Joel Harden MPP / Député, Ottawa Centre

Government of Ontario

COVID Update: Thurs, Apr 9

Published on April 9, 2020

Friends, 

Here are today’s new developments:

  • Ontario has yet to mandate that long-term care workers limit their work to one home, as a way to slow the spread of the virus. Many PSWs hold multiple jobs to make ends meet -- the official opposition's proposal for saving lives in long-term care include immediately raising salaries for workers like PSWs and nurses to a minimum of $22/hour.

  • Again today, there are reports that not enough testing is taking place. CBC reports that shortages of swabs prompted testing centres to refuse to test 25 per cent to 30 per cent of those who showed up this past week.

Here are some concerns we are working on, and solutions we’re pushing for:

Here are some things we’re hearing from our community members:

  • Ontarians with disabilities and their families are anxious about their health and ability to pay their bills during the pandemic. Ontario's policy of clawing back supports like EI from a person's ODSP cheque means families who qualify for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) will see their ODSP support wiped out--We are calling on the government to stop Ontario's clawback policy. 
  • People are worried about keeping up with their auto insurance payments. With Ontarians driving far less and accidents fewer and farther between, we are calling on the government to give Ontarians a 50 per cent break on auto insurance for three months.  


Email me to let me know how you’re doing, what you’re concerned about: [email protected]. I hope you have an enjoyable and safe long weekend.