(Toronto) Doug Ford acknowledged Tuesday that his government could do more to ease the pressures on Ontario’s health care system. But the Speech from the Throne unveiled on Tuesday offers no new solution to this problem, which has led to the temporary closure of emergency rooms this summer.
Posted at 3:09 p.m.
Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell read the new Ford government’s Speech from the Throne, which marks the start of a new legislative session following the June election. The Progressive Conservative government only maintains that it is working with the various players in the health care system to find solutions.
Mr. Ford has been Prime Minister since 2018, and in the Speech from the Throne he touts his past achievements in health care, including adding thousands of hospital beds and hiring nurses, investing in home and community care, the introduction of a grant to attract health professionals to rural and remote areas, and plans to provide 30,000 new long-term care beds.
“These historic investments have helped sustain the province’s health care system during the most difficult time in modern history, but there is no doubt that, like health care systems across Canada, it continues to face significant pressures, including exhausted staff and emergency rooms with increasing levels of stress,” the government said in the Speech from the Throne.
“More can be done. Your government is actively working with its health system partners to identify urgent and possible solutions and will take whatever action is necessary to alleviate immediate pressures while ensuring the province is prepared to remain open should there be a winter outbreak.” , adds the Ford government.
The salaries of nurses
Emergency rooms in several Ontario hospitals had to close this summer for hours or even days due to a shortage of health care workers, according to observers.
Several speakers urged Premier Ford to repeal the 2019 law that caps public sector wage increases at 1% for three years. They believe that this law undermines efforts to recruit and retain nurses in the public network.
Ford says in his Speech from the Throne that while working to address “short-term stressors,” he will make long-term investments, such as how the government previously created Ontario Health Teams to integrating care and implementing the “Towards Wellness” program in mental health and addictions.
“In pursuing these reforms, the Province will not allow itself to be limited by conventional ways of thinking that stifle innovation and preserve a status quo that struggles to meet growing challenges and changing needs,” the government said. Rather, guided by the evidence and successes of other governments, your government will take strong action that puts patients and their health as the highest priority. »
People with Disabilities
The Speech from the Throne also states that the Ford government, as promised in the campaign, will increase disability benefits for people with disabilities by 5% and index future increases to inflation. He also made a new promise, which will be included in the budget: to provide an additional $225 million over two years “in direct grants to parents who help their children catch up.”
The Speech from the Throne began by addressing a “growing sense of insecurity” in Ontario and around the world amid COVID-19, high inflation and the war in Ukraine, particularly its impacts on supply chains.
“And unprecedented spending throughout the pandemic has created new fiscal challenges here, in Ontario, and across Canada, which will require careful economic management in the months and years to come,” warns the Progressive Conservative government.
“Taken together, these emerging fiscal and economic issues cannot be underestimated or ignored. We have to face it. And there is no easy solution. »
Taxation
The speech also highlighted rising interest rates in response to high inflation, and the government cautioned that Ontario, like the rest of the country, needed to prepare for the possibility of a short-term economic downturn.
Mr. Ford pledges to chart a way forward based on economic growth, “not painful tax increases or spending cuts.”
“In the months and years ahead, your government will continue to do what has served this province’s economy so well: cutting red tape, keeping taxes low, fostering an environment that attracts global capital and making targeted investments that strengthen Ontario’s competitive advantages. »
The Speech from the Throne also extensively touts key elements of Mr. Ford’s agenda, including building highways and other infrastructure, attracting investment in electric vehicle manufacturing and a skilled trades strategy that aims to address a labor shortage.
Mr. Ford also promises to give more powers to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, in order to build housing more quickly.
“For urban populations, these new powers will be especially relevant as the Province works with its municipal partners to expand the footprint of transit-oriented communities so that more people can live, work and play near public transit. common dressers. »
The budget, which must be tabled after the reading of the Speech from the Throne, should be almost identical to the one that was presented last spring, but which could not be adopted in the House because of the election call.