CALEB NICKERSON
PONTIAC Jan. 13, 2021
The provincial government has implemented an overnight curfew to go along with its extension of lockdown conditions for another four weeks, until Feb. 8.
The previous lockdown was set to run out on Jan. 11, but Premier François Legault announced in a Jan. 6 press conference that stricter measures were needed province-wide as Quebec is in a “race against time,” a race that he said had been a losing affair over the past several weeks.
Among the measures included in the month-long lockdown are the following: . . .
- a curfew beginning at 8 p.m. and ending at 5 a.m., though there are numerous exemptions for people travelling to work, school, a medical appointment or visiting a sick relative, and people walking their dogs within 1 km of their home. Fines for breaking the curfew will range from $1,000 to $6,000.
- all non-essential workplaces and business must remain closed, although curbside pickup will now be allowed. Grocery stores and dépanneurs will have to close by 7:30 p.m., but pharmacies and gas stations will be permitted to stay open after 8 p.m.
- daycares are remaining open, and elementary schools opened as planned on Jan. 11, with one added rule being that students in grades five and six will have to wear a mask.
- high schools will continue to stay closed, but only until Jan. 18 when students will return and be given two government-provided three-layer disposable medical masks each day.
- both indoor and outdoor gatherings with people outside of one household bubble are not allowed.
- places of worship were forced to close, with the exception of funeral services, which will be allowed with up to 10 people
Over the first weekend of the lockdown, MRC des Collines police reported only one ticket issued for breaking curfew, out of 147 verification stops carried out across the entire territory. A breakdown by municipality was not available at the time of print. The Sûreté du Québec did not release regional data in time for print.
In an interview on Jan. 8, MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller said that she heard about the changes in advance, through both the media and a meeting with the council of wardens and CAQ Minister for the Outaouais Mathieu Lacombe.
“I know that there were many MRCs where trying to ask to be exempted, but there are those in Pontiac that wish we were [exempted],” she said. “But I realized that this decision was based on one thing, that our hospitals and health care workers are at a breaking point and that the numbers were surging so much that something new needed to be [implemented]. Because it’s province-wide there was no local consultation. The premier took an extra day to consult but that was with public security.”
She said that while she sympathized with those upset by the changes, specifically the curfew, she noted that they were not based on case numbers.
“You know, the Pontiac has been a sterling example of a region that has followed the rules, diligently worn their masks, kept their distance, avoided gatherings. We’ve done a great job and it’s also been easier for us because we’re a smaller population on a vast territory,” she said. “But in the cities where the numbers have really escalated, obviously the fact that they need to keep people in their homes after eight o’clock, until five in the morning, that’s who the curfew was targeted at. I just ask that people be patient and understand that, you know, in the end none of us want to live with COVID forever and I think our only chance of getting control of it is to have a drastic measure like this.”
Toller said that the resolution that the MRC Pontiac council of mayors passed at their last meeting on Dec. 16, which expressed disappointment with the region being changed from an orange to red zone over the holidays.
“I think our resolution, that [Shawville Mayor] Sandra Murray moved about surprise and disappointment about being changed from orange to red, it certainly has been registered with Le CAQ, I’ve heard from them about that,” she said. “I think that had its merit, I think we needed to say that, but in this case it wouldn’t have mattered if we were even green right now, we still would have been put under the same restrictions. So this decision by the premier wasn’t based on numbers, it wasn’t based on zone colours, there’s 89 MRCs and we’re all in this together.”
THE EQUITY reached out to Pontiac MNA André Fortin for comment, but he did not respond in time for print.
