On Monday Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell rose in the Legislative Assembly to present a petition and to address how principles underlying Ontario’s workers’ compensation system are being eroded. Her comments focused on the recent 30% cuts to employers’ premiums all while, over the past decade, the “WSIB has cut benefits to injured workers by 50%, often shifting them to social programs funded by the public … ” [read Member’s statement ; see video]
Member Statement – March 25, 2019
Workers deserve better!
Posted by Judith Monteith-Farrell on Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Debate also continued this week on the omnibus Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2019. On Monday by Peter Tabuns (MPP, Toronto-Danforth) questioned why the government was removing protection from toxic chemical exposure that affects not industrial workers but also those who live near their plants.
The MPP for Waterloo, Catherine Fife, also spoke to Schedule 5 repealing the 2009 Toxic Reductions Act along with its provisions on reporting and requirement for facilities to develop reduction plans – ceding responsibility instead to less effective federal legislation. Referencing the plight of former rubber workers in her community and Peterborough GE workers with longstanding WSIB claims, she noted “There is a cost to not being proactive. The smart money, actually, is on reducing the possibility of chemical spills and toxic accidents … “