Move would apply to residential travel, amid concerns cottagers from Manitoba will flock to Lake of the Woods area over Easter weekend.

KENORA – The mayor of Kenora is asking the province to close the border between Ontario and Manitoba to all residential travel.

Daniel Reynard, who called it a priority issue, says the move would apply in both directions, but would not affect commercial transportation. He’s hopeful for a resolution before the upcoming holiday weekend.

“Right now the concern here, and it’s been expressed here by all the different levels of our health professions, but we do not have the capacity to provide service to an expanded population within our community,” Reynard said in an interview with Northwest Newsweek.

“We’re imploring people, stay home, don’t travel. We welcome you back once this is all over. You’re a huge part of our community. But right now, we need our Manitoba residents and summer residents to stay home. You cannot come into Kenora. It just puts too much pressure on our health-care system, and it increases the odds of bringing the virus into our community.”

Thousands of tourists from Manitoba visit the Kenora and the Lake of the Woods area each summer, the city located about 200 kilometres east of Winnipeg.

According to the 2011 census, at the time there were 814 seasonal dwellings within the city and 7,756 within the Kenora District that were not occupied by regular residents. It translated to slightly more than 22,000 seasonal residents.

“It’s just prudent and wise for everyone to protect ourselves and protect our families,” Renyard said.

The mayor said the two provinces are dealing with the situation at the provincial level.

“This is something municipalities can lobby for, they can request, but it really needs to come at the provincial relationship,” he said.

“I think this is an issue that’s not unique to Kenora. I think it’s an issue that Premier (Doug) Ford identified in the Muskoka area, where a lot of people from Toronto traditionally travel to their camps and cottages there.”