My question is to the Premier.

According to the Ontario Equal Pay Coalition, Equal Pay Day today symbolizes how far into the next year most women must work in order to have earned what most men had earned in the previous year. In other words, women are disproportionately working for free and are not being paid equal pay for equal work. It’s even worse for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, and women with disabilities, as well as immigrant women.

This Conservative government widened the gender wage gap with their Bill 124 attack against women and other public sector workers.

Will the Premier help close the gender wage gap by repealing Bill 124, stopping its appeal—and while you’re at it, activate pay transparency today?

Courts ruled Conservative government anti-worker Bill 124 illegal and unconstitutional, yet this Premier still appealed, wasting taxpayers’ money—working women’s money, health care heroes’ money—during an affordability crisis, to bankroll his political power trip. Workers didn’t go silently into the night. Women clapped back and stood up against legislated bullying. This weekend, women won. Nurses won a re-opener on Bill 124, which awarded hospital nurses, predominantly women, back pay to recover some of what they’ve lost. This is a step forward towards closing the gender wage gap.

My question is back to the Premier: Will the Premier listen to the courts this time and commit to paying hospital nurses back pay owed? Yes or no?

That’s a great question coming out of Markham–Unionville this morning, from the great member who works tirelessly for his constituents. Thank you.

Speaker, I am happy to tell that member that we are delivering for hard-working Ontarians and making it more affordable when they want to go out and have a little fun with their families. Presto Perks is what I’m talking about—leaving more cash in people’s pockets, thanks to our work. You know that kids already ride free on GO. Presto cardholders can save up to 20% on admission to the Hockey Hall of Fame, where you can see the new cup with the Leafs engraved in it after this year; the Ontario Science Centre; the Royal Ontario Museum; and also next week’s Princess Auto Players’ Championship at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

What’s more, through Presto, TFC fans can commute to BMO Field and save 20% off their ticket prices while they cheer on the boys in red throughout the 2023 season.

Speaker, with Presto Perks, we’re putting more money back into families’ pockets, and that includes when they want to have some fun.

That’s why Metrolinx has not raised their fare prices in four years, and we continue to make fares more affordable. Riders continue to benefit, especially from the stellar GO affordability pilot we introduced last year, which gives a 50% reimbursement to applicable riders in Peel region.

We’re also delivering for hard-working students. We nearly doubled the post-secondary student discount and youth discount for those aged 13 to 19 to 40% off fares, off GO and UP Express.

That’s not all. We eliminated the double fares across the GTHA when you’re connecting from your local transit agency to the GO network, and as announced in the budget just a few short weeks ago, that’s going to include the TTC by the end of the year—really good news. Imagine, you can go from Barrie, take Barrie Transit to Union Station, and connect to the TTC to visit your friend in Liberty Village, for just the price of a GO fare.

We’re making it more affordable to take transit.

We’re not talking about all communities. Today, we’re talking about this community, the drag community, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

Across Ontario, from Toronto to Thunder Bay, communities have been targeted. They are experiencing hate and violence on the very doorsteps of your business associations and on your small business storefronts, from Welland to Fort Erie to Guelph to Kingston, Kitchener, Gravenhurst, Brockville, Peel, Elora, Lambton, Sarnia, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay—and I could go on. The list is so long.

The private member’s bill—and this government will know it—will take years to pass. Will you expedite that process? Will you work with us to protect the community today?

My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation.

The people of my riding of Markham–Unionville rely on our transit networks to ensure they are connected to Toronto and the GTA. While they might not live in Toronto’s downtown core, many individuals and families still wish to access major sights and attractions through a convenient and affordable transit system.

As families continue to experience the impact of global economic challenges and rising costs, they remain mindful of how best to manage their expenses. That’s why our government must create opportunities to make everyday life more affordable for individuals and families.

Can the Associate Minister of Transportation please share with the House what our government is doing to make it more convenient to take transit and visit the latest attractions?

However, making life affordable needs to look beyond initiatives that can help people save money at events and attractions. Our government needs to focus, as well, on broader issues, including the affordability of transit.

