Supporting the Liberals.

Good morning, everyone. Let us pray.

Prières / Prayers.

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 22, 2023, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 79, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to employment and labour and other matters / Projet de loi 79, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne l’emploi, le travail et d’autres questions.

I’m always happy to speak to labour legislation coming from the Conservative government—for anyone who was around during the 1990s and witnessed the Harris government, we know how Conservatives really feel about workers. If you weren’t around during the 1990s or don’t remember the Harris government, I’ll let you in on a secret: They’re not big on standing up for workers. They love standing up for big business, but not workers. But this government and the Minister of Labour want us to forget that history. They put forward legislation like today, titled it Working for Workers, and hope that the window dressing is enough to erase the decades of attacking workers. But it’s not enough, because they are still attacking workers today.

Speaker, before I get into what should be in this bill, I want to say that many of the changes in this legislation are supportable. Earlier this week, through media, we heard about a lot of changes the minister claimed he was making to support workers, but, strangely, not a lot is actually in the bill. I understand that the government has a pattern of introducing legislation and leaving a lot of the meat to regulatory changes down the road, but it’s fair to say it’s a little strange that most of what the minister claims he’s doing isn’t made law through the legislation he tabled. It’s not even mentioned in the bill. It’s concerning because we all know that regulatory changes do not go under the same level of scrutiny as legislation amendments. With this government, it’s all about the details—and when it’s done through regulations, I do get concerned about how transparent and open those details are.

It’s important to note that the minister and the rest of the Conservative government wasted no time in legislating direct attacks on the collective bargaining rights of unionized workers like nurses, education workers, paramedics, corrections officers and many more with Bill 124 and Bill 28, both—Madam Speaker, you know this—unconstitutional bills. Yet changes that might actually make things better for workers, weren’t included in the bill we’re debating today.

Speaker, the government side may be critical—which they have been in the past—of my response to this bill, but for me, this is personal. I’ve been a worker my entire life. I worked in a plant, working steady midnights for 20 years at General Motors. My union is the reason I have the life I have today—make no mistake about that—including being able to provide for my children, my three daughters, helping my five grandkids. It’s because of the union. Without that support of my brothers and sisters in the labour movement, working to advance the quality of life for their members, I wouldn’t be here today.

I’m passionate about this issue. I remember that my passion for standing up for workers and the labour movement was criticized by the PC Party. Listen to this, even to my other colleagues: When I ran in Niagara Falls in a by-election, it was our current labour minister himself who warned the people of my community that they should be scared if I win, because I was from a union. Now the minister walks around and acts like unions are his best friends, and he wants to pretend that he stands up for workers.

Make no mistake about it: His opinion on workers’ rights hasn’t changed. This member wanted Ontario to adopt a US-style right-to-work law, going back to when Tim Hudak was the leader of the official opposition—which I really want to mention, because the Conservatives forget about this: The PCs were in opposition for 15 years.

He was the first member on the government side to not only stand up—I’m going to repeat this. He was the first member on the government side to not only stand up and vote in support of anti-union, anti-worker Bills 124 and 28; he also was the first to clap.

We found out yesterday their government doesn’t even support paid sick days. I’m going to add to that: Everybody in this room—everybody—if you’re off sick, you get paid. We’ve had members who had long-term sicknesses in this chamber, unfortunately; they got paid. Workers deserve paid sick days. You shouldn’t have to go to work because you can’t afford to put food on your plate or pay the rent. Paid sick days are important in the province of Ontario.

Now, some people might say, “Look at this legislation. It’s helping workers in our province.” Well, when it matters most, when it isn’t the public relations exercise of this government, they go back to their old ways. We saw that in the two bills, as I’ve already said.

Think about this, Madam Speaker: Look no further than what they did to the lowest-paid education workers in this province, the people making an average of $39,000 who are going to food banks at the end of their week, the people who make our schools function every day and those who support students with special needs. This government attacked them and took away their charter rights. They used the “notwithstanding” clause to strip those workers of their rights, and they did it to workers in a largely women-led sector—a pattern, I believe, from this government.

