The Protecting Ontarians by Enhancing Gas Station Safety to Prevent Gas and Dash Act, 2023, amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act to add a new section to require customers to prepay for gasoline before pumping it from a gasoline pump that has prepayment technology.

The section applies to gas stations in the GTA. It also applies in any municipality that passes a resolution requesting the application of the section.

The new section also requires the employer at the station to affix a notice to any pumps with prepayment technology informing customers about the prepayment requirements under the section. The owner of the gas station must ensure that any new or replacement gas pumps that are installed have prepayment technology.

The application of the new section is phased: with a six-month window before any requirements begin to apply, and for the first year after that, the requirement that employers ensure that customers prepay for gasoline applies only to gasoline sold between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Mr. Saunderson moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr17, An Act to revive J2M Collingwood Holdings Inc.

Thank you to the member from Sudbury. I know how important workplace safety is to him, and it is for every one of us.

I think that looking at this from a committee perspective so that we can have those types of numbers is reasonable. In fact, I’m quite curious about it myself. I think that it really can be a demonstration of the efficacy of a lot of the work that’s being done.

But the challenge I find, and it is just the greatest challenge ultimately that I see in work sites, is ensuring that the individuals there appreciate the nature of their rights and appreciate the nature of standing up when they need to. A lot of the work that we are doing is trying to ensure that people understand that, appreciate that, and that employers also recognize that their stakes are quite high if they do not have that type of an environment.

I’m very pleased to be able to be a part of a government that recognizes that importance. I’m not sure if I’ve answered; my apologies.

I do want to say—

But I do want to say that this is the third Working for Workers Act, and that is how committed our government is to ensuring that we’re getting it right for the people of the province—