Doug Ford admits lockdown measures have caused huge division in his family
Many Ontarians aren't the most pleased with how the provincial government has handled lockdown restrictions over the last two years, but it seems no one is more displeased with some of Premier Doug Ford and his team's choices than Ford's own daughter, Krista.
The eldest of four, the 30-year-old has long made public her opposition to masks and other lockdown restrictions imposed by her father, up to and including her participation in the ongoing Freedom Convoy that the premier invoked a state of emergency last week to bring to a halt.
Krista has amassed quite the following for her vocal stance on such topics, and takes to platforms like Instagram regularly to go on video rants spouting her beliefs, to Ford's chagrin.
She also posted a number of photos of herself cheering on the trucker convoy, on which at least one of her sister's posted hearts in support.
Though he has not directly addressed his and daughters' differences in opinions on such important matters, the premier did make a comment in his latest press conference that alludes to the discord that his family, like many, has faced during this divisive, high-tension time.
Doug Ford says the pandemic has been “one of the hardest things his family has ever gone through.” Ford’s daughter Krista Ford Haynes has been a vocal critic of lockdowns. pic.twitter.com/8392jR73xY
— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) February 14, 2022
"This period has been one of the most divisive times in our history, and one of the hardest things about this...is the way it's fractured us as a society. Differing views about government policies, the limits of personal freedoms, vaccines, public health measures and what steps are necessary; all of it has polarized us in a way that we could have never imagined," Ford, who has perhaps been less conservative than his fans would have liked through all of this, said on Monday.
"I've experienced this in my own family, it's been one of the hardest things that my family and I have ever gone through."
Thankfully for the premier, his daughters, and others who have contended the latest spate of lockdown restrictions, the province is indeed expediting its reopening timeline, as Ford stated in his same presser this morning.
Capacity limits in most public indoor settings will be ditched as of Feb. 17 before all businesses can remove caps — as well as the controversial proof-of-vax requirement — on March 1, along with other changes.
The announcement came just hours after Krista Ford shared a graphic on Instagram likening such directives as Ontario's vax passport, imposed under her father's leadership, to slavery and the Holocaust.
Just a few days ago, she also offered tips on how to bypass mask rules that her father mandated provincewide in fall 2020, and that he called "an important layer of protection that will allow us to proceed with our reopening plan safely."
Premier Doug Ford’s daughter, Krista then continued to show her followers how to hack the mask mandate by buying the ineffective “mingle masks”.
— blogTO (@blogTO) February 9, 2022
Krista Ford Haynes says even the clear masks make her dizzy. #ONpoli #DougFord #FordNation #KristaFord #MaskMandates #MingleMasks pic.twitter.com/m9XOqyt6gL
"I can still take comfort in knowing that there remains so much that unites us. There's so much that still holds us together and I take comfort in knowing that this awful pandemic will soon be behind us," Ford continued during his briefing, speaking of both his own family and citizens in general.
"And as hard as this period has been, time will heal this pain and we will come out of the other end of this ordeal stronger, more resilient and more united as Canadians."
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