Community News Update - November 22, 2021

Dear Community,

Starting tomorrow at 8AM, children aged 5 to 11 will be eligible to be scheduled for a vaccination appointment in Ontario. There will be a number of ways that folks can get their kids registered, including through the provincial vaccination portal (click here or call 1-833-943-3900), or at a participating pharmacy (click here). Vaccines will also be available through select primary care providers.

One key piece of information on eligibility: in order to book, children must be turning five years old by the end of 2021 – that is to say, they are born in 2016.

Read the full Province of Ontario press release here.

Here in the Toronto, City-run clinics will be booking through the provincial portal, and they will have 20,000 available appointments between November 25 and December 5. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 will be administered at the following City-run vaccination sites:

Metro Toronto Convention Centre (255 Front St W)
Woodbine Mall (500 Rexdale Blvd)
Scarborough Town Centre (300 Borough Dr)
Cloverdale Mall (250 The East Mall)
Mitchell Field Arena (89 Church Ave)

The available hours for booking will be:

Thursday, November 25 – 2 to 8 p.m.
Friday, November 26 – 2 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 27 – 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, November 28– 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, November 29 – closed
Tuesday, November 30 – 2 to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, December 1 – 2 to 8 p.m.
Thursday, December 2 – 2 to 8 p.m.
Friday, December 3 – 2 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 4 – 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday, December 5 – 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The City of Toronto has indicated that there will be more information coming shortly about Team Toronto vaccination sites that will be administered by hospitals, family health teams, health care partners and more, later this week. I’ll be sure to update everyone when that information becomes available.

You can read the full City of Toronto press release here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many simmering issues in our province to the forefront, and perhaps none more pertinently than the desperate need for paid sick days for workers. Workers should not be forced to come into work when they are sick, and despite this being bluntly common sense, the Ford government continues to refuse to deliver this permanent right to workers.

This morning, I joined allies from across Ontario in front of the Legislature to call for the passage of Bill 8, which would mandate 10 permanent paid sick days for workers in Ontario. I want to send a special should out to the Decent Work and Health Network, and the Workers Action Centre for organizing this important rally.

This afternoon, the Ontario NDP along with the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) CEO announced that we have partnered to create new legislation to combat Islamophobia in our province. This legislation comes in the wake of the horrific terrorist attack in London that took the lives of four members of the Afzaal family.

The bill will be named “The Our London Family Act,” and it will be tabled in early 2022. The bill will address the calls to action that the NCCM directed to provincial governments at the National Summit on Islamophobia.

You can read their recommendations here.

The bill will include the following:

Introducing new tools for Ontario schools to make sure young people are growing up with educational resources that help them understand Islamophobia
Dismantling white supremacist groups by preventing them from registering as societies, preventing acts of intimidation on provincial property, as well as preventing intimidation tactics targeting worshippers at synagogues, mosques, or gurdwaras
Creating a provincial hate crimes accountability unit that provides best practices, collects data, and investigates potential failures in combatting hate incidents
Re-establishing a fully-funded provincial Anti-Racism Directorate
Establishing provincial Anti-Racism Councils that represent a diverse intersection of community voices, including Muslims, to tackle some of the most immediate challenges communities are facing in tackling racism locally. The purpose of the councils is to advocate on behalf of racialized communities and provide information, advice and recommendations to the government, through the minister, on all ethnocultural matters, including anti-racism, anti-Islamophobia, education, human rights, immigration, settlement and cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage
Increasing the number of ethnic and racial minorities in the provincial public service
Increasing the limitation period for those seeking to file human rights claims in Ontario

I am proud to support this legislation.

Today is also National Housing Day in Canada. I’ve fought (and will continue fighting) to ensure our community has access to affordable and reliable housing. My motion to ban Above Guideline Increases (AGIs) during the pandemic and at least 12 months after was unfortunately rejected, but I will continue advocating for rent control in Ontario. I’ve also supported many constituents who had to deal with bad faith landlords and will continue to be here for all constituents who are in such situation.

You will find the NDP’s housing platform here.

Community Call Outs

Coming up on December 4, the Toronto Miracle is coming back with another edition of their food drive. This time to goal is to raise 250,000lbs of food across Toronto, and I know that our community will be coming out in force to support!

If you would like to volunteer or donate, click here to find out more!

We’re once again in need of more Pets of Toronto-St. Paul’s to share! If you’ve got a cute pic of your pet that you’d like to share – please don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected]. Along with the picture, please include a short caption as well to be included.

Finally today, I’d like to give a big shout out to the Toronto Six who played their first home game at the Canlan Ice Rink over the weekend! I was thrilled to attend, and I’m looking forward to coming back for lots more games in the future!