York Centre MPP removed from caucus after saying lockdown is “deadlier than COVID”

Premier Doug Ford has removed the PC MPP for York Centre from his caucus, after he released a two-page open letter calling on the province to end the lockdown, saying it is “deadlier than COVID.”

In the letter, Roman Baber claims Ontario’s hospital and ICU capacity are actually better than in the last three years.

Lockdowns are deadlier than Covid. I wrote a respectful letter to Premier Ford, asking to end the Lockdown. Look @ the data -the virus is real but the crisis is mostly in LTC. Let's focus on LTC & hospital capacity, but ending the Lockdown is best for our health.#onpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/IIuvB7OXQo

— Roman Baber (@Roman_Baber) January 15, 2021

Baber says the crisis is largely limited to long-term care homes and with all LTC residents in the province’s hot zones scheduled to be vaccinated by January 21st, he says there’s much less justification for the lockdown.

He also writes the lockdown is having catastrophic effects on children.

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RELATED: Stay-at-home order now in effect across Ontario

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Baber finishes his letter by saying the lockdowns aren’t working, they’re killing lives instead of saving lives.

Ford released a statement Friday morning, saying 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.

“I am the first to recognize that COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people,” Ford said.

“However, as Premier, my number one priority is the health and safety of all Ontarians. We must respect the advice and recommendations of public health officials and the Chief Medical Officer of Health.”

“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. 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,” the statement reads.

Deputy premier and Ontario’s health minister, Christine Elliott says she and the Ford government were caught off guard.

“I knew that he wasn’t completely happy with what we were doing but I certainly never anticipated that he would come forward publicly like this,” Elliott told 680 NEWS.

“His [actions] disrespect families that have lost a loved one.”

Doctors have been taking to Twitter responding to Baber’s letter and correcting data he included, saying it contains massively incorrect fatality rates, including the comment that ICU capacity in Ontario hospitals is better than it has been in the last three years.

The province says, the reality is, more than half of the ICU’s are full or only have one or two beds left.

Dr. Abe Oudshoorn said when it comes to deaths of people above 70 years old, Baber claims the fatalities are around 0.5 percent – but that is off by 100-fold, and should read 5.4 percent.

“This letter contains massively incorrect infection fatality rates, should be flagged to Twitter as covid misinformation and taken down,” Oudshoorn said.

The province now also releasing an ‘MPP Baber fact sheet’ debunking a lot of what was included in the letter – including the mortality rate – calling on Baber to apologize to families who have lost loved ones, and the fact Ontario has a total of 228 hospitals, instead of 492.

Baber defended his stance on the matter, saying, “It’s a regretful decision since many colleagues agree with me, including Ford, in large part. I don’t regret speaking out for millions of lives & livelihoods decimated by Public Health, I serve the public,” he tweeted.

“The Lockdown is grounded in false public health narrative, poor planning & bad data. While Doug only cares about re-election, Lockdowns are killing more than saving. I couldn’t watch the suffering anymore. I hope I encouraged other professionals to speak out.”

People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier also supported Baber’s theory.

“Another courageous Ontario MPP [Roman Baber] is being kicked out of his party for telling the truth about the deadly consequences of lockdowns,” Bernier said.

Ford is encouraging Ontarians to stay home in an effort to stop the spread of the virus, “we have bent the curve before and, working together, we will do it again.”