The Hospital Professionals Lobby Day has been scheduled.
Dates:
Tuesday, November 1, 2022 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 8:00am – 5:00pm
Hotel:
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
123 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON M5H 2M9 416-924-0611
Shared rate: $164.50 +taxes
Single rate: $329.00 +taxes
Meeting Room: Willow Room
Registration: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 3:00 pm
Parking: Parking available at hotel for a fee.
Note: valet parking and rideshare (Uber, Lyft etc.) receipts are not a reimbursable claim.
OPSEU/SEFPO’s Hospital Professionals Division will be holding a lobby day at Queen’s Park. We invite you, or a designee, to attend lobby events on Tuesday, November 1 and Wednesday, November 2, 2022.
On Tuesday November 1, participants are expected to attend an afternoon lobby training session at the Sheraton Centre, in downtown Toronto. Participants will then spend Wednesday November 2 at Queen’s Park visiting with their MPPs to discuss the important work OPSEU/SEFPO HPD members do as part of their communities and to raise awareness about the concerns that the Division and its members face every day as part of their jobs.
Allied health professionals play a vital role in the public health care system, ensuring that patients receive the highest standard of care. However, after two and a half years of a global pandemic, problems like understaffing, a lack of recognition, insufficient funding in health care, lack of beds, privatization, outsourcing and mergers continue to threaten the superior level of care and treatment that allied health professionals deliver.
We will be lobbying to have Health Professionals Week become a legislated week, recognizing the vital roles every classification of professionals contribute as health care professionals and proud members of the community.
We need our elected MPPs to listen to our concerns and to advocate for us (hospital professionals) and to ensure we continue to maintain a high quality of public health care and improve the system for all Ontarians.
Agenda (tentative):
Tuesday, November 1:
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Members attend the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, Willow Room, for Lobby Training and become familiar with our sector’s issues.
Wednesday, November 2:
7:30 a.m.
Breakfast is on your own. Checkout from hotel. Allot 30 minutes for checkout in advance of departure. You may request that the hotel store your luggage in order to come back to the hotel after the lobby.
8:00 a.m.
Depart for Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park, 111 Wellesley Street West, Toronto, M7A 1A5, a 10-minute drive when traffic conditions are good. Taxis for participants to share will be available to transport participants to Queen’s Park.
8:15 a.m.
Arrive at the south basement entrance, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park. Bring photo identification. Ask for a pass to the public gallery. The south basement entrance is at ground level, to the left of the main entrance. Some members may have meetings scheduled with MPPs at 8:30 a.m. otherwise feel free to wait in the Queen’s Park cafeteria area in the basement.
9:30 –10:00 a.m.
5 – 10 members may attend and proceed to the media studio on the 1st floor in the West Wing at Queen’s Park to be in the audience for the press conference.
10:15 –11:00 a.m.
The remaining portion of members should proceed to the public gallery on the 4th floor in order to attend Question Period and to be present for MPP France Gélinas introduction of the group.
8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Individual meetings with MPPs.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch on your own.
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Individual meetings with MPPs.
5:00 p.m.
Members leave to travel home.
Please note: while the Legislative Assembly does not have a dress code, we recommend that you dress in business casual attire. Legislative Security does not allow visitors to bring signs or display a political message via buttons or t-shirts.
Eligibility to attend
Sector 10 Local Presidents and/or Highest Ranking, members of the Hospital Professional Divisional Executive, and Executive Board Members are encouraged to attend. If a Local President is unable to attend, please ensure another member of your local is able to participate.
If the Local President and/or Highest Ranking is also a member of the Hospital Professionals Divisional Executive, the President then counts as the participant from the local.
Eligible expenses
- Mileage and/or airfare (most economical means of travel)
- Parking (please note: valet parking is not an eligible expense)
- Meals:
- Tuesday: Lunch (if in transit), and dinner.
- Wednesday: Breakfast, lunch and dinner are eligible expenses.
- Hotel Accommodation (please see below)
- Taxi from hotel to Queen’s Park (please share with other participants). Please remember as per OPSEU/SEFPO policies the use of Uber (Rideshare) is discouraged and is not an eligible expense.
Please complete and submit the electronic forms no later than October 12, 2022.
Request for advance funds
If you require an advance of funds for this event, please complete and submit the electronic Advance Request Form.
Hotel Room Bookings
In accordance with the OPSEU/SEFPO policy (OPSEU/SEFPO Policy 10.1-5), any member who resides further than 60 kilometers from the event may request that OPSEU/SEFPO make their hotel reservation on their behalf by completing the Hotel Registration section when registering for the event in the OPSEU/SEFPO Member Portal.
OPSEU/SEFPO will be booking all hotel rooms centrally.
Please also notify the Conferences Unit of any special accessibility needs that you may have with respect to your hotel room.
Any additional nights outside of this policy must be pre-approved by the First Vice-President/Treasurer’s office, regardless of Region or distance from the event.
Human Rights Accommodation Request Form
If you require a human rights accommodation in order to participate in the meeting, please complete and submit the electronic Human Rights Accommodation Request Form.
You can also send it directly to OPSEU/SEFPO’s Equity Unit at equity@opseu.org or by fax at 416-448-7419. (Please do not send them any of the other forms in the registration package). An Equity Officer will be in touch to determine if the accommodation(s) is to be approved.
OPSEU Child Care Policy
OPSEU/SEFPO undertakes to provide child care service, when requested, at all union educationals, conventions, regional, divisional and demand-setting meetings where the membership requests at least three weeks prior to the event. Members who bring their children to OPSEU/SEFPO sponsored functions should normally be required to use the on-site child care service if it is available. The three week notice will ensure adequate time to process advances when requested. If no requests for on-site child care are received three weeks prior to the activity date, child care arrangements for on-site child care may not be made. If members then bring children to the event without the required notice, the member should be responsible for making his/her own child care arrangements.
Procedures for Online Submission of Forms
Online submission for this meeting is available. Members are able to complete their Event Registration, Hotel Booking and Childcare Registration through OPSEU’s Member Portal.
Please clearly identify your status, i.e. Delegate/Alternate/Observer/EBM.
Note: other required forms cannot be processed until this form is received.
Attached you will find the following documentation:
1. Advance Form
2. OPSEU Human Rights Accommodation Form
3. Member Portal Quick Intro
4. Event Registration Tutorial
5. Online Expense Claim Tutorial
In order to confirm your registration, please submit all forms no later than Wednesday, October 12th, 2022 by email to conferencesandtravel@opseu.org.
We appreciate your cooperation and participation in these meetings.
In Solidarity,
Sara Labelle, Sector 10 HPD Chair
JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President