January 4th, 2021

Horwath calls for legislature to be recalled immediately

Long-term care plan and vaccines program need urgent overhaul

HAMILTON — With Ontario in deeper depths of the COVID crisis than ever, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling for MPPs to return to the legislature immediately to work on solutions to save people in long-term care, and fix Ontario’s lethargic vaccines program.

“Long-term care homes are in a humanitarian crisis. Seniors are being forced to cry out to beg for food and water, while they’re left vulnerable to deadly infection. The province is lagging far behind the country on vaccinations, and doesn’t appear to have a plan to ramp up. And COVID-19 is spreading faster than ever,” said Horwath.

“The vacations need to stop. All MPPs need to return to the legislature. We are facing a longer, deeper lockdown because Doug Ford keeps choosing to do too little too late. Let’s stop him from continuing to make that choice.”

Horwath said there are concrete actions the legislature can take to stop the spread and save lives, as well as helping people and small businesses weather the current lockdown.

She called for the legislature to work together to move out billions in unspent COVID-19 funds to shore up hospitals and long-term care homes. She said the military needs to be recalled to long-term care homes in crisis, and federal funding for Red Cross deployments needs to be used instead of sitting in a bank account. Horwath said the MPPs can pass laws to give people paid sick days, and give small businesses more financial support. And she said the legislature needs to work to put a more robust plan in place for the vaccine roll-out.

“Doug Ford has been resistant to spending, and resistant to action,” said Horwath. “The suffering, the loss and the anguish doesn’t have to continue on this scale if we make different choices.”