ONA all in for Ontario!

The event, held at the Workers Heritage Centre on July 31, was part of the Official Opposition’s All in for Ontario summer tour to bring communities together, meet people where they are, and build a future that working people can afford.

“This tour is about everyone who refuses to give up on this province and believes that better isn’t just possible, it’s necessary,” explains Ontario NDP leader Marit Styles. “It’s for the workers whose jobs hang in the balance while this government forces through power grabs like Bill 5 – and waits on Trump. For the families scraping together rent each month as the cost-of-living soars. For the young people trying to build a life here, wondering if there’s still space for them in the place they call home.”

Along with Styles, Ariss was joined by Region 4 Vice-President Grace Pierias, ONA staff, MPPs Robin Lennox and Sandy Shaw, and Ontario Federation of Labour Leader Laura Walton.

Brutal truth 

Erin centred her remarks on what Ford government policies mean for our public health-care system and how we can all work together to fight them.

“It has never been more important to focus on solidarity and the power we have when we fight threats to things we hold dear,” she told the standing-room only gathering. “While our Premier has been distracting us all with his fighting words against President Donald Trump and tariffs, he and his government have been quietly expanding private, for-profit health care, while simultaneously underfunding the public, non-profit system we pay for and rely on.”

She noted that evidence has shown that for-profit care is less safe and more expensive than care in public facilities and results in worse wait times in the public system.

“As front-line nurses and health-care professionals, we’re in a unique position to know what’s wrong and how to fix things,” she noted. “It starts with ending the disrespect of our members’ work. Care work is often not recognized as skilled work, and its value to our economy is overlooked because it involves tasks that society generally views as ‘women’s work.’ Let me be clear: much of the dismissal of the value of care work is due to misogyny and racism.”

Those performing care work are professionals, and deserve respect, equal wages to other sectors, and safe working conditions, she said, adding that it's clear that the Ford government not only doesn’t care that its policies are hurting our public health-care system, it is implementing those policies to inflict that damage intentionally. 

“ONA and our 68,000 members have recently reinvigorated our union and are seeing something of a renaissance of our organization,” Ariss concluded. “A new generation has discovered the power of solidarity and in being a unified voice to speak the brutal truth. We have seen that by working together, we have the power to win.  

“We can’t and won’t stand by and watch Doug Ford destroy the non-profit care sector to enrich his friends. With a growing and aging population, care work is more important than it has ever been, and we need for all of us to work together to fight his destruction of it. ONA and our members are all in. Are you with us?”