Go ahead, Doug Ford tells anti-waxxers protesting in Ottawa

Touch the road.

This is the message from Premier Doug Ford to the anti-waxxers whose truck rally in Ottawa has effectively closed streets and businesses around Parliament Hill since last week.

“I hear the protesters, the province hears the protesters, the country hears the protesters – now it’s time to let the people of Ottawa back to their lives,” the prime minister said on Tuesday in Ajax.

“People have to move on. We have to make the people of Ottawa live their lives. ”

Ford stressed that he had “zero tolerance” for the “desecration” of memorials and said it was “disgusting” that some protesters waved Nazi and Confederate flags.

He made his remarks at a new 320-bed long-term care home in Ajax, which was the first nursing home built as part of a $ 6.4 billion accelerated construction program.

The Ajax Pickering Hospital project was built in 13 months, when it previously took as many as eight years to build similar facilities.

“After decades of neglect, our government is saying yes to building much-needed long-term care homes as quickly as possible,” Ford said.

Earlier Tuesday, Liberal MPP John Fraser (Ottawa South) lamented that the Tory government had done nothing more to help people in the country’s capital.

“The residents of Ottawa are still enduring bullying, racism, violence, and people are feeling unsafe in their community,” Fraser said.

“By the end of the day, (the city) of Ottawa would have spent more than $ 4 million to maintain order and keep everyone safe,” he said.

“The costs for businesses and families are increasing every day. It’s day five and we still have not heard a strong message from Premier Ford to the protesters. Why is it so difficult to say to the prime minister, ‘enough is enough?’ “

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering politics in Ontario. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie