ONTARIO Premier Doug Ford joined Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Vikram Khurana, Chair of Toronto Business Development Centre, Paul Winters of UPS Supply Chain Solutions and Apoorva Srivastava, Consul General of India to Toronto, last week to send 3,000 Ontario-made ventilators to India.
Ford tweeted on May 7: “Folks, I’ve spoken many times about the Ontario Spirit and I am very proud to help our friends in need.”
A week earlier, Ford said in a statement: “The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health care systems around the world. While our province is facing a challenging third wave of COVID-19 driven by new, more-contagious variants, we continue to be committed to helping our friends and partners.
“In response to a call for help from the High Commissioner to Canada and Consul General in Toronto, Ontario will donate 3,000 ventilators to the Indian Red Cross. The Ontario government will also help coordinate the transportation of approved medical equipment that is being put together for the Indian Red Cross by the Indian diaspora and friends of India in Ontario.”
Ford added: “The made-in-Ontario e700 Transport ventilators are manufactured by O-Two Medical Technologies, a company based in Brampton, with support from the Ontario Together Fund. This partnership is another example of Team Ontario working together during this pandemic to support those in need, both here at home and abroad.”
He said: “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of India during these difficult times. Our government will keep working closely with His Excellency, Ajay Bisaria, High Commissioner of India, and Apoorva Srivastava, Consul General of India to Toronto, and stand ready to assist further with India’s urgent needs, for as long as we are able to. We are all in this together and we will all overcome this together.”