WARMINGTON: Christmas lights show turned off while Pearson runway lights stay lit
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Turns out there’s no light at the end of the tunnel after all — or in the middle of it either.
The popular drive-thru Polar Drive light festival in the parking garage of Pearson International Airport has been ordered shut down.
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The Grinch who stole the Christmas tree is after Christmas Lights as well?
No church, no family gatherings, no in-store Boxing Day shopping, skiing and now no Christmas light show! As if it was not already a dark enough period of time, now the government is turning off the Christmas lights shows.
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As of 11:59 p.m. on Christmas day the tunnel of lights, which has been drawing thousands of visitors, will go dark to meet Ontario’s new lockdown measures.
“Under the new lockdown restrictions, we will unfortunately no longer be able to operate after December 25th,” announced Polar Drive organizers. “We are as disappointed as all of you are, and have had so much fun bringing holiday cheer to everyone during such a difficult year.”
However, on this Christmas and Boxing Day, flight from around the world are scheduled to land at Pearson.
Even with Christmas Eve’s record positive COVID-19 test numbers, this is pure lunacy. Politicians and public health doctors are social distancing with common sense. These light shows are actually one of the safest things families can do this year. People stay in their cars the whole time and there’s no contact with anybody.
All other similar outstanding LED light shows in places like Vaughan and Kitchener have been caught in this lockdown measure as well.
But Mayor John Tory and Premier Doug Ford are adamant about this.
“Every time you take a trip outside your home it puts people in jeopardy,” Ford tweeted. “So please, as of now, stay home when you can. Only go out to get groceries, medication or for necessary trips.”
Tory tweeted: “Please, reconsider the in-person gathering tonight and tomorrow. Stay home and celebrate virtually.”
Meanwhile, at the same airport on Christmas and Boxing day, flights were scheduled to arrival from Australia, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Mexico, Jamaica, France, Holland, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Korea, Egypt, Ethiopia, India and the United States and Mexico.
No stay at home edict here.
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People are being asked to not see their families this holiday season but thousands are flocking into Pearson without proper COVID-19 testing, no threat of tickets, tattle talers or shunning and shaming. Closing the holiday lights shows, which are even making donations to food banks, doesn’t make any sense.
“This was about doing something for families,” Polar Drive spokesperson Monica Gomez told The Canadian Press. “In our mind, we’re like, why would you take that one thing away from people right now?”
One thing government has not taken away are the runway lights guiding in flights from around the world not facing the same rules rest of the locked-down people of Ontario must endure.
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