Free provincial park visits on Canada Day; free fishing July 4-19

Outside of Kingston, no new cases were reported by public health units in eastern Ontario.

Taylor Blewett
Jul 01, 2020  •  July 1, 2020  •  2 minute read
A "Covid-19" sign stands at the entrance of a retail store in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, June 12, 2020. Canada's largest province is moving to the next phase of reopening its economy after months of Covid-19 restrictions, but its financial capital is being excluded. Photographer: David Kawai/Bloomberg ORG XMIT: 775523121
A "Covid-19" sign stands at the entrance of a retail store in Ottawa, on Friday, June 12, 2020. Photo by David Kawai /Bloomberg

The Ontario government is making it free to visit any provincial park on Canada Day as a thank-you, said the premier to Ontarians for following public health advice designed to stem the spread of COVID-19.

To prevent overcrowding, park capacity will be limited “so I do encourage you to arrive early,” said 

Jeff Yurek, minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Park visitors should also continue to practise physical distancing, and wear a mask when that isn’t possible.

The province is also allowing free fishing in Ontario from July 4 to 19 – no need to purchase a licence or carry an Outdoors Card.

With jurisdictions across the province contemplating or implementing mandatory mask policies, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked Tuesday about making this a provincewide edict.

“Each region has the authority to make their own rules, and a province this size – I encourage it,” said Ford. “Toronto and Peel is different than Kenora-Rainy River. It’s apples and oranges.”

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He confirmed that a provincial mask order isn’t going to happen at this point.

Meanwhile, the province is discussing how it could move forward into Stage 3 of Ontario’s reopening framework, including whether it could be done region-by-region, Health Minister Christine Elliott said Tuesday. According to the framework, Stage 3 would entail “reopening most remaining workplaces and community spaces, while carefully and gradually lifting restrictions,” excluding those on large public gatherings.

“Things have been going quite well in Stage 2,” said Elliott. “But we’re only several weeks into it, we still need the data from about another week to really understand if there’s cause for concerns.”

Ontario reported 157 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths Tuesday.

That’s down from 257 new cases recorded the previous day, a spike attributed to outbreaks on a farm in Windsor-Essex, and from a Kingston nail salon. There are currently 213 Ontario patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including 42 in ICU and 34 on ventilators. All three figures have declined in the last day.

Across the province, 55 long-term care homes continue to battle outbreaks of the virus. There remain 184 active cases among LTC residents and 318 among staff.

The province also announced Tuesday that Ontario courts will gradually restart in-person proceedings beginning Monday, July 6.

Anyone visiting a courthouse will have to wear a face covering and undergo screening for COVID-19 symptoms, while Plexiglas barriers will be erected in different areas of the courthouse.

The goal is to have all courtrooms across the province reopen by Nov. 1.