‘Free means free,’ Ford says after report Walmart in Mississauga, Brampton and Hamilton had minimum purchase requirement to get COVID-19 rapid tests

Ontario Premier Doug Ford insisted  “free is free” after it came to light that a major retail chain had imposed a minimum purchase requirement to get a box of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests.

On Wednesday, Ford’s Ontario PC Party government confirmed reports that it is expanding the distribution of rapid antigen tests (RATs). It plans to make about 5.5 million tests available each week through some 2,300 grocery stores and pharmacies.

Following the province’s announcement of the expanded distribution, reports emerged Walmart is requiring a minimum $35 online-only purchase requirement to get a five-pack of RATs. An Ontario resident would only be able to receive them when they come to pick up the order.

Hours earlier, Health Minister Christine Elliott had announced the program while standing in a Walmart.

Like COVID-19 vaccines, PCR tests and RATs are purchased by the federal government, who then give them to provinces and territores to distribute to the population. Governments fund themselves, in part, through citizens’ income taxes.

In order to get a "free" BTNX rapid antigen test kit (purchased for us by @JustinTrudeau with our tax dollars) from @WalmartCanada, you have to spend at least $35 before taxes. #TeamOntario logic = make Ontarians pay for something they already paid for. #FreeTheRATs pic.twitter.com/RELCfHxEY1

— Dr. Kate (@DrKateTO) February 9, 2022

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Media reports about Walmart’s policy began circulating around 4:35 p.m.; Ford’s Twitter account issued a clarification at 5:22.

“Free means free,” read the statement at @fordnation.

“We’re providing #RapidTests free of charge and all participating partners are expected to honour that — no minimums or mandatory purchase.

“If they don’t, we’ll give them to retailers or pharmacies that will.”

Free means free.

We’re providing #RapidTests free of charge and all participating partners are expected to honour that — no minimums or mandatory purchase.

If they don’t, we’ll give them to retailers or pharmacies that will.

— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 9, 2022

About 90 minutes after Ford’s statement, CHCH-TV in Hamilton reported that Walmart would make the tests available for free. The retail giant said its intention with the now-scrapped minimum purchase requirement was “to avoid long lines in our stores.”

“However, we’ve heard the concerns raised today and will make the kits available in our stores for free. 
 
We will update Walmart .ca shortly with details.” @CHCHNews #COVID19 #RapidTests #onpoli 2/2

— Nicole Martin (@nicolemartintv) February 9, 2022

Brampton New Democrat Sara Singh, the deputy leader of the Official Opposition, blasted Walmart for the minimum purchase requirement. Singh, who is the member of provincial Parliament for Brampton Centre, said a tool that helps detect COVID-19 was being reduced to a cereal box prize.

“What we need is free access to an important health care tool,” she said. “Not free-with-minimum-purchase.

“This is a tool in the fight against COVID-19. Not a prize in the bottom of the cereal box, and not a promotional item to help multi-billion-dollar big-box empires draw more customers in.”

Fellow New Democrat Bhutila Karpoche, who represents Parkdale—High Park in Toronto, also claimed that Loblaw’s was planning to require people to show a same-day receipt in order to receive RATs.

A media release from the Ontario NDP suggested that rapid tests should be accessible to everyone, and could be distributed through the mail and in person.

More than 99 per cent of the sites participating in the program are grocery and pharmacy locations. Twenty-one community agencies for 17 vulnerable neighbourhoods are also included.

Opposition parties have been calling on Ford for weeks to expand the distribution of tests. On Dec. 8, the premier ruled out doing so, stating that the province was already conducting “a staggering number” of tests.” That same month, access to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are more accurate than RATs, was also restricted to vulnerable sectors of the population.

By the end of the month, the daily number of COVID-19 deaths in Ontario was rising, according to the Ontario Science Table. By mid-January, the seven-day average surpassed 60 for this first time since the previous January.

Early Wednesday, before the province confirmed the partnership, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath stated that all of this was long overdue.

“We’re relieved for the Ontarians who will finally be able to access free rapid tests when they have COVID-19 symptoms or an exposure,” stated Horwath, whose Hamilton Centre riding includes schools that have among the highest reported absence rates in her city.

“Doug Ford should have made free rapid tests widely available in places like grocery stores months ago, instead of cutting access to PCR testing and creating a ‘Hunger Games’ for rapid tests.

“We have to get rapid tests right this time — which means making sure all Ontarians can access these kits, no matter where they live.”

It is not yet clear what other grocery and pharmacy chains, attempted to require money to change hands before handing out a five-pack of RATs.

Rexall Drugstores, though, is apparently giving out the tests on a first-come, first-served basis at the cash register. The chain has over a dozen locations apiece in Mississauga, Brampton and Hamilton.