Jill Andrew MPP, Toronto–St. Paul's

Here are today’s new developments: 

• Ontario saw zero reported deaths from COVID-19 today, for the first time since March, with 138 new cases reported. 

• The Windsor-Essex region communities of Leamington and Kingsville--the last in Ontario held back from entering Stage Two of reopening due to outbreaks among migrant workers--will enter Stage Two tomorrow. Ford has been all over the map in his response to the ongoing migrant worker crisis, with no clear plan to protect workers. We have been pushing the government to give migrant workers proper sick pay and safe accommodation.

• Thirty workers have tested positive for COVID-19 at a mushroom farm in Vaughan.

• Toronto Mayor John Tory warned residents that the city will begin implementing a host of devastating service cuts unless the federal and provincial governments provide cash-strapped municipalities with a major bailout package. Despite Ford's claims to the contrary, Ontario has the responsibility and the capacity to support municipalities direly in need of emergency operating funding.

 
Solutions we’re pushing for:

• During question period today,  Andrea Horwath said Doug Ford allowing asymptomatic, COVID-19-positive migrant farm workers to continue working is inhumane, and criticized Ford's misleading claims that workers who self-isolate will still be paid. “The majority of workers will not be paid under the current system, which also fails to protect farmers from critical labour shortages,” Horwath said.

• Marit Stiles and Doly Begum say the Ford government’s instructions for schools’ reopening post-COVID are vague, leaving parents and educators anxious and unsure of what to expect. We want the government to implement an action plan that includes guaranteed access to job-protected leave for parents until school and child care fully resume.