Federal sick benefit is enough, Ford says

Premier says if payment is insufficient, Ottawa can top up from $1B fund

“Does it need to be changed? Sure, it needs to be changed and we’re working with the federal government.”

PREMIER DOUG FORD

ON CANADA RECOVERY SICKNESS BENEFIT

Premier Doug Ford is being urged to rethink his opposition to provincial paid sick leave in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ford, who cancelled Ontario’s guarantee of two paid sick days after he won the 2018 election, is under mounting pressure to bolster federal benefits.

“A lot of folks can’t afford to miss a shift,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Tuesday in Scarborough.

“For some it means their kids will go to bed hungry, or the bills won’t get paid,” she said, citing the case of a speech-language pathologist who works with acute care patients in a local hospital and has been forced to take unpaid days off to get tested for COVID-19.

“Staying home can feel like an out-of-reach option for someone living paycheque to paycheque,” said Horwath.

But Ford insisted Monday — after the Toronto Board of

Health recommended additional paid sick leave to curb infections — that Ottawa’s Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) should suffice.

And the next day his office accused Horwath of “engaging in a weeks-long disinformation campaign, wrongly claiming that Ontarians do not have access to paid sick leave benefits.”

The premier noted “only $270 million has been taken out of” the $1.1-billion safe restart program that he and the other provincial and territorial leaders negotiated with Ottawa.

“There’s no reason for the province to jump in there when less than 27 per cent of the overall program (has) been taken up,” Ford said, adding the federal government could boost the payments from the existing $1.1billion fund if the CRSB is inadequate for workers.

“If they need to top it up a little more because $500 a week isn’t feasible, then we change it. Does it need to be changed? Sure, it needs to be changed and we’re working with the federal government,” said Ford, who raised that with both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia

Freeland.

“But there’s no reason for us to duplicate the $1.1 billion with the federal government.”

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said it “is not rocket science” to pay ill workers to stay home during a public health crisis.

“Doug Ford wants us to believe that he can’t do anything about paid sick days and it’s best left for the federal government. This is a shame,” he said Tuesday.

“In 2018, it was the Ford government that revoked paid sick days in Ontario, forcing lowwage and essential workers to choose between health and income,” said Schreiner, referring to the benefits in place under former premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals.

“The federal CRSB program falls short of protecting workers. It doesn’t pay adequately, it involves a delayed application process and wait times,” the Green leader said.

“Workers living paycheque to paycheque cannot afford to depend on the CRSB alone. They deserve stability and adequate protection that employers can provide through paid sick days,” he said.

“I also understand that providing this crucial benefit can be difficult for small businesses, so I’m calling on the premier to provide the support necessary to small businesses to help them implement paid sick days.”

Horwath — whose caucus colleague, MPP Peggy Sattler (London West) is pushing the Stay Home if You Are Sick Act, which has been praised by labour and some business groups — said Queen’s Park must step into the breach.

“For front-line workers. coming down with a cough or realizing you’ve been exposed is not only scary, but it forces a terrible decision between going to work and potentially spreading COVID-19 — or being unable to make ends meet.”