So to be clear, there are expansions in Hamilton with the Greater Hamilton Health Network and primary care stakeholder council. Is the member opposite going to support that investment?

There are investments in the—

Interjection.

Interjection.

These are historic multidisciplinary teams that are new and expanded across the province of Ontario. Is the member going to support those investments?

Because at the core, what we have is a health care system that was ignored for decades by the previous Liberal government. We are making those changes. We’ve already announced these expansions. Now, all you have to do is tell your community you are going to—

Interjections.

That program alone has seen amazing results. In the city of Guelph, as an example, we saw decreases of almost 80% in terms of the wait times for individuals who go into emergency departments. I was able to speak to the mayor earlier today to talk about how that one program has impacted their community in a very positive way.

Can we do more? Absolutely—and we will continue to do more. I think it’s really important for the member opposite to understand that these programs have been built with the input of our agencies, whether that is hospitals, whether that is nurses like the College of Nurses or the RPNAO, with paramedics, to make sure that the programs we put in place are actually impacting our communities in a positive way—

But we are working with our partners. We’re not opposing the innovation and the changes that they want to bring forward to make sure that we have appropriate health care in our communities closer to home.

Thank you to the member from Kitchener–Conestoga for that question and for his advocacy against carbon tax.

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. The federal carbon tax is making life more expensive for the people of Ontario, especially forcing parents to face unnecessary costs when they’re driving to work, when they’re driving their children to school, even for extracurricular activities.

That is why I’m proud that under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government continues to oppose this harmful carbon tax. Unfortunately, the Liberals and NDP are so out of touch that they are happy to support a carbon tax that only hurts individuals and families throughout Ontario. They keep doing what they do best: They are saying no to any measure that provides financial relief to Ontarians. Speaker, they said no to 418 and 412—removing toll. They don’t want commuters to save $300 on the 418 toll, and they don’t want $150 saving on the 412 tolls.

Our government will continue to stand up to keep costs down so that Ontarians can keep more money in their pockets, where it belongs.

Our government continues to fight the adverse effects of the carbon tax by finding more ways to provide financial relief for the people of Ontario. That is why, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we eliminated licence plate renewal fees. As a result of this initiative, over $2.2 billion went back directly to the pockets of people, of seven million hard-working people in Ontario.

Speaker, whether it’s removing fees or eliminating tolls or eliminating double fares with the One Fare program, we will continue to fight to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario.

My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation. Since the federal government imposed the carbon tax, people in Ontario have been paying more for everything. Residents in my riding of Kitchener–Conestoga tell me that they’re finding it more difficult to keep up with the rising costs of groceries and gas.

Speaker, at a time when many Ontarians are already struggling with high inflation costs, they should not have to worry about being able to drive where they need to go. Unlike the opposition NDP and independent Liberals, our government will continue to advocate for Ontarians and ask the federal Liberals to put an end to the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what impact the carbon tax is having on the transportation needs of Ontario families?

The reality is that the carbon tax is leading to soaring fuel prices that make life unaffordable and difficult for everyone. Mr. Speaker, if you can believe it, the federal Liberals are planning on raising this tax 23% on April 1. It’s a cruel joke. We know that cancelling this unnecessary cost will deliver more affordability for Ontario drivers and put more money back into their pockets. That’s why our government will continue to call on the federal Liberals to get rid of the carbon tax.

Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how our government is making life more affordable for Ontarians while we continue to fight this awful tax?

Far too many of my constituents are going without health care, because Ottawa is short 171 family doctors. Ottawa residents who are sick, anxious about symptoms or even simply looking to renew a prescription are forced to turn to the Queensway Carleton Hospital, one of the busiest emergency departments in the province.

But this government cut funding for emergency care at the Queensway Carleton, meaning that, by April, there will be 10 fewer hours of physician coverage in the ER every single day.

Why does the Minister of Health think people in Ottawa should have to wait hours in an overstretched ER just to receive basic health care?

