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March 21, 2022

42nd Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2022-Mar-21 vol. A (PDF)

L044A - Mon 21 Mar 2022 / Lun 21 mar 2022

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 21 March 2022 Lundi 21 mars 2022

Orders of the Day

Working for Workers Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à oeuvrer pour les travailleurs

Members’ Statements

Durham region student business program

Mental health and addiction services

Andreas Apostolopoulos

Climate change

Perth County Federation of Agriculture federal-provincial forum

Government’s record

Assistance to businesses

Non-Profit Sector Appreciation Week

Chatham All-Stars

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Introduction of Visitors

Private members’ public business

Question Period

Home care

Long-term care

Government contracts

Long-term care

Manufacturing jobs

Employment standards

Sports funding

COVID-19 response in Indigenous and remote communities

Electric vehicles

Mining industry

Cancer treatment

COVID-19 response

Curriculum

Municipal funding

Introduction of Government Bills

Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à ce que l’Ontario reste ouvert aux affaires

Introduction of Bills

Harvey and Gurvir’s Law (Providing Information about Down Syndrome to Expectant Parents, Regulated Health Professionals and the Public), 2022 / Loi de 2022 de Harvey et de Gurvir (fourniture de renseignements concernant la trisomie 21 aux futurs parents, aux professionnels de la santé réglementés et au public)

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Petitions

Land use planning

Employment standards

Optometry services

Orders of the Day

Working for Workers Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à oeuvrer pour les travailleurs

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Working for Workers Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à oeuvrer pour les travailleurs

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Working for Workers Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à oeuvrer pour les travailleurs

Mr. Calandra, on behalf of Mr. McNaughton, moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 88,

An Act to enact the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 and to amend various Acts / Projet de loi 88, Loi édictant la Loi de 2022 sur les droits des travailleurs de plateformes numériques et modifiant diverses lois.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Will the minister lead off the debate?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I appreciate the opportunity to speak. I will be splitting my time with the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, the member for Mississauga–Malton.

It is a pleasure just to very briefly get up and speak to this bill, which is really a continuation of the work that this government has been doing since it was elected, to modernize the province of Ontario and to continue the hard work in making Ontario the best place to live, work, invest and raise a family. It is part of a bundle of initiatives that have included not only ensuring that workers are protected in the province of Ontario but also ensuring that our small, medium and large job creators have access to the largest talent pool available to them.

We have seen over the last number of months—in the months that were leading up to the pandemic, Ontario was becoming one of the most aggressive jurisdictions when it came to job creation. Month after month we saw the increase in jobs available to the people of the province of Ontario. We saw the jobless rate drop every single month. And, of course, as we moved into the pandemic, as we saw globally, there was a lot of fear and trepidation as to how we would come out of the pandemic.

But as we have been saying the entire time, we wanted to ensure that Ontario was in a strong position to ensure that we had stable growth, long-term growth, and that the people who work in our province, the people who generate wealth in our province were well-positioned to exploit that. That’s what these series of changes have been brought forward to do.

I note that it was also the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues in her previous role as a parliamentary assistant who helped institute many of the changes in the first Working for Workers Act that was brought forward, which was, again, a good step on the way to bringing us to where we are today.

As you look around the chamber, Speaker, there are many reasons why we have to modernize. There are many reasons why we should all be proud of where Ontario is right now. I note, of course, that the Minister of Infrastructure is handling one of—not one of, Speaker; I shouldn’t say that—the largest building of transit and transportation infrastructure in the province’s history. It’s not just about the $28 billion worth of subway investments throughout the greater Toronto area and leading into York region, which has been fighting to get access to the subway for decades—and they are finally getting that.

And, of course, it’s not just about the people who are working to build those subways; it’s about the jobs and economic opportunity that will surround the stations and the billions of dollars of investments. It’s about the transit-oriented communities, a revolutionary concept of actually building housing around where your transit infrastructure is going. The bills that we have done to eliminate red tape and improve working conditions for our workers help go a long way on that path.

Part of all of this, though, is recognizing, as it is right in the bill, the digital platform workers. I know the parliamentary assistant is going to go much further in detail than I am, but we have seen how important they have become during the pandemic. Speaker, I think there was perhaps a little less of an appreciation for the digital platform workers and the work that they did until the pandemic hit, and I think Ontarians then really started to better understand how important their role was, how important the work they did was and really, truly reflect on the fact that they weren’t protected in a way that they should be.

Now, Conservatives have always been the party that protects workers. We’ve always been the party to ensure that the rights of workers are balanced off by the rights of individuals who earn and generate wealth in the province of Ontario. Again, as we get—

Interjections.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Every time we do that, colleagues, you see what happens, right? The opposition get all frustrated, because they think it’s their domain to protect workers. But when they had the opportunity, the one time the official opposition had the opportunity, they didn’t do it. It has always been a Progressive Conservative government that has moved forward on labour legislation to protect workers. It has always been a Progressive Conservative government that has moved forward to ensure that our economy is strengthened, and this bill gets us on that path.

Without further ado, Mr. Speaker, I know how excited we are all to hear the words from the member of Mississauga–Malton because of the hard work that has gone into getting us here today. It is very nice, of course, to see that there are people back in the galleries in the province of Ontario, in our Legislature. With that, Mr. Speaker, I will hand it off. I’ll cede my time to the member for Mississauga–Malton and the parliamentary assistant, who will knock your socks off with what’s about to be entertained in this bill.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): I recognize the member for Mississauga–Malton.

Mr. Deepak Anand: Madam Speaker, I’m pleased to rise in the House today to speak on behalf of the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. Before I do that, I want to say thank you to the House leader and the minister of many portfolios for doing an incredible job and leading the bill. The minister and I have been working in lockstep to support and protect the hard-working people of our province. I would like to thank the minister for his tremendous leadership to ensure that we have a plan that works for all Ontario workers, because that’s the mandate we’ve taken into this role: building an Ontario that works for all workers. Our plan is unleashing Ontario.

I would like also to thank and acknowledge our Premier for his leadership, and all my caucus members throughout the last four years and particularly for your support for this bill as well as our previous working for workers legislation. These are the historic reforms we are making to stand up for workers and put them back in the driver’s seat of Ontario’s future.

Before I proceed, as our House leader talked about, a lot of hard work has gone into this bill. So I want to acknowledge and I want to thank everyone from the minister’s office who has worked hard on this, including: Joshua, Antonio, Alexandra, Richard, Walid, Ryan, Vlad, Brian, Meaghan, Samantha, Brandon, Zoë, Ava, Ben, Harry and Nabiha. Thank you, each one of you. Without your help, without your hard work, we would not have gotten that far. Thank you so much.

Madam Speaker, before I discuss my bill, I want to take a moment and talk about the heartbreaking situation in Ukraine. Our government is standing with the freedom-loving people of Ukraine and the province’s Ukrainian community. We want to give a clear message that Ontario is here to help and support. The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program is prioritizing Ukrainian applicants. Our expanded Second Career program is providing up to $28,000 for Ukrainians who want to train for a new career here in Ontario. This third round of our Skills Development Fund will prioritize programs that will help Ukrainians upgrade their skills for in-demand jobs.

It is not just our government that’s responding to this challenge, Madam Speaker. Employers all across the province have stepped forward offering approximately 30,000 jobs.

I want to assure and show that the people of Ontario have a big heart and are always here to help the globe. These programs are not only available for Ukrainians; these programs are absolutely available for our own Ontarians as well.

Over to talking about my bill, Madam Speaker: The way many of us have been working has been changing, and the pandemic has accelerated those trends. Whether it’s remote work, automation or working through online platforms, we have seen workers in Ontario and around the globe face new challenges, as well as came new opportunities. They need support to overcome these challenges and we have to make sure we’re always there to make the most of these opportunities. And that is why if we provide that support, we will be promoting economic growth and prosperity across the province.

Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, we are facing a historic challenge today, one that also represents opportunity for many. If I want to go back and recall, in January of 2018, there were over 400,000 people looking for work, and in the last decade we have seen over 300,000 manufacturing jobs leaving our province.

Thanks to the efforts of this government, we see another issue now, and the issue is a good issue. We see many more people looking for jobs. There are 300,000 jobs that are available in Ontario. This is a challenge for the employers, our economy and our province. But at the same time, it represents the opportunity for workers and job seekers across Ontario.

The future of work is here. Under the leadership of the Minister of Labour and our Premier, along with all of our caucus members, we’re adapting quickly to chart a course that leaves no one behind. We’re not going to go back to where we started. Instead, we’re making changes that will put Ontario workers and their families first for generations to come.

We are laying the foundation for opportunity and prosperity across our province. This means taking action now to plan for the future and not waiting to see how other provinces or even countries around the world will act. So while many places are just starting to rebuild from the pandemic, we are already thinking ahead to what the next 10 or 20 years will look like. Madam Speaker, we’re thinking about the workplaces of the future, and what kind of future we’re building for our children, for our grandchildren, and what their job prospects will look like.

It will take time. It will take a lot of hard work. It will take a lot of people working together. Our future is bright, but it has to be a brighter future for everybody. That’s why we are working hard, we are working tirelessly, for our workers. To accomplish our mission, we need all hands on deck. Things only work when everybody works together, and we have seen it during COVID-19.

Whether it’s workers, labour leaders, businesses or the government, we all want to build our roads and bridges, build our health care and long-term-care system, and build projects that our communities need, be it a new school or an ice rink. We all want to build a prosperous Ontario where hard work pays off and big dreams come to life. To do that, we need everyone to work together.

Madam Speaker, that’s why I’m speaking about the bill, the Working for Workers Act, 2022. It builds on the important measures this House passed last year in our previous bill, which protect families by providing family time, requiring most workplaces to have a written policy on disconnecting from work, helping ensure more workers can unplug at the end of the day; by breaking down barriers that prevent immigrants from continuing their profession here in Ontario. We heard from many of my colleagues on how important it is for us to help those who come and make this place as their home.

It gives delivery drivers the basic human right and human dignity of access to a restroom at a business they serve along their route.

Last summer, the minister appointed an expert committee to examine the changing landscape of our work and provide recommendations that would position Ontario as the best place in North America to retain, recruit and reward workers—and they delivered. From June to September, the committee met with over 150 workers, union leaders, advocacy groups and employers. They also reviewed and analyzed an additional 550 written submissions and they surveyed over 2,000 people across Ontario.

I want to thank the committee chair, Rohinton Medhora, for leading such a thoughtful and thorough process, along with Kathryn Marshall, Vass Bednar, Mark Quail, Sean Speer, Mark Beckles and Susan McArthur. They completed their mission and provided valuable recommendations. Their advice led to the bill the House passed last year as well as this bill I’m speaking for today. Thanks to the hard work of Ontario and Ontarians, Ontario is a leader in protecting and supporting workers today, with first-in-Canada measures I’ll talk more about today.

