Thank you, Speaker. I’ll be dividing my time with my parliamentary assistants, the member for Mississauga–Malton and the member for Scarborough Centre.

Before we speak about the proposals included in this bill that will make the lives of so many Ontario workers better, I want to thank those workers for their advice—the stakeholders, the associations, the unions, the employers, the first responders, and so many more.

Speaker, this bill that we have before us today straddles two members of this Legislature, and I’d like to acknowledge and thank my predecessor, the former minister Monte McNaughton, for the work that he, his team and the incredible team we currently have at labour, immigration, training and skills development—the entire ministry—did, and especially, my gratitude to Premier Ford for his leadership and unwavering support of Bill 149 and our ongoing efforts to support the lives of workers across Ontario. Under his leadership, we will always, of course, work for workers and have their backs.

I stand here today to discuss this piece of legislation that is crucial for the welfare and prosperity of our province: Bill 149, the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024. We’re taking decisive action to promote opportunities and good jobs for workers, address labour shortages and fuel economic growth across the province of Ontario. This bill, the proposed Working for Workers Four Act, builds on the successes of its predecessors, acts passed in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Together, they form a comprehensive strategy to strengthen workers’ rights and to support economic competitiveness and foster a fair and thriving job market. It’s part of our commitment to create a stronger Ontario that reflects the values of fairness, opportunity and prosperity for all.

Under the leadership of the Premier, we’ve made significant strides in reducing the critical labour shortage that has loomed over our economy. We often hear about jobs without people, people without jobs. From a peak of 377,000 job vacancies in April 2022, we’ve made significant progress in filling job openings, with more than 100,000 more people securing good jobs today.

But we’re not sitting on our laurels. There are still 250,000 estimated jobs going unfilled across the province of Ontario.

The Working for Workers Four Act is designed to address the evolving landscape of work and more while addressing the impact of emerging technologies such as apps and artificial intelligence. This legislation focuses on four key areas:

—clarifying rules and safeguarding employees’ income in the hospitality sector;

—boosting fairness in hiring and employment procedures;

—strengthening protections for workers and first responders; and

—removing barriers for newcomers and foreign-trained individuals during the licensing process.

These changes are rooted in one fundamental principle, putting workers first, because an economy that doesn’t work for workers does not work at all. Our proposed measures are practical, common-sense changes that are designed to help people succeed, ensuring Ontario is a place of opportunity, of good jobs, where one can thrive and grow.

Before I elaborate on this bill, Speaker, I want to take a moment to reflect on the journey that’s brought us here, the journey of working for workers that has brought us to today.

Our first Working for Workers Act introduced measures to ensure our labour laws kept pace with new technology, automation and changes in how and where we work. It addressed changes in our economy and society that have been under way for some time but whose pace of change dramatically accelerated. With changes happening faster and faster, we had to ensure protections for workers kept up. Notably, it streamlined processes to make it easier for internationally trained workers to practise their regulated professions in Ontario.

For too long, we’ve heard the story that your cab driver is a doctor or that someone delivering your food is an engineer. We understand that we have to do more to address foreign credential recognition, and this government is taking action. And it’s already working, Speaker. We’ve had a record number of nurses enter the profession this past year, doctors—and so much more.

The bills of the past recognized the importance of personal and family time, and the Employment Standards Act now requires larger employers to have a written policy on disconnecting from work. That legislation passed by this House also gave delivery workers the basic human dignity of accessing restrooms at businesses that they’re serving.

Working for Workers Act, 2022, introduced the measures to protect the privacy of employees by mandating disclosure of electronic monitoring. It enhanced worker safety by increasing fines for workplace safety violations to among the highest in Canada.

To protect workers and make sure workplaces are prepared to respond quickly to cases of an opioid overdose, at-risk workplaces must now have life-saving naloxone kits on site and workers trained for their use. I’m pleased to say, today, tens of thousands more Ontarians are now trained to administer those naloxone kits. It’s an important step in saving the lives of Ontario residents.

Last year, the Working for Workers Act, 2023, increased the maximum fine for corporations convicted of Occupational Health and Safety Act violations. This is now the highest in Canada. We’ll always put worker safety first. This sent a clear signal. Previous governments could have raised these fines to send a clear message to those violating that it’s not okay. They didn’t. We did. That act also established the highest maximum fines in Canada for employers and recruiters convicted of retaining a foreign national’s passport or work permit.

