1). ECONOMIC UPDATE
The Honourable Rod Phillips, Ontario’s Minister of Finance introduced Ontario’s 2020 Economic and Fiscal update. The Economic and Fiscal update outlines the government’s action plan to respond to the threat of COVID-19. The Province is projecting a deficit of $9.2 billion in 2019–20, an improvement of $1.1 billion relative to the 2019 Budget. As a result of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the government is planning for a deficit of $20.5 billion in 2020–21.
2). OWMA REMAINS “OPEN” FOR MEMBERS
Under the Ontario business shut-down order that took effect on March 24th, OWMA has closed its Brampton office until April 13th. OWMA, however, remains “open”. Our policy, advocacy, programs, and services continue to be delivered to members, as always.
Staff continues to work remotely and are fully available to resolve issues members have with the government or other public agencies, provide regulatory advice, and maintain development of waste sector data and policy projects. Administrative, communications, and program services continue, and any changes to OWMA’s event calendar will be communicated in our newsletters and on the owma.org website.
OWMA’s committees continue to meet regularly by video- and tele-conference. A full calendar of educational webinars will continue to be delivered throughout 2020. Our program of conferences and networking events is expected to resume in Fall 2020 (if the expert advice from Public Health Authorities permits in-person events at that time).
OWMA’s Board of Directors continues to meet regularly, working hard on your behalf to make decisive, strategic decisions in the best interests of members during these uncertain times.
3). INTERNAL SUPPORT & INFORMATIONAL SHARING
With all of the unknowns related to COVID-19, this can be a very stressful time for your workers. It is important that your organization continually and consistently communicate with your workers to help them understand the current situation and the actions you are taking to support. In order to support our members, OWMA has developed a template COVID-19 information toolkit that you can use to customize messages and communications with your staff.