Seite - 483 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

483Occupational Health and Safety and COVID-19: Whose Rights Come First in a Pandemic? Denounced by the Premier during a daily briefing for charging $50 an hour for a PSW and $90 for a nurse, a spokesperson for the TEA industry said it was Quebec’s fault for agreeing to pay these amounts in their tenders deployed during COVID-19, which led to a ministerial response.46 Faced with mounting evidence of the transmission attrib- utable to the use of TEA workers, it is surprising to see the Conseil du Patronat, the Quebec organization representing corporate employers, promote increased flexibility to facilitate their use by recommending a two-year suspension of the recently adopted provisions in the Labour Standards Act designed to improve the working conditions of workers recruited by these agencies.47 The difficulties inherent to the applica- tion of OHS protections in situations involving TEAs had been well documented in Quebec48 and Ontario49 prior to COVID-19. In summary, thousands of people across Canada working in multiple sectors have contracted COVID-19 because of their work; many have been seriously ill, several have died. In theory the legal frameworks governing OHS should have protected them. Despite lessons learned from the SARS epidemic, which included recommen- dations requiring that sufficient protective equipment for health care workers be available at all times,50 and as shown by Pat Armstrong, 19/202004/24/01-5270723-agences-de-placement-des-pratiques-abusives-inqui- etent-quebec.php>. 46. Jean-Nicolas Blanchet, “Québec blâmé pour les tarifs abusifs des agences de placement”, Le Journal de Québec (26 April 2020), online: <https://www.journald- equebec.com/2020/04/26/quebec-blame-pour-les-tarifs-abusifs-des-agences-de- placement>; Tommy Chouinard, “Québec serre la vis aux agences de placement”, La Presse (19 May 2020), online: <https://www.lapresse.ca/covid-19/202005/19/01- 5274108-quebec-serre-la-vis-aux-agences-de-placement.php>. 47. “Feuille de route pour une relance économique sécuritaire et durable” (20 April 2020) at 21, online (pdf): Conseil du Patronat du Québec <https:// conseiltaq.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/feuille_de_route_pour_une_ relance_economique2020.pdf>. 48. Direction régionale de santé publique, Invisible  Workers:  Health  Risks  for  Temporary  Agency  Workers:  2016 Report of the Director of Public Health for Montreal, Québec (Montréal: Direction régionale de santé publique, 2016), online (pdf): Santé Montréal <https://santemontreal.qc.ca/fileadmin/fichiers/professionnels/DRSP/ Directeur/Rapports/Rap_Travailleurs_Invisibles_2016_ANG.pdf>. 49. Katherine Lippel et al, “Legal Protections Governing Occupational Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation of Temporary Employment Agency Workers in Canada: Reflections on Regulatory Effectiveness” (2011) 9:2 Policy & Practice in Health & Safety 69; Ellen MacEachen et al, “Workers’ Compensation, Experience—Rating Rules and the Danger to Workers’ Safety in the Temporary Work Sector” (2012) 10:1 Policy & Practice in Health & Safety 77. 50. Marieke Walsh, “Canada Cut Number of Stockpile Storage Locations for Critical Medical Supplies by One Third in Past Two Years”,  The  Globe  and  Mail