Voici l’histoire d’une commettante, Stéphanie, une mère célibataire avec deux jeunes enfants, qui a travaillé comme aide-enseignante. Voici les coûts de besoins de base, par mois, pour survivre—pas de surplus :

—le loyer, 1 200 piastres;

—le chauffage, 230 $;

—les « groceries », 800 $;

—le câble et le téléphone, 250 $;

—l’électricité, 75 $;

—le paiement de l’auto, 300 $; et

—l’assurance, 150 $.

Pour un total de 3 500 $ par mois. Le salaire : 2 800 $, un déficit de mille dollars.

Stéphanie a dû faire des choix difficiles pour sa petite famille, pour survivre. Stéphanie a dû quitter son emploi qu’elle aimait, pour lequel Stéphanie avait étudié, d’aide-enseignante.

Alors, ma question est simple : monsieur le Premier Ministre, quand allez-vous arrêter de mentir à la population, aller vous asseoir à la table des négociations et négocier une convention, ce qui est supposé de se faire avec les droits des travailleurs?

We’ve been abundantly clear: We would have preferred a voluntary option. It was our government that got a voluntary agreement with every education union just two and a half years ago.

Mr. Speaker, when the union on Sunday announces unilaterally that they will strike on Friday, what are the options before a government other than introducing legislation to avert a strike and deliver stability for children? If the Liberals’ and New Democrats’ position is to hope for the best with a deal, and if the union does not withdraw a strike, then we’re putting kids in a perilous position. Clearly, this union is going to strike; it was their intention all along.

We have an obligation to stand up for children, to keep them in school and to provide some stability for their families, for their working parents and for the kids of this province.

We are committed to investing more in public education—680 million more dollars this year, compared to last year. What we’re also committed to is standing up and keeping kids in the classroom.

I want to thank the member from Sarnia–Lambton for being such a champion in his community for people in the skilled trades. Our government is on a mission to get more young people into these careers.

Right now, in our province, nearly 400,000 jobs are going unfilled. By 2025, one in five new job openings will be in the skilled trades.

Our skilled trades system was neglected under the previous Liberal government. In fact, that’s why today the average age of an apprentice in our province is 29. But we’re changing that.

That is why, this fall, we’re hosting skilled trades career fairs for the first time in history, to encourage more students in grades 7 to 12 to enter the trades.

Mr. Speaker, as the Premier often says, when you have a job in the trades, you have a job for life. We agree.

Our Skills Development Fund is supporting nearly 400 projects that are helping nearly 400,000 people get the training they need to start rewarding careers close to home. One example is our $3-million investment in the Aecon Women in Trades program, which is training 350 women for jobs in construction, as welders, boilermakers, insulators and labourers.

We’re giving women a hand up to purpose-driven careers in the trades because it’s true that we need all hands on deck to build a stronger Ontario.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

We are joined today by members of OSSTF and OPSEU, including medical lab technologists, teachers, social workers, educational assistants, early childhood educators and many other essential workers. They are calling for immediate action to respect all of those public workers.

Premier, will you listen to those professionals and other unionized public sector workers and withdraw Bill 28 and go back to the bargaining table with CUPE?

Minister of Education.

Interjections.

Ms. Bell was escorted from the chamber.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Mr. Glover was escorted from the chamber.

This government had the worst record in the country and across the world when it came to dealing with COVID in our school system, in education. For 27 weeks our schools were closed. They did not have proper instructions for health care. That’s what happened under this ministry and this government, and they have the audacity to talk about bringing back students to classrooms.

Do we have anybody on strike right now? No, we don’t. You are pre-emptively introducing legislation that tramples on the rights of workers across this province. And this legislation, make no mistake—everyone knows this, including unions that have supported you. They know this because they’re on the side of workers today. You know why? Because this kind of legislation makes a precedent for the future, for all workers.

I stand in solidarity with the teacher who taught for 30 years. I stand with all these parents. I stand with the students who suffered and right now are suffering through so many mental health issues. They need educational workers—

We are listening to the priorities and voices of parents who demand their children are in school. That is why we are here today, reacting to a union’s decision to strike on Friday, a strike which I would hope none of us would support.

The fact is, Speaker, they are proceeding with a strike on Friday, against the interests of two million children, even after the government urged them to withdraw the strike, to bring forth a reasonable offer and to negotiate a deal that we can all live with. But here we are, Speaker, two days before a strike that will impact so many of the kids of this province, many of whom are vulnerable and should be in our schools.

We are bringing forth legislation before this House that will provide stability for parents, realizing that the preference of the government is a voluntary option. When unions continue to discuss a path to a strike, we will move forward on a path to provide stability for kids.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear: We didn’t want to be here. We would have preferred a voluntary option. We gave the union a path to avert a strike that they themselves put the province on.

