Ontario Premier Doug Ford has made a lot of tough decisions during the pandemic, some of them right, some of them wrong. The next decision he has to make should be easy, if unpleasant.
Finance Minister Rod Phillips has to be fired, not just for taking a Caribbean vacation while other Ontarians are locked down, but for the social media posting designed to deceive people into thinking Phillips was still in Ontario. His “Christmas Eve” fireside message on Twitter, so full of fake empathy for all those facing a virus-curtailed Christmas, is destined for the Hypocrisy Hall of Fame.
It’s #ChristmasEve. To my constituents in #Ajax & people across Ontario, all the best during this special time of year. Even as COVID-19 changes how we celebrate, we should reflect on what makes Christmas so special to us – including family & the act of giving. #MerryChristmas! pic.twitter.com/AX7hKWA88n
— Rod Phillips (@RodPhillips01) December 24, 2020
It’s too bad, because Phillips, the former chair of the board of Postmedia Network Inc., has been a strong finance minister, but he has lost the moral authority to lecture other Ontarians on the sacrifices they have to make when he is apparently not prepared to make any himself. His attempt to prevent people from knowing that he was on the beach in St. Barts suggests that Phillips knew the decision was wrong, but made it anyway.
Now, his political credibility is shot. As long as he stays in the second most important job in the Ford government, he will offer a daily reminder that Ford is asking Ontarians to constrain their lives dramatically, but the same rules don’t apply to the Ford team.
[Interesting Read]
Update 3:29am, January 1st, 2021:
(4) Rod Phillips resigns as Ontario finance minister following secret pandemic getaway
See Also:
(1) Enough with the more nonsensical restrictions
(2) Doug Ford tells his finance minister Rod Phillips to come home from the Caribbean
(3) Hundreds of thousands of travellers at Toronto Pearson to be tested for COVID-19 in early 2021
The days of blaming it on because of something in the water in Ontario are now officially over. Another tidbit from either the ‘you can’t make this shit up’ or the ‘you can’t fix stupid’ files. Your choice…
CBC News has learned that Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard spent time in Hawaii this month on a family vacation, despite direction from both the federal and provincial governments to avoid non-essential travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-minister-hawaii-vacation-1.5859031
Honesty should be the bedrock of your foundation, as it will define who you are. My prediction? This exposure will have nil effect on Phillips’ political asperations.
Rod’s St. Barts ruse had more planning than D-Day
Big. Audacious. Brazen. Bold. Blindly entitled.
The most disturbing thing about Phillips’ St. Barts vacation is the level of planning that went into the cover up. The level of detail in the deception from Phillips clearly shows that he, and those around him, wanted this well hidden from the public.
https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/rod-phillips-st-barts-ruse-had-more-planning-than-d-day
Ex-finance minister’s trip to Caribbean caps off year of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ from political leaders.
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/former-finance-ministers-trip-to-caribbean-caps-off-year-of-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do-from-political-leaders