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Toronto charts a course out of the COVID-19 pandemic with a recovery ‘roadmap’ — but without new powers or new money

Sep 2, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Despite the pandemic highlighting a lack of power for Toronto to chart its own course — city officials spent a week trying to convince the province to — a new plan for recovery released Wednesday morning doesn’t recommend immediate changes to taxation or seeking new powers from the province.

Cities are at the front line of rebuilding after the pandemic, says the new report, designed as a “roadmap” to Toronto’s recovery from the pandemic. The result is a 270-page report with 83 recommendations on moving forward — from changing planning rules to encourage more affordable housing to making new bike lanes permanent.

But the country’s largest city faces an increasingly uncertain financial future, as is spelled out in a covering report to council from city manager Chris Murray that accompanies the roadmap.

With an economic downturn on a scale not seen since the Great Depression, , and an estimated $1.5-billion budget gap next year alone, the pandemic has only exposed existing problems and made them worse.

“Municipalities … were designed for another era — from our urban form, governance, financing and partners — everything we knew pre-pandemic has either been magnified or changed,” Murray says in his report.

“No longer can we make the significant contributions to so many programs and services that benefit not just Torontonians but the region as well, with limited abilities, resources, authorities or control over the things that matter most to our residents — equity, prosperity, health and wellbeing.”

Saad Rafi, a former provincial bureaucrat who is leading Toronto’s Recovery and Rebuild Strategy, and one of the authors of the roadmap, said they did consider raising taxes as an immediate step as part of their recommendations.

“Increasing taxes on those that are already in very, very challenging economic conditions was examined and thought not to be as effective,” said Rafi. He added that current provincial legislation governing what the city can and can’t do places “significant limitations” on how money can be collected.

Currently, the city’s most lucrative taxation powers are property taxes and the municipal land transfer tax. But under COVID-19, homeowners and businesses face their own financial challenges.

Instead, Rafi said, the report has focused on ways to create more spending ability for the city — which by law has to balance its budget — by pushing to increase funding from other levels of government.

On top of a projected $1.5 billion in losses and increased costs in 2021, the city is still facing a year-end shortfall in 2020 of $673.2 million, the reports point out — the largest gap in recent memory.

The reports also note that funding from the provincial and federal governments — outside of a pandemic — has not kept pace with inflation, dropping from $1,100 per person in 2010 to $830 in 2020.

That is largely explained by the and other social services on the city’s books, according to the reports.

Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12 Toronto-St. Paul’s) for Toronto as a way to increase the city’s ability to control its own destiny.

Several American cities, such as New York have , which gives them legal jurisdiction to manage their own affairs free from state interference.

Matlow said Wednesday it is an idea needed now more than ever.

“This pandemic has demonstrated very clearly how the toolbox that Toronto needs to provide services to residents and have the agility to address pressing public health priorities is different than Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa,” Matlow said. “And the tools that the province provides us need to reflect this reality.”

He said it matters to the city’s ability to address a housing crisis, ongoing opioid epidemic, community planning and future unexpected deficits.

Currently, the city’s powers largely exist under the provincial City of Toronto Act, which can be changed at any time by the province, as when unilaterally . That move and the city’s status as a “creature of the province” are subject of a .

“Cities throughout the United States don’t have to wait for their states or federal governments to be able to act on a number of basic priorities that Toronto has to go cap in hand to Queen’s Park to request,” said Matlow.

He added that the pandemic proved the ability to act quickly on our own may matter, pointing to .

“Time will tell the impact on public health that an entire week had, while we waited on the province to respond to our request to ban indoor dining,” he said, adding the mayor and council should be “empowered” to act on the city’s priorities in a timely way.

Murray, who is due to report to council on a charter and options for greater city autonomy, said Wednesday he expects that to be a part of the conversation going forward.

Dr. David Mowat, the province’s former chief medical officer of health who is heading the city’s public health strategy, said problems of autonomy existed before the pandemic and still need to be resolved.

He noted that immediately before the pandemic started, , including Toronto Public Health, and make changes to governance “which threatened to take away alignment between public health and the rest of city services.”

It also, he said, threatened to remove public health from having a say in policy, which he said is “essential” to address short-term goals of reducing infection, but also addressing social determinants of health.

He said it’s important the old structure for public health be allowed to continue unimpeded.

“I would like to see, after we have got through this acute phase, a reopening of that discussion and a reconsideration by the province of their prior plans for the future of public health infrastructure in this province.”

Murray, the city manager, said as of Wednesday the city had no guarantee from other levels of government they could promise funds by year’s end, but he remained hopeful that more money would be coming in phase two of the provincial Safe Restart plan that provided $668.6 million in the first phase.

Murray’s report says the upcoming budget debate will, regardless, require “difficult decisions.” Asked Wednesday, he said he could not rule out dramatic service cuts posed earlier in the pandemic.

His report also outlines that Toronto was in bad financial shape to begin with and the pandemic only “exacerbated the city’s structural financial challenges, especially the misalignment of revenues and responsibilities.”

“We will be taking a very drastic look at the 2021 budget if we don’t have the support that we need, ultimately, again from the federal and provincial government,” Murray said. “I think there is certainly great interest on our part in getting some clear indication as to what the art of the possible is for 2021.”

Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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A spin class became a superspreader event. Why are fitness instructors excluded from workers’ compensation if they fall ill on the job?

Jul 26, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Back injuries, knee pain, shoulder problems — and now, .

They are daily risks faced by fitness instructors and personal trainers across the province. But unlike millions of employees in other sectors, gym staff are not entitled to workers’ compensation when they get sick or hurt on the job.

