Urgent motion calling on Ford government to help Brampton amid COVID-19 pandemic

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Published September 16, 2020 at 7:44 pm

The Ontario NDP and MPP for Brampton North, Kevin Yarde, are calling on the Ford government to help the Region of Peel contain and stop the spread of COVID-19.

The Ontario NDP and MPP for Brampton North, Kevin Yarde, are calling on the Ford government to help the Region of Peel contain and stop the spread of COVID-19.

If passed, Yarde’s urgent motion would equip Peel Public Health to hire additional staff as well as do more testing, more community outreach and more proactive workplace inspections in the region. 

“Families in Peel need to get back to school and work, but they’re worried about the growing number of COVID-19 infections in our community,” said Yarde in a media release. 

“We’ve seen COVID-19 cases in schools, we’ve seen outbreaks in workplaces, we’ve seen hours-long waits for testing, and we’ve seen dozens of new infections daily.”

Over the course of the pandemic, the Region of Peel was outlined as a COVID-19 ‘hotspot.’

Additionally, the government is already reporting that three Brampton schools and four Mississauga schools have active COVID-19 cases, since returning to the classrooms for the school year. 

“Brampton’s health care system was hanging by a thread before the pandemic, thanks to chronic underfunding by Liberal and Conservative governments alike,” said Yarde. “Now we’re heading into a second wave of COVID-19, and I’m worried that our already-overflowing hospitals won’t be able to handle an influx.”

This is the reason why Yarde is moving an urgent motion calling on the Ford government to provide immediate assistance to Peel Public Health.

In an interview with inbrampton.com, Yarde said, “Just last year, the Ford government voted down an NDP motion to build a new hospital in Brampton and expand Peel Memorial. Now we’re seeing the hard-fought gains Brampton made in the fight against COVID-19 slipping away, with cases on the rise again.”

“The way Brampton was able to flatten the curve during the first wave of COVID-19 is a testament to our community’s efforts to follow public health guidelines, as well as the hard work of Peel Public Health,” he said, adding that it would be a shame if the community had to take steps backwards in re-opening because the Ford government refused to provide assistance to Peel Public Health.

The motion will go to a vote in Ontario’s legislature on Thursday, September 17, 2020. 

“The provincial government should also be doing so much more to ensure a safe return to school, help businesses re-open safely and protect seniors living in long-term care — especially in hotspots like Brampton,” Yarde told inbrampton.com.

Yarde has the support of his NDP colleagues, including fellow Brampton MPPs Sara Singh (Brampton Centre) and Gurratan Singh (Brampton East). 

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