Thank you to the member for that passionate story you told for this House.

I came as a political refugee, and I never thought that one day I was going to be in this House.

Thank you for sharing your stories.

I left a war-torn country—same as you and your native land. You left your war-torn country in East Africa. I know you brought a different perspective as a woman, diverse—and you’re going to put in so much value and so many ideas to this House.

I would ask the member, what made you choose to come to this position? What voice do you want to bring to this House? I’d like to hear that from you.

Further questions?

I hope it means that they’ll consider running one day.

These spaces were not built for a lot of us. They were built for a very small number of people who understand how these colonial processes work. Every day I come in here, I’m still very confused about why you all are clapping or banging your desks. I’m figuring it out.

What it means is that this process becomes more accessible and that everyday people can decide that they will choose to run one day.

When I talk about policing, it’s because I know people who have died.

When I talk about Palestinian human rights, it’s because, literally, I know Palestinians who have been affected.

The media and people in this House have taken my stances and vilified the person instead of talking about actual issues, so I found that really, really difficult to navigate, because it erased my humanity and the humanity of the very people I was talking about during the entire course of the campaign.

I rise to highlight just what kind of work our government has done. It is this government that is building to ensure this province is a leader, not only in Canada, but across the world.

Our government introduced the Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, 2023, which, if passed, would help businesses grow, pave the way for better services, and save people valuable time. As many of my colleagues have already stated, our government’s plan is taking significant actions to drive growth by building Ontario’s economy. Our government made a commitment to get it done when it comes to cutting red tape across the province, and we are doing just that.

In 2018, when we formed government, we knew that we needed to remove the unnecessary and outdated regulations holding this province back, and we did.

Since 2018, this government has reduced the number of regulatory compliance requirements affecting businesses by 6.5%, a pretty astonishing figure, Speaker, if you truly think about it.

This government increased jobs and investment in Ontario by making it less expensive, faster and easier to do business—and to set one of the best regulatory service standards in North America.

To date, our government has thoughtfully taken more than 450 actions to reduce red tape without compromising public health, safety or the environment—a proud accomplishment.

The Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act will, if passed, pave the way for better services, help Ontario businesses grow and save everyone time.

We have made historic progress so far by saving businesses nearly $700 million per year in net annual regulatory compliance costs. This is an increase of $120 million in savings since the 2022 Burden Reduction Report. Speaker, $120 million is a significant amount of savings for our business community, especially at a time of global uncertainty. Every small business owner I’ve spoken with during my time in business, and now as a member of provincial Parliament, wants to see all levels of government work efficiently with and respect tax dollars. This $120 million more in savings will allow businesses to reduce debt at a time of high interest rates, invest into equipment, staffing, and their communities.

Putting money back into Ontario businesses keeps our economy competitive amongst other provinces and nations around the world.

Speaker, this work is so important because under the leadership of the former Liberal government, Ontario was the most heavily regulated province in the country—nothing to be proud of.

Reducing red tape is an important part of building a stronger economy and improving services for all the people of Ontario.

The 2023 red tape reduction package adds to our track record of improving access to government services and making it easier to invest and build in Ontario. Ontario’s spring red tape reduction package includes 42 new initiatives that, when fully implemented, are estimated to save businesses, not-for-profits and the broader public sector $119 million in net annual regulatory compliance costs.

Key items from the package include—the first one, and this one excites me the most, coming from a rural riding—amending the Building Broadband Faster Act to help speed up the delivery of high-speed Internet access to every community by the end of 2025. I know many in my riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry will be excited to hear of the expedited time frame.

Other key items include strengthening occupational health and safety in the mining sector by changing regulations to reflect modern technology and better protect workers; enabling the next phases of carbon storage innovation by piloting technology that has the potential to store 30 years’ worth of carbon emissions; implementing The Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support, reducing frustration for families involved in the province’s child and spousal support order system by enabling enforcement of support orders in more than 55 countries; and improving the safety of Ontario roads by updating the Highway Traffic Act to prohibit drivers from overtaking a working snowplow unless there’s a full lane available.

