Flooding

The COVID-19 pandemic has added a "level of complexity" to the response to yearly flooding in parts of the province, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said — though ministers promised the government will be ready.

The government has started working with Ottawa, municipalities and First Nations on evacuation plans that will put less strain on local budgets than usual, Premier Doug Ford said. Cities and towns have been devastated financially by the pandemic.

First Nations have expressed a "strong preference" to stay in their lands as long as possible due to the outbreak, Jones said at the government's press conference Saturday afternoon. She promised to work with them and the federal government to make that happen.

"Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our emergency management personnel and partners, we will be able to safely evacuate Northern communities and provide for their needs until they can safely return home," Jones said. "We continue to monitor flood risks and we are assessing all necessary actions to maintain the safety and wellbeing of communities. We will be ready to proceed with evacuations should the need arise."

Provincial projections show a moderate-to-high risk of flooding for northern Ontario and the James and Hudson Bay coasts, Natural Resources Minister John Yakabuski said. As of April 30, surveillance flights have begun across the Far North to monitor ice breakups, he said.

There is also a risk of shoreline flooding from snow melt in southern Ontario along the Great Lakes, Yakabuski said.

The NDP said the government has moved too slowly to deal with flooding in Northern Ontario.

Indigenous affairs critic Sol Mamakwa noted that many in Kashechewan First Nation have already moved to traditional camps, but others are still waiting on aid.

“Northern municipalities, like Cochrane, Hearst, Kapuskasing, Sudbury, Thunder Bay or Timmins, have welcomed evacuees for years. But this year, [the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre] and the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs sat on their hands for over a month and did nothing. Then, they turned to the municipalities at the eleventh hour, in some cases without even informing local authorities," Mushkegowuk—James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin said in a release

The NDP also pointed out that the Ford government cut conservation authorities' flood budgets by 50 per cent last year.

Protesters

As the "yahoos" returned to protest in front of Queen's Park this weekend, Premier Doug Ford said he empathizes, but again asked them to stop.

“First of all, I understand, people are hurting out there and people want to get back to work,” he said. "But what they're doing is putting their lives in jeopardy, as far as I'm concerned."

Ford said he wouldn't ask police or bylaw officers to intervene.

"We can't direct the police," he said. "I have confidence in the police. They know what needs to be done on any circumstance."

Ford said he took particular offense to some protesters flying the Canadian flag upside down — a symbol of distress for cases of "extreme danger to life," according to federal guidelines.

“That’s the utmost disrespect to the men and women that are overseas fighting for our freedoms,” he said.

Northern and rural concerns

Ford said it was "totally unfair" that drivers in Northern Ontario are paying more for gas than those in Toronto, promising that Energy Minister Greg Rickford is "all over this."

Baytoday.ca reports that prices in Thunder Bay hit 96 cents per litre on Saturday, while prices in the GTA have been in the 70s. Ford promised to get to the bottom of the discrepancy.

“Are the gas companies just trying to gouge people? We’re going to get an explanation off the gas companies for this, because it's unacceptable," he said.

Though fire bans went into effect earlier this month, Indigenous people can get an exception for sacred fires, Yakabuski said. He directed those wishing to light a sacred fire to reach out to their local district offices to get a permit.

“Our offices are aware that those requests could be coming,” he said.

Yakabuski added that all hunting seasons are opening as scheduled, though he stressed that hunters must still abide by distancing guidelines and off-limits areas decided by municipalities

Federal gun ban

Ford launched into a tirade when asked about the federal government's plan to ban many types of assault weapons and initiate buybacks in the wake of Canada's worst-ever mass shooting.

"The only way to truly tackle gun violence" is to crack down on illegal imports of guns from the United States, he said, adding that the money Ottawa plans to use to buy back guns from legal owners should instead be used to target illegal guns.

"I've made it my mission as premier to target the thugs and the low-lifes that are out there terrorizing innocent people," he said.

Ford also called for harsher sentences and bail conditions for people arrested and sentenced for gun violence.

“We need to throw the book at these gangsters out there terrorizing our streets," he said, advocating for lawmakers to "throw the key away with these people if they get caught with guns.”

SEIU death

Another personal support worker has died from COVID-19 — the third in the last three weeks — her union said.

SIEU Healthcare, who is not releasing the worker's name, said she worked at Downsview Long Term Care in North York.

Union president Sharleen Stewart had strong words for the Ford government in the wake of the death.

"SEIU Healthcare has been saying from day one that not enough was being done to protect healthcare workers, but the provincial government and their executive partners running long-term care corporations refuse to listen to the concerns from our heroes on the frontline of this crisis, especially about the lack of PPE," she said in a statement.

Ford has said in previous appearances that any facility in need of protective equipment will have it within 24 hours of making a request to the government.

Dr. David Williams, the province's chief medical officer of health, said the death was "unfortunate," and that it's under investigation by Toronto Public Health.

"We will need to be informed by the full investigation to understand all the factors that might have been involved in that," he said.

Flooding season, Queen’s Park protesters and the federal gun ban: Your Saturday roundup

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