O'Toole refuses to say whether Kenney got it wrong on COVID-19 management

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole refused to say Thursday whether he still thinks Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has handled the pandemic better than the federal government, as the province faces a rapidly worsening COVID-19 situation.

After Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both addressed the newly-announced restrictions in that province and Kenney’s about-face on vaccine passports, O’Toole repeatedly dodged reporters’ questions on the matter.

“Throughout this crisis, all the provinces have tried to make the balance between making public health paramount and balancing off the economic needs. All provinces have shifted and adjusted based on various reasons,” O’Toole said, speaking at a curling club in Saint John, N.B.

“But what the provinces have not had is a consistent and reliable partner in Ottawa. Mr. Trudeau fights with people. I will fight for Canadians, and we would never have let the Delta variant get its hold in Canada.”

Over the course of the pandemic O’Toole has spoken positively about how his former Harper-era cabinet colleague Kenney has handled the pandemic, and has suggested his party could take lessons from Alberta’s stickhandling of the ongoing health crisis.