Speaker, I’d like to echo what my colleague the Minister of Red Tape Reduction said: “Reducing red tape is not just about counting the number of regulations and trying to reduce them; it’s about the impact those changes are having on real people and businesses across our ... province.”

I can say with confidence that the bill we are debating today proposes substantial changes that will have those real impacts for people—changes like accelerating the time frame for municipal approvals for broadband projects, supporting our goal of bringing high-speed Internet to every community in Ontario by 2025—again, coming from rural Ontario, after the pandemic, this is extremely important to the residents of my riding; helping the business community embrace new technologies so they can improve safety standards for their workers or reduce their carbon emissions; saving people time and frustration when they access government programs by offering more services online so people don’t have to wait in line—even myself, who likes the human interaction, enjoys the online side of things. To be brutally honest with this House, my wife does all my online stuff. I am not comfortable with the Internet; I don’t trust it, but a lot of people do, and the Internet is a great form to be able to be effective and efficient.

The work done is the product of continuous collaboration across all of government with our ministry partners, as well as extensive consultation with a range of stakeholders and people across the province to develop an inventory of red tape reduction ideas.

The legislation we are debating today, the Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, is our 10th and our largest burden reduction bill. It sets out measures to build a stronger economy, improve services, and save Ontarians their most valuable resource: time. It’s an important part of our larger spring 2023 red tape reduction package, which contains additional regulatory amendments and policy changes that contribute to a common goal of reducing red tape. This bill, if passed, would streamline processes and modernize outdated practices across multiple areas of government in multiple sectors of Ontario’s economy.

It is not wrong to say that we find ourselves in uncertain economic times. We all see it in the daily headlines when we watch the news or look at inflation coupled with rising interest rates. While Ontario has remained resilient, we cannot take anything for granted.

That’s why it’s so important that we continue our efforts to streamline Ontario’s regulatory climate to make it easier to invest and to do business in our province. How we work together to address regulatory burden will affect us now and for future generations to come.

Having young children of my own, I want to ensure that we are using taxpayer dollars wisely and making sure that there are no burdens on small businesses and businesses across the province. My children will need a healthy economy to be able to thrive when they grow up. My oldest is 10 years of age, and I know she’s very passionate about art and about the restaurant that I own. She has decorated cakes on many, many weekends; it’s to help build her confidence; whereas my son, who is a little too confident, comes to the restaurant and does a bit more cleaning work: sweeping, doing the bathrooms, doing the tables and stuff like that. I’m trying to build them up similarly, to make sure that they’re both ready for the future, which is fraught with a lot of unknowns.

To ensure that my children are ready for the future that’s in front of them and to ensure that our economy is ready for the next generation is extremely important.

And this red tape reduction bill will make Ontario one of the most effective economies in not only Canada but across the world.

With the competition that’s out there—we saw this with Volkswagen, with the super mega sites that we brought to Ontario; a lot of states in the US were jealous and wondering what we did differently than them. Removing barriers for business is important so that we can ensure that businesses thrive.

Without a healthy economy, we can’t have healthy people. Ultimately, we need to have those good-paying jobs that are going to ensure that people can go home at night and have a comfortable place to live—but also a job that’s going to be able to keep up with inflation and ensure that they’re able to look after their family and their children.

I bring up my children quite often in the House because most of what I do is for the future. I want to ensure that what we do in this House, when my children look back in 20 years—because they’re not paying attention right now—that they’re not embarrassed by what I’ve done or bills I’ve stood for. At this point, I’m very proud of our government’s record.

