@Effie26 , @Shalina3 , and @Elaine682 , I said above I wasn't getting any pushback from guests, but that changed today. Everyone was great until the first balker, a fellow who has another booking during the lockdown. That host told him he could still come. So what was my problem?
I said my problem was the overarching first rule, "Ontarians should stay home to the fullest extent possible." He didn't care about that, so I wondered aloud whether my neighbours might call the police if they saw his car in my laneway.
That did the trick. He moved his dates to March.
Next balker actually phoned me to see if we could work something out "so Airbnb will think we are following the rules." She thought Airbnb was shutting me down, not the province, and she had a plan to cancel then come anyway and pay on arrival. I trotted out the "neighbours might call the police" line and she said she would move her dates. Hasn't yet, but I will remind her tomorrow.
Two more still on the calendar who haven't replied at all. I will nag them again tomorrow, and conjure my imaginary police-calling neighbours if necessary.
We did get an email from Airbnb today that says we can cancel penalty free if local laws prevent us from hosting. They kind of don't prevent it, since bookings made before the lockdown can still technically be honoured, but I might have to try it if my last two won't budge.
I'll let you know if it works...
