My question is for the Premier.

Speaker, the trades provide lucrative and secure employment for millions of Ontarians. Historically, women have been under-represented in these industries. To close the gender wage gap, it’s vital that we start early. We need to make dedicated efforts to recruit women into the trades, and this means ongoing hands-on opportunities throughout high school and post-secondary.

However, high schools and secondary schools have been consistently underfunded by successive Liberal and Conservative governments, which has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of available shops and an extreme shortage of qualified shop teachers.

How does the government expect to recruit women into the trades while neglecting and underfunding these programs?

My question is to the Premier.

Caregivers are holding our health care system together through their tireless and selfless efforts to serve the most vulnerable people in our community. The work is largely done by women. They are doing this at great personal and financial cost, and their workload only goes up as this government continues to underfund and privatize our health care system. The least we can do is provide a caregiver benefit, which will allow these heroes to get a bit of respite care, pay for the equipment they need, and provide some compensation for their time.

The Ontario NDP has long fought for a caregiver benefit and will be keeping this government’s feet to the fire until we get caregivers what they deserve.

Will the government commit today to a caregiver benefit, or will I have to continue to stand up in this place to convince this government to do the right thing?

Back to the Premier: We know the incredibly important role unpaid caregivers play in supporting our mums, our dads, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles, and those living with significant mental and physical disabilities in the province of Ontario. We know that more than half of the women in Canada—close to nine million women—perform caregiving work. But under this government, there are zero protections or benefits for unpaid caregivers, who make enormous personal and professional sacrifices to care for those in need and the ones we love.

When is this government going to do something to support unpaid caregivers in the province of Ontario? Please answer about caregivers.

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, we all know that access to affordable child care is a huge determinant of women’s labour participation. Affordable child care in this province could add nearly 100,000 more women to Ontario’s labour force. And yet, at every turn, this government has neglected and underfunded the rollout of affordable child care in this province. Every space that is unopened due to the government’s lack of a funding formula or staff shortages due to low wage impacts a family, a mother looking to earn an equitable wage.

Will the Premier commit to properly funding child care so that women who can work will be able to access equal pay in the child care workforce?

My question is also to the Premier.

In Ontario, caregiver jobs are predominantly filled by women in crucial sectors like health care, long-term care, education, developmental services and child care. Those women are often primary caregivers for their own families too. And yet, we see a disheartening lack of progress in closing the gender pay gap. In fact, the government brings in legislation like Bill 124 to suppress the wages of those workers. Frankly, women are tired of waiting.

This government’s failure on affordable child care has resulted in limited spaces and long wait-lists, which we know further disproportionately impacts women in the workforce.

Speaker, when will this government get serious about closing the gender pay gap and begin building a child care system where workers are paid fairly and the system is accessible and affordable for all women?