Madam Speaker, in the last two years, when we talk about what has changed the world, it’s COVID-19. The way we all worked together: We came together, we put our hands together to beat this COVID-19. It is great to see everyone today with a new normal, much better than we’ve seen in the last two years.

We talk about, during this time, one of the pains we had when we couldn’t go to the places—we could not eat outside. The food came to us, and that came through the workers who worked on the platform and supported our community. We’ve seen the gig economy growing. We’ve seen the gig economy helping and supporting the community. We saw that the gig economy is here to stay. They were here for us; it is our time to make sure we’re there for these workers.

Building a stronger Ontario means levelling the playing field and helping average people get ahead, especially those who have not been getting their fair share of the economic pie. That is why Ontario is leading the way, not only in Canada but across North America. We are appointing an advisory panel to provide recommendations on expanding health benefits to millions more workers, and we have mandated washroom access at the businesses that delivery workers serve.

No one in Ontario should make less than the minimum wage; be fired without notice, explanation or recourse; have to travel out of country to resolve a workplace dispute; or sign a contract they don’t understand. Can you imagine a place where somebody has to fight for their own rights but they can’t because they can’t afford to leave the place? It is unacceptable, and these things are happening in our province. We’ve got to act now. We have to stop this, and we have to be the leader in this.

That is why the legislation we’re discussing today would make Ontario the first province in Canada to establish a minimum wage and other important rights and protection for certain gig workers, for the people who help us get around, deliver food to our doors and people who have been on the front line through the pandemic. Those rights include more clarity around work assignments and pay calculation; protection against removal from a digital platform without notice or explanation; and the guarantee that any tips or gratuities a worker earns will remain where they belong, in that worker’s pocket.

While talking about the bill, I spoke to many of the workers who work in the industry. They said, “Many times, we feel that we are making $22, $20 an hour, which is well above minimum wage. But at times we think we’re only making $5 an hour. And we don’t know whether $22 is the right number or $5 is the right number.”

To those workers: That stops now. We’re going to make sure you will be able to understand how much you’re making. We want to make sure not just that you understand how much you’re making; we will be able to make sure together that it is going to be more than minimum wage.

In the last two years, we have seen huge shifts around traditional labour markets, and as we build a resilient economy, our government must keep pace with those changes. We know that the gig economy is one of the fastest-growing employment sectors in Ontario and that as many as one in five Canadians currently take on work via a digital platform—as compared to 4.5% in 2016, it is today about 20% of the population. So we’re not just listening to their concerns; we are acting today. We want to make sure that they not only make more than minimum wage, but they have the flexibility to work on multiple platforms to make sure they can earn the most they can.

Moving over from this to the right to privacy and electronic monitoring: Madam Speaker, as you know, technology has changed the way we work. Our labour laws must adapt to protect our workers and their families. Work has been increasingly creeping into our family time. This is why we will be the first one in North America to give workers the right to disconnect by requiring employers to make and have a written policy on disconnecting from work.

As we embark on a new world of work, electronic monitoring is becoming more commonplace. For example, delivery persons are being followed by GPS, construction workers are using phones and tablets on the job site, and office workers are logging on from their homes.

We cannot leave our workers in uncharted territory. We cannot wait for others to find the path forward for us. The people of Ontario are leaders, and as a government that is working for workers, we must act, and we must act now.

That is why I’m pleased to share that, as part of this new proposed legislation, our government would make it law for large employers to have a written policy disclosing electronic monitoring of their workers and how they’re using the data they collect. Our new legislation, if passed, would be the first of its kind in Canada—and I want to say thank you to all the members of this caucus for your support; we could not have done it without your help. Ontario would once again be breaking new ground and taking historic steps to protect privacy.

Our government is breaking down barriers by increasing transparency. We are empowering our workers by giving them the tools they need and deserve. Madam Speaker, as you know, data is power, and by pulling back the veil, our workers can make informed choices about how they work and who they work for. This is another way we are rebalancing the scales and putting workers in the driver’s seat of our future.

As I said earlier, in the last decade, we have seen over 300,000 manufacturing jobs leaving Ontario. Thanks to this government, we have put the supports in place for our businesses—as much as making sure that $7 billion is provided as a support year by year.

Thanks to the minister of red tape for supporting businesses by cutting the red tape so that they can do what they do best by employing more people.

Because of these efforts of our government—we have seen over 300,000 jobs going unfilled today. By the way, this is more than the population of Windsor.

In February, employment in Ontario increased again. If you look at the numbers and you compare them with 2018 and then you compare them with the time when we were in COVID-19—we have seen that there has been an increase of 194,000 jobs in the last one month.

And the shopkeepers and merchants on Main Street—it doesn’t matter which riding you go to; everywhere you go, when you go from one place to the other in the province of Ontario, all you see outside is, “Help wanted. We want to hire.” And then, at the end of the day, what we see is there are many employers who can’t find the workers.

We talked about this to many of the business owners. We talked about this to many of the employers. We talked about this to many of my colleagues. We heard it. The minister has heard it. The Premier has heard it. We know that each of these jobs is a paycheque going uncollected, and that’s a missed opportunity to strengthen families and communities, spread prosperity, and build a stronger Ontario for all of us.

With the changes being proposed in this bill, we are making Ontario a destination of choice for Canada’s tradespeople and skilled professionals. We are sending a clear signal to the skilled workers across Canada. We’re telling them, “Come to Ontario. We are here to serve. We’re making it easier for you to come here with your families. We are a place where the economy is booming. We are a place which is growing by leaps and bounds, and that’s why we want you to come here and be part of this revolution.”

Through the legislation we’re discussing today, if passed, we will guarantee regulated professionals a 30-business-day service standard for getting their credentials approved. Workers won’t have to wait for weeks to know whether their application has been received, months while it is being assessed by the regulators, and then weeks for the decision to be sent. Think about a situation where you come here, knowing that this is a place where you want to thrive, you want to grow, you want to build your life and family, and then you take years to get to the profession you want. That stops now.

We will make sure that we guarantee all regulated professionals a 30-business-day service standard for getting their credentials approved, and that’s what’s happening with this bill.

Madam Speaker, as I talk about supporting workers, I need to take this chance, as I take every opportunity, to highlight the opportunities in the skilled trades. These are fantastic jobs, meaningful jobs. You can see the result of your hard work take shape in front of you, and they pay well, and often include pensions and benefits. These are the jobs that allow workers to support their families and give back to the community, yet many go unfilled. Every unfilled job is a paycheque not collected, a family going without.

It has never been more important for Ontario to keep, train and attract more skilled workers, because our government is building Ontario with over $148 billion in infrastructure projects, including bridges, roads and highways. We need over 100,000 skilled workers over the next decade just in construction. The average age of a journeyman is 55. These are opportunities for well-paying careers with pensions and benefits, doing meaningful work. Those opportunities should not go to waste.

Our businesses, our province and our economy should not be held back by the lack of skilled workers. Without workers in these jobs, companies can’t expand, prosper and create more jobs, in and out of the trades. Without enough workers in these jobs, our government’s historic investments in subways, highways and hospitals can’t be built on schedule.

That is why our new regulation includes recognizing all Red Seal trades. The Red Seal Program sets common standards for the skills of tradespersons across Canada. Tradespeople who have successfully passed the Red Seal examination receive a Red Seal endorsement on their provincial or territorial certificate of qualification.

The Red Seal endorsement makes it easy for out-of-province skilled workers to come to Ontario. That is why Ontario is already participating in 52 of the 55 Red Seal trades, and now we’re taking steps to recognize the remaining three occupations as trades under Ontario’s skilled trades legislation and to have the three trades recognized as Red Seal trades in Ontario. This recognition will not only boost the prestige of Ontario workers in those occupations, but it will make it easy for workers from other provinces in these trades to start working in Ontario.

We’re also making it easier for workers who are trained to work at heights to do so here. We’re investing a record $1.5 billion between 2020 and 2024 to support our skilled workers strategy to help break the stigma about the trades, simplify the system and encourage employers to participate in apprenticeships.

Our skilled trades strategy includes our brand new agency Skilled Trades Ontario, which celebrated its launch earlier this week. Skilled Trades Ontario replaces the previous Ontario College of Trades. Between 2014 and 2018, we saw only half of the apprentices complete their training each year. This is now changing.

At maturity, Skilled Trades Ontario will address our critical labour shortages in the trades by developing marketing and advertising campaigns, building partnerships between industry and training providers, working with the recruiters who have been reaching students in every school board to provide co-op placements in these trades, updating apprenticeship training and curriculum standards to reflect industry needs and new technology, and promoting diversity by tackling barriers. There will be a clear separation of responsibilities between them and the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Our new agency will also deliver a customer service one-stop-shop approach that is long overdue. This will simplify the journey to become a tradesperson, making it more straightforward to start, more straightforward to follow and more straightforward to complete. This includes new online services available around the clock, and registration time will be cut from 60 days to 12 days, which means it will be easier to become an apprentice, easier to complete your training, and for employers, it will be easier to hire skilled tradespeople.

Madam Speaker, I talked about jobs being unfilled and that then we have people who are looking for help. These measures will help skilled workers from across Canada more easily work in Ontario and help people in Ontario train for fantastic, well-paid careers in trades. They build on other key pieces of the puzzle, a piece from our previous bill addressing the recognition of foreign credentials. I talked about it last time, and it was echoed by many of my colleagues. We know that we rely on immigrants, but in 2020, immigrants made up about 33% of Ontario’s workforce.

With more workers set to retire over the next decade, we will need to continue to attract professionals in Ontario to fill in-demand jobs, so it is essential that we make Ontario a welcoming and attractive destination for people.

When we look at the national statistics, immigrants earn less than those who were born in Canada. Over time, that earning gap has increased even though immigrants are increasingly highly educated, and the vast majority are not working in the field that they’re trained in. For example, in 2016, 75% of internationally educated immigrants were not working in the regulated profession they trained and studied for. Madam Speaker, I firmly believe that Ontario is the best place in the world for families to live, work and build a new life. But at the same time, we have to help these immigrants get into their profession so that they can work at their best and help our communities across Ontario.

I shared my story last time. When I came to Canada, I had an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, and the first thing I was told was that I could not work as an engineer and I could not use the title “engineer.” I can say this: It’s been over 20 years, but even after 20 years, these are the barriers that immigrants continue to face, no matter how skilled or experienced they are. This is especially true when it comes to regulated professions like engineers, architects and accountants. Many of those workers can’t afford to go through the administrative hurdles to transfer their professional credentials.

