As most Ontarians wait for details on where and when they will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, so too do the people who will be tasked with administering it.
iPolitics By Iain Sherriff-Scott. Published on Feb 5, 2021 1:23pm Employment minister Carla Qualtrough said provincial paid sick leave would complement federal supports, not duplicate them. (Andrew Meade/iPolitics)
Federal employment minister Carla Qualtrough is pushing back on Premier Doug Ford’s claim that funding paid sick leave in Ontario would “duplicate” federal supports through the Canada Sickness Recovery Benefit (CSRB).
Over the last month, pressure has been mounting on Ford’s government to bolster the federal program by re-instituting provincial paid sick days, which his government stripped in 2018.
Ford has so far resisted funding sick days because he says they’ll “overlap” with the CSRB a program that provides $500 per week (or $450 after taxes) for up to two weeks. But concerns that the federal program doesn’t provide enough support have intensified calls for the province to step in.
iPolitics By Iain Sherriff-Scott. Published on Jan 19, 2021 2:15pm Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath speaks in the legislature in November 2020. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star)
Pressure is mounting on Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government to implement paid sick days for workers in regions hit hard by COVID-19.
When the province brought in a stay-at-home order last week, opposition members and health-care organizations grew concerned that the government wasn’t offering workers any new financial support. This week, a group of Ontario mayors and the province’s official opposition is joining the chorus.
“It’s not a hard thing to do; paid sick days are necessary,” Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said at a news conference on Tuesday morning.
Some Ontario nurses no longer paid during self-isolation if they test negative after COVID-19 exposure
Nurses in Hamilton and Niagara hospitals aren’t being paid for self-isolation time if they test negative after being exposed to COVID-19. Advocates are calling on the province to reinstate a benefit from the pandemic’s first wave that did pay employees sent home.
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