Thank you to the member opposite for her question. The WSIB, as I indicated previously, is a very important part of our workforce compensation and insurance that benefits both our businesses and our workers. We are working to make sure that we streamline that process and, as you indicated in the first part of your question, we are looking at how we can streamline efficiencies through our leases. Instead of leasing space in downtown Toronto, we’re looking to move to a smaller area where we can do it more efficiently and less expensively. That’s another aspect of our efficiencies.

We are working hard to make sure that the end workers, the insured, are going to be compensated properly in the event of injury, and we’re making sure that we remove any duplication that would get in the way or hinder that process as we work towards making sure that we are focused on making Ontario competitive, protecting our workers and giving apprentices the same amount of coverage as a journeyman would receive.

My question is to the member for Simcoe–Grey. As a representative of the city of London, I note that Bill 46 includes provisions to allow the government to move the WSIB headquarters to our city, to London, which is certainly a welcome opportunity. Hopefully we’ll see those jobs materialize.

However, I am troubled at the same time by the other provisions in this bill related to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act that removes the requirement for WSIB to table a strategic plan to the minister. Injured worker groups have taken that opportunity to provide input. Why is the government removing that accountability?

Meegwetch, Speaker. It’s always a privilege to be able to stand up and speak on behalf of Kiiwetinoong. This morning, I’m going to speak your language, English. English is my second language. As you know, my language, Anishininiimowin, is not allowed to be spoken in this place. I have to remind you that this place as well—as a First Nations person, as First Peoples of these lands, this system, this building was never built for me. It was never built for First Nations people to be able to speak in this place.

One of the things I want to say about this Bill 46, the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act—I want to thank the government for this bill. I want to thank you because—over the last four and a half years, I’ve been bringing up issues with boil-water advisories. I have one First Nation in Ontario that has 28 years of boil-water advisories, since February 1, 1995, and the government does nothing, just looks away and says, “That’s not our responsibility.” They use jurisdictions as an excuse not to do anything. That’s what colonizers do.

I want to thank you for this bill, because it’s a reminder. It’s a reminder that this oppression still exists in this place. It is a reminder that colonialism is alive and well. Thank you for reminding me of that, of how you treat First Nations, the First Peoples of these lands, as if we do not exist, as if we do not matter. Yes, you care about business, but you do not care about the basic human rights of the people in Kiiwetinoong. So I wanted to share that.

I know it is also important to note where these suggestions, these changes come from and who the government actually listens to, but I know one thing: They do not listen to First Nations. They say they do, but not to everyone; just select people. They do listen to select First Nations. It might be two, it might be three, but not everyone. “Divide and conquer” is a colonial approach. Divide and conquer First Nations is from the colonial playbook that has been played for hundreds of years. It continues to happen because we live it on a daily basis.

I’m using that as an example within schedule 5, and it’s based on the government seeking feedback from the oil and gas industries. It talks about carbon sequestration changes that are legislated, subject to consultation that ended in January.

I know that within this change, the environmental policy change, which will be permitted on crown lands, has not been subject to free, prior and informed consent with First Nations—zero. To me, “crown lands,” as you call them, are stolen lands. Everyone who’s here are settlers. We’ve been here for thousands of years. We welcomed everyone. We welcomed settlers, and the first thing they did when the settlers arrived is they took our lands. The next thing they did was, they took our children. They took our children to send them to Indian residential schools. We are still trying to locate our children in those former Indian residential school sites even today.

I heard a comment from this morning from the government side when questions were going back and forth. They called First Nations “stakeholders.” We are not stakeholders. Up where I come from, there were treaties that were signed. We were supposed to share the benefits of that treaty. We are not stakeholders.

There was a lot of discussion too, about the environmental policy changes on crown lands. What is crown land? Crown land in Ontario represents 87% of the province, and this government describes it as opportunities for economic development, tourism and reconciliation.

Crown land also includes surface and subsurface rights to the minerals, energy and water resources that may be leased to private enterprise, a very important source of government income. Indigenous, First Nation, Anishinaabe understanding of crown land is not this.

What is the balance we need to be able to strike between economic consumption versus economy as people?

In Treaty 9—we’re supposed to share the benefits of those treaties, and we do not. From the numbered treaties 1 to 11, Treaty 9 is the only numbered treaty out of those, 1 to 11, that has Ontario’s signature on it. You are our treaty partners, but you do not treat us as partners; you treat us as stakeholders. We are not stakeholders.

