I’m struggling to find that in the legislation; maybe the member wants to point it out. But I’ll tell you, people are not coming into my office worrying about the terms of work. They’re worrying about actually finding a job that they can afford to work at. You have to be able to earn, like, $30, $35 an hour, minimum, just to be able to pay the rent in the city of Hamilton. If you move into the city of Toronto, you better be making a big whopping paycheque to be able to afford that.

More than hearing from my constituents about terms of reference, I’m hearing about the affordability costs and what that’s doing to their mental health, when they’re struggling each and every day to be able to pay the rent, to get the food on the table, to be able to put gas in the car, to be able to pay the bus fare that it takes for them to be able to even just possibly get to work.

I just need the members opposite to see that everything is connected. People can’t go to work if they don’t have roofs over their head, if they can’t afford food. If we do not support them to actually get into a workforce with safe, affordable housing, we’re setting them up for failure, and that’s only going to provide more money—

I just have to say: I couldn’t be prouder to sit beside the member for Hamilton Mountain. She fights every day for the most vulnerable people in our community, and she lets this government know every day how they’ve let down not just workers with this paltry legislation, but how they failed on the autism file, how they failed to deliver housing for people that need it most and how they’ve legislated people into poverty with their poverty imposition for people on OW and ODSP.

My question to the member is: Can you just explain that this government has not only legislated poverty, but they don’t protect workers—for example, vulnerable workers who had their wages stolen—and they don’t enforce it with employers to make sure that they are paid the wages they are due, and in general, how this government does not actually support vulnerable people through this legislation or at all?

Next question?

Further debate?

Mr. Jones has moved that the question be now put. I am satisfied that there has been sufficient debate to allow this question to be put to the House. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I declare the motion carried.

Mr. Piccini has moved third reading of Bill 79, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to employment and labour and other matters. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

Resuming the debate adjourned on June 8, 2023, on the motion to recognize newly elected members of provincial Parliament.

Good afternoon, Madam Speaker. Colleagues, it’s with tremendous humility and gratitude that I rise for the first time in the Ontario Legislature. I want to begin by thanking the people of Kanata–Carleton for once again trusting me with the honour and privilege of being their elected representative. I’m ready and I’m eager to represent them at the provincial Legislature, and I promise to work hard every day to serve them.

I must also acknowledge I would not be in this honourable place without the love and support of my husband and children. They have been the ones who have made the sacrifices needed for me to do the work to serve the people of Kanata–Carleton. I love you so much.

Madam Speaker, it was a crazy summer, with a by-election in the heat of July. I just want to say thank you to all of the volunteers, the donors and the supporters who came out day after day, night after night, working hard to make that victory possible. We knocked on almost 20,000 doors in that short election, and I heard loud and clear what the priorities of my constituents are. They’re worried about the protection of public health care. They’re worried about the protection of public education, and they’re worried about their green spaces and the environment—so many important issues, and they all need to be addressed.

Kanata–Carleton is a beautiful and diverse riding that has attracted people from all over the world to work in its high-tech business park that actually produces over $15 billion in GDP annually to Canada. It employs the best and the brightest of this country, and it’s the centre of innovation and entrepreneurship.

We are also blessed to have a thriving agricultural industry with many generational farms producing dairy and livestock and cash crops, and we are lucky enough to be able to host the Carp agricultural fair, a tradition that stretches back to 1863, older than the country itself. But many rural residents are worried about their way of life. They’re worried about being able to sustain their farms. They need to know that both their farms and their way of life will be protected. We need farmers to keep farming. Paving over prime farmland is a folly of the highest order.

Madam Speaker, I want to give a shout-out to two long-time residents of Kanata–Carleton who represent the very best of community builders: 98-year-old Roly Armitage, a World War II veteran who served our country with distinction. Juanita Snelgrove is a bright, beautiful 106-year-old who has always served her community with heart and commitment. Roly and Juanita, thank you for being such an inspiration to all of us and for serving our wonderful community.

