Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and not surprisingly, Health Minister Christine Elliot, are rushing to defend Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, amid growing calls for the good doctor to be fired or resign.
Some critics claim that Williams has been too slow to react to the ever-changing information about COVID-19, but others feel that his pronouncements about how Ontario should respond to the virus are too heavily influenced by politics and not science.
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Dr. Williams’ guidance on the province’s back-to-school plan seems to be the most contentious issue.
Like so many other health care professionals, Dr. Williams has preached about social distancing and avoiding large gatherings as the best way to prohibit the spread of the virus.
Yet, he endorses the government plan to re-open schools with large class sizes and little, if no, social distancing.
That plan is totally contrary to his previous edicts and seemingly ignores some of the key guidelines issued by the Hospital For Sick Children for school re-openings.
None of us want to think that our health care policies are dictated by political influence instead of science and data, but the contrary messaging has caused a great deal of angst from concerned parents, and in these troubling times, that’s not what we need from our political and medical leaders.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.
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