Even if they do, the process can be confusing and time-consuming. Many new immigrants, many newcomers need help to manoeuvre through complex assessments and registration, and the language assessment they have to go through can be expensive and duplicative. That is why we are taking steps now.

Madam Speaker, if we are going to make our province be the best place for newcomers, if we want everyone to thrive in this province, we can’t have regulatory bodies putting unnecessary barriers in their way. We need to make sure that we make it easier for the people to settle here and find jobs in their field. And by the way, when we do that, it is a win-win situation. It is predicted that connecting newcomers to jobs that match their qualifications would increase Ontario’s GDP by $12 billion to $20 billion in the next five years. That is where our first working for workers bill came in.

It is helping cut through a number of unnecessary hoops to make sure it is easier for internationally trained professionals to make a living here in their chosen fields.

First, we are eliminating Canadian experience requirements for professional registration and licensing, unless an exemption is granted because it is necessary for public health and safety. We’re also streamlining language proficiency testing requirements. Newcomers would not be tested again and again: when they immigrate and again when they’re going through the process to become registered with a regulated profession.

I want to send a clear message: If you’re a newcomer and if you’re a professional, we’re making sure that we’re speeding up the time in which regulated professions are required to make a decision and ensuring expedited registration processes are implemented in emergencies. Not only will these changes help get these people working in their chosen field, they will make the process faster and easier. And I’m proud that we are providing newcomers with a clear path to starting their careers. This will give Ontario an edge over other countries and help us keep and attract top talent.

This will also help give newcomers the pride of continuing careers here and helping build our province, all the while knowing they’re welcomed here and supported.

Canada has a proud military tradition, and our reservists are an integral part of that. These brave men and women are the first line of defence during times of crisis, from search-and-rescue operations to ice storms and flood relief. In the previous decades, the bravery Canadians showed at battles such as the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Battle of Normandy is legendary, not just at home but across the globe. We rely on them in times of need to provide support and protection, without a second thought.

Our military operations have been hit hard by this pandemic. Regions across Ontario have seen the number of new recruits cut in half due to this pandemic. This has put a heavier burden on the forces, and it is hurting our military operations. But for the military reservists who are starting new jobs, it’s not always easy to pack up and leave.

Currently, under the Employment Standards Act, reservist leave is available for deployments, but reservists are required to be employed with their employer for at least six consecutive months before they qualify for job-protected leave. This is far longer as compared to other provinces. Under the federal Canada Labour Code, for an example, military skills training is a reason to take the leave, and then the employment requirement to be eligible for the leave is just three months. To make it easier for our reservists to serve their country, we’re reducing this unnecessary burden. Again, we’re helping and we’re supporting our fellow Ontarians.

I’m pleased to share that we have proposed changes that, if passed, broaden the reasons for taking reservist leave and reduce the current length of employment requirement for eligibility for the leave to three months, same as our federal counterparts. This will give our front-line heroes peace of mind that their job will be waiting for them when they return. This job-protected leave would be extended to all military reservists, including those in military skills training and those stationed abroad.

With these amendments, we’re going one step further to support, protect and attract our best and brightest to Canada’s armed forces. We owe them a debt that cannot be repaid, but we can support them in any and every way we can.

Madam Speaker, I talked about the gig economy, and I want to talk about portable benefits. We also know, more and more people are building their career across multiple employers. That is why our government is appointing an advisory panel to provide recommendations on expanding benefits such as health and dental to millions more workers in Ontario. Whether you’re busing tables, working the cash or giving rides, necessities like dental and affordable medication should be within reach for more families. The same is true for entrepreneurs branching out on their own and starting new businesses.

We all recognize the importance of new and small businesses in our community and to Ontario’s economy. They deserve peace of mind, with health and dental coverage when they need it.

Right now, less than a quarter of those who work part-time or in these jobs have these benefits. Madam Speaker, our government is examining how best to change this. By bringing the best minds together, we will be designing a portable benefits strategy for Ontario that ties health and dental insurance to workers, not employers. This is another measure to put workers and families first.

We want to make sure there is stronger workplace protection. A few weeks ago, the minister announced new measures to strengthen workplace protection. When I think of safe employers, I think of companies like Eastern Construction. The team at Eastern are the gold standard for putting the safety of their workers first. One of the first announcements that the minister made as the Minister of Labour was at an Eastern site, when we shared how they’re returning the WSIB savings to their workers as a reward for being safe each day.

Putting our workers first means giving them and their employers the tools they need to stay safe. But it is tragic that between March 2020 and January 2021, over 2,500 people died from opioids. I call it another pandemic. Together, businesses, labour, government and Ontarians, we must do better to save lives. We must provide naloxone kits into people’s hands. We must do everything possible to turn pain into action.

Our government, in our Working for Workers Act, 2022, is requiring naloxone kits in every workplace where there’s a risk of a worker having an opioid overdose. This means many employers across all industries could have naloxone kits on-site. It is about saving lives. We have to be ambitious in fighting this epidemic. We have to propose solutions that match the scale of this crisis. This proposed requirement is the first in Canada. It will help keep workplaces safe, and it will be matched with support from our government to train workers and help employers get the kits they need, because everyone should come home safe at the end of the day.

When we had the Working for Workers Act, we heard it from across the other side how important it is to make sure that we should do everything to ensure that all the workers return to their families at the end of an honest shift. We talk about some of the businesses, how they’re treating these fines as the cost of doing business, and this should stop now. Our legislation would make Ontario’s fines for companies that would not put safety first the highest in the country. With fines of up to $1.5 million, we’re sending a clear message to the lawbreakers: no more of this.

These proposed changes will help protect hard-working people all across our province. We’ll make sure that those who consider these fines as a cost of doing business have to stop and make sure our workers are safe.

Madam Speaker, I just quickly want to talk about the minimum wages. Those measures build on the legislation this House passed in the fall session as well as in the fall economic statement. That included raising the general minimum wage across the province to $15 an hour. It has helped over 700,000 workers across Ontario, and it would mean that a full-time minimum wage worker could see a raise of $1,350 a year. That’s good news for workers, families and communities.

This includes the thousands of front-line workers in grocery stores who braved it all to keep us all safe during the pandemic. It’s because of them that shelves were stocked and our families had food on their tables. I want to thank these workers for their dedication. I know it has not been easy. Many of these front-line heroes make minimum wage. And while many of us worked from home, they have been needed at their workplaces throughout the pandemic.

Our paycheque increase also includes liquor servers, as we made the general minimum wage apply to these jobs. We recognize that these workers have bills to pay and kids to feed, and that their costs have been rising rapidly. We recognized that they could not wait another year for an increase.

That is why, starting in January, these workers have been receiving a higher wage, to recognize their efforts and help them make ends meet.

I’m glad that we are building on that measure by also extending minimum wage protections to digital platform workers providing ride-share, courier and delivery services.

Disconnecting from work: As I talked about, the pandemic has resulted in historic changes in the way we live and work. For many of us, the lines between work life and home life became blurred, as many office workers shifted to remote work overnight. As our front-line workers fought bravely to contain the virus and keep essential goods flowing, many of us did our part simply by staying home. This meant that for many families, including my own, homes became offices, daycares and schools. It was not uncommon for kids or family pets to interrupt a Zoom or a Teams call during the day.

An unintended consequence of working from home was that, without a commute, it became easier to work longer hours. And even when off the clock, many of us kept an eye on emails, making it hard to relax at the end of the workday, on vacation, or when spending the weekend with our families.

Madam Speaker, we are more than our jobs. We are moms, dads, volunteers for charitable organizations, members of faith communities, hobbyists and much more. Ontario cannot be a place where workers face burnout and only have time for one part of life. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is the importance of mental health. It seems that the people of Ontario agree. According to a survey, over 95% of people believe that those who work from home should be able to disconnect from their employer at the end of the workday. That is why we are making this change.

That is why we passed legislation that requires larger employers, those with 25 employees or more, to establish policies about disconnecting from work.

I want to share some of the things we’ve done with the Working for Workers Act in terms of the non-compete clause. As part of the Working for Workers legislation, we banned employers from using non-competition agreements, with exceptions only for very senior executives. These agreements prevent an employee from taking a new job with a direct competitor for a period of time after they leave a current job. While they are almost never legally enforceable, employers often use them to intimidate their employees. They prevent workers from seeking better opportunities. This limits workers from pursuing exciting opportunities that could help them grow professionally.

We want Ontario to be a place where workers can advance their careers and where businesses can easily recruit the talent they need. We have seen that this has been done in several other places. California banned non-compete agreements many years ago, and yet Silicon Valley has flourished. Hawaii banned them in 2015, and following that there was an 11% increase in labour mobility in the tech sector and a 4% increase in new-hire salaries. We banned these agreements to increase the mobility of workers and to improve Ontario’s ability to keep and attract top talent.

Madam Speaker, I’m keeping an eye on the clock as well. I have a few things more to cover, so I’m just going to skip a couple of pages.

Interjection.

Mr. Deepak Anand: Yes, thank you so much.

Another thing that we want to talk about, which we did for the Working for Workers Act one, was about the temporary help agencies, those who definitely need help. We’ve seen in 2021 that they were focused on the use of temporary help agencies by farms, retirement homes, food processing plants and warehouses. They discovered over $3.9 million was owing to workers, thanks to the hard work of employment standards officers, and more than half of these funds have been recovered. We’re sending a message that breaking the law is not a cost of doing business.

If you’re not following the rules, we can and we will shut you down. These steps will protect young people, women and newcomers, who are often the most exploited by these bad agencies and recruiters. That is why we are putting the temporary help agencies in place. We are making sure there’s a structure available to fix this problem.

While I was mentioning this in the previous bill, Madam Speaker, I would like to remind the House of another key item, something I am proud of that is now in effect: the washroom access. I was talking to some of the trucking transportation operators over the weekend and they were so delighted about what we did in the Working for Workers Act. I want to reassure them and remind all the businesses that we require business owners to allow workers who are delivering or picking up items to use a washroom at their business.

I had a chance to talk to some of these drivers, as I said, who told me it is not uncommon to drive for six, seven or eight hours straight to make a delivery or pickup. Many of these locations are in industrial areas and do not have a public restroom or a café nearby. And as you know, during the pandemic, these restaurants were closed. So to take a break, drivers often have no choice; they have to use the washroom at the businesses where they’re picking up or delivering food or other goods.

As I mentioned earlier, Madam Speaker, we appointed a panel of experts through our Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee in June. They spoke with workers, employers and unions about how we can better support our workers in this changing landscape of work. One of their findings was that workers who deliver goods are often denied use of these washrooms at businesses.

