Joel Harden
Like many of you, I was shaken by CBC’s interview with Dr. Michael Warner, head of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Michael Garron Hospital during the Easter long weekend. “Four floors below me,” he said, “Patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s are fighting for their lives.”
Who were they? As Dr. Warner explained, “partner of a child care worker, wife of a factory worker, ride share app driver, checkout clerk at a dollar store.” These were essential workers and their family members. The same people we hailed as heroes were fighting to survive the COVID-19 variants filling our ICUs.
Why does an ICU doctor do media interviews? To shock us into action. To impress on us that we must, MUST follow public health rules. There is currently a stay-at-home order with a maximum of five for outdoor gatherings. This means wearing a mask when outdoors.
It is frustrating to see non-compliance in our city. There were Easter dinners with extended family and friends; many joggers in tight formation, or on crammed basketball courts, and soccer games; picnics with multiple people, or backyard parties with neighbours.
I know the weather is terrific. I know people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. But this is the worst possible moment to let our collective guard down. We are reaping the cost of more than a year of half-hearted pandemic measures but the end is in sight.
Our opposition caucus will keep pushing for systemic fixes from the Ford government such as a real paid sick days plan, or an immunization strategy that prioritizes essential workers.
But we need your help. If someone you love isn’t doing their part, give them a gentle reminder to do the right thing. Lives are at risk.
On April 8, I wrote to Ontario Minister Steve Clark and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. I urged them to speak out against Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, who’s been telling people to defy pandemic regulations and making absurd, offensive parallels between the Nazi regime and public health rules.
Hillier held a mask burning party on April 8 in Kemptville and brought a crowd to the front doors of a gym, a 20-minute walk from my own home in Ottawa. As he did so, COVID-19 case counts in Ottawa reached record levels.
To his credit, Minister Clark spoke out, as did Mayor Nancy Peckford, whose electoral district includes Kemptville. None of us should be silent at a time when vigilance is necessary.
So please, stay safe, and encourage those you love to do likewise. Community solidarity and evidence-based decisions are the only way forward.