Ontario parks are open again for families as police forces are warned to stop asking members of the community where they are going and for their home address.

A furious backlash is underway by police forces across the province not to approach their communities for the ‘where have you been’ information to help curb COVID-19 has led to Premier Doug Ford withdrawing parts of a sweeping new police law introduced on Friday.

Officers will no longer have the right to stop any pedestrian or driver to ask why they’re out or request their home address, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said in a statement on Saturday.

Jones said police will only be able to stop people who they have reason to believe are participating in an “organized public event or social gathering.”

Ford also reversed a decree banning families from attending Ontario parks, since it is good for them mentally and they can exercise and physically distance.

The Premier had been chastised by parents and  members of the public and pundits, who attacked his latest anti-pandemic restrictions as misguided claiming the added police powers aimed at enforcing stay-at-home orders were ‘an overkill’.

It is not known if police will on April 19 begin patrolling the borders of Ontario and Manitoba and Quebec, to turn back those not visiting this province for non-essential reasons.

The changes mean that officers of 22 Division, or 11 Division, can no long ask residents in South Etobicoke about their travel plans and further anger the community.

Ahead of the reversal, large and small police forces across the province said they had no intention of exercising their newfound powers.

The new restrictions, including a two-week extension to the province’s stay-at-home order until May 20, were announced amid dire warnings from government scientific advisers that the pandemic was only set to worsen and there is a lack of hospital beds.

Other measures include further restrictions on outdoor gatherings and indoor religious services, while recreational facilities such as golf courses are now closed.

Critics said Ford had missed the mark on key drivers of the pandemic, including a lack of paid sick leave for essential workers and a dearth of evidence playgrounds have been a transmission source.

“Doug Ford’s handling of this pandemic has been an abject failure and absolute disaster,” said Patty Coates, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, a father of two young children, welcomed the change of heart on playgrounds, saying “common sense wins.”