We have to understand, when we talk about Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario—it depends where you live. I live in a different Ontario. I come from a different Ontario, because you will not invest in water sewer systems to get clean drinking water for the residents of Kiiwetinoong. That’s a different Ontario. That’s a different Canada. That’s how colonialism, that’s how oppression, that’s how racism, that’s how discrimination works. And the system right here, where we sit, the 124 of us who sit here—that’s how it treats people, especially First Nations. I have 31 First Nations in my riding, and I have four municipalities. There’s nothing “stronger” about this bill—there’s nothing “stronger Ontario” on these reserves, in this bill. But it removes the free, prior, informed consent of the people.

We were put on reserves. I remember my reserve in Kingfisher Lake. They moved there in 1966. Do you know where everybody lived? It was on the lands. Do you know why they removed us, to move into a reserve? It was to get us off those lands, because we knew, you knew, the settlers knew that they wanted our resources. And you see it happening today.

The changes in the Mining Act, the changes that are happening to remove the red tape—you are the red tape for a better life for First Nations people on-reserve, because you use jurisdiction as—not to do anything. You are the red tape. This government is the red tape to access to clean drinking water.

Just imagine, every day of your life, for 28 years, that you use, you buy—you bathe using bottled water. That’s the reality of the other Ontario, where I come from.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever experienced living—

Next question.

We’ll have to move to further debate. The member for Kiiwetinoong.

On behalf of the residents of Barrie–Innisfil, I would like to extend our warmest wishes to everyone celebrating Nowruz. May this new year bring you and your loved ones happiness, health and prosperity.

As we welcome the spring season and the start of the Persian new year, I want to take a moment to remember all those who lost their lives fighting for freedom in Iran. I stand in solidarity with those who continue to fight for basic human rights for all Iranians.

As the Persian community celebrates Nowruz around the world, they continue to remember Mahsa Amini. As life and the new year go on, so does the struggle of the Iranian people to bring freedom and justice to Iran.

I look forward to gathering with the Barrie Persian Association—not only with the Barrie Persian Association, but we also gather at the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library this weekend with our Minister of Transportation to celebrate Nowruz and, of course, Persian Heritage Month.

I also want to thank our Associate Minister of Housing, who is one of the first elected Conservative Persian MPPs in this Legislature, and, of course, the member from Carleton, also the first Persian elected member of this Legislature, for everything they stand for to bring freedom to this province.

Later today, I will have the honour of welcoming the Minister of Health of the Republic of Poland to our wonderful city of Mississauga alongside my colleagues the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and his parliamentary assistant the member for Mississauga–Erin Mills. We have the distinct honour of hosting the minister, Dr. Adam Niedzielski, accompanied by Witold Dzielski, Poland’s ambassador to Canada, at our state-of-the-art Trillium Health Partners Credit Valley Hospital.

With our government making historic investments into health care infrastructure, operations and human resources, it is important we continue to build our system by working with and sharing best practices with other jurisdictions. We will continue to collaborate and build bilateral relations, with the common goal of enhancing the level of health care received by our constituents.

We are actively doing this, as our government released the Your Health plan last month, which focuses on providing people with a better health care experience by connecting them to more convenient care closer to home while shortening wait times for key services across the province and growing the health care workforce.

As a registered nurse and a proud Polish Canadian, I am very excited to be welcoming Minister Niedzielski to Mississauga, and it brings me great pride to be a part of a government that understands the challenges in our health care system and is taking bold and innovative steps to address them.

Folks around the world are seeing that hate is not only on the rise but getting closer to home. There are hate groups and people who are spreading hate and fear, that are targeting our neighbours and friends in the trans community and the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

Just last week, there was an awful demonstration of intolerance and hate that was planned in Oshawa, but thankfully, the church where they were scheduled chose not to host it. Instead, folks from across our community came out in force and allyship with the 2SLGBTQIA+ and trans communities and gathered at Brew Wizards Board Game Cafe for a brilliant and bright evening of love and art and community. We came together to show love and support for our trans family, friends and neighbours. They created a space of love and support and raised donations for PFLAG Durham while giving people a way to stand up against the ugly hate that is crawling across our province.

Last night at the DDSB board meeting, groups who have been attacking the 2SLGBTQIA+ and, in particular, the trans community for months now descended on our Durham community. These hate groups set up their ugly protests but were met with a loud rally of support and love for students and community members, who have the right to live authentically and free from harassment and harm. There was an awesome show of unity, Pride flags, symbols and strength at the board office that sent a clear message that there is no room for hate and transphobia in our community or anywhere. We are here, and we support each other.

I am proud to stand in solidarity with the trans and the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and with allies and friends who won’t back down or go away. Discrimination and hate will not be tolerated in our community.

We are at a climate crossroads. Do we choose the highway to hell or a livable future? Yesterday’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is so terrifying that, collectively, it seems like we’re burying it under all the other challenges we face.