Again, coming from the restaurant industry, there’s a lot of paperwork, and to bring some of that paperwork digitally—even though I am hesitant to do anything online, I will still see the burden reduction at the business side of things. Nowadays, as I’m trying to juggle my family life, my role as a member of provincial Parliament and as a business owner, some efficiencies in how I do things at the restaurant is a good thing. Some of my five managers have been getting me on online payments and certain things like that, so I don’t have to necessarily run back to the store and write a cheque, but I’m still stubborn, and I still push back any time my managers are trying to change things too quickly for me.

As much as I am a millennial, technology and me don’t get along, but ultimately, I do know we need to do things more efficiently when it comes to doing business. Representing small businesses in this House—I’m extremely proud of that fact. When I go out into my community and other communities, I hear from the small businesses. I hear their pressures. I understand their frustrations with staffing, with the supply chain and with time. Time, as a business owner, is a challenge. You always feel like you should be at home when you’re at work and like you should be at work when you’re at home.

Prior to becoming a member of provincial Parliament, I used to work seven days a week at the restaurant, especially during the pandemic, knowing that we had supply chain challenges and staffing challenges. I’m going to step up, and I want to lead by example with my staff, so their seeing me in the restaurant every day and trying to work just as hard as them—I believe it’s leading by example.

Most of my staff know that I started at my restaurant as a clean-up kid. I am an introvert—I always debate it with my colleague to the right of me. I truly am an introvert, and as I started at the restaurant, I was too shy to be able to interact with customers and make eye contact. The only reason I actually was successful in that first job was that the old owner was my neighbour, and one of my brothers worked there and was a manager at the time. So they took a chance on me at 14. Again, I cleaned toilets. I think it was a great way to start, because everyone in the restaurant knows that I’m not above doing anything.

Even in my previous months working, before I got elected to this chamber, I would change garbages more than anything. I would do the dishes and clean the parking lot, because (1) it allowed me some personal time to understand what priorities I needed to work on; and (2) I always want to lead by example. It was one of my business partners who forced me not to cut the lawn at the restaurant.

This red tape reduction bill will truly make it more efficient for business owners who are pressed for time, right now and into the future, to be able to do things more efficiently and ensure that they don’t waste time on needless paperwork, because paperwork does pile up.

Previous Minister Fullerton—it’s “people over paperwork” that she mentioned at the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. I believe that this bill does stand on that statement as well, because ultimately, it’s going to be a few years before we have a more stable labour market, and the red tape we are reducing will allow businesses to feel less pressure during a time of high pressure, during a time of global uncertainty with the war in Ukraine, with the storms that have just come through.

I’m from eastern Ontario, and we had a severe ice storm yesterday. It did not hit Toronto, but it was almost to the stage of ice storm 1998, which was pretty significant when I was young. We were weeks without power. Our energy minister has been upgrading our infrastructure on the energy side, and we don’t have as many power outages. In 1998, there were months that people in my riding did not have power. I believe, in 1998, the army came to Toronto to help out as well. There are many without power, but the worst of it is a lot of trees that are down. The power system seems to have handled it fairly well, and that is something I’m proud of—that our government has invested in the resources. Speaking to my wife yesterday afternoon—she was very concerned that we were going to be without power. I live in the country. She didn’t fill up the bathtub before going to school yesterday with water, so she was very anxious that we may not have water, being on a well. With saying that, again, there were many tornadoes that went through the US yesterday. That storm was very significant.

So to ensure that we are reducing red tape and barriers, whether it’s for public services, for business, for the mining sector—I think it’s extremely important, because we are in such a competitive environment that, ultimately, we need any advantage we can have over other jurisdictions, in Canada and across the world.

We know that Ontario is a place to live and it’s a place that many people are choosing to call home. That’s something that I’m very, very proud of—that ultimately we are a place of choice for many immigrants to come. When they come to Canada, the majority of them will settle in Ontario. Ontario is one of the best jurisdictions—I’m very biased; obviously, I’ve lived my whole life here.

