Ma question est pour le ministre du Travail.

Today, the NDP is reintroducing, for the 16th time, anti-scab labour legislation. Anti-scab labour legislation makes strikes and lockouts shorter, and it protects vulnerable workers.

The government keeps saying that they’re working for workers. Well, they have a labour bill in front of this House right now. They can take real action to protect vulnerable workers, to protect workers’ rights.

Will the minister tell the hard-working workers in the gallery right now if he will bring anti-scab labour law to Ontario now?

Absolutely. The anti-scab labour law is co-sponsored by Ms. French from Oshawa, Mr. Gates from Niagara Falls, Mrs. Gretzky from Windsor West and MPP West from Sudbury.

The bill is quite simple, Speaker. The provisions being restored prevent an employer from replacing a striking or locked-out employee with a replacement worker except in specific emergency situations.

The bill restores the provisions that were incorporated into the Labour Relations Act by the labour relations and employment statute act of 1992 that were repealed in 1995.

Mr. Saunderson moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr20, An Act to revive 414087 Ontario Limited.

“Whereas the arts and culture sector contributes $28.7 billion to Ontario’s GDP and creates over 300,000 jobs;

“Whereas the Ontario Arts Council budget has not been increased” in Ontario at the “rate of inflation, exacerbating the income precarity of artists and cultural workers, some of whom are earning less than $25,000 per year, and still less for those from equity-deserving groups;

“Whereas the income precarity was worsened during the pandemic through issues of regulatory unfairness in the arts and culture sector, disproportionately impacting the performing arts sector and OAC-determined priority groups, including BIPOC, Indigenous, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA2S+ artists and cultural workers;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows: “to sustain the Ontario Arts Council budget” at $65 million a year for 2023 “and adequately invest in the arts and culture sector, including supports for equity-deserving groups, small, medium and grassroots collectives in our communities, and individual artists to ensure their personal and economic survival.”

I support this petition, Speaker. I will affix my name to it and ask my good page Paul to bring it to the Clerk.

I would like to thank Rejeanne Fredette, from Chelmsford in my riding, for these petitions.

“Health Care: Not for Sale....

“Whereas Ontarians get health care based on their needs, not their ability to pay;

“Whereas the Ford government wants to privatize our health care system;

“Whereas privatization will bleed nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals and will download costs to patients;

They petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately stop all plans to privatize Ontario’s health care system, and fix the crisis in health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 to help recruit, retain, return and respect health care workers with better pay and better working conditions;

“—licensing tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses and other health care professionals already” living “in Ontario;

“—incentivizing health care professionals to choose to live and work in northern Ontario.”

I support this petition, will affix my name to it and send it to the table with my good page Paul.

“Keep the Noëlville OPP Detachment Open....

“Whereas insufficient communications and consultations have taken place with communities and relevant stakeholders concerning the OPP Noëlville detachment’s continuing operations; and

“Whereas the residents and visitors in the municipalities of French River, Markstay-Warren, St.-Charles, Killarney and Britt-Byng Inlet as well as the First Nations of Dokis and Henvey Inlet deserve equitable access to a reliable, timely and efficient police response...;

They petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

That the assembly “direct the Ministry of the Solicitor General and the Ontario Provincial Police to continue having Ontario Provincial Police officers reporting to an operational detachment location in Noëlville.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask my good page Paul to bring it to the Clerk.

“Let’s Fix the Northern Health Travel Grant....

“Whereas people in the north are not getting the same access to health care because of the high cost of travel and accommodations;

“Whereas by refusing to raise the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) rates, the Ford government is putting a massive burden on northern Ontarians who are sick;

“Whereas gas prices cost” way “more in northern Ontario”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To establish a committee with a mandate to fix and improve the NHTG;

“This NHTG advisory committee would bring together health care providers in the north, as well as recipients of the NHTG to make recommendations to the Minister of Health that would improve access to health care in northern Ontario through adequate reimbursement of travel costs.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask my good page Paul to bring it to the Clerk.

