Steven Del Duca, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, issued the following statement:
For months Canadians have been bracing for a second wave, Ford promised a plan to deal with the second wave on July 14 and now, over two months later we are still waiting.
We need real leadership from this government, not a document that underdelivers and has already been disavowed by stakeholders and health experts.
It is disappointing and quite frankly dangerous that there is still no plan, no effort to get a plan, and no money to put behind that effort from the Ford Government. Parents, educators, public health experts have been sounding the alarm on this for months.
Cases are rising, 2 million children are back at schools and the government can’t even tell us where the virus is being spread because of their failed contact tracing efforts.
Ontarians need a plan and real leadership that is based on advice and feedback from health experts and front-line health care workers, including:
- Eliminating unsafe waiting lines for COVID-19 testing, especially now that schools are back;
- Smaller safer class sizes;
- Increased contact tracing and clarity around public health guidelines;
- Expanded sick leave and additional protections for workers;
- Real-time reporting of outbreaks at the source;
- Increases in wages for essential frontline workers, especially PSWs who have seen their wages go down, not up;
- Urgent action to prevent breakouts in LTC homes;
- Guaranteed access to fully-funded PPE for residents, patients and workers in hospitals, long term care and other healthcare settings.
While the federal government has been taking action, Doug Ford has been sleeping in. We need better than that.