Something that we need to ensure is that we’re not burdening the small businesses and business in general with onerous red tape. Ultimately, red tape can cause everything to inflate. Ultimately, if there’s more red tape and I need to shuffle through that red tape—businesses are in it to make a profit, and if red tape is slowing down the business owners or the staff of the businesses, it’s going to make it that we need to recover those costs. If we can make business much more efficient for all the businesses across Ontario, we’re all going to win with that—and that includes my children and, to be honest, my future grandchildren, to think further ahead. When the economy wins, we all do win.

Ultimately, that’s what this bill is trying to do—is to make it that we can do things more efficiently here and that we don’t have barriers and we don’t have overlap in certain regulations. I’m pretty proud of Minister Gill’s ministry for bringing this forward. I’m also impressed with the amount of savings to small businesses. Ultimately, small businesses and businesses in general invest into their communities. With $120 million of extra savings with this bill, businesses will be able to donate more to their communities. Ultimately, communities thrive when the businesses thrive.

I mentioned it earlier, but with rising interest rates, a lot of businesses took on extra debt during the pandemic—so to be able to remove some of these tax burdens with the red tape that we’ve done and to save that extra $120 million will allow those businesses to possibly pay down more debt, so, ultimately, they can push forward on the best financial standpoints so that they can employ more Ontarians.

To me, it’ all about ensuring that people have jobs and that they have a steady income.

The reducing red tape act will help businesses to hire more people to be more productive with their time and, ultimately, to grow our GDP here in Ontario.

I’m very proud to stand behind this bill.

I look forward to some questions.

Last Friday, I was proud to join the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care and my colleagues from Mississauga at the Village of Erin Meadows in Mississauga to announce an investment of almost $500,000 in three long-term-care homes in Mississauga–Lakeshore, through the Local Priorities Fund, to help seniors with complex medical needs, like dementia and bariatric care, connect to specialized care and support in their long-term-care homes instead of in the hospital. Partners Community Health will receive $250,000 for wraparound support for residents at Camilla Care until they’re able to relocate later this year into two new, state-of-the-art homes on Speakman Drive—which were just named Wellbrook Place last week. They will open later this year for 632 new residents. Erin Mills Lodge will receive $122,000, and Sheridan Villa will receive $110,000 for a variety of medical equipment.

These three major projects in Mississauga are part of a $20-million investment in long-term-care homes right across Ontario. Providing these services in long-term-care homes will give seniors more convenient access to the services they need and also help to reduce the pressure on our hospitals so that all Ontarians have better access to care.

I want to thank my friend the Minister of Long-Term Care for his outstanding leadership and all the work he is doing to fix long-term care, after 15 years of neglect from the Liberal government, so our seniors can get the quality of care they deserve.

Unfortunately, we are out of time.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Today is the 100th anniversary of Canada’s naval reserve, and we are honoured to have senior representatives from the seven Ontario naval reserve divisions in the gallery with us today. They will be attending question period, going on a tour, attending an NDP reception, and then meeting with other MPPs.

On the 31st of January, 1923, the government of Canada authorized the organization of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. It was seen as a great way for our young navy to build support across the nation by establishing naval reserve divisions in major Canadian cities, to bring the navy to Canadians living far from the coastlines.

From World War II to peacekeeping missions in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia and the Sinai peninsula, the naval reserve has played a critical role in Canada’s safety and security as a vital element of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Armed Forces.

Today, as it celebrates the 100th anniversary, the naval reserve has 4,100 sailors across 24 naval reserve divisions, from Victoria, BC, to Saint John, New Brunswick. They have been pillars in their communities, whether they’re training for service at sea or coming to the aid of their neighbours in need.

Can we all join in and give a round of applause for the 100th anniversary of Canada’s naval reserve?

Applause.

I rise today to say it’s an honour to represent the people of Ajax.

In my riding of Ajax, the Ajax Homelessness Task Force, which is comprised of non-profits, service agencies and places of worship is working to address immediate needs as well as identify long-term solutions to address homelessness in Ajax.

I have connected and worked with partners in the community who are supporting the ongoing needs of the unhoused community in Ajax.