I have heard the same from drivers first-hand. A friend of mine who drives trucks for a living, Shahid Mughal, told me that he was in such dire need of a washroom that he had no choice but to keep himself driving without going to the washroom. He talked about another friend of his who was in dire need of a washroom and had no choice but to go into the woods. Madam Speaker, I think we can all agree that this is not the way we should be treating our front-line heroes. They deserve our respect. They deserve to have reliable access to washrooms during their workday. That is why our Working for Workers Act one is helping those drivers.

Madam Speaker, I talked about the workers and I talked about the gig workers. I want to take a turn and talk a little bit about supporting the businesses. Our government is helping main street merchants and entrepreneurs. Just as businesses cannot succeed without skilled workers, workers need the job-creating businesses that can help prosperity and economic growth. Our government recognizes that and that’s why we have removed barriers to economic success, while keeping Ontario families, workers and the environment safe and healthy.

We have reduced the regulatory burden, saving businesses, not-for-profits and other organizations $373 million a year in compliance costs. Whether it is making it easier for restaurants and bars to create patios, allowing online renewals of licence plate stickers for heavy vehicles, including farm vehicles, or making it easier for people and businesses to understand their energy use, we’re making life and business easier.

I want to highlight a recent game-changing investment, a testament to the Premier’s leadership and our government’s hard work to promote economic prosperity. Earlier this month, the Premier and the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade announced a historic investment by Honda of Canada Manufacturing. Madam Speaker, we’ve seen that many of the automotive companies are investing in Ontario because they see the economic boom coming ahead. For example, Honda is investing nearly $1.4 billion to upgrade its plant in Alliston.

With support from our government, this investment will ensure next-generation vehicles are built here in Ontario by Ontario workers, which means thousands of good jobs.

I want to talk about another investment the ministry made. With the support of our government, MDA is investing $100 million here in Ontario, in Brampton, for a new global headquarters for space logistics and the Space Robotics Centre of Excellence. These are just some of the examples of the investments our work to support businesses and cut unnecessary duplicative red tape is bringing to our province.

Through these remarks, I want to send a clear message. I want to show all the companies of the globe that we in Ontario have people of 150 nationalities speaking over 200 languages. If you really want to see a global village, we have it right here. You have a government that is here to support businesses to grow and thrive.

These are just a couple of examples I talked about, but our work to support businesses and cut unnecessary and duplicative red tape is bringing harmony and prosperity to our province. We have seen the reversing of the trend of businesses leaving Ontario. Now they’re coming here, investing here and creating jobs. Their investments and success contribute to the government revenue. It’s a vicious cycle: When businesses come here and invest here, they create jobs. When they create jobs, more people get paycheques. The more people get paycheques, they go out and spend money.

The government gets the revenue as tax dollars, the whole revenue goes up, and at the end of the day we can invest back into programs and we can pay off our debt. That is why it is important for us as a government to make sure that we work with Ontario, we work with our businesses and we work with our workers to build this momentum of prosperity.

Madam Speaker, when I started talking, I felt it was like a marathon, but when looking at the clock—I think we’re close to the marathon. I want to quickly move over to the closing remarks. My sincere thanks to every member in our caucus—and across the aisle, if they did—who supported our previous bill to support workers. I hope you join me today and help progress this bill and vote for this bill to further support, protect and attract workers, to help them earn bigger paycheques, provide better protection and help them find better opportunities.

Speaker, I will conclude by calling for all in this House to support the Working for Workers Act, 2022. The future of work is already here, and to protect workers and jobs in the province, our laws need to keep up. If passed, this bill would ensure that workers’ basic rights are protected, that Ontarians can keep and attract top talent, and that our economy remains strong in the years to come.

This legislation stands up for the front-line heroes who worked tirelessly through the pandemic to keep Ontario running, and it builds a better future for the workers of today and tomorrow by ensuring their basic rights are protected and our labour laws are keeping up with the changing world of work. It builds on the requirement for employers to develop policies on disconnecting from work by now and also requiring employers to provide information on electronic monitoring of employees.

Empowering workers on how they can be monitored, how they can be progressed—we need to come together, work together. Empowering workers to know how and when they are being monitored is important for them. It protects the jobs of military reservists so that they don’t need to worry about providing for their families when they return from defending our great country. It provides rights and protection for the digital platform workers who deliver groceries, help us get around and do many more things. We’re protecting their rights, Madam Speaker. This is a huge step in the right direction to give these workers, who we rely on so much, their due.

By taking these steps now, we can ensure Ontario remains the best place to live, have a meaningful career, raise a family and thrive. We can promote economic prosperity and opportunity for all. We have seen, over the last decade, 300,000 manufacturing jobs leaving. But now we’ve seen over 330,000 jobs being unfilled and a lot of investments coming to Ontario. We’re seeing the days of prosperity ahead. We’re seeing it, and that is why together we’re unleashing Ontario.

I’m looking forward to everyone in my caucus and across the aisle to come and support this. Let’s build a prosperous, a better, a stronger Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Questions?

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you to my colleague from Mississauga–Malton for his presentation this morning on Bill 88. There’s no doubt that gig workers and all workers in Ontario should have full labour rights, full rights under the Employment Standards Act and equal rights. This bill unfortunately doesn’t do that. Even in this bill, it excludes some workers, making another category of workers that don’t fall under its protections that it’s starting to try to implement.

It comes to mind, for me, that in the world of labour rights, this bill has something in it that you only get money for the time that you’re actually delivering. This is very similar to home care workers, where they do not get paid for their travel time. We have a crisis because we can’t keep people in there. I’m asking the member, did you consider actually trying to improve the rights of home care workers?

Mr. Deepak Anand: I want to thank the member opposite for that important question. As I said earlier, when I was talking to the workers—and I actually went on a radio program, thanks to the anchor Shameel Jasvir, and we talked about this. One of the challenges that we found was when we were asking the workers questions about the minimum wage, we heard some of the workers talking about how they only make, they believe, $5 an hour, and yes, there were some workers who were talking about making $22 an hour as well.

I think the biggest challenge at this point is with the transparency. With this bill, we’re making sure that, first, we’re bringing that transparency to the forefront to make sure that they understand. We can together see whether they’re even making the minimum wage. So, this bill, when passed, will help to bring that transparency to make sure that we can make sure that each and every one of those workers can make a $15 an hour minimum wage.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Question?

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Thank you for the presentation to the member from Mississauga–Malton. Ontario has a large number of military reservists, men and women, who serve our country. I think we owe them a debt of gratitude. We know what they do to protect our freedom here in Ontario and Canada, and we’ve seen what is happening abroad, for example, and the importance of men and women in uniform. Could you expand on the job-protected leave for reservists and how that will benefit them?

Mr. Deepak Anand: Thank you to the member from Oakville for that wonderful question. Absolutely, thanks to our Canadian Armed Forces, because of their tireless work, we are able to sleep calmly at night.

One of the challenges we talked about was when these reservists have to leave, they would need six months. Compared with the federal jurisdiction, it was only three months. That is why our government is working for workers by introducing legislation that protects the day jobs of military reservists while they put their lives on hold to protect our freedoms. What is going to change? Instead of six months, now going forward it will be the same as the federal government, and they will only need three months. Thank you to the member.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Question?

Mr. Chris Glover: Thank you to the member opposite for your comments today. You’re calling this bill the Working for Workers Act. It’s largely about gig workers, at least that’s what’s been discussed most in the media. You’re saying that gig workers are going to be guaranteed minimum wage, but they’re not guaranteed minimum wage for their full workday. They’re only going to be guaranteed minimum wage for the time they’re actually delivering, which can be half of their actual workday. So they could end up actually working for $7.50 an hour rather than $15 an hour.

The Superior Court ruled recently that gig workers are, in fact, workers and are entitled to protection under the Employment Standards Act, which includes minimum wage for their full workday. It includes WSIB and EI coverage. But this act actually overrides that Superior Court decision and downgrades gig workers. So will you admit that this bill does not, in fact, help the gig workers? And will you accept a friendly amendment to the bill, that instead of calling it the Working for Workers Act you call it the working against workers act?

Mr. Deepak Anand: Through you, Madam Speaker: I want to talk about Minister Monte McNaughton. One thing I can say proudly is that he is the champion of workers, whether it is minimum wage or whether it is giving them protection.

When I spoke to these people who work in the gig economy, one of the challenges they were facing was the uncertainty and difficulty in predicting paycheques. One week it could be $1,000; another week it could be $500. That is why the Working for Workers Act—and it is the Working for Workers Act—will include the right for these workers to keep their full tips during the regular pay period. It is giving them the right of information and clarity about the algorithms used by digital platforms. They will know how the payment is calculated. They will be able to calculate and make sure it is more than minimum wage.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Question? The member for Haldimand–Norfolk.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Perth–Wellington.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Sorry, my apologies; Perth–Wellington.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Although Haldimand–Norfolk is a great riding too, but anyway.

I want to talk about the labour shortage we have in this province. I have spoken to a number of industries in my riding that want to expand, but right now they are having a labour shortage even with what they have. Some of these expansion plans will involve 100-plus workers in some of our manufacturing plants in the riding of Perth–Wellington. It’s something that we’ve been trying to address. We have people being bused into our area to work from London, from Brampton, Cambridge and Kitchener, and then they go home at night. That does cost a lot of money, certainly for the plans, but the workers also have to get up an hour or two earlier just to go to work.

I just wondered: Can the member please share with the House how this proposed legislation will cut red tape and make it easier for skilled professionals across Canada who work in our province?

Mr. Deepak Anand: Thank you to the member for that important question. I remember going to Listowel with you and when we were going across the town we saw a lot of places with signs saying that they need help. There is definitely a labour shortage.

By the way, you are one of the reasons for that, because this government has helped and supported businesses to grow and prosper. We have a good problem. The problem which we’ve seen in the last decade, 300,000 jobs leaving—and now we have 330,000 jobs unfilled.

That is why our government is calling on skilled workers from other provinces across Canada to move here and live a great life, to tackle Ontario’s historic labour shortage, the largest in a generation. We are making it easier for them to continue their careers and we’re making sure that these people will get their credentials in 30 days, so they can serve the community and we grow Ontario together.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Question?

Ms. Jessica Bell: Thank you to the member for Mississauga–Malton. This government likes to say that they are on the side of workers, but this is also the government that cancelled paid sick days, that kept public sector workers’ wages capped at below the rate of inflation, including health care workers’ wages, and gave over $1.5 billion to employers through the WSIB program while there are thousands of workers in Ontario who have been injured on the job and who are living in poverty because they cannot access the benefits they deserve.

