Lockdown's. restrictions and our MPP

Jeff Green | Nov 04, 2020

Lanark Frontenac Kingston MPP Randy Hillier has been carrying on a campaign against the restrictions that are in place in Ontario as part of a society wide attempt to keep the COVID-19 pandemic from infecting the general population.

In Mr. Hillier's view, and that of a group of people, experts and so-called experts from a wide variety of medical backgrounds, the social and economic cost of preventing COVID-19 from spreading is too great.

He is entitled to his opinion and is making use of his right to express it through whatever means he is able, including traditional media and social media. He has 17,000 Twitter followers and he regularly posts and re-posts content on his site.

All of that is well and good.

Some of his focus is on the actions being taken by the Ford government, which he was a part of until he was removed from caucus 18 months ago. He is now representing our riding as an independent conservative MPP, taking on a critic role from the right as a counterpoint to the cirticism regularly leveled against government policy from the left by the NDP and its leader, Andrea Horwath.

While Horwath has argued for long term care reform and extra spending to create more social distancing in schools, Hillier has been saying that forcing restaurants and bars to close in some locations is a mistake.

But he has been saying more than that. He has been saying that the requirements for mask wearing in indoor public spaces, indeed even recommendations that masks be worn, are not only unnecessary but are a human rights infringement.

“If someone wants to wear a mask because they are afraid of COVID-19, they have a right to do so,” he said in the spring. I don't share that fear, so why should I be forced to wear a mask.”

He also has conflated all public restrictions on commerce with a 'lockdown', and has used the effectiveness of public measures in his riding, the province and the country as a whole, as proof that concerns over the potential implications of COVID-19 have been overblown. He has even questioned whether it is indeed COVID-19 that is responsible for the deaths that have been attributed to it.

There are indeed very legitimate questions about the various responses to COVID-19.

As MPP Hillier has very recently publicised, the Medical Officer of Health in Ottawa, Dr. Vera Etches, said this week that measures such as restaurant and bar closure may be misguided, but Hillier uses this debate about calibrating the public response as an argument for not response at all, a wild west approach.

Again, he has the right to his opinion. As our elected MPP, however, he might consider exercising some caution.

After the caseload in Ontario from COVID-19, in the height of our second wave, is better than 49 of 51 US states, and is better than the vast majority of European countries.

In our own region, the case load is better than the rest of Ontario, and the rest of Canada as well. Only the Maritime Provinces have rates that are similar to those in Lanark Frontenac Kingston.

And for that reason we have been able to keep to the stage 3 re-opening plan and while many of our businesses are hurting and need support, we are moving forward.

It has been a balancing act for everyone; individuals, families, businesses, public and healthcare institutions, and governments alike, between keeping the virus at bay and continuing to live our social and economic lives in a normal fashion.

Mistakes have been made, and the Ford government has used the pandemic as cover for some dangerous legislation, in terms of environmental protections and democratic reform to site two cases.

Our MPP, who finds himself in a position as a critic of his former leader, has embarked on a crusade that does not reflect the lived reality of his constituents.

Perhaps he should consider resigning to devote all of his energy to his COVID denial project?