Ontario Premier Doug Ford refuses to apologize for comments about immigration
Ontario Premier Doug Ford refused to apologize for comments he made about immigrants coming to the province “to collect the dole,” instead saying that he is “pro immigration.”
Speaking to reporters in Tecumseh, Ont. on Monday, Ford said there was a labour shortage in the province and urged people to come to Ontario to work.
“We’re in such desperate need of people from around the world,” he said.
But then the premier specified that he only wanted “hard-working” people to come to Ontario.
“You come here like every other new Canadian. You work your tail off," Ford said. "If you think you're coming to collect the dole and sit around, it’s not going to happen. Go somewhere else.”
‘Collecting the dole’ is a term used in some countries to refer to receiving unemployment benefits.
Shortly after the comments were made, some Ontario politicians spoke out and demanded Ford apologize for the “divisive” remarks.
“A premier is supposed to unite Ontarians, not wedge us further apart,” Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said on Twitter. “As a son of immigrants, I know first-hand how people like my parents helped to build Ontario. Doug Ford should apologize for his callous comments.”
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the comments echoed “demeaning stereotypes” associated with immigrants while Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said that to suggest newcomers are not hard workers “is inexcusable.”
While in Question Period on Tuesday, Ford was asked by the NDP to apologize for the “discriminatory” comments. He did not do so and instead used the opportunity to say he is “pro immigration.”
“I have been pro immigration from day one,” he said. “We are short 290,000 people. I was the only government who wrote letter after letter to the prime minister saying we need more people.”
“All you have to do is come to a ‘Ford Fest’ and you’ll see the support from people around the world,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Ontario’s health minister said that she did not think Ford had to apologize for the comments.
“I don’t think it’s necessary because what the premier was actually saying is that we need more immigrants in Ontario. We have lots of work,” she said at a news conference. “We know that when people come here they do work hard, they provide for themselves and their families, they contribute largely to our communities and we need more people in Ontario. That’s what the premier was indicating yesterday.”
Elliott emphasized that the premier was not saying that immigrants are not hard workers, but rather “his expectation is when people come here that they will work and we know they are working.”
‘IT WAS A VERY OUTDATED AND TIRED THING TO SAY’
Speaking after Question Period, Horwath said that Ford’s response proves the premier has “some pretty distasteful and inappropriate values and beliefs about immigrants.”
"What he is doing is showing stereotypes of immigrants that create dislike, that create division, that create a situation where people assume that what the premier says is correct and it is not correct,” Horwath told reporters.
“He can parse his words all he wants but a premier that speaks with such ignorance about who it is that built our entire province. We are a province and country of immigrants."
Del Duca, meanwhile, said that he wants to give Ford the benefit of the doubt, saying that “at the very least the language was poorly chosen.”
"I think what he said was incredibly hurtful to lots of Ontarians. I think at the very least it shows a very outdated notion of the value of immigration,” he said. "It was a very outdated and tired thing to say so I hope he apologizes and we can move on."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.