I rise today in support of the bill being debated, the Building Better Business Outcomes Act, as a reasonable step in the right direction. By amending the Securities Act to require publicly traded companies to have a written and publicly available policy on the diversity of their boards of directors, we can promote the inclusion of more women, more people of colour, more people with disabilities, and more members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community on corporate boards.

Everyone in Ontario deserves to feel safe, to feel welcome and to feel at home in this great province. No one should have to face discrimination or fear because of the colour of their skin, their gender, their sexual orientation or their abilities, and that includes at work.

The question becomes “What is diversity?” When we think about diversity, we typically think about race and gender, but it should be more broad, more inclusive. When we look at diverse employees, they don’t automatically create an inclusive workplace. They can start that process, but the workplace also has to have policies and frameworks that recognize the importance of both diversity and inclusion; there have to be teams with anti-discrimination policies.

Further to this, people don’t know what they don’t know. Until we have people of differing backgrounds, differing perspectives—can we begin to understand once we listen.

It’s disappointing to hear that the government is not in favour of supporting this. Representation is truly what matters. Diversity doesn’t happen by accident or by happenstance. It’s about making room at the table. It’s about providing that space. It’s about making space, not taking space. When people see themselves reflected, that is when you build trust, that’s when you build accountability, that’s when you build authenticity, and it provides an inspiration to young people. It broadens our minds.

To share some statistics—the Ontario Securities Commission reports that total board seats and executive positions occupied by women was less than 20%, yet only about the same percentage of companies had adopted targets regarding the representation of women on their boards. They hadn’t provided that room. Even worse, a study highlighted in the report found that only 5% of all directors were visible minorities. That’s not a reflection of the Ontario that we live in. Indigenous directors and directors with disabilities made up 0.05% and 0.04% of boards, respectively. Together, they didn’t even form half of a per cent. That’s problematic.

This bill echoes the recommendations from the government’s Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce. Investors are increasingly demanding data on diversity on boards and in executive officer positions to make informed investment and voting decisions, and this legislation addresses that demand. The task force recommended that publicly listed issuers set a target of 50% for women and 30% for BIPOC, persons with disabilities, and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It also recommended that these targets should be completed—within five years to meet the target for women and seven years to meet the other targets for BIPOC, persons with disabilities and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. This report was issued in 2020, but the government has not taken any steps toward these goals.

The gender wage gap still exists to this day. We consider ourselves modern, we consider ourselves evolved, and yet why is it that for the same work, women are paid less? Why is it that women are still encountering the glass ceiling? Why are they not able to hold those positions of power? Women in this province earn far less for every dollar made—and that gap is even wider for intersexual identities, women who are racialized, Indigenous women, women who are newcomers, women with disabilities, trans women, and non-binary folks. We have tens of thousands of women in this province who are underpaid and undervalued for their work every day, and they earn less than they deserve. Quite frankly, it’s outrageous.

Over the course of the pandemic, it was women who were doing double duty, working and parenting without child care or school, or who were forced to give up their jobs entirely to stay home with children. This could have been resolved with more workplace flexibility.

When it comes to hourly wage rates, the gender pay gap is about 11%. The wage gap has always been greater for racialized and Indigenous women, and it could be resolved by more representative leadership.

The Equal Pay Coalition did a poll that showed that 85% of Ontarians said it’s important for the Ontario government to do more to promote women’s economic equality. But this government stalled the implementation of legislation that aimed to increase pay transparency in Ontario. This government instead makes cuts that disproportionately impact women—cancelling an increase to the minimum wage, slashing paid sick days, and refusing for years to make investments in affordable child care, long-term care, education and health care.

The London and Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership has also studied the impacts of discrimination on immigrants, visible minorities and Indigenous peoples. The outcomes of this study called for strategies to promote an environment that encourages victims of discrimination to report their experiences and engage in effective initiatives to prevent and reduce discrimination. The report states: “These anti-discrimination initiatives would help make London-Middlesex a more just and equitable community, and would protect its residents from the harmful negative outcomes that experiencing discrimination can produce ... would help make London-Middlesex a more welcoming community that could attract, integrate, and retain diverse individuals, an integral part of Canada’s strategy to sustain the economy.”

