Thanks to the minister for his comments.

Speaker, my constituents are so relieved to see Ottawa’s approval on BC’s request for a ban on public drug use. The BC Premier said, “Keeping people safe is our highest priority. While we are caring and compassionate for those struggling with addiction, we do not accept street disorder that makes communities feel unsafe.”

I agree with Premier Ford’s comment. To give them treatment and support is the right thing to do.

Speaker, my follow-up question is, can the minister tell Ontarians what this government’s plan is to help those who are struggling with addiction?

This government, under the leadership of our Premier, stands for promises made, promises kept. A promise was made in this House to eradicate NOSIs, to protect our seniors and our most vulnerable, and that promise will be kept.

There are many weeks ahead in this legislative spring session, so I say to the member opposite, thank you for the question. Stay tuned and always count on our Premier and this government to stand up for our seniors, for our fellow citizens in need.

My ministry, so far, has brought forth two pieces of legislation that have gained the unanimous support of this House—of course, that includes the member opposite and his caucus.

When further thoughtful legislation is tabled in this House for further consumer protection, for further eradication of consumer harms like NOSI, I hope and believe that we can speedily pass it through this House with the support of the members opposite. I trust that they will thoughtfully consider their options in that regard.

I appreciate the opportunity to give the colleagues the order of business for next week.

Thank you to everybody for another productive week on behalf of the people of the province.

On Monday, May 13: opposition day debate number 5, which is a motion on more funding for education, and third reading of Bill 180, Building a Better Ontario Act, which is the budget measures 2024.

The morning of Tuesday, May 14, we’ll be back on third reading of Bill 166, Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, and third reading of Bill 180, which is Building a Better Ontario Act. In the afternoon, we will be onto third reading of Bill 165, which is the Keeping Energy Costs Down Act, and we’ll proceed to consideration of private bills. At 6 p.m., we will have private members’ business standing in the name of the member for Don Valley North: Bill 183, Chinese Heritage Month Act, 2024.

On Wednesday, May 15: third reading of Bill 180, Building a Better Ontario Act; in the afternoon, back to Bill 180. At 6 p.m., we will be dealing with private members’ business, Bill 189.

On Thursday, May 16: At this point, it is still to be determined what will be scheduled, depending on the order of business of the earlier days in the week. In the afternoon, we will go to Bill 190, which is the Working for Workers Five Act. At 6 p.m, we will move on to private members’ business, Bill 178.

My question is for the Solicitor General.

It is clear to everyone except for the federal Liberals and their provincial counterparts that the carbon tax is detrimental to Ontario’s economy. After last month’s 23% tax hike, people are increasingly concerned about how this regressive tax is affecting our public safety system.

With reports of increasing crime levels troubling Ontarians across this great province, families in my riding of Newmarket–Aurora are concerned about the safety of themselves and their loved ones.

Speaker, Ontario depends on our police and our firefighters to protect their communities. It is critical for them to have the tools and the resources they need to do their jobs.

Can the Solicitor General tell the House how the carbon tax impacts our public safety system?

It is essential that Ontario families feel protected and secure in their communities, and I’m proud that our government is supporting our first responders and calling on the federal government to scrap the carbon tax.

Speaker, Ontarians across this province want an end to this tax. As the carbon tax drives up the prices for fuel and equipment, people are justifiably concerned about how these added costs will strain police services. Our front-line officers keep us safe, and they deserve our support. That’s why the federal Liberals need to listen to what Ontarians are saying and finally eliminate this harmful carbon tax.

Could the Solicitor General tell the House how the Liberal carbon tax is impacting the operations of our front-line officers?

I have two petitions to read in today. First, I’d like to read in a petition from people across southern Ontario who are calling on an increase to ODSP and OW. The market basket measurement of poverty says that OW and ODSP fall far, far below what is needed to pay rent and pay for food. The government of Canada said that life in Ontario, life in Canada needs $2,000 to pay the bills, so we’re calling on this basic income.

