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Ontario will not use the notwithstanding clause after a court struck down a law that caps wages for public sector workers, Premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
But he said his government still plans to appeal the decision handed down last week.
“I would say it’s a very interesting verdict, to say the least,” Ford said at a news conference.
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Ontario intends to appeal the court’s decision striking down Bill 124
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Ontario intends to appeal the court’s decision striking down Bill 124
“I’m just trying to rationalize why the decision came down, but I have faith in our judicial system, in our judges, and I’m sure they’ll make the right decision.”
The notwithstanding clause allows a government to override Charter rights for five years.
Ford’s Progressive Conservative government recently used a clause in the law that imposed a contract on education workers and prevented them from striking, but the province later repealed that law after workers agreed workers to end a walkout that is closing schools.
When asked if he would use the notwithstanding clause for Bill 124, Ford said no.
A judge struck down Bill 124 on Monday, saying it was unconstitutional because it violated the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Groups representing about 780,000 public sector workers challenged the constitutionality of the law passed in 2019, which limited wage increases to one percent per year for public sector employees for three years.
The province argued that the law does not violate constitutional rights, saying the charter only protects the bargaining process, not the outcome. It said the bill was a time-limited strategy to help eliminate the deficit.
Ontario further argued that it was under dire financial straits when it enacted the law, which it said was a temporary response to budget pressures it was facing.
That argument fell flat with the judge.
“In my view of the evidence, Ontario does not face a situation in 2019 that justifies a violation of Charter rights,” wrote Justice Markus Koehnen.
Health care workers have long called for Bill 124 to be repealed. Unions and doctors say the bill has contributed to the health care crisis in Ontario, which has seen many nurses and personal support workers leave the profession after two difficult years of the pandemic.
Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones on Thursday denied there was a “mass exodus” of nurses from the health-care system.
But Jones said “this is a challenging time in our health care system.”
On Thursday, Jones and Ford announced $4.6 million to the Michener Institute in Toronto to provide free tuition to nurses who want to train to work in critical care.
Ontario’s health system remains under pressure.
Pediatric hospitals across Ontario are seeing an unprecedented influx of children who are critically ill with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the flu and COVID-19.
The wave forced children’s hospitals to cancel operations to redeploy staff to emergency departments and intensive care units.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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