Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown calls for the closure of Amazon and big box stores to stop spread of COVID
Published April 5, 2021 at 9:37 pm
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown believes Peel Region schools should remain open, but now says large warehouses like Amazon and big box stores should be closed to stop the spread of COVID-19.
After months of maintaining that large warehouses and box stores are essential services, Brown now believes their continued operation is the reason why the virus cannot be contained.
He says it may cause some inconvenience, but it is time to shut down these businesses.
“If you want numbers to go down and you are closing everything except those places that are actually in outbreak, you’re not going to get numbers down,” said Brown. “If you want to get numbers down you shut down these essential workplaces. Sure it will be tough for a few weeks…you may be short a few key supplies, but you would see the numbers go down dramatically. I feel this tinkering around the edges doesn’t work.”
The mayor says Brampton and the rest of Peel Region have been in lockdown since November but there is little to show for it as the number of COVID cases continue to rise.
“Are the numbers going down? No!” he said. “Why? Because we are leaving open the places that are actually in outbreak.”
Videos
For the past several months Brown and Peel health officials defended the ongoing operation of large warehouses and box stores as necessary services not only for the goods they deliver, but for the jobs they provide. The talking points Brampton and Peel officials have relied on instead included the need for more workplace inspections and as well as demanding paid sick leave for workers in these sectors while these businesses continue to operate.
A report earlier this year released by Peel Public Health related that one-quarter of residents diagnosed with COVID-19 went to work even though they are sick.
Today, responding to the news that schools in Peel Region will be closed starting tomorrow, Mayor Brown was very direct about how he feels in a message sent out via Twitter: “Don’t close elementary schools. Vaccinate educators. Close Amazon. Close Food Processing Plants. Close Busy Big Box Stores. Close Crowded Factories. And if our supply chain can’t handle it then vaccinate essential workers. Same old approach isn’t working.”
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising