Doug Ford Just Congratulated Trudeau & Is Urging Unity After The 'Divisive Election'

Premier Doug Ford is urging unity following the federal election that took place on September 20.

In a statement on Tuesday, the premier congratulated Trudeau and the rest of the federal leaders for campaigning for important issues.

"For many, this has been an extremely difficult and divisive election and I would like to take this opportunity to urge unity. Emotions have run high as candidates from all parties debated pandemic policies, including vaccine certificates," Ford said.

The Ontario leader also defended his government's decision to implement vaccine certificates, stating his intentions to continue to work closely with Trudeau.

"I want to be clear: COVID-19 doesn't care about partisanship or politics and I will continue to work closely with the Prime Minister. People elected our government to work in the best interests of Ontario, not in service of one political party over others," he added.

"Ontario is set to introduce its own vaccine certificate this Wednesday to enter certain higher-risk businesses and settings. There are a lot of people who are concerned about this policy and I want you to know that I hear you," Ford stated.

"I understand your concerns about protecting your civil liberties and right to privacy. While many fully vaccinated people like myself share these concerns, the greater concern is having to shut down again or experience a sudden surge in cases like in Alberta and Saskatchewan."

"This pandemic remains an emergency and there are real-world consequences of not acting. We must continue to do everything we can to protect our hard-fought progress so that we can provide businesses the stability they need and deserve. We need to do everything in our power to avoid future lockdowns and closures. That is why we are bringing in these exceptional measures on a temporary basis and will end them as soon as they can be responsibly removed," he concluded.

Health Canada has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.