I rise today to commemorate International Women’s Day. While there will be time to reflect on the accomplishments of women, I want to make sure that we are all laser-focused on women’s safety and women’s health, especially as the provincial budget will be coming forward in a few weeks.

I call on the members of this chamber to press for real action to ensure women are prioritized in this budget. We are seven months removed from the Renfrew county inquest, which made 86 recommendations to the province to ensure we protect women and children against violence and femicide. Over half of those recommendations are without a provincial response. Ontario can do better. We all know rising inflation and interest rates mean more gendered implications for quality of life, well-being and access to basic needs.

Almost a year ago, my colleague responded to this by proposing that Ontario should offer universal contraception for women, something British Columbia announced they will be doing in this year’s budget. Ontario can do better. We can make a difference for women through this budget, ensuring the organizations that work to keep them safe are funded and women get the support they need.

I would like to see us celebrate women this week not by looking backward, but by looking forward, by working together to ensure we create a budget in Ontario that makes women’s health an economic priority.