`A slap in the face' to Ontarians

Re: Ford can't afford to not sack finance minister, Randall Denley, Dec. 31

Rod Phillips' decision to take a beach holiday in St. Barts beginning on Dec. 13 was not a mistake. It was a choice. A selfish choice.

As Ontario Minister of Finance (prior to his resignation on Thursday), he had enough intelligence and access to information to know the consequences of the choice he was making. But he made the choice to go all the same.

Given the rising COVID-19 case numbers in Ontario at the beginning of December, the imposition of further restrictions in December was totally predictable.

My wife and I cancelled a Dec. 7 departure to Nova Scotia out of an abundance of caution for this very reason. We did not get the chance to visit our two sons, whom we have not seen in person in over a year. We made the sacrifice. Rod Phillips slapped us in the face.

Paul Clarry, Aurora, Ont.

CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips, left, and Premier Doug Ford trade places at the microphone during an announcement last July. Phillips resigned his cabinet seat on Thursday over his much-criticized vacation in the Caribbean while Ontario was facing a COVID-19 lockdown.