Member of the National Assembly of Quebec André Fortin sees some flaws in the way the province is undergoing its deconfinement plan for COVID-19, as well as the lack of statistics provided at the regional level.

Police have been unable to provide . . .

regional statistics on the number of people put in self-isolation in Pontiac or the number of tickets issued in the region for failure to abide by measures. Quebec has decided to limit COVID-19 statistics at a regional level and even for the ones that are taken, it is difficult to acquire them, according to Fortin.

“The government should be more transparent, more straight-forward, more honest and more precise in the way that it is transmitting this information,” said Fortin. “I think, in a situation of this magnitude, where you need the public to buy into the measures that are being asked of them, providing more precise information is always the way to go.”

Fortin said this decision is a hot topic in the province, particularly in long-term care facilities, who are epicentres for COVID-19 deaths, but are not reporting the exact number of cases they have.

“In terms of resource allocations, where to send volunteers and where to send health care professionals: the numbers that [the government] is basing this on are simply not reflected, in terms of what’s happening in the long-term care facilities across the province,” said Fortin. “That is quite worrisome.”

According to Fortin, tension emerged when Quebec, the province worst affected by the virus, decided to reopen its elementary schools the beginning of May, but now, an increasing number of people are choosing to send their children back to school.

“We’ll have to see, in the coming weeks, what impact it has on public health, but from a logistical standpoint, it seems to be working,” he said.

However, Fortin also said the reopening of these schools is creating a significant challenge for day camps, which are required to have more monitors and less children, causing many of them to close for the summer because they could not find enough personnel.

Quebec’s deconfinement plan for COVID-19 is split into phases, which began on April 15.

Since then, the province saw the reopenings, either partial or full, in the construction and infrastructure sectors (April 20 and May 11), mining, landscaping and manufacturing(April 15, May 11 and May 25) as well as individual outdoor sports and activities (May 20) and personal care services (June 1), museums, libraries (both May 29) and retail (May 4).

According to Fortin, some sectors in Ontario and Quebec are reopening at different times, creating “unhealthy” competition between them.

Since many people often travel between the neighbouring provinces for work and leisure purposes, Fortin said he wanted to see some collaboration between Ontario and Quebec.

“It would have been nice if the government of Quebec and the government of Ontario would have been able to coordinate some of the measures in the region,” said Fortin. “In the scenario where our government still needs to limit travel, it is maybe an unintended consequence, but an avoidable situation if the government had consulted with our neighbouring province to reopen on a similar schedule.”

Dog groomers are examples of such businesses. According to Fortin, since they were allowed to open in Ontario before Quebec, many Quebecers went to Ontario to have that service.

As for the construction and manufacturing sectors, Fortin said one of the most important parts of deconfinement is ensuring regulations for workers to return to safe working conditions. He said most companies and industries in the Pontiac follow those regulations.

“That’s part of the reason why there has not been a significant outbreak here in the region,” he said.

Despite the easing of regulations, Fortin said people must still avoid throwing caution to the wind.

“We’re still at a stage where the government needs to take every precaution possible, even in a region like ours where there have been less cases,” he said. “That can be frustrating for a lot of people who want to get back to normalcy, but we’re still in a place where 60, 70, 80 Quebecers are dying on a daily basis.”

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