Responding to critics, Premier Doug Ford says emphatically, there is no confusion surrounding stay-at-home orders.

“Stay home, stay home, that’s it, if you’re questioning should I go out, you got the answer, stay home.”

But non-essential small business owners are confused by the new stay at home orders. They say encouraging them to open for curbside pickup only with reduced hours while telling people to stay home is double speak.

“I’m actually very unclear on whether or not at this point I’m even allowed to encourage curbside pick up,” Linda Prangley told Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer. The owner of  Love Me Do Baby & Maternity  says she worries about the outcome for her customers who are being told to stay home except for essential reasons.

The head of the Canadian Federation of Business, Dan Kelly, calls the new measures “insane.”

“I didn’t think the province could actually make the rules worse, more confusing, more ineffective, more insane but that’s exactly what they did,” Kelly said in an interview.

Premier Ford responded to the critics.

“Don’t go to the big box stores, go online to the small businesses, no one is stopping anyone from going online to support your small businesses, ” said Ford. “Forget about the big box stores, very simple.”

The CFIB is suggesting the province allow non essential stores to open for one to three customers at a time, which would also help alleviate the crowds at the big box stores.

When it comes to enforcing stay-at-home orders in the province, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones says police and bylaw officers have the right to ask for your personal information.

“If you are not at your place of residence, and you need to be fined or you will be ticketed as a result of the orders,  they have an obligation to ask for your name, date of birth and your address.”

Meantime, weeks after calls for the military to help manage some long term care homes in outbreak, Doug Ford now says he’ll take up the offer for help from the Prime Minister.

“I just got off the phone with the Prime Minister and I will reach out to health and long term care and they’re going to make that decision, we need all the help we can get so I’m not going to refuse any help offered to us.”

Over 3,000 long term care residents have died from the virus since March.

To sign a petition to have the Minister of Long Term Care fired, visit CARP.