‘Cannot happen again:’ Olivia Chow apologizes for pool closures amid heatwave

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is apologizing for the closure of some city pools in the midst of a sweltering heat wave and says the city is working to make sure pools stay open.

“We apologize for that. This cannot happen again,” Chow said at a news conference at city hall Monday. “When it’s hot outside, residents need to be able to get out to the pools and cool down.”

The City of Toronto temporarily closed some outdoor pools Sunday, citing provincial requirements around staff health and safety. The city said on its website some pools would be closed intermittently “due to extreme humidex levels exceeding 45 C.”

In a statement, a city spokesperson said the intermittent closures were necessary in order to let lifeguards cool down in the extreme heat.

“Given provincial requirements related to heat and humidex (45+) protocols, some outdoor pools will have intermittent closures today to ensure staff health and safety,” Julia Oosterman, the city’s chief communications officer, wrote. “Staff remain on site to re-open pools as soon as possible.”

She advised people to check the city’s website for updates on which pools are open.

At the same time public officials have been advising people that outdoor pools are one way to cool down amid the heatwave.

“Pools need to be open during a heat wave. That’s pretty obvious, and we are making sure that we have the resources to keep them safe and healthy, for city workers and all Torontonians,” Chow said.

She said the city is taking a number of measures, including deploying more lifeguards and adding shaded areas for them, and making medical staff available.

“I agree that they (the lifeguards) could have jumped into the pool and cooled off and come back out, and we could have provided some extra support,” Chow said.

Chow said she’ll also be moving a motion asking for the city manager to review the heat plan by the fourth quarter of the year; establish 24-7 cooling centres; and to plan for humidex values.

“The Parks and Recreation Department needs to see that (extreme heat predictions) in advance,” Chow said.

Doug Ford: ‘Poor excuse’

In an interview with Newstalk 1010 earlier Monday, Ford bristled at the idea pools closed because of provincial requirements.

“I don’t know, it sounds like a poor excuse,” Ford said. “But neither here nor there, they should have the pools open, and we appreciate the lifeguards.”

He added he’s not blaming Chow.

“I’m not pointing at her because I really like the mayor. I’m just explaining that there was no Ministry of Labour inspector that called up and said ‘shut down the pools,’” Ford said.

He said while it sounded like the city was citing labour laws, “those labour rules are specifically for hard-working people pouring asphalt, as opposed to sitting by a swimming pool that can jump in anytime.”

Provincial regulations dictate how many lifeguards are required to be on duty for a pool, according to the number of bathers who are on the deck and in the pool.

Ford said he’s not sure whether the city has sufficient lifeguarding staff, but noted that the province has given the city deep financial assistance through the new deal.

“I couldn’t answer that. I’m not too sure. I just let the city run the way it runs, and that’s up to the mayor and the city councillors to determine that. But I can tell you one thing, they’ve never had more financial support ever in the history of Toronto,” Ford said.

He said he hasn’t heard of similar closures at other municipalities and he plans to reach out to Chow by phone to discuss the matter.

The city has extended hours at some pools in order to help people deal with the heat. Hours for all city pools can be found here.