Ontario has officially entered the early stages of reopening the economy, and it seems more non-essential businesses and services will soon be allowed to open up to the public once again.
Speaking during yesterday's daily press briefing, Toronto Mayor John Tory said staff are working on a plan to reopen the city's off-leash dog parks.
He said that there's been an increase of dogs off leash in regular parks since the designated areas were forced to close in March thanks to both provincial and municipal orders, and he believes the parks can open safely as long as dog owners act responsibly.
I have asked @TOPublicHealth and our parks staff to get a plan ready to reopen our off-leash dog areas. Subject to the advice of our health professionals, I believe this could happen sooner rather than later and I want us to be ready to do that as quickly as possible. pic.twitter.com/KqJ7iX8QoE
— John Tory (@JohnTory) May 12, 2020
Speaking to CP24 this morning, Tory once again said he believes it's a safe time to reopen these parks.
"I think that we can get the City to lift that order because I don't really think it does affect, at this stage of the game, public health. So stay tuned," he said Wednesday morning. "I hope the news will come soon."
Tory added that ultimately, the province will have to give the go-ahead before the parks can reopen.
"I would have to have some concurrence from the province on this because their order intersects with ours and causes these to be closed as well," he said.
Premier Doug Ford said earlier this week that the province will begin stage one of the framework for reopening the economy on Thursday, and several senior sources confirmed to Queen's Park reporter Richard Southern that this will include the reopening of golf courses.
#BKREAKING - Premier Ford will announce the reopening of golf courses at a news conference Thursday, according to several senior sources. Its not clear is the courses will be open in time for the long weekend or not. Courses will have to adhere to social distancing measures. pic.twitter.com/58MtmPy5uR
— Richard Southern (@richard680news) May 13, 2020
Courses have already opened or will soon reopen in all provinces other than Quebec and Nova Scotia, and Ford has previously said that many of his golfing friends have been lobbying hard for them to reopen.
Still, it's unclear when exactly Ontario courses will be able to open up once again, and they'll have to have social distancing measures in place whenever they do.
Ford is expected to make several other opening announcements tomorrow, and he's said the news will pertain to "people getting back to work," "opening workplaces," "getting paycheques out the door" and "slowly getting back to normal."
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