My question to the member is this: Why are you siding with international companies like Uber and forcing workers to be classified as independent contractors, when they are often employees and should be entitled to basic rights like a right to minimum wage and benefits?

Mr. Deepak Anand: Thanks to the member for that important question. I agree with you that we need to stand with the workers, and that is why this bill, if you read the bill, is actually helping them. It will give them the transparency, so that they know—every worker in the province of Ontario who is working in the gig economy should know that they are actually making more than minimum wage, and they’ll be able to add the tips to their revenue.

Along with that, they do not have to go across the world to fight for their rights. With this bill, they’re getting the protection. They can stand up for their own rights and they can fight with those employers right here in the province of Ontario.

This is the bill, Madam Speaker, which is working for workers. As I said earlier, we have a champion in Minister Monte McNaughton, a champion for the workers who will continue to work for the workers.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: It is a pleasure to rise this morning to lead off debate on legislation that really is a first for this chamber under this government. We are debating a bill in second reading that actually went to committee after first reading, and it was interesting listening to the comments from the member across the way, because he didn’t address the committee process. He didn’t address the fact that this bill was introduced on February 28, and then, in a surprise motion that was introduced by the government House leader, the bill was referred to committee after first reading.

For those who are watching here today, this is not something that you see happen very often. It certainly has not happened under this government. In my experience, I saw it happen once under the Liberal government, but this government chose to use that process to move this bill forward.

We saw an extraordinary spectacle at that committee meeting that was held to receive public input on this bill, because there was no public input on this bill. Instead, we saw the majority of the government members on that committee move immediately to clause-by-clause consideration of this bill, and what went into that committee was the bill that was tabled on February 28, which had five schedules.

The fifth

schedule was to eliminate the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario. The government, during the committee, moved to repeal or remove that

schedule of Bill 88 from the bill that we see before us today, because the members of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario first saw this legislation proposing that that college be eliminated the very day that the legislation was brought forward by this government.

It is the height of incompetence, Speaker, for a government to bring in legislation abolishing a very significant college that was established to protect the public interest, to protect the well-being of patients who are receiving care from traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists—to propose that that be abolished without ever consulting with the people who belong to that college, with the five million Ontarians who are patients of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists.

It was really an extraordinary spectacle, to see this government bring in, with a big fanfare, this bill that they said was working for workers, and then, pretty much immediately, once 40,000 people had signed a petition to remove

schedule 5 from the bill, to turn around and establish a committee—

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): I’m sorry to have to interrupt the member for London West. The time is up for debate this morning.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): It is now time for members’ statements. The member will have an opportunity to finish debate next time the bill is called.

Members’ Statements

Durham region student business program

Mr. Lorne Coe: I’m proud to highlight a partnership between the Durham College school of business, IT and management and the boards of trade and chambers of commerce in Durham region, including the Whitby Chamber of Commerce.

This region-wide partnership provides first-year students with membership in all chambers of commerce and boards of trade for the duration of their studies and for an additional year following their graduation.

This precedent-setting initiative will help foster greater opportunities for students to enhance their professional development and to connect with local professionals and employers in the region of Durham.

Speaker, working professionals and students from across Ontario come to the region of Durham because we have a reputation for growth, innovation and a business climate par excellence. I’m proud to recognize this critical partnership and commend the leadership of Durham College and the Durham region joint chambers and boards of trade for giving our students a hand up and hope for the future.

Mental health and addiction services

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Speaker, I stand here today with a heavy heart in memory of Kristin Legault-Donkers. She was a 25-year-old long-time champion for improving mental health, and well-known in London for her children’s books. She died on March 11.

Her obituary reads, “After years of battling her own demons along with the bureaucracy of our mental health care system, the system that she so passionately fought for failed her.” I can only imagine the rage and sorrow her loved ones have been feeling, and I stand here today to help lend a voice to her cause.

According to CMHO, pre-pandemic, 28,000 children and youth were waiting for mental health services. For some families, the wait-list was up to two and a half years, and we know it’s gotten worse during the pandemic.

Over the last few weeks, I have spoken to a number of local London mental health and addiction agencies that say that the wait-lists are growing and their resources are not growing. Their resources are getting shorter.

Family Service Thames Valley says that their wait-lists have doubled in five months. Even their priority wait-list is now four to six weeks long. They’ve told me that at the intake level, they are witnessing an immediate increase in acuity of need.

It is clear that what the province thinks it is doing and what is actually needed on the ground are two different realities. We are too late for Kristin, but if we work hard, fast and together, we can save the life of another young person like Kristin.

Let’s work together to make sure that every young person has the medical and mental health services they need in their riding.

Andreas Apostolopoulos

Mr. Deepak Anand: Every year, thousands of people like Andreas Apostolopoulos come to Canada from across the world to fulfill their dream and give back to the community. Born in Greece, 17-year-old Andy, with a grade 6 education, landed in Canada on a Friday in 1969 and started working at KFC the following Monday.

Through determination and hard work, Andy built his multi-billion-dollar company in commercial real estate. His biggest revitalization was in 2009, with the purchase of the 80,000-seat Pontiac Silverdome, and the construction of an entertainment resort in Pickering, creating thousands of jobs and adding a billion dollars to Ontario’s GDP.

As per Andy, “You can’t get to the top without starting from the bottom.” With little formal education, he could work out a deal in his head in no time. Andy passed away earlier this year, leaving behind a gap that can never be filled. He was a mentor and a fatherly figure to me.

I would like to honour the memory of a smart, sharp, quick-witted—a human calculator—caring and proud Canadian, Andreas Apostolopoulos. Jimmy, Peter and Steve, you are blessed to have had Andy as your father, as an inspiration to many.

Andy’s story is one of many entrepreneurial immigrants who have added value to our global village. Our government’s current entrepreneur stream will recruit hundreds of international entrepreneurs, who will start their companies, hire local workers and drive economic growth. I want to say thank you to Canada for being the land of opportunity, where these dreams can be realized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Andy, for all you did.

Climate change

Ms. Jessica Bell: This month, the UN published its most comprehensive report on the state of climate science in eight years. It is grim.

This is what the present UN Secretary-General had to say: “Nearly half of humanity is living in the danger zone—now. Many ecosystems are at the point of no return—now.”

“Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future.”

As lawmakers, we have a responsibility to face hard truths and take measures to protect our future. Instead of spending billions of dollars building highways we don’t need, it is time to invest in public transit and the electrification of our transportation sector. Instead of building sprawl on farmland, it is time to increase density in existing neighbourhoods and build sustainably. And instead of closing down wind farms and fighting fruitless lawsuits, it is time that Ontario invests in the Green New Democratic Deal to transition to a net-zero economy and create good green jobs as we do so. This is about our future, and this is what we need to do.

Perth County Federation of Agriculture federal-provincial forum

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Last Monday, I attended the Perth County Federation of Agriculture’s annual federal-provincial forum. I’m honoured to have participated in this event just about every year since I was first elected in 2011. There are always constructive conversations, and this year was no exception.

Representatives from the PCFA, commodity and farm groups presented their ideas and concerns. One common theme was that Ontario’s agricultural sector is facing labour shortages. Finding and retaining agricultural workers in Ontario was difficult even before the pandemic. In the last few years, it has become even harder.

We also discussed other issues, including Ontario’s Risk Management Program and its importance in maintaining a stable agricultural sector, the importance of education in attracting young people to the agricultural sector and increasing processing capacity throughout Ontario, which will bring more goods to market, benefiting producers and consumers.

If the past two years have taught us anything, it is the importance of having secure domestic food production. Ontario is fortunate to have that.

I would like to thank PCFA president Julie Danen and Sharon Weitzel for hosting and organizing this event.

For nearly 11 years, it has always been a privilege to work with the PCFA, as well as the Wellington Federation of Agriculture, Christian farmers and all the agriculture associations in Perth–Wellington. They represent farmers well, but they do more than that: They represent the interests and values of rural Ontario and its future. Working together, we know that future will be bright.

Government’s record

Mr. Roman Baber: The public lost faith in government. That’s because government, particularly this government, are abysmal failures. But why is government incompetent? The answer is politics. Politics is the cancer, the rot, that consumes politicians, staffers, stakeholders and bureaucrats. Everyone is too busy putting their political interests ahead of what needs to be done.

Let me explain: Say you identified a problem, then you need to call it out. But in government, that’s a career-limiting move because it means calling out your boss or ruffling feathers, so no one has the courage to speak out. But say someone called out a problem correctly. Now you need to craft a solution. You know what the solution is, but politics get in the way. Voters, lobbyists, stakeholders say, “But you can’t do that, Minister,” so the minister doesn’t do it and doesn’t do what needs to be done. They do it in part or something entirely different. That’s what I call political friction.

No one has the courage to craft the right solution because of politics. But even if we had the courage to call out the problem and miraculously conceive the solution, now you need to go to bureaucrats for the execution.

I’ve met many fine public servants. They’re eaten alive by politics: seniority not meritocracy, toeing the line without raising an issue, work from home and make it a long weekend, implementation is never on time or on budget, delays and ineptitude until a new government arrives. And that’s why nothing gets done in government: politics. Politicians who don’t have the courage to do what people elected them to do is the classic agency conflict. Everyone prioritizes their salary and their personal ambitions while real people, real issues and lives hang in the balance.

Politics is the root of everything that’s wrong in government.

Assistance to businesses

Mr. Chris Glover: Last week, the family-run Mi Taco restaurant on Queen West closed. It’s a victim of this government’s delayed third round of COVID relief grants. The Premier promised in mid-December when he announced the most recent lockdowns for the Omicron wave that they would roll out a third round of relief grants, but I polled 32 businesses in my riding last week and 22 had not yet received those grants.

Ontario businesses are desperately hanging on. This government’s record in supporting small businesses through the pandemic has been abysmal. In 2020, they waited until 25,000 businesses had gone under before they rolled out the first round of relief grants, and we are still losing hundreds of businesses while this government delays the third round.

The CFIB, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, reported last week that the average small business pandemic debt is $160,000 and that one third of small businesses in Canada are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Deryck Roche, who owns Level2 Music Productions in my riding, said, “Why is this third grant taking so long? I have burned through my savings.”

John Ulgen, who owns Simit & Chai, said, “The pandemic has been hell. We’ve been paying staff from our personal savings, but now, all our personal savings are gone.”

Elena Arsenov from Papi Chulo’s Mexicana said, “The grant has been spotty and no government employee can answer questions.”

Kathryn Beet from Yogaspace said, “I’ve run a successful yoga business for 25 years, but now I’ve burned through my savings.”

Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage this government to roll out that third round of small business grants before more businesses are lost.