Do you know what happened? Those workers, mostly women, stood up to this government, and we rallied with them. I rallied with them in front of my office. There were close to 1,000 that day, the day that they rallied at my office, and do you know what? This government threatened them with fines of $4,000 a day if they didn’t go into work. Do you know what most of those women said? They stood up to the government and they said, “Fine us, because you’re not taking away our rights.” I know it’s early in the morning, but I think the women deserve a round of applause for standing up for themselves in the labour movement. And the PCs—you can clap on that, because you have some women on that side who I respect and I talk to all the time.

What does this mean for workers? It means that they can’t trust this government when it comes to protecting their rights. It means that they have to rally and stand up for themselves when this government steamrolls their basic constitutional rights. This approach has a ripple effect in our community. It sows distrust for the government, and it negatively impacts so many areas of the province.

As the critic for long-term care, I’m going to give you some examples.

The title of the bill before us is Working for Workers—and I’m going to speak about Bill 124 and how that worked for workers, but before we get into the details of that horrible anti-worker legislation, let’s take a look at what it has caused. It has created a staffing shortage in health care. It has created a staffing shortage in long-term care, retirement homes and home care.

We all know, and I repeat it as much as I can here because I don’t want people to forget, that 5,400 seniors—our moms, our dads, our aunts, our uncles, our brothers and sisters—died in long-term care and retirement homes, and 78% of those died in for-profit homes, because it wasn’t about care; it was about profit.

Workers don’t feel respected.

I know everybody knows about this, but I’m going to repeat it again: Staffing agencies are ripping off non-profit long-term-care homes at the rate of $150 per hour because of this crisis. And, yet, we continue to fight in court with Bill 124 and limit wages at 1%, including benefits—it’s a total compensation package of 1%. When inflation is running at 6.5%, 7.5%, that’s a pay cut of 6% to our heroes. All this is happening under this government’s watch because they don’t truly stand up for workers.

I want to talk about this government and about their record on workers. We’ve been hearing a lot about how this government has been working for workers. They’re talking a lot about how they care about workers, trade unions, and how they want to have a new type of Conservative party, but their record is very different. It’s a different story. This government has one of the worst records on labour issues in the history of the province of Ontario and, quite frankly, all across Canada.

We learned this week that this government will be ending the paid sick days program next week. Does that sound like something a government that is working for workers would do? They can make as many excuses as they like, but the government could absolutely include paid sick days if they wanted. If they really cared about workers and their rights and their well-being, they would absolutely include paid sick days, but they made a choice not to. Nobody in the province of Ontario should be forced to go to work when they are sick. This is unacceptable in one of the richest provinces in the country.

But that’s not all—in fact, it’s part of a pattern of this government going after workers.

Of course, there’s Bill 124, a bill that opened up the collective agreements—negotiated, fair collective agreements—of our nurses and our front-line health care workers and imposed a 1% wage increase, including benefits. That’s disgusting in and of itself, but you have to remember that this happened during 7% and in some cases 8% inflation. So, in fact, this government forced a 6%—at least 6%—pay cut on our nurses, front-line health care workers and the other occupations that I already mentioned in this speech.

We were happy in November of last year to hear that the courts—rightly, in my opinion—struck down Bill 124. The Ontario Superior Court ruled on November 29, 2022, that Bill 124 was unconstitutional and a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That decision was a hard-fought victory for nurses, front-line workers and the other workplaces I’ve mentioned who have given up so much over the last few years, working through a deadly pandemic, working through staffing shortages, emergency room closures, increased violence and harassment in our hospitals.

But it didn’t stop Premier Ford and the Conservative government. You know what they did? They challenged those nurses in court. They weren’t satisfied to move on and accept the court’s decision that it was unconstitutional. Instead, they decided it was a good use of their time—and, quite frankly, taxpayers’ money. All the court cases this government has lost have been paid for by taxpayers. I want everybody to understand that, and it’s in the hundreds of millions of dollars which could have gone, quite frankly, to paid sick days, to mental health and all the other things I think they could have done.

Again, this government’s actions are simply not matching their words. Premier Ford and the Conservatives talk the talk about our health care heroes and how much they love and respect nurses, but when it comes to walking the walk and actually having the backs of our health care workers, instead they attack their collective bargaining rights and force them to accept a net pay cut. We know Bill 124 has actively made the staffing crisis in health care worse. Their own documents—your own documents prove it.