The minister is expanding funding for primary care, but to only a small proportion of the clinics in Ontario that have actually asked for funding and support to expand. People in Ottawa still don’t know when or if their local primary clinic is one of the clinics that will get funding, because the government is refusing to share how they’re deciding which proposals to fund and who will actually get funding.

When will this government actually support the people of Ottawa instead of leaving them in the dark?

A number of members introduced friends of ours from Mount Dennis. There was one name neglected, though, Speaker, that I just want read in for the record: someone who meant to be with us but passed away. His name is Carl Cudlik, and I know he was with us in spirit—one of the fire-keepers from Mount Dennis. Thinking of you today, Carl.

I’d like to welcome to the House some members of the Ontario Prayer Breakfast: Charlie Lyons, our local reverend here; Reverend Steven Van Dyck; Michael Mackenzie; and Nicolas Pappalardo.

I’d like to welcome Brandon Machado, who is here from the Ontario NDP Persons with Disabilities Committee.

I would also like to welcome, from A Remarkable Assembly women’s forum, Abby Proteau from Thunder Bay–Superior North.

Deferred vote on the motion that the question now be put on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 162, An Act to enact the Protecting Against Carbon Taxes Act, 2024 and amend various Acts / Projet de loi 162, Loi édictant la Loi de 2024 sur la protection contre les taxes sur le carbone et modifiant diverses lois.

Order.

Next question.

The division bells rang from 1150 to 1155.

Mr. Sarkaria, on February 28, 2024, moved second reading of Bill 162, An Act to enact the Protecting Against Carbon Taxes Act, 2024 and amend various Acts.

On March 6, 2024, Mr. Jones, Chatham-Kent–Leamington, moved that the question be now put.

All those in favour of Mr. Jones’s motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Mr. Sarkaria has moved second reading of Bill 162, An Act to enact the Protecting Against Carbon Taxes Act, 2024 and amend various Acts.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?

I heard some noes.

All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”

All those opposed will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1200 to 1201.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Second reading agreed to.

I look to the minister for a committee referral.

It is now time to say a word of thanks to this group of legislative pages. Our pages are smart, trustworthy and hard-working. They’re indispensable to the effective functioning of this chamber, and we are indeed fortunate to have had them here.

To our pages: You depart having made many new friends, with a greater understanding of parliamentary democracy and memories that will last a lifetime. Each of you will go home now and continue your studies, and no doubt you will contribute to your communities, your province and your country in important ways. We expect great things from all of you. Who knows? Maybe some of you someday will take your seats in this House as members or work here as staff. No matter where your path leads, we wish you well.

Please join me in thanking this great group of legislative pages.

Applause.

The House recessed from 1206 to 1300.

Report deemed adopted.

Ms. Thompson moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 171, An Act to enact the Veterinarian Professionals Act, 2024 and amend or repeal various acts / Projet de loi 171, Loi visant à édicter la Loi de 2024 sur les professionnels vétérinaires et à modifier ou à abroger diverses lois.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

Mr. Cuzzetto moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr42, An Act respecting the Luso Canadian Charitable Society.

First reading agreed to.

Mr. Tabuns moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 172, An Act to improve energy affordability through distributed energy resources and deep retrofits / Projet de loi 172, Loi visant à rendre l’énergie plus abordable grâce aux ressources énergétiques distribuées et aux rénovations majeures.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

The Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy.

Today, I’d like to welcome some amazing people from our ag and food industry, and specifically representatives from the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, the Ontario SPCA, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, Ontario Veterinary College, Colleges Ontario, ROMA, Equine Guelph, Ontario Goat, Ontario Association of Bovine Practitioners and the Rural Ontario Institute. Welcome to the House. We have a great afternoon ahead of us.

Mr. Saunderson moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr40, An Act to revive 1000151830 Ontario Inc.

I’d like to welcome to the House today representatives from the Beef Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Sheep Farmers, the Ontario Association of Equine Practitioners, Chicken Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Goat, Ontario Equestrian, the Ontario Farriers Association, the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association and the Ontario Association of Bovine Practitioners.

As well, I’d like to welcome our deputy minister, John Kelly, and the amazing team from OMAFRA for helping us today. Thank you for joining us in your House today.

On behalf of the official opposition, I’d also like to welcome all the movers and shakers in the agricultural industry in Ontario, and also the people who work keeping animals healthy. We’re all looking forward to finding new ways to get more vets into Ontario. Thank you to all of you.

The bill gives the government the authority to set up affordable energy Ontario to finance and organize the deep retrofit of homes across Ontario and the provision of distributed energy, primarily solar, to homes and communities across Ontario. And a gripping bill, it is, Mr. Speaker—a gripping bill it is.

MPP Wong-Tam moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 173, An Act respecting intimate partner violence / Projet de loi 173, Loi concernant la violence entre partenaires intimes.

Would the member care to briefly explain their bill?

I would. Thank you very much, Speaker, for the opportunity.

The bill enacts the Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act, 2024. The act requires the government of Ontario to recognize that intimate partner violence is an epidemic in Ontario. The Renfrew county inquest into the deaths of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam at the hands of intimate partner violence yielded 76 recommendations. This bill would enact the first recommendation of the inquest and formally declare that intimate partner violence is an epidemic in Ontario.

The tragic deaths of the Renfrew county women should not be in vain. This bill is dedicated to them and all Ontarians who have experienced intimate partner violence, and to those working tirelessly to end it.

I am honoured to stand in the House and recognize International Women’s Day. On March 8 each year, Ontario joins communities around the world to celebrate the countless achievements of women. International Women’s Day is an important opportunity to highlight the actions we are taking to remove barriers and create better opportunities for women and girls.

Women are the beating heart of our province. They are teachers, scientists, tradespeople and farmers who work hard every day to build Ontario. They are our mothers, our wives, and sisters and daughters—the people in our lives who mean so much to us. They are inspirational role models who show future generations of girls that they can be anything they want to be.

Interjections.

This past year, the world’s top professional women’s hockey league, the PWHL, was established with teams in Toronto and Ottawa, and the first game in league history was played right here in Toronto.

Two women directors with close ties to Ontario were nominated for Oscars. Nisha Pahuja, based here in Toronto and in Brampton, was nominated for her documentary To Kill a Tiger. It’s a phenomenal movie. And Celine Song, a Queen’s University alum, received two nominations for her film Past Lives. I know the House will join me in wishing them all the best this Sunday at the Oscars.

We are grateful to all the women who make our province great. However, despite the progress we have made, women and girls do continue to face disproportionate barriers to achieving their full potential. As Ontario’s Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, my job is to ensure that women have the support they need to overcome these barriers.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress.”

The government of Ontario is making historic investments to support women to succeed in their careers, in their communities and in their lives. Women represent half of Ontario’s workforce, but they are more likely to be employed in part-time or minimum-wage jobs. With the rising cost of living across the province, it is this government that’s standing up for Ontarians. We increased the minimum wage just last fall, and we continue to raise the minimum wage with annual increases to reflect the cost of living.

We’re also working across government to make life more affordable. We introduced the CARE tax credit, which will provide about 300,000 families with up to 75% of their eligible child care expenses, and the low-income individuals and families tax credit—the LIFT tax credit—which will result in Ontario personal income tax being reduced or eliminated for about 1.7 million people.

In order to continue to bring children out of poverty, our government invested roughly $1.2 billion last year in the Ontario Child Benefit.

Our government knows that access to safe and high-quality child care is also vital for families. That’s why, under the leadership of our Minister of Education and Premier Ford, we have delivered unprecedented cost-saving measures for parents in need of child care. High-quality child care plays a key role in supporting a family’s economic prosperity and increasing women’s participation in the workforce.

