Here are today’s new developments:
- Statistics Canada released the country's dismal job loss figures for the month of April.
- Canada will extend its emergency wage subsidy program past June - many businesses and labour groups say the federal government's commercial rent relief program will not help them.
- A union representing health care workers in long-term care says the Ontario government is looking at changing a directive that currently gives workers access to N95 masks, and that workers continue to be denied N95 masks in long-term care facilities.
- Ontario's Finance Minister fielded questions about gaps in Canada's commercial rent relief program, and the province's failure to mandate a freeze on commercial evictions -- the Official Opposition has been urging Premier Ford to freeze evictions and step up support for businesses struggling to survive.
Here are some concerns the Official Opposition is working on, and solutions we’re pushing for:
- Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath says it's dangerous and wrong for the Ford government to consider taking away health care workers' right to the proper PPE.
- In a press conference held today, MPP Horwath said that Ontario will need an independent public inquiry into long-term care to assess how Ontario's pandemic response left long-term care homes so vulnerable, and examines the future of for-profit long-term care homes in Ontario.
- MPP Horwath stressed that, as Ontario's job numbers reveal, women are bearing the brunt of the economic pain dished out by COVID-19. She again called on the Ford government to provide direct financial support to Ontarians in desperate need.