It's pretty frustrating how ad hoc everything is. Just today the federal and provincial authorities strongly discouraged Canadians from making international travel plans, but unless these have the force of law behind them, it's going to be really hard to have so many people cancel their plans and get any level of refund. (Maybe if this had been the advice two or three weeks ago, it would have actually helped!) In our case, we had been a bit on the fence about going to Montreal, and then the rail blockades from a few weeks back put the kibosh on that. So we didn't book anything and now don't have to worry about cancelling. But I'm still a bit scandalized that they are not heavily screening people at airports (this has to change starting this week!) and only starting to think about closing down the border to high-risk travellers.
I'm definitely concerned about the knock-on impacts on the economy, as a lot of restaurants will go under (and for that matter perhaps some theatre companies if they are ultimately forced to cancel the rest of the season). As far as I know, the movie I want to see tomorrow (Knives Out at the Paradise) and then a play at Village Players are still going ahead. However, I'm quite sure that the next couple of weeks of Hamilton and Come From Away shows will be cancelled,* and it is anyone's guess how they will deal with rescheduling and refunding tickets. I'm really hoping the virus transmission slows down by the summer and the number of new cases drops, so most of the concert tours then can go ahead, but I'm not too hopeful at this point.
* TSO has cancelled performances in the next two weeks and is playing it by ear after that (and the same with Royal Conservatory of Music), but I think most of the April concerts will end up cancelled. In one case, I have a replacement concert for an earlier concert that was cancelled due to the musician's personal health crisis! Most of my remaining TSO tickets are in May and June, so I may be able to go. The Angela Hewitt concert at the end of April is probably off, though I would assume this will be rescheduled in its entirety. Again, very hard to say. This inconvenience is a small thing in the big picture, but the overall drag on the economy will not be a small thing unfortunately.
What I was not expecting is that the AGO is completely closed starting today** until April 5 (when the kids are supposedly returning to school). MOCA is also closing. It's a bit hard for me to see them ever having 250 people in the building at any one time (aside from their grand opening), so I do question that decision (them wanting to be just as impacted as the major cultural institutions in town...). It's hard to tell, but I believe The Power Plant at Harbourfront is still open, at least through the weekend, so perhaps I shall make the trip out, since I will need to retrieve some things from work in order to telecommute next week. I do know that the Hart House Museum will be open, at least through the weekend, so I might hit that too. Life is definitely going to be a challenge in the next few weeks and months, particularly for people like me that are not home bodies...
Update: I shouldn't be surprised, but I am disappointed that the Toronto libraries are closing (though for the moment the UT libraries are open) and the pool and all other recreation centres (so just what do they expect the kids to be doing!). I would have liked to get in at least one more swim session. I hope that they go ahead and handle the maintenance that they were going to do right after spring break, so at least that is taken care of. I think the Eaton Centre remains open, though it can only be a matter of time before it is closed down. I think the gym at Gerrard Square is open (for now), and I guess I will take a look tonight after I get home.
** I wish the announcement had been clearer. The AGO is closing as of 9 pm tonight, so I could have made one last quick trip on my way home. Grrr. Oh well. I do hope we can ride this out and the restrictions start getting lifted in late April. No question the authorities are in a no-win situation. If hardly anyone gets sick (due to the restrictions), then people will say they over-reacted. But if a lot more people get sick and die (which is still the likely scenario), then they will ask why they didn't take action sooner. I guess I will swing by the gym tonight to see how they plan on reacting over the next few weeks...
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