Children are a blessing—I know, because I have five of them—but many women are now choosing not to have kids because of fear that having a child impacts their ability to build a career and their earnings and all the access that there is to future leadership positions. Mothers in Ontario often see their earnings decline, take more time off work for family responsibilities and are given less consideration for management roles, but nobody should have to choose between their children and their career.

Effective December 31, 2022, average child care fees in Ontario were reduced by 50% from 2020 levels, relieving parents of over $1.1 billion in child care costs in 2022-23. To date, our government has increased access to safe, reliable and affordable child care through the creation of over 46,000 child care spaces since taking office in 2018, including over 31,000 in publicly funded schools.

A strong child care and early learning sector will help more women achieve financial independence and better enable them to provide for their families. In fact, the Financial Accountability Officer found that the labour participation rate of mothers with children between the ages of zero to five increased from 76.5% in 2021 to 78.9% in 2022. It’s a 2.4% increase in just under one year, and that’s the highest increase on record since 1976 for all core-age mothers participating in the job market. That’s something to celebrate.

I’m particularly proud of the expansion of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care program, the CWELCC. It is helping to build a stronger Ontario by increasing women’s participation in the workforce.

Speaker, Ontario is facing pressing labour shortages over the next decade. Small businesses in Ontario are missing out on more than $16 billion in revenue in 2022 because of labour shortages. Our Associate Minister of Small Business is out there actively advocating for the many women who have small businesses that are helping to drive Ontario’s economy, and we thank her for that. But because of these labour shortages, according to the study of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, $16 billion in revenue is being lost.

Women are under-represented in higher paying roles and sectors like the skilled trades and STEM fields. In 2022, women accounted for only 8% of the labour force in the trades, transport and related occupations in Ontario. Our government is determined to see these numbers improve. We’re taking action to encourage more women to start a career in the skilled trades and land a better job with a bigger paycheque.

My colleague the Minister of Education is modernizing Ontario’s curriculum, increasing exposure to STEM, skilled trades and apprenticeship pathways at an earlier age. My colleague the Minister of Colleges and Universities recently invested $100 million to support STEM programming at publicly assisted colleges and universities. These changes will help ensure that more girls and young women grow up considering and preparing for rewarding and in-demand careers, including sectors where women are traditionally under-represented.

I recently participated in a round table with the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, where we listened to women in the skilled trades and discussed solutions. It was such a vibrant conversation about the real barriers that women are facing on the jobsite. That’s why we’ve implemented solutions like ensuring that there are washrooms designated for women on construction sites and requiring that women have properly fitted personal protective equipment on the job.

As a part of our government’s $1-billion skilled trades strategy, we are also working with schools to build passion for the trades in early life. Through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, we’ve invested $22 million to give high school students the chance to explore the trades through co-operative education courses, introducing young women to the trades earlier and providing them with supports and guidance they need from when they’re first interested, and all the way to the job site. It’s so crucial to getting them hooked in and enjoying a vibrant career in the trades.

To ensure we are retaining women in the skilled trades who can be leaders for the next generation, we are creating Skills Development Funds Training Stream, which supports organizations that empower workers and job seekers who face higher barriers to entry, and the results speak for themselves.

Just last year, we saw a historic increase in apprenticeship registrations, including nearly a 30% jump in the amount of women. Not only that, more women are getting jobs than ever before. I had the chance to go into mines and go on different job sites and speak to women who have had their lives completely changed because they started working in the skilled trades.

I met one woman recently at George Brown College who lost her job during the pandemic—because of the pandemic—and had a young five-year-old to take care of. She said, “You know what? I’ve got to make a change,” and Lilly went and registered at George Brown College and now, she is working at George Brown College after going through the welding program.

In three years, her life has been changed, and now, she feels empowered and is able to be a role model to her son and all of the women who are going through George Brown College into the trades. It’s significant.

So last year alone, 180,000 jobs were created in Ontario, and in 2023, Ontario created more manufacturing jobs than all 50 states combined. That’s significant. Last month, Ontario led the nation in job creation. Nearly 24,000 new jobs were added in our economy just in the month of January, and 9,700 of them were in construction. Ontario accounted for 65% of all jobs created in the country and we’re leading the nation in job creation.

