THUNDER BAY – Ontario Premier Doug Ford has accused a Northwestern Ontario MPP of queue jumping to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Kiiwetinoong’s NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa was speaking on Thursday at Queen’s Park about the delays faced by urban Indigenous people in getting the vaccine, asking the province to produce a plan to vaccinate those living in cities like Toronto and Thunder Bay.
“Indigenous communities are not happy as punch when we talk about this pandemic,” Mamakwa said, echoing earlier words from Ford, who was describing the government’s $37-million COVID-19 relief efforts with Ontario’s Indigenous population.
“We know Indigenous people are over-represented in correctional facilities and living without homes in urban areas. There have been outbreaks in remote First Nations and among urban, Indigenous people, due to incarcerated Indigenous community members having COVID-19 upon release.”
Mamakwa said it should be a critical priority for these groups to be vaccinated.
Ford said those groups were one of his government’s highest priorities.
“Not only did ORNGE fly in, but the member (Mamakwa) flew in to get his vaccine. So thank you for doing that and kind of jumping the line, as I’ve talked to a few chiefs that were pretty upset about that, for flying into a community where he doesn’t belong,” Ford said.
“But that neither here nor there.”
Mamakwa received his first vaccine on Feb. 1, after being invited to Muskrat Dam First Nation specifically to get his shot, as a way of encouraging reluctant members of the Northern community to sign up to be vaccinated.
“It is extremely important for our communities, our elders, and our residents to take this vaccine. I want First Nations families to know: I trust in the science.
“The vaccine is safe. It is used as a shield against the virus. As more of us get vaccinated, the end of this pandemic will be in sight. With the vaccine, we will be protecting ourselves, our languages and our traditions to thrive for future generations,” Mamakwa said at the time.
