TORONTO – Amy Archibald-Varley is worried about what it means to re-elect Doug Ford to the Ontario health care system and its workers.
The registered nurse and advocate for health justice says part of the wage restraint legislation, Bill 124, passed by Ford’s progressive conservatives, is at the center of her concerns.
“We worked and suffered throughout this pandemic,” Archibald-Varley said in an interview.
“We were hailed as heroes, we had people knocking pots and pans instead of us. And when it came to that, and we were asked what we needed to continue to help the nurses here in Ontario, we asked for the repeal of Bill 124.
Progressive Conservatives introduced legislation in 2019 to limit increases in compensation for public sector contracts to one percent per year. The regulations were due to take effect over three years, and in 2019 the Tories said it was a time-limited approach to helping close the deficit.
Asked whether he would ease the ceiling on health workers’ salaries after the election, Ford said he would take inflation into account in the talks once the agreements expire.
“I’m a strong believer, when you get inflation, we have to treat people fairly,” Ford said, citing the detention fee his government announced as nurses last winter.
“We will sit down and negotiate honestly, no matter what the union is. But I strongly believe that we need to be fair to people who work hard, do a great job and we rely on them, so I am very grateful to everyone, including nurses. ”
The NDP, the Liberals and the Greens promised to repeal the legislation during the election campaign.
A recent study by Statistics Canada found that more than 95% of physicians, nurses and other health professionals surveyed reported experiencing more stress due to the pandemic while juggling more workloads. He also found that, as a result, one in four nurses intends to leave or change jobs altogether over the next three years.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Medical Association estimates that the pandemic has lagged behind more than 21 million patient services, including more than one million surgeries, along with significant waiting times.
The Ontario Nurses Association said it was disappointed with the election results, but noted that most Ontario residents had voted for parties that wanted to repeal wage-cutting legislation that “seriously exacerbated the shortage of nurses.”
“Most Ontario residents stood with nurses and health professionals in the province and sent a message to the Ford government that they did not support Bill 124 … and attacks on workers’ rights,” said Catherine Hoy, the organization’s president, in a written statement.
Diane Martin, chief executive of the Ontario Registered Practical Nurses Association, said she hoped to work with the re-elected government to address what she called a “crisis in nurses.”
“I hope to work with the government to help draw attention to this awareness of how bad and what it looks like for patients and then, of course, work on solutions with them,” she said in an interview.
Anthony Dale, president and CEO of the Ontario Hospitals Association, said in a statement Friday that the province needs to make “strategic investments to build additional capacity” in the health care system while planning for the long term.
That commitment to working together is key, said Nahid Dosani, a Toronto-based palliative care physician and advocate for health justice.
“Overall, we’ve seen the impact that unfair health care can have on people, and I think there’s a lot of potential for that to get worse in the coming years,” he said. “We need all hands to protect our public health system.”
It begins, he said, with the repeal of Bill 124 and better support for front-line workers, along with investment in detention and education.
“After all they have done to sacrifice and dedicate themselves during this pandemic, they certainly deserve at least that much,” he said.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 6, 2022.
Add Comment