May 4, 2020

WILL FORD OPEN COTTAGE FLOOD GATES THIS WEEK?

MUSKOKA — “There’s only so long you can hold back taxpayers from going to their cottages.”

Memo to Doug Ford: They’re already here.

But the premier — who said today he’s in talks with Muskoka mayors about opening the flood gates for May 24 — still believes they shouldn’t be.

He said, so far, they’ve “made the right decision” to discourage cottagers from self-isolating at their second home.

And this week — “Wednesday or Thursday” — he’s going to have another “heart-to-heart” with the mayors who want the seasonal residents, while also trying to protect the permanent population.

Local politicians are already planning a Victoria weekend re-opening strategy if they can’t hold them back.

A double-edged sword for a dependent local economy the next four months.

One that alarms many Muskokans who have survived the wrath of COVID-19 relatively unscathed.

Ford says he may have “good news” this week on that front.

For who?

A hint: He claimed most of the taxpayers in Muskoka are seasonal.

With unreliable health unit numbers to count on, a lot is riding on this next critical piece of news.

Contractors and tourist operators, restaurants and the unemployed are watching closely.

And while garden centres are allowed to sell plants, landscapers can dig out shovels and mc-mansion plans are on hold, bars and big resorts fear the worst.

So far, the early seasonal influx has affected only food supplies and not hospital services.

But as, Ford says, social distancing is essential.

That’s not always the case — locally or otherwise.

Warm weather on the weekend saw more people resisting the stay-at-home social orders.

The parking lot at the Torrance Barrens was full and careless bikers were raising hell as usual racing on streets with thunderous motorcycles that defy acceptable decibel levels.

Ford’s heart-to-heart is becoming an annual seasonal rite of passage since his election.

This time last year he responded by writing off flood concerns with cheques to assist water-logged municipalities and residents; and set up a flood task force that hasn’t been heard from since.

What price penance?

We’ll see this week.