A Canadian government official was forced to resign after posting a video showing him at home at the coronavirus closure, when he was actually on holiday in St. Louis. Barts.
Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips shared a Christmas Eve clip with a sweater, taking an egg in front of a fireplace and thanking Canadians for avoiding non-essential travel during the holidays.
“I want to thank each and every one of you for what we are doing to protect the most vulnerable,” Phillips said in the video.
Other posts on his Twitter account also suggested he was at home in snowy Ontario, including a Dec. 17 photo of him pouring Canadian gold syrup on panellets and one about visiting local businesses on Christmas Eve.
It turns out that Phillips had been to the Caribbean island of St. Louis. Barts, a playground preferred by the rich and famous, at least since Dec. 13, Newstalk 1010 first reported.
Opposition parties and health officials called for Phillips to be fired from the cabinet.
He was ordered to return to Ontario and Prime Minister Doug Ford promised to hold a “very tough conversation” with Phillips when he returned on Thursday.
Thursday later, Ford said it had accepted Phillips’ resignation
In a statement, Phillips said he regretted “deeply” taking the beach vacation.
“It was a mistake and I apologize,” he said, admitting, “I went on a personally paid trip to St Barts on Dec. 13 after the end of the legislative session.”
On Thursday, at Pearson Airport, he informed reporters that he had made a “stupid mistake” while making the trip, CBC reported.
“I make no excuses because I traveled when we shouldn’t have traveled.”
With publishing cables