THUNDER BAY – Doug Ford needs to move now to stop the rapid spread of COVID in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, said NDP MPPs Judith Monteith-Farrell (Thunder Bay-Atikokan) and Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong) as cases in the region continue to rise.
“Too many are being infected in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario for Doug Ford to keep ignoring our region. There is growing concern about those most vulnerable to contracting the virus and its spread into more communities in the region.
First Nations are taking action to protect their communities and Doug Ford needs to act now to help our local health authorities stop the spread and support families through this Omicron wave.
Ford’s response has been late and incomplete. Ford had months to prepare for another wave and yet ran out of rapid COVID tests for Northwestern Ontario as cases rise across the region. The Ford government must ensure that Northern families are not left out of their plans again and are able to safely access free rapid COVID tests now.
New Democrats have been calling on Ford to support our communities by helping workers and small businesses that lose income. We are calling on Ford to support our hard hit hospitals with a massive hiring blitz in health care. Our hospitals, especially rural ones, are understaffed, and the remaining nurses and other frontline health care workers are burned out and exhausted. Ford needs to give health care workers the respect they’ve always deserved and remove his low-wage law (Bill 124).
And Ford needs to fix his booster plan as too many people are being shut out from getting their booster shots.