I would like to thank Ivan Dawns and the IUPAT team for doing turkey dinners at the Back Door Mission.

I’d also like to thank providers like Storehouse Community Food Bank by Southside Worship Centre, as well as the Salvation Army, who both provide hot meals and mobile food programs.

Thanks to all those who help the unhoused community.

Homelessness is a serious and complex issue, and our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is committing to continuing to work with municipalities and local service providers to provide solutions for the unhoused. Our government—and I’m glad to support this—is providing an additional $202 million to help homelessness.

I look forward to the supportive housing initiatives that are upcoming in my community.

We need to invest in our schools. In fact, the lack of support for Ontario school boards, including the Toronto District School Board, in the 2023 education budget is deeply concerning. Our government’s failure to provide reimbursements for pandemic-related expenses not only affects the financial stability of the board, but it also has a direct impact on the education workers who provide vital support to our students.

With the potential cuts to nearly 500 positions, we risk losing the expertise and support of educational assistants, child youth counsellors and administrative staff, who are critical to the success of our students.

Many of my constituents have shared their worries about the already underfunded education system and how further cuts would only make things worse.

A parent in my riding, Bethany Lynn-Rice, shared that her son, who has an IEP and is diagnosed with ASD, hasn’t received adequate support due to staff shortages, leading to an unsettling year. Bethany also shared about her daughter, who has been facing bullying, especially at recess, because there aren’t enough supervising staff to supervise during recess. Bethany and so many other parents are worried that cutting more staff positions will only make things worse for her children and for many children across this province.

We have seen far too many school safety issues over the past year as students transition back into in-person learning.

With these funding cuts, we also risk losing important mental health support staff, who are critical to the well-being of our future generation—

Last Friday, it was my pleasure to meet with the Saugeen Valley Children’s Safety Village near Hanover, in my great riding of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound. The safety village hosted a community engagement workshop as its recognition event for receiving a Trillium Foundation Resilient Communities Fund grant. The workshop included many organizations and members of our community focused on health, safety and children. Big Brothers Big Sisters, the food bank, public health, St. John Ambulance, Lions Club, Launch Pad, Keystone, and Women’s House were all there to support the safety village. It was a fabulous show of support and a great demonstration of the community spirit in our Grey Bruce community.

The Saugeen Valley Children’s Safety Village is an interactive educational facility dedicated to aiding in the elimination of preventable childhood injuries and death. Children participate in hands-on safety programs.

Have you prepared your children for a fire emergency? The safety village children practise dropping and moving along the ground, they hear and see a firefighter, they crawl across the floor, and they get out safely. It is a great learning experience.

Thank you to Marilyn Rosner, the volunteer board and the whole team at the safety village for your amazing work and your great contributions to our Grey Bruce community.

I rise today to extend, on behalf of all the residents of Scarborough Centre, our best wishes to everyone observing the sacred month of Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak. During this occasion. I would like to recognize the work of our many mosques in Scarborough Centre that teach our children the values of peace, respect, equity and tolerance—not to mention helping the poor and needy, through their charity work.

I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight the incredible contributions and sacrifices of our growing and vibrant Muslim community that is positively contributing to many areas of our community, whether it is in education, construction, medicine, business or politics. For example, Mr. Mohammed El-Karouni, who is sitting in the gallery here today, is a successful businessman whom I had the chance to meet two weeks ago at the grand opening of the second location of his Al’Deewan Bakery, a bakery that specializes in manakeesh, Lebanese mini pies, flatbreads, and other baked goods. Mr. El-Karouni—

Thank you very much. The next members’ statement.

I’d like to introduce to you Brendon Samuels, an amazing advocate involved with FLAP. If you’re not familiar with FLAP, it’s the Fatal Light Awareness Program, and it’s helping to save our beautiful birds from untimely and early deaths. He’s actually here today at Queen’s Park because he is monitoring and checking in and caring for the red-tailed hawks that are nesting on our roof. So when you’re out and about taking a walk, look up and enjoy the birds, and let’s work together for their safety.