In response to their action of striking on Friday, with millions of kids in the crosshairs, we brought forth the bill as a last resort to ensure children remain in school. I would have hoped those members, their leadership and the people of Ontario would understand: We are committed to their work, but we’re also committed to keeping kids in school.

I thank the member for Simcoe–Grey for the question. Hard-working Ontarians deserve to be treated fairly when making one of the biggest purchases of their lives, a new home. The Premier has said this type of appalling behaviour is unacceptable, and our government has a zero-tolerance approach to it. That’s why Minister Steve Clark and I announced that we are doubling the maximum fine for unethical builders who unfairly cancel contracts, and, for the first time ever anywhere in Canada, money from these penalties will go back to the victims.

On this side of the aisle we are taking action to stop this appalling behaviour and getting it done for new homebuyers.

We are making life easier for the many honest Ontarian builders that fulfill their contracts honestly and will no longer have to compete with unethical competition.

Member for Nickel Belt, supplementary.

The House recessed from 1149 to 1300.

Afternoon meeting reported in volume B.

Thank you very much, Speaker. I also want to show solidarity. I’m wearing purple, and I know many of my colleagues are. I just heard a 13-year-old boy was asked to change his T-shirt because he was doing it in solidarity with workers across the province. Unfortunately, he could not, but to those of you who tried and who are trying to, thank you very much. It comes from here and we are standing in solidarity.

Thank you very much, Speaker. Today, across Canada, people are showing their 4-H colours by wearing green, and I would like to thank everybody in this chamber today for wearing green and supporting 4-H members across Ontario.

My question is to the Minister of Energy. With Russia’s unprovoked and illegal attack on Ukrainians and growing international economic instability due to rising inflation rates, the cost of living and energy affordability are significant concerns for many individuals. With winter approaching, people are thinking more about how to heat their homes affordably.

For those in rural, remote and northern communities, our government’s natural gas expansion has ensured this option for many. Yesterday, the Liberal member for Kingston and the Islands introduced legislation that proposes limiting natural gas access across the province. Can the minister please share with us what his reaction is to this proposed legislation?

Under the watch of former Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, Ontario’s families faced the highest energy rates in North America. Because of their destructive and ideologically driven policy, many individuals had to choose between heating and eating during the Liberal times in government.

Mr. Speaker, can the minister assure my constituents and this Legislature that our government will not support failed Liberal energy policies limiting consumer energy and home heating choice?

Thanks to the member from Scarborough Centre for the question this morning. I appreciate it, and I can’t believe that the opposition Liberals want to strip the options away from people to heat their homes across rural Ontario. On the face of it, it seems that is what the bill that was introduced yesterday does.

Do you know that over 67% of homes, families, in Ontario heat their homes with natural gas, and more communities, not less, want to have natural gas as an option? My parliamentary assistants and I met with many of them at the Ontario municipalities association and the ROMA conferences earlier this year. That’s why phase 3 of our natural gas expansion program is so important.

At a time when energy security and affordability are top of mind, not just here in Ontario but around the world, Mr. Speaker, I can’t believe that the Liberal Party wants to reduce the options for people to heat their homes across Ontario.

Our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is focused on more customer choice and making life more affordable for the people of Ontario. That’s why we’ve introduced new electricity pricing plans, like the ultra-low overnight rate, Mr. Speaker, and also the “green button” standard, which is actually going to give residents across Ontario more control over their energy bills, potentially saving 18%.

That’s why it’s sad to see the Liberal Party, which was actually decimated in the 2018 election—and then a repeated decimation in 2022, largely because of their energy policy.

You know, the title of Bill 29—and I can’t believe the members of the Liberal Party that have been through this before—is Think Twice Before You Choose Natural Gas. That’s the name of the bill, Mr. Speaker.

Interjection.

We never left the negotiating table. We always remain willing to meet the unions so long as they withdraw their strike on Friday. I mean, honestly, do you agree that there should be a strike as a backdrop of a negotiation when we’re trying to provide stability for kids?

Our simple ask is withdraw the strike, allow kids to be in school and ensure children have the stability they deserve. That’s a reasonable request, especially knowing that we are increasing their pay every year over the course of the program. We’re hiring 1,800 more. We’re preserving benefits and pensions and 131 days of sick leave, which most people in this economy could only dream of.

This is a competitive offer. What we’re asking for is for students to come first in this debate. Let’s make sure they stay in school on Friday and every day this school year.

This government has established a pattern of disrespecting and devaluing public sector workers. We are seeing it in health care, and we are seeing it in education. They seem to have a particular disdain for sectors dominated by women workers. We have seen it with the devastating impact of this government’s low-wage policy with Bill 124.

Education workers and health care workers are exhausted, demoralized and leaving their jobs, yet the government continues to deny that people want this government to respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They want them to go back with CUPE, get an agreement that nobody likes—you won’t like it; CUPE won’t like it—but that everybody can live with. Will you withdraw Bill 28 and go back to the negotiations table?