Thank you to those across southern Ontario who are calling for an end to legislated poverty. I support this bill, and I give it to Alexander.

I support this petition. I’ll sign my name and give it to page Liam to bring to the table.

I have a petition here entitled “Stop Bill 166.” Thank you to the residents who reached out to our office to explain your concerns with the bill and give us this petition.

There is concern with Bill 166 because it brings in political interference to university research and education. There is also a concern with this bill because the best way to ensure that every university has an excellent mental health and anti-racist policy program is to properly fund it, and this government has unfortunately not been properly funding universities. This petition calls on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to oppose Bill 166 for these reasons and to restore funding to post-secondary institutions.

In the House today, we have a barrister and solicitor, federal prosecutor and former president of the Essex Law Association, Jennifer Simpson-Rooke. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would also like to bring to the attention of the House that, yes, my constituent was reimbursed by Shoppers Drug Mart after my office called and demanded a refund. My question, as Hansard will confirm, was about other people like my constituent who have had the same experience—the point being this is not a one-off; it is a systemic issue, because the government is allowing pharmacies to charge more than the ODSP list price.

Interjections.

You can’t correct her record. No point of order.

It’s my honour to present this petition entitled “Bring Back Rent Control,” and it says to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that they want to bring back rent control on all units, after this government removed it from any building built after 2018, because the cost of a home in Ontario has never been higher. The average rent in Toronto is now $3,000 a month, and most people cannot afford that, and so people are leaving the province. We have a net out-migration of 50,000 people per year in Ontario because of the cost of rent and the cost of housing in this province.

This government is not achieving its objective of building either affordable homes or building homes themselves—just building homes. They set this target of 1.5 million homes; in order to reach that target, they should be having 15,000 home starts per month and they’re at 5,000, so they’re only achieving one third of the housing starts that are needed to achieve their supply targets.

This petition asks for people to support and for this Legislature to support the Rent Control for All Tenants Act, 2022, which was brought forward by my colleague from Parkdale–High Park, and it says that we need to pass this legislation because the people of Ontario need protection. The tenants of Ontario need protection from predatory rent increases, and they need us to pass the NDP’s Rent Control for All Tenants Act today, to ensure that renters can live in safe and affordable homes.

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and pass it to page Victoria to take to the table.

I want to thank my colleague and friend from Newmarket–Aurora, and to also say that tonight, in the York Regional Police service, there will be a dinner honouring those from victim services who work hard every day to make sure that the victims are always protected.

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt in anybody’s mind whatsoever that the carbon tax affects public safety. Let me give it by the numbers to the member opposite—in an average SUV that might consume 100 litres of fuel, at 18 cents per litre for gas, that’s $18 per fill-up. When you multiply it per year—because these cars are always on the road—you’re talking $6,500 a year just for the gas on the carbon tax portion.

Bonnie Crombie knows this because she served on the board of Peel police service. She should tell the truth and say she knows this is affecting our public safety.

Mr. Speaker, do you know who knew about this? Bonnie Crombie. As the mayor of Mississauga, she knew the budget for the Mississauga fire department. She knew the budgets for the Peel police service, because she was on that board too. It’s time that Bonnie Crombie tells the truth, owns up to it, calls her friend Justin Trudeau and says, “I’m not in favour of this tax.”

On the same point of order, the Minister of Health mistakenly identified that the question came from Toronto Centre; rather, the question came from the honourable member—

I’m pleased to present today a petition from constituents in my riding outlining concerns that this government is undermining the five principles of the Canada Health Act, 1984, by promoting and funding for-profit health care services at the expense of our public system, and asking this Legislative Assembly to stop plans to further privatize our health care and to make sure that public health services are for the people of Ontario; that they prevent the erosion of our public health system by funding our hospitals, because quality of care for Ontarians is the bottom line.