Speaker, I say to my colleagues in this House, to the people of Ontario and people all across the world, everything is literally at stake. The IPCC report is clear: Any new fossil fuel developments are utterly incompatible with the net-zero emissions required for a safe and livable future. We simply can’t waste money on things that are going to make the crisis worse: super-sprawl, highways in the greenbelt, ramping up expensive fossil gas plants.

We’re in a crisis now, and we need to act now. We must protect the nature and the farmland that protects us and feeds us. We have affordable solutions, such as low-cost renewable energy, building retrofits and heat pumps.

Speaker, in the interest of non-partisanship, I say to everyone in this House that we all face the catastrophic risks. Let’s all work together to solve those risks, before it is too late.

We have an affordability crisis in Niagara. Seniors and families are struggling. In Fort Erie, there is a 13-year wait-list to get an affordable one-bedroom housing unit if you’re a senior—13 years. Seniors are cutting pills in half or skipping a dose. They can’t afford their medication and groceries.

I get calls every week from seniors concerned with the cost of home heating. Under this government, Enbridge rates have doubled in the last two years. Grocery prices have skyrocketed. Last year, food prices rose at the fastest pace in 40 years. Loblaws, owned by the Weston family, earned more than $500 million in fourth-quarter profits. They earned a million dollars a day last year in profit. That’s price gouging. One in five children live in poverty in the province of Ontario. Conservatives have done nothing to combat corporate greed.

This crisis is putting enormous pressure on our front-line social services in Niagara. Non-profits in my community have seen drastic increases in the need for housing supports. Demand for food banks has never been higher.

We need investment in affordable housing and public, not-for-profit health care. I proposed solutions to this crisis, but the Conservatives say no. It has become unaffordable to live in Doug Ford’s Ontario, but I’ll keep fighting for affordable housing to protect our families and our seniors, and fight grocery price gouging by the Weston family.

It gives me great pleasure today to recognize an outstanding company within my riding of Durham. St. Marys Cement has called Bowmanville home for more than 50 years and has been a vital job creator in the province of Ontario for more than 110 years. St. Marys Cement, now part of Votorantim Cimentos, has manufactured cement for more than 110 years in Ontario. Originally located in St. Marys, home to the honourable member for Perth–Wellington, St. Marys Cement is a worldwide provider of cement, concrete and aggregates, and these products are used in a wide range of construction and infrastructure improvement projects.

Most recently, I’m proud to announce that St. Marys implemented its leading-edge alternative low carbon fuel, ALCF, program at the Bowmanville plant, and this eliminates coals from fuels which are non-hazardous and come from industrial and post-consumer sources. Much of this fuel is wood-waste material that has been diverted from landfill.

St. Marys Cement is responsible for over 54,000 direct and indirect jobs across Ontario and generates over $25 billion in economic activity while supporting small and medium-sized businesses throughout Ontario’s supply chain.

Welcome, in particular, today to St. Marys executives, Resha Watkins, David Hanratty and John Fahey.

I would like to share with members my recent engagement with students from Markham–Unionville. Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of having Bianca Caracoglia from Markham–Unionville serve as a page. Bianca was selected from among hundreds of applications to serve in the House and learn about our Parliament and legislative process. I would like to extend my gratitude to Bianca, who demonstrated her responsibility, commitment and leadership during her service.

Just last week, I also had a meeting with JC, a grade 7 student in Markham–Unionville who is interested in becoming a page. We talked about the work of a page and how she can prepare herself for the application.

During the March break, I also hosted two tours of our Legislative Building. Over 60 residents in Markham–Unionville visited us. Many of the participants were students who are interested in the work of the Legislature. I was delighted to see students engaging in the tour and asking different questions, from the operation of the Parliament to the architecture of the Legislative Building to how I became an MPP.

Our children are the future. I am encouraged by the passion and enthusiasm of the children in the community and public affairs, and I am confident in the future of Ontario thanks to them.

I’ll remind the members once again that we refer to other members by their ministerial title or by their riding title, not by their personal name.

The next member’s statement.

Mr. Speaker, it’s that wonderful, sweet time of year when we begin to harvest the liquid gold provided by Mother Nature and we turn it into our beloved maple syrup. Maple syrup has always been a part of Canada’s cultural fabric, and this is especially true in my riding of Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, where maple syrup season is in full swing.

I recently had the pleasure of joining Robert and Jill Staples and their family on their farm in Cavan for the first tapping of the season. Their syrup and maple tarts were delicious, and it’s no wonder, as Staples Maple Syrup has been tapping trees since 1973 and won so many awards. As a matter of fact, they are the four-time world champions at the Royal Winter Fair and currently tap over 3,600 trees. I was happy to see the next generation ready to participate and continue the family tradition.

