The inter-web was a buzz “Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson filming in Milton.” Many wondered “but what about COVID?”, people everywhere provided feedback on the stringent isolation, testing (every two days), and co-horting the film’s cast and crew were under-going, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
But we saw the crowds, like in this video on 680 news which was originally on Kevin Harts Instagram, where he referred to Milton Ontario as "Milton, Toronto" and we wondered, what measures and precautions are in place for the crowds of people who flocked downtown to watch and glimpse the stars? Who approves filming in Milton? After all the town’s website states; “The Town of Milton’s priority is the health and safety of our community and staff. As the global pandemic continues, Milton remains in a State of Emergency.”
Filming requests in Milton go to the Engineering Department for approval. The application is a single page (available at www.milton.ca),
however the filming policy is five pages and there are requirements around insurance, parking, logistics, various locations and “The Film Company must provide Engineering Services signatures of approval of at least 80 percent of residents in the area identified by staff, prior to
filming:
to allow filming on roads in residential areas on more than one occasion per calendar year;
to allow filming to proceed before 7 a.m. or after 11 p.m., or any time on Sundays or statutory holidays;
to allow overnight parking of production vehicles;
to allow equipment, including lighting and generators, to be oriented toward neighbouring residences;
to allow for a road closure In all cases, a letter must be distributed by the filming company to all residents/businesses who will be affected by
the filming or by the parking of filming-related vehicles during the production. The letter must contain telephone numbers for the filming company.”
What is noticeably absent is any reference to precautions surrounding COVID-19. So Acton UP reached out to engineering and talked with Heide
Schlegel, Manager of Traffic. She confirmed that Milton does not have a policy specific to filming and COVID. “The company must follow all provincial guidelines” she said. “In this case the company had their own protocols, a COVID-19 staff person, everyone quarantined prior to
filming and testing was done every other day.” As for by-standers Milton has “no control over people watching but By-Law and Halton Regional Police Service were on site the entire time.” While she didn’t go to see any of the filming herself, she said other staff reported people seemed to be wearing masks and onlookers were reminded to social distance by police. Also of interest, Schlegel pointed out that the application does not list or require the names of personalities in the film, so determining draw is unpredictable at best.
But is this practice working? As of November 16, all of Halton Region moved in to the red, or control level, response framework. Of this,
Milton.ca states “Additionally, Dr. Meghani, Halton Region's Medical Officer of Health recommends the following as enhanced measures to keep our community healthy:
Stay home, except for essential purposes such as going to work or school, buying essentials such as groceries, and attending medical
appointments
Maintain a physical distance of two metres (six feet) from those outside their household. Those that live alone may join one designated
household.
Avoid all social gatherings such as play dates, birthday parties, and dinner parties with friends or family”
We contacted media relations at Halton Region and asked, “Are there any cases of COVID-19 that are linked to the filming of ‘The Man From
Toronto’ in Milton in November? “ Julia Le, Communications Specialist at Halton Region responded, “Public Health is not aware of any COVID-19 cases linked to the filming of ‘The Man From Toronto.’
At the time of publishing this article (Dec 6, 2020, 7:30am), Milton in-spite of having the 3rd largest population in Halton region is the highest
among the region’s four municipalities for COVID-19 active cases with 336. In contrast, Oakville, Halton’s largest municipality, is 2nd with 250. Burlington, Halton Region’s 2nd largest municipality by population is 3rd with 174. Halton Region’s smallest municipality by population, Halton
Hills, is 4th with 67 active cases.
RETRACTION: We have changed the term ‘keyboard warriors’ formerly in first paragraph to ‘people’ as we feel it may add opinion to what was not meant to be an opinion piece. We apologize for any misunderstanding.
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