Hersh Goldin found out yesterday that just living in Toronto is enough to make the outside world treat him like a leper.
A cruise company barred the investment adviser and his family from taking a dream vacation to Alaska merely because Toronto is on an international list of places with SARS. Even if the company lifts the ban, Mr. Goldin is not sure he'll go.
"I feel as though we might be tarred and feathered and thrown off the ship," he said.
The Goldins are among millions in Toronto feeling the sting of living in a place that U.S. newspapers have nicknamed Pariah City.
Hersh Goldin and his family won't be vacationing in Alaska with Crystal Cruises after the line, fearing the spread of SARS, barred people arriving from Toronto from its ships. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)
School trips and visiting lecturers from Toronto are being politely told to stay home. Business meetings are being cancelled. Canadian drivers at U.S. border checkpoints are being asked if they have any symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
While Toronto business people complain that such fears are overheated, tourists are staying away in droves. Even Alberta Premier Ralph Klein mused yesterday about whether he'd let his government's employees travel to Canada's largest city.
Mark Hannah, a Toronto tourism executive, said: "Nothing compares to what SARS has done to us. Basically, the destination of Toronto is taboo. None of us have ever experienced that before."
He was among representatives of more than 80 motor-coach companies who met yesterday, complaining that their companies' buses are sitting idle because of SARS this spring.
"The last great destination in the world that saw that was New York after 9/11," said Mr. Hannah, who says his company has lost tens of thousands of dollars in contracts.
"And New York was fortunate enough to have the compassion of the Americans, and the world for that matter, to feel sorry for them, to say this is an awful tragedy that happened to your destination," he said, adding that he doesn't expect Toronto will get any such sympathy.
The pariah label is being reinforced by an increasing number of travel advisories about Toronto. People coming from the United States are now being warned about the SARS virus as they enter Ontario.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory yesterday saying travellers to Toronto should avoid hospitals — and even pack a first-aid kit so they can avoid health-care facilities. The CDC also suggests Americans check that they have health insurance that will pay for transportation home if they fall ill.
Some outside experts want even tougher controls. Diana Bonta, the director of California's Department of Health Services, told The Los Angeles Times she has asked for questionnaires and medical screening of passengers before they board flights to the state from Toronto or Asian cities.
Toronto residents, with their own fears about SARS, are becoming resentful about how people from outside are reacting.
"They have obviously just listened to tidbits and are not getting the whole story," said Mr. Goldin, who found out yesterday that Crystal Cruises is barring Toronto passengers from its ships.
"This is ridiculous," said Robert Grossman, who is among those barred. "Canadians shouldn't be forced to put up with this.
"This will go down in history as a completely mishandled situation. You would think they would be trying to dispel the situation rather than amplifying it."
Still, the CDC warning has caused U.S. schoolchildren to cancel their plans to attend a choir competition in Toronto this week.
"We were concerned about the children travelling to a foreign place where they could contract the disease and possibly bring it back to their classmates or family," Gene Glover, a North Carolina doctor, explained to a local television station after the Hunt High School Choir cancelled its intended visit.
A Buffalo travel agent said many people who cross from the border city are making other plans because of SARS. "We do weekend travel to Toronto and we've had a definite decrease," Jean McDonnell Covelli told a reporter.
"Most of the international travel through Toronto has been diverted. They're paying a premium to use U.S. gateways," she said.
The Alberta Premier said yesterday that he had cancelled a trip to China because of SARS fears. All of his government's employees are now prohibited from travelling to China, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.
Mr. Klein said the province is also considering whether to impose a similar ban on travel to Toronto.
Anne McLellan, the federal Health Minister, didn't share the misgivings of her fellow Albertan. "I have absolutely no concern going to Toronto, visiting Toronto, spending time in Toronto, eating in Toronto restaurants," she said, adding she plans to visit next week.
Health Canada official Paul Gully said yesterday the agency believes travel restrictions are completely unjustified for Toronto residents.
The international media are whipping the problem out of all proportion, said Pierre Santoni, a regional railway director whose office is in Union Station. "I think there's a paranoia outside of Toronto" that is greater than the fear of SARS in the city, Mr. Santoni said.
With reports from Colin Freeze, Jill Mahoney, CP and AFP
