Feds will step in with unified measures if provinces hesitate
Ontario to open select child-care centres for front-line workers
OTTAWA — Canada needs a more unified approach in the fight against COVID-19 and the feds “will not hesitate” to step in with stronger measures if provinces can’t make it happen, the health minister said Sunday.
With messages varying across the country about the best way to limit the spread of the virus, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the federal and provincial governments are looking at ways to standardize public health advice across the country.
“Should we not be able to get consensus, that would indicate to us that we need stronger measures,” Hajdu said at a briefing Sunday.
In Ontario, for example, the provincial police said it would intervene if people were found flouting a ban on gatherings of 50 people or more. Meanwhile Nova Scotia, the latest province to declare a state of emergency, has barred any more than five people from being together.
Hajdu said the best way to make sure there is a uniform approach across the country is for the provinces to collaborate. But if that fails the federal government will step in.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure that as we go into the next week we have a much
more unified approach across the country,” she said.
For now, the federal government is strongly urging people returning from travel to self isolate, but is not enforcing it. She hopes Canadians are willing to comply voluntarily.
Some child care centres will stay open to care for the children of health-care workers and first responders, the Ontario government said Sunday, a move the province said will help workers focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced the new policy less than a week after all child-care centres in the province were ordered to close when the government declared a state of emergency.
He said centres could provide up to 50,000 spaces by the end of the week, but will be required to follow existing health and safety requirements when it comes to COVID-19.
The centres will also be required to limit the number of children they care for at one time, he added.
“This is an important step to enable our front-line workers to focus exclusively on saving lives and preventing the spread of COVID-19,” Lecce said.
The decision comes as Ontario Public Health reported 50 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total in the province to 425.
The provincial total includes eight resolved cases and five deaths.
Two new deaths were announced on Sunday — a Toronto man in his 70s and a woman from York region who was also in her 70s.
The federal government does have the power to invoke the Emergencies Act, which would give it extraordinary powers to limit the civil liberties of Canadians.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is not at that point yet.
“The federal Emergencies Act is a significant step that can and should be taken when we’ve exhausted all other steps,” Trudeau said at a news conference Sunday.
Canada has confirmed more than 1,400 cases of COVID-19 across the country including 20 deaths.