I’m happy to affix my signature to this petition and give it to page Diya to take to the table.

Speaker, I would like to ask for a point of order, please: a unanimous consent to have some grace around reading a petition and wearing the kaffiyeh at the time that I only read the petition on behalf of my constituents who are Palestinian in my community.

On Friday, I met with leaders from the London Palestinian community and I listened carefully how they talked about the importance of the kaffiyeh to the Palestinian people. They were very sincere in describing what it represents to the Palestinian people. It’s part of their culture and it represents their identity.

The kaffiyeh was designed with the purpose of symbolizing fishing nets, the roads travelled to trade routes and olive tree plants. At one time, even the Palestinian flag was banned in Gaza and the West Bank and the colours of the flag—red, green, white and black—were not allowed to be even used in paintings. And because the watermelon has the colours of the flag, it became a symbol of Palestinian identity.

The kaffiyeh represents the Palestinian people’s right to exist and their right to be alive. It represents their identity, and I am hopeful that if the members in this chamber hear why the kaffiyeh is a cultural clothing and has deep connection to Palestinian culture, we can surely come together and reverse the kaffiyeh ban in the visitors’ gallery and in this chamber.

I would like to sign this petition and give the petition to page Norah to deliver to the table.

Mr. Saunderson from the Standing Committee on Justice Policy presents the committee’s report as follows:

Pursuant to standing order 63, your committee has selected the 2024-25 estimates of the following ministries for consideration: Ministry of the Attorney General; Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery; Ministry of the Solicitor General; Ministry of Francophone Affairs; Ministry of Indigenous Affairs.

Report presented.

I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Justice Policy on the estimates selected by the standing committee for consideration.

I’d like to thank ACORN for collecting these signatures. This petition is called “Rent Stabilization Now.” This petition is calling for rent control to be applied on all homes, including homes that are built after 2018, and for a system of vacancy control to be established so there is a cap on how much the rent can be raised if a tenant leaves.

The reason why this is so important—and they say this in the petition—is because rent is too high. It’s too high. People in Ontario can’t afford it, and it is important, in order for us to achieve affordability, that we stabilize rent prices so our province can be affordable for renters as well.

I support this petition. I’ll be giving it to page Raisa.

Kensington is losing 2.5 teachers, and the school is bringing in a 4-5-6 split, which means learning in that class will be severely impacted. This petition calls on the government to properly invest in public education so we can lower class sizes, address the mental health crisis and address the worker shortages that we’re seeing in our public schools.

I support this petition, and I’ll be giving it to page Harry.

Resuming the debate adjourned on May 9, 2024, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 190, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to employment and labour and other matters / Projet de loi 190, Loi modifiant diverses lois relatives à l’emploi et au travail et à d’autres questions.

To the member from Ottawa Centre: Your job is to read the petition and not give—

Interjections.

This morning, before I ran out of time, I emphasized the importance of introducing careers in the trades at the secondary level. One student is saying that programs introduced by this government “gave him a reason to like school again”—my favourite quote. It’s so important to the future of this province.

I want to thank the Minister of Education, the Minister of Colleges and Universities and our Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development for continuing to enhance these career opportunities through the Working for Workers Five Act.

As I said, it gives students the ability to make informed decisions about their future through the introduction to a variety of careers in the skilled trades. Through the Working for Workers Five Act, alternative pathways for people interested in skilled trades will be open.

In addition to getting young people into the skilled trades, the government wants to help mature workers leverage their existing skills, education and work experience to land a position in the skilled trades sector. We want to give Canadians who are looking for a second career in the skilled trades a chance at a better job with a better paycheque.

Through this bill, our government will work on removing barriers to entry into the skilled trades as a second career and provide avenues for a career transition. By doing this, our government will address labour shortages and drive economic growth through those seeking a second career in the skilled trades, regardless of their educational background—new opportunities, a brighter future.

