SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
September 25, 2023 10:15AM
  • Sep/25/23 10:30:00 a.m.

I’d like to introduce some students from the University of Toronto: Luca Rampersad, Makayla Kelly, Emma Hartviksen, Jack Baker, Kati Gunnell, Joshua Bakradze, Kate Martens and Sara Yoneci. Welcome to your House.

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  • Sep/25/23 11:40:00 a.m.

Supplementary question? The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s.

Conclude your question.

Interjections.

Start the clock. The next question.

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  • Sep/25/23 2:50:00 p.m.
  • Re: Bill 79 

The number of working people who are accessing food banks on a regular basis has continued to climb since 2018, when the Conservative government was elected. I know that’s the fault of the Liberal government, but it continues to climb every year. In fact, in Toronto, food bank clients with full-time employment have doubled in the past year—in 2022—to 33%.

How is this working for workers if full-time workers are going to food banks?

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  • Sep/25/23 2:50:00 p.m.
  • Re: Bill 79 

I’m glad to stand on behalf of the residents and community members of Toronto–St. Paul’s, my home riding, to talk about the government’s Working for Workers Act.

There are many ACTRA workers in my community. There are TVO workers in my community. There are health care workers, PSWs and nurses in my community. And none of them feel like this government is working for workers. Today, we had thousands of health care professionals and allies at Queen’s Park fighting a government that wants to privatize health care.

So my question to this Conservative government is, how is the Working for Workers Act helping public sector workers? How is it helping TVO workers? How is it helping ACTRA workers? How is it helping migrant farmers who are being bullied by bad employers? And does the Working for Workers Act include a repeal of Bill 124—because that would really be working for workers.

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  • Sep/25/23 4:30:00 p.m.
  • Re: Bill 79 

I listened to my friend from Brampton North intently. I have a question for him, given the intent about Working for Workers. There’s another bill before this House that would seem to suggest the government’s commitment to this may be a little fickle. I’m thinking about transit workers, the people who were there to move us around in the middle of the pandemic, who put themselves at risk, who are facing situations of violence on our transit system all the time—and we’ve talked about that in this place. Schedule 1 of Bill 131 before this House allows the TTC here in the great city of Toronto to enter into agreements with other regional transit authorities where the collective agreement signed with employees in those transit systems would not apply.

Can the member from Brampton North clarify if he believes in the value of collective bargaining agreements, if he believes that those collective bargaining agreements negotiated in good faith with employers in transit should remain in force in any transit arrangement this government comes up with?

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