There were a lot of milestones in health and safety this year.

April 28 was the 40th anniversary of the Workers Day of Mourning, and I’ve always been proud that it started in Sudbury.

It was also the 50th anniversary of the Elliot Lake uranium miners’ wildcat strike. That strike led to the Ham commission, which led to the backbone of our Occupational Health and Safety Act. Because of those workers, every worker in Ontario has the right to refuse unsafe work, to participate in workplace safety as part of their committee, and to know about hazards in the workplace. That’s something that—they struck for safety, and it didn’t just apply to the miners or people in Elliot Lake, but everyone in Ontario, which makes me very proud.

Last year was the 40th anniversary of Injured Workers’ Day. A fascinating story for you, Speaker: In 1983, the Legislature was doing some work on workers’ compensation—the predecessor to WSIB—and over 3,000 injured workers showed up at Queen’s Park to talk about this. The committee had to leave the committee room and do the deputations on the front stairs of Queen’s Park. The following year, in 1984, they had Injured Workers’ Day, the very first one—and they’ve been doing this for 40 years. The thing that’s surprising about this is that it has never been formally recognized in the Legislature as an official day. So I am hoping, before the 41st anniversary on June 1, that we will recognize this.

I have a bill that’s coming for debate on the 30th. It’s my bill, but it’s all of our bills. We all go to Injured Workers’ Day ceremonies. We all recognize the importance of helping injured workers and ensuring they’re taken care of effectively. So I’m hoping that all my colleagues will join me so that we can support the bill to officially recognize something that started here on the front steps of Queen’s Park over 40 year ago.

Today I rise to recognize a very new business in the town of Ajax called Maverick’s Donuts, located at Randall Drive just across from Pickering Village, which creates custom doughnuts baked fresh every day. I’ve discovered that my favourite flavour is the Oreo nirvana.

Interjection: Who could not like that?

This story is an amazing story. I highlight them because these are two young people who moved to Canada in 2018 and 2020—Krishna and Mansi, who had a dream to start a business and establish a life in Canada and have done just that. They have stuck together through the challenges of being new to the country, navigating on their own and banding together to create a new business and be one of the newest residents of Ajax. This is what Ontario is about. This is what Canada is about. We provide opportunities for our immigrants to come and create a life that they are proud of, where you can have a dream and achieve it.

Our government will continue to stand behind new entrepreneurs.

Congratulations to Krishna and Mansi, and to Maverick’s Donuts.

Je me lève dans la Chambre aujourd’hui pour souhaiter la bienvenue à Lise MacDonald et sa famille à l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario. Lise est une étudiante à l’École secondaire publique Gisèle-Lalonde à Orléans, et elle est la capitaine des pages aujourd’hui. Je voudrais aussi souhaiter la bienvenue à son père, Anthony MacDonald; son oncle Greg MacDonald; et un ami de la famille, Rod Lowe. D^r MacDonald était un page législatif en 1991, donc c’est un plaisir de vous accueillir à nouveau dans cette Chambre.

Je souhaite à Lise et à toute sa famille le meilleur, et j’espère que tu auras une excellente expérience ici à Queen’s Park. Merci, Lise.

I’d like to welcome the excellent page Anika Karthik, who attends Macklin Public School in my wonderful riding of Scarborough North, and her parents, Karthik and Raghavi, to Queen’s Park. Welcome to your House.

I would like to welcome Daunte Hillen back to the Legislature. Daunte is a former page and the brother of our current page from Hamilton Mountain, Charlise Hillen. Welcome back to Queen’s Park.

Today, I would like to acknowledge a young lady from the riding of Durham, from Harold Longworth Public School, who is today’s page captain: Diya Gokul Nathan. Her parents are with us in the gallery: Lavanya Gokul Nathan and Gokul Nathan Chandran.

Welcome to your House.

I’d like to welcome my childhood friend Jenny Mitchell. She’s a great climate advocate, a wonderful friend and supporter, and a super-smart, awesome lady.

Thanks for coming.

I would like to introduce David Bennett from the riding of Nipissing. He’s a great friend and a great volunteer.

Welcome to Queen’s Park, David.

I’m pleased to welcome Daniel Arbour from the region of Durham to Queen’s Park. Welcome, Daniel.

It’s a privilege to rise in the Legislature today and officially recognize a very special anniversary. This year, 2024, marks the 150th anniversary of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of Canada.

Central to the tenets of Scottish Rite Freemasonry is a belief in brotherly love, relief, truth and charity to all mankind, no matter an individual’s race, nationality, sect, age or condition.

