Premier Doug Ford turfs MPP Roman Baber from Tory caucus for opposing COVID-19 lockdown | The Star

Fri., Jan. 15, 2021 timer 4 min. read

Another one bites the dust.

Premier Doug Ford has turfed MPP Roman Baber from the Progressive Conservative caucus for opposing the government’s COVID-19 lockdown measures.

“Effective immediately, Mr. Baber will no longer be sitting as a member of the PC caucus and will not be permitted to seek re-election as a PC member,” Ford said Friday.

The premier’s removal of a second MPP for criticizing his government’s COVID-19 response came just 101 minutes after Baber (York Centre) issued an open letter to him, warning “the medicine is killing the patient.”

In a two-page missive to Ford, the first-term member said it is time to act to salvage “the millions of lives and livelihoods ruined by Ontario’s public heath restrictions.”

“The lockdown isn’t working. It’s causing an avalanche of suicides, overdoses, bankruptcies, divorces and takes an immense toll on our children,” wrote Baber, a lawyer.

But Ford, who ejected Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios from the Tory caucus last July less than an hour after she voted against emergency pandemic legislation, said Baber’s “comments are irresponsible.”

“By spreading misinformation he is undermining the tireless efforts of our front-line health-care workers at this critical time, and he is putting people at risk. I will not jeopardize a single Ontarian’s life by ignoring public health advice,” the premier said.

“There is no room for political ideology in our fight against COVID-19 — rather, our response has been and will always be driven by evidence and data,” he said.

“Furthermore, Mr. Baber has put himself ahead of his PC caucus team, who have worked around the clock for months to support and protect the people of Ontario through this public health crisis.”

Baber’s letter comes the day after Ford officially returned Ontario to a second 28-day state of emergency because of rising COVID-19 infections.

That will keep most schools closed till at least mid-February.

More than 5,000 people — most of them elderly residents in long-term care homes — have died from the virus since March.

Before being ejected from caucus, Baber was one of about a dozen Tory MPPs, including some cabinet ministers who have privately expressed concern about the government’s strategy.

On Twitter, he said “it’s a regretful decision since many colleagues agree with me.”

Baber also told Newstalk 1010’s Jerry Agar that other Tory MPPs have shared “similar sentiments” about the lockdown strategy.

On Monday night, cabinet ministers spent almost five hours debating the measures Ford unveiled the next day and which took effect Thursday.

Indeed, veteran Conservatives privately confided to the Star that there is some dissension in the ranks over the handling of the pandemic.

“This really is a slap at the party base,” said one Tory, who, like others interviewed Friday, spoke on background out of fear of retribution from Ford.

Loading...

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“All Roman did was write a letter for heaven’s sake. We’re a party of divergent opinions,” said the stalwart.

Another PC insider insisted “there is widespread provincial party member concern that Ford is irreparably damaging the party.”

“All stick, no carrot,” said the long-time member.

Baber’s letter, which the government disputed with a four-page, point-by-point dissection of his arguments, said Ford should be only focusing on long-term care.

“The crisis is largely limited to long-term-care homes (LTC). With all LTC residents in ‘red zones’ to be vaccinated by Jan. 21, Ontario should end the lockdown and the catastrophic toll it’s causing Ontarians,” he said.

“‘Hot zones’ like Toronto and Peel have been in lockdown since Thanksgiving without success. But the lockdowns are objectively deadlier than COVID.”

Baber’s letter notes cancer screenings are only at 60 per cent capacity and that the opioid overdose rate is “trending 50 per cent above normal.”

But the government said overdose deaths have increased by 38 per cent since the start of the pandemic.

As well, Baber expressed alarm at Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) data suggesting more people are having “recent thoughts or feelings of suicide” and at concerns about eating disorders among young people.

The government, however, pointed out that the chief coroner’s office “has not observed an increase in the number of suicides that occurred from January 2020 to June 2020 when compared with data from recent years.”

Camille Quenneville, the CEO of the CMHA’s Ontario division, said the mental health advocacy organization “unequivocally support(s) provincial lockdown measures to protect the health and safety of Ontarians and to help ease the monumental burden our front-line health care workers are facing every day.”

“We are also in continual conversation with government officials about how the pandemic is impacting the mental health of Ontarians,” said Quenneville.

“People have become more stressed, worried, and depressed since the pandemic began. Substance use is also up and, tragically, opioid overdoses have increased at alarming levels,” she said, adding “the MPP has mischaracterized CMHA research.”

Quenneville said any increase in suicides is “due to the overall impact of the pandemic” not just the current lockdown.

Beyond the health crisis, Baber’s letter notes business shutdowns and rising unemployment as well as the “stay home” order are also taking a toll.

“The government is criminalizing normal human behaviour and putting law-abiding Ontarians in legal jeopardy,” he said.

Independent MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston), who was removed from the PC caucus in 2019, praised Baber for “speaking truthfully about the harms of lockdowns” and how Ford “is misrepresenting the risk.”

is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: