But I do hope that, and I think the women of Ontario hope that they won’t be silenced because this bill—

It is our intent, and I would hope it would be the government’s intent, to support this petition so that we can keep women safe and so that they can seek justice in this province and in this House. It hasn’t happened, and I’m hoping maybe the government will come to the light that this is not the way we respond and we respect women who are survivors of sexual assault in this province.

I would like to thank my constituent Carl Kelly, who is a prostate cancer survivor and an active volunteer in the London Prostate Cancer Support group, who provided me with signed copies of petitions urging this government to ensure OHIP coverage for PSA testing.

The petition notes that prostate cancer is the most common cancer to affect Canadian men. It notes that early detection of prostate cancer saves lives and that PSA testing is a critical screening tool to enable that early detection. It calls on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to ensure that PSA testing is covered under OHIP for all eligible residents of this province.

I support this petition, affix my signature and send it to the table with page Norah.

The petition notes the significant cuts to community mental health services and the effective disbanding of the anti-racism directorate, which have led to an increase in demand for mental health services on campus and an increase in reported incidents of hate and racism on Ontario campuses. It also notes that this government has come nowhere close to providing the funding that colleges and universities need in this province in order to provide appropriate mental health and anti-racism supports for students.

It notes that Bill 166 opens the door to political interference, which is why—

First of all, I certainly believe in skilled trades. I think we have some of the best skilled trades in the entire country. Make no mistake about it.

But your comments—I’m going to hold up the bill. I know I’m not supposed to do that, because I’m not supposed to have props. Why don’t you show me where it is in the bill? On what you just said, show it to me in the bill. So, why don’t you hold that up? Hold it up and show me where it says that in the bill—

And because I didn’t have a lot of time to speak about it I’m glad you said that question. Do you know what happens that I didn’t say? Because of the fact that they end up living in poverty, it puts an incredible stress on the marriage and the family. So now, the kids can’t go to dance, or they can’t go to figure skating. They can’t play women’s hockey. They can’t go to university. Do you know what happens to most of those workers? They end up splitting up. They end up losing their family. They end up losing their wives—no fault of their own, because the only mistake they made: They went to work on that Tuesday and got injured on the job.

Now, I begged this government. I begged them at committee. We put amendments for it on every one of these bills. I can’t answer the question why they won’t do it. I can’t answer the question why they won’t take care of caregivers in the province of Ontario. But I’m not going away until they decide to get rid of deeming in the province of Ontario and protect workers.

So, it looks good. It’s a good headline: “Conservative Government Increases the Penalties,” but it’s never enforced, and then they don’t do any inspections. Before you come into government, we used to do—I think it was 2,300 inspections in the province of Ontario. Do you know how many we’re doing today under your leadership? It’s 780. So you cut the inspections down, and you cut the fines down for—

Monte said it the best. I can say “Monte” now; he’s not here. Monte, at that last labour council—he said we’ve got to get rid of those bad employers. And do you know who’s a bad employer when you bring in bills like Bill 124? Yourselves.

I want to thank the member for Niagara Falls for his speech. It was a wonderful tribute to Gary Parent, who was certainly a giant in our community back home in Windsor-Essex.

I know the member opposite has a tremendous track record of dealing with bad actors as employers. There are quite a lot of them, and they need to be addressed. Really, this bill includes some penalties for employers who are bad actors. They violate health and safety standards. So the increase in penalties that are proposed is intended to address those exploitive practices that exist in the workplace when it comes to workplace health and safety. So I wanted to ask the member opposite, what are his thoughts about whether the penalties are sufficient enough or not?

Question?

Interjection.

I recognize the member from Humber River–Black Creek.

Thank you to the member opposite for their remarks. I’m curious: You talked a lot about what’s missing from the bill. I didn’t hear too many comments about what is in the bill, so I was hoping that you could comment about the proposed legislation that aims to support women in the skilled trades and our government’s efforts to provide menstrual products on construction sites to create a more inclusive environment for women who choose to pursue a career in the skilled trades.

Thanks to the member. He is so passionate in fighting for labour reform and fighting for workers, as always.

We’re sitting here through the fifth incarnation of this Working for Workers. Again, I want to go back to what he ended the speech with: How many Working for Workers bills do you think we’re going to sit through before they actually fix deeming in this province? Why don’t you talk to us a little bit about that?