Unlike the previous Liberal government—where affordable public transit was not a priority—our government is paying attention to the needs of GO Transit riders.

Can the associate minister please elaborate on how our government is delivering greater transit affordability?

My question is to the Premier.

Women in female-dominated professions, like midwifery, nursing and developmental services, have been fighting for pay equity for years, under both Liberal and Conservative governments.

In 2018, midwives won a historic ruling from the Human Rights Tribunal that was confirmed last year by the Ontario Court of Appeal, but this government has continued its systemic pay discrimination against midwives by ignoring the order that would see midwives paid fairly for the vital work they do.

Will this government implement the Human Rights Tribunal order, start respecting midwives, and finally pay them what they are worth?

When women workers like midwives, nurses, educational assistants and ECEs fight for wages that reflect the true value of their work, this government refuses to enact pay transparency, ignores remedy orders, suppresses their wages, fights them in court, or threatens to take away their rights. But women aren’t taking it.

I want to give a shout-out to the amazing education workers who forced this government to back down on their use of the “notwithstanding” clause.

Today, on Equal Pay Day, will this government commit to stop attacking women workers and start bringing forward legislation and policies that close the gender wage gap instead of widening it?

There is no doubt that the valuable work Ontario midwives do—looking after our individuals who are going through what is, frankly, probably one of the most exciting but scary pieces of their medical career.

I am really proud of the fact that, on March 31, we actually inked a deal with the College of Midwives of Ontario—for a one-year deal that has now been ratified through their association. It is going to see an expansion of midwifery in the province of Ontario so that more women, more individuals, who want to have a midwife be part of their birthing experience can have that in community, closer to home.

It’s one of the things we’re working on—making sure that people get access to care in their community, closer to home.

Thank you. Supplementary?

Thank you to the amazing member from Simcoe–Grey for his question.

I agree with the member that buying a new home can be a complicated and stressful experience for families and individuals across our province.

That is why this government made a commitment to the people of Ontario that we would never stop working to make their lives easier and improve consumer protections across the province.

Speaker, just last week, I joined Minister Clark and Minister Tangri to announce another big step in our work towards fulfilling our consumer protection commitment. We are consulting with consumer groups, home-buying sectors and the public on the cooling-off period for new freehold homes to ensure we are creating the very best protection for Ontarians. We are also exploring input on requiring that purchasers of all new homes receive legal advice on their purchase agreements to ensure that no one in our province gets ripped off by bad—

Under this Premier, we have been very clear that in this province there is a zero-tolerance approach for those who try to make extra money off the backs of new home buyers. That’s why my ministry—alongside my great colleague the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing—has added harsher penalties for bad actors in the industry. We have empowered the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, HCRA, and given them the ability to stand up to unethical vendors in the sector. Those attempting to rip off Ontarians now face the prospect of double maximum financial penalties for repeat offenders of the New Home Construction Licensing Act. The risk of permanently losing their builder’s licence—and, for the very first time ever, ensuring that instead of profiting, builders who conduct illegal and unethical behaviour will face hundreds of thousand of dollars in fines.

Speaker, rest assured, this government continues and will continue to have the backs of Ontarians, especially when they make one of the biggest purchases of their lives—

All women in all sectors are valued—and we appreciate and thank everything that they are doing to move our economy and move Ontario forward.

Mr. Speaker, we’re seeing more and more women enter the workforce. And isn’t that what we want to see—women being in the driver’s seat of their economic future and leaders in their field and their sector? Isn’t that what we want for all women—to see women like the women up there just powering through and showing that women can be leaders and strong leaders?

That’s why our Premier and our government decided to say, “We need a Ministry of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity.” We take this seriously. I don’t only do this for my daughters, but I do it for all daughters and all women who are coming up in Ontario and all the women in this room. We’re seeing the benefits and the value of doing that.

I fully believe that when women succeed, Ontario succeeds.

My question is to the Minister of Finance.

Tobacco is one of the most common, illegally traded goods in the world, and Ontario is ground zero, with sales of illegal product on par with El Salvador.

