When you hear the church bells at noon on Sunday, beginning on April 5, please take a moment and keep the front line workers in your thoughts or prayers. There will be 20 bells, in this unforgettable year of 2020, rung for the Lord our God, the 6 churches in the Village, the 10 provinces and 3 territories.
Clapping, singing O’Canada, or horn honking that accompanies the bell ringing – any and all recognition for the work being done on our behalf is encouraged.
I have been asked many times in the past couple of weeks “who is the government going to help? when is that help available? and how does one apply.?”
The Government of Canada has posted this page. It details the support available to individuals, businesses and industry and is well laid out. If you need some additional help, you should find a “Virtual Assistant” box on the right side of the page. If not, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will locate it there. I tested it out and it was very helpful..
I haven’t found a similar help page for the Ontario government, however they have posted the Stopping Spread COVID-19 page. There is important information on that page including a help telephone number 1-877-202-0008
The Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, provides that the Head of Council may declare an emergency in the municipality and to take such action and make such orders as he or she considers necessary to implement the emergency plan and to protect property and the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the emergency area. Generally, emergencies are declared during a significant event like an ice storm, train derailment or other disaster when the ability to provide services from local resources fails to meet the demand.The Declaration is often linked to accessing funding from the provincial government.
In consultation with staff, particularly the Village of Westport Community Emergency Management Coordinator & CAO Mr Paul Snider, I have done daily risk assessments for the Village of Westport in relation to COVID-19.To date, the community members have been 99% compliant with all of the orders made by the Provincial Government after declaring its emergency.
In the past few days, there has been a noticeable change in thenumber of people who do not live in the village or surrounding township, now spending time in Westport and shopping in our stores.Every, I repeat every government and public health authority are stating in bold language that the only way for us to avoid having the number of infected people and deaths as other countries is to remain at home.
With a view to the next few weeks and the measures that we might need to take in the Village to keep that safety net in place, I declared an Emergency at 4:10 p.m.today.I want to be proactive and the declaration of an emergency gives me real time decision making authority.As both other orders of government have stated, everything is on the table to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the protection of property and the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Village of Westport.
Robin, The Mayor 
You must be logged in to post a comment.