Ontario cottage owners in popular waterfront communities along Lake Erie have been banned from their seasonal homes by the region’s medical officer of health in a bid to stop COVID-19 spread from Toronto and other cities.
The drastic emergency health order is such a hot potato, however, notice of the order, made April 23, has not yet been published or confirmed to property owners; the mayors of counties the order covers say they’re struggling with it; and a councilor inquired how to fire the chief medical officer.
“Personal property rights are fundamentally what inspired me to run in politics, so am I entirely comfortable with the decision of our medical officer of health? I’m not,” Kristal Chopp, the mayor of Norfolk County, said in an interview.
“I’m struggling with it,” said Ken Hewitt, mayor of neighbouring Haldmand County. “This is not the counties making this decision — it’s the medical officer. It’s not coming from staff, its not coming from the mayors.”
Despite the hesitancy, the two mayors say they accept the authority of Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, medical officer of health for the Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit.
“Every previous decision he’s made has been bang on,” said Chopp.
“His decisions come by the genuine desire to save people’s lives,” said Hewitt. “Yes, they come with economic costs on many levels, but he’s a medical officer that wants to save lives and if his decision just saves one life, then he feels gratified by that decision.
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(5) It’s time to speed up the reopenings (Jack: Damned true! I need a haircut.)
