Thank you to my colleague across the way for the question. As the minister mentioned earlier today, our government always favours getting an agreement at the negotiating table. I know those negotiations are ongoing.

Speaker, that includes workers across all sectors, that includes our educational workers, that includes our teachers remaining at the table to get an agreement, which is what our government always is focused on. We’ll continue to work with workers to ensure that they have safe working environments and they are supported.

I’ve talked to foreign-trained engineers, for example, and manufacturers and small businesses. They’re very supportive of these changes—many of those employers are very supportive of them as well—to get new Canadians, new Ontarians, into the workforce, helping meet some of the growing demand that I have in my riding—as well as the member from Brampton—and ensuring that those with the skills can enter the workforce as soon as possible, obviously meeting all the requirements there but working with our regulated professions. I know many are supportive of this as well, because they know we have a growing need. As I mentioned in my remarks, one in five jobs by 2026 will be in the skilled trades, so unless we all start having many children—I would be guilty of that—we will need immigration, obviously, to help meet that demand.

During COVID, yes, as the member highlighted, there were some bad actors in Ontario, and I know the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Health and the Minister of Labour worked together to rectify those issues and support those temporary foreign workers.

I actually have a few temporary foreign workers in my riding as well. I’ve met with them. Those employers are very supportive of them and welcome even more coming to our riding, working in agriculture, working in manufacturing. So I know that we’ll continue to ensure that all occupational health standards, as I alluded to in my speech, are observed and we will continue to ensure there are sanitary work environments and safe working environments for all Ontarians, no matter how long they’ve been in this province.

It’s my pleasure to rise to speak on Bill 79. Yesterday, as some who are currently in this place will know, I spoke in this House about our government’s comprehensive plan to build a strong Ontario for generations to come. Today, I’m pleased to be able to rise to speak on Bill 79—Working for Workers 3—that reemphasizes some of the pledges we outlined in our budget as well.

Let’s talk a little bit about what it means to work for workers, something this Premier and our Progressive Conservative Party are focused on day in and day out. Unfortunately, for too long under the previous Liberal government, backed by the NDP, the workers of Ontario were forgotten and neglected and left behind. We saw under that government a deliberate policy to deindustrialize our province, sacrificing good, high-paying jobs in every corner of our province.

However, since 2018, because of this government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, Ontario has attracted historic investments in the auto manufacturing sector, with a particular emphasis on electric vehicle production. Obviously, earlier this month, we heard the great news that Volkswagen announced that St. Thomas, Ontario, is the new location for their first overseas battery cell plant, demonstrating a massive level of confidence in our province and this government.

It wasn’t too long ago that the previous Liberal government drove manufacturing jobs out of Ontario, hurting ridings such as mine. The truth is, Speaker, it was everybody’s business—jobs that were driven out of the province—to ensure that we need to build a strong Ontario, to come back from those dark days. That’s why, through this bill, our government is taking real action to protect the jobs we’ve so carefully been able to attract back to our communities in Ontario, to make sure we have a plan to build a reliable and supported skilled trades workforce that’s so important to the growth and prosperity of our province.

Speaker, we’ve brought back jobs. In fact, we have more jobs than we have people who are able to fill them. Ontario employers continue to face historic labour shortages with nearly 300,000 jobs going unfilled in December 2022. Speaker, in my own riding of Perth–Wellington, we have the claim to fame of having one of the lowest unemployment rates—I believe the last numbers from Statistics Canada—second-lowest in the province. I know we’re looking for workers and inviting new Canadians to come to our communities to help us fill those available jobs.

In this bill, our government outlines our plan for training and attracting the workers we need in the skilled trades to help us build Ontario. For far too long, under previous governments, this was neglected and there was a negative stigma that surrounded these important careers. We in this government are giving the credits and showing the strength that these careers provide individuals. Our government is investing a historic $1.5 billion over four years into the skilled trades, supporting people of all ages but especially young people to pursue meaningful careers in the trades.

Our government is also preparing young people for in-demand and well-paying careers by allowing students in grade 11 to transition to a full-time skilled trades apprenticeship program, and upon receiving their certificate of apprenticeship, these young workers can apply for their Ontario secondary school diploma as a mature student.

