Thank you to the member for this very important question. He’s right: One of the greatest economic challenges we’re facing in Ontario today is that 300,000 jobs are going unfilled. I’m proud that, under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government has landed a truly historic deal with the federal government to double the number of economic immigrants we can select, to a minimum of 18,000 by 2025.

Speaker, this means that we can select more skilled trades workers, more software and IT workers and more health care workers like nurses and personal support workers. We’re tackling our labour shortage head-on and making it easier for employers to find the skilled workers they need to grow and build the future of Ontario.

All across our province there are in-demand and well-paying jobs waiting to be filled. Welcoming more immigrants with the skills we need is a win for workers, businesses and communities in every corner of Ontario.

Our government, through our first Working for Workers Act, made it illegal for regulators to require Canadian work experience. We are leading the way in Canada by eliminating this unfair and truly discriminatory barrier that far too many immigrants coming to Ontario face. The Professional Engineers of Ontario became the first regulator to remove their requirement for Canadian work experience. Every single regulator should follow their lead before our December deadline.

We need all hands on deck to build a brighter future for all of us. This change allows immigrants to start better jobs, earn bigger paycheques and build a better life for themselves and their families. Our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is levelling the playing field and bringing the Canadian dream within reach for more people.

The supplementary question.

Start the clock. Supplementary question.

Order. The member for Waterloo will come to order. The Minister of Education will come to order. The member for Hamilton Mountain will come to order.

Are we ready to start again? Start the clock. The next question.

My question is to the Premier. Ontario’s own Education Equity Action Plan directs school boards to undertake work that will “eliminate inequities in the education system.” Most school boards have taken this responsibility to heart. They understand that it impacts student achievement and well-being. But there has been significant and damaging pushback in communities. In Waterloo, both public and Catholic school boards have faced outright vicious hatred.

Boards are doing this important equity work as directed by the government, and yet Ontario school boards are receiving very little support from the ministry. I’m asking today very clearly: Does the Minister of Education stand behind Waterloo public and Catholic school boards, their trustees, their directors of education and their students as they undertake this important equity work?

Earlier this week, when the Premier was asked whether he thinks the York school board should fly the Pride flag in June, he said “no comment.” A failure to comment is a failure to stand up for equity. There are no neutral positions on this.

When those who oppose equity in our schools hear the Premier’s refusal to comment, they feel emboldened. They assume, rightly or not, that he agrees with them and is making space for those voices. Does this government realize the damage caused by saying “no comment” on matters of equality and equity?

Interjections.

Speaker, through you to the Minister of Energy: Yesterday, the body that oversees electricity grids in North America reported that Ontario risks power outages this summer. In fact, Ontario is the only province in Canada that is rated with elevated risk that it can’t meet peak demand. After five years, this government’s policies of cutting funding for efficiency and conservation, of demolishing wind farms and cancelling other renewable projects have led to this.

What will the minister do immediately to protect this province from the risk that he has set up?

Again, what will the minister do today to protect us this summer so that we don’t have those outages?

To reply, the Attorney General.

The Attorney General to respond.

Speaker, my question is for the Associate Minister of Transportation. My community is growing rapidly and they need more convenient ways to connect to their jobs, family, appointments and other communities in the GTA. Whether travelling by car or bus, traffic congestion and gridlock add frustration and unnecessary delays.

Even though our government is making historic investments into new transit infrastructure, Toronto’s north end still needs more transit options. The people of my community and across the GTA are looking to our government for solutions that will make transit easier and more convenient. Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how our government plans to increase the transit options in the GTA?

Interjection: Great question.

Transit upgrades and expansions are needed now to ensure frequent and convenient service for years to come. The previous Liberal government failed to plan for Ontario’s transit needs and failed to invest in building vital transit infrastructure. The investments and construction work that are currently under way to strengthen our province’s transit networks show that our government is getting it done for the people of Ontario. But more can and should be done to deliver on our commitment to these projects.

Speaker, can the associate minister please expand on how our government is making historic investments in building transit networks?

What?

I’m not sure which of those questions to answer but I’m going to tell you what we are doing at the Landlord and Tenant Board. We are investing so much money and effort and time to make sure that the people of Ontario are served.

When the Liberals left the fire that was in tribunals, when they left it to us to fix it, Mr. Speaker—I can tell you, the back office system was not working. So we undertook, as soon as we came into office, to start rebuilding the backbone of the tribunal system, and the Landlord and Tenant Board in particular. We worked with the province of British Columbia, an NDP government, to see what they were doing. We’ve adopted parts of their system. We’ve invested $26.5 million, Mr. Speaker, to fix that part of the LTB alone.

He can talk about the Ombudsman’s report, Mr. Speaker. There were so many things that they left undone that we’ve had to fix, but we are going to get it done.