It’s a long-standing exclusion to the workers’ compensation system that critics say needs urgent change, especially in light of a that may have exposed upwards of 2,500 people to COVID. Two staff members at the studio contracted the virus.

“Our bodies are on the line,” said Toronto-based group fitness instructor Vidya Sri. “The laws are completely out of date.”

Under current provincial legislation, gyms and fitness studios are exempt from mandatory workers’ compensation coverage. That means they do not need to pay insurance premiums to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board — and their employees cannot access benefits following a workplace accident or illness.

Gyms can voluntarily opt into the workers’ compensation system. There are 1,653 fitness establishments in Ontario, according to Statistics Canada; of those, 24 have elected to provide compensation coverage to workers, data from the WSIB shows.

Coverage means workers are eligible for loss-of-earning or health-care benefits following a work-related illness or injury.

A 2019 report on working conditions in the Ontario fitness sector by Larry Savage, a professor of labour studies at Brock University, found nearly a third all instructors and trainers had sustained an injury on the job. Half reported not having paid sick days.

“The lack of WSIB coverage and paid sick days make gym and fitness club workers less willing to disclose illness or injuries out of fear of reprisal or loss of income,” Savage said.

“The pandemic only makes this bad situation worse by increasing the likelihood that clients and other workers will contract COVID-19 if gym and fitness club workers decide to come in to work sick in order to avoid loss of pay.”

As part of his research, Savage told the Star he made inquiries with the Ministry of Labour about the history of the gym exclusion but “no one could or was willing to explain” why it existed.

Around 76 per cent of Ontario workplaces are required to pay into workers’ compensation. Legislative change is needed to amend the list of excluded employers. When asked if the government is considering reform, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour said workers’ health and safety was its “top priority.”

“With only a handful of exceptions, those workplaces that aren’t subject to mandatory coverage can choose to purchase coverage from the WSIB,” the statement said.

Planet Fitness outlets account for 10 of the gyms that voluntarily signed up for coverage, according to the WSIB’s data. Other than F45 Guelph, part of a relatively new but popular fitness chain, none of the gyms that opted into the workers’ compensation system are major players. (Other establishments included the “Orillia Agricultural Society” and “Retro Rollers.”)

In response to questions from the Star, Hamilton SPINCO founder Michelle August said the company “launched one of the most comprehensive, robust and disciplined strategies to fight COVID-19,” and is “deeply committed to its team” but did not detail support available to infected employees.

“We know that there may be more questions, but at this time SPINCO will not provide further comment on this matter and instead, we will turn our undivided attention to working as expediently as possible with our public health agency,” August’s statement said.

GoodLife Fitness president and chief operations officer Jane Riddell said the company was not required by law to pay into WSIB, but has “developed a robust health and safety division and offers a benefits program that provides medical coverage.”

“GoodLife is firmly committed to the health, safety and well-being of all our associates,” Riddell said.

Michael Labovsky, a personal trainer at GoodLife, said while his employer provides a long-term disability program, staff don’t have short-term disability benefits — making unpaid leave the only option following most injuries or illnesses.

Unionized personal trainers at the gym have up to five paid sick days depending on tenure, but non-union group instructors have none. Many choose not to split the copay on GoodLife’s benefits program because they cannot afford it, Labovsky added.

“If you are well enough to be ambulatory, you are at work training clients,” said Labovsky, who is also president of the Toronto local of Workers United representing GoodLife personal trainers.

In the event of contracting COVID-19 on the job, most trainers would have to rely on federal income supports, said Labovsky. But workers’ compensation benefits are funded through employers’ insurance premiums — and don’t impact the public purse. (By linking premium rates and accident rates, the system is also meant to incentivize employers to keep workers safe.)

Even if the exemption isn’t fixed by lawmakers, Labovsky says GoodLife should voluntarily opt into the workers’ compensation system.

“It is a massive company and they employ so many people,” he said.

Sri, who has worked at numerous gyms for the past decade, said she has never had an employer who provided workers’ compensation coverage. And she has experienced the consequences first hand: in 2016, she developed nodules on her vocal chords due to the strain of in-class instruction. In addition to taking two months of unpaid leave for surgery, she says she paid at least $1,500 out of pocket for rehabilitation like vocal coaching, speech pathology and medication.

Gyms in Toronto recently closed back down as part of stricter lockdown measures mandated by the province — which is also reviewing COVID-19 protocols for the fitness sector after the SPINCO outbreak.

Sri says returning to work is particularly worrying for group fitness instructors. Most instructors hold multiple jobs and travel between several studios to earn a living, a higher risk activity amid the pandemic.

“The prospect of getting sick is very scary,” she said.

But for Sri, juggling several roles is a necessity: she estimates that relying on one group instructor job would earn her just $500 a month.

Precarity is an additional risk factor during the pandemic, said one GoodLife trainer who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

“Trainers will come to work with the flu,” the worker said. “That’s what this system forces us to do, because it’s either do that or don’t get paid … from a public health perspective, that’s not great.”

Sri said she feels relatively confident in the COVID precautions taken by gyms — but less so in the safety net afforded workers during the pandemic and beyond.

“WSIB is crucial for the work that we do,” she said. “When you think about where WSIB (is) mandatory for employers, you think construction, the textile industry. But we’re also putting our bodies on the line every single day.”

“We treat health and wellness as the best thing for our clients,” she added. “But employees don’t get the same benefit.”

Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a Toronto-based reporter covering labour-related issues for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: