Ontario nurses renew call for repeal of Ford’s Bill 124

The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario has renewed its demand for the province to repeal Bill 124, calling for “swift action” to get a handle on the current nursing crisis ahead of a coming “fifth wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It said the bill is “wreaking havoc” on the nursing professon.

Dr. Doris Grinspun, the CEO of the RNAO, argued the province is “losing nurses of all categories” and “hemorrhaging” registered nurses, adding that Ontario had a shortfall of registered nurses even before the onset of the pandemic.

With Bill 124 capping salary increases at one per cent for public sector workers and nurses, Grinspun said the limit has had a “detrimental effect”, particularly when paired with the challenges posed to nurses continuing to work to support patients under “tremendous pressure” for the past 22 months. 

In a release, the RNAO argued the one per cent cap actually amounts to a reduction in pay when factoring in the impact of inflation.

They call it a “slap in the face” to nurses working hard to care for their fellow Ontarians, and have had to cancel vacations, have days off and live with the fear through the waves of the pandemic.

With the holidays approaching, Grinspun said it's likely out provinces nurses will be right back to work, cancelling plans with family as the variants of COVID-19 continue to spread. 

After calling upon the Ford government to repeal Bill 124 within 30 days back in November, the RNAO noted that countdown ended on Tuesday with “complete silence” from the Premier.

Grinspun said that silence has been perceived as a “blatant lack of respect”, while the RNAO has since received the support of opposition MPPs pledging to repeal Bill 124 if legislation is enacted to do so. 

“Despite that this is a Premier that speaks with me often, and I speak with him often on Bill 124, I have heard nothing from the premier,” Grinspun said.

“Not an answer to my calls, not an answer to my text messages, not an answer to our letter.”

“We have tried to no avail during the day hours, evening hours, night hours, the weekends and we will do that on the holiday too, to try and make some sense for Premier Ford that he is acting in a way that is compromising directly Ontarian's lives.”

Pointing to nursing shortages experienced in Manitoba, Grinspun argued that it's “critical” the province do everything possible to retain every single registered nurse across Ontario's healthcare sector.

The RNAO notes many nurses have left their jobs over Bill 124, choosing to work in agencies with better pay, moving to different jurisdictions or leaving the profession completely. 

“The reality is that we have warned about the nursing crisis for many years – government after government and the current government also,” said Grinspun.

“While the premier does not own only this nursing crisis, he is deepening this nursing crisis significantly by ignoring the plea of nurses for a life saving jacket; that's what I would call a repeal of Bill 124.”