(March 25, 2021) – PC Leader Ches Crosbie says federal COVID-19 modeling published the day the 2021 election campaign was called clearly showed it was the wrong time to call an election in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Andrew Furey claimed he reviewed federal COVID-19 modelling to inform his reckless decision to call the election. Yet, he refused to share that data with the public. Crosbie says the federal modeling data published on February 15 proves the election should not have been called.

“The federal modeling showed clear spikes in COVID-19 cases across the country, including Alberta and Ontario, two places travelers into Newfoundland and Labrador are most likely to come from.”

The federal data can be found here:

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phacaspc/documents/services/diseases-m...

Last week, Crosbie wrote a letter to the Clerk of the Executive Council asking him reveal the province’s COVID-19 modeling data. Earlier this week, the Clerk declined to release the data, only saying Radio Canada has the right to appeal the decision to withhold information.
“Andrew Furey is using claims of cabinet confidentiality to protect himself from the embarrassment that would come if the public got to see his back-of-the-envelope calculations,” said Crosbie.

“The Premier knew it was a bad time to call the election, yet he carried on anyway , despite evidence showing it was a bad decision. This is not the leadership Newfoundland and Labrador needs to lead the province through these difficult times.”

Contacts:

David Maher

Director of Communications

(p) (709) 769-2216

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