I want to thank the member from the other side. I was happy to hear that she agreed with the ODSP element, and she talked about the cost of living and seniors.

Another member talked about the dire need. This legislation, if passed, would cut costs for people across this province and support those on ODSP and fixed incomes, and work to help more Ontario students get into the good-paying skilled trade careers that this province needs. By increasing the monthly earning exemptions on ODSP from $200 to $1,000 per month, we are making significant changes. Why won’t the member from across support the legislation?

It’s always a pleasure to listen to my friend from Mississauga–Malton hold forth in this place.

I have a question around recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program and what the member talked about in this financial update. He noted that it is a good thing that the clawback on income has been expanded to $1,000 a month. But as the member knows well, because we’ve had discussions on this in this place, a requirement to qualify for the Ontario Disability Support Program is a medical note, a certificate, demonstrating that you cannot attain significant attachment to paid employment. You can’t qualify for ODSP unless you have a medical professional—a doctor, generally—proving that to qualify for ODSP. So I’m going to ask the member, what is the government’s vision for people with disabilities who do not have the capacity to get that $1,000 of paid employment income? The income levels that we have on ODSP, the $1,200 a month—are those adequate to live in Mississauga–Malton, Ottawa Centre, or anywhere else in the province of Ontario? I would submit, no. So what is the government’s plan to help people with disabilities who can’t make that $1,000 a month? Moreover, what could the government do to acknowledge the volunteer labour that so many of those persons with disabilities do and the value that brings to our province?

I want to acknowledge and thank the member opposite for that question. I was listening intently. I thought he was probably going to take the whole 10 minutes asking the question.

Our government wants to make sure that every worker who is able to work, can work, wants to work is on the path of the dignity of a job.

Talking about the re-entry jobs and the ODSP that the member opposite is talking about—we have seen, in 2019, 88% of all the injured workers were able to return to work and earn 100% of their pre-injury wages within one year.

We have increased the ODSP rate by 5%. Through this statement, we’re actually moving further, by increasing the Ontario disability support monthly earnings exemption from $200 to $1,000 per month. This change would encourage as many as 25,000 more individuals to participate in the workforce.

Madam Speaker, our government supports our injured workers and anyone and everyone who is on ODSP. We will continue to focus on creating hope and opportunity for all Ontarians.

I remember when I landed here on January 15, 2000—and even before I landed, my wife came home from the office and said, “We’re going to Canada.” I said, “What’s that?” She said, “That’s the land of opportunities.”

Proudly, 17 years after landing in Canada, I want to say thank you to my extended family and God for giving me an opportunity to become a candidate in 2018. Eighteen years after landing, I became a member of provincial Parliament.

What I’m trying to say to every newcomer is, if you can dream it, with your hard work, with the support of other Ontarians, you can achieve it here. That’s what we do here.

I still remember when I came here, when we bought our first house in Brampton—70 Native Landing in Brampton—we used to go and see it almost every second week to see how far it had gone up.

This government is committed—as we heard this morning from the Associate Minister of Housing, we will continue to support Ontarians, and we will make sure that we will build 1.5 million homes in the next 10 years.

Again, going back to, if you can dream it, through hard work here in Ontario you can achieve it—that is what our government is doing.

When I came here, the first thing I did was, I went back to Sheridan College. I understand the value of education. Back then, we used to start in the morning—by the evening, we would have two or three jobs. Back then, also, in 2000-01, there was a huge labour shortage, something which we are facing now.

Thankfully, we have a government that believes in and understands giving a hand to Ontarians through the SDF program. We are helping Ontarians through Better Jobs Ontario. We are making sure anyone who is looking for a job, who wants to do a job, who is able to do a job—through the small credentials, we will support them.

Along with that, we know that our youth needs a hand, needs help. We know there are going to be over 100,000 jobs in construction alone coming up. That’s why we are investing in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program. I encourage everyone: Reach out to your guidance counsellor. We are actually doing career fairs across the province. We want to tell these youth: Come join the skilled trades and enjoy the benefits.

Regarding the question the member asked, I have a very simple answer: Read this wonderful document you have. There is a lot for our province of Ontario. Together, all of us—