It’s a fact that under the previous Liberal government, we lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs. And because of the leadership of Premier Ford, who was elected to bring this back, to make a turn, we’ve seen now 700,000 men and women go back to work. A strong economy means opportunity for women.

So if we continue down this road, we can only build, if we all join together against and ban this carbon tax. That is going to significantly impact women in Ontario.

You know, it was only a few years ago that Reuters announced there would be $300 billion spent on electric vehicles across the world and zero of it was coming to Canada. But thanks to our Minister of Economic Development, three years later, $28 billion in electric vehicles has landed in our province, putting men and women back to work every single day.

Bloomberg has now said that Canada is the number one jurisdiction around the world for electric vehicle parts. This is where we are. That is where we are. We have dethroned China from being the number-one position for the very first time, and our plan is to continue to build Ontario, make it the best place to do business in, and women are an integral part of that.

That’s why we’re helping more women create jobs for themselves and in their communities. Women are rising in the workforce leadership as entrepreneurs, with Canada ranking among the top three countries globally for female entrepreneurship.

We also know that women entrepreneurs face more barriers to accessing financing in growing their business. On average, women launch businesses with 53% less capital than men. As well, businesses with fewer than 20 employees and those in the service sector were among the hardest hit by the pandemic. Now, these are the two sectors where women-owned businesses were strongly represented. And that’s why Ontario has been leading initiatives to support small businesses and women entrepreneurs. One program I am particularly proud of is the Women’s Economic Security Program. This program provides training for low-income women to equip them with skills, knowledge and experience to find a job or start a business and increase their financial independence. Program participants can also access additional wraparound supports to help them succeed, like child care and transportation.

Last year, we built on the success of the Women’s Economic Security Program by increasing our investment by $500,000, bringing our total investment to $5.5 million, marking a nearly 10% increase in the program alone. We also expanded the Investing in Women’s Futures Program, bringing the total number of locations to 33 across Ontario. The Investing in Women’s Futures Program is about job readiness. It funds organizations across the province that provide safe spaces in skills training to help them gain financial independence but, most importantly, help them develop the confidence to be successful in any career that they choose. It helps them rebuild their lives after abuse and gives them counselling supports to empower them and lift them up. From 2021 to 2023, these programs have helped more than 14,000 women by providing flexible programs, wraparound services and have helped more than 3,600 women start their own businesses or get further training in education. And when you help one woman, you don’t just help her, you help the whole community around her—her children, her siblings, everyone.

The budget in 2023 included numerous programs to equip entrepreneurs with the tools and training needed to succeed in today’s digital economy—launching our $10-million new Digitalization Competence Centre, which provides training and support to small businesses looking to leverage emerging equipment and processes, and then there’s Futurpreneur Canada that helps young entrepreneurs access mentorship services and collateral-free loans and capital to grow their business.

I met some really amazing women and saw some new products like green cleaning products, a woman that has maternity-style workout clothing with the flaps for breastfeeding—amazing, practical solutions that women are creating businesses around and changing their whole lives.

These programs that we fund are really having an impact, as well as the 17 regional innovation centres and the 47 small business enterprise centres. They’re helping entrepreneurs across Ontario grow their businesses, hire employees—and that’s a big one. When you have a woman on the leadership team—or women—who are the heads of these companies, you have more diversity in your employees, and that’s what we want to see. When we have women at the head, you have more women in these companies. This is empowering the women to see themselves in these leadership roles, to see themselves being the CEO and the decision-makers. We are changing the course of our future for so many businesses, and women are at the forefront of it.

We’re helping women participate in the workforce. Helping them empowers them. It empowers them to support themselves and their families to achieve financial independence and increase their safety. We are increasing women’s safety through financial independence, because you’re allowing women to have the choice—the choice to get out, that ability to leave an abusive relationship, not be stuck in it because they can’t afford to leave. I’m telling you, it’s having an impact, and we’re seeing that every day when we go across Ontario and meet women who say, “Your programs helped me. Without your programs, I would still be stuck. Thank you.”

