Full marks for courage and character for Ontario Premier Doug Ford. He did what no other Canadian government official has done since COVIDiocy overtook the nation: he admitted he made a mistake.

Premier Ford made the admission at his press conference yesterday, April 22, 2021.

Now, if only other High Priests and High Priestesses of COVID (I’m talking to you, Bonnie Henry and Theresa Tam) could do likewise we could end the madness and get on with our lives.

The full transcript of Premier Ford’s speech is below:

Well, good morning. My friends, I want to address the events of this past week.

Last Friday, in response to extremely troubling modeling that told us we could see well over 15,000 cases a day, we move fast to put in measures in place to reduce mobility, but we moved too fast. And I know that some of those measures, especially around enforcement, they went too far.

Simply put, we got it wrong. We made a mistake.

These decisions, they left a lot of people very concerned. In fact, they left a lot of people angry and upset. I know we got it wrong. I know we made a mistake. And for that, I’m sorry and I sincerely apologize. Because as premier, as I said, right from the beginning, the buck stops with me.

Again, I’m sorry and I apologized to each and every one of you.

I’m sure that you may have noticed that I’m speaking to you today while in isolation. I experienced a workplace exposure from a member of my team who despite their best efforts tested positive for COVID 19 earlier this week. And I assure you it is not lost on me that unlike many people, I’m able to isolate and continue working.

For too many people right now that’s not the case. And during these unprecedented times, regardless of where you work or what you do, if you’re forced to go into isolation or quarantine, your job should be safe. That’s why Ontario was the first province to introduce legislation to have job protective leave for COVID.

But it isn’t enough to know you can’t lose your job. You also need to know you won’t lose your income.

And if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you shouldn’t have to wait long for the support you need. And for months, my ministers and I have been trying to work with the federal government to fix the existing federal sick pay program.

Unfortunately, Monday’s federal budget didn’t include the important improvements to the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit that we needed to see. That’s why we’re now working on our own solution to fill those gaps for everyone in Ontario.

Because I want workers to know as I have right from the beginning, I will always have your back. And I want all of you to know that I will always try to do what’s right. And that means if we get something wrong or make a mistake, we’ll fix it as soon as we can like we did this past weekend.

But I know that many people continue to be unhappy right now. And I understand and I accept the responsibility for that.

Let me be clear. When it comes to protecting lives, protecting our hospitals and our people, we can’t waiver. But at this stage in the pandemic, over a year into this, going through this terrible third wave, I assure you that there are no easy choices left.

I know that these lockdowns they’ve been devastating for people. It means telling someone they can’t see their family or take a vacation.

It means forcing someone to close their business, lose their paycheck.

It means telling someone not to properly celebrate a wedding or sadly, be able to mourn the loss of someone we love.

For some, it’s been dealing with isolation at home, the struggles with mental health and addiction. For others it’s been going to work despite the stress of working in a job that puts you and your loved ones at a higher risk of getting COVID.

I hear it every day, every single day, people telling me their stories, the stories that could make you cry, families that haven’t been able to hold hand. Hold on folks.

I apologize.

Hold the hand of their mum or dad as they passed away because of COVID-19 restrictions in hospitals.

Healthcare workers who been pushed to the absolute limit, working to save lives.

I want you to know that I hear you. I understand you’re going through. I understand your frustration, this experience, this pandemic is something that is affected every single person.