TORONTO – Steven Del Duca, Leader of the Ontario Liberals, made the following statement:
“Doug Ford should have been planning for the COVID-19 second wave experts have been predicting for months, but he spent the summer on a premature, campaign-style victory lap. New reporting from the Toronto Star has confirmed our worst fears: scientists and doctors asked the government for funding to expand testing capacity and defeat the pandemic, but were turned down.”
“Doug Ford focused on nominating candidates and hinting at an early election when he should have been building up Ontario’s testing capacity. Now the second wave is here and Ford is scrambling to address the enormous testing backlog in Ontario.”
“Doug Ford must explain why he didn’t invest in testing capacity when he had the chance. His closure of testing facilities for two days to clear the testing backlog is setting us back in our fight against the pandemic. Instead of more testing, he has shut testing sites down. It is truly shameful.”
“Today Ontario Liberals will ask the government to shelve a spring election and focus on the pandemic. Ford wasted too much time playing politics all summer and now he needs to focus on resolving the chaos that his lack of planning has caused.”
“Ontarians are watching the pandemic get worse and case counts skyrocket. An early election is the last thing they need.”
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