Morden mayor pens stern open letter to pandemic-denying reeve

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This article was published 10/12/2020 (1379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A southern Manitoba mayor who battled COVID-19 has written an open letter to a fellow politician who claims the pandemic is a myth and was a central figure in an anti-mask rally last month.

In a letter dated Dec. 10, Morden Mayor Brandon Burley says he decided to write to Lewis Weiss because of his “continued misrepresentation of the COVID-19 pandemic and opposition to best practices designed to contain the virus.”

Weiss is the subject of a complaint under the provincial code of conduct launched by five of six councillors in La Broquerie. He has been under pressure to resign after being fined $1,296 for speaking at the Hugs Over Masks rally near Steinbach on Nov. 14.

Burley says in the letter that Weiss has a duty to act in the best interest of his constituents and “not to imperil them through reckless and self-seeking behaviours.”

He says he decided to write the open letter for four reasons: the two politicians represent communities in the Southern Health region; Weiss’s continued position has emboldened fringe groups in the province who deny the pandemic, including in Morden; his public actions deserve a response of equal authority and publicity; and because of Burley’s own experience with the virus.

“This baseless rhetoric (and indeed a substantial amount of discord, antagonism and hatred) has been emboldened in your region and mine by this misinformation, replacing the charity, goodwill and fidelity, which were some of the few lights in the darkness at the outset of the pandemic declaration,” the letter states.

Burley asks Weiss to work toward the goal of ensuring their constituents remain safe from the virus.

“I respectfully request for the well-being of all our communities that you use your office for the good and protection of all in your municipality who require it.”

Burley, who has recovered from the virus, says his health has been “significantly impacted” by it. He says he continues to suffer from complications.

“I know that COVID-19 is real, and can have brutal and devastating effects on the lives of people.”

He says he watches daily updates of the death toll delivered by Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, “with a weight in my stomach at the thought that perhaps I may have lost a community member.”

Weiss faced the wrath of Premier Brian Pallister when the province unveiled its vaccine rollout plan on Wednesday. At the end of the briefing, Pallister admonished Weiss for claiming the pandemic is a hoax.

“Sir, we live in the Red River Valley, it is flat between you and I, but the world is not flat,” Pallister said in a direct message to Weiss. “You need to understand… it’s a pandemic, and people in your area are getting COVID, too. So please sir, it’s not a myth, it’s a reality… let’s work together and make sure that we lessen the impacts on Manitoba families,” the premier said.

At a virtual council meeting earlier in the day, Weiss was presented with another letter calling for his resignation. In response, the reeve dismissed criticism against him as “ignorant” and politically motivated.

Weiss went on a rant in which he denied the existence of the pandemic, confused the novel coronavirus with influenza, and cast doubt on the efficacy of vaccines.

— staff