On April 1, Sunderland, in Brock township, will host their annual maple syrup festival, which offers a weekend of family-friendly events and activities, from a historical bus tour of Harlaine farms and a visit to their sugar shack to a draft horse display and much more.

With Ontario being the third-largest sugar bush in the country, I would like to thank the hard-working men and women, and it’s timely today as we welcome the Ontario Federation of Agriculture to Queen’s Park. This season, I recommend everyone participate in your communities’—

Meegwetch, Speaker. Remarks in Anishininiimowin.

The 35th annual Northern Bands Hockey Tournament was held in Dryden last week, with 47 men’s teams participating. The tournament hasn’t been played since 2019 due to the pandemic.

During the tournament, I noticed that many teams acknowledged their players who have passed on since the last tournament was held with moments of silence.

The Northern Bands Hockey Tournament is an event that all of us across the north enjoy, and many people look forward to participating in every year. I got to see players. We competed in the tournament years back, which I enjoyed, but I also got to see the new and upcoming players as well.

A big thank you to the coordinators, coaches, managers, players and the fans in the stands who make this tournament happen. Thank you to the town of Dryden for hosting all the visitors. All the teams played well and represented their home First Nations with pride and respect.

At this time, I’d like to say congratulations to the championship teams: C-side champions, Kingfisher Lake Ice Lords; B-side champions, Team Webequie; and finally, the A-side champions, Michikan Lake Mavericks. We’ll see you next year.

Mr. Speaker, it’s Persian Heritage Month in Ontario, and yesterday—Monday, March 20, 2023—was Nowruz, which means “new day.”

Nowruz is based on the Iranian solar Hijri calendar and the spring equinox and is celebrated by millions of people around the world. Nowruz has its origins in the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism and is rooted in the traditions of the Iranian people. Nowruz has been celebrated by diverse communities for over 3,000 years. Presently, Nowruz is largely a secular holiday celebrated by Iranians around the world, regardless of ethnicity, language or religion, because Nowruz is part of our cultural heritage.

Nowruz is supposed to be a time of joy. Friends and family get together to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring. We eat traditional food, including a fish and rice dish called “sabzi polo ba mahi.” We give gifts—or “eydis,” as we call them—to children.

Nowruz is supposed to be a time of rebirth, renewal and hope. Unfortunately, this year Nowruz is a bit more solemn and sombre. But Iranians are still celebrating. For 44 years, the terrorist and illegitimate Islamic regime in Iran has held the people of Iran hostage and has tried to erase our culture, heritage and history. And that is exactly why Iranians, even though they have heavy hearts, are celebrating. We’re celebrating for Mahsa Amini, for Hadis Najafi, for Kian Pirfalak, for Mohsen Shekari, for Nika Shakarami, for Majid Reza Rahnavard, for Khodanoor, for our endangered—

I’m really pleased to be able to welcome a constituent to Queen’s Park, Drew Spoelstra, who is the vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. We’re really pleased to have you in the House today.

Thank you very much.

Applause.

From the riding of Milton, Shahd Alshamaly; from the riding of Kitchener–Conestoga, Felicity Banbury; from Ottawa Centre, Ethan Blonski; from Brampton South, Jonas Boyce; from Simcoe–Grey, Morgan Burkitt; from King–Vaughan, Savannah Chu Morrison; from Richmond Hill, Skyler Chui; from Hamilton Centre, Artur Cordovani; from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, Ryan de Haan; from Hamilton Mountain, Keya Dudhwala; from Niagara Falls, Claire Fish; from Essex, Cole Foster; from Don Valley West, Paul Hu; from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, Helen Elizabeth Keys-Brasier; from Mississauga–Erin Mills, Mikaeel Mahmood; from Toronto–Danforth, Stefan Parsons; from Ottawa–Vanier, Mia Tocchi; from Oakville, Madison Wong; from Willowdale, Evelyn Yeung; and from Spadina–Fort York, Jing Zomok.

Please join me in welcoming this group of legislative pages.

Applause.

I want to introduce two friends from the riding of King–Vaughan, Fred and Wendy Armstrong—incredible volunteers and leaders. Thank you so much for being with us today.

I also want to recognize, in the gallery today, Canada’s first and former ambassador of religious freedoms, Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett. Thank you for joining us in the people’s House.

It’s my pleasure to also introduce this morning the following champions from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture: Peggy Brekveld, president; Tracey Arts, director for Elgin and Oxford; Larry Davis, director for Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk; and last but certainly not least, Haldimand county’s rock-star egg farmer and OFA young leader, Charlotte Huitema.