By Richard Zussman | Global News – Victoria city councilor Sharmarke Dubow is apologizing to Victoria residents for travelling outside of Canada during the holidays.
In a statement posted on social media, Dubow says while away he adhered to local public health guidelines and took the PCR COVID-19 test multiple times. All the tests came back negative.
Dubow is now isolating in Vancouver after arriving back into the country on Monday.
“I have followed the federal and provincial guidelines,” Dubow writes.
“I have food arrangements and a workstation where I will be serving my constituents virtually and conducting my council duties for the next two weeks.”
Politicians at all levels have been under intense scrutiny over the past week for travelling after telling their constituents to stay home amid COVID-19 restrictions.
International travel is not against the law but is strongly discouraged by public health officials.
Dubow says he was planning and saving for the trip ‘for years’ and returned to Somalia for the first time since he fled the country as a child in 1992.
The city councillor made international headlines in 2018 for winning a council seat in the first election he was eligible to vote in. He became a Canadian citizen in 2017 after arriving in Canada in 2016.
“I know now that I should not have gone,” Dubow writes.
“I understand that there is no good excuse. It is with humility and gratitude tat I serve people in Victoria. I acknowledge that I showed poor judgement by not leading by example in this case.”
In Alberta, Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard resigned as the minister of municipal affairs after travelling to Hawaii for Christmas.
In Ontario, Finance Minister Rod Phillips resigned after his family trip to the island of St. Bart’s.
Dubow says he will not be stepping down and will continue to ‘represent all constituents, particularly those with less access to wealth and financial opportunities’.
“I understand that many people made the difficult decision not to visit their families pver the past number of months. I know now I should have made the same decision.”
.
.
Sources: Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________Xafiiska Wararka Qaranimo Online | Mogadishu, Somalia
_____________________________________________________________________________________Advertisement
_____________________________________________________________________________________
|
|
|
|