I rise to share wonderful news, from last Friday, in my riding of Durham. Together with my colleague the member for Scarborough Centre and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, we confirmed the wonderful news that Bowmanville High School has received $77,200 in grant funding from the ministry’s Skills Development Fund for the purchase of high-tech machinery to better prepare our students for careers in the tooling and machine industries.

Mr. Speaker, with hundreds of students graduating each year from Durham College’s various industrial programs, this investment is an excellent example of our government’s commitment to invest in the skilled trades and encourage the youth of Ontario to pursue rewarding careers in the skilled trades.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford and the Minister of Labour, along with the valued partnerships of the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association and the Ontario Council for Technology Education, our government is fulfilling its commitment to our youth to invest in new technology and invest in the skilled trades at the college and secondary levels.

I’d like to recognize all who joined my colleague and I, including the chair of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, Steve Russell, his colleagues, and Mayor Adrian Foster, all of whom pledged to support our government’s investments in a key industry that will create well-paying, long-lasting jobs for our youth and contribute to Ontario’s prosperity in the future.

This Sunday, April 9, we’ll observe Vimy Ridge Day. This is a day when we’ll remember thousands of Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the battle of Vimy Ridge.

On April 9, 1917, on a cold Easter Monday in northern France, Canadian soldiers braved rain, mud and machine gun bullets to capture Vimy Ridge. This battle marked a turning point in our history as four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together for the first time. It brought together young men in their late teens and early twenties, united to fight for freedom.

While Canada emerged victorious at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, it came at a tremendous cost. Nearly 3,600 Canadians died, and more than 7,000 were wounded, making it one of the bloodiest battles in Canadian history.

In 2010, Bill 19, An Act to proclaim Vimy Ridge Day, was passed. Members from all parties in the Legislature unanimously came together in support of this legislation.

Ensuring that we never forget the sacrifices made by these brave soldiers, this Sunday flags at the Ontario Legislature will be lowered to half-mast in their honour.

Among the World War I veterans who were there in Europe was my grandfather Robert Irwin Crawford.

Let’s take this time to remember the brave soldiers who fought to defend our freedom, our rights and our democracy. May they rest in peace. Lest we forget.

I have the privilege of welcoming to the Legislature today some wonderful constituents from the riding of Niagara West. We have with us today Joshua and Yvonne Bulk, along with their children, Ella, Otto, Charlotte and Theodore.

Welcome to the Legislature today. It’s good to have you here.

Of course, we have been fighting right since the beginning, since 2018, to restore Ontario’s fiscal situation, and we’ve been doing an extraordinary job at that. In fact, not only have we restored fiscal sanity in the province of Ontario, we’ve done it while at the same time cutting taxes for the people of the province of Ontario, reducing costs to our small, medium and large job creators to the tune of over $8 billion, which has seen our income rise by over $50 billion—$50 billion. We’ve done it while stabilizing electricity rates. We’ve done it while investing a record amount in infrastructure—nationwide, a leading amount in infrastructure—while building 58,000 new and upgraded long-term-care beds, while building new schools. We’re seeing thousands of jobs come back to the province, billions of dollars in economic activity. And we’re doing it because we have had a plan since 2018. That plan is working, and today Ontario again led the nation in job creation, something—

Speaker, it’s my honour to introduce two London members here today: HMCS Prevost Commander Chief Petty Officer Second Class A. Rooney, coxswain, and HMCS Prevost Lieutenant Commander Paul Hong, commanding officer.

Welcome to the Legislature, and thank you for your service.

I, too, want to welcome the Royal Canadian Navy reservists, on behalf of Premier Ford and the government of Ontario. Thank you for your service not only to Ontario, to Canada. Thank you for all your support and assistance as we brought forward military reservist leave to support all of our men and women in uniform.