Premier Doug Ford’s visit to Simcoe County today didn't include a visit to local beaches, despite a personal invitation from Barrie’s mayor just under a month ago following Ford's pointed comments directed at the city.
On July 24, the premier called out the cities of Barrie and Orillia for what he referred to as “price gouging” and "disgusting" when asked about his thoughts on the municipalities increasing their parking fees at local beaches to dissuade out-of-towners from using them during the pandemic.
“I can’t stand when companies or governments take advantage of people in a crisis,” Ford said at the July 24 news conference. “People can barely put food on their tables, they can barely pay their rent, barely pay their mortgage. People are barely holding on by their fingertips and some municipal government wants to gouge you? It’s disgusting, in my opinion."
Those comments created a lot of waves in both Barrie and Orillia, leading to a sharp retort from Mayor Jeff Lehman and a series of Tweets from Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke.
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— Steve Clarke (@Clarke4Orillia) July 24, 2020
I agree with @fordnation that price gouging is an egregious activity + should be dealt with strongly! I also believe that the Premier made those comments without having the context of what we are experiencing in @cityoforillia, @cityofbarrie + @simcoecounty.
"Perhaps the premier is not aware of the overcrowding problem on Barrie and Simcoe County beaches that has resulted partly from the province’s decision to proceed with a phased reopening," Lehman said at the time. "Otherwise, he would have understood that the parking prices are not an attempt to profit, but an attempt to deal with the lack of distancing and overcrowding we have seen, as well as help recoup some of the costs associated with these problems."
However, Ford stood by his previous comments today during a stop in Oro-Medonte Township.
"My point was that a lot of small businesses are really hurting, a lot of restaurants. I fully understand the capacity issues," Ford told reporters. "There's always a way to work around it rather than charge $50 for parking. We want to work with all the municipalities like we have been and support them any way we can."
Clarke did not want to wade into the fray, but said he was "all ears" if Ford had a better idea than charging non-residents for parking. He reitereated it wasn't a cash grab, but rather a way to dissuade people from outside the region from potentially spreading the coronavirus.Ford was asked if he had spoken to Lehman since he made his comments last month.
"I haven't spoken to the mayor, but he's doing a really good job," Ford said Thursday afternoon during another stop in Oro-Medonte Township at Molded Precision Components. "Everyone up here is doing a good job."
And that is borne out by the numbers, he noted.
"The numbers are stable," Ford said. "The whole province is doing a good job. We want to be under 100 (new cases each day). That's the goal for the province to suppress the virus as best we can."
Earlier today, the province confirmed 76 new COVID cases, which is the lowest total since Aug. 11 when 57 new cases were reported by provincial health officials.
During the month of August, there have been 13 days with fewer than 100 new cases in Ontario.
- With files from Dave Dawson