« Clinique spécialisée en sclérose en plaques à Sudbury....

« Alors que le nord-est de l’Ontario affiche l’un des plus hauts taux de sclérose en plaques ... de l’Ontario; et

« Alors que des cliniques spécialisées dans la sclérose en plaques fournissent des services de soins de santé essentiels aux personnes atteintes de sclérose en plaques » et « à leur fournisseur de soins et à leur famille; et

« Alors que la ville du Grand Sudbury est reconnue comme un centre des soins de santé dans le nord-est de l’Ontario; »

Ils et elles pétitionnent « l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario de :

« Mettre en place immédiatement une clinique spécialisée dans la sclérose en plaques dans la région de Sudbury, composée d’un(e) neurologue spécialisé(e) dans le traitement de la sclérose en plaques, d’un(e) physiothérapeute et d’un(e) travailleur(-euse) social(e) au minimum. »

J’appuie cette pétition, monsieur le Président. Je vais la signer, et je demande à Paul de l’amener à la table des greffiers.

“Repeal Bill 124....

“Whereas Bill 124 removes the right of public employees to negotiate fair contracts;

“Whereas Bill 124 limits the wage increase in the broader public sector to a maximum of 1% per year at a time of unprecedented inflation;

“Whereas Ontario’s public servants have dealt with” three “years of unheralded difficulties in performing their duties” in the province of Ontario;

“Whereas those affected by Bill 124 are the people who teach us, care for us, make our hospitals and health care system work and protect the most vulnerable among us;

“Whereas the current provincial government is showing disrespect to public servants to keep taxes low for some of our country’s most profitable corporations;”

They “petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:”

To immediately stop the court appeal of “Bill 124 and show respect for the public sector workers.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask page Paul to bring it to the Clerk.

I would like to thank Pierrette Baril from Val Caron in my riding for this petition.

“Gas Prices....

“Whereas northern Ontario motorists continue to be subject to wild fluctuations in the price of gasoline; and

“Whereas the province could eliminate opportunistic price gouging and deliver fair, stable and predictable fuel prices; and

“Whereas five provinces and many US states already have some sort of gas price regulation; and

“Whereas jurisdictions with gas price regulation have seen an end to wild price fluctuations, a shrinking of price discrepancies between urban and rural communities and lower annualized gas prices;”

They “petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Mandate the Ontario Energy Board to regulate the price of gasoline across Ontario in order to reduce price volatility and unfair regional price differences while encouraging competition.”

I support this petition, will affix my name to it and send it to the table with page Paul, who has been really, really patient.

“Make PSW a Career....

“Whereas there has been a shortage of personal support workers (PSWs) in long-term care and home care in Ontario for many years;

“Whereas Ontario’s personal support workers are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, leading to many of them leaving the profession;

“Whereas the lack of PSWs has created a crisis in LTC, a broken home care system, and poor-quality care for LTC home residents and home care clients;”

They “petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Tell Premier Ford to act now to make PSW jobs a career, with full-time employment, good wages, paid sick days, benefits, a pension plan and a manageable workload in order to respect the important work of PSWs and improve patient care.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask Paul to bring it to the Clerk.

I’m happy to have a quick 10 minutes to put many, many things on the docket about the budget.

The first thing I want to mention is that although there are billions of dollars going into road construction, Highway 69, which links Sudbury to Toronto, has been needing a four-lane highway forever. It was a promise that was made in the 1990s, in the 2000s, in 2014. It’s not even mentioned in the budget. There are 69 kilometres of two-lane highway between Toronto and Sudbury on Highway 69. Those 69 kilometres of two-lane highway are shut down at least once a month because of a fatal injury.

How many more northerners will have to die on Highway 69 before we see it in the budget? When I talk to the people at MTO, they are doing the work, but there’s no money to improve this highway in northern Ontario.

