TORONTO, ONTARIO (WBEN/AP) Ontario's premier announced Monday that Canada's most populous province will lift its COVID-19 proof of vaccination requirements in two weeks-- not because of the protests that have blocked the border and paralyzed Ottawa, but because "it is safe to do so."
The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing, meanwhile, was open Monday after protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 measures blocked it for nearly a week, but a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa, persisted as city residents seethed over authorities' inability to reclaim the streets.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that on March 1, the province will drop its requirement that people show proof of vaccination to get into restaurants, gyms and sporting events.
The province will also remove its 50% capacity limit on restaurants on Thursday, four days earlier than planned. Ford gave no timetable for dropping the requirement that people wear masks in public places.
"Let me very clear: We are moving in this direction because it is safe to do so. Today's announcement is not because of what's happening in Ottawa or Windsor but despite it," Ford said.
Ford said he would support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government if it proposed further measures to quell the protests.
"In terms of rolling back the mandates, getting rid of the vaccine passports and increasing capacity limits are things that people have been looking for because the numbers have been coming down," said attorney Jamie Fiegel of Fiegel, Carr and Joyce. "There's a sense of relief for that. But the timing is suspect."
Twice during the news conference, Ford said the change is not happening because of anti-mandate protests in Windsor and Ottawa, "but in spite of it."
Fiegel said it's important to note that these changes in Ontario will have no affect on border measures. "These are all Ontario Provincial measures. The trucker protests are based on federal mandates." She added, "This has no affect on the protesters."
Cross border truckers are under a federal mandate, from Canada and the U.S., to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross the border.
Fiegel expects the protests to continue. "As I was watching Premiere Ford, I was thinking that this was a way for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to pass the buck to Ford, as a way to do something on the provincial level, in hopes of satisfying protesters." Personally, Fiegel does not expect it to satisfy those who have been protesting.
It would take a federal response at the border level for a change of the vaccination mandate for truckers.
Meanwhile, masking requirements will remain in place, in Ontario, and Ford also said businesses may choose to continue to require vaccine certificates if they wish.
