This petition is entitled “Pass Anti-Scab Labour Legislation.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the use of replacement workers undermines workers’ collective power, unnecessarily prolongs labour disputes, and removes the essential power that the withdrawal of labour is supposed to give workers to help end a dispute, that is, the ability to apply economic pressure;

“Whereas the use of scab labour contributes to higher-conflict picket lines, jeopardizes workplace safety, destabilizes normalized labour relations between workers and their employers and removes the employer incentive to negotiate and settle fair contracts; and

“Whereas strong and fair anti-scab legislation will help lead to shorter labour disputes, safer workplaces, and less hostile picket lines;

“Whereas similar legislation has been introduced in British Columbia and Quebec with no increases to the number of strike or lockout days;

“Whereas Ontario had anti-scab legislation under an NDP government, that was unfortunately ripped away from workers by the Harris Conservatives;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To prohibit employers from using replacement labour for the duration of any legal strike or lockout;

“To prohibit employers from using both external and internal replacement workers;

“To include significant financial penalties for employers who defy the anti-scab legislation; and

“To support Ontario’s workers and pass anti-scab labour legislation, like the Ontario NDP Bill 90, Anti-Scab Labour Act, 2023.”

I support this petition. I will affix my signature and provide it to page Krishna for the table.

Speaker, in 2017, the Liberals changed the rules, and the Auditor General found that they spent $17.4 million on partisan ads. In 2018, the Conservatives brought forward a bill by the now Minister of Health and Deputy Premier. They brought forward a bill called the End Public Funding of Partisan Government Advertising Act. That’s the opposition day bill that we’re debating today, word for word. It’s their Conservative bill.

However, in 2023, the Auditor General found the Conservatives had spent $24.89 million using the same Liberal loopholes—Liberal, Tory, same old story. We hear it all the time, and it’s proven again today. So today, our opposition day debate really is about stopping this loophole. Freedom of information showed that there was $24.89 million. The CBC’s latest report has $38 million, plus $7.9 million for the “It’s Happening Here” ads, plus $2.5 million for the Metrolinx ads. We’re just shy of $50 million set to trick people, to confuse people, to tell them things. This isn’t right.

I’ve got to tell you, the Conservative brand, Doug Ford’s brand, is that the party with the taxpayers’ money is over, and it continues with this member—

I want to just finish that the ethics of using taxpayer dollars on partisan advertising is questionable, but what about the ethics of using taxpayer dollars to attack the livelihoods of some of Ontario’s most precarious workers, by using ad agencies that use underpaid, non-union performers who have no standards for health and safety, decent work conditions and fair pay? The CBC reported on the debacle of the $2.5-million Metrolinx campaign that was used to gaslight the very taxpayers who are funding the work. Those ads were produced by Leo Burnett—