There’s another one: the corner of Regional Road 55 and Highway 17. Regional Road 55 is a low road that comes out of Walden and, bang, you come on to a four-lane highway. Most people who drive that road for the first time have no idea that they’re about to come on to a four-lane highway because there’s a big turn and—you guessed it—many people die because you suddenly cross a four-lane highway with people going 120 kilometres an hour, most of them big trucks.

The studies have been done. MTO has had community consultation. They have shown us the map: “Here’s how we’re going to make this safe.” All we need is money to do it and there is no money in the budget.

How many more people from Nickel Belt will have to die at the corner of Regional Road 55 and Highway 17 before something is done? We’re not talking billions of dollars, Speaker. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars that will save the lives of northerners, but it’s not in the budget. It’s not being done, although the plans are ready, everybody agrees. All we’re missing is the money, but it’s not in the budget.

I could go on. There are many others, but I only have 10 minutes.

The Critical Minerals Strategy: It’s great to see it in the budget, but do you know what? When you say you will extract the critical minerals from northern Ontario and send them down south to make batteries, you are actually disrespectful to the people of the north. We know how to build batteries in northern Ontario. We’ve had battery plants in northern Ontario before. How about we extract the minerals in northern Ontario, use the hydro power that is green, renewable and cheap, and build the batteries right there in northern Ontario? We don’t need to send them to the south—no offence to the south. They do lots of things really good, but when you put it in the budget that you won’t even look at putting those in the north, you are not really respecting the people of the north.

Another thing about northern Ontario—I thank you for bringing PTSD care for first responders, but you have to realize that by putting only one such care in Toronto you’re making it next to impossible. If you live with PTSD because you are a first responder—thank you to all of our first responders; I know many of you whose life is completely turned upside down because of PTSD—I know you are not able to drive to downtown Toronto where care will be available. It will be good for this type of care, which is top-notch.

I thank you for funding this, but there are first responders outside of Toronto. If you live in Nickel Belt and if you live in northern Ontario, having to come to Toronto is stressful. When you’re dealing with PTSD, you do not need more stress to gain access to care. You need to make those services available to all Ontarians. I’m looking forward to seeing that in the budget.

I also thank you for the expansion into medical schools. There are medical schools in northern Ontario. Medical schools will be able to get 100 students rather than the 64 we have now, but why wait until 2025? The dean tells us that we have thousands of applicants. We can easily select 100 students for the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University right here this fall. Why do we have to wait? We need as many health care professionals and physicians in northern Ontario. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is really, really successful at bringing us physicians to the north.

You make the announcement, but then the announcement won’t come till 2025. We all know that it takes seven to eight years to get a family physician. From the start of study to actually taking on patients—why delay one more year? Let the Northern Ontario School of Medicine go up to 100 students this fall. Don’t wait any longer.

Then, again I thank you. There is a 5% increase to mental health and addiction community providers in this bill. They need 8%, but 5% is better than nothing. But, then, it is the restrictions that you put on. It is only for the mental health and addiction providers funded by the Ministry of Health. We know full well that many community-based mental health and addiction providers are not funded by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services funds at least 300, or 200, children’s mental health. We have everybody that deals with the women facing abuse. We have many, many ministries who fund community-based mental health. Only the ones funded by the Ministry of Health will get 5%, rather than 8%. It’s a tiny step in the right direction, but the mental health crisis is also for children. The mental health crisis is also for women facing violence. But none of that is in your budget.

Then, we see contract rate increases for the home and community care sector. Everybody knows that even if you give Bayshore 56 bucks an hour rather than $52 to provide PSWs, they are still going to pay their PSWs minimum wage. You have to make the link between the two. It is not by increasing the amount of money in the contract that you will make a PSW job a career. They need permanent, full-time jobs with a minimum of $8 over minimum wage. They need benefits. They need a pension plan. They need 10 paid sick days, and they need a workload that a human being can handle. None of that is in the bill. The bill tells us that we will give Bayshore, the care partners and all of the for-profit home care providers more money. That does not guarantee that the hard-working PSWs will see a single penny of that money.