Their charitable endeavours fund nine Scottish Rite learning centres for dyslexia across Canada, with four of those located in Ontario itself. They also fund, under what they call Solving the Puzzles of the Mind, Alzheimer’s and autism grants.

As we enter the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Council of Canada, may we continue to celebrate their vision and leadership across Canada in its 45 values and at the Canadian headquarters, just down the road, of the Scottish Rite of Canada in Hamilton, Ontario.

With more than 10,000 members across Canada, the good works of the Scottish Rite can be seen in every corner of our province and this nation.

Mr. Speaker, please join with me in congratulating the membership of the Scottish Rite on this, their 150th anniversary, as they continue to take good men and make them better. And may this great and time-honoured fraternity continue from strength to strength until time and circumstance shall be no more. So mote it be.

Welcome to Queen’s Park. Welcome to your House.

I was peeking around the room, and I see a familiar face from Oshawa, a strong voice: Kristen McKinnon is here. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would also like to extend my very warm welcome to all the members of the Ontario Caregiver Coalition, including the chair, Bhavini Patel; general members who are here, Victoria Freeman, Mark Fawcett; as well as the CEO of Community Living Ontario, Chris Beesley; and a very good friend of mine, Liv Mendelsohn, the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence.

It’s my pleasure to welcome university student Asia Vrazalis and my high school friend Jerry Gain from Riverdale Collegiate, the best high school in the GTA.

I think they’re trickling into the gallery, but I want to thank ACORN, who are in the building today—an advocate for tenants, low-income Ontarians. I’m proud to be a member myself.

Welcome, ACORN, to your House.

Let’s all get out to the reception at lunch.

I don’t see them yet, but I want to welcome members of CareNow.

Sunday is international awareness day for myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, environmental sensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivities.

CareNow will be holding a Zoom meeting on Wednesday at 1 o’clock. Everyone is welcome.

I’d like to welcome to Queen’s Park the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence; the Ontario Caregiver Coalition; Young Caregivers Association; Alzheimer Society; MS Canada; Community Living Ontario; Canadian Cancer Society; Ontario Community Support Association; AdvantAge; the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, Niagara chapter. I want to thank them personally for coming to our press conference this morning to talk about our caregivers motion.

Thank you very much, and welcome to Queen’s Park.

Also, it’s always an honour when my staff comes to Queen’s Park. I want to welcome Quinn and Josh. One is a constituency assistant, the other is an executive assistant.

I just want to say thank you for all your hard work today.

I would like to introduce my friends Candy Wang and Michael Yu, who are here today, sitting up in the public gallery. They are coming in from North York. Candy and Michael are the proud creators of the neighbourhood watch in their communities.

Thank you for working hard in fighting the auto thefts in the region and helping keep the neighbours safe. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

In honour of Mental Health Week, I’m pleased to welcome some of the champions of mental health care here in Ontario: Dr. Sean Kidd, chief of psychology at CAMH; Dr. Nadiya Sunderji, president and CEO of Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care; Kristin Kerr from Addictions and Mental Health Ontario; Michael Anhorn, CEO of CMHA Toronto; Karim Mamdani, president and CEO of Ontario Shores; and Tatum Wilson, CEO of Children’s Mental Health Ontario.

Thank you, all of you, for your inspiring work here in the province of Ontario and for continuing to keep the province healthy and safe.

This question is for the Premier.

Brighton council approved a six-month agreement for $60,000 with Atlas Strategic Advisors. I want to remind everyone, Atlas Strategic—or Atlas Strategies—is a company led by the Premier’s infamous Las Vegas-massage-table-loving principal secretary Amin Massoudi—boy, that’s a mouthful. Atlas Strategies has now dropped the contract after they were exposed by recent reports for boasting about their relationship with the Premier’s office.

The question is, where did this town in the Minister of Labour’s riding—the same minister with connections to Mr. X—get the idea that in order to get action from this government they needed to hire a friend of the Premier to lobby for preferential treatment?

I guess what happens in Brighton doesn’t stay in Brighton.

Is the Premier really okay with his government’s reputation of catering to insiders in the backrooms?

This government made such a reputation of catering to insiders and the Premier’s friends that local governments are using it as a strategy.

One councillor said this: “This government sometimes talks to its friends more than other folks, it might as well work for us from time to time.”

Backroom deals, Vegas massage tables, RCMP criminal investigations—I’m going to ask again, is this Premier going to tell us today whether he is okay with that being the legacy of his government?

Interjections.

One of the first things that this government did was to take away rent control for tenants living in new buildings, allowing these big corporate landlords to raise the rent to whatever they wanted.

Last year, a tenant here in Toronto faced a rent increase of $7,000 per month. Why does the Premier think that corporate landlords should be allowed to raise rent by $7,000?