Ontario is committed to offering “portable benefits” for workers, the returning labor minister says, and is considering next steps for a soon-to-be-expired sick leave program.
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday, Monte McNaughton discussed labor plans for the recently re-elected Progressive Conservative government, including the next steps for a proposed benefits package for uninsured workers – including health and Dental coverage – which was announced publicly for the first time. before the election.
He said the government plans to make the benefit scheme a reality, but it is awaiting interim recommendations from a panel of experts this month on how to implement it. A further update on further consultations and recommendations is expected in the fall.
“We need to take our time to fix this, but we will move on,” McNaughton said, calling the implementation plan a “monumental work” for a government-appointed panel, drawing from some global examples. . “In the coming weeks and months, we’re going to have that blueprint for the province.”
It is one of several pending policies on the Labor file, which McNaughton has been relegated to since the Progressive Conservative was re-elected last month. Labor groups and critics have expressed concern about the plan’s lack of exclusivity and some have instead called for more basic employment rights for gig workers.
Cabinet is also currently discussing next steps for its temporary program, which provides for three days of paid sick leave, which is due to expire at the end of this month, McNaughton said, promising that more The information will come “very, very soon”.
“I made it clear that I would continue to work for the workers and pat them on the back every day,” he said. “Now that the cabinet is formed, this is something I can tell you we are looking into.”
Premier Doug Ford’s government announced a paid sick-leave plan in the spring of 2021 amid growing calls for such a policy to reduce the workplace spread of COVID-19. The program has since been extended to 31 July, with the opposition NDP and others calling on the government to extend the program and offer more days.
The movement on paid sick leave was one of several Labor-related policy changes for the Tory government, which gained momentum in the lead-up to June’s election.
The decision to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in January was another, after the Ford government cut a planned increase earlier in his term.
The minimum wage is due to increase by another $15.50 in October. McNaughton said the increase was set at 50 percent given inflation for the past two years, in an approach the government intends to move forward each year.
McNaughton said Thursday that the government is sticking with a 50 percent increase and will not adjust it to a higher amount based on changes in inflation since then.
In December, Statistics Canada reported that the Consumer Price Index rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier. As of April, the annual pace of inflation had risen to 6.8 percent year on year. The annual inflation rate rose to 7.7 percent in May in the most recent update, its highest level in nearly 40 years.
McNaughton said the government recognizes that Ontario families are grappling with rising cost of living, but said it would continue to announce planned wage increases each year in October. He said the approach gives employers and workers more time to prepare.
“It predates, in particular, small businesses, and workers too, to know what the minimum wage increase is going to be,” he said.
McNaughton is returning to the Labor file after an election victory that Ford partly attributed to his party’s ability to garner support for labor unions. Some critics have cast doubt on the government’s labour-friendly rebrand at the end of its first term, calling it a targeted strategy to win over voters.
McNaughton, however, said his efforts to support working Ontarians are genuine and will continue as he is back on file.
“Just see what we’re going to do,” he said in response to that criticism. “Since the election, I have been visiting workers and labor leaders and employers across the province, getting ideas and hearing about what makes Ontario really the best place to start a family and raise a family. What more action needs to be taken to make it work.”
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