O’Toole takes shot at Ford’s management of pandemic

OTTAWA— Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole took a shot at Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government management of pandemic restrictions Saturday while praising Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s less restrictive approach to managing the spread of COVID-19.

Appearing with Kenney at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting this weekend, O’Toole thanked the premier for Alberta’s pandemic response — including providing COVID-19 tests in pharmacies and putting fewer restrictions on business activity than other provinces.

“This is only in Alberta,” said O’Toole, who was wrapping up a fundraising tour in the province.

“My province (Ontario), many other provinces, there hasn’t been as strong a reaction.”

Asked Sunday if that was meant as a criticism of Ford, O’Toole shifted his criticism away from the provinces and back to the federal government.

“The provinces that trusted the federal government would get testing right have watched the Trudeau government let them down on rapid tests,” O’Toole wrote.

Testing for COVID-19 is a provincial responsibility, but the federal health department is responsible for approving testing methods.

“We have seen premiers develop different approaches to their provincial responses because they have not been able to rely on Ottawa. We should all learn from each of their successes.”

But his comments are unlikely to help smooth things over between the federal party and their provincial cousins in the country’s most populous province.

The relationship between the two parties has been frosty for some time, going back to when former leader Andrew Scheer refused to mention Doug Ford’s name during the last federal election.