Premier extends emergency orders to July 22
Too soon to say when province can continue with reopening, Ford says
As Premier Doug Ford moves to give the Progressive Conservative government more permanent powers, he has extended Ontario’s temporary COVID-19 emergency orders until July 22. Ford announced Thursday that he needed to so in order to “support our front-line care providers, protect our most vulnerable, and ensure we can rapidly respond to potential outbreaks or surges” of a virus that has killed more than 2,700 Ontarians since March.
“Our government is getting Ontario back on track and more people back to work, but at the same time taking steps to ensure we don’t undo the tremendous progress we have made together,” the premier said.
But he said it is still too soon to say when the province, which is currently in the second stage of the government’s complicated three-part framework for reopening of the economy, will be able to move forward.
“Hopefully in the very near future, if it gets through the health table, then we’ll roll that out,” said Ford, referring to the “COVID-19 command table” of public health officials guiding his government.
Asked if bars and restaurants, currently restricted to serving dine-in meals and drinks on patios, would be allowed to open indoors or if cinemas could reopen, he could not say.
“Right now, I don’t have a list in front of me to give you exactly what’s opening. But again, I want to make sure that the health table approves it. I don’t want to give you a list and then all of a sudden, the health table doesn’t approve it.”
The province has been in a state of emergency since March 17, which has limited what businesses and public spaces can open. While the emergency declaration had been slated to end next Wednesday, Ford wants that pushed to July 24.
That’s to give the Tories ample time to pass controversial legislation introduced earlier this week that would negate the need to formally declare a state of emergency in order to restrict rights and freedoms.
Ford has downplayed the concerns of civil liberties advocates and political opponents who fear it is a pandemic power play.
“That’s something that is totally misunderstood. We’re doing it to help the people. I don’t want a power grab. I’m just not into big government, I’m just not. But we have to do it,” he said Tuesday.
Under his the new Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, emergency orders — like closing public places, restricting large gatherings, and limiting personal care staff from working in multiple long-term-care homes — could be on the books for years after the state of emergency ends.
Abby Deshman, criminal justice program director at the Canadian Civil Liberties’ Association, warned it is “deeply concerning.”
“This is the government trying to extend emergency powers while leaving the label of an emergency behind,” she said. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she’s worried Ford is giving himself “unlimited power without accountability.”
“The COVID-19 public health crisis has required the use of extraordinary powers under the Emergency Management Act. By design, these powers are time-limited and subject to checks and balances,” Horwath said earlier this week. Former Tory MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-FrontenacKingston), who now sits as an Independent, charged that “this government is addicted to authority.”
“They will not give up the emergency powers, the executive powers, that allow them to operate without accountability, without scrutiny — and they’re going to continue to find cause to extend this emergency for their entire mandate,” he predicted.