Then, of course, we have Bill 28—which was an attack not just on education workers but on the constitutional rights of every single worker in the province of Ontario and Canada.

Some of you may know that before I was an MPP, I was a city councillor, but also a union president, Unifor Local 199 in Niagara. I’m very proud of that. I was involved in the labour movement in the Mike Harris days. Those were tough times for the labour movement—make no mistake about it—where he took away anti-scab. But you know what? I want people to hear this—especially on that side: Even Mike Harris, one of the most conservative Premiers we’ve ever had in the history of Canada, quite frankly, even he never used the “notwithstanding” clause to attack workers. Think about that. That shows you just how extreme this government really is.

What do Bill 124 and Bill 28 have in common? Besides attacking collective bargaining rights of workers, of course—what do those bills have in common? They are both examples of a government attacking female-dominated professions. It’s this government time and time again attacking jobs that are disproportionately women—this government and this labour minister, quite frankly, talk about supporting women in the trades, but again their record tells a very different story. It shows them attacking, stripping away the rights of female workers in the province of Ontario.

And then we have the government’s record on WSIB and, in particular, deeming. I cannot believe I’m still talking about deeming three years later. It just doesn’t make sense—particularly since we have Working for Workers 3 and I’m sure I’ll be standing up here in two years, three years from now on Working for Workers 49. I’m sure it’s just going to continue to go on.

Deeming hasn’t been in one of those bills yet. By the way, we’ve asked the government to do it over and over again. I introduced a bill just this past December, and what this bill would do is end the practice of deeming that leads to so many of our injured workers here in the province living in poverty. In fact, I introduced a bill in 2019. It passed first reading, but the government chose not to move forward—disgraceful. So I introduced it again—I’m like a boomerang, I just keep coming back. You know, you can do whatever you want to me, but just like you throw that boomerang, I’m coming back. If I believe it should be there, I’m coming back. Just so you know, I’m not going away. Would a government that is actually working for workers have injured workers living in poverty in the province of Ontario?

I also want to address something the Minister of Labour said the other day in the House, because I think this is important. The minister mentioned that he was happy to go after “scumbag employers” in the province of Ontario, which again we’re seeing a pattern here: sounds nice, sounds good, but what action has the government taken?

What about the employer that passed Bill 124, opening up the collective agreements of nurses and health care workers and keeping their wages under the rate of inflation in the midst of a global pandemic? What about the employer that passed Bill 28 which attacked education workers and used the “notwithstanding” clause to attack their collective bargaining rights? What about the employer that still deems injured workers, keeps them living in poverty in the province of Ontario? What about the employer that won’t past anti-scab legislation? Madam Speaker, by the way, anti-scab was brought in under the Mike Harris government—

Interjection: No, it was taken away.

Speaker, this is a good bill, and it’s crafted to address the here and now. That’s this century, for the member opposite. It’s good for the military, both men and women. It’s good for workers on site and off-site, both men and women. It provides employer accountability, with contracts and terms documented, for both men and women. It’s good for our firefighters, both men and women.

How could anybody not support this bill? Speaking just to this century, I’d like the member opposite to explain that.

It’s now time for questions and answers.

Taken away; sorry, I apologize.

Let’s take a look at increases to maximum penalties to the OHSA and the ESA. Look, I’m not going to deny that’s important. Employers who put the health and safety of workers at risk deserve to be fined. Those fines, by the way—I’ve walked an injured worker out of my plant. I’ve actually taken a worker who died in the workplace out of the plant. You know that company, General Motors, got fined $350,000. But that money doesn’t go to the family. I want people to understand that. A lot of people say they get the fine and it goes to the family so their kids can go to school. It doesn’t happen. What happens is, that single mom now may have to live in poverty because she lost her husband, in this particular case, Joel Murray. Everybody in the plant thought that that money went there. It doesn’t, not one penny. It should go to the family so they can raise their children, make sure they get a good education. That’s something that they should take a serious look at.

I’d also raise our concern with changes outlined in schedule 1. How will they be enforced, when migrant workers have been asked to call into a complaint line or file paperwork with the minister to have these changes actually enforced? Also, will the information on these changes be adequately communicated to migrant workers and available in multiple languages? Because we know they come from all over the world.

