The Northern Policy Institute and Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association each opened their recent events with an address by Anishinaabeg Elder Marlene Pierre. Dr. Pierre spoke of our responsibilities as leaders to respect the land, respect our roles as treaty partners and build right relations amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. These are two major northwestern Ontario organizations putting their commitment to build right relations front and centre.

Unfortunately, last week, we witnessed a much older, discredited approach to relations with First Nations. Every single First Nation in Ontario strongly objected to the building mines faster act, yet the Ford government pushed it through anyway, claiming they know better than First Nations peoples themselves what is good for them. But isn’t this the same attitude that led to the violent removal of children from their families and the deaths of so many children at residential schools? And hasn’t the Conservative government thus guaranteed years of business instability and conflict?

By taking the time to build good relations, Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, the town of Marathon and Generation Mining have shown the way to creating mutually beneficial projects that protect the land, water and traditional economies and guarantee land remediation. Bulldozer politics will always lead to conflict, but if we put building right relations first, good jobs and a protected environment are possible.

Meegwetch. Merci. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I wanted to hear from you the best riding: Mississauga–Malton, the home of the greater Toronto airport—you’ve been there, I’m sure.

It is always a pleasure to rise in the House to discuss the important work that we are doing, like today, budget 2023, and all the things this government, under the leadership of this Premier, is doing for the workers and the families of our great province.

Madam Speaker and colleagues, every day when I drive to Queen’s Park, I see the infrastructure. I see the beautiful buildings. But I have to say this: It didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen by itself. It was built by hard-working Ontarians over many, many generations.

So as always, I’d like to start by thanking the Indigenous community for taking care of this land for thousands of years. Thank you for allowing us to meet here. And thank you to all the immigrants who came to Canada before I landed and after I landed, especially those who came 300 or 500 years back and worked hard to build our country. Many of their descendants are the MPPs, my colleagues here, so I just want to say thank you as always to your ancestors for their hard work.

Madam Speaker, since 2018, that is exactly what this government is also doing: building a strong Ontario, an Ontario which allows everyone to realize our dreams. But it’s not going to happen by itself; to do this, we need to build. To build, we need skilled workers, and to ensure workers are given every opportunity, pathway and skill they need to secure better jobs with bigger paycheques.

Through this bill, government is working with workers by committing an investment of $224 million in the upcoming fiscal year to establish a groundbreaking initiative within the Skills Development Fund, a new capital stream to help build the necessary infrastructure to ensure Ontario’s economic potential. This transformative capital stream would harness the power of sector-specific expertise and bolster our existing training infrastructure, including union training halls, to create more accessible and flexible training opportunities for our valued workers.

Madam Speaker, in this rapidly evolving world of work, it is essential to equip our workforce, including those who are thinking about upskilling and advancing their careers, with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in the ever-changing job market. Through the Skills Development Fund’s new capital stream, we will expand the capacity of training centres across our province, ensuring that workers get the skills they need for these in-demand careers. Our investment will not only support the expansion of physical infrastructure, but also fuel the development of cutting-edge training programs. Investing in our training centres and union training halls equips students with the hands-on learning opportunities needed to develop the skills of our future.

And why is this important, Madam Speaker? It is important because it impacts all of our members. It impacts all of Ontario. Why? Because every worker deserves the opportunity to reach their potential, and this investment reaffirms our commitment to provide accessible, flexible and high-quality training options.

As a first-generation immigrant, I know how difficult it is sometimes to adjust to a new place. Family reunions and far distance are some of the big challenges. I’ll give you an example. My mother, for example, is in India, and last month she was not feeling well. Well, as I was celebrating Mother’s Day, I was happy I spoke to her, but I was concerned about her health. But I couldn’t travel because of the commitments with work and family here. These are some of the challenges we see, and we have to make the balance.

Another example I was thinking about is that whenever we talk about every day passing that brings us one day closer to the end of our lives, it is a reminder to cherish each day and make the most of the time we have.

Madam Speaker, I believe in personal heroes. They’re like a GPS, helping us to navigate through our life. My personal hero, for example, is Bhai Kanhaiya, “a soul so kind, served all the love, with no one left behind.” He believed that God lives in all of us. If we want to serve God, the best way is to serve people. When we serve people, we serve God. That is why it is important, when we come here, that we work and we’re able to get opportunity to serve the people.

Under the leadership of this Premier, our government is investing an additional $25 million over the next three years to enhance the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. Ontario has long been recognized as a destination of choice for skilled immigrants, and with this enhanced program, we aim to further strengthen our position as a hub of talent and innovation. The investment will allow us to streamline and expedite the immigration process, making it more efficient for skilled workers to come to Ontario and contribute to our vibrant labour market. Madam Speaker, receiving the important investment, we’re able to help over 18,361, which is double what we have today under this program.

Providing the Ontario bridge training program with $3 million this fiscal year will help internationally trained immigrants find jobs in their field. We’re also investing $32.4 million over the next three years to support 6,500 high-quality research internships.

Madam Speaker, health care is another big focus for our government. We are providing an additional $425 million over three years to connect more people to mental health and addictions services; accelerating investments to bring funding in 2023-24 to $569 million, including nearly $300 million to support contract rate increases to stabilize the home and community care workforce; and investing $3.3 million over three years for expanding health-care-related courses for 1,400 secondary school students.

Simply put, this budget delivers a loud and clear message, a message that we, as a government, are building up this province of Ontario with prosperity.

To everyone watching across the globe, if you’re looking to invest, then this is the province. This is the place where you have a business environment that is welcoming and you have a government that is progressive.

If you’re an immigrant looking to build a life, come to Ontario. We have a government that is providing support to you and will help you upskill and build a life you will be proud of. We can’t wait to welcome you to join us in this journey to make Ontario stronger.

Madam Speaker, I encourage everyone in this House, if you want to build a better Ontario, a strong Ontario, vote in favour of this bill to build a stronger Ontario.