Reopening plans fail to help families
Ontario families have been hacking it alone for nine weeks now. Nine weeks is a long f---ing time. So, as I waited for Doug Ford to unveil Ontario’s plan for the first stage of reopening during the pandemic, I was hopeful for a plan that would help support the needs of young families. My hopes were quickly dashed, though, when Ontario announced it will be opening golf courses and marinas starting Tuesday but remains tightlipped on plans for child care, school and expanding bubbles.
As a mother of three young children, I was certain the next step for reopening would be a “double-bubble” of sorts in order to provide some relief for families like mine, who have parents struggling to work while simultaneously educating, cooking, cleaning, refereeing and entertaining to keep our children safe and secure WITHOUT OUR VILLAGES. Yet here we are, nine weeks later, opening marinas and golf courses first.
Why? Because opening golf courses and marinas benefits the economy, while allowing families to join together and quarantine with one other family does not.
What this plan fails to consider, though, is the need for human interaction for those who do not play golf or own boats, those who are not the privileged few, primarily middle-aged men. My first thought when Ford announced this: Maybe I should take my kids to a golf course to run around since the open grassy space at our local park is still closed.
Nine weeks ago, when we were told that we needed to physically distance, we complied; there were empirically based fears surrounding the novel coronavirus. We were told that, in order to protect our aging parents and grandparents, we needed to keep our distance; we were told to distance from all other families; we were directed to isolate.
Nine weeks later, our kids have been out of schools and daycares for far longer than the 14-day quarantine period, yet our government still advocates extreme single-family isolation when, theoretically, this shouldn’t be necessary.
Using the logic that if two family units have both been isolated for 14 days, it follows that they could combine safely into a “double-bubble” of sorts. But our government has not addressed this at all.
In fact, when explicitly asked by a reporter about “doubling-bubbles,” health minister Christine Elliot shirked the question by explaining that they are “studying it.” I’m not a health expert, or a politician, but I’m pretty sure that golf courses, marinas and domestic workers haven’t been “studied” either.
Even though we are struggling greatly, my family is more fortunate than many during this extended quarantine. While my six-year-old son seems OK most days and is happy to watch Netflix and FaceTime grandparents, he’s starting the crack — with ailments like tummy aches that reflect the emotions he’s not yet able to express.
This separation has been more difficult for my almost four-year-old daughter. She’s a social being and with all of the changes in her life — no school, no friends, no birthday parties — she wants nothing more than to hug her Bubby. She cries every night at bedtime because she can’t. And then after she goes to bed, I cry because she is suffering.
It breaks my heart that instead of advocating for “double-bubbles,” the restrictions Ontario has elected to ease benefit the economy and privilege the already privileged — those who can afford to golf, have boats and hire housekeepers, while offering no support or benefit to families with young children who have not had a moment to breathe in over two months.
We count on our politicians and experts to serve our interests, but what seems to be happening is that the interests of families are not adequately represented in the decision-making, only in the fear-mongering.
Moreover, our very own premier is not leading by example, having doubled his own bubble by having two of his daughters, who do not live with him, over at his home for Mother’s Day. Was this his way of telling us that we should just quietly break the rules?
It is time for Ontario to step up with a more transparent reopening plan that is not only economically beneficial and viable, but one that also meets the needs of families, because we are struggling and we have had enough.