I think those concerns are legitimate. It’s something that should be looked at by this minister. We know that migrant workers are afraid of retaliation from their employer—I’ve seen that in my own riding—and do not use the rights they have now. We can’t continue that going forward if we want to fully protect them.

This government likes to talk about how much they are doing to help certain workers in this province. That includes their recent announcement to cover certain cancers as occupational diseases for firefighters in Ontario. But that comes from the same government that just a few weeks ago made a cruel decision to vote no on a motion that would cover PSA tests in Ontario for men. Think about that for minute. How awful of this government to come forward and make this big show about supporting firefighters and covering occupational cancers that they’ve been fighting for years for, and then they turn around a few days later and not support a test that would prevent late-stage diagnosis of cancer. This is just another example of how this government talks out of one side of their mouth and turns around and does something completely different.

I’ll tell you, yesterday, five people in the province of Ontario—men—died of cancer, prostate cancer, and the only speaker you put up was a woman, who doesn’t have a prostate. You know who else has prostates, Madam Speaker—I’m not going to get to the rest of my—firefighters have prostates. They deserve to have that test as well.

I want to say this to everybody who’s out there bargaining collective agreements, and to the government—because there are a lot of new people here who might not know—do you know in the province of Ontario 98% of all collective agreements are negotiated at the bargaining table? Why are we protecting the 2% that won’t go to the bargaining table and do a fair collective agreement?

But I will talk about the firefighters. The firefighters have been fighting for cancer to be covered for years. We should protect firefighters. The firefighters in my area, whether they’re volunteer, whether they’re—

Interjection.

We’ve had this conversation here, but I know some of the people here don’t really pay attention when we’re talking about this. Do you know if it wasn’t for the unions standing up for workers, we’d have more people living in poverty? We wouldn’t have sick days and collective agreements. We wouldn’t have vacation time. We wouldn’t have pensions. Imagine where we’d be without pensions today when we see the number of our seniors that are living in poverty today—

But I don’t mind talking about firefighters. When we’re running out of the house, what’s the firefighter doing? He’s running in, not knowing what’s behind those doors. They’re risking their lives every single day. I’ve already said that I’ve gone to a few funerals of my brothers who are firefighters. One passed away with cancer that I’m aware of; I know there are more. I’ve attended their funerals. We all need to respect our firefighters and we should do all we can. Every single cancer that they’re exposed to should be covered in the bill—every single cancer. Because, when they pass away, do you know what happens? It’s the spouse who doesn’t get the benefit, who loses out—

I was quite pleased to hear my colleague talk about anti-scab legislation. We had in Sudbury, in Nickel Belt, a one-year-long strike, where scab labour was used. They prey on vulnerable workers who need money to support their kids with autism, who need money to support their wives fighting cancer, and bring them in as scabs. Then it destroys them. Why? For absolutely no good reason. The smelter didn’t work, Vale didn’t produce any nickel, but it destroyed many parts of my community. It destroyed families. It destroyed the entire community. Why is anti-scab legislation important?

Thank you to the member for Niagara Falls for passionately talking about firefighters. This bill addresses firefighters. Firefighters are everyday heroes who put their lives on the line to save our lives. We go to sleep because we have wonderful firefighters in our city and the province.

Firefighters are diagnosed with cancer up to four times higher than the general population. Will the member support our proposal to expand WSIB presumptive coverage for thyroid cancer and pancreatic cancer for our province’s firefighters?

Thank you to the member from Niagara Falls. Early on in this debate, he questioned Working for Workers as a bit of a smokescreen. And he talked about Bill 28, which punished the lowest-paid public sector workers. He talked about Bill 124, which froze wages for public sector workers at 1% so every year it was a massive wage cut and violated their ability to collectively bargain. He talked about the removal of sick days, which were removed when the Conservative government was first elected and then removed again yesterday.

He also talked about his involvement in the union, how it allowed him to care for his three daughters and his five grandchildren. This morning, I was reading an email from the United Steelworkers, Local 1944, the Telus workers. There’s 6,800 members. They bargained wage increases, enhanced job security, paid domestic violence leave, benefit increases and pension increases.

The Conservative government loves to talk about how much they love unions, especially the trade unions. If they really love unions, do you think it would make more sense for them to make it easier to join a union, like passing card-check certification?

