New Lockdown Measures coming on Tuesday

Premier Ford is threatening tougher measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19--up to and including overnight curfews. At a press conference on Friday he cited increasing numbers and concerning modelling projections.“The shutdown won’t end at the end of January, and we will have to look at more extreme measures,” he said. “We are in a crisis. It is scary.” This past Saturday, the Quebec government began instituting curfews for residents from 8 pm to 5am. Approximately one hundred and fifty $1,550 fines were issued by Quebec Provincial Police Saturday night. Montreal cops gave out 84 tickets including 17 citations to protestors in front of the Mount-Royal metro station. Protesters were also ticketed in Quebec City and Sherbrooke. Premier Ford reported that his team worked all weekend to develop new measures. The additional restrictions will be discussed in cabinet Monday night and introduced on Tuesday. According to senior government sources, curfews will probably not be part of the new package, but we can expect tightened restrictions on those businesses still allowed to operate. Big box stores will probably be in this category, although they most likely will still be permitted to sell groceries.