Cautious Premier Ford sticking to June 14 timeline

By Richard Southern

Premier Doug Ford signaled Friday it’s unlikely that Ontarians will be enjoying a drink on a patio or shopping in non-essential retail before June 14.

Vaccination rates in Ontario are now in excess of 65 per cent, beyond where the province said they needed to be for step one of the reopening plan to kick in.

When asked by 680NEWS if the reopening would be sped up, Ford said, “We’re going to work closely on the guidelines and that was June the 14.”

“We’re going to be opening up but we’re going to be opening up cautiously and carefully … because I do not want to happen what happened before and all of a sudden, the cases go up,” added Ford.

Ford said that it wasn’t just vaccination rates that the government is looking at to determine the reopening timeline but also ICU capacity and positivity rates.

The premier was equally as cautious when asked about resuming in-person learning.

He defended his move to seek further consensus on the matter. Ford sent a letter to doctors, scientists, teachers and unions asking for their input on a school reopening on Thursday.


RELATED: Ontario three-step reopening plan to begin June 14; golf and tennis to resume Saturday


“If it takes a couple extra days, so be it. This is a massive decision. this is a decision that’s going to affect every single person in Ontario.”

“I want to make sure, looking forward, that we’re able to get the kids in camp. I want to look forward to make sure we have a great September for the kids to go back into school,” said Ford.

As cautious as the premier was, he ended his first media availability in more than a week by trying to strike a positive note

“We want the kids in camp at the beginning of July, so just hang in there, everyone is doing great.”

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