Speaker, these initiatives, such as the ones I’ve highlighted so far, are so important in removing the stigma around the skilled trades in a way that truly demonstrates just how financially rewarding and fulfilling these jobs can be, as we look towards building a strong Ontario together. I can tell you personally, as someone who obviously comes from a rural riding in Ontario, that people in the communities that I represent are looking forward to welcoming new Canadians, new businesses and new jobs that our government is working so hard to bring back to Ontario.

Having said that, Speaker, I hear it day in and day out. When I speak to constituents, stakeholders and industry leaders, communities in rural Ontario are desperate for more workers and to keep the pace of growth as we look to ensure a brighter future for generations to come. That means boosting protections and enhancing work environments. To that end, this bill, if passed, will require basic information to be provided to new employees by their employer, including their work location, salary or wage, and the hours of work. This provision will be an important part of our commitment to eliminating underground hiring practices that some employers and bad actors in our province have taken advantage of.

Also relating to employees, under the proposed changes, employees who work remotely, which has become such a staple in our society, would be eligible for the same enhanced notices as in-office employees. For situations of mass terminations—I actually know individuals who worked at Twitter who have recently gone through that unfortunate experience with Twitter—I know these changes will help Ontario workers who remotely work receive the same eight-week minimum notice of termination, pay in lieu and preventing companies from taking advantage of them.

Our government is taking important steps to attract and train more workers to help fulfill our plan to build a strong Ontario, but at the same time we have also taken the necessary steps to ensure that workers will be well served by the jobs and industries they will work in, free from discrimination, manipulation or any other form of mistreatment.

Speaker, part of the reason a career in the skilled trades can be so fulfilling is the hands-on nature of the job that allows someone to see their work progress from start to finish. Part of the commitment means ensuring a safe and clean and comfortable working environment.

As many of us know in this place and have seen on social media, the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, Minister McNaughton, recently engaged in a social media campaign, letting a variety of construction workers and other skilled tradespeople raise awareness of their experience with washrooms on work sites. Needless to say, Speaker, we can do better to ensure a safe and comfortable working environment for these workers, and that represents a central focal point of this proposed legislation.

Our government is proposing amendments—again, if passed—to the Occupational Health and Safety Act that would clarify and enhance existing regulations around hygiene on the work site. Speaker, these changes would ensure workers have the convenient and comfortable access to clean washrooms on the work site that meet their needs.

In the coming years, we’ll be relying more and more on skilled tradespeople to meet the demands in our communities across Ontario. By 2026, it’s estimated that one in five jobs will be in the skilled trades in Ontario. And it’s across Canada we are experiencing these demands, so Ontario needs to be prepared to attract these workers. It’s important that our government supports these workers in whatever ways possible to ensure that they can work in comfortable and safe environments.

More than just that, Speaker: Currently one in 10 construction workers in Ontario are women, and as our government looks to support getting more women into the skilled trades to well-paying, rewarding careers, we need to make job sites safe and welcoming. To that end, Ontario is proposing to require women’s-only washrooms on construction sites that are fully enclosed, well-lit and adequately supplied with hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies. These initiatives directly reflect our government’s message that when women succeed, Ontario succeeds.

In the next few years, our province will be welcoming hundreds of thousands of new immigrants into our communities who will be going to work for our local employers and will start their own businesses potentially, eventually, in Ontario. We’re strengthening the protections for temporary foreign workers by establishing the highest maximum fines in Canada—in Canada, Speaker—for employers and people who are convicted of possessing or retaining a foreign national’s passport or work permit. They will grow into the beautiful fabric that makes Ontario as diverse and successful as it is.

But before we get there, we need to take proactive steps, exactly like the ones outlined in this bill, that help ensure we create a supportive working environment for everyone—women, new Ontarians to our province—to make sure that we are ready and prepared to accommodate the next generation of Ontarians in each and every community across the province of Ontario.

Speaker, the Premier often says that when you have a job in the trades, you have a job for life. Working for workers means that we are making that job as rewarding and fulfilling and comfortable as possible. Through this bill, Speaker, we are doing just that, and we will continue to work for workers on this side of the House and in the middle over there.