THUNDER BAY — “They're giving away our money,” said Steve Mantis. “We're living in poverty. We're being denied, and instead of paying us what's our due, they're saying no, we're gonna give it to corporations.”
The Ford government is giving companies $2 billion in rebates through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) as part of an $11 billion corporate relief package aimed helping companies impacted by U.S. tariffs.
According to the provincial press release, the government will provide the WSIB rebates to employers with strong safety records, in addition to a previous $2 billion rebate distributed in March.
On Wednesday, Mantis was one of about 20 people rallying against the decision outside the Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland’s constituency office.
“We injured workers are subsidizing employers,” said Eugene La Francois, president of the Thubder Bay District Injured Workers Support Group, told Newswatch.
“There's no justice for injured workers or labourers at that point. You get hurt, and all of a sudden, you're thrown into poverty. Why? Your only mistake that day was that you got hurt. Regardless of how it happened, you got hurt,” said La Francois.
“Now you're thrown into, as I see it, the heaping pile of humanity. That's where you're thrown onto and you're forgotten about. They forget about you there. So, you're left to your own devices.”
“When we look at people with a permanent impairment, a lifelong disability from a serious injury, pretty well half of them are going to end up in poverty with a subsequent mental illness because of how they're treated through the process,” said Mantis.
Mantis, who is treasurer for the injured workers support group, said 92 per cent of people who put in a WSIB claim for mental health disability are denied and 45 per cent of workers with severe, life-long disability are living in poverty.
The group wants the government to take their claims seriously by reviewing previous claims and adjusting them based on wage loss and adding more healthcare support, including amending laws and policies around mental health workplace injuries and recognizing diseases from exposure to multiple carcinogens.
“We need a government that's gonna stand up for the people, for the workers of Ontario, and say 'we're going to follow the law, we're gonna look after you if you become injured and disabled,” said Mantis.
“Because it can happen to anyone. It can happen in just a moment of time. It happens to about half a million people a year in Ontario. Most of them are just short-term. But there are about 20,000 workers every year in Ontario who have a serious enough injury that will last a lifetime as a lifetime disability.”
Mantis said he has not spoken to Holland him about this “particular issue.”
“Certainly, the last time we talked to him, he was not really very interested in working with us. We've asked him as well to set up a meeting with the Minister of Labour, who's responsible for workers' compensation in Ontario, no word,” said Mantis.
Dougall Media reached out to Holland, who was at Queen’s Park on Wednesday and was not made available for comment.
