PANDEMIC ROADBLOCKS
Ontario-quebec border to close
The Legault government has responded to Ontario's decision to close its border Monday by doing the same thing in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 between the provinces.
And Premier François Legault has pledged to fully co-operate with the government of Ontario and Premier Doug Ford “to ensure the safety of our citizens.”
“The variants know no borders,” Legault tweeted late Friday following Ford's announcement earlier in the afternoon. “We are all working to break their third wave.”
His tweet was accompanied by one issued by Quebec Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault announcing Quebec is also closing its border with Ontario.
“As of Monday we will close our border with Ontario and put in place tight controls over movements,” Guilbault said. “We are in discussions with the government of Ontario to determine the modalities. We must limit the spread of variants. It's a question of safety.”
Quebec's response followed a news conference by Ford on Friday announcing new restrictions in Ontario where the number of virus cases is soaring.
Starting Monday, travel between the two provinces will be restricted with checkpoints to monitor movements, Ford announced. Exceptions will be made for people travelling for work, medical care or the movement of goods.
The restrictions also apply to Ontario's western neighbour, Manitoba.
Ontario's announcement followed another day of grim numbers. Setting another pandemic record, the province reported 4,812 new cases. There were 25 more deaths.
“We're losing the battle between the variants and vaccines,” Ford said at a news conference.
Quebec reported 1,527 new cases and seven more deaths.
Legault and Guilbault's team were closely monitoring Ford's announcement. Legault and Ford have close ties but did not speak to one another on Friday, officials said.
Reaction in Quebec was swift. The Quebec business community welcomed the fact the measures will not paralyze the economies of the two provinces.
“Our economic concerns have been addressed,” Karl Blackburn, head of the Conseil du patronat du Québec employers lobby group, said in a statement. “Even though the closure of the border with Quebec is bad news in itself, there is continued mobility of workers and the transport of goods.”
Mayors of cities close to the Ontario border said they were happy, too.
Claire Bolduc, prefect of the Témiscamingue regional county municipality, welcomed Ford's announcement, which comes one day after Quebec health officials announced a ban on inter-regional travel to and from Abitibi-témiscamingue.
“In the current context, we're very happy with Premier Ford's announcement because it's completely coherent with the decisions that have been made in Quebec recently,” Bolduc said.
In making the announcement, Ford said he is already getting offers of support to handle the crisis from other premiers in Canada.
Earlier, the Parti Québécois opposition called on the Quebec government to tighten the border on its own given the increasing numbers. “We can't do anything about our geographic proximity to Ontario, but we can act on the traffic,” PQ health critic Joël Arseneau said in a statement.
The PQ'S appeal follows a similar demand by Montreal public health director Mylène Drouin.