Deputy pm DEFENDS COVID EXPERT

Premier’s office criticizes doctor’s ties to teachers

deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has sided with a group rallying in support of a prominent epidemiologist serving on Ontario’s COVID-19 advisory panel, after the premier’s office said his affiliations with a teachers’ union is “deeply concerning.”

The latest events between dr. david Fisman, a university of Toronto professor and epidemiologist, and Ontario Premier doug Ford’s office represent yet another rift between the medical community and the government, which has been criticized for its handling of the pandemic.

“As we fight the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific guidance and analysis has been an essential weapon. I am grateful for the expertise and advice of (david Fisman) and for the conversations he has had with me,” Freeland said in a tweet.

A Toronto Sun article published Tuesday reported on the potential conflict of interest when dr. david Fisman, an epidemiologist at the university of Toronto, helped advise the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (EFTO) to keep schools closed.

The news triggered a provincial response later that evening.

“The news about dr. Fisman is deeply concerning. unfortunately, we learned about this matter through the media. Neither the Premier nor his cabinet were aware of this potential conflict,” a statement from the premier’s office read.

“Ontarians have put their trust in us to make difficult decisions based on sound, impartial public health advice. Our expectation is that anyone involved in providing advice to the government in this capacity would do so absent of agenda or bias, and therefore this paid relationship raises legitimate concerns.”

Fisman sits on the province’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, which was created to inform the province’s response to the pandemic. In the summer, while he sat on the advisory panel, ETFO retained medical and scientific experts, including dr. Fisman, to provide expert testimony in a labour relations dispute regarding school reopenings.

In the fall, the Ontario Labour relations Board dismissed a complaint presented by four of the province’s major education unions, including ETFO. The complaint the unions brought forward challenged the province’s school reopening plan.

In his affidavit, which the board did not see due to the dismissal, Fisman said he reviewed the provincial guide to reopening schools and deemed it inadequate to protecting against the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

“The guide does not contain sufficient measures to adequately protect students, teachers and other adults working in schools, or the public more broadly,” Fisman wrote in his affidavit.

“There are additional reasonable steps that should be included in the guide in order to reduce the risk of Ontario’s schools being a driver of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

ETFO’S president came to epidemiologist’s defence in a statement, claiming the government “was certainly aware of the experts with whom we were working.”

President Sam hammond wrote, “The premier should have known of dr. Fisman’s work with ETFO.”

Fisman, on Twitter, said he initially suggested to ETFO that he not receive any compensation for his work, but because his work was “valuable to them” and he did it on his own time, ETFO said it was “appropriate” he be paid.

“We compromised and they (paid) me a fee that is reduced below my usual consulting fee,” he tweeted.

Fisman also said Tuesday — before the premier’s office released a statement and after the Toronto Sun contacted him — that he contacted the chair of the science table, offering his resignation to avoid creating a distraction but the chair did not accept it.

Ford, in his statement, made no demand for Fisman to resign.

“While the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table is an independent voluntary group of experts that provides advice to the government on matters of critical importance, it is our expectation that all individuals act in good faith and disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest.”

Fisman has been critical of the province’s handling of the pandemic.

“Ontario’s pandemic response has been a mess. As other Canadian provinces have struggled they’ve learned and adapted,” he said on Twitter.

he tweeted that the Sun article and the statement from the premier’s office were a distraction to the mismanagement. he pointed to the thousands of dead in long-term care homes, while the long-term care minister, Merrilee Fullerton, is “generally MIA and seems unaccountable”; the education minister, Stephen Lecce, failing to take the “most basic step of all (reducing class sizes)”; and the handful of senior leaders, including the former finance minister rod Phillips, vacationing just before lockdown.

Fisman did not respond to a request for comment.

On social media, doctors are rallying behind Fisman. The hashtag #Thankyoudavidfisman began trending on Twitter Tuesday, with some saying the government is choosing to attack medical professionals instead of focusing on the spread of COVID-19.

“I’m alarmed at the efforts to smear (david Fisman) for doing his job and sharing his expertise to prevent illness and death during a global health crisis,” said dr. Farah Mawani, a social and psychiatric epidemiologist.

“I think every citizen in this country owes (david Fisman) a huge debt. he’s courageously stood up, bending policy in a safer direction for all of us, despite the flack and the media hit pieces,” tweeted Toronto emergency doctor Kashif Pirzada.