Move on, Doug Ford tells anti-vaxxers protesting in Ottawa

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This article was published 31/01/2022 (962 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hit the road.

That’s the message from Premier Doug Ford to the anti-vaxxers and anti-lockdown activists whose truck protest in Ottawa has effectively shut down streets and businesses around Parliament Hill since last week.

“I hear the protesters, the province hears the protesters, the country hears the protesters — now, it’s time to let the people in Ottawa get back to their lives,” the premier said in Ajax on Tuesday.

“People have to move on. We have to let the people of Ottawa live their lives,” he said.

“These businesses that have been closed for a while now, the restaurants want to reopen.”

Ford emphasized he has “zero tolerance” for the “desecration” of memorials and said it was “disgusting” that some protesters brandished Nazi and Confederate flags.

The premier also said he supports the federal government’s mandate that truckers be vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross the Canada-U.S. border.

“I believe in getting vaccinated. I’ve always supported truckers from day one, but I support vaccinations. It’s very simple. That’s how we’ve been able to slowly get out of this, and that’s how we’re going to continue to slowly get out of it,” he said.

“People may disagree one side or the other, but I’m going to support getting vaccinated and that’s no shot against the truckers. Keep in mind … close to 90 per cent of the truckers are vaccinated.”

He made his comments at a new 320-bed long-term-care home in Ajax, which was the first nursing home built as part of a $6.4-billion accelerated construction program.

The Ajax Pickering Hospital project was built in 13 months, when it has previously taken as many as eight years to construct similar facilities.

“After decades of neglect, our government is saying yes to building much-needed long-term-care homes as quickly as possible,” said Ford.

Earlier Tuesday, Liberal MPP John Fraser (Ottawa South) lamented that the Tory government has not done more to help people in the nation’s capital.

“The residents of Ottawa continue to endure bullying, racism, violence, and people feel unsafe in their community,” said Fraser.

“By the end of the day, (the city of) Ottawa will have spent more than $4 million trying to maintain order and keep everyone safe,” he said.

“The cost to businesses and families is increasing every day. It’s day five and we still haven’t heard a strong message from Premier Ford to the protesters. Why is it so hard to say for the premier to say, ‘enough is enough?’”

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie