State of emergency under review for UCPR

Gregg Chamberlain
A review of the state of emergency for the Prescott-Russell region could be a sure sign of hope that the pandemic situation is improving for the area.

Pierre Leroux, current warden for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR), confirmed during the August 12 committee of the whole teleconference, that he and UCPR staff have been talking with their counterparts for the United Counties of Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry (UCSDG) and the City of Cornwall regarding the existing states of emergency for public health in the Five Counties and Cornwall areas of Eastern Ontario.

Réexamen de l'état d'urgence des CUPR

“We will have a joint announcement in the near future,” Leroux said, “putting an end to our states of emergency.”

Leroux indicated that all three local governments can re-declare their states of emergency if a second wave situation for COVID-19 warrants doing so. He also noted that changes to the provincial legislation dealing with states of emergency also provides some flexibility for local governments in dealing with any future potential crisis.

“Some of the (emergency) powers will remain in place,” he said, “even when the province itself has ended the state of emergency.”

Any local municipal governments within the Prescott-Russell region that declared public health states of emergency during the pandemic will have to review their own situation and decide whether or not to lift their emergency state orders.

The City of Clarence-Rockland, the Nation Municipality, and the Municipality of Casselman issued their own public health states of emergency soon after the UCPR did so.

Mayor Guy Desjardins confirmed during a phone interview that Clarence-Rockland cancel its state of emergency when the UCPR does.

Mayor François St-Amour of The Nation and Mayor Daniel Lafleur of Casselman also indicated during phone interviews that when the UCPR ends its state of emergency, their municipalities would also do so.