Non-Profit Sector Appreciation Week

Mrs. Daisy Wai: It was rewarding to witness the encouragement so many gave to the non-profit sector during Non-Profit Sector Appreciation Week. The third week of February is recognized as Non-Profit Sector Appreciation Week and was celebrated last month.

To all the professionals in the not-for-profit sector, I want to say that you are no longer invisible champions. We see you, we appreciate you, and we thank you.

I thank my colleagues who took the opportunity to visit so many non-profit organizations. Some prepared scrolls and also hand-delivered them. I also thank the community for coming out. It has positively stimulated communities to continue supporting them, as volunteers, and also financially, because whether there are fundraiser events—their continued support is so important to this sector.

I want to thank the team that was working so hard behind the scenes: Daniele Zanotti from United Way Greater Toronto, Cathy Taylor from the Ontario Nonprofit Network, and Raksha Bhayana from the Bhayana Family Foundation.

I also want to thank my staff.

We will all work together for 2023, but this should always be celebrated—not only once a year, but every day of the year.

Chatham All-Stars

Mr. Percy Hatfield: Speaker, on this, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, I’d say it’s never too late to correct an injustice.

Last October, hundreds of people turned out at the Fergie Jenkins Field in Chatham to watch a baseball game to honour the Chatham All-Stars, a team of Black men who won the Ontario championship way back in 1934. That was 13 years before Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in the major leagues.

There has been an effort under way for years to have the All-Stars inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. They’ve already been named to the Chatham hall, and that was more than 20 years ago.

Speaker, it wasn’t uncommon for the Chatham All-Stars to have to fight their way out of another town when they won a game or to be ridiculed if they lost.

Nobody would rent them a room when they drove to Penetanguishene for the OBA championship game in 1934. They had to go all the way to Meaford, about 60 miles away, where they were allowed to stay overnight in cabins, but the owner said, “You have to be up and gone before sunrise so my neighbours don’t know you were here.”

The Chatham All-Stars were the first Black team to play in the Ontario Baseball Association and the first to win an OBA championship title.

Despite the racism, despite the prejudice and the bigotry, those players loved the game, and they were really good at it; in fact, they excelled. Had times been different, several of them could have gone on to a career in the major leagues. That wasn’t possible then, but there’s no reason now that they couldn’t be named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. I would hope, as I believe, that every one of us here in Ontario’s Legislature would be supportive of such a recognition. It’s overdue, Speaker. It’s never too late to correct an injustice.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Ms. Sara Singh: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Point of order, the member for Brampton Centre.

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you, Speaker. Are members’ statements concluded? Okay. I just wanted to make sure.

Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to move a motion without notice respecting the delivery of statements during afternoon routine today in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and that the question be put without debate or amendment.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Ms. Singh is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to move a motion without notice respecting the delivery of statements during afternoon routine today in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and that the question be put without debate or amendment. Agreed? Agreed.

I recognize again the member for Brampton Centre.

Ms. Sara Singh: I move that members be permitted to make statements in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination during afternoon routine today, with five minutes allotted to the government, five minutes allotted to the opposition, and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Ms. Singh has moved that members be permitted to make statements in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination during afternoon routine today, with five minutes allotted to the government, five minutes allotted to the opposition, and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”

All those opposed will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

The motion is carried.

Motion agreed to.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Point of order, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Point of order, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Speaker, there was already a ministerial statement scheduled for this afternoon. The reason why we were not supportive of the member’s UC is because it actually reduces the amount of time that members were going to be speaking, from 20 minutes down to five. Having said that, the House passed it, so we will—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. That’s not a point of order, but I appreciate the information nonetheless.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): On behalf of the Legislative Assembly, I want to welcome all of the visitors who are here with us today. Welcome to Queen’s Park. We’re delighted to have you here.

Private members’ public business

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll ask for the attention of the House. On March 10, 2022, the member for London West and the official opposition House leader, Ms. Sattler, raised a point of order respecting what she suggested was a conflict between the notice provisions for the consideration of private members’ public business, as set out in standing order 101(e), and the power of the House to discharge an order for second reading of a public bill and refer it to committee, provided by standing order 77(a). The government House leader, Mr. Calandra, also spoke to the point of order.

Certain members had been grappling with this matter for several days prior, with related points of order raised by the official opposition leader on March 3 and March 9, and the government House leader and the member for Scarborough–Guildwood, Ms. Hunter, offering comments on those points as well. I am now prepared to rule on the question raised on March 10.

First, by way of background: The member for York South–Weston, Mr. Hassan, was assigned ballot item number 30 on the order of precedence for private members’ public business, with a corresponding date of March 10, 2022. Pursuant to standing order 101(e), the business that the member wished to bring forward for consideration on that day was required to appear on the Orders and Notices paper by February 24, either in the form of a notice of motion or an order for second reading of a private member’s public bill. The member for York South–Weston met this deadline with the introduction on February 23 of Bill 86,

An Act to enact two new Acts and to amend various Acts to combat Islamophobia and hatred, which appeared on the February 24 Orders and Notices paper as the item of business designated for debate on March 10.

On March 3, in motions, during the afternoon routine, the government House leader moved that “pursuant to standing order 77(a), the order for second reading of Bill 86 ... be discharged and the bill be referred to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy.” That motion carried in a recorded division. The discharge of the order for second reading of the bill effectively nullified Mr. Hassan’s notice of his intention to move second reading of the bill as his item of private members’ public business.

It was on this point that the official opposition House leader raised her first point of order on the subject. She argued that the March 3 motion was moved without Mr. Hassan’s consent, and that the resulting order of the House served to deny him the opportunity to bring his bill forward for debate as his item of private members’ public business. At that time, I ruled that there was no valid point of order. The motion approved by the government House leader was in order, and it was adopted by the House.

On March 7, with unanimous consent, the government House leader put forward a substantive motion that would have provided for another bill co-sponsored by the member for York South–Weston—Bill 87,

An Act to proclaim Black Mental Health Day and to raise awareness of related issues—to be designated for consideration as the member’s ballot item on Thursday, March 10, in place of the co-sponsored Bill 86. In the midst of debate on the motion, the government House leader withdrew it, as standing order 56 permitted him to do.

On March 9, the official opposition House leader again raised the matter on a point of order, this time highlighting the fact that the member for York South–Weston had taken all steps required by the standing orders for him to move second reading of Bill 86 during his assigned time for private members’ public business. On that point, I again ruled that there was nothing procedurally out of order in the events that had taken place. I had hoped at that time that it would be possible for the matter to be addressed via communication between the members involved, as these kinds of issues so often are, and I looked to the House leaders to seek a resolution.

This brings us to March 10 and the fact that when the order for Mr. Hassan’s ballot item was called, he had no business standing on the Orders and Notices paper that complied with the notice requirements. Therefore, no business was called. In raising her third point of order on the matter, the official opposition House leader made the case that the current situation demonstrates an inherent conflict between the notice requirements provided in standing order 101(

e) and the power of the House provided for in standing order 77(a). She sought my ruling, pursuant to standing order 1(c), which allows the Speaker to decide on “all contingencies not provided for in the standing orders.”

In their remarks, both the official opposition House leader and the government House leader acknowledge that standing order 77(

a) does not distinguish between government bills and private members’ public bills. The official opposition House leader argued that because standing order 77(

a) has less frequently been applied to private members’ public bills than to government bills, our procedures implicitly distinguish between them. The government House leader, on the other hand, argued that the absence of a distinction should be interpreted as an intentional choice of the House at the time the standing order was adopted.

What is clear is that the standing order references public bills, which leads to only one possible conclusion: that pursuant to standing order 77(a), on a motion by the government House leader, the House has the authority to discharge the order for second reading of any public bill and refer it to committee. This necessarily includes both government bills and private members’ public bills.

The appeal made to the Speaker in this matter is to decide a question that is not provided for in the standing orders. However, as the foregoing sets out, the situation raised by the point of order does not arise because of gaps in the rules of procedure. Both standing orders 77(

a) and 101(

e) were duly adopted by the assembly many years ago, and both were correctly applied in the context of this situation with the member for York South–Weston’s ballot item.

It is worth noting here that the member for York South–Weston could possibly have made use of, on March 3, the provision in standing order 101(

c) to exchange places with another member in the order of precedence, thereby conserving his ability to bring forward an item of business at a later date. However, the member would have had less than four hours that afternoon to make such an arrangement, which would have required the swift agreement of a willing colleague. Therefore, while this was procedurally possible, it was impractical and virtually impossible.

While the outcome has no precedent, it is neither out of order, nor the result of procedural error or misapplication, nor are we left with a “stub” or “remnant” of unfinished or incomplete business that can only be rectified with the Speaker’s intervention under standing order 1(c). My finding is that there is nothing to remedy under this authority.

Although there was nothing out of order, I am disappointed that the House was unable to find a resolution in time to preserve the member for York South–Weston’s ability to bring forward an item of business for debate on his ballot date.

I am sure most private members here, on both sides of the House, who value their opportunity to initiate debates in private members’ public business, and who follow the standing orders and provide proper notice on the order paper, would find it very disappointing to have their opportunity for a debate in this House on their priority bill or resolution taken away without their consent by a motion of the House. The proceedings on Bill 86 were ultimately beyond the control of Mr. Hassan as an individual member, and, in my view, it is very regrettable, and on the surface seems most unfair to Mr.

Hassan, that one of the effects of those proceedings was that the member lost his private member’s public business slot. These opportunities for individual members are rare, and I would hope that the House would reconsider this matter and seek a resolution satisfactory to both sides of the House. I want to thank the members for their submissions.

Question Period

Home care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question is to the Premier. Home care in Ontario is so bad that it’s making national headlines. We have seen, in a story that was recently published, provinces like Saskatchewan, BC and the territories provide publicly funded and publicly delivered home care to their residents—but not in Ontario. In Ontario, it’s private companies that profit from care. Things were bad under the Liberal government, there’s just no doubt about it, but it’s become worse under this government, Speaker.

As an investigation by CBC Marketplace found, the result is that families who are expecting care to arrive for their loved ones don’t see that care come at all. They can wait and wait and wait, and nobody shows up because a PSW has been double-booked by her company.

My question is, why has the Premier allowed our broken home care system to get worse under his watch?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the member for Eglinton–Lawrence and parliamentary assistant.

Mrs. Robin Martin: Thank you to the Leader of the Opposition for the question. Our government has heard first-hand about the difficulties Ontarians face accessing home care and, of course, our Minister of Health was the Patient Ombudsman and heard many stories, which is why one of the top priorities when we entered government was to fix the broken system. Since then, we have been taking action to modernize home and community care with Ontario health teams poised to take on delivery over the coming years. This makes home and community care part of our integrated health care offering and not a stand-alone service.

