advocacy
The Future of Ontario Health Care At the Chamber we conduct regular meetings to discuss the content for upcoming editions of the Advocate. In early March, it was determined that a publication on the Canadian healthcare system was probably relevant since we had covered the issue in past publications and not provided anything significant in recent months.
Phillips noted, was required to “flatten the curve” of new COVID-19 cases. The economic measures included penalty and interest relief for a series of taxes and deferral of WSIB payments. The Minister noted that $10 billion for businesses and individuals will assist with maintaining cash flow and protecting jobs.
We had no idea then of how the Region of Waterloo, Ontario and Canada would be impacted by COVID-19. This article was drafted at the end of March for a publication date of early May. Hopefully over the past decade of writing and publishing these articles I have been able to analyze developments and subsequently predict the evolution of local, provincial and national politics and policy responses. Recent developments have repeatedly used “unprecedented” and that terminology is certainly appropriate.
An additional $7 billion was allocated to health care, including a $1 billion COVID-19 contingency fund and a $2.5 billion reserve.
Premier Ford travelled to Kitchener to speak at the Tannery Event Centre for 9 am on Monday March 9. He arrived and engaged in a discussion with Iain Klugman before an assembled group of 150 business and community leaders. The main issue from the local perspective was two-way, allday GO passenger service from Waterloo Region to Toronto, which has been the priority local business issue for the past year. Premier Ford indicated that at the end of that week he would be travelling to Ottawa and attending a regular First Minister’s meeting with the Prime Minister and colleagues from across Canada. The session did not proceed as scheduled and was replaced by teleconferencing. Also, as Premier Ford noted in his discussion in Kitchener, he would be taking a complement of provincial cabinet ministers to speak with officials in Ottawa regarding additional funding for major infrastructure projects across Ontario. On that Monday morning Premier Ford was in Kitchener, local businesses were definitely looking ahead to the Ontario Budget scheduled for March 25, 2020, where it was highly anticipated that a major decision related to GO passenger service on the Kitchener line would be formally announced. The Budget that was planned became a fiscal and economic update titled Ontario’s Action Plan – Responding to COVID -19, with a complete and normal plan tentatively scheduled for the fall. The focus of the interim report was an escalation of health care spending which, as Finance Minister Rod
On the same day as Minister Phillips provided his economic update, the federal government formally announced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which is a consolidation of previously announced initiatives to assist businesses and employees impacted by the closure of many services. The provision of some form of safety net for people who cannot access existing programs such as EI has been a major priority for all levels of government since the early days of the outbreak. A major issue for Canadian business that will persist for the immediate future is access to the American market and activities along the border. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has consistently indicated that on-going dialogue between business and governments on both sides is critical to maintaining global competitiveness. As Prime Minister Trudeau has consistently informed Canadians, we will get through all of this together. Waterloo Region business is prepared to assist now and into the future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Art Sinclair Art is Vice President Policy and Advocacy for the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.
advocate May | June 2020
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