As the member is aware, years of Liberal mismanagement and neglect have left this province with huge labour shortages and thousands of good jobs left vacant.

Sadly, to make matters worse, as millions of workers struggle with today’s higher cost of living, the Bonnie Crombie Liberals and the carbon tax queen want to make their lives even more unaffordable. Her support for the carbon tax translates into higher prices, not just at the gas pumps, but across all aspects of life. It effectively becomes a tax on everything, as it will cause transportation costs to soar and grocery bills to rise. By increasing the financial burden on essentials, the carbon tax under Bonnie’s watch threatens to diminish the quality of life for all Ontarians, making it harder for them to thrive in an already uncertain economic climate.

That’s why our government has established—over $1 billion for the Skills Development Fund, which has already assisted over half a million individuals in advancing their careers and securing higher pay.

Again, it was bad enough when the Liberals simply neglected our trade workers. Now, under Crombie’s leadership, it’s even more dire as they support their federal counterparts in taxing not just the livelihoods but also the ability of these workers to support themselves and their families, with their oppressive anti-worker carbon tax.

However, our government will never go against the workers of this province. To support jobs in the skilled trades and all workers and job seekers across Ontario, our government is making groundbreaking investments in communities across the province to ensure workers and job seekers can upgrade their skills and get jobs closer to home.

Our government’s message is clear: Skilled trades are open to everyone.

Our government is proud of the steps we have taken so far, and we have seen the results. We have seen the percentage of new registrants to the skilled trades who are women up by a historic 28%. We have launched the FAST program to get our youth into the trades.

Our government will always work for workers and job seekers to ensure Ontario’s economy works for everyone.