thumb-2021-04-029
thumb-2021-04-029 This article is more than 1 year old
News

Big Majority of Ontario Residents and Conservative Voters Now Support Paid Sick Days For All Workers

Over two-thirds of Conservative supporters say they want paid sick days

An overwhelming majority of Ontario residents and Conservative voters say they now support paid sick days for all workers as COVID-19 infections rise amid the pandemic’s deadly third wave.

A new poll by StratCom and commissioned by the Ontario Federation of Labour, finds that over four-in-five Canadians agree with the statement: “Governments should make all employers provide paid sick days for all employees.”

“COVID-19 has dramatically shifted Canadians’ political and social perspectives,” Stratcom President Matt Smith told PressProgress.

“The overwhelming support for governments legislating companies to provide paid sick days for all of their employees took us by surprise,” Smith said, noting that “this policy’s popularity spans age, gender, region and partisan backgrounds.”

“There’s an overall sense of collective solidarity with essential workers from a broad range of people and backgrounds.”

In Ontario, where Premier Doug Ford repealed the province’s existing paid sick leave legislation and has strongly resisted bringing it back at the urging of medical and public health experts, 83% of residents say they support paid sick days.

That includes 61% of Ontarians who say they “strongly” support paid sick days.

Support for paid sick days is unanimous across the country, from Alberta (77%) and the Prairies (79%) to British Columbia (82%), Atlantic Canada (84%) and Quebec (85%).

Stratcom

Broken down by party, 90% of self-identified Liberals and 93% of NDP supporters indicated that they want paid sick days.

Despite the positions of Doug Ford and Jason Kenney’s right-wing governments, more than two-thirds (69%) of Conservatives said they support paid sick days, with 42% stating that they “strongly agree.”

Stratcom

Patty Coates, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour, said the poll results demonstrate that the debate over paid sick days is over.

“The overwhelming public support for employer-provided paid sick days confirms that people across the political spectrum, even conservatives, agree,” Coates told PressProgress.

“The Premier must provide this basic human right to workers, and he must do it urgently.”

Medical experts have warned that a lack of paid sick days is forcing many people to go to work when they’re sick or symptomatic, risking greater community spread.
Ontario leads the country in total and active infections and hospitals prepare for worst case scenarios as ICUs approach capacity.

Ontario’s workers had the rights to two paid sick days under the Employment Standards Act until the Ford government eliminated those rights, soon after the 2018 election.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s support has plummeted recently — prompting a shift in approach during a Thursday press conference.


On Thursday, Ford suggested his government was “working” on sick leave, but provided no details.

 

Our journalism is powered by readers like you.

We’re an award-winning non-profit news organization that covers topics like social and economic inequality, big business and labour, and right-wing extremism.

Help us build so we can bring to light stories that don’t get the attention they deserve from Canada’s big corporate media outlets.

 

Donate
PressProgress
PressProgress is an award-winning non-profit news organization focused on uncovering and unpacking the news through original investigative and explanatory journalism.

Most Shared

thumb-2023-03-08-BC-workers-recovery News

Ontario Budget 2023: Doug Ford Pulled a Sneaky Move to Quietly Cut Education

Related Stories

News

BC Workers are Being Forced Into Mandatory Drug Testing and Private ‘Recovery’ Programs

View the post
News

Budget 2023: Dental Care Plan Will Cover Millions More Uninsured Canadians Than Originally Estimated

View the post
News

Conservative Party Casts Doubt on Qualifications of Women Cabinet Ministers

View the post

Explainers

Human rights & inclusion

Amira Elghawaby

Here’s The Problem With Hoping Corporations Will Be Socially and Environmentally Responsible On Their Own

View the post
Politics & strategy

Jeremy Appel

The battle of the PACs in Calgary’s municipal election

View the post
Politics & strategy

Jeremy Appel

27 Different Candidates are Vying to be Calgary’s Mayor. Here Are the Biggest Issues at Stake.

View the post
Newspapers always have a business section – why not a labour section? We’ve launched a free newsletter covering labour issues in Canada.
Get Canadian Labour News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers.
We’ve launched a free newsletter covering labour issues in Canada.
Get Canadian Labour News You Won't Find in Corporate Newspapers