Sudbury mayor wants checkpoints to curb travel

The mayor of Sudbury, Ont., is calling for highway checkpoints that would discourage non-essential travel to northern Ontario. Mayor Brian Bigger says he plans to reach out to the provincial government and other local leaders about a proposed “northern bubble” to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the region, where case rates are lower. He says he wants to see a plan that will “stop or stymie traffic” up Highway 69, a major highway connecting northern and southern Ontario. Bigger says there’s a need to insulate his city as more infectious variants of COVID-19 are detected in southern parts of the province. He says the idea of travel checkpoints isn’t unreasonable, pointing to a similar initiative in Quebec last fall meant to discourage non-essential travel.