After months of building a wall against paying for sick days, the Ford government yesterday hinted that some sort of economic support for workers in Ontario could be implemented. The opening came after the government rejected, during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, countless requests for a paid sick leave program in the province. ‘Ottawa is already taking care of it,’ is the premier’s refrain when attacked on the issue.
The pressure of the opposition led by Andrea Horwath has now also been joined by numerous doctors who in the pay of sick leave see a possible brake on the increase in infections in the province that have been travelling for days over four thousand.
A day after rejecting motions tabled by the NDP, one calling for the creation of a provincial program to pay workers sick days, Employment Minister Mount McNaughton and Health Minister Christine Elliott suggested on Tuesday that help might be on the way. Yesterday, moreover, provincial government house leader Paul Calandra made it clear – albeit in a sibylline way – that “further improvements” to the sick days’ programme are just around the corner.
City News, citing a source, said yesterday that an announcement on paid sick days is expected later this week or early next week. According to the source, the Ford government is changing its internal process to avoid hasty decisions that lead to reversals.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath is increasingly at war: “Everyday workers face the choice between taking an unpaid sick day and not being able to put food on the table or going to work sick with a potential Covid-19 infection – Horwath said – without paid sick days, workers and their loved ones will continue to pour into Ontario hospitals.”
The choir that asks to pay for the sick days was also joined by the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table which reiterated what Ontario must do to end the Covid-19 nightmare: in addition to giving the opportunity to stay at home and not to meet the reduction of wages if you get sick, paid leave is needed to get vaccinated. Also, there is a need for faster immunization for vulnerable categories including essential workers and for the temporary closure of non-essential workplaces.
