'If you think you're coming to collect the dole and sit around, not going to happen'
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has refused to apologise for his comments on immigration despite opposition parties calling him out on it. Ford made the controversial remarks on Monday, where he said that those who come to Canada should work their "tail off."
"You come here like every other new Canadian has come here, you work your tail off," Ford said, after he noted a problem on labour shortage. "If you think you're coming to collect the dole and sit around, not going to happen. Go somewhere else. You want to work, come here. We have so much work, we can't keep up with it right now.”
His comments drew criticism, particularly from opposition members who called him out online for his words. New Democratic People (NDP) party leader Andrea Horwath said Ford "chose to traffic in demeaning stereotypes about new Ontarians looking to build a better life for their families."
"He should apologise. But we've been here before. Sadly, this is who he is," she said, adding, “our diverse, welcoming province deserves better."
Today, Doug Ford chose to traffic in demeaning stereotypes about new Ontarians looking to build a better life for their families.
— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) October 18, 2021
He should apologize. But we've been here before. Sadly, this is who he is.
Our diverse, welcoming province deserves better. #ONpoli
Steven Del Duca, Ontario Liberal Party leader, said Ford's words were "deeply disappointing."
"This kind of divisive language is deeply disappointing,” he added. “A Premier is supposed to unite Ontarians, not wedge us further apart. 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.”
This kind of divisive language is deeply disappointing. A Premier is supposed to unite Ontarians, not wedge us further apart. 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. #onpoli https://t.co/BazfwLniyk
— Steven Del Duca (@StevenDelDuca) October 18, 2021
Read more: Ontario cracks down on worker exploitation
No apologies
The matter was later brought up on Question Period by NDP, but Ford refused to budge.
"I have been pro-immigration from day one," he stressed. "I was the only government who wrote letter after letter to the prime minister saying we need more people."
But his defence drew more criticism from Horwath, who said after the Question Session that Ford's words reflect his "pretty distasteful and inappropriate values and beliefs about immigrants."
"What he is doing is showing stereotypes of immigrants that create dislike, that create division, that create a situation where people assume that what the premier says is correct and it is not correct," she said as quoted by CTV News.
Del Duca also called Ford's words a "very outdated notion of the value of immigration."
"It was a very outdated and tired thing to say so I hope he apologises and we can move on," he was quoted as saying by CTV News.
