Doug Ford accuses Trudeau government of ‘shutting the door’ in Ontario’s face. That’s news to Trudeau’s government
OTTAWA-After months of praise and kind words for the federal Liberals, Premier Doug Ford accused Ottawa of shutting the door" in Ontario's face on testing international travellers for COVID-19.
The abrupt shift in tone came as Ford announced a month-long lockdown across Ontario to try to get the second wave of the pandemic under control in the province.
In a Queen's Park press conference Monday, Ford raised concerns about international travellers coming into Ontario, saying at minimum" they should all be tested. Ford suggested that recommendation was not accepted by the federal government.
I want to collaborate with the federal government. But when we're getting the door shut on our face every time we talk and then just, you know, the ball keeps getting thrown down the field, it's unacceptable," Ford told reporters.
But I'm not waiting for the federal government or I'll be waiting forever. We're going out there. We're going to start testing people at the airports."
This came as somewhat of a surprise to the federal Liberals, who said they continue to work on a pilot project to test international passengers when they land at Pearson Airport.
In a statement, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Ottawa has been working with the Ford government for weeks on the pilot project - which is similar to the testing regime attempted in Alberta.
Hajdu also noted that all travellers to Canada - be they Canadian citizens or international visitors - must quarantine for 14 days after arriving in the country, and have a plan for how they'll manage that.
The strong travel restrictions and border measures in place in Canada since March 2020 are working. Only 1.3 per cent of all known COVID-19 cases in Ontario have originated from travel outside the country," Hajdu said in a statement to the Star.
With a 14-day quarantine in place, our border measures are some of the strongest in the world. We will continue to use research and science to inform any next steps on border measures."
Hajdu's office said the Ontario government requested the pilot project screen 900,000 visitors - compared to 52,000 in Alberta.
The federal-provincial dust-up came one day after the Liberals put a three-day halt to commercial and private flights from the U.K., which announced that it has observed a mutation of the COVID-19 virus that is more contagious than the original strain.
Alex Boutilier is an Ottawa-based reporter covering national politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @alexboutilier