Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath says her party has been informed by the Ford government that the legislature will be shut down by Wednesday in the midst of new restrictions and soaring COVID numbers.
She says her MPPs will refuse to cooperate until the government has reversed what she calls “dangerous police-state orders” in their entirety, and replaced with public health measures to stop the outbreak.
Horwath and the NDP caucus has sent a letter to the Ford government confirming that it will refuse to cooperate with the suspension of the legislature until the government has:
-Giving Ontarians paid sick days by passing Bill 239
-Cancelled the extraordinary police powers announced Friday in their entirety
-Shut down all non-essential workplaces
-Formally committed to a meaningful package of supports, over and above the few announced, for businesses and workers affected by closures
Horwath says, “We are prepared to discuss how we can run the legislature with the minimum number of staff and MPPs, and with the strictest possible health protocols. We are not prepared to help Doug Ford go home.”
Doug Ford has utterly failed to protect Ontarians from COVID-19, prioritizing a police state over public health.
Now he wants to cut and run.
I won’t run. We can still put public health first, undo Mr. Ford’s police state, and give people the help they need. pic.twitter.com/RFl8cMlhoT
— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) April 18, 2021
