TORONTO -- Mayor John Tory says the city will provide details on Wednesday about how people will be able to access the Toronto islands this summer.
“We just got a plan. It was restricted before by the ferry boats not being able to carry full capacity. We’ll have something more to say about that tomorrow morning,” Tory told CP24 during an episode of The Mayor Tuesday night.
Toronto Island Park has not been closed during the pandemic, but ferry service to the islands has been closed to the general public due to Transport Canada orders limiting the number of passengers allowed on ferries due to COID-19. Island residents have been able to commute back and forth to the mainland using a small ferry, with restrictions in place.
On Monday, Tory said the restriction limiting ferry capacity to 50 per cent “is a very big constraining factor” when it comes to reopening transportation to the islands to the public.
“If you can imagine when we have lineups when the fairies are operating at full capacity, what lineups you might have when they are restricted by federal regulation to half capacity,” Tory told reporters during a news conference Monday.
He said the islands present a “complicated set of circumstances” but added that the city has been working towards some sort of partial reopening, “recognizing that it’s a very sought after a place for a lot of people to be during the summer months and we think we can fashion a plan to take account of all different restrictions.”
City staff said they have been working on ways to reopen some amenities on the islands, such as public washrooms, that support wider use of the park.