We know that people want to stay at home as long as possible. That’s why we removed service maximums, to allow them to have whatever hours they need to be able to stay at home. But as the person in the Marketplace video noted—Willie Foreman—some people cannot stay at home. So we also needed to repair long-term care, and we have been doing that with great investments in long-term care to make sure that those resources are available for people like her husband, Robert, who need to move into long-term care.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Natalie Mehra from the Ontario Health Coalition said this about Ontario’s for-profit home care providers: “Home care companies get contracts for ... visits that they do not fulfill, yet they still get their money.”

One London family whose loved one had a very poor experience, very poor treatment, from for-profit provider Extendicare said the care “was so unreliable she was forced to put him in hospital, where he waited months for a bed in a nursing home.”

The Auditor General said in her report in December, “Clients may not receive the level of care they need when they need it.”

Now, this Premier should know that people, families, loved ones want to stay in their homes as long as possible, with the appropriate amount of care to help them stay there.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. To reply, the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Mrs. Robin Martin: Thank you again to the opposition leader for the question.

When we came to power, there were over 30,000 people on a wait-list for long-term care. These were people who were stuck in hospital and had nowhere to go and, like Robert Foreman, Willie’s husband, needed the long-term-care support.

By building long-term care while investing in home care as well, we are ensuring that the entire continuum of care is in place for people who need it.

The opposition resorts to speculation and innuendo about privatization when no such thing is happening.

We will continue to do the hard work of improving our public health care system across the board and finally solving our home care challenges that Ontarians, frankly, have been facing for many, many years—under the former Liberal government for 15 years, supported by the NDP.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The CBC investigation clearly showed that the for-profit providers don’t do the work that they’re paid to do, that they didn’t do the work they were paid to do. In fact, one Ottawa family shared their tragic story: “Much of the care that Bayshore promised was downloaded onto the family—and twice, nurses didn’t come for more than a week, including in the eight days prior to her husband’s death.”

Sue VanderBent, the CEO of Home Care Ontario, said, “We need help. We are in a crisis.” That’s what the home care providers are saying in our province.

Home care is broken. Yes, it was broken under the Liberals, but it is broken under this Conservative government as well.

So my question is, why won’t this Premier commit to fixing home care and community care, just like his counterparts in BC and Saskatchewan have been able to do—with a system that is publicly funded and delivered and actually meets the standard of quality of care that residents in our province deserve?

Mrs. Robin Martin: Thank you again to the Leader of the Opposition.

Our government is fixing home care. We’re fixing the entire continuum of care in health care. We have to fix long-term care so that we can deal with hallway health care. We’ve been addressing our hospital needs. We’ve started the largest recruitment for health human resources ever in Ontario’s history.

Recently, we invested an additional $548.5 million over three years in the home and community care sector. This will expand home care services, including supporting additional staff and personal support workers. The funding will support up to an estimated 28,000 post-acute surgical patients and up to an estimated 21,000 patients with complex health conditions every year by providing 739,000 nursing visits; 157,000 nursing shift hours; 117,000 therapy visits, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology; 2,118,000 hours of personal support services; and 236,000 hours of other home care visits.

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Premier.

I think we would all agree that long-term care saw the brunt of the pandemic, the worst of the pandemic. The brunt was taken by the people who live in long-term care, the people who work in long-term care, the families of residents and workers in long-term care. It was a bad situation because there was a government that was unprepared and unwilling to invest the money necessary to protect those folks. The government’s own commission found that a lack of infection prevention controls existed, that there was no PPE provided, that there was not enough staff and not enough supports for the residents.

Reluctantly, eventually this government squeezed a little bit of money out and gave it to long-term care, but those funds, sadly, came with expiry dates.

So my question to this Premier is, why is the government cutting funds that are supposed to provide more staffing retention and recruitment as well as infection prevention and control in long-term care?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I don’t even know where to begin with that question, frankly, Mr. Speaker, because there is no government in the history of this country that has ever made more investments in long-term care than this government has.

Now, very directly to the Leader of the Opposition’s questions on prevention and containment funding, we’re actually increasing that by $328 million a year. That is what this government has put in place. We’re increasing staffing by over 27,000 health care workers: That’s PSWs; that’s allied health care workers; that’s nurses. We’re adding 30,000 new long-term-care beds. We’re upgrading 28,000 additional beds. In the member’s own riding—actually, forget the member’s own riding; let’s do all of Hamilton combined.

We are increasing funding to the homes in that area by $70 million so that we can get to four hours of care. I don’t know where she has been, but this government is investing in long-term care for now and into the future, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, 4,398 residents in long-term care lost their lives to COVID-19, as did 10 staff. That is something that we should never, ever forget.

In a letter dated February 4, this very minister said that he recognizes there are “staffing pressures”—February 4—in the system that still exist. That’s a reality. But his deputy wrote a letter that says, “Funding provided during the 2021-22 fiscal year ... that is not spent by March 31 ... will be recovered” by the government. That means that money has to be sent back, and that, my friends, is a cut. The funds that are going to be cut are for 24/7 screening of residents and staff, infection prevention and control, and staff recruitment and retention. I can have a page send this letter over to the minister in case he didn’t know that the deputy sent it to long-term-care providers.

Why is the Premier cutting in long-term care when we should be providing more resources? Does he think that this staffing crisis is over?

Hon. Paul Calandra: This may come as a shock to people all over the province of Ontario, but at the end of a fiscal year, the government reconciles its books and works closely with organizations to find out what you spent, how you spent it, was it spent properly, was it spent for the things that we need it to be spent on. We work very closely with the sector. Now, had the Leader of the Opposition turned the page on that letter, she would have read that the government will be allocating an additional $328.7 million directly to long-term-care homes to support their prevention and containment.

That’s on top of the $5 billion that we’re spending on increasing staffing. That’s on top of the $5 billion that is coming for new and upgraded homes. That, of course, includes our increasing staffing by 27,000 additional staff and 30,000 additional beds.

The unique thing about all of this is that on every occasion, that member voted against every single investment.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: What this minister needs to reconcile is the fact that long-term care still remains in crisis under this government’s watch, with staffing problems, with infection prevention and control concerns, and he is simply not paying attention to their serious concerns. They need to plan. They’re being cut right now, when, in a couple of weeks, the new fiscal starts, and they have no idea what’s happening. They need certainty to be able to hire more staff. They need those specialists in IPAC.

Without proper staffing, we know what happens in long-term care. It’s the residents who suffer. It’s the residents who don’t get the attention and quality of care that they deserve. Cutting money for staffing and infection prevention and control right now in long-term care is not going to fix our long-term-care system.

My question, again, is, why will this Premier not acknowledge that long-term care is still broken, that we shouldn’t be cutting any dollars from long-term care? Stop those cuts and commit to fixing our long-term-care system.

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member ought to be ashamed of herself to suggest that we are cutting funding to long-term care when the member knows full well that that is absolutely not happening. It is an increase in funding of $328 million for prevention and containment alone.

The member doesn’t seem to know the difference between IPAC funding, which is infection prevention and control, and prevention and containment. The IPAC funding has also increased by hundreds of millions of dollars; prevention and containment have increased by hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re adding new staffing in her own riding—over $2.5 million last year; $6 million in 2022-23; $15 million by 2024-25 to get us to four hours of care. I just announced last week an additional $672 million to increase staffing across the province, and we’ve also committed to $1.2 billion the year after and $1.8 billion the year after.

Those are investments to make our long-term-care system the best in this country, no thanks to that member.

Government contracts

Ms. Jessica Bell: My question is to the Premier. Public dollars spent on public transit should benefit the public interest—Ontario’s public interest. So why is a Russian oligarch under sanction following the invasion of Ukraine poised to benefit from a $750-million contract for the Scarborough subway extension?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, Strabag has communicated publicly that they are severing all relations with that particular individual.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?

Ms. Jessica Bell: My question is back to the Premier. Earlier this month, we learned that this government secretly reduced the Canadian content requirements for subway vehicle contracts from 25% to 10%. This comes at a time when Ontario workers in the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay face layoffs lasting up to a year as they wait for more transit vehicle contracts. Meanwhile, 27.8% of the company that won a $750-million subway contract is owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

Let me get this correct. Why does this government’s subway contract have nearly 28% Russian oligarch content, but only 10% Ontario worker content?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Associate Minister of Transportation with responsibility for the GTA.

Hon. Stan Cho: I thought we made this issue very clear a month ago, when the Leader of the Opposition asked about the Canadian content policy—which, I will clarify once again for the opposition, has not changed and remains at 25%. But no matter how much the opposition calls for 25% Canadian content, we will not reduce it, in the construction of the Ontario Line, from 75% Canadian content, 90% of which will be made right here in Ontario.

Here’s the ironic part of the questions from members opposite: They talk about protecting Canadian jobs, but they stood here for the better part of two decades supporting the Liberals when they didn’t build transit, when they didn’t bring those jobs to Canada. And when it came to the most historic transit investment in Canadian history at $28.5 billion, what did the opposition say? No. They voted against that. They voted against the Ontario Line—$11 billion back to the local economy—and against 5,000 Canadian jobs.

We will not take lessons from the NDP on creating Canadian jobs in this province.

Long-term care

Mr. Vincent Ke: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. Speaker, long-term care is a sector that has long been neglected by successive governments. Between 2011 and 2018, the previous Liberal government only managed to build 611 net new beds. That is an increase of only 0.8% while the population of Ontarians aged 75 and over grew by 20%. That is 611 beds for over 176,000 people.

This is simply unacceptable. Ontarians deserve to know their government is hard at work to deliver the quality long-term-care beds seniors can count on. Through you, Speaker: Can the minister please tell the House what recent investments have been made to fix long-term care in Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I applaud the member for Don Valley North on that question and his advocacy for his community; also, the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health for her advocacy that saw us have the opportunity to announce additional beds for Villa Colombo, a new upgrade there; and, as well, the member for Scarborough–Agincourt, who joined me when we announced some additional funding for homes in Toronto.

Over 1,600 new beds is what we announced just last week across Toronto. It’s part of our plan to build 30,000 new beds and upgrade 28,000.

The member is absolutely correct. The fact that over the previous 15 years so few investments were made in long-term care and, on many of those occasions, obviously supported by the NDP, who held the balance of power in that time—we knew we couldn’t allow that to happen. We knew that we had to do better for our seniors. We knew that we had to do better for the people who helped make this the best province in the world in which to live, work, invest and raise a family. That is why we are doing so much, investing so much.

Again, thank you to all the members on this side of the House, who advocate every single day—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?

