By Staff
November 25th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward is asking the people of Burlington to stay within the Region of Halton during the lockdown period that applies to people in Peel and Toronto.
There may well be people in Peel and Toronto who will want to come to Halton municipalities to shop.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
I have received many recent requests from residents to take action on people travelling from lockdown areas into Burlington to patronize our shops and services.
In these challenging times, I stand with other mayors across Ontario, including in the Region of Halton, Mayor Rick Bonnette of Halton Hills, in asking residents to stay in their own communities for the time being.
In October 2020, Burlington MPP Jane McKenna and I issued a statement asking residents to stay in their communities and that message is still relevant today.
Your local businesses need you now, more than ever. Consider shopping online, curbside pickup and purchasing gift cards to give those businesses hope and support heading into the new year.
The City of Burlington has no jurisdiction to prevent travel between regions. We do recognize that some people will need to travel for essential reasons, such as work, school, or medical or other appointments. We are asking everyone to limit non-essential trips outside your local region.
We do know some businesses have already taken voluntary steps to reduce visits between regions. Some gyms, for example, have suspended membership travel privileges; some restaurants have asked for identification and will only seat members of the same household together.
We thank them for these voluntary, preventative measures that are aimed not only at doing their part to limit the spread of COVID-19 across regions, but also to protect their own staff and other customers.
We encourage people to check with your intended destination by phone or through their website before visiting so that you are well-informed of their health precautions and protocols ahead of time.
We know many of our residents who work in front-line retail or other services, often at minimum wage, are concerned about their own health and safety with an influx of potential customers from lockdown areas with much higher rates of COVID-19 infection and spread. We understand these concerns and ask everyone to consider these workers and their families before travelling to regions outside their own.
We continue to ask our Burlington residents to limit your own trips to essential outings only and to limit contact with anyone you don’t live with. To individuals in our city living alone, we echo the Province’s message of choosing one household to be in contact with.
We need to slow the spread of COVID-19 and can do this together by staying home and staying local.
