Hello Davenport,

I hope you are keeping safe and well. This week saw new records in Toronto for hospitalizations and admissions to our ICUs, resulting in more tragic loss of life and the cascading impact of canceled surgeries and other urgent healthcare. Frustratingly, we continued to see a stubborn refusal from the provincial government to follow the advice of medical experts and take actions that would make the biggest difference. 

The good news is that people are getting organized and are speaking up. We pushed back over the playground closures and Ford’s attempt to shut down provincial parliament. And we got him to scale back some of the expanded police powers, though we are pushing for a full repeal. I also demanded the Solicitor General come clean this week on whether she had been warned these expanded police powers were unconstitutional. Locally, Junction Triangle neighbours continue to push Metrolinx to stop overnight construction on the Davenport Diamond site. We had some wins but will keep pushing for a full end to construction at 11pm.

Over 1,000 people joined me and fellow Toronto MPPs on Monday night for an emergency town hall on the provincial pandemic response, and another 6,700 watched on Facebook Live. We shared ideas to keep the pressure up on Doug Ford and steps we can take to protect our own communities. Find out about more actions you can take below.

At the legislature, we continued to bring your voices forward. We pushed to immediately pass 5 urgent motions to get Ontario through this crisis:

• Give Ontarians paid sick days by passing Bill 239

• Give workers paid time off to get a vaccine

• Cancel the extraordinary police powers completely

• Shut down all non-essential workplaces

• Give impacted local businesses and workers a new package of financial supports

Ford’s MPPs blocked each of these moves. Worse still, after a week without speaking to the media, the premier’s press conference yesterday included no new measures to help people get through this.

We also continued our call for vaccine supply to be allocated to the hardest hit areas of our province, including here in Toronto. We are also pushing for all childcare workers to be prioritized now so they are protected and can keep providing essential child care in our community. I know vaccine availability is top of mind for all of us, and I’ve heard from so many of you this week. It has been extraordinarily frustrating navigating the system, having appointments not honoured and more. I’ve included the most recent information we have below, and will continue to update my website at maritstiles.ca/vaccines as new information becomes available. 

Today is also the third anniversary of the terrible van attack that shook our city and took the lives of 10 people, eight of them women, and injured 16 others. Anne Marie D’Amico, who grew up here in Davenport, was one of the women lost that day. A family foundation in her name is helping work toward a world where all women and children can live free from violence. Learn more about the Anne Marie D’Amico Foundation at www.damicofoundation.org.

Please read on for more updates, and thank you for continuing to observe the public health guidance. Staying at home wherever possible, keeping your contacts to your own household and limiting exposure by wearing a mask and keeping your distance in public are still the most effective ways we have of reducing hospitalization and death. 

Bringing your concerns to the Legislature on vaccines and paid sick days

Vaccine Update:

COVID-19 vaccines for those who are pregnant:

As of this morning, the Ministry of Health has updated their eligibility guidance for this population: As of April 23, all pregnant individuals can register for COVID vaccination appointments under the “highest risk” health conditions in Phase Two of the province’s vaccine rollout.

Pregnant individuals can call the provincial call centre at 1-888-999-6488 to book their appointment.

Who can be vaccinated right now?

• Anyone over the age of 40 can book an appointment at participating pharmacies, following a lowering of the eligibility age for Astra-Zeneca that took effect April 20. We have posted a list of Davenport pharmacies on my website at: www.maritstiles.ca/vaccines

• Anyone over the age of 50 in hot-spot postal codes can book an appointment at the City’s mass vaccine clinics, using the provincial portal.

• Anyone over 60, province-wide, can book using the provincial portal.

• Teachers and Education Workers who live or work in hot-spot postal codes can book an appointment by calling the provincial Vaccination Information Line: 1-888-999-6488

• Hospitals and Ontario Health Teams in Toronto are currently accepting registration and/or appointment bookings for vaccine appointments at hospitals, healthcare centres and other locations in the community, following provincial eligibility requirements. The appointment availability is dependent on vaccine supply. You can find clinics in our area and look at availability on the vaccineto.ca website.

• Provincial hot-spot postal codes in Davenport: M6E, M6H, M6K, M6N

Where are the mobile and pop-up clinics for 18-39 year olds?

Doug Ford’s announcement that everyone over 18 in hot-spot postal codes would be eligible came as a big relief to people living in hard hit areas, including here in Davenport. But the development of those local pop ups was left to local public health units and Ontario Health Teams, with little time to prepare, and came with no corresponding increase in vaccine supply. That’s led to a great deal of confusion and disappointment and I’ve been hearing it from many of you.

My office has been in regular contact with the Midwest Health Team about this and are told Mobile and targeted pop-up clinics are underway in the community, in partnership with community organizations. However, we are told that these clinics are still focusing on people in our community who are at-risk and otherwise unlikely to go to the mass vaccination clinics. The current strain on supply is also limiting the expansion of these pop-up clinics to the broader 18-39 year old public. For this reason, the clinics are operating as invite-only and are not widely advertised beyond the target population they are trying to reach at this time.  

My office has submitted location recommendations for pop-up clinics to the Midwest Health Team and will help spread the word about any clinics that are open to the broader population. I continue to call on the provincial government to allocate more of the vaccine supply to hard-hit communities, so that we can move faster to vaccinate everyone in those areas. 

Save the date: Portuguese-language Vaccine Town Hall

Science Table Update

On Tuesday, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table issued a brief reiterating what Ontario must do now to end the COVID-19 nightmare Ford pushed the province into. The Science Table is calling for paid sick days, paid time off to get vaccinated, for the province to vaccinate vulnerable groups including essential workers faster, and for the province to temporarily close non-essential workplaces.

Take Action for Paid Sick Days

For months Doug Ford and his PC MPPs have been refusing the paid sick days plan called for by countless experts and workers alongside the Official Opposition NDP. They voted against it 23 times! But with indications growing that the government won’t be able to hold out much longer, we scheduled an Opposition Day motion Wednesday afternoon to be a debate on a safety plan for essential workplaces that includes paid sick days.

If you haven’t already done so, here are some actions to engage in to ensure that Paid Sick Days are kept on the front page – it is clear that what you do does make a difference: 

• Call Health Minister Christine Elliott: 416-327-4300  

• Call Premier Doug Ford: 416-325-1941 (Premier's office) and/or 416-745-2859 (Constituency office)  

• Here's a sample script.

• You can also an e-mail the Premier (premier@ontario.ca), Health Minister (christine.elliott@pc.ola.org ) and copy me (MStiles-QP@ndp.on.ca).

Update: Progress on ending overnight construction at Davenport Diamond

Metrolinx Town Hall on Kitchener Line changes

From Metrolinx:
The Kitchener 4th Track and West Toronto Railpath (WTRP) Realignment is a project that will support electrified two-way all-day service along core segments of the Kitchener Corridor. On behalf of the City of Toronto, Metrolinx will also be building the WTRP Extension to provide more active transportation connections for the area.

Metrolinx is hosting a virtual Open House on Tuesday, April 27th, 2021 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Community members can register for and attend this virtual open house at www.metrolinxengage.com

Community Updates

Call for input from Junction Triangle residents

Stay Safe