Fagan, Sean Speer, and Ian T.D. Thomson are reiterating Nobel laureate Paul Romer’s famous 2004 maxim that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”

They propose wide-ranging policy changes, such as eliminating provincial property taxes and replacing them with a standardized business education tax rate across the province; amalgamating the Toronto Transit Commission with other GTA transit operators for a more seamless system; reforming social assistance programs; and rethinking which level of government delivers which services.