Ontario Premier Doug Ford admitted during a public appearance on Thursday that the government made rash decisions to implement Draconian lockdown measures that have led to abuse, a report says.
The 56 year-old Premier explained that such measures were in response to an "extremely troubling modeling that told us we could see well over 15,000 cases a day," causing them to order stricter measures to "reduce mobility," but later realizing that "we moved too fast" and that " some of those measures-especially around enforcement-they went too far."
"Simply put, we got it wrong. We made a mistake. These decisions, they left a lot of people very concerned. In fact, they left a lot of people angry and upset," Premier Ford admitted tearfully, Faithwire reported. "I know we got it wrong. I know we made a mistake. And for that, I'm sorry and I sincerely apologize."
On April 16, the Ontario Premier ordered for a two-week extension of the stay-at-home order, resulting in a total of six weeks, Yahoo! News reported. At the time, Premier Ford said, "The reality is, there are few options left. The difficult truth is, every public health measure we have left comes with a massive cost to people and their lives."
The renewed Draconian lockdown measures, which were made effective April 17, limited outdoor gatherings to one's immediate household only, halted all non-essential construction projects, restricted all outdoor recreational amenities, and reduced big-box retailer capacity to 25%.
On April 19, additional measures were put into place. Attendants at places of worship, weddings and funerals were only limited to a maximum of 10 whether indoors or outdoors, and checkpoints were installed at all interprovincial borders, limiting the flow of people between Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec, except for essential workers.
The renewed Draconian lockdown measures have led authorities to target places of worship. In a Facebook post, Faytene TV reported that Ontario police forcibly entered the Life Church in Muskoka, ordering ministry leaders to end worship service and close down despite the congregation complying with the 15% capacity limit.
This past Sunday, the Ontario Police (O.P.P.) forcibly entered a church in Muskoka by a back door leading to a children'...
Posted by Faytene TV on Wednesday, April 21, 2021
The Draconian lockdown measures also enabled Ontario police to randomly ask citizens on the street as to why they are outdoors, demand for their addresses and force them to return home and comply with the health orders.
Police also reportedly began aggressively policing citizens, some as young as 12 years old. Rebel News reported that in Gravenhurst, Ontario, a 12 year-old boy was shoved off his scooter by an officer who was enforcing the Draconian lockdown measures.
According to the National Post, over 60% of Ontario citizens now disapprove of Premier Ford's response to the increase of COVID-19 cases in the area. A Maru Public Opinion (MPO) poll that was released on Thursday found that the Ontario Premier's approval rating had fallen 13 points since March, coming down to just 35%.
John Wright, executive vice-president of MPO, criticized the Ontario Premier's leadership, saying that there's "no plan-it's all reaction."
