I’m sure we can all remember Peter Kormos, MPP from Welland—an incredible human being. It’s the 10th anniversary of his passing, so I just wanted to make sure that I mentioned that and that we’re all thinking of Peter. I saw that Jeff Burch put a nice post up for him this morning.

My question on Working for Workers—I’m going to ask you what’s not in the bill. This isn’t our first Working for Workers bill; we’ve had three. Deeming is not in the bill. Anti-scab legislation is not in the bill. Maybe you can elaborate on why it wouldn’t be, as our labour critic.

In fact, it’s just the opposite: Since this government has been in place, we have been systematically revamping our services for not only our seniors, but for our most vulnerable across the province. That is why we started off by ensuring that the lowest-income-earning people were removed from the tax rolls altogether.

When you look at the improvements that the minister is making with respect to senior care, not only in this current budget, where we increased access to the guaranteed income supplement—the incredible investments that we are making in home care, the investments that we are making in long-term care.

We’ve also heard from our seniors that they also want the opportunity, where they can, to participate in the growing economy. The Minister of Labour is making that available to them, as well. The Minister of Education, through COVID, ensured that those seniors—retired teachers, for instance—who wanted to come back and help us through the pandemic could do that.

So it’s more than just looking at seniors as exiting the workforce, it’s more than looking at them as exiting their time to participate; it’s about how we can integrate them into helping us continue to build an Ontario that they left us—a thriving Ontario that they almost destroyed.

When the hospital CEOs, in September, asked us to do more to help those seniors in hospitals who needed to be in long-term care or other options, the opposition suggested that people would be sent thousands of miles away and that they would be bankrupted by the policies that the hospital CEOs asked for. And what happened? In fact, just the opposite. When I tour long-term-care homes, the residents there say it’s the best thing that ever happened. The quality of care is much better. Why? Because we listened to the hospital CEOs.

When the hospital CEOs told us that we had to do better on small and medium-sized hospitals’ budgets, we did that.

When the hospital CEOs in Ontario—in eastern Ontario and Ottawa and Niagara—said we needed new hospitals, we came through.

When they said that they needed more staff, the Minister of Colleges and Universities came through with a program that is hiring thousands of nurses. When they needed more doctors, the minister of the Treasury Board—

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

Every day in Ontario, jobs go unfilled because of a shortage of workers. One senior economist recently said, “There’s a traffic jam of employers looking to hire.”

Information from Statistics Canada shows record-high job vacancy numbers and an unprecedented labour force participation rate.

To combat the labour shortage and maintain Ontario’s economic competitive position within the global market, we need more skilled workers than ever before.

Can the minister please explain how our government is addressing our labour shortage needs?

It’s also necessary to highlight that our government must consider the importance of where newcomers settle and build their lives in Ontario. Urgent labour demands are present across our province, including regions outside major cities.

Can the minister please elaborate on how our government will ensure that communities in need have the ability to fill critical labour shortages?

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

While it is positive and welcome news that our Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program will be doubling in size to expand our workforce, we must recognize that newcomers can be exposed to the risk of exploitation at work. Human trafficking and exploitation are horrendous crimes that often go unreported. Sadly, these crimes are still happening in Canada and here in Ontario.

Trafficking exploitation exists in many forms and takes advantage of systemic issues such as poverty, inequity, employer discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and gaps in employment policy. Regardless of the cause, the outcomes are devastating, resulting in physical, psychological and emotional trauma to victims.

Can the minister please explain how our government is protecting vulnerable workers from labour exploitation?

The Working for Workers Act is a positive step toward cracking down on exploitation and ensuring that the rights of everyone who is working here in Ontario are protected.

However, we know from police reports that labour trafficking and abuse of vulnerable workers happens far too often. The reality is that the victims are often in precarious work situations and are afraid to come forward.

Under the strong leadership of the Premier and this minister, our government is committed to the safety, health and well-being of workers.

While Ontario needs workers to strengthen and grow our province, workers need our government to make sure they are protected.

Can the minister please elaborate on how this legislation, if passed, would implement and enforce measures to protect vulnerable workers?

I thank the member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock for this very important question, but most of all for her leadership when it comes to anti-human trafficking in the province of Ontario.

On behalf of all MPPs, thank you for all the work that you’ve done.

Speaker, our government stands in support of workers, whether you are a Canadian citizen or a temporary foreign worker. We will not tolerate actions by employers who abuse workers. That is why our government introduced the Working for Workers Act, 2023, which would, if passed, continue to lead the country in providing groundbreaking protections for our workers. Part of the legislation identifies changes that are necessary to strengthen protections for vulnerable workers by establishing the highest maximum fines in Canada. Our message to dishonest and unethical employers is, “If you’re going to deny someone’s basic human rights by withholding their passport or essential work documents, you will face very serious consequences.”

Speaker, for employers who abuse workers, our government holds them to account for their actions. The consequences will be swift and severe. Currently, labour inspectors can levy penalties of only $250 for each passport or work permit that is withheld, but with the proposed changes, that will rise to $200,000. If an individual employer is convicted by the courts of such an offence, they would also be subject to a fine of up to $500,000, up to 12 months in jail, or both. Additionally, corporations could be fined up to $1 million.

Through these measures, all workers in Ontario can be assured that their safety is our number one priority and that we have their backs.

This bill is being co-sponsored by Jennifer French, MPP for Oshawa; Lisa Gretzky, MPP for Windsor West; and Jamie West, MPP for Sudbury.

The bill, the Anti-Scab Labour Act, is quite simple. I would like to mention, though, that today is the 10th anniversary of the passing of my good friend Peter Kormos. Peter Kormos presented the anti-scab legislation at every Parliament until he retired, and since he retired, I have taken over.

The bill is simple. The provisions in the bill basically prevent an employer from replacing striking or locked-out employees with replacement workers except in specific emergency situations. As simple as that: no more temporary replacement workers.

“911 Everywhere in Ontario....

“Whereas when we face an emergency we all know to dial 911 for help; and

“Whereas access to emergency services through 911 is not available in all regions of Ontario but most Ontarians believe that it is; and

“Whereas many Ontarians have discovered that 911 was not available while they faced an emergency; and

“Whereas all Ontarians expect and deserve access to 911 service, throughout our province;”

They “petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To provide 911 emergency response everywhere in Ontario by land line or cellphone.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask Mikaeel to bring it to the Clerk.