Health officials express continued frustration with province on paid sick leave proposal
Posted April 28, 2021 6:37 am.
Last Updated April 28, 2021 6:52 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Nearly one week after Premier Doug Ford promised Ontarians the top paid sick leave program on the continent, frontline healthcare workers continue to express frustration with the lack of a solution.
Public health experts, labour groups, and local officials have been unrelenting in their calls for sick leave support for much of the pandemic, arguing it would greatly reduce COVID-19 spread in workplaces.
Dr. Michael Warner, head of critical care at Michael Garron hospital, posted a video to Twitter breaking down the numbers and highlighting how paid sick days would directly impact the family of one of his patients.
Warner outlines the story of a patient in her mid-40’s who got COVID-19 from her husband, who got it from the factory he works at. The husband did not have paid sick leave at his job.
The video depicts how missing even one day’s wage could be the difference between the family making their rent payment in a given month.
Rather than creating its own program, the Ford government has suggested to the federal government that it pay the difference and offer workers $1,000 a week rather than the current $500.
A proposal that the feds say is simply not good enough.
680 NEWS obtained a letter sent to federal Finance Minster Chrystia Freeland from Finance Minister Bethlenfalvy, in it Mr. Bethlenfalvy says the provincial government is prepared to make this commitment “immediately” and pay the full cost of the top-up.
In response, the federal finance minister’s office tells 680 NEWS “When Ontario is ready to mandate sick leave in provincially-regulated businesses, as we have done for federally-regulated businesses, we will be there to help.”
The prime minister says Ontario should work through provincially regulated businesses to implement a sick-leave program, as his government did with federally regulated workplaces.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath once again openly criticized Ontario’s approach to protecting residents, saying “Every delay of the paid sick days Doug Ford promised last week means more infections and more families devastated.”
Last Thursday, a tearful Ford reiterated his government’s commitment to implementing a paid sick days, saying it would be the top such program “in North America.”
Earlier last week, Government House Leader Paul Calandra said the province hoped to address “gaps” in a federal benefit including eligibility, reducing wait times for receiving funds, the amount of funding available, and time off to get vaccinated.
