Liberal MP Catherine McKenna and other Ottawa politicians denounce Ford's lockdown

The City of Ottawa had been cruising on seven weeks of low COVID numbers, but that hasn't stopped Premier Doug Ford from imposing a 28-day lockdown on the city, something which has resulted in pushback from local politicians, including Liberal MP and Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Catherine McKenna.

Doug Ford announced that he would impose a strict 28-day lockdown on the entire province because of rising COVID-19 numbers in the Greater Toronto Area and southwestern Ontario. While northern Ontario is only subject to a 14-day lockdown, the city of Ottawa, which has no one in ICU, will be subjected to harsher measures.

Ottawa's residents and politicians are not taking this news lightly, and many took to Twitter to express their frustrations with the province. Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna, known for supporting left wing causes, tweeted her opposition to the lockdown.

She retweeted the official statement from Ottawa Public Health, which calls the lockdown disappointing. She tweeted a quote from Ottawa's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches, which says "I am disappointed with the decision by the provincial government to apply a 28-day shutdown on the city of Ottawa and I have asked the provincial govt to reconsider a two-week shutdown for Ottawa, one that would be as short as possible in consideration of the evidence."

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is also not onboard with locking down the city for 28-days, in an official statement he wrote "as we face this provincial decision today, there are simply no facts to support a lockdown in the city of Ottawa."

Mayor Watson has also pledged to fight to ensure that the lockdown imposed on Ottawa does not last more than 14 days. So far, this has led a promise from PC MPP Lisa MacLeod, who said she will make sure the lockdown is re-evaluated for Ottawa after 14 days.

Other local politicians who oppose this lockdown include Ottawa's two most left wing Councillors, Jeff Leiper and Catherine McKenney, who also took to twitter to share their concerns.

While Lisa MacLeod has been open to the criticism from Ottawa residents and politicians, Premier Doug Ford has not. He denounced Watson and Dr Etches in talking points to stakeholders, calling them "reckless and irresponsible"

Ford added "some politicians and pundits may be okay with body bags piling up on their front door steps but we are not." Today, the city of Ottawa reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths. There are 330 active cases of COVID-19 in the city of over 1 million people and no one in ICU.