The Liberal MPP who put forward a private members bill pushing for paid COVID-19 sick leave in Ontario is answering back to claims by Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith, who said the plan would have put more strain on local business owners.
Toronto-area MPP Michael Coteau spoke to Quinte News on Wednesday and says the plan was never to have businesses shoulder that burden and says “no reasonable politician would ever make that suggestion”.
Coteau says “no reasonable politician MPP’s from all of the opposition parties have stressed that the provincial government should step up and cover the cost of 10 sick days per Ontarians.
“What Todd said yesterday is absolutely a false statement. We’ve been pushing for paid sick days for 400 days-plus now and the Conservatives have not responded to it. They have the money, they have the power, they can put in legislation, everything is in their hands and we’re still waiting for some type of response from the government.”
He says the Federal Government has provided 95% of the support programs for businesses through the pandemic and this is just another example of the Ontario PC’s trying to pass the blame.
“The Provincial Government has failed on lowering classroom sizes, they’ve failed on testing, they’ve failed on distribution of vaccinations and they’ve failed on a very simple recommendation by so many different experts, including their own science table, to put in place paid sick days and we’re still waiting.”
Coteau added that while a paid sick leave program wouldn’t be cheap, the cost would be outweighed by the social benefits by keeping people at home, limiting the spread and keeping people out of hospitals.
He’s urging people in the Quinte Region and across Ontario to contact their MPPs and tell them to continue to push the government to implement a paid sick leave program.
