Ontario Premier Doug Ford created quite a stir Friday when a bee entered his mouth and down his throat.
Ford was answering questions from reporters in Dundalk, Ont., about the province-wide health workforce shortage and the possibility of privatization when the bee got in his mouth.
“Holy Christ, I just swallowed a bee,” he said, coughing violently.
Members of the public could be heard expressing their concern for Ford.
After taking a sip of water from a bottle, Ford clarified the situation, saying, “This is going to be played over and over again.”
But the discomfort experienced by the prime minister was visible.
“Sorry guys. The little bugger got away in there,” he said.
Someone in the audience asked him if he was OK to continue, to which Ford replied, “I’m fine. It’s boiling over there.”
“Man, he went down the hatch”
“Man, he went right down the hatch,” he said with a laugh.
Oh! The first Ford just swallowed a bee while taking Q from the media. “I’m fine. It’s buzzing in there. Man, he went right down the hatch.”
Ford calls this a “classic” and that he will “cry” watching this on TV later. pic.twitter.com/q5nq3qqZNK
— @fitz_meagan
Ford told reporters that he strongly believed in public health care, but that his government would “be creative” in looking at how it could be delivered.
Ford said Friday that “everything is on the table” when asked if Ontario is considering further privatization of the health care system.
“I won’t do anything without consulting the experts,” he said. “There’s one thing we’ll guarantee: You’ll always be covered by OHIP, not your credit card.”
Asked if patients would have to pay anything if they had surgery at a private clinic, Ford said it would be “100 percent” covered.
“We will never waver from this,” he said.
“Are we going to be creative? Absolutely. As I said, as a province we can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result.”
Earlier this week, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the government was looking at all options to improve the health system, sparking fears of further privatisation. He later said that what doesn’t count is asking people to pay out of pocket for services currently covered by OHIP.
Serious shortage of nurses
Several emergency services in the province have closed for hours or days this summer due to a severe shortage of nurses. The shortage has affected smaller rural hospitals more than large urban ones.
Ford said his government is talking to health experts from across the industry to figure out how to solve the workforce problem. But he and Jones have so far declined to specify what options they are pursuing.
The Prime Minister on Friday pointed to a private hernia surgery clinic that was grandfathered in when the health system went public as a good example of how the private sector can help.
France Gélinas, health critic of the NPD, criticized the idea of a new privatization.
“They will bleed the staff of our public hospitals and urgent care centers, making the health crisis much worse,” he said in a written statement.
“If private surgery clinics accept your OHIP card for your procedure, they bill you for your room, the pain medication you take, your meals, the physical therapy you need, and more.”
Bee stole the spotlight
As for the bee, which stole the show on Friday, Ford said, “That’s a good one … I don’t remember what we were talking about. They’re going to rush me to the hospital to get that bee out of here. “
It was not immediately clear whether the prime minister went to a hospital.
Later, he said the bee “is working hard to build a hive down there.”
“That sucker is still boiling,” he said as the news conference ended.