HAMILTON — Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain) has written to Doug Ford requesting the immediate repeal of Bill 124 upon return to the legislative assembly.
Full text below.
January 13th, 2022
Hon. Doug Ford
Premier's Office
Room 281, Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, ON M7A 1A1
Dear Premier Ford,
I am writing you to express the anger and frustration my constituents are feeling regarding Bill 124. Hamilton Mountain is home to many nurses, health care professionals, and community front line workers; this wage suppression bill needs to be repealed immediately. I am calling on you, Premier, to repeal this bill upon return to the legislature.
As the pandemic and the Omicron variant continue to ravage our health care system, we need to be paying our nurses and health care professionals a fair and proper wage. Nurses and healthcare professionals are keeping our broken healthcare system afloat, but they are tired. They are becoming burnt out, and Bill 124 is contributing to labour shortages in the sector. These workers are the backbone of our healthcare system, and they have been so long before COVID-19 hit Ontario. Moreover, when nurses and healthcare professionals are overworked with no support, we all pay the price.
Frontline community service workers are also being negatively impacted by Bill 124. Non profit organizations in Hamilton are unable to fairly recognize and retain their employees under this piece of legislation. Bill 124 has wide reaching implications for a number of sectors, including those who work in the social services and at non profit organizations. We have a number of organizations in Hamilton that support different marginalized groups, including unhoused populations, people who are experiencing mental health and / or addiction issues, and people arriving from a new country or community. These workers do so much for our community, and so it is time for you Premier to do right by these individuals and repeal Bill 124.
Labour shortages in the healthcare sector and the social services are reaching a crisis point in Ontario. We cannot expect nurses, health care workers and front line community workers to continue to work under Bill 124 any longer. Ontarians need nurses, health care workers and community service workers on the front lines, so it is critical that you, Premier, give these
workers the support they need so that they can continue working hard for Ontarians – as they’ve always done. Do the right thing Premier; repeal Bill 124 immediately upon return to the legislature. Our nurses, healthcare professionals, front line community service workers, and Ontario citizens are depending on this.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Monique Taylor,
MPP for Hamilton Mountain