It's an emergency!

And Ford shrugs off the convoy connection

ABOVE THE FOLD

So long to the vax pass and other pandemic restrictions — but DOUG FORD insists it’s not to appease the so-called freedom convoy. Meanwhile, the Premier backed up Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU’s move to invoke the never-been-used Emergencies Act to deal with protesters who clogged up streets in Ottawa and blockaded the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor.

Reopening is on the fast track. Cabinet cleared the accelerated timeline yesterday, which will see the end of the vax-pass system on March 1 and the lifting of all capacity caps for restaurants, bars, gyms and more on Thursday. (The latter just happens to coincide with FORD’s first publicly-advertised in-person PC fundraiser of the year, as far as we can tell.)

Masking rules are sticking around for now, while businesses can choose to still use the vax-pass system.

Ford maintained the faster timeline is based on the recommendations he asked top doc KIERAN MOORE to provide over the weekend — and not about the convoy protesters’ …