Illicit tobacco threatens the safety of our communities as profits fuel organized crime involved in drugs, guns and human trafficking. Legitimate businesses suffer, while the government loses out on $750 million in taxes annually.

Speaker, this government knows where the problem originates, and provinces like BC are unhappy with Ontario as illegal sales in their province skyrocket, even though they have no producers. I wouldn’t be shocked if Ontario is sent invoices for policing and health care costs.

Quebec’s model of dealing with contraband tobacco is extraordinary, and Ontario signalled that model would be adopted in the 2019 budget, but the policy was pulled days before print. To the minister: Who or what is the reason the policy was pulled in 2019, and why is it missing again in the 2023 budget?

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for the question.

For education workers in the province of Ontario, we did sign a deal with CUPE which will increase wages by over 4% each and every year over the next four years for them. We think that is a suitable reflection of the good work they do within our schools—overwhelmingly ratified by the union. That will help ECEs as well as EAs and other critical workers in our schools.

In the child care deal which our government signed—a critical way by which we can ensure more labour market participation of women in our economy—we signed a deal that is finally going to make child care affordable, after an increase by 400% under the former Liberals. This program is cutting fees by 50% this year. It’s creating 86,000 spaces. It’s going to help ensure we have higher labour market participation, so women no longer have to choose between staying at home, raising a child or going to work.

We believe in them, we’re investing in them, and we’re hiring more of them to ensure families get the supports they need in our economy.

My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Ontario’s music industry is vital to our province’s culture and economy. I think we all know this. This industry drives creative innovation and helps generate employment opportunities throughout.

Individual artists—like my wife and daughter—and groups involved in Ontario’s music industry hold a special place in advancing the success of great Canadian music here and, in fact, worldwide.

For example, London, Ontario, has become a hub of Ontario’s dynamic music industry where musical talent can perform and thrive.

But Speaker, in order to increase Ontario’s profile and prestige on the national and world stage, our government must take the lead in creating more opportunities for emerging artists to record and perform in Ontario.

Can the minister please explain how our government is supporting the development of the music industry in Ontario, especially in communities like Elgin–Middlesex–London?

Cultural, sporting and tourism events are all critical to the success of local businesses throughout this province.

Just recently, London hosted the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier, and it was a massive success. This event brought thousands of people to Budweiser Gardens in London’s downtown core, including my family and friends, along with the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, along with the Minister of Colleges and Universities. It was great to have them there. Local businesses were brimming with patrons. In fact, there were lineups out the door. London tourism officials said they have received tremendous feedback from local business establishments, as well as Curling Canada. Successful events such as this underline the importance of sport to communities across this province.

Can the minister please explain how this government is supporting local communities to expand tourism, cultural and sporting activities?

My question is to the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity.

Ontario is facing serious understaffing in child care, directly related to the low wages of this women-led sector. The Association of Early Childhood Educators and the YMCA came to pre-budget consultations to tell the government that these workers need and deserve decent wages with benefits and pensions.

If this government was truly committed to closing the wage gap, if this government actually valued the work of these early educators, they would compensate them fairly.

So, Speaker, my question, on Equal Pay Day: Will the government commit today to increasing wages for Ontario’s child care workers?

One of the most significant costs for women in this province is child care. Ontarians have been promised over and over again $10-a-day child care, but this government is still failing to deliver. Women paying their bills at the end of each month know that nothing has changed, even though you signed this federal deal months and months and months ago.

Will this government finally make your investments needed to deliver $10-a-day child care for women, for families and for children in this province?

Thank you to the member opposite.

We do take contraband tobacco very seriously. In fact, unregulated tobacco undermines Ontario’s tax system. It creates business uncertainty and compromises the health and safety of Ontario families as well as businesses.

We’ve reviewed recommendations from key stakeholders and the Indigenous facilitators’ report on unregulated tobacco. These extensive consultations will inform our approach on addressing tobacco issues in a balanced and sustainable manner. We’re also continuing to support existing partnerships with various police services.

Going forward, the government knows that the problems of unregulated tobacco cause the people of Ontario concern. That’s why we’re taking a comprehensive approach to address this situation.

This is something we do take seriously.

