Re-containment with the implementation of a curfew is considered in Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean as the price to pay to reduce the progression of COVID-19.
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In the region, the population expected it, if one relies on the comments gathered this morning on the parking lot of a grocery store.
“We have seen that the curfew has produced results in other countries,” said one woman in particular. “So, yeah, I’m okay with that!”
Another recalled that a curfew would not significantly change consumer habits, when non-essential businesses have already been closed for several days.
“Me, since March, I only go to the grocery store and the pharmacy …”, he explained. “If it is necessary.”
The Alma Aluminum Workers Union had obtained indications during the day confirming the continuation of operations. Last March, the Prime Minister had to correct the situation after announcing the temporary shutdown of aluminum smelters.
The only consolation for traders is that online commerce and delivery, if not picking, remain possible, an improvement over last spring.
“Any revival of the economy would be difficult if the hospitalization rate remains high,” said the director general of the Saguenay-Le Fjord Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sandra Rossignol. “Yes, there are traders who will not get through it and that worries us.”
At the legal level, even if they contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the government’s decisions remain legitimate because of the pandemic.
“The threat of the pandemic is serious enough to justify the decisions”, thus summarized the lawyer Jean-Marc Fradette. “The important thing is that the rules are clear so that everyone understands them.”
The Saguenay police are waiting for the legal texts before establishing a strategy for the respect of the curfew.
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