Interjection.

Yes, 10 minutes goes by very fast.

We have lots of Learn and Stay for nurses. All of the colleges in the north got the Learn and Stay except the French college, except Collège Boréal. Do you really think that French people in northern Ontario do not need access to more nurses? Why is it that every single—North Bay, Timmins, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie all got the Learn and Stay nursing program, but the one French college that we have that supplies all of the French nurses we have in northern Ontario didn’t get it. I don’t like that, Speaker. Lots of my constituents feel way better receiving health care services in French. If there are no French nurses being trained, how is the service ever going to be provided in French? You have to change this. You have to include them. Oh, my. I could go on and on.

There’s a mention of the Northlander. I was really not happy when the Liberal government cancelled the Northlander. It is coming back in 10 years. Really? Why does it take 10 years to put a train on a set of rails that already exists? I don’t get this. Every year, you get us all excited about how the Northlander is coming back to the north, and I can’t wait for people in the north to be able to get on a train to come to Toronto for their hospital appointments, rather than in a bus or in a car—a train is way more comfortable—but this won’t happen for 10 years. That 10 years, Speaker, is a long time. Do you know how many people will die on Highway 69 in the next 10 years because we don’t have a train? I don’t want to know that number, but I know that it will be way too high.

I could go on, but I only have 10 minutes.

We know one of the strategies to change this is to increase the number of seats at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University. They have two campuses, one in Sudbury and one in Thunder Bay. I can tell you that 95% of the graduates of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University that do their internship in northern Ontario stay and work in northern Ontario. They stay and provide care to First Nations in remote communities in part of the Sioux Lookout group. But we won’t see an increase for another two years. We could make things way better, way faster.

Well, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine saw the light of day in 2007. In 2007, when they took their first students, it was a Liberal government that was in power, and since then, since 2018, we’ve had a Conservative government. I would very much like to be able to tell you I’m proud that we got elected a New Democratic government in 2007, but we didn’t.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is very important. It’s something that the people of the north had been advocating for for a long time. It is a success. It’s something that we are proud of, but it is something that is ready to expand. They could do way more than what they are doing now to help keep people in northern Ontario healthy, to give them equitable access to health care services. What they need is financial commitment from this government to do so, not just nice talk. But the money won’t start to flow for way too long.

The model is excellent. Many other communities would like to have a nurse practitioner-led clinic. Coniston, in my riding, would like one. Capreol would like an extra nurse. Southwestern Ontario needs an extra nurse because there are physicians retiring and they’re ready to help them. None of that is in the—

We are being gouged. The government could stop this right now by making sure that we regulate the price of gas, like they do in many other provinces. This will make sure that the people who I represent—

This morning we had workers drive all the way from Windsor, from Oshawa, from Toronto coming to Queen’s Park to ask the government to bring forward anti-scab legislation. The reason they’re coming to Queen’s Park is that they see the detrimental impact on scab workers themselves, who tend to be vulnerable employees, vulnerable Ontarians, who get hired to cross picket lines. But they also see the long-term effect on the people who cross the picket line, on their family, on their community, when at the end of the day, it does not help the employer and it does not help the workers to drag this on. Do you think anti-scab legislation would be working for workers?

Earlier today, workers from Windsor, workers from Oshawa, workers from Toronto came to Queen’s Park. They came to Queen’s Park because they are part of this very small percentage, about 2% of collective agreements, that do not get negotiated but end up in a strike or lockout.

Unfortunately, their employers decided to hire replacement workers, scab workers. Most of those replacement workers don’t speak English or French. They are new arrivals to Ontario. They don’t know the labour law, but they will pay for the consequences of that work for the rest of their lives.

Does the member think that it would be working for workers to enact anti-replacement workers legislation in Ontario, like they do in British Columbia and Quebec?