Doug Ford Starts Backing Off Vaccine Mandates, And It Is Purely Political

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, likely seeing the terrible optics after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau implemented the Emergencies Act, has started backpedaling on vaccination as the way to end the restrictions in Ontario.

For over a year Ford has been pushing for mass vaccination as the only way for life to go back to normal in his province, while also standing firmly by Trudeau on his attacks on the Freedom Convoy and use of the Emergencies Act. 

Suddenly after witnessing the terrible international media coverage of Trudeau’s use of emergency powers on the night of the 14th, Ford woke up the next morning and started questioning the logic of vaccination for stopping the spread of the virus. 

Ford stated that “we got to learn how to live with this and get on with our lives,” before going on to say that every vaccinated person has close friends and family members who are unvaccinated who Ford characterized as “hard-working people that just don’t believe in it” referring to the need to be vaccinated. 

You can tell Ford appeared to be somewhat shaken up at this press event; aware of the tough political position he has put himself and the PC Party in by backing Trudeau’s demonization of Freedom Convoy supporters over the past few weeks. 

New Blue Ontario MPP Belinda Karahalios, who Ford removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus for voting against Bill 195 (Reopening Ontario Act), went after Ford on Twitter pointing out how stage-managed Ford’s backpedaling on restrictions and mandates appears to be. 

If this sudden reversing of restrictions was all part of the plan it was one of the most well-kept secrets in Canada. The fact Ford is now leaning hard into the message about restrictions needing to end, contradicting his own rhetoric from just a few days ago, indicates this was not at all part of a grand plan.

Ford is basically having to denounce himself just to pretend he has any connection to the growing freedom movement in Canada. 

Of course, Ford is not reacting to having been finally convinced that the “science” he has been following on vaccines, passports, and other restrictions was wrong, he is reacting to the polls.

Doug Ford and the PC may still be in the lead but they would be foolish to not be concerned by the consistent rise in the “other” category which likely represents the New Blue Party of Ontario due to that new alternative conservative party having set up EDAs and picked candidates in almost every riding in Ontario. 

Ford’s issue currently is his reversal on COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates looks artificial to his increasingly alienated conservative base, so he may have trouble winning them back from the New Blue Party in the 2022 provincial election.