SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
November 30, 2022 09:00AM
  • Nov/30/22 9:30:00 a.m.

Park cars.

In this bill, they’re talking about WSIB selling their office in Toronto and moving it to London. And yet, nothing in the bill talks about that money going to injured workers.

My good friend just talked about injured workers. Speaker, 50% of injured workers today are living in poverty. The main reason they’re living in poverty—he’s right on the money, because it has been brought to this House—is deeming.

You had the opportunity, with a majority government, to pass Bill 119, and you chose not to.

Injured workers go to work every day and get hurt, through no fault of their own. They are deemed, and they are forced to live in poverty. Do you know what happens to them? They lose their family. They lose their kids. They lose everything.

Why isn’t that in the bill? Why aren’t you helping injured workers in the province of Ontario?

If we remember the last time, under this government—

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  • Nov/30/22 9:40:00 a.m.

No fault of their own. Yet we are turning a blind eye to this. But we didn’t turn a blind eye to taking billions away from the WSIB and sending it to employers.

If you want to send money to employers, fix the problem with deeming and fix the problem with injured workers. If there’s money left, yes, return it to employers, but until then, injured workers come first—because this is what the WSIB was made for: to compensate injured workers so that their families can thrive and they can thrive. Take away the mental stress—

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  • Nov/30/22 10:40:00 a.m.

Mr. Speaker, we’re continuing to work for workers every single day in Ontario.

That’s why we partnered with private sector unions, employers and tradespeople to bring in the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, to get tens of thousands of people into well-paying jobs in the province.

That’s why we brought in historic legislation in Working for Workers 1 and Working for Workers 2 to ensure that workers have the right to disconnect, and that, for the first time in Canadian history, we’re recognizing international credentials, so when newcomers come to this province they can work in professions that they’ve studied.

We became the first in Canada to give truck drivers access to washroom facilities across this province.

And we are the first in North America to move forward with expanding portable benefits so millions of workers who don’t have health and dental benefits today are going to get those benefits under Premier Ford.

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