Premier Doug Ford refuses to apologize for comments he made earlier this week about immigrants that opposition leaders and commentators described as racist and divisive.
Ford told a news conference in Tecumseh, Ont., on Monday that with a labour shortage in the province, immigrants were not only welcome, but needed.
He continued by setting out his conditions.
“You come here like every other new Canadian,” he said. “You work your tail off. If you think you’re coming to collect the dole and sit around, it’s not going to happen. Go somewhere else.”
Gabi Hentschke, an International student in Humber College’s International Development program, said Ford should have acknowledged his mistake in suggesting immigrants were somehow scheming their way to a free ride.
“I think that he should’ve apologized for his comments, which would’ve made everyone forgive and move on from this controversy,” she said. “But he didn’t and only made matter worse.
“I’m pretty sure that he will lose some support leading up to the next provincial election,” she said.
New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said on Twitter that is trafficking in “demeaning stereotypes about new Ontarians” who are trying to build a better life for their families.
“He should apologize,” Horwath said. “But we’ve been here before. Sadly, this is who he is. Our diverse, welcoming province deserves better.”
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said such “divisive language is deeply disappointing.”
“A premier is supposed to unite Ontarians, not wedge us further apart,” he said. “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.”
Ford’s news conference was to promote a new Windsor-Essex hospital, where he talked about the labour shortage.
Health Minister Christine Elliott, who is also the deputy premier, defended her boss.
“What the premier was saying is that we need more immigrants in Ontario. We have lots of work,” she told 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,” she said. “That’s what the premier was indicating yesterday.”
As for Ford, he told the legislature on Tuesday “I have been pro-immigration from day one.
“All you have to do is come to a ‘Ford Fest’, and you’ll see the support from people around the world,” he said, referring to the annual summer barbeque his family hosted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NDP MPP Doly Begum also called on Ford to apologize, saying his comments were offensive to families like hers who immigrated to Canada for a better future.
Horwath continued to criticize Ford’s remarks on Tuesday.
“What he is doing is showing stereotypes of immigrants that create dislike, that create division, that creates a situation where people assume that what the premier says is correct and it is not correct,” Horwath said.
The provincial election will take place on June 22 next year.