Marathon is pushing to go back to the Red colour zone, and not to be included in the lockdown for the Thunder Bay District, which includes the north shore community.
Mayor Rick Dumas tells us he’s written to the Premier, as well as Thunder Bay’s medical officer of health Janet DeMille concerning the fact there are no COVID-19 cases in that area.
“I know it’s a tough call for the doctor to make, but the reality is with the geographical size of the district, we should be able to do that with guidance from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit and working with our hospitals,” says the Mayor.
He adds they have cleared recent cases that were in a mining community. “With our previous incidents at Barrick and Valard, it was all about communication. I feel this time around, the province is communicating with the health unit, but the health unit is not specifically communicating with the municipalities. I believe we should be talking with the medical officer of health.”
The Marathon Mayor points out a community his size cannot financially handle a lockdown compared to larger areas.
“When you live in a small industry town, the city is different, you have diversity. We don’t… so when you start losing businesses, they’re gone, gone forever,” says Dumas.
Our newsroom asked Janet Demille about this, and she pointed to the provincial government. “Unfortunately, the way the legislation is written, that puts us in the grey/lockdown zone that applies to the entirety of the health unit.”
Rick Dumas says he’d like to have this lifted after March 15th, to allow for due process. He’s written to not only Janet DeMille, but also Premier Doug Ford, and communicated with MPP Michael Gravelle. He’s also spoken to many other mayors in the region.
