DF transcript June 2 2021

** Premier Doug Ford, June 2, 2021 COVID press conference (transcribed by Matt Elliott) **

Doug Ford: I just want to tell one last story, before we finish. So I get a letter dropped at my house. I get a lot of letters dropped at my house. And I read it, and it’s from a young gentleman named Arthur. They lived a few blocks away. Real passionate. This is what kills me — I’d rather get drilled down by the reporters than sit and talk to these kids, because it rips your heart out when you talk to them. So I took it upon myself to hop in my pick-up. I drove over to the house. I didn’t tell them I was coming. And he goes to a French school. And it was all written in French. The Mother translated [the letter] in English on the other side for me.

So I go over and I knocked on the door and this little guy comes out, and I said, “Are you Arthur?” And he says, “No, I’m Marcus.” I said, “Is your mom home?” And he said, “No, they’re out in the back having dinner. Come with me.” He was great. He was like a little butler.

He put his mask on. I had my mask on. So we went in the backyard. The nicest family you could ever, ever meet. So I met Arthur. And I’ll tell you, hee’s going to be the future premier. So I sat and asked him, I said, “Arthur, this is the situation. I’m going to bring it to cabinet.” I was very upfront with him. “But I’m really concerned with putting the kids in the classroom. If there was a choice, do you want to go back to class, or do you want to…” I said, “are you going to camp?”

He said, “Yeah, I’m going to camp.” I said, “Well, I’m just concerned about that. Which one would you want?”

He goes, “Well, I want to go back to class.” So after we go back and forth, back and forth — he was a tough negotiator, by the way, I gotta get him in some of the negotiations — but in the end, he said, “I’d be happy if we had a graduation day.” And that’s for all grades — just just 8 and 12 — and then he gets to go to camp and have a great summer. What a great young man he was.