Premiers Doug Ford and Quebec’s Francois Legault meet in Mississauga to discuss COVID-19 recovery and second wave preparations

Thestar.com
Sept. 9, 2020
Robert Benzie

Amid mounting concerns of a second wave of COVID-19 with an uptick of new cases, the premiers of Canada’s two most populous provinces are convening with their senior ministers.

Premier Doug Ford and Quebec’s Francois Legault will hold a summit Wednesday at the Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel in Mississauga to discuss plans for the economy recovery -- and to gird for a reprise of the pandemic.

“We’re going to have a great discussion,” Ford, who has been taking French lessons twice a week, said Tuesday before a private dinner with Legault and their spouses.

“If you add up our population and Quebec’s, we’re well over 60 some odd percent of the overall population and we have a loud voice when it comes to dealing with the federal government,” the Ontarian said.

But Ford, whose Progressive Conservatives have worked closely with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals throughout the COVID-19 crisis, stressed Wednesday’s summit shouldn’t be a gang tackle of Ottawa.

“I’ve always said right from the beginning -- and I’ve mentioned this to the prime minister (and) deputy prime minister (Chrystia Freeland) let’s focus on the things we can agree on,” the premier said.

“There’s going to be a lot of things we can’t agree on. It’s very simple. It doesn’t have to be personal, it doesn’t have to be attacking each other, we’re just not going to agree on it and that’s fine,” he said.

“But there’s so many other things we can agree on, that we can work collectively together and be collaborative with each other and I think that outweighs the negatives.”

The two premiers plan to compare notes on what they have learned since coronavirus hit in March, including the need for adequate domestic capacity to manufacture personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other medical gear.

Quebec has been by far the hardest hit province by COVID-19 followed by Ontario. Together, the two provinces account for about 94 per cent of Canada’s more than 9,100 deaths.

With a population of 8.5 million, Quebec has suffered 5,800 deaths. Montreal alone has has had about 3,500 coronavirus fatalities, a staggering amount in a city of 1.8 million.

By comparison, Ontario, which has a population of 14.5 million, has had more than 2,800 COVID-19 deaths. Toronto, with 3 million people, has suffered about 1,200 deaths from the virus.

In terms of economic impact, 1.2 million Ontarians lost their jobs due to the pandemic compared with 450,000 Quebecers, though both have seen employment begin to bounce back in recent months.

Legault said last week that it is crucial for Quebec and Ontario to lead the Canadian recovery.

“Over the past few months, we have shown great solidarity as we have had to manage an unprecedented crisis,” the Quebecer said.

“We have a lot to learn from each other and collaboration between our governments will remain critical as we strive to recover our economies safely while preparing ourselves for a potential second wave,” he said.