Barrie city council requests for Ontario to lift COVID-19 restrictions on outdoor activities

Barrie city councillors have unanimously voted to request for the Ontario government to “immediately” lift COVID-19 restrictions on outdoor activities, including golf, sports fields, tennis courts and pickleball courts.

The motion was put forward by Barrie Ward 10 Councillor Mike McCann, who said Ontario Premier Doug Ford isn’t listening to his own province’s scientific advisory table when it comes to restrictions on outdoor activities.

“I really believe that Premier Ford is really trying to minimize his risk at the cost to ourselves,” McCann said at Monday’s general committee meeting.

“We look at obesity, we look at weight gain, we look at mental and physical health, and I don’t believe that those have been factored in and we’re only looking at COVID-19.”

Currently, outdoor activities like golf, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts are closed under Ontario’s stay-at-home order.

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However last month, Ontario’s scientific advisory table released a statement that recommended the province to keep playgrounds open and to allow outdoor activities safely.

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Ward 2 Councillor Keenan Aylwin said it’s “absolutely unacceptable” that Barrie residents can’t enjoy outdoor spaces safely.

“That’s against the advice of the provincial advisory table,” Aylwin said. “I think we should be advocating as forcefully as we can to the provincial government for that change.”

At the meeting, McCann requested an amendment to the motion that suggested city staff investigate the feasibility of opening outdoor spaces in Barrie if Ontario doesn’t move forward with doing so.

That was quickly shot down by a city staff member, who said staff would “never” recommend being non-compliant with provincial legislation since it’s overriding.

“We wouldn’t be able to move forward in that way and enforce some provincial legislation and not others without risk to the corporation,” said Dawn McAlpine, Barrie’s general manager of community and corporate services.

The majority of councillors, except McCann, voted against the amendment.

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