Money can't solve every challenge

Virus troubles will take more than cash to fix

During the pandemic, the power of the Ontario and federal governments has been limitless. They have taken control of our work and personal lives in ways that are not only unprecedented, but would have been unimaginable before March.

Despite all that power, there are still labour shortages in critical areas of the pandemic response and it's not a problem that can be solved by the usual tools of government decree or spending more money. Trained professionals can't be produced overnight and lower-skilled jobs lack sufficient willing workers.

The problem is pronounced in three key areas. There are long queues for testing because there aren't enough public health staff to handle the increasing volume. There aren't enough school bus drivers to get all children to school. Outbreaks are occurring in long-term care homes again, but there aren't enough personal support workers and other staff to provide a proper level of care everywhere.

Unfortunately, the political parties keep talking like it's all about money. When the provincial government is questioned on problems caused by worker shortages, it quickly falls back on talking points about how much money it has promised to spend. The NDP opposition is just as quick to suggest that the money is the solution to every problem.

Take the school bus driver situation. Yellow school bus routes across Ontario are being cancelled because school boards can't get enough drivers. School transportation is already complex, but the driver shortage makes it unreliable. That leaves parents with a problem.

Many school bus drivers are seniors supplementing pension income. For them, the fear of infection and the hassle of regular bus cleaning just isn't worth it for a part-time job. That's the problem, but the PC government points to its driver retention bonus as a solution. That plan would give bus drivers who stick with it bonuses of up to $2,000. That might keep the drivers who are working now, but it won't bring back people who have already chosen to quit for health reasons.

So, a weak solution but considerably better than NDP Leader Andrea Horwath's suggestion that school bus capacity should be cut in half, for safety reasons. That would mean boards would require twice as many buses and drivers. The result would be even more students who can't get to school.

Premier Doug Ford has been telling people to get COVID tests for months, but now that back-to-school protocols and higher case numbers are pushing up testing requirements, the government isn't ready. In Ottawa, people were expected to wait in an outdoor line all day in the hope of getting a test. There is an element of local managerial incompetence, but the core problem is that there are not enough trained people available to do the testing.

The government has a partial solution. It will soon announce a partnership with pharmacies whereby pharmacy staff will be able to administer COVID tests. The plan could double the testing capacity, but there's just one problem. Unless lab capacity goes up in proportion to testing capacity, the turnaround time for test results is going to sharply increase. The government is working on a plan for more lab capacity, but getting people and equipment to meaningfully expand it will be slow and difficult.

Now that long-term care residents are falling victim to the virus again, we're hearing more about the desperate shortage of personal support workers. Naturally, the solution is thought to be money. Horwath proposed that back in April. In August, Ford made an unscripted promise to give PSWs a raise, saying they were overworked.

Again, this is not just a money problem. PSWs working in long-term care already make between $22 and $24 an hour. It's not great, but it is more than 50 per cent higher than the minimum wage. The real issue is that the work is stressful and depressing for all but those with a real mission to care for seniors.

Finding more personal support workers is a long-standing challenge. There was a shortage before the pandemic and the province's bed expansion program will make the personnel situation even worse. The hard fact is that people are unwilling to take on an obviously risky job during a pandemic. Money is unlikely to fix that.

During the pandemic, those with the greatest faith in government have expected our political and public health leaders to anticipate every problem and execute perfect solutions. It's not realistic, and in fact, those leaders are performing well above their norm. It's frustrating, but some of our COVID challenges can't be easily solved by government, even one with unlimited powers.

THE HARD FACT IS THAT PEOPLE ARE UNWILLING TO TAKE ON AN OBVIOUSLY RISKY JOB DURING A PANDEMIC.