Cutting $16 million from Ontario office that prevents workplace deaths makes `no sense,´ advocates say
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

The provincial office tasked with preventing occupational injury, illness and death in Ontario will see $16 million in cuts this year, despite the fact the body is not taxpayer funded and does not impact the government’s bottom line.The Ministry of Labour’s prevention office budget will drop from more than $119 million in 2018 to $103 million, new budget estimates released by the Ford government show. The bulk of the cuts will impact research projects on issues like occupational disease, as well as the province’s independent health and safety associations, which provide ministry-approved training and support to workplaces across Ontario.The cutbacks follow a “thorough review of all government programs in order to ensure that valuable programs and services are sustainable,� according to ministry spokesperson Janet Deline, resulting in “difficult decisions with respect to funding agreements.�But critics say the cuts make “no sense� because the prevention office’s costs are fully reimbursed by the provincial workers’ compensation board and are not borne by the general public. “It’s not even tax dollars. It makes no sense. It will not affect the provincial deficit,� said Maryth Yachnin, a lawyer with the Toronto-based legal clinic Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario (IAVGO).“It will ultimately lead to more accidents.�Read more: The Ontario government has been warned its cuts to public health agencies are ‘dangerous’I went undercover in a Toronto factory where a temp worker died. Here`s what I foundOpinion | Christopher Hume: Doug Ford offers booze, speed and dangerous cuts — is that what Ontarians want?Although it operates out of the Ministry of Labour, the prevention office is funded by reimbursements from the workers’ compensation board as part of its mandate to promote safe workplaces. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board is funded ...