Thank you to the member opposite for her debate time. I definitely listened intently as she raised the Plastimet fire. We know the case of Bob Shaw and the cancer that he obtained through that, and the presumptive legislation that came from that fire and Bob, due to the work of Andrea Horwath, who was the previous leader of the NDP and is now the mayor of Hamilton, who worked diligently to ensure that that legislation was passed. We’re pleased to see that expanded, but I find it unconscionable that it is not in this legislation.

Can the member please explain why they do not feel it is necessary to embed it in legislation and ensure that it is there to support firefighters forever in time?

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?

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—