Sparks fly as Ford, Horwath clash over pandemic response
Premier’s attacks at odds with his aspirations for a ‘collaborative’ fall session
With summer’s end, Premier Doug Ford appears to be entering the winter of his discontent.
Ford won praise for his calm demeanour and measured tone during the COVID-19 pandemic, and saw a boost in his standing in public-opinion polls. Now, however, he appears to be showing the strain of dealing with the ongoing health crisis.
In two days in the legislature this week, the Progressive Conservative premier’s previous strategy of striving to remain above the partisan fray has been undermined by his personal attacks on NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
“The leader of the opposition is talking about invisible? The only person who’s been invisible is the leader of the opposition,” Ford groused at Horwath on Tuesday morning, about one hour after summer officially ended.
“She’s been invisible like Casper the Ghost for the last six months,” he fumed after her questioning about his “invisible iron ring” around long-termcare homes, the scene of about two-thirds of Ontario’s more than 2,800 COVID-19 deaths.
“For the leader of the opposition to stand up like an armchair quarterback, a Monday-morning quarterback, and tell us how the game’s been going when my great … ministers here have been working around the clock doing everything we possibly can with the infectious control procedures?”
The NDP leader shrugged off the premier’s verbal onslaught as “sticks and stones.”
But speaking with reporters later, she reflected on the change in Ford’s temperament after months of him being relatively calm during the summer session.
“It just saddens me to see the premier go so low yet again. He’s focused on trying to hurt my feelings, he should be focused on fixing long-term care,” said Horwath.
“I don’t care about his insults. I care about the people of Ontario. I want to him to get the job done.”
On Monday, there was a sharp exchange between Ford and Speaker Ted Arnott, who referees the proceedings in the legislature.
“Stop the clock. I’m going to ask the premier to withdraw his unparliamentary remark,” said Arnott, after Ford heckled that Horwath was lying to the chamber.
“Who? Me? Yes, OK. I withdraw. I don’t know what I’m withdrawing, but I’m withdrawing,” Ford said to snickers from the Tory benches.
A withering Arnott admonished him: “The procedure for withdrawal is to stand in your place and withdraw without qualifications.”
“Speaker, I don’t know what I said,” said Ford as a few Tory
MPPs giggled nervously.
“I’m going to ask the premier again to withdraw without qualifications,” chided the speaker.
“I will withdraw,” he finally conceded.
It’s been a noticeable change from the ebullient Ford who two weeks ago expressed hope that the fall session of the legislature would be “collaborative” because Ontarians expect their politicians to work together during the pandemic.
When veteran CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan observed to him Tuesday that
“your mood seems decidedly more grim in recent days, you were certainly more buoyant a few weeks ago when the numbers were decreasing, not increasing,” the premier was candid.
“I’m concerned, Cynthia. I really am. We’ve worked so hard and we were we were below the 100 (threshold for new COVID-19 cases daily),” he said, admitting his frustration.
“But, folks, we’re going to get through this together.
“We’ve got through everything else. We just all have to be vigilant.”