Ont. to release mini-budget, Proposed rules to crack down on unethical temp agencies & Calls for Canada to drop C-19 PCR test before land border opening

The Bill Kelly Show Podcast:

Ontario is set to release its fall economic statement on Nov. 4.

The economic outlook and fiscal review will provide an update on the province’s finances, such as its deficit projections.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says the pandemic elevates the importance of the upcoming financial statement. He says it will focus on investments in health care and other ways the province continues to battle COVID-19.

GUEST: Sandy Shaw, MPP for Hamilton West, Ancaster & Dundas and NDP Environment Critic; also former Finance Critic

-

Temporary help agencies and recruiters will soon need to be licensed and vetted by the province to operate, in an effort to improve accountability and enforcement in a sector known for widespread violations.

New labour legislation announced Monday will, if passed, give workers “unprecedented protection and security,” Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said — signalling to law-breaking agencies that their “time is up.”

In an interview with the Star, McNaughton called abuse in the sector “completely unacceptable.”

GUEST: Judy Fudge, Professor with the School of Labour Studies at McMaster University

-

When the United States resumes letting fully vaccinated, non-essential North American visitors back across its land borders Nov. 8, border guards won't be asking for proof of a negative COVID-19 test -- and one New York congressman wants Canada to return the favour.

Rep. Brian Higgins, whose relentless campaign against the Biden administration's travel restrictions has made him known north of the border, said the $200 test, known as a molecular or PCR test, remains a barrier to the routine bilateral travel so vital to his region's economy.

GUEST: Congressman Brian Higgins, Representative of the 26th District of New York