Tory MPP Roman Baber breaks ranks with Ford, urges end to COVID-19 lockdown

Another one bites the dust.

Premier Doug Ford has turfed MPP Roman Baber from the Progressive Conservative caucus for opposing the government’s COVID-19 lockdown measures.

“Effective immediately, Mr. Baber will no longer be sitting as a member of the PC caucus and will not be permitted to seek re-election as a PC member,” Ford said Friday.

The premier’s move came just 101 minutes after Baber (York Centre) issued an open letter to him, warning “the medicine is killing the patient.”

In a two-page missive to Ford, the MPP said it is time to act to salvage “the millions of lives and livelihoods ruined by Ontario’s public heath restrictions.”

“The lockdown isn’t working. It’s causing an avalanche of suicides, overdoses, bankruptcies, divorces and takes an immense toll on our children,” wrote Baber, a lawyer.

But Ford, who removed Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios from the Tory caucus last July for voting against emergency pandemic legislation, said Baber’s “comments are irresponsible.”

“By spreading misinformation he is undermining the tireless efforts of our frontline health care workers at this critical time, and he is putting people at risk. I will not jeopardize a single Ontarian’s life by ignoring public health advice,” the premier said.

“There is no room for political ideology in our fight against COVID-19 — rather, our response has been and will always be driven by evidence and data,” he said.

“Furthermore, Mr. Baber has put himself ahead of his PC Caucus team, who have worked around the clock for months to support and protect the people of Ontario through this public health crisis.”

Baber’s letter comes the day after Ford returned Ontario to a second 28-day state of emergency because of rising COVID-19 infections.

That will keep most schools closed till at least mid-February.

More than 5,000 people — most of them elderly residents in long-term care homes — have died from the virus since March.

Before being ejected from caucus, Baber was one of about a dozen Tory MPPs, including some cabinet ministers who have privately expressed concern about the government’s strategy.

On Twitter, he said “it’s a regretful decision since many colleagues agree with me.”

Baber also told Newstalk 1010’s Jerry Agar that other Tory MPPs have shared “similar sentiments” about the effects of the lockdown.

Now an Independent MPP, he said Ford should be focusing on long-term care.

“The crisis is largely limited to long-term care homes (LTC). With all LTC residents in ‘red zones’ to be vaccinated by Jan. 21, Ontario should end the Lockdown and the catastrophic toll it’s causing Ontarians,” he said.

“‘Hot zones’ like Toronto and Peel have been in lockdown since Thanksgiving without success. But the lockdowns are objectively deadlier than COVID.”

Baber’s letter notes cancer screenings are only at 60 per cent capacity and that the opioid overdose rate is “trending 50 per cent above normal.”

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“The growth in the number of Ontarians who died of overdose in 2020, may be higher than the number of people who died from Covid outside LTC,” he said.

As well, the MPP expressed alarm at Canadian Mental Health Association data suggesting more people are having “recent thoughts or feelings of suicide” and at concerns about eating disorders among young people.

Beyond the health crisis, Baber notes business shutdowns and rising unemployment as well as the “stay home” order are taking also taking a toll.

“The government is criminalizing normal human behaviour and putting law abiding Ontarians in legal jeopardy,” he said.

“Ending the lockdown is the best thing we can do for the health of Ontarians” said MPP Baber.

Independent MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston), who was removed from the PC caucus in 2019, praised Baber for “speaking truthfully about the harms of lockdowns” and how Ford “is mispresenting the risk.”

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie