Canada’s Ontario finance minister resigns after taking lockdown vacation

A Canadian lawmaker resigned Thursday after being caught taking a family vacation in the sunny Caribbean while his compatriots were urged to avoid non-essential travel during a strict pandemic lockdown.

Ontario’s finance minister, Rod Phillips, apologized for his “dumb, dumb mistake,” telling reporters upon arrival at the Toronto airport: “I do not make any excuses for the fact that I travelled when we shouldn’t have travelled.”

Hours later, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he’d accepted Phillips’ resignation.

“At a time when the people of Ontario have sacrificed so much, today’s resignation is a demonstration that our government takes seriously our obligation to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Ford said in a statement.

Phillips, local media revealed this week, had travelled to the Caribbean island of St. Barts on December 13 as the number of new daily = Covid-19 cases across Canada hit record highs.

He said he would have cancelled the trip if he’d known that two weeks later the surge in cases — including 3,300 in Ontario on Thursday — would force Canada’s most populous province and economic engine into a 30-day lockdown.

But officials have been warning against travel for months.

On Wednesday, Ford told reporters at a facility preparing vaccines: “There can’t be rules for elected people and non-elected people.”

“I can tell you I’m very upset. I’m very frustrated with the situation. I stand out here every single day and tell people to stay at home,” he said.

While others were urged to skip big Christmas get-togethers this year, Phillips’ staff continued to post messages from him on social media giving the false impression that he was home for the holidays — including a fireside video thanks to Canadians for their efforts to curb the spread of the Covid-19 illness.

Phillips also reportedly took a trip to Switzerland in August.