Politician resigns after holiday

TORONTO: The finance minister for Canada’s most populous province has resigned after going on a Caribbean vacation while sending out social media posts showing him in a sweater in front of a fireplace.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he accepted Rod Phillips’ resignation as minister just hours after Phillips returned home from a more than twoweek stay on the island of St Barts, despite government guidelines urging people to avoid nonessential travel.

‘‘Travelling over the holidays was the wrong decision, and I once again offer my unreserved apology,’’ Phillips said, confirming his resignation.

In a video posted on Twitter on Christmas Eve, he was shown drinking eggnog beside a fireplace with a gingerbread house and a Christmas tree.

‘‘I want to thank every one of you for what we are doing to protect our most vulnerable,’’ Phillips said about Ontarians staying at home over the Christmas holidays.

Meanwhile, he had been on St Barts since December 13.

Phillips told reporters waiting at the airport in Toronto he had made ‘‘a dumb, dumb mistake’’.

‘‘I hope people appreciate that I disappointed noone more than myself,’’ said Phillips, who faces a mandatory 14day quarantine.

The incident created a problem for Ford, who acknowledged on Thursday he knew Phillips was outside the country because Ford said he called Phillips ‘‘shortly after he arrived’’ in the Caribbean.

‘‘I should have said get your backside back into Ontario and I didn’t do that,’’ Ford said. — AP