QUEEN’S PARK – NDP MPP Taras Natyshak has released the following statement:
"Doug Ford is moving the goal posts with wider alert categories even as cases, transmission and positivity climb and contact tracing and testing goes down.
We’re incredibly worried to hear from experts that this complex scheme will cause the pandemic to be longer and deeper in Ontario.
Once again Doug Ford is behind the ball on COVID-19. He chose not to get ahead of the crisis by fixing contact tracing and testing, staffing up long-term care homes, and providing direct support to vulnerable communities and small business owners impacted by the pandemic, because he didn’t want to spend the money. He continues to sit on a pile of unspent COVID response dollars.
Ontario needs a data-driven plan with clear benchmarks to help us beat the challenge of COVID-19, but, like the rest of Doug Ford’s playbook, today’s announcement adds to the confusion and shows he’s not willing to spend the money to put stronger public health protections in place."