Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown condemned the Ontario government on Tuesday for bringing back more lockdown restrictions.
Brown said in an interview on Toronto Today with Greg Brady on AM 640 that the latest measures are disappointing and nonsensical.
“I sort of feel like we’re in the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ where we’re making the same mistakes over and over and over again despite the fact that the science and the data is clear,” said Brown. “You know, you look at all of the research about COVID-19 and there are correlations with severe outcomes along with obesity and age.”
According to Brown, closing recreational facilities will make it more difficult to foster the healthy lifestyles that would prevent COVID-19 in the first place.
Brown said he had encouraged people to be vaccinated because it was supposed to allow life to return to normal. He said he is confused about why there are vaccine requirements if people cannot go to recreation centres and restaurants.
Brown went on to say that lockdown measures would lead to vaccine hesitancy. They are also, he said, an equity issue because people who do not have backyards or equipment cannot exercise without facilities.
Brown said he has not seen any movement from the provinces or the feds to increase ICU capacity. He said that part of the problem of the COVID-19 pandemic is that Canada has among the fewest acute care beds per capita in the developed world, and steps should have been taken to expand them.
Brown announced Wednesday that Brampton would be working to offer more ways for residents to be active while gyms and recreation facilities are shut down.
He said the city would extend the hours of operation of many city-run rinks in the next few weeks and would be holding outdoor activities such as instructor-led hikes. In addition, Brampton would be doing more maintenance on some of the outdoor trails, and snow would be cleared from the city’s 100 outdoor sports fields.
Another politician who has recently criticized Ontario’s lockdown measures is Conservative MP Dean Allison.
“Another lockdown will destroy what has not already been destroyed with lockdowns previously,” said Allison in a tweet. “So much for two weeks to flatten the curve!”