It is a good question, because we need to increase those transit options. Minister Mulroney and I recently gave official direction to develop an initial business case for an extension of the Sheppard subway. Let’s break it down, Speaker. We’ve asked officials to examine extending the Sheppard line eastwards from its current terminus at Don Mills station to the future Scarborough subway extension, which would serve that very member’s community. But that’s not all.

While the initial business case will focus mostly on the eastward route, we’ve also tasked agency officials to investigate a possible western extension from Sheppard-Yonge station to Sheppard West station. This potential east-west expansion would create a game-changing transit corridor across Toronto’s north for riders across Scarborough, North York and beyond. This is a stark contrast to the Liberals and the NDP who, for decades, did nothing to build transit in any meaningful way. We’re not only cleaning up their mess; we’re building that transit for riders today—

But to turn those plans into reality, we have to get through the red tape. I know the Liberals love the colour red, whether it be ties or tape, but we’ve got to cut through that to actually build that transit. That’s why we passed the Building Transit Faster Act. That’s why our four priority subway projects are well under way. That includes the Sheppard subway east extension’s initial business case by examining track alignments, grade options, storage facility requirements and technology regimes of the potential extension. Speaker, we’re dedicating $1 million to the early planning work on this.

All that is to say, these aren’t just plans; these are reality. We’re bringing transit in a meaningful way to the great people of Scarborough and across this entire province.

Mr. Speaker, the Attorney General knows well that the timeline for the problems at the Landlord and Tenant Board, as identified by the Ombudsman, started in 2019 and made no mention of the Liberal government.

Tribunal Watch Ontario, in response to the report, said, “Experienced and proven leaders were replaced, in some cases, by people for whom political affiliation seemed to be the main qualification.” This seems to be a common theme with this Conservative government. It’s okay to ignore what’s broken in Ontario so long as their friends are taken care of.

Mr. Speaker, let me be constructive. Will the government commit to creating a non-partisan oversight body that protects the independence of Ontario’s adjudicative tribunals?

Interjections.

I’d like to thank the member representing Hastings–Lennox and Addington for his question and, more importantly, telling us earlier today about some of the events and festivals that are going on in your community. That’s what tourism is all about, sir. You’ve got it, and your community is doing it right.

From the buzz of the big city and the bright lights to the stars up north, our government is providing support for tourism across the brand. This year, we are providing $1.3 million through the local regional tourism organizations that will help promote Hastings–Lennox and Addington as a tourism destination. Our government is delighted to spread the news about experiences like agri-tourism and the nature trails and make the member’s community an attraction and destination for all people, because you have a lot to offer.

We’re excited about where tourism is going, and I have more in the supplementary for you.

From my meetings across the province, and specifically in just the last couple of weeks in the Niagara region, I met with Niagara Parks, casinos, hoteliers, the great wineries and the opportunities there—they are ready to go. They aren’t rebounding; they’re there, Mr. Speaker. We are happy to support them, to drive them even further in their destination of what they’re trying to accomplish in being a tourist destination, maybe being the best tourist destination in this country.

Speaker, we have a grid in Ontario that is the envy of all jurisdictions in North America: one that’s clean, one that’s affordable, one that’s reliable and one that’s safe. God help us if the NDP were ever in charge of our energy system. We’re seeing multi-billion-dollar investments in our province from companies around the world like Volkswagen, Stellantis, Umicore—so many others because we have a system that people can rely on.

We’re making sure that we’re hardening the infrastructure here to deal with some of the conditions that the member is talking about, but at the same time, because of our success on this file, we’re now building North America’s first small modular reactor that’s going to go online in 2028. Our nuclear fleet is being refurbished. When they come back a little bit later on this decade, that’s 3,500 megawatts of clean non-emitting electricity, enough to power the city of Toronto for the next 35 years—the largest procurement of energy storage in Canadian history—

Look, my message is clear: Get a deal at the table, a deal that’s good for workers and families in Windsor.

Mr. Speaker, it’s our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that continues to work with our labour partners, with employers and with workers across this province to ensure that we’re creating better jobs and bigger paycheques for workers out there.

Under the leadership of the Minister of Economic Development and our entire government, we have 600,000 more people working in Ontario today than when we were elected back in 2018, including tens of thousands of more people in southwestern Ontario. In fact, the Premier is down there today with our amazing MPP from Windsor–Tecumseh to make more great announcements.

It’s our government that’s building a brand new hospital down there, which the member opposite opposes. It’s our government that’s widening Highway 3, which the NDP opposed. But Mr. Speaker, we’ll continue having the backs of people in Windsor-Essex every day.