I want to talk about women workers in this province. I want to know if you’ve heard the expression “pinkwashing.” Literally what that means is a government or a branding company puts the smallest thing out there, some kind of frivolous thing, but when you look behind it there’s nothing of substance. I would say that this bill is nothing but pinkwashing. Because you know what? Period products and clean washrooms are not going to cut it when women do not earn what men earn in this province.

We had a bill here—Lydia’s Law—that the member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington chose to discharge to committee so we couldn’t debate.

So my question to you is, do you think the women of Ontario are going to be swayed by clean washrooms when they do nothing to support women with real change?

Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston—close. Thank you, Speaker.

Thanks to the member opposite for his comments and his work on committee. To the member opposite through you, Speaker: you started into your presentation with, “I can’t support things in the bill,” and then you went on to talk about—which is common—things that aren’t in the bill. So my question to you is, what specifically in the bill do you not support?

Further questions?

I recognize the member for Don Valley East for further debate.

Well, first of all, I want to say that women play an important—

Interjections.

ATU tried to get their women drivers who may have their periods to be able to use washrooms during their route. This Conservative government turned that amendment down. That’s a true story.

Anti-scab legislation is important. Deeming is important. Paying fair wages, treating women with respect and dignity, making sure there’s equality so if you’ve got a job as a teacher—or that might be a bad example. If you’ve got a job as a woman where you’re getting paid 70% of what a man is getting for the exact same work—I’m trying to educate you. I’m trying to help you, because I feel that it’s fair and reasonable that if you’re going to bring bills that say, “Working for Workers,” you should know what you’re talking about and you should know what workers want in this bill. Whether—

Questions?

Further debate?

I appreciate you raising the point that I’ve been talking about: pinkwashing, where this government just puts a big headline out there that they’re working for women, and when you look at the substance of the bill, it is not there. We see time and time again that this is a government that has not only ignored women’s voices with Lydia’s Law—we see that they’re shutting out their voices from this Legislature—but they’re proactively working against women in the workplace.

Bill 124 froze the wages primarily of women workers. There’s a charter right challenge for women education workers. There were the midwives, for heaven’s sakes; they fought the midwives in court. And now we see gender-based violence and interval/transition workers are the lowest paid in the province. So not only do you shut out the voices of sexual assault survivors with Lydia’s Law; you’re shutting out the voices of women who work in these centres.

Do you see anything in this bill of substance that addresses the real needs of women working in this province?

I’m proud to speak today on behalf of Bill 190, the Working for Workers Five Act, and I want to thank my cabinet colleague Minister Piccini for his comprehensive approach in this legislation to support women at work, and I worked very closely with him, and my team did, just making sure that we’re able to capture the voices of so many women who have been trying to break into the trade sector, who have been trying to have the opportunity to have a really excellent-paying job in the trades.

As Minister for Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, I’m privileged to work every day to advocate for women and girls so that they can excel in their communities, in their careers and in life. Madam Speaker, the round tables that we have been able to do, meeting with women who have been advocating as much as they could but not having the support behind them to see the culture changes on the job site. Conversations with women like Brandi from fair trade workers—I just can’t remember the name, because I’m going off my notes here. I’m just so struck by the strength in these women, who are working in a sector, especially the skilled trades sector, that hasn’t been encouraging and welcoming. They have been wanting to see change for a long time, and resoundingly they are saying that we are finally a government that is listening and doing things to make a change and a difference on these job sites.

Bill 190 is yet another example of how we are acting across government to improve opportunities for women. I’m proud to stand behind this legislation, which, if passed, would empower more women and girls to fill the jobs we need to build Ontario and to help ensure that they can be safe and protected in those careers.

Under Premier Ford’s leadership and with the partnership and teamwork of my colleagues in this Legislature, our government is broadening women’s career pathways to a wide range of fields through employment and training supports. Two of our most successful programs—the Investing in Women’s Futures Program and the Women’s Economic Security Program—fund organizations across the province that provide targeted skills training and development to help women enter the workforce and build their careers.

What I also really appreciate with these programs and the organizations that are running them is they focus on job readiness, so helping women rebuild their lives after escaping violence, helping women be able to get counselling support and wraparound support, so that they are able to be in a more healthy space to be able to maintain the careers that they want and also helping them realize the strength and the ability of their experiences and realize that, even though they’ve gone through some hardships, they have been able to get out of it. We want to ensure that these women are forever empowered to keep moving forward.

