Walking the streets of Downtown Toronto, at first you get the impression that not much has changed after 2 years of the pandemic. However, when we look over the commercial veil, we see small businesses closed, selecting guests based on vaccination status. Do we really want to divide society into “better” and “worse”? Looking further, we will see a lot of abandoned places, used masks left behind, homeless, and garbage flying in the wind like tumbleweed in the wild west.
Moving on, in many stores, not only in shopping malls, but also in free-standing ones, we can see employees responsible for counting people entering the store. At the entrance, antibacterial gels, sometimes also wet wipes. However, the use of these is not as strict as, for example, in Poland.
What caught my attention is that the Apple store in one of the malls also started checking the so-called vaccine passports. However, this doesn’t change the fact that the line to the store goes all the way outside the mall.
Walking through the smaller streets, we will notice that some people are so sensitive and overwhelmed by the pandemic that they even wear masks in open spaces (at a great distance from others).
Children in schools have a lot of outdoor activities, as long as the weather allows it. Most children must wear face masks. And there’s a question, is the risk of breathing bacteria from the exhaled air all day long lower than inhaling the air directly from the open space? It is pointless though since during breaks masks are removed by many people anyway, and they spend time in large groups. Does it make any sense? At the moment, it looks a bit like the prohibition era in the US. At the entrance doors to schools, you can see posters “Parents requested not to enter the school”, so a “request” for parents not to enter the school.
Outside the city center, walking down the side streets, we can find a lot of abandoned buildings, but at the same time a lot of posters about sold houses “SOLD” and new glass houses, skyscrapers.
The number of homeless people has definitely not decreased, to compare let’s look at the situation in California or New York City. Toronto does not differ much from these US metropolises.
Delving into the topic we can see there are work options but only for the vaccinated. The lack of jobs is a problem these days, and now the problem is exacerbated by the vaccine passports matter. At the moment, government agencies are to bring consequences towards employees who have not decided to vaccinate or those who can’t. New employees, on the other hand, must have the ‘vaccinated’ status.
Restaurants, cafes, museums, all entertainment from October 22, 2021 are closed to the unvaccinated. All places called “Non essential”, i.e. those that are theoretically not necessary to survive, are limited to the unvaccinated. The question arises whether access to cultural institutions such as museums, art galleries, and sports/gyms count as basic needs. According to what the government says the answer is “NO”. According to science, institutions such as museums are responsible for shaping our awareness, creativity, understanding of art and our world. Sports facilities are responsible for physical health. So is it a “healthy decision” to make these places available to the “elite” only?
Overall, Toronto today is very different from pre-pandemic Toronto. At the moment the whole world is struggling. However, at least here, you have to look behind the veil of commerce and colored filters of social media to realize what the reality is.
Written by Sylwia S.