Dr. Nathan Stall resigns from Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table

TORONTO — Dr. Nathan Stall has resigned from the Ontario Science Advisory table as he seeks the nomination for the Ontario Liberal Party in the Toronto-St Paul’s riding ahead of the 2022 election.

Stall, who is expected to make the news public this afternoon, resigned to avoid the perception of conflict of interest.

Stall’s impending nomination for the Liberals triggered questions of a potential conflict, after he stated his intention to stay on as a member of the scientific group that provides crucial advice and modelling on COVID-19 to the Ford government influencing decisions.

On Thursday, Liberal leader Steven Del Duca dismissed conflict of interest questions as “conspiracy theories” and defended Stall’s decision to remain as a member of the science advisory table.

“My understanding is that Nathan has spoken directly with the science table leadership, they are quite comfortable with this notion of him continuing to provide his advice as a volunteer,” Del Duca told CTV News on Thursday.

“If the leadership of that table wants to continue to seek his input as a volunteer, he has the respect of his colleagues I'm perfectly fine with that if that changes we'll deal with it in that moment in time.”