(TORONTO) – The Ontario Federation of Labour is panning the Ford government’s 2022 Throne Speech as “out of ideas and out of touch.”
Just one day after hundreds of frontline workers protested Ontario’s health care and cost-of-living crises, Ford failed to deliver a single measure that would bring relief to Ontario workers and families, says the OFL.
“Ontario’s emergency rooms are shutting down, and working people are struggling to make ends meet,” said Patty Coates, OFL President. “If Ford thinks a month’s-old budget is the solution, he has utterly failed to grasp the scale of the crises facing our province.”
Tuesday’s Speech from the Throne repeated the vague promises Ford made in his pre-election Budget, which he released almost four months ago, but the inadequate spending commitments fail to keep up with surging inflation, Ontario’s population growth, and the growing needs of Ontario’s seniors.
“This is a promise to underfund our health care when Ontarians need it most,” said Coates.
“What Ford put on our plate today is stale warmed-up left-overs,” added Coates. “On its first day back, this government is admitting it is already out of ideas, and clearly out of touch.”
The OFL joined workers, patients, and advocates on Monday to demand the immediate repeal of Bill 124, Ford’s wage suppression legislation that has driven thousands of nurses from their profession and exacerbated a longstanding staffing crisis in Ontario health care.
The OFL also demanded ten permanent employer-paid sick days, a $20 minimum wage, universal WSIB coverage, higher ODSP and Ontario Works rates, affordable housing, greater investments in public services, and other measures to address the cost-of-living crisis.
“Ontario workers know what would make their lives easier, but Ford refuses to listen,” said Coates. “We have no choice but to keep fighting for the Ontario we need, and we won’t stop until we get it.”
The Ontario Federation of Labour represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.
For more information, please contact:
Rob Halpin
Executive Director
Ontario Federation of Labour
rhalpin@ofl.ca | 416-707-9014
