Ontario labour inspectors are homing in on warehouses and distribution centres, but the site of a major workplace COVID-19 outbreak isn鈥檛 included in the ongoing inspections: Canada Post.

More than 300 employees at the postal service鈥檚 Gateway facility in Mississauga, Ont., have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the year and one employee has died. Canada Post advised customers across the country to expect delivery delays as the outbreak impacted operations at the central mail delivery hub.

But because Canada Post is a federally regulated Crown corporation, its inspection falls outside provincial jurisdiction.

The president of the national union representing postal workers said consistent standards should be applied to all workplaces, noting that the outbreak has had an 鈥渆normous impact on all postal workers.鈥�

鈥淭he virus doesn鈥檛 distinguish between provincial and federal workplaces and neither should inspections,鈥� Jan Simpson, president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, said in a statement. 鈥淲orkplaces and workers in the Peel Region have been hit hard by COVID-19. It鈥檚 in everyone鈥檚 best interest that all workplaces be inspected to ensure the health and safety of workers.鈥�

Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said earlier this month that the ministry chose to focus on warehouses and distribution centres in Peel Region - the hard-hit region of the Greater Toronto Area - noting that such workplaces employ a high number of temporary and precarious workers.

鈥淓very employer, I don鈥檛 care 鈥� who they鈥檙e owned by, knows the rules that they need to follow,鈥� McNaughton said in an interview when the warehouse and distribution blitz was announced on Feb. 10. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no excuses anymore.鈥�

In the first week of the inspection 鈥渂litz鈥� in Peel Region, inspectors visited 59 warehouses and issued issued 10 tickets and one order. They found compliance was just over 64 per cent, according to the ministry.

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However, McNaughton said the federal government has responsibility for the Canada Post workplace. He said all levels of government need to work together to make sure safety measures are in place.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all hands on deck, every level of government has to pull their weight,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 certainly ensuring that our ministry is doing everything possible to protect the health and safety of workers.鈥�

Employment and Social Development Canada confirmed in a statement that the federal labour program 鈥渆ngaged鈥� with the Gateway Canada Post facility 鈥渟everal鈥� times between March 1, 2020 and Feb.12, including 鈥渢o investigate refusals to work, to conduct an inspection into the (preventive) measures implemented, as well as to investigate the death of the employee.鈥�

But it鈥檚 unclear what, if any, enforcement took place on those visits, or how many of them occurred and when. The department said information on specific findings including tickets issued couldn鈥檛 be shared publicly unless through an Access to Information request.

The department statement said it works with employers to help them fulfil legal obligations, but added that employers are 鈥渂est positioned to determine the health and safety measures for their work environment in order to meet legislated requirements.鈥�

鈥淭herefore, the Labour Program does not prescribe specific measures to be taken in any federally regulated workplaces,鈥� spokesperson Marie-Eve Sigouin-Campeau said in a statement.

Peel Public Health, which also supported Canada Post in managing the outbreak by ordering asymptomatic testing of all workers among other measures, also declined to share specific findings.

鈥淎s this is an ongoing, active investigation we are not in a position to disclose any further details,鈥� Dr. Lawrence Loh, the region鈥檚 medical officer of health, said in a Feb. 17 statement. 鈥淐anada Post continues to co-operate with our investigation, and our joint priority remains protecting the health and safety of impacted employees and our broader community at this time.鈥�

Tim Sly, an emeritus professor of epidemiology at Ryerson University, said the 鈥渢angle of power struggle鈥� between levels of government is a recurring characteristic of public health crisis management in Canada that can erode the public鈥檚 trust.

鈥淚t confuses everybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he city says one thing, the province says something else, the feds say something else, and the public is going around in circles saying that nobody knows what they鈥檙e doing.鈥�

READ MORE: COVID-19 numbers in the Okanagan fall by more than 50%

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