I’ll apologize for that. I didn’t see you stand. My apologies. It was my fault.

To answer your question around anti-scab and Bob Rae: Bob Rae brought it in under an NDP government. One of the first things the Conservatives under Mike Harris did is they got rid of it. I’ve never understood it. I’m going to repeat it again, and you repeated it, and I know, the member beside you from Niagara Centre, he bargains a lot of contracts. I believe it was SEIU. Am I right? I think you were with SEIU. He knows that the Conservative government attacked workers right away. Actually, for those eight years, we were under attack under Mike Harris, let’s be honest, including the days of action and all that stuff.

It is so important, and I want to congratulate—because, on Wednesday of next week, there is a bill coming forward that this government can support, and, when we go to amendments on the bill, we can put it right in the bill—

Thank you, Speaker. It’s great to see you in the chair. Great to be here on a big day today, budget day. We’re excited to unveil a budget later today.

I’m honoured to be speaking on the government’s bill today, Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023. I would like to recognize and thank the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development for putting this bill forward. I think he has done a great job. I’d also like to thank his two parliamentary assistants who I know brought a lot of hard work to preparing this bill as well, the member for Mississauga–Malton and the member I see across, part of our team, from Scarborough Centre. Thank you for the work you did in putting this bill together. Our minister’s dedication to workers is providing opportunities for people to enter the skilled trades, which is so critical.

Working for Workers Act 3 brings three important sets of legislative amendments to help position Ontario as the most competitive jurisdiction in North America. First, it sets out to enhance employment experience by making workplaces more attractive, including and reflecting the reality of modern work. We all know that, today, a lot more people work from home.

This particular bill focuses on military leave to support our Canadian Armed Forces—who couldn’t support that—information requirements and mass layoff requirements.

Secondly, it introduces legislative amendments to protect vulnerable workers by making sure they are safe, protected and treated fairly. This includes:

—presumptive coverage;

—Occupational Health and Safety Act fines;

—hygiene on construction sites;

—PPE, personal protective equipment, in construction; and

—fines for holding passports.

Thirdly, this proposed legislation seeks to build a competitive labour market by increasing the labour supply and attracting new workers to Ontario, which we so sorely need. It will develop a grade 10 skilled trades pathway, improve the Ontario Works job pathway and advanced credential recognition.

The proposed change in government will support communities and the workers in my riding of Oakville and across Ontario for generations to come so that they can find rewarding careers.

Our government has been getting down to work to ensure that talent remains and thrives within our great province.

As our province witnessed under the previous Liberal government, there were hundreds of thousands of jobs leaving this province. We know the condition of the province under their leadership: Businesses left, and investments were diverted to other jurisdictions. The province’s economic growth was lagging behind other provinces. Ontario, for many years, was not the economic engine of Canada. This was unacceptable to Ontarians who needed jobs to support themselves and their families.

Speaker, jobs are returning to the province now in droves because of the investments and policies introduced by our government. For instance, the manufacturing sector is growing. This is in part because of provincial funding to build a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles. Oakville, my community, is a key municipality in the domestic supply chain. Our government provided $295 million to retool the Ford assembly complex for electric vehicle production, securing 3,000 direct jobs and countless indirect jobs. Just yesterday, we had an announcement in my riding of Oakville with the Premier and Minister of Finance and Minister of Economic Development initiating a manufacturing tax credit, which will further help manufacturers in this province—small and mid-sized private manufacturers—to be able to buy new equipment so they can produce more goods more efficiently and faster. And I can tell you, the support we saw yesterday from the employees, from the workers, from management was incredible.

Speaker, Ontarians want jobs, and our government is creating the right economic conditions. That is absolutely critical to create the proper environment for business to flourish. It’s essential to note that we are fortifying worker protections with this job growth, as well. They go hand in hand.

Last year, the Working for Workers Act, 2022, was carried in this Legislature. This bill increased fines for employers who do not comply with health and safety laws to ensure their workers are protected. It established foundational rights and protections for digital platform workers, such as rideshare and delivery drivers, ensuring they are paid a fair wage and have their disputes resolved in Ontario. It also worked to address Ontario’s historic labour shortage by allowing out-of-province workers to register in their profession or trade within 30 days, helping them find jobs faster and contributing to our province’s economic growth.

