Ottawa's Mayor Was 'Blindsided' By Ontario's Shutdown & Says Facts Don't Support It

He says it "punishes regions like Ottawa" and could devastate the city's economy.
Ontario Lockdown: Ottawa Mayor “Completely Blindsided" & Says Facts Don't Support It
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Ottawa mayor Jim Watson wants Doug Ford to know that he's not on board with Ontario's shutdown.

On Monday, Mayor Watson said that Ford's decision to lock Ottawa down for 28 days had him "completely blindsided."

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There are simply no facts to support a lockdown in the city of Ottawa. Mayor Jim Watson

"Despite the fact that we have had the best numbers of any large Canadian city, we are now facing a 28-day lockdown and it will likely have a devastating impact on our economy," he continued.

Watson also noted that even Ottawa Public Health was not in support of a lockdown in the city.

Ford addressed Ottawa's reluctance to shut down on Monday, saying that he "understands why they're angry" and that the city "worked very hard" to lower its cases.

Ford assured Ottawa that the lockdown would be reviewed in a matter of weeks.

"Today's announcement, unfortunately, goes back to one-size-fits-all and it punishes regions like Ottawa," said the mayor.

On Monday, Ottawa registered 31 new cases of COVID-19, compared to 611 and 480 in Toronto and Peel, respectively. The city has an infection positivity rate of 1.4%.

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  • Abby Neufeld
    Abby Neufeld was a writer at Narcity Canada. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Professional Communications at the University of Victoria. Her past work has been published in The Toronto Star, Bitch Media, Canadian Dimension, This Magazine, and more. In 2019, Abby co-founded The New Twenties, an environmentally-focused literary and arts magazine.

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