The Ontario premier’s spokesperson says Doug Ford and his family haven’t been able to get into their house for most of the weekend or Monday due to anti-vaccine protesters outside their home.
Ivana Yelich, director of media relations for Ford, put out a tweet making the claim late on Monday.
Her tweet was in response to another tweet from an account called “Ont. Liberal Party War Room.”
The account had posted a TikTok video in which a woman can be seen inside a car pointing a cellphone camera towards a man in the driver’s seat who asks the premier, “Heading to the cottage?”
The camera points back towards Ford, who is wearing a Warriors football sweater and a mask, and replies: “Yeah, going to the cottage, yeah” at the same time the man interrupts, “For the next lockdown?”
The woman then looks at Ford and says, “That’s fun.”
The video ends immediately after her comment and is only seven seconds long. No other context was provided.
The video is then paired with a comment from the “Ont. Liberal Party War Room” that says “@fordnation has said we’re in war against Omicron. If that’s the case, it would be awfully problematic if the premier went off to his cottage while Ontarians struggle to get boosters and rapid tests. Maybe it’s the reason he won’t recall the legislature?”
Meanwhile, Toronto police told Global News officers were called to the residential area of Ford’s home on Monday to “ensure safety and to keep the peace.”
“While we recognize that everyone has the right to protest, one woman was arrested at the scene for obstruct after breaching a barricade and not complying with police,” a Toronto police spokesperson said. “She was then cautioned and released.”
Police said there were no other issues reported.
Yelich responded to Global News about the incident and said the Ford family, along with neighbours, have experienced regular protesting outside of their homes since the start of the pandemic.
“A large group of loud and disruptive protesters were camped outside his home again this weekend, disturbing his neighbours and blocking his family from entering their house,” Yelich said.
“These petty tactics have no impact on this government’s resolve to do the right thing in order to protect the people of Ontario,” she continued. “The only thing these people are doing is targeting and harassing innocent neighbours and family members who have nothing to do with the government’s decision-making.
“Furthermore, it’s taking much-needed resources away from police,” she said, adding that demonstrators should protest at Queen’s Park and not outside private residences.
Last week, it was also reported Ontario’s Health Minister Christine Elliott had protests outside her home.
The social media post comes as Ford recently imposed new restrictions that include a 50 per cent capacity for most businesses to curb the spread of the new variant Omicron, which has taken hold of the province in a short time.
There has also been a surge in people looking for booster shots as eligibility expanded on Monday due to the resurgence of positive COVID-19 cases and as people try to secure free rapid tests and book PCR tests ahead of the holidays.
Over the last three days, there were 3,453 new cases reported Tuesday, 3,784 cases on Monday, and 4,177 on Sunday..
The Ontario COVID-19 Science Table, a panel of doctors who advise the provincial government, noted on its dashboard that Omicron now accounts for at least 88 per cent of all positive cases, up from Friday when it was around 50 per cent.