Public health officials, city mayors and small businesses have called for it: paid sick leave. It has been cited as a factor that’s been proven to slow the spread of COVID-19 — without the protection of paid sick leave, employees often feel forced to go to work even while sick and symptomatic, to avoid missing a pay cheque or losing their jobs. The Ontario government has said for months it has no plans to create a paid sick leave program of its own but the pressure, both internally and publicly, is ratcheting up on the Ford government, ahead of the 2021 budget. Robert Benzie, Toronto Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief, talks to “This Matters” host Adrian Cheung, about the months-long political fight over paid sick leave in Ontario and what might be expected in the coming weeks.
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