Dear editor:

While I am pleased to see an Ontario company, Great Lakes Helicopter, doing well during this pandemic, I was both alarmed and angered about the snowbirds who are using this service.

It smacks of selfishness and elitism.

While the users interviewed and manager Dwayne Henderson say the practice “doesn't violate any government COVID rules,” I beg to differ. There is a Stay At Home order in effect.

Snowbirds say they will drive “straight through,” stopping only for drive-thru food. How can one possibly travel from Barrie, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Montreal, and continue to Florida without bathroom breaks and stops for gas?

I suspect that hotel stays will also be included for some.

They go on to say that they can isolate as easily in Florida as they can Canada. But what happens to their friends in Florida who may be infected by them?

Worse yet, what happens if they become infected at one of their many stops? They are going to tax a medical system in Florida already on the brink of collapse.

Even worse still, is my fear that, if infected, they will be the first to demand that the Canadian government bring them home.

Taming the pandemic is the responsibility of us all. Those who see “loopholes” are not helping and indeed may be hurting the situation.

Leslie Moulson

Virgil