Speaker, I’m from rural Ontario, and I’ve met a number of farmers. I think of fond trips out to Wilmot Orchards, where temporary workers—I see you nodding; I know you know this well in your own community, where foreign nationals are vital to putting food on the table. Farmers quite literally feed cities, and those foreign nationals do such an incredible job. But we know from stories in the GTHA and beyond that there are instances of unscrupulous recruiters seizing foreign nationals’ passports. That’s never okay, Speaker. We’re the first province in Canada to take meaningful action to crack down on that.

The Employment Standards Act was amended to ensure employees who work solely remotely are counted for mass termination provisions. This means that those employees would receive the same notice and protections as their in-office counterparts.

Additionally, as a part of Working for Workers 3, regulatory changes stepped up protections for construction workers, who help build our province. We did simple things, like requiring well-lit and properly enclosed washrooms on all construction sites, woman-specific washrooms on larger sites and properly fitting personal protective equipment that properly fits one’s body so that they can be protected on the job site. This makes construction work safer and enables more women to get into the skilled trades.

I look beside me here and I see Minister Williams, who’s been a champion for these very women. We just had a skilled trades round table to hear anecdotal stories of how this has protected women on the job site. We know we have more to do to address the culture to ensure that all job sites are places where women can thrive and achieve their full potential in the skilled trades. But facts do matter, and the facts are that 30% is the increase in women registration in apprenticeships. This is the largest in Ontario’s history. And I’m proud to say, Speaker, a 116% increase in women in the building trades. So what we are doing is working.

Now, I’d like to speak first to the bill before us today to an area that’s really close to my heart and very important for me. I’d like to speak about the everyday heroes who work in fire departments across our province. At any given time, firefighters may receive a call to rush to an emergency. It could be a house consumed by flames. It could be any number of emergencies, and they’re there for us, these firefighters. Firefighters perform brave tasks that most would shy away from: entering smoke-filled buildings to rescue individuals, using the jaws of life, which I’ve had the opportunity to see first-hand, to free motorists from mangled wrecks. Speaker, they run into fires as we run from them. When they aren’t responding to emergencies, they’re actively engaging to prevent fires in their communities, educating the public on fire safety and doing so much more—conducting inspections.

I value, and I know I speak on behalf of all members of this place—we value their work they do. Their work affects each and every one of us in Ontario. With courage and valour, they step into uncertainty, into emergencies that are both unpredictable and perilous. Without hesitation, they put their lives on the line to rescue others. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude, and in moments of our greatest need, they are there for us.

Today, Speaker, I’d really like to pause and have this entire Legislature acknowledge the presence of the Bowman family: Alisen Bowman, who is here today; her daughter, Alexis Bowman; Colin Bowman; Adam Whalen; Joe Bowman; Johnny Bowman; Matt Braun; and I believe Greg Horton is here. If you could just stand up for the Legislature—Megan and Donald as well, please.

Applause.

As part of our government’s promise to build more transit in Scarborough, the government allocated $1 million to start studies on extending the Sheppard subway line from Don Mills to McCowan. Accordingly, Metrolinx organized public consultations in November 2023.

On December 6, 2023, MPP Raymond Cho, MPP David Smith and I organized a town hall meeting to seek input from community organizations, residents and stakeholders. The town hall participants unanimously spoke in favour of the extension of the Sheppard line to be a subway and not LRT.

The following community organizations—the Sheppard Subway Action Coalition, the Agincourt Village Community Association, the Heathwood Ratepayers Association, C.D. Farquharson, the Pleasant View Community Association, the Federation of Asian Canadians, the MTCC 872 condo board, the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, the Scarborough Rosewood Community Association and the Filipino Centre Toronto—presented their studies and analysis in support of subway extension. During the town hall and in their written submissions, the community organizations made persuasive and well-supported points to extend the subway line on Sheppard Avenue East.

In addition, during the January 20, 2024 pre-budget consultation in Scarborough, a substantial number of Scarborough organizations also advocated for the subway option.

Thank you so much to the member from Scarborough–Agincourt for that question. Speaker, our goal has been always to provide Ontarians with affordable, reliable, and convenient transportation across this great province. That’s why, starting this coming Monday, February 26, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are introducing eliminating one fare. That will save $1,600 every year.

Mr. Speaker, this program, the one-fare program, is fully funded by our provincial government, and this program will boost the ridership by nearly eight million new riders per year. That means eliminating gridlock and taking cars off the roads.

Our government will continue to put more money back into peoples’ pockets, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’ll get it right.

When a transit rider is going from one transit agency to another, moving from one city to another, no more do they have to pay this double fare. They are going to have an affordable payment, as well as a seamless transition between one transit agency to another.

We want to make sure—the Premier made it crystal clear: We want to stand for affordability. We will work with all the municipal boundaries, all the municipal leaders to make sure one-fare goes beyond—