John Tory says he would approve of a pandemic curfew in Toronto

Talk of a potential curfew for Ontario (similar to what's being considered in Quebec) has been ramping up in recent days as residents wonder: Is this an actual thing we might soon have to deal with?

Premier Doug Ford completely ruled out such a draconian measure when it was suggested to him before the holidays, but reversed course during a briefing on Tuesday when asked about a potential curfew, telling reporters that "everything's on the table."

During a City of Toronto COVID-19 briefing this afternoon, Toronto Mayor John Tory expressed similar sentiments.

When asked if he would be in favour of a curfew to help the city gain some control over its current situation — which, for the record, is pretty grim — Tory said the following:

"Speaking for myself, I have been governed throughout, in all of the different things that we have recommended or urged upon the province, or ourselves, [by] the public health advice that I receive."

"If the medical officer of health and her team or other medical experts said that some kind of restriction on when people could come and go is going to significantly increase our effectiveness in wrestling this virus to the ground, then I wouldn't rule it out," continued the mayor.

There are 65,521 cases of #COVID19 in the city, an increase of 837 new cases today. There are 406 people hospitalized. In total, 56,410 people have recovered. To date, there have been 1,988 #COVID19 deaths in Toronto. Case status data can be found at: https://t.co/lUGMw30gcV.

— City of Toronto (@cityoftoronto) January 6, 2021

Tory did make sure to clarify that a curfew isn't something the city is actively considering.

"As of this moment, there's been more mention of it by people asking media questions that there has been in, I'll call it, official circles," he said.

"But having said that, I wouldn't rule anything out if it was going to be effective, and it was going to be consistent with the best advice we can get from the medical and scientific experts."

Fire Chief and general manager of Toronto's Office of Emergency Management Matthew Pegg also noted that the city had not been given any directives to prepare for a curfew or any additional restrictions yet.

"While I understand that some of those discussions are ongoing at the provincial level, we have not been provided with any information at this point with respect to any additional restrictions," said Pegg.

"As such no active planning has been commenced at this point.