Ontario’s lockdown guidelines are a confusing mess

On Thursday at 12:01 a.m., Ontario’s stay-at-home order came into effect across the province. Well before that, Ontarians were taking to social media to wonder aloud in a frustrated chorus: What, precisely, do the rules mean? Doing his best folksy and avuncular bit, Premier Doug Ford repeated that the message was clear: Stay home. Except when you feel that it is essential not to, naturally. Ford delivered a bungled message that amounted to ordering that one should not leave their home — except to do things, buy stuff and see people. There are 29 exceptions to the order. Even police services — who are, rather unwisely, tasked with enforcing the arbitrary boundaries of the order — were at a loss. As the Toronto Star reported, police spokesperson Joe Couto admitted: “There’s way more questions than we have answers at this time.” Later, the province clarified that police cannot stop people at random to check compliance with the order. But the police retain broad discretion in enforcing the rules.-- More...