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Regions should loosen COVID-19 restrictions on their own timelines: poll

May 20, 2020 | 2:01 AM

OTTAWA — As provinces take their cautious first steps to allow people back into local businesses, most Canadians say they disagree that province-wide measures are the way to reopen the economy.

The latest poll on the COVID-19 pandemic by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies suggests only 35 per cent of people think restrictions should be loosened for entire provinces.

In contrast, 47 per cent think those decisions should apply to specific regions within each province, while 18 per cent say reopening measures should apply to all of Canada at once.

Still, just over half of those polled say they trust provinces to make the call about what businesses should reopen and when, whereas about one-third say that should be up to Ottawa and 14 per cent said local governments should decide.

The pollsters surveyed 1,513 Canadians recruited from an online panel between May 15 and May 17.

As for how comfortable Canadians are with the current speed at which provinces and territories are lifting public health restrictions, 60 per cent say they should keep doing what they’re doing, while 27 per cent would like to see them pull on the reins and 13 per cent want them to move faster.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2020.

The Canadian Press