THUNDER BAY – NDP MPP Judith-Monteith Farrell on Thursday accused Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government of failing to support striking Thunder Bay District Health Unit nurses.
Monteith-Farrell also said the strike could have a disastrous effect in the fight against tuberculosis, particularly in Indigenous communities.
The Thunder Bay-Atikokan representative stood in Question Period and said Premier Doug Ford has done nothing to get the 58 striking workers back on the job.
“After two years without a contract, diminishing resources, and dwindling numbers, they understandably had enough,” said Monteith-Farrell, in a release issued by the provincial NDP.
“These are health professionals – the front lines – and often the first point of contact for thousands of Thunder Bay’s most vulnerable residents.
“What is this government doing to bring their employer, the Thunder Bay Health Unit, back to the table, and achieve an equitable end to this strike?”
Calling the nurses the front-line against the spread of infectious diseases, Monteith-Farrell said when the nurses walked off the job they were dealing with a potentially deadly tuberculosis outbreak.
“Tuberculosis, unfortunately, isn’t so much a disease of the past, but a disease of poverty – which only stands to grow in modern-day Ontario.Thunder Bay’s Indigenous population has been hardest hit.
“What is this government doing to ensure that these frontline public health nurses have the support of this government to get back to work?”
The Thunder Bay Board of Health is responsible for carrying out negotiations with the striking nurses, who walked off the job in the middle of October.
