Mixed messages as Ontario, Quebec prepare to unveil tentative plans á to reopen

OTTAWA—Residents of Canada’s two largest provinces are expected to learn this week what the path to a new normal might look like when the governments of Ontario and Quebec unveil their initial plans for reopening their locked-down economies.

Sunday saw warnings about raising unrealistic expectations as public-health officials across the country reported more than 1,200 new cases of COVID-19 and at least 95 additional deaths.

There was nonetheless a palpable sense of expectation as Sunday marked a rare day in which federal and provincial leaders remained largely out of the spotlight ahead of what is likely to be a significant week for the country.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is planning early in the week to unveil a framework for reopening the province’s economy, which has been shuttered since mid March because of COVID-19.

Quebec Premier François Legault is also expected to reveal his own timeline for reopening his province.

The two provinces, which have the most COVID-19 cases in Canada, will be the latest to lay out some details for easing their own lockdowns after Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick announced tentative timelines for a return to some semblance of normal last week.

Ford, who on Saturday criticized demonstrators outside the Ontario legislature as “yahoos” for disobeying physicaldistancing laws and calling for an immediate end to the lockdown, has previously said any reopening will be done in stages to prevent a resurgence of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who talked to the premiers on Friday about their recovery strategies, has previously stressed that none of the plans hinge on people being immune to catching COVID-19 twice.

David Fisman, an expert on infectious diseases at the University of Toronto, said the proper approach should be compared to using a dimmer switch instead of a light switch that only turns on and off.

“We can’t just flick distancing on and off,” Fisman said in a Twitter thread on Sunday. “But economically and psychologically, we have to figure out what we can restart and what we can’t.”

Fisman added businesses and services that don’t require large gatherings could be reopened safely, if they follow the same rules used by essential businesses.

Federal opposition parties were similarly looking toward the future on Sunday.

During a news conference in Ottawa, Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre demanded the government obtain enough protective equipment to help provinces reopen their economies.