Here are today’s new developments:
- Trudeau announced a new fund for community organizations community organizations, and said businesses can start applying for the federal wage subsidy — companies can use the new CRA calculator to see what they qualify for —with so many small and medium-sized businesses floundering, the Official Opposition has been asking Ontario to step up and provide additional supports, including rent subsidies.
- Federal officials say it is up to each individual province to ramp up its COVID-19 testing and contact tracing — a key factor in opening up the economy. Yet Ontario continues to lag when it comes to testing.
- An additional 101 health care workers have contracted COVID-19 — including 27 nursing home workers — bringing the total of confirmed health care worker cases to 1,368. The Official Opposition has been pushing the Ford government to take long-overdue action to better protect workers and residents in long-term care.
- At the same time as Ontario is launching a fund to help community organizations deliver food and other essentials to low-income seniors, the province is clawing back money from social assistance recipients.
Here are some concerns the Official Opposition is working on, and solutions we’re pushing for:
- The Official Opposition is calling out the government for making money off the backs of the province’s most vulnerable, clacking back money from OW and ODSP recipients who are receiving support from the federal CERB benefit.
- The Official Opposition's Poverty and Homelessness critic joined forces with a physician who has worked for decades with people experiencing homelessness, stressing that if the government doesn't immediately increase testing and provide safe places for people experiencing homelessness to isolate, shelters will become the next epicentre of the pandemic.
- The Official Opposition is asking the government to immediately ramp up protective measures in correctional facilities--including more testing and making sure everyone has the PPE they need--to prevent further crises like the one facing Brampton's Ontario Correctional Institute, where at least 60 inmates and eight workers have tested positive for COVID-19.
Email me to let me know how you're doing, what you're concerned about: gbisson@ndp.on.ca