To the Editor,

During the first and second COVID waves, Doug Ford was on TV daily, presenting the image of someone who was in command of the situation (by giving daily updates – with communication assistance of a sign language interpreter to reach the deaf viewers) and showing a caring persona (while watching deaths soar in desperate LTC facilities). His popularity with voters soared.
Along came the third deadly wave in March and there were fewer TV appearances (now without the sign language professional). He ignored the prescient advice from the [Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table] and when he finally chose to act, he chose a sledge hammer approach by locking down the whole province even though one third of the public health units (like Haliburton’s and Kenora’s) were coping with the surge. While claiming that his actions were driven by science, he failed to explain why he ignored advice from public health officials and forced them to take unilateral actions such as forcing the closure of businesses that were experiencing breakouts (like Amazon’s warehouses and Canada Post sorting centres) and shifting from mass inoculation sites to targeted hot spots (most notably in Peel and Toronto).
At the end of the school year, Ford refused to listen to the cries from teachers, psychologists and parents advocating for students to go back to school for mental health reasons – even in a region like Haliburton where outbreaks were either nonexistent or under control.
Until now he has steadfastly decided not to introduce a vaccine passport even though three quarters of Ontarians and many businesses are solidly in favour of this initiative and are taking unilateral decisions to request vaccination information from employees and customers.
Are any readers of this newspaper able to explain these dubious actions – or lack of actions?

Dennis Choptiany
Koshlong Lake