1,000 signatures reached
To: Doug Ford
Doug Ford: Resign For Gross Negligence In A Pandemic
Resign immediately.
Why is this important?
*UPDATED April 16th, 2021* Ford's response to the pandemic has only gotten worse. In February, as variants of concern (VOC) began to take off, Ford's own doctors predicted a total catastrophe in Ontario if he didn't expand public health protections. Not only did he fail to do so, he actually reduced those protections. The result: Ontario is now facing a completely predictable, completely preventable humanitarian disaster.
Other nations, states, even other provinces in Canada have managed to avoid the third wave. Ontario has plunged head-first into one, and the worst is yet to come. Ford's only strategy is to attempt to shift blame and point fingers. It is clear that the only way out of this pandemic is with new leadership. Doug Ford must resign and make way for someone capable of managing an effective public health response to the pandemic.
*End of updated text*
In early November, Doug Ford introduced new guidelines for COVID restrictions. He claimed to have consulted public health professionals in devising the guidelines.
However, the guidelines had thresholds for activation that were *four times higher* than public health doctors had actually called for.
In other words: Ford lied, and put all our lives at risk.
This latest outrage is the last straw. From the beginning, Ford has mismanaged the pandemic. He's given mixed messages that insist we must keep businesses open yet scolds people for visiting those businesses. He's refused to offer supports for small businesses or employees, passing the buck to the federal government. He's refused to address the crisis in long term care, instead passing the buck to local public health agencies. His "COVID relief bill" does things like interfering in local democracy, and he's rescinded paid sick leave guarantees passed by a previous government. He refused to adequately support schools or to close them when they proved to be vectors for transmission.
The result? Under Doug Ford's watch, cases have reached record numbers and every day more people die.
This is a crisis of negligence and incompetence and it cannot be tolerated any longer. It's time for Doug Ford to resign.