Mr. Vincent Ke: Thank you to the minister for that response. I am proud to be part of a government that is finally fixing long-term care, but, Speaker, we all know that beds alone are not enough to ensure that our seniors receive the proper hands-on care that they deserve.

Governments of all stripe have heard of the need for four hours of daily direct care for residents in long-term care, but from 2009 to 2018, the previous Liberal government only increased direct care to residents by 21 minutes. That is a 12% increase over nine years, or slightly more than two minutes per year.

Our government’s Fixing Long-Term Care Act enshrined our commitment to providing an average of four hours of direct care per resident per day. Speaker, can the minister tell the House what the government is doing to fulfill this commitment?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, I thank the member for that question. He has been working so very hard, and I certainly have all the scars to prove how hard he has been working for his community, not only in terms of getting new bed allocations for his community, but as the member has said to me on many occasions, there is no point in building new buildings if you don’t have the people to work within those buildings. He is one of the key architects, of course—and I thank him for this—of getting us to that commitment where we will make four hours of care and enshrine it in the new Fixing Long-Term Care Act, something that no other government has been able to do.

For his community alone, that means an additional $4.7 million on the announcement that I made Tuesday. In case the House missed it, on Tuesday, I announced $673 million for additional staffing. That’s an additional 10,000 people within the sector because of this funding. For the member’s riding, that means over $4.7 million. And again, I thank the member for his hard work in getting us to this great announcement and helping us get into a position where we can fix long-term care for generations to come.

Manufacturing jobs

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: My question is for the Premier. On Thursday, the Premier went to the Alstom plant in my riding during the evening shift. It’s too bad the Premier didn’t face the over 1,000 families affected by avoidable layoffs or the small businesses and their employees who supplied the plant that also now face an uncertain future. Many of the workers the Premier met will be laid off next week.

During this government’s time in office, the number of workers at that plant has gone down from 1,200 workers to 75 workers this summer. The plant needs large, long-term orders from the province to keep workers’ jobs.

Premier, why won’t this government do more for the workers at the Alstom plant?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Northern Development.

Hon. Greg Rickford: In fact, I’ve had the opportunity to visit the Alstom plant with the Premier no less than three times over the past couple of years, and there’s no question that they’ve had their challenges. But what they do know is that this government stands shoulder to shoulder with them on one of the largest transit expansions in the history of this province and likely this country over, Mr. Speaker.

It’s this government, unlike the federal government that committed $1 billion worth of train cars to a plant in Los Angeles, that has stood there with brand new trains and refurbishments of existing ones, no less than $350 million announced by my colleague the Minister of Transportation, to ensure that the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay has the orders that it needs. And during this difficult time of conversion, that plant will come back stronger than ever later this summer and start to build Ontario’s transit out. We’re proud of that, Mr. Speaker. We appreciate those workers at Alstom.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: My question is for the Premier. The only new cars being built at the Alstom plant are an American order.

This government has announced an order of 60 streetcars and refurbishing 91 bi-level cars from the Alstom plant, but that plant has the capacity to do so much more. For example, the vehicles for the Ontario Line should be made in Thunder Bay, yet this government has lowered Ontario’s mass transit vehicle content requirement rules to just 10% from 25%.

The plant needs large, long-term orders to create more jobs. That’s what we hear from the plant; that’s what we hear from the workers. Small orders and refurbishments aren’t the answer.

Premier, why won’t this government reverse itself and increase the Canadian content for the Ontario Line subway trains so they can be made at the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay?

Hon. Greg Rickford: I want to welcome the member, finally, to this discussion, after a couple of years of hard work on the ground in Thunder Bay.

Mr. Speaker, they are working on a couple of American orders right now because they finished a couple of orders from Ontario. As soon as they convert over the course of this spring and summer, they’re going to be working on a whole bunch of other train cars to the tune of $350 million. And they know, from our visit last week, that we’re committed to a 75% Canadian plan to ensure that Ontario workers and Canadian workers are involved in this.

Sadly, Mr. Speaker, the only thing that concerns me about this is that when it comes to earmarking $354 million for train cars, how did that member vote? We told the workers at Alstom last week, by the way. She voted against it, and so did her party. Shame on them.

Employment standards

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Premier. This morning, debate began on Bill 88. We know that the bill got off to a bad start when government tried to sneak through eliminating the traditional college of Chinese medicine simply because somebody whispered in the Premier’s ear. And it’s clear now they haven’t consulted on the rest of this bill. There’s way more sizzle than there is any steak in this bill.

The Premier would be hard pressed to convince anyone that the Working for Workers Act actually works for workers. Instead of bringing gig workers under the Employment Standards Act, it actually creates a second class of workers in Ontario who don’t get things like vacation pay or other rights and protection that Ontario workers have earned and deserve.

Speaker, through you, will the government withdraw Bill 88 and take the time to get it right, to make sure we actually protect gig workers in this province?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the member for Mississauga Malton and parliamentary assistant.

Mr. Deepak Anand: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I want to say thank you to the member opposite for that question and thank you for listening about the important work this government is doing on Bill 88. Thank you for that.

Our government has been and continues to work for the workers. This includes those who work on the digital platform and the gig economy. The gig economy is here to stay and the number of gig workers is expected to rise. That is why our government is advocating for the foundational rights for these workers. Our proposed legislation would make Ontario the first province to give digital workers these rights. Our legislation will ensure that gig workers are paid minimum wage; they are not dismissed without notice, explanation or recourse; and they are able to resolve their workplace dispute right here in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, our government is going to work every single day to work for our workers, and we want to make sure that they know we have their backs. We are continuously striving to better protect our workers on this side of the aisle.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Mr. John Fraser: It’s clear they’re intent on creating a second class of workers here in Ontario. Maybe it’s because someone else whispered in the Premier’s ear; I don’t know. Workers who don’t get health and safety coverage—the Premier’s message to gig workers is, “If you get hurt at work, you’re on your own.” Workers who don’t get vacation pay or stat holidays, workers who don’t get their right to organize or bargain, workers who only get paid minimum wage for engaged time—that’s like saying to the cashier in the supermarket, “I’m only going to pay you when someone is at your cash register.” It’s crazy.

The Working for Workers Act is legislating gig workers as second-class workers in Ontario, saying they don’t deserve the same rights as all other Ontario workers.

Speaker, through you: Will the Premier commit to broad public consultations and amend Bill 88 so it actually gives gig workers the rights and protections they deserve?

Mr. Deepak Anand: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I will say it again: This is the government that is working for workers. That is why we were the first ones in North America to bring this kind of bill. Workers in the gig economy often face uncertain conditions and lack protection, including difficulty predicting paycheques. One week it is $1,000; the next week it is $500. That is why the Working for Workers Act 2 will include the right for these workers to keep their full tips in addition to these regular pay periods.

That is why it will include the right to information and clarity around the algorithms used by these platforms about how pay is calculated, why a worker might be penalized in the allocation of work. They will know this information.

We are providing these workers with much-needed transparency in their pay. We are providing them the rights they deserve. We want an economy that works for everyone. We want our workers to have the opportunity to earn a good living and provide for their families.

Sports funding

Mr. Dave Smith: My question is to the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. The pandemic has severely impacted nearly all of Ontario’s sectors. One of the hardest hit was the sports sector. Based on advice from our public health experts, the risk was too high to safely play organized sports. Ontario’s athletes and sports clubs are now eagerly returning to do what they love most, and that’s play sports.

However, all the time away from the game has impacted the sector immensely. Speaker, can the minister tell us what the government is doing to ensure the economic stability of Ontario’s sports sector?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: May I first say to the member from Peterborough how proud I am of him and his commitment to community sport and recreation in Peterborough. Let me mention just three areas he has brought attention to for me and our government: the plight of the Peterborough Petes, he has been working day in and day out; the Canadian Canoe Museum, which we made a significant investment in this past year; as well as the Challengers, the young fellas and girls who are out there each and every day with their special abilities, making sure they are playing the game.

This is why our government has made an unprecedented commitment of $110 million of new money, thanks to our finance minister working with me, so we could ensure that organizations are up and running and supporting the sector. That includes:

—$20 million just a couple of weeks ago for provincial sport organizations and multi-sport organizations;

—$7 million for the Ontario Sport Network, including female athletes;

—$3 million to assist the Ontario Hockey League;

—$250,000 to support the Ontario Summer Indigenous Games;

—$50 million to the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Community Building Fund; and

—$9.7 million in emergency relief.

We care about sports and recreation on this side of the House, Speaker—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. The supplementary question.

Mr. Dave Smith: I’ve often said that everything you need to know to survive socially in the world you can learn through team sports. I’m a big fan of everything that you get when you’re working together as a team.

I want to thank the minister for her response. It seems our government truly understands the importance of sport. Every year we see more and more women and girls taking

part in sports. However, they are still under-represented in a majority of the major sports that are played in this province.

Can the minister please explain what is being done to ensure women in the sports sector receive the support they deserve from this government?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: That’s a very important question. As a former elite athlete myself when I was much younger, as a hockey mother and a former hockey coach, I think it’s really important that we continue to invest in female sports, which is why our government has made unprecedented commitments to support our female athletes. More than $3.5 million this past year went to support our female athletes in the 2021 Quest for Gold program, with over 52% of that money going toward our female athletes who represented us at both Olympics. We’ve supported over 980,000 women through $62.3 million to our provincial sport organizations.

And for the first time in the history of this province, this government under this ministry is investing in female sports, including cheerleading, dance and skipping rope, which was never done before. We made a commitment to that because we recognized that throughout the pandemic those sports were not able to be supported. In addition, we were able to support with an additional $80,000 to the Ontario University Athletics association, which we hope will make sure that there’s parity for women in sport with the funding we have provided them.

COVID-19 response in Indigenous and remote communities

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Remarks in Oji-Cree .

My question is to the Premier. Southern Ontario is putting the pandemic behind them, but for those of us who live in the Far North, the pandemic is not over.

Janet Gordon of the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority said last week that fly-in First Nations and local public health officials should have been consulted before lifting public health measures. I know one of the things she said was, “Ontario gets treated the same, but our situation is different.”

Why were northern public health officials not consulted before the decision was made to lift the majority of public health protections this week?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Mrs. Robin Martin: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government recognizes that culturally appropriate care is essential in supporting improved health outcomes for Indigenous people in Ontario. We remain committed to working collaboratively with our Indigenous partners and communities, working on programs that will improve access to safe and effective health care services.

Our government has been working with the federal government and with local health care partners to support the coordination efforts of the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority, which has been facilitating response efforts. In addition to surge capacity supports, the province has assisted in providing a request for assistance to the Canadian Armed Forces for the provision of Canadian Ranger supports on t