I was proud to speak in favour of that legislation, just as right now I am proud to speak in favour of this third Working for Workers legislation. Improving labour conditions creates a workforce that benefits employers and the general economy. I believe every member of this Legislature can support this proposed legislation. The Working for Workers acts in 2021 and 2022 have already provided millions of Ontarians with the protections they deserve. These new changes will continue to ensure that Ontario workers are protected and supported in every aspect of their work.

First and foremost, our government recognizes that vulnerable and migrant workers are often at the most risk for exploitation in the workforce. That’s why we’re establishing the highest maximum fines in Canada for businesses and individuals who are convicted of withholding a foreign national’s passport or work permit. With fines of up to $200,000 per passport withheld, offenders will face significant consequences for their illegal actions. For individuals convicted, the fine could be up to $500,000 and corporations found liable could face up to $1 million in fines. These penalties will ensure that businesses and individuals who attempt to exploit vulnerable workers will be held accountable for their actions.

We are also proposing amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act that will increase the maximum fine for corporations convicted of an offence, from $1.5 million to $2 million. This increase will give Ontario the highest maximum corporate fine under workplace health and safety legislation in Canada. It’s essential that corporations understand the importance of workplace safety and take the necessary steps—

The member spoke very eloquently about the importance of bringing back anti-scab legislation. The Conservatives like to talk about Bob Rae. They bring it up all the time, but they forget that Bob Rae built more affordable housing than any other government. They forget that Bob Rae brought in anti-scab legislation so that contracts—as the member said, 98% bargained without labour disruption. Contracts can be bargained fairly when labour disruption is minimized.

I wonder if the member from Niagara Falls wants to talk about how important anti-scab legislation is and why it’s long overdue—even though the Liberals had promised for 15 years to bring it back. It’s long overdue that we finally bring it back.

Before I recognize the member, I would like to remind members in the House: When I stand, please refrain from continuing to speak.

Back to the member from Niagara Falls.

Further debate? I recognize the member for Oakville.

Thank you very much, Speaker. I appreciate that.

As I was saying, it’s essential that corporations understand the importance of workplace safety and take the necessary step to protect employees. With this new legislation, we are sending a strong message that we will not tolerate corporations that put their workers’ safety at risk.

Furthermore, we recognize the importance of protecting workers during times of mass terminations, especially in the age of remote work. That’s why we are proposing changes to protect workers during mass terminations and, on the other hand, expand the reasons reservists can take military leave.

We are also proposing amendments to require women’s-only washrooms on construction sites and to expand cancer coverage for firefighters. These changes reflect our government’s commitment to ensuring that all workers are protected at their workplace regardless of their situation or job.

The Working for Workers Act, 2023, builds on the groundbreaking actions we took in the previous legislation, in 2021 and 2022. These previous pieces of legislation have already provided important protections for Ontario workers, and we are proud to continue building on that. We believe that Ontario should be a province where hard work pays off and big dreams can come true, and we will continue to use every tool in our tool box to ensure that that’s the case.

The Working for Workers Act, 2023, represents a significant step forward in protecting Ontario workers. By establishing the highest maximum fines in Canada for those who exploit vulnerable workers, by increasing the maximum fine for corporations convicted of OHSA offences and proposing important changes to protecting workers during mass terminations as well as expanding cancer coverage for firefighters, we are ensuring every worker in Ontario is supported and protected. Our government is committed to building a province where everyone can work safely, thrive and succeed.

It’s an honour to speak on a matter of great importance to the people of Ontario and my riding of Oakville. As many of us know, our province is currently facing an historic labour shortage, with over 300,000 jobs going unfilled across the province, costing us billions of dollars in lost productivity. The issue has become more pressing as our province’s population continues to grow, and we need to train more skilled workers to fill in-demand jobs. However, I’m pleased to inform the House that our government is taking proactive steps to tackle this challenge and help more people enter rewarding careers in the skilled trades.

