Ford government prepares to extend Ontario’s stay-at-home order until June 2

Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives are setting the table to extend Ontario's pandemic stay-at-home" order for another two weeks, until June 2.

We need to stay the course for right now," Health Minister Christine Elliott said Monday.

Ford declared a state of emergency on April 16, which curbed activities like golf, tennis, and basketball, in a bid to keep people from going out and spreading COVID-19.

While the current emergency declaration is scheduled to expire May 19 - and the number of daily new COVID-19 cases is declining - hospital intensive care units still remain uncomfortably close to capacity.

Last week, MPPs from all parties unanimously endorsed Solicitor General Sylvia Jones's motion that the state of emergency be extended for 28 days, to June 2.

That legislative hurdle clears the way for Ford's cabinet to rubber-stamp an extension of the stay-at-home order as early as this week.

We're looking at things daily. We're going to have to see our numbers come down" said Elliott, pointing to the 2,716 new cases reported from Sunday's testing.

It's still too high. We need to see them go down more before we can change the stay-at-home order," the minister warned.

We are not in the place where we can release the stay-at-home order," she said.

It's a question of time and how quickly those numbers can come down."

As revealed by the Star on Friday, there is much discussion among Tory MPPs about the wisdom of keeping the prohibition on outdoor activities like golf and tennis.

People are losing it," confided one PC member on Sunday, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations.

We're hearing from supporters who say they'd be willing to not golf if they thought it would help, and from others who say, Take us off your donor lists,'" the MPP said.

An unscientific online poll on the Star's website found 82.5 per cent of people who voted said golf courses should be allowed to open because being outdoors is safe."

Just 10.5 per cent of participants said the government shouldn't reopen golf courses before schools and seven per cent said they should remain shut because of the risks of spreading COVID-19.

But previous public-opinion polling has shown strong support for lockdown measures - and the province's science table of expert advisers has urged people to remain home to stop the spread of contagious new variants of the virus.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said it's Ford's fault that we're stuck in this stay at home order."

We still need to do our part," said Horwath, whose party supported Jones's motion last Tuesday to give the government the authority to extend the emergency.

People have been confused and people have not received really clear communication from the government," she said.

The government should have done its part ... with paid sick days for every worker ... and by closing non-essential workplaces."

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1