Ford defends maskless Oosterhoff
MPP posts photos of himself in tightly packed group without a mask
Ontario Premier Doug Ford resisted calls Monday for his lone Niagara MPP, Sam Oosterhoff, to be fired from his post as the assistant to the education minister after photos of the young politician standing maskless in a tightly packed group were circulated on social media.
On Monday Ford said Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West, had apologized, does a “great job” and will keep his position with minister Stephen Lecce.
“He came out and apologized. Hey, guys, everyone makes mistakes,” Ford said. “I’m a strong believer — you make a mistake, you go out and apologize and say it’s not going to happen again. I accept that.”
Calls for Oosterhoff’s demotion quickly followed the posting of the photos including a call from Anthony Dale, president of the Ontario Hospital Association.
Other calls came from New Democrat MPPs and even from the far-right news outlet Rebel Media, which opposes COVID-19 restrictions and labelled Oosterhoff a hypocrite in a petition calling for his firing.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said during question period at the legislature the photos show how muddled provincial guidance is on COVID-19 and pointed out Oosterhoff “literally posed for a photo where he violated public health guidelines.”
The premier faced questions Monday after Oosterhoff post
ed photos of himself on his Facebook page in a group of people at Betty’s Restaurant in Niagara Falls on the weekend. In one photo, Oosterhoff is in a group of about 40 people and in another with a group of 26, including several small children. In both photos, neither Oosterhoff nor anyone else is wearing a mask.
Oosterhoff deleted the photos — but not before other social media users copied them — and issued an apology.
“This was an event at a staffed banquet hall, with under 50 people, including five tables distanced and limited to under 10 people at each,” Oosterhoff wrote in an email to news outlets, including the St. Catharines Standard. “However, I should have worn a mask when we took a quick pic, given the proximity of everyone, and I apologize for failing to do so.”
However, Oosterhoff’s short statement did not include the fact that staff at Betty’s Restaurant staff had to ask the MPP’s party to follow COVID-19 safety protocols.
Restaurant owner Joe Miszk said the restaurant has a large private dining hall. To accommodate customers, he said the room is set up for “family pods” that are supposed to sit together for the duration of their meal. To limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, those in a pod are not supposed to mingle with those in other pods.
In this case, however, guests in the party did mingle together to take the photos.
“So my staff had to remind them a few times,” Miszk said. “He (Oosterhoff) made a mistake.”
The photos appeared on a weekend when Ontario hit an all-time single-day record for new COVID-19 cases, with more than 1,000 confirmed across the province Sunday.
There was also a spike in cases in Niagara this weekend — 13 on Saturday and 23 on Sunday — prompting Hirji to renew warnings that Niagara could end up in a modified Stage 2 of economic reopening if the infection rate is not brought under control.
Neither Ford nor Oosterhoff responded to questions from the Standard Monday, including what kind of message it sends to Ontario residents if government MPPs aren’t following COVID-19 safety protocols.
Oosterhoff also did not answer questions about why he deleted the photos, and how many times he has attended gatherings without a mask.