As provincial parliamentarians, we have a tremendous responsibility to serve the people of Ontario. Let me be clear, Madam Speaker, that I strongly believe in quality public health care for everyone and a strong public education system for all of our children, and I will do everything I can to protect the public green spaces and farmland in my riding and indeed right across Ontario.

In the past six years, my riding has had two record-setting floods of the century and a tornado. Many people are still recovering, trying to recover what was lost. Preventing these kinds of catastrophic events is not something easily done; however, protecting the natural landscapes that help mitigate extreme weather events is something that is definitely achievable. The public green space in my riding is critical to the health of the greater watershed and plays a vital role in flood management in the local area. Protecting critical green spaces is something that is within our power, and we need to do whatever is necessary to protect them so we don’t end up facing the serious consequences of what is expected to be more frequent and more severe weather events, like flooding.

We must incentivize the building of safe, sustainable, affordable homes that also does not jeopardize the safety and well-being and security of others. We have some challenges ahead of us, but we have the skills and the talent needed to overcome these challenges if we do what’s best for the greatest number of people—if we do what is the greatest good and if we work together.

I saw two signs yesterday—my first day at Queen’s Park. One said, “Public pain for private gain,” and I heard a lot about pain in the by-election, knocking on doors of people who were hurting because of this dismantling of our public health care system. The number one issue at the door was the lack of primary care—the lack of family doctors. There are no silver-bullet solutions because of the damage inflicted on our health care system by COVID, but there are things we can do today to improve the situation in both the short and long term.

Another sign said, “Health for the many instead of wealth for the few.” Madam Speaker, these are important messages. Our prime mission should be to serve the many, to serve the greater good, to serve all the people, not just the powerful and the wealthy few. We need to be listening to these messages. We need to be taking action, to make our governmental decisions as fair, open, transparent and democratic as possible. We also must be cognizant that introducing a profit motive into our public services brings with it considerable risk.

It’s important to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge the challenges facing us. We owe our constituents no less. We earned the trust of their vote and now our actions will determine if we retain that trust. We need to look at the long-term impacts of decisions we make. We need to ask ourselves: What are the potential consequences of our actions, both intended and unintended? Are we addressing a need today, only to create the problems of the future? This is something we need to consider, and we need to ensure that our decisions are not creating hardship and risk, not only for our children and grandchildren, but also for the most vulnerable among us—the elderly, the sick, the disabled. They all deserve our care and support.

That’s why decisions must not only be based on data, evidence, science and statistics, but also on compassion. I will work hard every day to help make the best decisions possible. I don’t care who has the good idea which will help people—I will work with you. I will give you the credit; I don’t need the credit. I just want to help make people’s lives better and I think the people in this chamber feel the same way.

This is what I will be doing when I consider legislation. I’ll look at the short-term and long-term impacts, and my military and aviation past has led me to look at the risks and dangers of any particular action or decision. As always, the devil is in the details, and those details are important if we want the best outcomes for people. I want to make sure we use this lens to guide our actions to create the best opportunity for people to prosper and live their best lives. We need to be clear with our constituents on the priorities and objectives and plans, and we must hold ourselves accountable by measuring and evaluating our progress.

Madam Speaker, it’s not what we say that matters; it’s what we do. Sometimes we need to remember that here in question period.

The constituents of Kanata–Carleton have heard me, many times, say again and again—I’m going to share it with you. It’s my mother’s favourite saying: It is not happiness that makes you grateful; it is gratefulness that makes you happy. Let me close by saying how very grateful I am to be here today, to be with all of you, to work with all of you, to be the best servant I can be. My thanks to you all.

I move adjournment of debate.

Further debate?

I believe the member for Nepean has a point of order.

Interjection.

Debate adjourned.

The House recessed from 1743 to 1800.

Evening meeting reported in volume B.