Recent immigrants and internationally trained workers would also benefit should this bill pass. This bill proposes to cut red tape and streamline registration for internationally trained workers. There are occasions when international workers have difficulty obtaining documentation due to circumstances beyond their control, be that natural disasters or—unfortunately, there are too many examples of war these days. By adopting alternative practices, we welcome those skilled individuals into our workforce. This bill will simultaneously remove barriers to employment and get workers back into the fields they are qualified to work in.

The Working for Workers Five Act also aims to keep front-line workers healthy and safe. We need to take care of front-line heroes who become ill as a result of their careers and increase fairness for job seekers and employees. Firefighters—some of our highly valued and highly respected professionals—face risks and dangers continually. In the process of working to protect all of us, they often get exposed to many harmful toxins. As a result, firefighters can suffer from serious health-threatening conditions, including some cancers.

Therefore, this bill proposes to expand presumptive coverage to firefighters, fire investigators and volunteers for primary site skin cancer. This bill will also lower the required duration of service to receive presumptive coverage from 15 years to 10 years, giving Ontario the lowest required duration of service in the country to access this coverage.

Coverage for occupational disease, including some cancers and post-traumatic stress disorder, would also be expanded to ensure wildland firefighters and fire investigators will have the same presumptive coverage as municipal firefighters. Last year, Ontario and indeed the whole of Canada experienced a significant increase in wildfires. We owe a debt of gratitude to the brave men and women who are willing to go out and fight these fires. We also recognize that not all injuries are physical, and we want to ensure that those affected by traumatic situations on their job have the help and support that they need.

However, firefighters are not alone in needing a helping hand. Construction workers, one of the strengths of Canada’s workforce, also need strategies to prevent injuries and a strong health and safety support system. Led by the Chief Prevention Officer, a review of the causes of critical injuries in the construction sector is being embraced. A consultation is being launched to explore the types of health and safety equipment needed on construction projects and to inform future prevention strategies. One of the objectives is to incorporate asbestos-related data into the ministry’s Occupational Exposure Registry.

This bill would also build on our government’s efforts to make the skilled trades more welcoming to female workers. We have heard in this chamber from the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity about the welcomed increase in women in choosing a career in the trades. In the Working for Workers Act, 2023, we were working towards requiring construction sites to have gender-specific washrooms. This bill would take that further by requiring those washrooms are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition and that the employer will keep and make available records of the cleaning. Just like when you go into the public washrooms here in Queen’s Park—or in any other workplace—there is a card detailing when public washrooms have been cleaned.

Firefighters and construction workers are not the only focus of the Working for Workers Five Act. This government hears about the challenges being faced in the health care profession and the challenges many Ontarians face in getting an appointment with a doctor or a nurse practitioner. Working in health care, I’m well aware of the challenges. New software has continued to be developed to try to address the administrative burden put on our practitioners. I recall when we went to electronic health records, we had a huge room full of paper files. I recall the day—the week, I should say—when those were cleaned out, microfiched, and we moved on and moved forward. This continues to be a challenge, and we continue to work towards minimizing administrative pressures.

We have great respect for our nurses and doctors, who work to heal the sick and take on long and demanding hours to treat Ontarians. So it’s a startling reality that our family doctors spend an average of 19 hours per week filling out forms and documentation, including sick notes. That is 40% of their workweek on paperwork instead of treating patients—and I have to say, from my experience, a lot of that work is done beyond the regular workweek.

The Working for Workers Five Act aims to put patients before paperwork. We are proposing to prohibit employers from requiring a sick note from a medical professional for a workers’ job-protected sick leave under the Employment Standards Act. This would simultaneously relieve a burden felt by health care professionals and help patients access care. With this said, we will still deliver on the facilitation of accountability and trust in the office. Employers would still be able to request another form of evidence that is reasonable in the circumstances without creating unnecessary paperwork for health care professionals.