These programs are actually working, and thousands of women have gone through—and the stories. If you could just take a listen to the stories. I met this one woman at George Brown College who was working in the restaurant industry and had said, during COVID when she wasn’t able to work because the restaurants were closed, that she really needed to make a change, because the income that she was making was not enough, and she could see that there were a lot of financial hardships that she was going through. She was able to sign into a program that helped her become a welder. Through the welding program at George Brown, she was able to get a job at George Brown, and now she is running the welding program and mentoring other women and girls to be able to follow the same path and realize the potential that they have in them. She said if it wasn’t for these types of programs to help her do it, she might not have had the ability to completely change her life with the salary that she’s earning now.

Today we’re helping more young women and girls, than ever before, start careers in construction and in the trades. Through Ontario’s Skilled Trades Strategy and programs such as the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and the Pre-apprenticeship Training Program and the Achievement Incentive Program, more women are rolling up their sleeves and getting it done, and realizing that they could get into these industries. They’re saying that this is a whole new world that, had they had the encouragement to get into the trades when they were younger, they would have. So this progress, it’s successful, and we want to keep moving in that direction for Working for Workers 5.

The legislation builds on the government’s work by continuing to make careers in construction and the skilled trades more welcoming and accessible. Approximately one in 10 construction workers in Ontario are women, and approximately 4% of workers in Ontario construction-skilled-trades-related occupations are women. This legislation will help improve this statistic and help close the gap and help ensure that women who enter the trades stay in the trades.

One way is by helping young women who explored skilled trades careers by opening more pathways to apprenticeship, networking and training opportunities—this is huge, Madam Speaker—so more women are able to get the support they need to succeed in the trades that they choose. It is ensuring that they are getting coaching support throughout the process, getting them connected with a job where they can fill the apprenticeship need in the companies and connecting them.

Bill 190 will also allow grade 11 and 12 students to participate in more apprenticeship learning while completing high school, and support the creation of a new, centralized skilled trades job database.

That is that connection I’m talking about: When somebody is in the carpentry skilled trade and in school learning it, now, when they need an apprenticeship position, they’re able to access a database to put them into the place where they’re going to be able to do their work. So, they’re earning and learning at the same time, and that connection is being supported by our government, because we want to make sure that when they enter the skilled trades, they have a clear pathway to do so.

Young women pursuing careers in the trades can access new opportunities, gain experience and more easily connect with job opportunities and mentors. I can’t overstate how much of a difference the right teacher can make and, like I was talking about—her name was Lily at George Brown. Every woman that comes through the program not quite sure if they want to get into it because they feel like they’re the only one—having another woman say to you, “I did this. I can make sure you can get through it too,” is the most encouragement that that woman needs at the time.

By 2026, it is estimated that as many as one in six jobs opening in Ontario will be in the skilled trades. Ontario will need thousands of additional workers over the next decade to build homes, roads, hospitals and communities of the future, so encouraging more women to pursue these careers is essential to addressing the workforce.

We also see there is a large amount of people who are retiring as well and I think it’s so important to acknowledge that. Because there hadn’t been many women in the past getting into these jobs, it doesn’t mean that women don’t want to do these jobs, right? Women don’t need to feel pigeon-holed, that they have to go into certain careers. They also now have the ability to be able to explore the careers that maybe their family told them—or maybe even guidance counsellors in schools told them—that they shouldn’t get into these jobs because it’s not typical of a woman to do skilled trades. We’re disbanding that.

So, encouraging more women and empowering women to succeed sometimes means more than just creating opportunities in the workplace. It means making sure that women are safe in the workplace.

Being able to travel across the province in different communities and hearing from women—so often, we’ve heard from women that the spaces are not inclusive for them. Women have said, “I need to use the washroom. I shouldn’t have to park 10 minutes away from the job site to use one. I shouldn’t have to change in the Tim Hortons washroom to get myself ready to go to work. When I go to use the washroom, they’re disgusting.”

Even though we’ve said they need to have a washroom for women, sometimes they’re not cleaned. These things make environments inclusive and encouraging for women, and they’ve asked us to do these things. This is what we heard in the roundtables: They said, “We need somebody to help make sure that these places are kept clean so that when we need them, we can use them.” And when we have said, “Yes, we’ll listen,” more women are saying, “Finally. Finally, you’ve heard us. Finally, this job place is going to be accessible and inclusive for me.”

