The province of Ontario has announced changes to Bill 148 that had been a cause for concern for some local municipalities.
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs says Bill 148 will now exclude those who provide an essential service, like firefighters, utility and snow removal workers, from being paid if they are on-call. Prince Edward-Hastings MPP Todd Smith says many small municipalities were concerned about these policies being left unchanged because they would have a crippling effect on budgets.
Highlands East Mayor Dave Burton and Bancroft Mayor Paul Jenkins had both expressed concerns about how much it would cost their communities if these policies were not changed. Bancroft CAO Hazel Lambe had said that if the bill was passed without the changes, it would have meant either a significant tax increase or reduction in town services.
The ministry has also announced that volunteer firefighters won’t be entitled to the same pay as full-time firefighters, which had also been a concern for some municipalities. Smith says this is all an attempt to make up for mistakes when trying to rush through the bill to have minimum wage increased.
Smith says more amendments are expected to be put forward, which will be voted on in the provincial legislature next week. The province is still pushing forward with its plan to increase minimum wage to $14 an hour by January, as set out in Bill 148.