Maybe border restrictions could be tighter but Ford is in no position to cast stones

Ontario Premier Doug Ford previously a big fan of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freelandis suddenly very eager to letOntariansknow howunhappy he iswith how Justin Trudeau's government is handling the pandemic.

Ford's office sent a news release to reporters at Queen's Park on Tuesday to alert them to the fact that the provincial government had sent three "urgent" letters to the federal government callingforstricter border measuresto better screen travellers to Ontario for COVID-19.

Ford's Progressive Conservative party has also now purchased ads on Facebook to criticize the federal government's handling of the border. And it is reportedly planning to use "significant TV and radio time" to launch attack ads against the Trudeau government's border policies.

The temptation here is toask how much less dire Ontario's situation might be right now had the Ford governmentput the same kind of energyinto addressingits own responsibilities in this pandemicfrom paid sick leave to contact tracing to stricter workplace protections.

Glass houses

In fairness to Ford, it's reasonable to wonder whether more could be done at international borders to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

But unless or until Ford can claimhe's done everything in his own power to curb the pandemic, he'll be standing on very shaky ground when he tries to point the finger elsewhere.

The simplest explanation is usually the right one and Ford's media campaign is probably what it appears to be: an attempt by the premierto redirect the blame as the third wavebatters his province. After it appearedthat Ford had rebuilt his public standing during the pandemic, his personal approval rating has crumbled over the past month.

WATCH: Premier Doug Ford urges Ottawa to tighten border controls

If Ford's governmentisunwilling to take any further action of itsown to change the situation, itcan at least try to convince voters that thethird wave isn't itsfault.

This isn't the first timefederal and provincial leaders havecriticized each other,implicitly or explicitly,over the pandemic. It'scertainlythe first time that any level of governmenthas threatened to useattack ads to do so.

Old habits die hard

As extraordinary as it would be to see attack ads in the midst of a globalcrisis,it's possiblethe Ford government simply feels more comfortable when it's fighting with the Trudeau government.

Moments before Ford's first meeting as premier with Trudeau in 2018, the premier's office issued a statement blaming the federal government for costs associated with housing asylum seekers who were making refugee claims after crossing the border at Quebec's Roxham Road.

A year later, the Ford government forced gas stations in the province to display anti-carbon tax stickers on pumps and earmarked$4 million in public moneyfor government ads attackingthe federal policy.

If Fordonlywants to pressure the federal governmenttotakefurther action at the bordernow, hehas other options.

He could hold a news conference every day to draw attention to his concerns, and offer interviews to any regional or national media outlet that would have him. But then, of course, he would be putting himself in a position to be asked questionsabout his own handling of the pandemic.

He could alsoinsist on using the resources of the provincial government to fill whatever gaps he sees.

Beneath the partisan politics, the federal government's handling of the border is not beyond reproach.

Federal officials can point to statistics that show only a small percentage of cases have been linked directlyto travel and to border measures that include pre-arrival testing, mandatory quarantines and a ban on non-essential travel. In a statement on Tuesday night, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair's office offered to assist the Ontario government if it wished to implement new screening measures for people travelling from other provinces whichfalls underprovincial jurisdiction.

Ottawa's 'bronze medal' border policy

But Ford is not the only one questioningthe federal government's approach.

"I'd say maybe Canada is like a bronze medal standard, possibly," Kelley Lee, the Canada research chair in global health governance at Simon Fraser University, told CBC Radio's The Current last month, comparing Canada to "gold" standard approaches in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Vietnam andThailand.

"We have a long list of exemptions, we have some loopholes to close, we have quarantine measures that need to be more strictly enforced."

There is a legitimate debate to be had about the border even if it's also fair to wonder how Canadians would feel about the strict policies adopted by, say, Australia, which have stranded thousands of citizens abroad.

But even if you accept the premise that the Trudeau government could be doing more to keep COVID-19 from getting in, the Ford government can't escape its responsibility to dowhatever it can to deal with the COVID-19 that manages to slip through any cracks.

Bail or blame?

Dr. Colin Furness, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto who has criticized both levels of government, describesthe relative culpability of Ottawa and Queen's Park by invoking the image of Trudeau and Ford sitting together in a boat. Trudeau, he said,may have drilled a few small holes in the bottom but Fordis pouringeven more water in.

In the Atlantic provinces, he said, the boat has the same two holes, but public health officials are bailing enough to keep the vessel afloat, if not dry.

"The Maritimes are labouring under the same federal government, but have achieved very different outcomes," Furnesssaid via email this week.

It's fair to point out thatjust one of the Atlantic provinces New Brunswick shares a land border with the United States. But the difference in outcomes between the four eastern provinces and the others is glaring. And ifOntario's containment policies were beingpraised as equally impressive, Ford might be in a position now to claim that the only remaining issue in his province is the border.

As it is, it's hard to imagineanyone in Ontario takingcomfort from attack ads about which government is to blame for the death, illness and isolation that is afflicting the province except maybe for the partisans fighting with each other on Twitter to pass the time in lockdown.

Theprimaryfunction of government is still to protect its citizens and the Ford government might ask Ontarians to imagine that attack ads will persuade the Trudeau government to domore to secure the border.

But of all the thingsthe Fordgovernment could be doing right now, launching a political blame-deflecting campaign against another level of government is surely one of the least effective ways to save lives.