BY ALEX GREGORY
Ontario Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton, speaking Wednesday afternoon at an online press conference (above) announced that frontline businesses in Peel Region would be the focus of the province`s next wave of workplace inspections.
Frontline businesses in Peel, including distribution centres and warehouses, are in the crosshairs of the province as it continues a wave of inspections to curb COVID-19 rule breakers, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said Wednesday afternoon. Approximately 100 workplaces in the region will be the focus of workplace inspections as the province continues to enforce pandemic safety plans, ahead of a planned stepdown of a stay-at-home order on Feb. 22. Peel retains a high number of essential workers in multiple industries, and has been the focus of media coverage after publicized outbreaks, including one at a Canada Post facility in Mississauga’s north end.
“Getting everyone onboard with the rules helps ensure that case counts decline,” said McNaughton, who indicated that 218 tickets have already been handed out to businesses since Jan. 1. Visits began on Wednesday, and employers who fail to maintain adequate safety protocols could face on-the spot fines of $1,000 or, in serious cases, result in criminal charges or forced shutdown.
While Peel does not regularly workplace inspections. identify the names of businesses that have faced COVID-1 9 outbreaks, the City of Toronto announced last month that it would identify all outbreaks, regardless of the size of the business, moving forward. Peel will continue to work with the Ministry of Labour to bring “COVID-19 under control in our community,” said the region’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Lawrence Loh, Wednesday afternoon during a press conference in Mississauga.
