Another Victoria Day weekend under COVID-19, but northern Ontario is 'more prepared' this year

Temagami Mayor Dan O'Mara says when he goes out on the lake, it's easy to spot people breaking the rules, even before the May long weekend.

"Rental camps occupied, people coming for the weekend and staying beyond the 24 hours, and also I saw a few tents on Crown land," says the retired hospital administrator.

But O'Mara says the Temagami area is so "vast" there aren't enough police to properly enforce the provincial stay-at-home order, so he urges out-of-towners to keep to themselves and not cause a coronavirus outbreak, as is the case not far away in Timmins. 

"We can see what can happen in the North. And we just can't let our guard down," he says.

"Respect the lake and the citizens. If this is done, we may get back to a normal summer next year."

Heading into the last May long weekend, there was a lot of tension on Lake Temagami with locals worried about cottagers coming up from southern Ontario, which they were legally allowed to do at the time. 

Kim Krech, president of Temagami Marine, says a year later people are much more used to COVID-19 and she hasn't heard many townies grumbling about the tourists.

"They're better off here than in a condo in Toronto. They're on an island. All by themselves," she says.

"The people coming up here are very respectful of the feelings of the people of the town."

Krech also installed a separate entrance for out-of-towners, so they don't have to interact with any staff at all when launching their boats.

Heading into Victoria Day weekend 2020, Julie Roy at Veilleux Camping and Marina near Hearst was stressed.

Trailer parks hadn't been given the go-ahead to open by the province, but she, like most campgrounds, were charging their tenants the usual summer fees, not knowing how much time they'd be allowed to spend in the trailer.

Then on Thursday afternoon, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said campgrounds could open Saturday as long as they followed newly drawn-up COVID-19 guidelines.

"That weekend was kind of crazy," says Roy, adding it included digging some trailers out of the snow. 

"We had two days to get everything up and ready, COVID-approved."

This year, the rules are clear. People can visit their trailers for a total of 24 hours and are not allowed to visit someone else's site.

"We feel more prepared. We know what to expect more," says Roy, a mother of five. 

"I don't have to play Police COVID. They understand the trouble everybody could be in if for some reason somebody didn't respect the measures."

It's not the same for those who normally park their trailer or pitch a tent on Crown land, which is still forbidden.

Michelle Ouellet of Cochrane is sad to see her RV still sitting in the driveway. 

"Our snow melted early, everyone's itching to get out there and we're not allowed. Again," she says.

Last year, the Crown camping ban wasn't lifted until mid-June, which Ouellet says unfortunately made the short northern Ontario summer even shorter.

She doesn't understand why the province is drawing a distinction between Crown land camping and the often crowded campgrounds that are allowed to open. 

"How is that safe, but I can't go on Crown land?" says Ouellet. 

"It's the only thing I do. I'm stuck inside all winter long, come summer time, it's my time with our family."

Fishing is also a popular way to spend the VIctoria Day long weekend.

Last spring, Greater Sudbury closed its boat launches, causing an uproar among local anglers. They are open this year, but several towns in the northeast are keeping theirs closed.

Sudbury fisherman Kyle Renaud says thankfully there are lots of spots to drop a line in northern Ontario, including dozens of lakes accessible through Crown land. 

"I think we're pretty lucky," he says, adding now he always brings a mask when he goes fishing. 

"It allows us to somewhat continue our fishing as normal as we can."