Article content continued

Checkpoints on bridges into Ottawa were in place Wednesday afternoon. There were no restrictions on people leaving Quebec, only on those entering.

“By limiting entry and exit, public health authorities believe they can further limit and prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the government said in its announcement.

Since Saturday, the government has had internal checkpoints in several locations, aiming to limit non-essential travel. The Outaouais, the region surrounding Gatineau, was added to the list on Monday, along with four other parts of the province.

Asked about Quebec restricting inter-provincial movement Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Quebec has the federal government’s “support and admiration.”

“Quebec has taken some strong measures today. The province of Quebec has our support and admiration for showing real leadership there,” she said at the regular COVID-19 briefing.

Photo by Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia

Health Minister Patty Hajdu, however, was less enthusiastic.

“Different jurisdictions are going to take different measures based on their own epidemiology and their own realities and obviously that is well within their jurisdiction to do that,” Hajdu said.

“While provinces and territories and, indeed, the federal government take a variety of different measures to help prevent close contact of people and increased mobility that we know, in some cases, puts an additional strain on systems, I think the practical steps of really doubling down on some of the recommendations of the World Health Organization are increasingly important and that’s where I as the minister of health have my attention focused on.”