Leamington Mayor Responds To Leamington And Kingsville Remaining In Stage 1

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Leamington Mayor MacDonald released the following statement Wednesday afternoon.

Today, the province announced that parts of Windsor-Essex would advance to Stage 2 in their reopening plan. Unfortunately, Leamington and Kingsville remain in Stage 1 of the plan.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement. However, as case counts continue to rise due to outbreaks among workplaces in the agri-food sector, I understand why the decision was made.

Daily, local mobile teams comprised of staff from local hospitals, Ontario Health West Region, Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network, emergency medical services, and interpreters are being deployed to farms in Leamington and Kingsville for COVID-19 testing and to complete regular health check assessments for positive and symptomatic agri-food workers.

Although we greatly appreciate the province’s assistance in our agri-food sector, our small business community continues to suffer significant financial hardship.

Local business owners are hurting and we share in that frustration, and fear that remaining in Stage 1 any longer will be catastrophic and cause irreparable financial harm. For that reason, I implore the provincial and federal governments to take immediate action and provide a special financial relief package to the struggling businesses in Leamington and Kingsville. Immediate assistance is necessary before there is a crippling economic impact to our communities.

To the residents of Leamington and Kingsville, we are in this together. There is still much more work to do, and I want to assure you that we will not stop until our communities are both safe and thriving.

I strongly encourage Premier Ford to return my phone call so that I can help him understand the needs of our communities.