I want to thank the member from Windsor–Tecumseh for being such a strong voice for the people of Windsor here at Queen’s Park.

Speaker, our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, has an ambitious plan to build the projects that families need, including in Windsor.

Our construction workers are true heroes for making our province stronger every day, and we need more of them. In the Windsor region alone, there were more than 11,000 jobs open at the end of 2022. That’s why our government is rolling out new employment services to help more people find good jobs, like those in construction—jobs with defined pensions and benefits that people can raise a family around.

We’ve also increased funding to our pre-apprenticeship programs to help interested job seekers try the construction trades and see which one is the best fit for them.

We’re doing so much more—and I look forward to the follow-up question.

Mr. Speaker, I can’t think of a member from the Windsor region who has delivered so much for the city of Windsor in the history of this Legislature. We think of a brand new hospital that’s going to be built, the Windsor Regional Hospital. We think of the brand new Stellantis plant that’s being built in Windsor. Congratulations to the member from Windsor–Tecumseh for his leadership.

Speaker, we’re making targeted investments in projects that are building a stronger Ontario for all of us.

Over the past three years, we’ve invested more than $660 million in our Skills Development Fund to get more people into the skilled trades.

Through our pre-apprenticeship program, we’ve invested $660,000 for Women’s Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor to train women for well-paying and in-demand work in the electrical trades. Tuition is free, and the program also includes paid placements, child care and transit passes.

These are life-changing opportunities to build stronger families and stronger communities for all of us.

I have to ask the party opposite: When did you get lost? When did you abandon workers in this province?

For example, we hired more than 100 new health and safety inspectors in the province. Do you know who said no? It was the NDP who voted to not strengthen health and safety in this province.

We’ll continue working every single day for all the workers in this province.

I can tell you that our government has sent a clear message to Windsor Salt. We’ve been in many discussions with Unifor over the past number of weeks. We want a deal at the table. Mr. Speaker, 98% of all deals in the province of Ontario are done at the table. We want a good deal, a fair deal for those Windsor Salt workers. We know they’re at the table, and we want them to get a deal as quickly as possible.