More can be done to ease pressure on Ontario’s health care system, Premier Doug Ford’s speech from the throne acknowledged Tuesday, but no new solutions were offered to the problem that has led to the temporary closure of emergency rooms across the province.
Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Dowdswell delivered Ford’s speech from the throne, marking the start of a new legislative session. The speech said the Progressive Conservative government is working with stakeholders in the health care system to identify ideas to address the problem.
Ford has been prime minister since 2018 and the speech touted what he has already done in health, including adding thousands of hospital beds and nurses, investing in home and community care, introducing grants to attract health professionals to rural and remote areas and planning to build 30,000 new long-term care beds.
“While these historic investments have helped sustain the province’s health care system through the most challenging period in modern history, there is no question that, like health care systems across Canada, it continues to experience significant pressures, including depleted workforces and increasingly stressed departments for emergency help,” Dowdeswell said.
“More can still be done. Your government is actively engaging with partners in the health system to identify urgent, actionable solutions and will implement all necessary measures to help ease the immediate pressures while ensuring the province is ready to remain open during any winter excitement.”
Dr. Shazeen Suleman, a pediatrician, addresses the crowd during a rally organized by the Health for All Coalition and participating community organizations at Queen’s Park on August 3. Opposition parties and nursing groups are pushing Ford to repeal the wage cap legislation, which they say hurts efforts to recruit and retain more nurses. (Sabah Rahman/CBC)
Emergency rooms in Ontario have been closed for hours or days at a time this summer, which stakeholders and advocates say is due to a nursing staffing crisis.
Opposition parties and nursing groups are demanding Ford reverse the wage cap legislation, which they say is hurting efforts to recruit and retain more nurses, who are leaving the sector in droves after more than two years on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 .
‘We need giant steps’: RNAO
Doris Greenspan, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), said she would like to see faster action taken.
“What has been done is baby steps and we need giant steps,” she said after the throne speech.
“We need massive steps to get out of this massive nursing shortage.”
Catherine Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses Association, said Ford has ignored solutions the organization has been calling for, including repealing the wage cap legislation known as Bill 124 and improving nurses’ working conditions.
“The Speech from the Throne and this government are pretending the crisis is a short-term problem and saying the action needed to address the health crisis has yet to be determined,” Hoy said in a statement.
“The crisis is anything but temporary and the government needs to wake up to that fact and listen to the solutions we are telling them exist.
WATCH | Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell addresses health care challenges in throne speech:
“More can still be done,” says the Lt.-Gov. during the prime minister’s throne speech
During the speech from the throne, Lt. Elizabeth Dowdeswell admits the Ontario government needs to do more to provide solutions to ease the pressure on the health care system.
Ford indicated in his speech that his government will work to address “short-term stressors” in health care, but also make long-term investments, such as how the government previously created Ontario Health Teams to integrate care and implementation of ” “Roadmap to Wellness” mental health and addictions care plan.
The throne speech also noted that – as promised during the election – the government would increase disability support payments by five per cent and link future increases to inflation, and offered a new pledge to give an extra $225 million in direct payments to parents , “to help their children catch up.”
Finance Minister Peter Betlenfalvi did not say what sums parents would receive, whether they would be directly tied to tuition or whether they would be means-tested. Details will come later, he said.
The money for both measures will be funded from a contingency in the budget, the government said.
The budget has been criticized by the opposition
Bethlenfalvi presented the budget again immediately after the throne speech.
The actual legislation has been largely unchanged since it was introduced, but was not passed before the spring election. But forecasts have since changed and the government is now forecasting a deficit of $18.8 billion this year, down from the $19.9 billion the Tories expected in the spring because of higher-than-forecast tax receipts.
Personal income tax revenue is expected to increase by $941 million, sales tax by $597 million, and corporate income tax by $417 million. However, land transfer tax revenue is projected to decrease by $787 million due to a slowdown in the housing market.
Betlenfalvi said it was prudent to use the $1.1 billion for deficit reduction instead of program spending given global economic uncertainty.
The only change to the budget since it was first presented in April is a five per cent increase in disability living allowance rates, which Ford promised during the election. But advocates say that’s still too low and payments should be doubled.
Speaking to reporters, Betlenfalvi deflected concerns about a pay increase to support the disabled, instead outlining a series of tax credits for the province’s vulnerable population.
Asked if he could live on $169 a month — the amount given to Ontarians living with disabilities — Betlenfalvey said the increase in disability benefits was just “a step in the right direction.”
WATCH | The finance minister was asked if he could live on $1,169 a month:
Ontario’s finance minister defends five per cent increase in ODSP payments
A reporter asked Peter Betlenfalvi if he believed he could live on the roughly $1,200 ODSP recipients receive each month. Betlenfalvi said he understands “the environment is challenging and difficult.”
The budget has drawn criticism from opposition leaders who say it should have been adjusted since it was first tabled in April to match current levels of inflation.
“The government had an opportunity to present a new budget to address these crises and Doug Ford chose not to,” said NDP interim leader Peter Tabuns.
“This budget has done nothing to offer relief from the heavy cost of inflation or to rebuild and improve our health care system.”
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner agreed, calling the throne speech and budget a “tired hodgepodge of band-aids and grand schemes” that fail to address affordability and climate change.
Prepare for a short-term delay: speech
The speech from the throne’s remarks began by acknowledging the global “growing sense of uncertainty” amid COVID-19, high inflation and the war in Ukraine, particularly its impact on supply chains.
Ford promised in his speech to chart a path forward based on economic growth, “not painful tax increases or spending cuts.”
The speech largely touted key parts of Ford’s agenda, including building highways and other infrastructure, attracting investment in electric vehicle manufacturing and a skilled trades strategy that seeks to address labor shortages.
Prime Minister Doug Ford visited the Dyna-Mig auto parts plant in Stratford, Ontario. before announcing $5 million to train 500 auto workers to fill vacancies in the sector on August 3. (Carmen Groleau/CBC)
The speech also noted rising interest rates in response to high inflation and warned that Ontario, like the rest of the country, should be prepared for the possibility of a short-term economic slowdown.
Ford also indicated that a so-called “strong mayor” bill is coming, which would give more power to the leaders of Toronto and Ottawa. The speech suggests these powers will help build housing more quickly.
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