{"id":36131,"date":"2020-08-28T12:24:28","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T16:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=36131"},"modified":"2020-08-28T12:24:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T16:24:28","slug":"ndp-call-for-service-ontario-cuts-to-be-reversed-critical-for-people-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/28\/ndp-call-for-service-ontario-cuts-to-be-reversed-critical-for-people-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"NDP call for Service Ontario cuts to be reversed critical for people with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_36132\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36132\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36132\" src=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/joel_harden.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/joel_harden.jpg 180w, https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/joel_harden-150x225.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-36132\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">The NDP critic for Accessibility and Persons with Disabilities, Joel Harden, said that the NDP\u2019s call for Doug Ford to end the long lines at\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Service<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a0Ontario outlets by reversing his $4.9-million cut and mandating expanded hours, is critical for Ontarians with disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">Harden said many people living with disabilities have been forced to wait in long, crowded lines at Service Ontario outlets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u201cLong lines have been snaking out Service Ontario outlets\u2019 doors, forcing people to wait for hours, sometimes out in the elements. These conditions amount to more risk and more barriers for people with disabilities,\u201d said Harden. \u201cDoug Ford needs to reverse his cut to\u00a0<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">Service<\/span><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u00a0Ontario and invest in better service. We need expanded hours, including evening and weekend options, and hours exclusively for seniors and vulnerable people, so they\u2019re not left waiting in long, crowded lines, risking their health and safety.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The former Liberal government eroded\u00a0service\u00a0at\u00a0Service\u00a0Ontario outlets starting in 2012 by privatizing outlets, leading to lower staffing levels and wages, and longer lines. Ford has made things worse, slashing $4.9 million out of\u00a0Service\u00a0Ontario in the 2019-20 budget. During the pandemic, NDP MPPs have had a steady stream of calls from people worried about painfully long lines, posing challenges to seniors and people with disabilities who can\u2019t stand in line for hours, and causing pandemic worries about large numbers of people queueing up.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tom Rakocevic, the NDP critic for Government Services and Consumer Protection, has been leading the charge for Ford to reverse his cuts and improve Service Ontario\u2019s customer services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NDP critic for Accessibility and Persons with Disabilities, Joel Harden, said that the NDP\u2019s call for Doug Ford to end the long lines at\u00a0Service\u00a0Ontario outlets by reversing his $4.9-million cut and mandating expanded hours, is critical for Ontarians with disabilities. &nbsp; Harden said many people living with disabilities have been forced to wait in &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":36132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[2672],"class_list":["post-36131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","tag-covid-19-disability"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 17:01:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36133,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36131\/revisions\/36133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}