FFord rejects regional approachF to reopening economy, despite pressure from own MPPs
Premier’s criticism comes as Health Ministry stats show 1 in 3 cases are fatal
“I have to follow science and the medical advice. I always have, I always will.” PREMIER DOUG FORD
One size fits all.
That will be Ontario’s mantra for reopening the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, insists Premier Doug Ford.
Even though the Greater Toronto Area accounts for 65.6 per cent of Ontario’s cases, leaving huge swaths of the province relatively unscathed, Ford is rejecting the regional approach of opening up as is being done in neighbouring Quebec, Manitoba and New York state.
“I have to follow science and the medical advice. I always have, I always will,” the premier said Thursday, emphasizing that provincial chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams and other public health officials will make the call.
“I’ll take their advice and if Dr. Williams doesn’t think it’s the right thing to do, then I’m following his advice. I have from the beginning. I’ll continue to follow it,” he said.
Ford admitted he is under a lot of pressure to expedite the opening of the economy in regions beyond the GTA.
There are far fewer coronavirus cases in Kenora, Algoma, North Bay, Parry Sound, Sudbury, Kingston, Renfrew, Huron-Perth, Prince Edward County, and most of southwestern Ontario outside the Windsor city limits.
“I hear it at cabinet, I hear it at caucus. I hear it all the time from our own members,” the premier said.
Indeed, Progressive Conservative MPPs from outside the Golden Horseshoe privately confide that they are feeling heat from their constituents.
“How am I supposed to keep telling businesses in my area to remain closed for what’s essentially a Toronto prob- lem?” said one rural Tory MPP, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss internal caucus discussions.
“At a certain point, we’ve got to reopen,” added the MPP, who personally lobbied Ford against the universal reopening approach.
As controversy swirls over the pandemic crisis in long-term care, Premier Doug Ford claims unionized inspectors “refused to go in” to nursing homes at the peak of COVID-19 last month.
Ford also took aim at owners of for-profit homes that were singled out in a scathing military report earlier this week, which revealed that some patients were left in their beds for so long that painful pressure ulcers ate through their skin.
“It’s not about money. It’s about taking care of people … they failed,” the premier said bluntly Thursday in comments certain to provide fodder for a commission he’s establishing in July to investigate the situation.
The deflections came as new Ministry of Health statistics showed tough odds for nursinghome residents who take ill with the novel coronavirus — one in three has died so far.
“I’ve been taking bullets every day for the union,” declared Ford, who has been under fire since the Canadian Armed Forces exposed dire situations in five GTA homes where military medical teams were sent to help at his request.
The president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union said Ford’s charge is false.
“We never told our members not to go into long-term-care homes. There was never one work refusal. Managers gave direction not to enter the longterm-care homes,” Smokey Thomas said, noting inspectors are furious at the accusation.
Ford said he knew the system was “broken” and but had no idea how “disgusting” conditions were until he read the 23page document.
It outlined poor infection control, masks and gloves locked up to cut costs, expired medications, residents left for hours in dirty diapers and crying for help. One person died of choking after being fed lying down.
Critics have demanded to know why Ontario’s 175 longterm-care inspectors did not raise alarms, given that Ford knew the rapid spread of COVID-19 coupled with staffing shortages was bad enough to call in the army to five homes.
Ford’s office released an April 22 letter from Thomas that called for more inspectors but warned in-person inspections were “ill-advised” and “not necessary.”
“Thankfully, much, if not all, of the inspection work happening now is being done by phone, providing a measure of safety for inspectors, long-term-care home staff and residents,” Thomas wrote.
“But we now understand that your government wants to have in-person inspections,” he added. “In-person inspections will not provide us with any more information than we already have.” Thomas said the comments were taken out of context and did not mention concerns about a lack of personal protective equipment for inspectors, who could inadvertently spread the virus from home to home.
In the letter, Thomas also noted “the problems have been identified over and over again … residents are not receiving the care that they need in some of these homes. We know that private long-term-care providers never had a plan for this level of illness.”
The five homes in the military report were Eatonville Care Centre in Etobicoke, Altamont Care Community in Scarborough, Hawthorne Place in North York, Orchard Villa in Pickering and Holland Christian Grace Manor in Brampton.
The government’s coronavirus website says 129 nursing homes remain in outbreak mode.
Ministry of Health figures released Thursday showed 4,964 residents of nursing homes have contracted the new coronavirus and at least 1,591 or 32 per cent have died.