We are investing $224 million in a new capital stream of the Skills Development Fund to support innovative training projects focused on building and modernizing the infrastructure Ontario needs to train workers to fill in-demand jobs and lead purpose-driven careers. This investment is part of our broader commitment to support the growth and development of the skilled trades in our province. The new SDF capital stream, launching in late spring, 2023, will help eligible training providers, including unions, to renovate, retrofit, repair and expand existing training centres or help them construct new training facilities. This initiative will complement the existing Skills Development Fund that launched in 2021, which has already helped launch 388 projects, assisting almost 400,000 people across the province in taking the next step in their career.

Furthermore, to address the immediate needs of the labour market, our government is investing an additional $75 million over the next three years to support the operations and programming at new and existing centres to prepare workers for in-demand careers such as electricians, welders and mechanics.

As we build Ontario, we are providing more women and men with opportunities to begin or advance their careers in the skilled trades. We are working hand in hand with labour unions, with business groups, colleges and universities to train the skilled workforce that will build the roads, highways, houses, public transit, hospitals, infrastructure and schools that our economy and province needs. It’s all hands on deck, Speaker.

Applications for the new SDF capital stream are expected to open in late spring, providing eligible applicants, including unions, Indigenous centres, businesses and industry associations, with funding to build the new training centres or to upgrade or convert their existing facilities into training centres with state-of-the-art design and technology. This includes facility renovations, retrofits, expansions, repairs and building construction.

I am proud to inform this House that we have received support from private sector unions, employers and training providers on this particular initiative. The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793 and the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario, from my riding of Oakville, commend Minister McNaughton’s commitment to advancing the skilled trades.

Skilled trade workers are at the front line of our economic recovery, with unions and businesses playing a crucial role in training our next generation of workers through apprenticeship programs. Financially supporting training institutes will help attract more people to the skilled trades, better prepare them for good-paying jobs and address market demand.

Ontario’s 2023 budget will be released today, and will detail the government’s responsible and targeted approach to support people and businesses while laying a strong foundation for future generations. Our investment in the skilled trades is just one example of how we are building a strong, resilient and prosperous province.

Speaker, our government is ready to take bold, decisive action in order to do what is best for Ontarians. That’s why the measures we are proposing first and foremost are worker-focused. After speaking with many businesses, unions and workers in my riding, I fully support this bill and want to ensure that it is passed, and I certainly hope the opposition will support us in this legislation.

Our government is proud that Ontario is a destination for many newcomers who have come to Canada in search of greater economic opportunity for themselves and their families. My community of Oakville has hosted thousands of Ukrainian newcomers, providing them with stable living and a new opportunity in their life, many of whom are highly educated, motivated and want to contribute to the success of our great province. We have welcomed them with open arms and support as a government and a country.

Newcomers create businesses in our communities, fill much-needed roles in our society and spark our entrepreneurial spirit, and they actually account now for up to 33% of Ontario’s labour force. In 2016, only one quarter of internationally trained immigrants in regulated professions were working in a job that matched their level of qualification. And most recently, about 300,000 jobs were going unfilled across the province, costing billions in lost output. This is an issue when international professionals, scientists and engineers and workers, come and are invited to our country to share their expertise and contribute to our economy, and it’s unfortunate they’re trapped in jobs that do not utilize their skill and talent.

I have met with constituents that have 20 years experience in the engineering industry, with experience in teaching, in research. These people are internationally skilled and want to make our country a better country—safer, renewably sustainable—and they’ve been cut from that opportunity because of red tape. To create a clear path for them and to fully apply their skills, the Ontario government intends to propose changes that would, if passed, help remove barriers for those newcomers to get licensed and find jobs that match their qualifications and skills. That will be good for the workers, for the newcomers, for industry and for our province as a whole. Removing these barriers will help more newcomers find jobs and boost our economy so they can support their families.

Reducing immigrant unemployment and helping them find good jobs could actually increase Ontario’s GDP by $12 billion to $20 billion in each of the next five years. That will help us have the money to be able to fund the infrastructure that we so sorely need in this province, whether it’s hospitals, highways, public transit. Our changes, if passed, would build on the work the province is already doing to help skilled, internationally trained immigrants find work in their field of expertise.

The Ontario government is investing $68 million to help internationally trained immigrants access programs designed to bridge their experience with the needs of employers in their community. This would impact 23 trades and 14 professions such as lawyers, engineers, architects, plumbers, electricians, accountants, hair stylists, teachers and early childhood educators: an extremely diverse group of individuals.

