Trudeau says Ford trying to 'deflect' criticism of Ontario's COVID-19 response by slamming Ottawa

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is trying to"deflect"criticism of his response to the COVID-19 pandemicby pointing fingers at the federal government's handling of the country's borders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday.

Trudeau made the comments in response toquestions about his relationship with Ford duringa virtual appearance at a seminar held by Ryerson University.

Ford has repeatedly said Trudeau's government hasn't done enough to keep COVID-19 from coming into Canada via travel from abroadand thatthe third wave of the pandemic is largely due to"porous borders."

The prime ministersaid Ford is in a tough political situationamid the pandemic and that deflecting blame is an easy out.

"I know that the pressure is mounting on Premier Ford, and it is always an easy thing to try and deflect and point fingers," Trudeau told the seminar held by Ryerson's Democracy Forum, which involved both students and faculty and was moderated by Toronto Star columnist Martin Regg Cohn.

"I'm not going to pick a fight with him at this point. I don't think anyone wants to see people fighting during COVID," Trudeau said.

"They want to see us focused on getting through it."

WATCH: Ontario premierslammedPM on borders at May newsconference:

Premier Doug Ford slams PM on borders: Hes not doing anything about it

3 years ago

Duration 1:40

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he has now sent four letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking for enhanced COVID-19 measures at Canada's borders without a formal response from the federal government.

Ford has demanded Ottawa reduce the number of people allowed to enter Ontario, includinginternational students.

Trudeau noted that Ontario has been allowed to let in more than30,000 international students over the past number of months at Ford's request.

'No action' on border concerns, Ford's office says

"Doug, ifyou want to suspend international students, just tell me. Send us an official note and we'll do that. If you want us to suspend international travellers, if you want us to do any more, we will do that. Just tell me what you want to do," Trudeau said.

But the premier'soffice said the province's requests are "well documented" in the multiple letters that were sentto the federal government, includinganother letter sent Friday.Ford has previously said four letters to the prime minister have all gone without a formal response.

"To date, there has been no action on any of these requests. It is the federal government's jurisdiction and responsibility to fix this national problem. We will continue to call on them to close the loopholes at our land and air borders," Ford's press secretary, Alexandra Adamo,said Friday in an emailed statement.

Trudeau said Ford has not followed up on the request to suspendinternational students, a conversation he said he had with the premier some four weeks ago.

Ontario looked for 'distractions and diversions': LeBlanc

The federal minister responsible for intergovernmental affairs also criticized Ford's approach to the border, saying Ontario has "chosen to look for distractions and diversions and point the finger," while the Liberal governmenthas"tried to avoid the partisan push and pull of these conversations."

"Some provinces in fact have pushed us to relax the border measures quickly and other provinces take out silly negative attack ads telling us we need to strengthen the border," Dominic LeBlanc told host Chris Hall in an interview that aired Saturday on CBC'sThe House.

LeBlanc said the federal government remained committed to working collaboratively with provinces to protect Canadians.

"The vast majority of provinces, most of the time, focus on that as well. So, there have been a lot more successes than there have been challenges"