Mayor is preparing for the next three months to provide stability and certainty to the public.

News 100 redBy Staff

March 30th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

Mayor Meed Ward explains how council will continue to guide and direct the administration as the city settles in for what is going to be a long haul.

Mayor Meed Ward

Burlington Mayor, Marianne Meed Ward

We continue to find ourselves in unprecedented times with our lives changing daily, and at times hourly. We now know that the COVID-19 pandemic won’t be over as soon as we expected.

We’ve heard from the Province, guided by the Medical Officer of Health, that gathering together in schools and other places will not be possible by April 6 as we had hoped, with no definitive timeline following that. We are also expecting another announcement from the Province related to schools in the coming days.

We have also heard from Canada’s deputy chief public health officer that this situation will last “many
months.”

The City of Burlington and your Mayor and Council are committed to seeing us all through this health crisis. To do that successfully, we must turn our mind to being prepared beyond hour-to-hour and day-to-day to a longer time horizon.

The City of Burlington regularly plans in quarters — that’s our rhythm, that’s what we do, including
Council’s four-year strategic work-plan, Vision to Focus (V2F).

It is prudent then for us to prepare for the next three months and continue our planning in three-month cycles, and important for us to provide stability and certainty to the public.

In practical terms, there are decisions that must be made now for activities months ahead, including activities that affect many of our community partners and city operations. We need a plan for what the next three months will look like in our community, and we are going to do that.

We will plan for the best, and prepare for the worst, and be ready to respond no matter what may come.

We also know we’re not going to be back to full operations the day our State of Emergency is lifted. It won’t be business as usual the first day we’re back, so part of our three-month plan will include ramping back up to full operations.

Our plan will also be agile and include flexibility to return to full operations sooner, should the situation warrant.

Stand By says the city motto - for how long one might ask?

Stand By says the city motto – for how long one might ask?

The duration of the crisis depends on all of us. Everyone in our community has a role to play in this. The more of us that stay home (except for essential trips or outdoor walks/jogs/cycling); keep a 2-metre (6- foot) distance from anyone not in our immediate household when we are out; stop congregating in groups in public places; and follow all the advice of our expert medical professionals, the sooner we will see this situation resolved.

When it’s done, we will mark the occasion with a community celebration that brings us all back together!

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2 comments to Mayor is preparing for the next three months to provide stability and certainty to the public.

  • Maria P

    I agree with the mayor’s comment except for the fact that, although we will keep a distance of 2 to 3 meters between each other when going for a walk, the virus is able to survive for up to 4 hours in the exact same air where someone was contaminated with the COVID 19, therefore, better not to go for walks where there are people passing us by.

  • “Our plan will also be agile and include flexibility to return to full operations sooner, should the situation warrant.”

    The City must pay close attention to our Province and Ottawa in terms of whether the situation warrants it or not. The city needs to plan on immediately responding to Provincial and Canadian decision making regardless of what it is and whether the city agrees or not. Doug Ford clearly set the standard at his Press Conference today. Media tried to draw him into the Carbon Tax decision of the feds to go with a 50% increase April 1st, he refused to play their game and instead said we are all Team Canada right now battling COVID-19 – no politics.