On Friday night, Mayor Steve Clarke officially declared a state of emergency in Orillia.
What does it mean? Harsh new regulations? Or is it just symbolic?
Clarke said it’s not symbolic. He also said he hopes it doesn’t get to the extreme levels many U.S. citizens are experiencing; about 70 million people in some of America’s biggest cities have been ordered to stay in their homes.
“I’m truly not traditionally an alarmist and I believe that a significant percentage of the population gets this,” Clarke said of people taking the necessary precautions to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
He estimates 75-90 per cent of Orillia citizens appear to be doing the right things - social distancing, washing hands, sanitizing surfaces, etc. - most of the time.
“But in this situation, that’s not good enough,” said the mayor. “We need everyone to get on board. Everyone.”
He said declaring a state of emergency is not meant to alarm people but, “rather to give those people who don’t get it a jolt. We need to change our behaviour.”
That could mean, although Clarke said he hopes it doesn’t come to this, the city could force the closure of non-essential businesses that “don’t need to be open and shouldn’t be a gathering place.”
He also stressed most businesses that remain open are being proactive and creative to ensure they are obeying public health guidelines.
“My job and our job as council is to protect the citizens of this city,” said Clarke.
The declaration also allows the city to tap into provincial funding. What might that look like?
“Typically, we don’t have the tools of enforcement for societal behaviour,” said the mayor, noting if the city did have to take extraordinary steps - ordering people to stay home, implementing a curfew - there might be resources made available.
He said the goal is to avoid all that. But there is only a small window of opportunity to do so, he noted.
Clarke referenced a comment from Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, who said the next few weeks are “absolutely critical” in the fight against COVID-19. Williams estimates between 300-400,000 people will be returning to Canada from the U.S. during that time.
“We fully plan targeting our messaging to snowbirds in the coming days,” said Clarke, decrying the “egregious and reprehensible” way America has handled the health crisis.
“These people may be returning from a place where they may not have had a full grip on just how dangerous this thing is,” said Clarke.
The declaration of an emergency also changes how municipal decisions are made. In a sense, city council is no longer the decision-making body in Orillia.
“Council, certainly, in normal times are the decision makers,” said Clarke, noting “that does change now. It changes to the emergency control group.”
The emergency control group is led by Orillia Fire Chief Brent Thomas - that’s a delegated authority owing to his position and experience. That group includes the mayor, CAO Gayle Jackson, city department heads, Dr. Charles Gardner (the medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit), Carmine Stumpo (the CEO of Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital) officials from the Orillia OPP, Orillia Power and others as necessary.
That large group will meet at least once a week, by teleconference. They will provide insight, ideas and recommendations.
Ultimately, however, decisions are made by the emergency management committee on behalf of that larger group. That committee is composed of Clarke, Thomas and Jackson.
“The idea is to ensure decisions can be made quickly if necessary,” said the mayor.
He stressed council would be kept in the loop and he vowed to continue to hold council meetings, understanding that it is “a weird dynamic” now.
“I am very proud of council for their unanimous support” of the decision to declare an emergency and to bring in measures to assist Orillia citizens, businesses, and community organizations that are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. (There was no official vote on the declaration of an emergency, but every councillor spoke in support of it).
“It’s more meaningful when everyone is on board,” said the mayor.
Clarke said he and council, along with city staff, have been working tirelessly to “get ahead” of this virus.
“These are strange and difficult times. I’m running out of words to describe it but I don’t believe the world has seen times like this since the world wars,” said Clarke. “I believe we’re out in front of it and I believe the citizens of Orillia have the ability to flatten that curve and reduce the pain and hurt that otherwise might occur.”
Orillia last declared a state of emergency when a train derailed in Orillia in the mid-1980s. At that time, current councillor Ted Emond was the city's mayor.
"As I recall it was in 1986 or 1987 and involved a tank car containing a volatile and dangerous liquid that turned to gas when released into the atmosphere," Emond told OrilliaMatters.
He said the tank car’s outer skin was punctured, while the inner skin was not.
The incident occurred just to the west of Front Street on the rail line through the CN station.
Thankfully, CN was able to right the car without incident. There were no injuries and a plan to evacuate much of south Orillia did not have to be carried out.
"This is a very different kind of issue," Emond said of COVID-19 at Friday's emergency council meeting. "This is an issue that is not only here in our city, county, province and country, but throughout the world."
ABOUT A STATE OF EMERGENCY
The Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act provides the authority for a municipality to declare an emergency.
The Act says: "The head of council of a municipality may declare that an emergency exists in the municipality or in any part thereof and may take such action and make such orders as he or she considers necessary and are not contrary to law to implement the emergency plan of the municipality and to protect property and the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the emergency area."
For more visit their website.