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I’m proud of the steps our government is taking to empower women. Together, we can continue to improve opportunities for women, empower them to pursue their dreams and to build a stronger Ontario, because when women succeed, Ontario succeeds.

Responses?

Before I begin, I want to thank my mother and my partner for their unwavering support, their love and their endurance during this last year, one of if not the hardest for us three. We’ve stuck through it together. I love you both dearly. And I’m glad to stand, of course, representing you two, constituents of mine and the many other community members in St. Paul’s.

It’s my honour to stand and speak today in recognition of International Women’s Day on behalf of the ONDP official opposition. Each of us in this Legislature has at least one woman in our lives, past or present, whom we could never thank enough for us being who and where we are today. And I have to believe that we would do everything in our power to ensure the amazing women in our lives are well supported throughout all life stages so they can thrive. For those of us who have lost beloved women in our lives, I’m certain we continue to hold their legacy strong, and the life lessons they have left with us.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme centres inclusion. It demands of us that we remember, as Rosemary Brown, the first Black woman to ever run for federal leadership in Canada, said, “Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it.” Said otherwise, no one is free until we are all free. Well, what is freedom? According to the dictionary, freedom means the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint; the absence of subjection to foreign domination or a tyrannical government; the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

Social conditions, I would argue, also contribute to women’s ability to be free. We need freedom over our reproductive rights and our choices. We need contraceptives available under OHIP. This government is free to do that today if they so choose and invest the political will to do so. Freedom involves having and enjoying the safety and stability of an affordable home where you can live without the fear of displacement, where you know your rent is never in danger of skyrocketing rent increases without limits. Shout-out to rent control—we can have it any day now if it’s this government’s political will, and it will help women in Ontario.

Housing, shelter, is and should be a human right but, in practice, especially under this government, we are far away from that—very, very far, as far as they are from their 1.5 million homes.

Freedom involves having access to nutritious and diverse food choices. It means not living in fear of food price gouging or having to mix your child’s milk with water to stretch it over their favourite cereal.

Women, we are resilient. We are creative. We are excellent problem-solvers. But this doesn’t absolve the government from their responsibility to adequately fund our education system so we can see the fruits of investment in the very young women and girls we’re all talking to in our communities tomorrow for International Women’s Day at our local elementary and post-secondary schools.

Freedom means having access to a justice system properly invested in by a government that doesn’t re-victimize survivors of violence but instead believes them, takes their cases seriously and ensures they see their day in court. I worry that this cannot get done with the inappropriate and, frankly, dangerous comments we’ve heard from this Premier about his desire for like-minded judges. I don’t want judges with like-minded values of this Premier, who seems to think it’s okay to chronically underfund rape crisis centres, sexual assault centres, to cut victims’ support services or legal aid, or who has silenced the very voices of women in this Legislature. That is not allyship.

And there is no freedom without women’s economic freedom, without equal pay, without safe workplaces without harassment. I believe the government actually voted down a bill on helping to create safe workplaces in municipal workplaces. That’s pretty sad, actually.

Women still haven’t seen the reality of pay equity here in Ontario although the legislation passed some 30 years ago, and this government’s tinkering with pay transparency, well, has barely begun to scratch the surface. We have witnessed this government take midwives to court, fight education workers, all of whom are predominantly women and, frankly, even racialized women at that. We’ve seen them refuse to cover 100% of take-home cancer drugs, for goodness’ sake, even at a time when we see rises in breast cancer.

All this to say, I want to thank women for being strong, for being tenacious, but I know that our strength and resilience isn’t enough; and it shouldn’t be enough. We need to have a government that stands up for all women in Ontario, especially those who have experienced the most marginalization.

Responses? I recognize the member for Scarborough–Guildwood.