In the budget of 2021, the government of Ontario increased funding to the OPP’s contraband tobacco enforcement team by $1.5 million.

We’re also collaborating with federal partners on strengthening border enforcement and addressing tobacco smuggling.

And we’re enhancing the Ministry of Finance’s oversight of raw leaf tobacco through the use of more innovative digital technologies.

But what we would also do is call on the federal government to get bail reform—you did mention people getting out and causing problems again. We are calling on the federal government—we hope the opposition will support us—for immediate bail reform.

In 2014, the federal government amended the Criminal Code of Canada—Bill C-10—to create a new offence of trafficking in contraband tobacco and to provide for minimum penalties of imprisonment for repeat offenders.

I’m happy the minister brought up unregulated tobacco, because as soon as this government came to power, it actually changed the wording from “contraband” to “unregulated” in the Tobacco Tax Act. How do police and prosecutors apply the law under an ambiguous term like “unregulated”?

Contraband tobacco was such a concern to the federal Conservative government 10 years ago that they amended the Criminal Code, yet this government has made it easier for criminals to work around the law.

Tobacco is referred to on page 184 of the recent budget. It’s housekeeping and will do little to curb contraband tobacco.

Can the minister explain why each budget under this government contains the word “unregulated,” as opposed to “contraband,” “illicit” or “illegal”?

I can assure the member that the answer is yes. We’re going to continue to increase wages each and every year, in the course of this agreement with the federal government, by at least one dollar per hour every year, rising to $25. I accept and I hear clearly from operators, from staff and, of course, members opposite and members of our government who want to see wages increase so that we retain these critical workers, which are a prerequisite of economic growth.

We need a strong, dependable, affordable child care system in all communities, small and large. It’s why we’re expanding spaces. It’s why we’ve announced a significant reduction in fees for families. And, yes, it’s why we’re actually consulting with the sector to understand what exactly to do further, in addition to the federal deal, to increase wages and lift up the opportunities within that sector.

We’re going to continue to listen, continue to increase the wages and be there for the workers who make the difference for our kids.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London for all the work that he’s doing, and for his family’s talents—not necessarily a put-down to you.

Last week, I saw first-hand the city of London’s music expo and how integral the music scene is, not only for London, but for Ontario. London has been designated a UNESCO City of Music—the first Canadian city to be designated that, and only the fourth in North America, a tremendous accomplishment.

Each year, our government invests millions of dollars in the industry through the Ontario Music Investment Fund.

Ontario’s music scene is really booming, and it really has become part of tourism.

I had the opportunity in my visit to London on Friday to spend some time not only with the mayor, but to sit in at a round table with all the members of the chambers of commerce.

I’d like to suggest, to use a music analogy, that three-part harmony is a little bit of tourism, culture and sport.

Music, culture and—notice I didn’t say “tourism and culture” this time—and sport are linked together. I think we all know that through sport at all ages—the culture part of music, the culture part of sport and, really, the culture part of tourism tie together nicely, and the impact that it has on local communities, as London is finding out, is second to none. I found that out in my meeting with the chamber of commerce and with the mayor. Their strategies, their plans, what they’re working with, what they have is second to none, and they deserve an awful lot of credit.

But the other part of the sports side and hosting—we have to remember the impact of sport on our communities. Let’s not forget what tourism does and sport does when we move into a community and have, let’s say, a few hockey tournaments of 100-plus teams. Restaurants and hotels are full, but more importantly, we’re helping build young leaders through sport. We take that very seriously—our Premier does, and I do. Our next—

To reply, the parliamentary assistant and member for Oakville.

I’m glad the Liberals have changed their minds and decided to support us on bail—and ask the federal government to do that. I would ask that the NDP change their minds and support us on bail, as well. But here’s the one thing they have in common: They want us to interfere with how judges do their duty. I heard it yesterday from the member in the NDP. And today, this member wants me to interfere with how judges do their business.

I just can’t understand—well, I do understand why they’re over there. They don’t understand the fundamental divide of how we do justice in this province.

We need to do better. We need to do more. We’ve already started. We ask you to join us.