Mr. Speaker, let’s look at what happened in the Legislature yesterday. We passed legislation that reduces diesel exhaust in mines across Ontario by 70%, the toughest regulations in all of North America. Do you know who opposed standing up for those 30,000 miners? The NDP in Ontario. Do you know who voted against all of the investments in the skilled trades to get people jobs with defined pensions and benefits in Windsor? The NDP. Do you know who voted against hiring more inspectors today than at any point in Ontario’s history? The NDP.

We will take no lessons from the NDP when it comes to standing up for workers in this province. It is under the leadership of Doug Ford—

Interjections.

My question is to the Minister of Labour. Windsor Salt workers from Unifor Locals 240 and 1959 have been on strike for 104 days. They’re fighting a US hedge fund company that wants to contract out their jobs and is using scab labour to prolong the labour dispute. The company is using union-busting tactics and refuses to bargain in good faith.

When will the minister stand up to this American hedge fund company, support these Unifor members as they fight union busting and the use of scab labour, and pass our anti-scab legislation?

Interjections.

I have a letter from the Minister of Labour in response to a petition supporting anti-scab labour legislation that my NDP colleagues and I tabled. The minister appears to support the use of scab labour in his response by stating that the use of replacement workers does not prevent those employees who are on a lawful strike or locked out from returning to their jobs as part of a return-to-work protocol at the conclusion of a labour dispute.

The minister knows that using scab labour undermines the collective bargaining process, prolongs labour disputes and raises serious safety concerns.

Again, I’ll state that these workers have been out for 104 days. I ask the minister this simple question once again: Will you support these workers and pass our anti-scab labour legislation, yes or no?

One more time, I will remind members to make their comments through the Chair, not directly across the floor of the House.

Minister of Energy.

The next question.

Interjection.

Start the clock.

My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. My home communities of Hastings–Lennox and Addington have very much to offer in the way of hospitality and tourism. Across the vast region of eastern Ontario, there are thousands of lakes, rivers, trees and wildlife that represent the very best of the great outdoors here in Ontario. With summer vacation time fast approaching, many local businesses in my communities are eager to benefit from visitors enjoying our hospitality while they contribute to our local economy.

Tourism is vital to Ontario’s economy and our government must do all that we can to encourage more people to visit our cities, towns and our rural communities across the province.

Speaker, will the minister please explain what our government is doing to encourage and promote tourism all across Ontario?

However, it is vital that our government continues to address the challenges that many tourism-related businesses face. The tourism sector contributes significantly to Ontario’s overall economy and benefits many other industries in the process. The importance of tourism in Ontario simply cannot be understated.

Speaker, will the minister please elaborate on the long-term outlook for the tourism sector here in Ontario?

My question is for the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity. Our government needs to build a province where every woman and girl is empowered to succeed. This starts with getting more women into jobs than ever before. According to recent employment data regarding women’s labour force participation, the overall employment rate in April significantly increased as compared to pre-pandemic levels. There has been an increase of 415,000 jobs, a large portion of which have been filled by women.

This number demonstrates that the investments and supports put in place by our government are increasing women’s economic security. However, there is still more that needs to be done in advancing equality and economic independence for women.

Speaker, can the associate minister please explain what actions our government is taking to support even greater participation by women in Ontario’s workforce?

The member from Newmarket–Aurora is absolutely correct: The current data reveals the ongoing increase and contribution of women in Ontario’s workforce. One of the key reasons for this success is due to the historic agreement that our government was able to secure regarding enhancements to affordable child care. Through our Minister of Education, our Premier and this government, Speaker, we didn’t just sign any deal with the federal government; we signed a better deal for the people of this province: a billion additional dollars and an additional year of funding guarantee that no other province in Canada had.

It is this Premier that was able to do what the NDP and Liberals couldn’t do for 15 years, which is reduce child care fees for generations to come—a 50% reduction in fees for women, working moms and dads—and with an increase of 86,000 new child care spaces by 2026. We’re going to—

Thanks to the member from Hastings–Lennox and Addington for his question. In the past, Speaker, Ontarians have been forced to navigate through a fragmented experience when trying to start, operate and grow their own business thanks to unclear and hard-to-find information that is scattered across the Internet.

But in the Premier’s own words, the buck stops with us. Our government has built a new digital experience on Ontario.ca/business that makes it easier for businesses to get the information they need when they need it through a new single window of seamless information. Thanks to our ability to use this best-in-class technology, we are providing them with the best that Ontario has to offer. We absolutely have to seize this unique opportunity, Speaker, to transform how our government better serves businesses right here in our great province.

Speaker, as our economy continues to boom, as businesses continue to come in this province, we want to make business owners’ lives easy, not difficult—as what the opposition would always be looking for, to make life difficult for businesses to come in our province. This government will make sure that businesses have—make it easy for them to—