Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford admitted on Wednesday that he had known for two weeks that his finance minister, Rod Phillips, traveled to the Caribbean on vacation despite a coronavirus block. While in St. Barts, Phillips shared a video message on Christmas Eve of himself by the fireplace with a gingerbread house beside him. The video seemed to show Phillips in a place that was decidedly not the Caribbean, leading some to suggest that he had strategically posted the photo to get the audience out of his wake and hide where he really was.
On Tuesday, Ford ordered Phillips to return home immediately. But he has since admitted that he knew about Phillips’ travels two weeks ago, well before the story of his trip became widely known on Tuesday. Ford, who called the St. Barts trip “completely unacceptable”, said he will have a “difficult conversation” with Phillips after his return, although Phillips is required to be quarantined for 14 days. “I am deeply sorry to have traveled on vacation,” Ford said in a statement. “It was a mistake and I apologize.” Some of Phillips’ colleagues called for the legislator to be fired for the incident.
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