Of course, in my community of London, we know first-hand the horror of unchecked discrimination and what can happen as a result. On June 6, 2021, three generations of the Afzaal family were killed in an Islamophobic terror attack while out on a walk, leaving the youngest member of the family as the sole survivor.

In the last Legislature, the NDP tabled a day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia. That bill was ordered to the standing committee after second reading, and it never left.

Further, I was proud to table a bill to declare May 10 as a day of remembrance and action against anti-Asian racism. Unfortunately, that bill never passed.

We need more bills like Bill 50, to make sure that we are taking an active role to promote diversity within our province.

For Black, Indigenous and racialized people in Ontario, discrimination and racism are far too often a daily reality in a maze of deeply ingrained systemic barriers. It starts at the top. As a step to fight economic discrimination, publicly traded companies need to better reflect their workers, customers and their communities. When people see themselves reflected, it makes a difference.

To really and truly address the economic inequality experienced by women, people of colour, people with disabilities and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, we must also be looking at fresh solutions such as updating and enforcing the Pay Equity Act and moving forward with the Pay Transparency Act so we have mechanisms in place to track and hold companies accountable for the gender pay gap.

We could also make investments and do the work to dismantle structural racism in every sector in Ontario. Shortly after this government was formed in 2018, there were many concerns about the dismantling of the Anti-Racism Directorate and the $1,000 that was afforded to something that was supposedly formed to tackle racism across the province.

There’s also rock-solid evidence that more diverse boards have better bottom lines. It is a win-win.

Ontario has the opportunity to become a leader in this. Ontario has an opportunity to be the first to do this. The world of work is changing, and Ontarians must be set up to succeed now and in the future.

I hope that this government will reconsider. I hope they’ll listen to the debates that have been presented by the member from Don Valley West as well as the official opposition. This is a way for us to move forward. I hope that the government is listening.

I’m honoured to rise and speak in favour of Bill 50. I want to thank the member from Don Valley West for bringing it forward, because diverse voices, perspectives, ideas and experiences in corporate governance matter. Studies show that companies with directors and executives with diverse backgrounds perform better in business, and it’s in the public interest to have diverse directors and executives of publicly traded companies.

But despite the positive social, economic and business benefits of diverse directors and executives, the government’s own Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce itself has noted that diversity has been painfully slow on boards.

According to the Ontario Securities Commission, women on boards only increased from 11% in 2015 to 17% in 2019, and 24% last year. In a recent study that the task force cited, only 5.5% of boards represent visible minorities. People with disabilities make up less than 1%, 0.5%, of board diversity.

Speaker, we know we can do better in Ontario. We know that our businesses can perform better, and that’s exactly why I will be voting in favour of Bill 50.

I’m happy to hear the member from Oakville say that diversity is an important part of being a leader in corporate governance. I thank my colleagues on this side of the House for their genuine support.

I’m disappointed to hear that the government considers this to be red tape. This month is Black History Month. International Women’s Day is next month. Reconciliation with Indigenous people must be at the forefront of what we do as leaders in government. What better time for all members of this House to come together and show our commitment to building a diverse Ontario?

Our laws reflect our values, and so I had hoped that this government was ready to incorporate diversity into the Securities Act. Bill 50 will advance our economy and the conversation around inclusivity within corporate boards. I know that this is something members from all parties agree on.

The member from Oakville says that there’s merit in this proposal, that the idea of diversity is something that should be considered, but they need more time, that we need to consult more about this requirement. But Speaker, there has already been, as the member opposite said, lots of consultation. The task force received 123 submissions, including from all five Canadian banks, Canadian and international investment firms, pension funds and corporations. The task force consulted the OSC and the Canadian Securities Administrators.

The government-appointed task force reached its conclusions after considering these submissions, including on board diversity. Delaying this further is unnecessary. It doesn’t make Ontario an outlier. Ontario is the engine of the Canadian economy, and all the nation’s most significant corporations are traded here. When Ontario moves, Canada listens. This legislation won’t make us an outlier; it would make every other province an outlier.

Speaker, I hope this government will quickly advance the work on diversity on boards to make Ontario a leader in corporate governance, because that’s what Ontarians deserve and that’s what our communities across this great province deserve as well.