This step would complement the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s efforts to collaborate with health sector organizations, offering the opportunity to explore additional measures to reduce the administrative burden for sick or injured workers and health care professionals. Future ministry guidance would also be developed to help this new relationship run smoothly.

Our government also aims to increase fairness for job seekers and employees. We want the process of finding, applying and obtaining careers and employment opportunities to be transparent and efficient.

Ontario is facing the largest labour shortage, with over 237,000 jobs going unfilled, costing major losses in productivity. We can probably thank our Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade for creating some of those jobs; 700,000, I think, is the number.

This government understands that meaningful jobs and careers create stronger families and communities. Every paycheque not collected is a missed opportunity for Canadians and their families to build a better life. We know some employers post jobs even when they do not have a specific role to fill: ghost jobs. Therefore, we would require employers to disclose in publicly advertised job postings whether a position is vacant and respond to applicants they have interviewed for those jobs.

If this act is passed, the ministry would consult with stakeholders to develop an education-first approach to implement these changes in the recruitment process. Maximum fines currently set at $50,000 would rise to $100,000. These fines would be issued for reasons such as failure to pay wages, discrimination based on gender, or penalizing employees for taking pregnancy or parental leave.

As we all know, the workplace has changed since the era of COVID-19. We learned a lot. More and more jobs are expanding into online spaces and incorporating the use of technology in daily operations. Our legal protections for the employee and employer need to reflect that change. This is why this legislation proposes amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

It is necessary to protect workers, no matter where they work. As parliamentary assistant Barnes stated yesterday, harassment is unacceptable; whether face to face or online, it needs to stop. It is necessary to add virtual harassment to the definitions of workplace harassment and workplace sexual harassment. Workplace policies have an obligation to address and stop online harassment wherever it may rear its ugly head. The government will also engage with those who experienced harassment, legal experts and other stakeholders to identify the most effective means to stop and address online harassment. By modernizing the definition of harassment to include protections against virtual sexual harassment, this act responds to the ever-changing digital work practices and reflects on the future of work.

The protection of workers is an ever-present priority for our government. Through this bill, we aim to ensure Ontarians have a better working experience, no matter where they work.

So far, I’ve talked about the opportunities and advantages that will become available to workers here in Canada. This act also applies to employers. Ontario has already delivered on its promise to incorporate a more streamlined and outcomes-oriented employment service in every region, but further improvements can be made.

By expanding the occupational eligibility for the in-demand skills stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, decision-making authority will be quickened and the paperwork burden for reputable businesses will be reduced.

This government would like to encourage more women to enter the skilled trades by making the construction sector more appealing to the gender. A survey was launched, with 50% of female respondents employed in the skilled trades and construction industry citing better washroom facilities as an appealing incentive. As previously stated, in direct response to the survey, this act proposes requiring clean and sanitary washrooms to be provided for workers. Records of the cleaning and sanitation will be mandatory. If passed, Ontario will be the first province in Canada to require a record of cleaning in its health and safety legislation.

To reiterate, Canadian women deserve a government committed to ensuring that their needs are being met in the workplace and the Working for Workers Five Act recognizes the demand to create a more inclusive working environment. We need and want more women in our skilled trades. Let’s make them feel valued.

In tandem, we will deliver on this government’s ambitious plans to build a better Ontario. This fifth Working for Workers Act, if passed, will continue to lead the country with a package of groundbreaking protections for workers. This new package includes new supports and even stronger protections for front-line workers. The act ensures tougher penalties on exploitative bad actors, protects the health and dignity of workers on the job site and allows more Ontarians to start a career in the trades. The stipulated changes would also address online harassment at work and hold employers accountable for providing sanitary washrooms. Lastly, this act supports incentives for women to participate in industries such as the construction industry. This act builds on the groundbreaking actions under the previous Working for Workers Act and will help millions of people here in Canada.

Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the Working for Workers Five Act, and I fully support it.