Horwath touts health care hiring plan, calls for vaccine mandate
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath said she would put a comprehensive plan in place across the province to hire and and retain health care workers.
She made the comments Wednesday at a stop in London outside St. Joseph’s Health Centre.
“One that includes the hiring and retention of our existing health care people. So nurses, PSWs (personal support workers), health care technicians -- we need to shore up our health care system, and we need a comprehensive plan to do that,” said Horwath.
She also vowed to scrap Bill 124, the cap on public sector wage increases, which includes health care workers.
The NDP leader also acknowledged there’s a problem with some health care workers still choosing not to get the COVID-19 vaccine. She said that’s contributing to longer hospital wait times, and the health care worker shortage.
“It’s really troubling that we still have folks that have decided not to do that, and as you will know, the (Ontario COVID-19) Science Table has advised Doug Ford that there absolutely needs to be an across-the-board vaccine mandate for health care workers in our province.”
But the resistance to COVID-19 vaccines among health care workers appears to be strong enough that at least some are willing to lose their jobs over their cause.
Shortly after Horwath’s London stop a group of about 40 health care workers from a variety of backrounds gathered at Victoria Park to denounce vaccine mandates. The group calls itself the United Health Care Workers of Ontario, and among them was London Health Sciences Centre RN Anita Davis.
Davis said she’s about to be terminated by her employer for not adhering to the hospital’s vaccine mandate, and she has many colleagues in the same position.
“But under no circumstances, please do not risk the collapse of Ontario’s health care system because of suspensions and terminations,” said Davis.
Former PC MPP Roman Baber, now independent, called on Premier Doug Ford to place a moratorium on such terminations.
“I therefore call on Doug Ford to own up to his mistakes and put a moratorium and block any suspension of any Ontario health care workers.”
The group claims tens of thousands of health care workers across the province face termination or unpaid suspensions because of vaccine mandates.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.