Making a statement with scissors: the mayors of Norfolk and Haldimand are getting haircuts to protest their regions being left out of the province’s stage two reopening. pic.twitter.com/HXUEnn5Ypz
— Krista Simpson (@KristaSimpson) June 9, 2020
On Monday, the provincial government laid out plans for areas that could move into the second stage of reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Left off that list was an area in southwestern Ontario, along Lake Erie.
So, in a protest on Tuesday, the Mayors of Halidmand and Norfolk Counties, got a very public haircut.
The mayor in Haldimand, Ken Hewitt, spoke to NEWSTALK1010, and says he doesn't consider himself a hypocrite, because he was never really in favour of the ban in the first place.
But, he was going along with what the Chief Medical Officer in that area was recommending.
That included the stay at home order.
"We did preach the stay at home concept, we believed everybody should stay at home," says Hewitt. "My opinion, the province should be opening up consistently regardless of where you are."
But Premier Ford said in his press conference, that the Mayors can't have it both ways.
"It wasn't longer than 2 or 3 weeks ago, that we had the two Mayors from there shouting and screaming on TV, saying they are going to fine any cottager that comes up," says Premier Doug Ford.
Ford says the reason those areas were left out of the second stage, is that they just had a spike in new cases.
As of June 1st, the rate of transmission of COVID-19 in Haldimand and Norfolk, was 1.58, nearly double the rate of transmission in Toronto.