Ontario opposition health-care critic France Gélinas is pushing to provide pay equity for midwives.
Gélinas, who is also the NDP MPP for Nickel Belt, raised the issue in the Legislature Wednesday when she reminded the government that it was in 1994 that the New Democrats brought midwifery into the province as an official service of the Ministry of Health.
"We gave Ontario families access to midwives for free and we paid the midwives respectfully," Gélinas told the House.
"After 16 years of Conservative and Liberal governments, midwives faced a $100,000 pay equity gap,” she added.
In an NDP news release, Gélinas said despite winning numerous appeals in the courts and a Human Rights Tribunal, midwives were still not being fairly compensated.
"Yet we are now in 2023. It is International Women’s Day. Will this Conservative government do the right thing, respect the tribunal, respect midwives and give them pay equity?," Gélinas asked.
Her question was fielded by Ontario Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra who said the government has "to allow the process to continue on" and that the government would wait and see how the process unfolds.
Without specifically addressing the pay issue, Calandra added that Ontario is doing much to improve health care overall across the province.
"When you talk about midwives, when you talk about building Ontario health teams, it’s about building a blanket of care, so regardless of whether you need a midwife, whether you need a long-term-care home, whether you need a primary care doctor, whatever other services—home care—you will be covered in the province of Ontario through these new Ontario health teams," said Calandra.
There was no further discussion on the matter.