So, I just want to keep us moving in the same direction, keep encouraging women and girls to enter into trades careers, help rebuild their lives, and we’re going to continue to keep doing this.

I want to thank the member for his comments today.

When the government announced this bill, they said in their media release that this would contain a suite of measures to support workers, including requiring menstrual products to be provided on larger construction sites. Do you see any requirement for menstrual products on construction sites in this bill?

I have got to be honest with you, all I can see is a whole bunch of superficial commitments, none of which actually address the things that workers are coming to me and telling me that they actually want to see to improve their retention, for example in health care, in the construction trades and places like that.

To your question: I didn’t see it in my review. Did you? I don’t think any of us did, and yet again it is just the latest in a series of examples of press releases that are put out by the government professing to change the world and commit to all sorts of things. When the rubber hits the pavement, they’re never able to deliver and, frankly, never willing to deliver.

I want to be really clear: This is not about standing with the government, standing with the opposition or anything like that. Let’s get beyond the rhetoric. This is about standing with workers. When I stand here and I point out the many shortcomings, it is with a view towards helping all members in this House on all sides make this legislation actually work for as many people as possible.

I want the constituents in Windsor–Tecumseh to have a large, well-functioning, modern, up-to-date hospital, and I want that hospital to have the skilled trades workers in order to be able to do that. I have the same problem in my riding. We need desperately to upgrade our hospital. We need the funding for that. But this bill, I regret to say, isn’t going to be enough to get your constituents and my constituents what they want and need.

So in answer to your question: No, I do not see anything in this legislation that addresses—

I want to thank the member from Don Valley East for his comments, as well as his service in our health care system. I know it’s truly appreciated. It’s tough to balance this, to keep your tasks up as a legislator and the professional credentials.

I’ll go back to my community, where we have had a dearth of skilled trades over the years. In fact, we have had a dearth of investment, including our local hospital, which the last government stopped. So I look forward to investments like these or legislation like this to facilitate getting workers to build our new hospital, which will be built beginning in 2026.

My question to the member opposite is whether you intend to stand with the government on this: the support for supporting skilled trades; menstrual products for female workers, creating a more inclusive work environment for those who are on the job sites and really, really need that sense of inclusion that they belong on a site.

Thank you to the minister for that presentation. I want to congratulate her, as well, because I think she said in the House a number of times about the 30% increase in women working in the trades.

I’m wondering if she can comment on what she feels the success factors have been in the past and present, and additionally, are included in this bill for that growth.

The member from London West has been here longer than I have, so I’m sure the member understands that when something goes to committee, that space—

We want to hear from the people in committee and we are getting it done faster by not wasting time. Let’s get it to committee, let’s talk about it and actually solve the issue of court cases being dropped in Ontario.

Interjections.

Also, the request was made of us to have period products, right? And we’ve done that. Companies like EllisDon and other job sites want to make sure that their space is inclusive; that when you’re on the job site, if you can’t bring something—as a woman, when you have your accidents, you need something quickly to take care of your situation there. This is why we’ve done these pieces and women have said thank you, because it’s about time that we’re making job sites accessible and inclusive for women.

But what we have been able to do, and I’ve heard from a lot of parents—the fact that we’ve been able to cut child care fees significantly in half has been really helpful for seeing those parents who want to be able to work to work, and I think that is a really great step, because for the first time since 1974, I believe the stat is, we’ve actually seen an increase in parents who have children zero to five, women who have children zero to five, working.

So we’re in the right direction, we’re moving in the right direction, but I encourage all members in the House to advocate to the federal government to allow the province to [inaudible] and get more child care spots paid for and funded in Ontario.

We have an opportunity right now to make sure 50% of our population has the same opportunities as everybody else. And women are wanting to get into these sectors. If we don’t start making these job sites inclusive now, if we don’t start investing, which we have been, and having more people do the reviews of these job sites and to make sure that they’re clean, if we don’t start doing these things, we’re not going to see changes.

We hadn’t seen changes happen in a long time, and when other governments had the opportunity. But we’re making this change, and we are seeing the results, because more women are getting involved in the trades.

I’m blown away. I went to an event a few weeks ago, this convention, and the room was with filled with a thousand young girls from high school trying out tools, checking out the competitions and being inspired. This is the next generation, and we’ve got to continue to make the spaces the best they can be—