ontario parks reopen

Doug Ford says Ontario getting close to reopening parks and curbside retail

With the weather warming up and online delivery taking way too long, everyone wants to know when we can get our retail therapy fix and bask in the spring sunshine.

While he didn't give any definitive answer, Premier Doug Ford hinted on Monday that Ontario might see its parks reopen and retail allow for curbside pickup sooner rather than later.

After announcing that the province was leading the country in daily testing, Ford said during a question period of his press conference that if the province continues down the path it's on now, we just might be getting closer to reopening provincial parks and curbside retail.

Key indicators like hospitalizations and the number of people in intensive care are down, and yesterday Ontario reported its lowest number of new cases in four weeks.

"It gives us the confidence that we’re getting close to opening parks, that we’re getting close to opening retail for curbside pickup," he said.

"It gives us confidence that we’re on the right track."

He said that retailers can start getting ready to reopen "no matter if it’s [in] three weeks, four weeks, two weeks, whenever it is, start prepping, getting masks ready."

Last week Ontario announced that parks across the province would remain closed until at least the end of the month, while a section of non-essential businesses have been permitted to reopen.

Ford previously hinted that the May 24 weekend might be a tentative reopening date before backtracking and saying it wasn't going to happen and that a gradual reopening plan was in progress.

Lead photo by

Hector Vasquez


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