Quebec premier’s comparison to Ontario COVID-19 patients raises eyebrows

To no one’s surprise, Quebec’s Premier Francois Legault has once again managed to find himself in the middle of a controversy.

On Sunday Legault posted a tweet that compared the number of COVID-19 patients in Quebec’s ICU to the number in Ontario.

Nombre de patients Covid aux soins intensifs:
Québec: 282
Ontario: 579

— François Legault (@francoislegault) January 16, 2022

The strange post garnered a lot of attention, with many wondering if this was the Premier’s attempt at bragging.

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Twitter users from all over Canada were quick to comment on the Premier’s post. A great deal of them cited the difference in population between the two provinces, which, when taken into account, shows very little disparity between the two province’s ICU numbers.

282 Personnes sont aux soins intensifs au Québec sur 9 000 000 habitants = 0.00313

579 Personnes sont aux soins intensifs en Ontario sur 15 000 000 habitants = 0.00386

Wow grosse différence 🤦‍♂️

— Patrick Rankine (@coachRankine) January 16, 2022

You do realize that this is because Ontario has a greater ICU capacity? That Quebec health system is a mess, is well known. #omicron @cdube_sante @sante_qc No RATs in pharmacies. #QuebecSaitFaire @CIUSSS_COMTL

— Ted McKinney 🍀🍀 Hey Vern (@furdburfle81) January 16, 2022

What is this, Legault? Habs vs. Leafs?

Honest to god. You’re losing it, man.

— Jack Todd (@jacktodd46) January 16, 2022

bragging rights for sure, you’re doing great Fürher keep it up we’re all super happy

— Ty Jadah (@tyjadahahaha) January 16, 2022

#MentalHealth is hard enough as it is without a gaslighting government

— Nicolas Robidoux (@NicolasRobidoux) January 16, 2022

One user attached a petition to remove the Premier which contains over 165,000 signatures.

https://t.co/hkc0KUnpZk
165 000 Québécois qui veulent ta destitution mon homme !!

— Alexy (@alexy1019580) January 16, 2022

Another pointed out where Quebec ranked in terms of COVID-19 deaths among other provinces.

👇👇👇 Les décès👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/SIqRS3m60x

— Patrick Rankine (@coachRankine) January 16, 2022

282 is plenty bad enough. You should not be tweeting this as if ‘Quebec is winning’.

— Mike Morris (@1MikeMorris) January 16, 2022