Ford should not wait until Dec. 26 to stop the spread

December 21, 2020

TORONTO — Mike Schreiner made the following comment on the recently announced province-wide lockdown:

“I am relieved to learn that Premier Ford is finally taking the action that our health care professionals have been asking for.

My question is why the Premier waited until today to announce the lockdown? The Ontario Hospital Association sounded the alarm over the explosive impact on the healthcare system on December 15th.

Businesses need time to plan and an announcement last Friday would have helped stop the spread sooner with an earlier lockdown date.

Small businesses have been stretched thin over the course of the pandemic, and I fear the toll this second widespread lockdown will have on them.

I thank the Premier for listening to my call for a direct fund for small businesses so they can survive long enough to make it through the winter.

The government is making a tough, but necessary decision with this lockdown. We owe it to health care workers to do everything in our power to listen to their calls for help.”

-30-