Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford is under pressure after admitting that he had known for weeks that his finance minister – who had leaked social media reports to hide his location – had a coronavirus lockout for a holiday in the Caribbean. ignored.
Reports on Rod Phillips’ social media reports suggest he would stay home during Christmas, but it emerged on Tuesday that the minister had flown to St Barts Island in mid-December – despite his own government’s advice to make unnecessary trips avoid.
On Wednesday afternoon, Ford admitted that he had learned of Phillip’s tropical vacation two weeks ago, and said he regretted not returning from his minister immediately.
“He never told anyone he was leaving. “He never told me he was leaving,” Ford said, adding that he had a “tough conversation” with Phillips when he returned home tomorrow.
Ford previously described Phillips’ trip as “completely unacceptable”.
Staff at Phillips’ office said Tuesday that the minister’s trip to St Barts, a popular destination for wealthy travelers, is planned. But in the case of the coronavirus cases in the most populous province in Canada, there have been calls for the finance minister to resign or be fired.
The unveiling of Phillips’ Caribbean vacation took place when Ontario reported coronavirus cases two days in a row. The province announced 2,923 new infections on Wednesday.
In a statement, Phillips said he “regretted” the trip, adding that if he had known Ontario would be in the lock, he would not have left the country.
“It was a mistake and I apologize. I am leaving on a personally paid trip to St Barts on December 13th after the legislative session. ‘
Criticism of Phillips has focused on his social media accounts, which appear to have remained in his constituency over the holidays.
In a video mailed On Christmas Eve, next to a fire, a glass of eggnog and decorated gingerbread house, Phillips acknowledges the challenges of the holiday and thanks residents for doing everything in their power to protect the “most vulnerable” in the province.
‘Since we all make sacrifices #Christmas, remember that some of our fellow citizens will not even be home for Christmas dinner during Zoom, ”he also tweeted that evening.
Other tweets include photos of him during his holidays abroad meeting local business owners and attend funding notices.
Wednesday night, the Liberal Party took place in Ontario shared a video clip of a conference attended by the Minister, three days after leaving the country. In the clips, Phillips is seen using a virtual background of the provincial legislature building. ‘[A]are these the waves we hear behind your Queen’s Park Zoom background? Tweeted the party.
Provincial new Democratic party leader Andrea Horwath has called for Phillips to be ousted from the cabinet.
“It’s disgraceful, it’s a disgrace and a disgrace to Doug Ford because he knows it’s the case and just turned over cloths,” she told CP24. “There has to be some accountability for this kind of thing … Ontarians deserve better than that, so Ford has to fire him.”
Under Canadian law, Phillips will have to be quarantined for 14 days after his return to Ontario. More than 40,000 people returned to Canada from abroad during the pandemic and only 130 tickets were issued for breaking the quarantine.