Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sidestepped questions on Friday on whether the federal government will implement any measures to help Canadians with underlying health conditions who fear returning to work as novel coronavirus restrictions ease.
During his daily news conference on Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Trudeau was asked if any such measures will be put in place.
“Our focus throughout this entire pandemic has been the safety and security of Canadians,” the prime minister responded.
“We know some Canadians are more vulnerable to COVID-19 because of age, because of underlying health factors and every step of the way we have focused on giving them the support they need and we will continue to do so.”
Pressed about what specific measures are on the table for workers with pre-existing illnesses, Trudeau said his government will “continue to look at the situations as they come up.”
He reiterated the financial support Ottawa has offered Canadians during the pandemic, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and a wage subsidy program for businesses.
“We’ve delivered the CERB to over seven million Canadians, we’ve seen millions of workers get on the wage subsidy,” he said.
“There are measures in place for so many different groups because we know that being there for each other is part of who Canadians are but also how we’re going to get through this and that’s what we’ll stay focused on.”
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The CERB has been made available until early October, while the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy has just been extended through August.
Apprehensions about returning to work extend beyond those with underlying health conditions as more and more questions arise about safe working conditions while provinces gradually reopen and COVID-19 cases continue to crop up across the country.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) conducted an analysis on the risk of workplace infection and said there are 1.7 million workers in “high-risk workplaces” who are currently laid off but face “the substantial risk of infection if employers don’t, or can’t, adequately protect them.”
These “high-risk workplaces” range from meat-packing workers to oil sands workers, to hair stylists, chefs, dental hygienists and flight attendants, the analysis noted — all environments where employees come into close contact with each other or clients.
“For women and low-wage workers in particular, their layoff or lost working hours will have protected them from COVID-19 exposure at work, but this re-opening phase could well put them between a rock and a hard place: having to choose between desperately needed income and their own health,” David Macdonald, the CCPA senior economist who conducted the analysis, said in a news release.
The CERB is helping “many” of these workers cover their expenses while they can’t work, the CCPA said, but the think tank warned they may become ineligible for the benefit if they refuse to return to workplaces they don’t think are taking appropriate safety measures to fend off the coronavirus.
“The CERB, with its present rules, could be weaponized by unscrupulous employers wanting to pressure workers to return but not wanting to pay for the needed COVID-19 protections,” Macdonald said.
“This leaves employers with the opportunity to threaten workers with the loss of CERB if they resist returning to unsafe jobs.”
Under the CERB, eligible applicants can receive $2,000 every four weeks over a 16-week period that ends Oct. 3, 2020.
In an interview with The West Block’s host Mercedes Stephenson, scheduled to air Sunday, a Toronto-based labour lawyer said employees do have the right to refuse to report for work if the environment is unsafe.
In that circumstance, the employer would have to explain why the workplace is safe or what measures have been take to make it so, Howard Levitt said. If the employee still refuses to come in to work, an occupational health and safety inspector can be called in to make a binding determination on the safety issue.
If the employees don’t come back to work then, they risk losing their job or welfare benefits, he said. Amid the pandemic, fear of exposure to the virus while commuting on public transit won’t count as an excuse for not coming to work, Levitt added.
On the part of the employers, they are “absolutely liable” for not providing a safe work environment and could face “a massive lawsuit” if an employee falls ill or even dies after raising a safety issue, Levitt said.
“Require social distancing. Have sanitation stations everywhere. Have washroom readily available. Ensure people clean their hands,” he argued. “Make sure anybody with COVID symptoms or flu-like symptoms stays home and does not enter the workplace.
“Discipline people who breach any of those rules.”
Further safety measures might include a “workplace redesign,” like limiting the number of employees in the workplace at a given time, Levitt added.
“Whatever they have to do, they have to do,” he said.
As public health restrictions are loosening across Canada, the federal New Democrats are calling on Ottawa to pay for all Canadians to get access to two weeks of sick-leave benefits.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday that workers without sick leave who are put back on the job during the pandemic will be left to decide between protecting others from infection and paying their bills.
“We need paid sick leave, there is no question about it. It should no longer be an option,” Singh said Wednesday.
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough said the federal government is in talks with the provinces about how they can deal with the issue.
“We are very aware that a key component to our return to work safely, and positioning businesses and workers to feel confident they can go back to work, will be making it easier to stay home if you’re feeling sick,” Qualtrough said at a briefing Wednesday.
Levitt told Global News that workers are protected legally if they stay home from work due to illness, but they won’t be paid for that time once the CERB runs out and they’re not already covered under a sick leave policy.
-With files from The Canadian Press
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