A Canadian minister resigns after going on vacation to the Caribbean during the pandemic

Toronto The Treasury Secretary of Canada’s most populous province resigned on Thursday after going on vacation to the Caribbean during the pandemic and apparently tried to hide the fact by posting a video on Twitter showing him wearing a sweater by a fireplace. showed.

Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said he accepted the resignation of Rod Phillips as minister hours after he returned home from a more than two week trip to St. people will not travel unless absolutely necessary.

“Traveling around Christmas time was the wrong decision, and once again I apologizePhillips said in a statement confirming his resignation.

In a video posted on Christmas Eve, the Treasury Secretary is seen wearing a sweater while sipping egg liquor next to a fireplace and Christmas decorations.

“I want to thank you all for what we do to protect our most vulnerable,” Phillips explains in the video to Ontario residents incarcerated due to the coronavirus.

But he was actually enjoying a vacation on St. Barts, a French island popular with the rich and famous, since December 13, despite the fact that his Twitter account gave the impression that he was in Ontario.

Opposition parties and health officials had called for Phillips to be fired from the cabinet. One party released a video of a call via Zoom in which he participates – also wearing a sweater – and an image of the legislature in the background, but waves can be heard.

Upon his arrival at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Thursday, he told reporters he had made “a silly, silly mistake.”

“I hope people understand that I am most disappointed,” said Phillips, who now has to comply with a mandatory 14-day quarantine for those coming from overseas.

Ontario set a new daily business record at 3,238 on Thursday.