Stark. Sobering. Wake-up call.
Those were the words used by Premier Doug Ford Thursday to describe the news that’s coming to Ontarians and the country tomorrow.
“I can’t sleep at nights thinking I have something and I’m not being transparent, I can’t do that to people,” he said. “I just have to be upfront with them.”
After saying the day before that he didn’t want to prompt panic by releasing the internal projections of how dire the outbreak could be for Ontario, Ford said the numbers would come out Friday.
“Many people will find this information hard to hear,” he said, which is why the news came with an announcement of $12 million to expand online health supports, for programs such as Kids Help Line and Bounce Back.
Ford said the projections would include various scenarios, including what could happen if self-isolation and social distancing measures aren’t adhered to.
"You deserve to know what I know," he said.
The move represents a shift not only from Ford a day before, but also the federal government.
But Justin Trudeau himself signalled earlier in the day that news could be coming, indicating that modeling would be discussed in the upcoming conference call with premiers.
However, Trudeau said it would be a matter of days, unlike Ford who made the decision to release on the very next one.
“By no means would I break ranks with any of the premiers or the prime minister, that’s just going to be up to the prime minister to make a decision on when he wants to release any of the modeling that he is seeing,” he said.
Ford also didn’t wait for reporters to ask why he was making the decision to release the data now, saying it was because his medical officers of health needed more information regarding travellers coming home from abroad, such as snowbirds.
He said releasing the projections days ago would not have been as accurate.
He said while he’s confident the people of Ontario will be able to process the information, such as new immigrants who have seen stark circumstances in the places they’ve fled, perhaps Friday will be a signal to those who have not been following social distancing guidelines.
“That will be a real wake-up call to folks, that we don’t want to see the beaches and the parks packed,” he said.
Mayor John Tory also announced more strict fines for people who don’t adhere to the rules, including a fine of up to $5,000 for people who fail to keep two metres of distance between them in a park or public square, (there’s an exception for those that live together.)
As for a possible shutdown, Ford reiterated that everything is on the table when it comes to further measures and that a new revised list of essential businesses will be released soon.
He also signalled to a strategy he’ll explore once this is over around manufacturing, specifically that he never wants to depend on protective personal equipment coming from global sources again.
But that’s for down the road and Friday is a big day.