Just hours ago, he said he wanted to stay on as finance minister, despite his blatant hypocrisy and attempt to use social media to pretend he was in Canada. He was definitely fired.
Rod Phillips Caribbean vacation has turned out to be more costly than he expected.
The well-connected insider who became a lighting-rod for justified public anger over hypocritical politicians has lost his job as finance minister.
Upon his return to Canada from St. Barts, Phillips said he wanted to stay on:
“There’s very important work that still needs to be done, and I’d like to continue to be a part of that. But I do understand, people are angry, they deserve to be angry, I have to earn back their confidence.”
However, just hours later, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced in a statement that he had ‘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.”
AKA, Phillips was fired.
He will be replaced by current Ontario Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy.
“This appointment will help ensure economic stability in the months ahead, as we support Ontario families, workers and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic, and as we chart our path to long-term economic recovery,” said Ford.
Ford’s move to fire Phillips had to happen.
Allowing Phillips to remain in his role after such blatant elitism and hypocrisy would have demolished any remaining credibility the Ontario government had, credibility that has almost fully evaporated due to their decision to destroy small businesses while propping up globally-owned big box stores.
Of course, Ford knew about Phillips’ vacation two weeks ago, and said nothing at the time, so his move to fire Phillips is simply damage control.
This also shows that the justified outrage of the public, expressed mainly through social media, has an impact, and can get results. Perhaps this is why so many politicians are eager to regulate and control social media, in an attempt to silence our voices and eliminate one of the few remaining paths of accountability.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