I want to emphasize that the investment in the skilled trades is absolutely critical to the well-being of our province. It will create more opportunities for Ontarians to receive training and find rewarding careers while also supporting the growth of our economy. There is no doubt with the largest investment in Ontario’s history in infrastructure, including the largest public transit investment in the history of Ontario, building new roads and highways across the province so businesses can get goods to their markets quicker, so families can see their family members after a day of work quicker, spend less time driving their kids to soccer practice or hockey practice—these are all essential to make the lives of Ontarians better, to give quality time back to families, to give quality time back to businesses, making our province more efficient and allowing better-quality family time.

But with that, we need skilled workers. It’s a problem we have in this province. It’s a good problem, but it’s a problem. We need the opposition’s support to be part of team Ontario, to say, “Yes, we’re going to bring people into this province. We’re going to match their qualifications with the skills and qualifications that they have learned from other countries. We’re going to work with our partners in the private sector, with labour unions, with training providers to address this once-in-a-generation labour shortage and build a brighter future for all Ontarians.”

I am very confident that our government is improving the conditions, setting the right environment to lead this country back in economic growth, and at the same time, protecting workers and attracting new people to the province of Ontario to have a better life.

I apologize to the member for Oakville. However, pursuant to standing order 50(c), I am now required to interrupt the proceedings and announce that there have been six and a half hours of debate on the motion for second reading of this bill. This debate will therefore be deemed adjourned unless the government House leader directs the debate to continue.

I recognize the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Please continue the debate, Speaker.

I, too, would love to be able to talk about presumptive legislation for firefighters, but it’s not in the bill. I, too, would love to talk about women needing to be supported with things as small as having a washroom on their work site when they work in a construction site, but it’s not in the bill.

But I also want the government to really think about homemakers. They are not in this bill. They are not covered by the labour laws. This is such a small step. Homemakers are hired by all sorts of for-profit home care agencies who know full well that they are not covered by the labour laws, so they abuse these women day in and day out. Bring them under the labour laws. We have a labour bill right here, right now. How hard would it be to say that homemakers will be covered by the labour laws?

Speaker, I’m relatively new to this House and I will admit that I’m oftentimes perplexed by some of the presentations made in the House. A little while ago, we heard the member from Niagara Falls speaking about the things that are not in this bill. And in that, I always thought that as we presented speeches here, we were supposed to speak to the items that are in the bill. So I really appreciate the member from Oakville for speaking to the items that are in the bill.

But I would like to ask the member from Oakville, if I could, what else has this government done to provide services and support to the workers here in Ontario?

I appreciate the presentation from the member from Oakville. There’s a lot that speaks to me in this bill, having worked in various construction industrial sites. And the one that will come back to haunt me, thanks to Google, is the matter of construction—personal protective equipment. There’s only a limited number of sizes for vests, for hard hats, for work boots, and sometimes it just doesn’t seem right. You’re not getting the best-fitting equipment. I’m wondering if you could elaborate a bit on the proposed PPE changes that are present that help keep women and men with diverse body types, certainly like mine, safe on work sites.

Thank you to the member opposite. I should point out that with the difficult situation we’ve been through with COVID, which was obviously a worldwide pandemic, Ontario actually led the way in Canada and was the first to legislate COVID-19 paid sick days. That’s a fact. I don’t think that’s debatable. We were the first province here to do that. Our COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act—which, I will add, passed unanimously—gave workers flexible paid sick days, no sick notes needed. And we were also the first to introduce unlimited job-protected leave so that nobody had to choose between a job and their health.

But having said that, our government is committed to workers. We’re committed to a strong economy. We have one of the fastest-growing economies in North America. We are a government that’s committed to workers, and the best thing we can do for a worker is give them a job. We are short labour in the province right now because we’ve helped create that environment that’s attracting investments back into the province of Ontario. After 10, 15 years of a very dark time when manufacturing literally fled, it is coming back to the province. I can tell you, in my own riding, we have Ford of Canada that’s going to be staying here for decades to come. They were on the verge of leaving and going to Mexico. And we, of course, had the big announcement last week with Volkswagen near London, Ontario. These are huge investments in the province and a commitment that people are showing in our province—