It has been over two years since 28,000 ACTRA members have been locked out of the national commercial agreement by the ICA. ICA walked out on negotiations. This illegal lockout has been propped up by this government’s hiring of union-busting ad agencies to create ads that further stab ACTRA members in the back by using non-unionized replacement workers, pitting workers against one another.

Speaker, there are over 100 ACTRA members here today advocating. They’re actually fighting for their livelihood. The question is to the Premier. Will the Premier and Ministers of Labour and Culture attend the We Rise Up Rally here at Queen’s Park and hear how their illegal lockout is affecting ACTRA workers, help get ICA back to the table to negotiate, stop using union-busting ad agencies and support our Bill 90 to protect these workers, some of the most precarious workers in Ontario?

Stand up and save the workers.

Back in 2012, when we had a Provincial Advocate for Child and Youth here in the province, that office recognized the disproportionate needs for children in care who identify as Black and Indigenous.

I wanted to quote from this book called HairStory: Rooted—A Firm Foundation for the Future of Black Youth in Ontario’s Systems of Care.

“Benefits of Kinship Care

“Children in kinship care can maintain their racial, cultural and religious ties. They are living with families where they are, for example, speaking the same language, getting the same kind of food they are used to, and the family traditions are very similar, if not the same. It strengthens their identities and allows them to remain connected to their community.”

My question to the government is, if you purport to care about all children and youth in Ontario, why not ensure we have kinship care in this bill that’s supposed to support children and youth, knowing how important it is to Black and Indigenous—

My question to the government with regard to Bill 188, the Supporting Children’s Futures Act: There are immediate steps that you can do today to advance the futures and keep safe and well the children and youth of Ontario.

One of those things is to pass Bill 174, the Missing Persons Amendment Act. That would really help protect vulnerable people, especially those with disabilities. This is a bill that I understand the member from Hamilton Mountain has put forth. This government has said yes to this and yet you have not delivered.

Another thing to help our children and youth: bring back the provincial child and youth advocate so there can be a voice, an independent non-partisan voice, in this Legislature speaking on behalf of children and youth. Don’t do it for the NDP; do it for the kids. Do it for the family. Do it for the people who feel down and out and betrayed by the care system.

We must end the public funding of partisan government ads, and the government can do this today by saying yes to our Bill 176.

In 2017, the Auditor General found that the Liberal government spent $17.4 million on partisan advertising; essentially, advertising to make the Liberals look good all while thousands of Ontarians were experiencing the heights of Liberal hallway medicine and just a couple of years, actually, after the Liberals decided to screw teachers over, at the time, out of their rights to collective bargaining, fair wages and the right to strike by ordering them back to work. The Liberal government created its own loopholes. They watered down advertising rules and also weakened the Auditor General’s oversight of government spending.

Today, in 2024, we’re still paying the price with this worse Conservative government that has used the same loopholes they criticized the Liberals for creating to spend over $30 million on partisan ad campaigns, including over $20 million to promote the Ministry of Health—all this while over 2.3 million Ontarians don’t have access to a family doctor; surgical wait-lists are booming; PSWs are being run off their feet in long-term care; our food banks, like those in St. Paul’s—Hillcrest Community Food Bank can’t keep up with the demand and is always running out of food; our local Toronto District School Board is struggling with a $20.8-million deficit, facing possible program cuts that will directly impact Learn4Life adult general interest courses, programs for seniors, daytime programs for seniors, people who are struggling with isolation and loneliness, outdoor education, international languages and African heritage program delivery.

Metrolinx, this Conservative government’s government agency, has been wasting millions of dollars as well making fun of my community members in St. Paul’s and others through cheap-shot ads insulting and mocking our constituents who have expressed frustration with the billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule Eglinton LRT construction and other projects—all while ACTRA members have been locked out for almost two years while this government props up union-busting ad agencies that take on underpaid workers without worker protection.

The Conservative government must support our Bill 176. We must end the public funding of partisan government advertising and ensure taxpayers aren’t paying for government ads that rewrite history and, frankly, are allergic to the truth. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that question from the Minister of Multiculturalism and Citizenship, who, by the way, couldn’t even address his own community during question period this morning.

Interjections.

Here’s the deal: As a graduate of women and gender studies from U of T, as someone who has spent the majority of my adult life as a child and youth worker, as a teacher, as a human rights adviser, I come to this place equity-centred. But what I will not do is support a bill that touches on equity and mental health issues in a performative manner and doesn’t actually put funding onto those issues. You cannot address those issues without funding staff, funding human beings, funding departments, actual funding tools to actually support your calling to address mental health issues and inequities in the post-secondary institution.

Earlier today, the government and other members of the House spoke about the importance of International Women’s Day and the importance of us nurturing the leaders of tomorrow. I would like to ask the member for Parkdale–High Park how important it is to invest in said institutions, in our colleges and our universities, that are nurturing these leaders of tomorrow. Because I suspect it’s impossible—it’s impossible—for us to continue having women CEOs, presidents, chancellors, MPPs, all of these phenomenal women that we want to celebrate on International Women’s Day, without proper funding.

So, when the government’s own expert panel recommends $2.5 billion over three years, and the government invests roughly half that, what’s that impact on our post-secondary sector and students?

I’d like to thank Dr. Sally Palmer, professor and advocate, for sending my office this petition.

“To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,308 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled”—at least—“for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas small increases to ODSP have still left these citizens” well “below the poverty line. Both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP” for starters.

I couldn’t agree more with the petition. I’ve affixed my name, and I’m handing it over to Harris for tabling.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #EmbraceEquity.

I’m honoured to speak on behalf of our caucus, as our critic for women’s social and economic opportunity.

Equality is giving everyone the same thing, regardless of their needs.

Equity is giving people exactly what they need, when they need it, without barriers and without stigma or blame.

I’d like to remind this Conservative government that it is impossible for them to embrace equity if they continue taking nurses, who are disproportionately women—and Black women and racialized women, at that—to court. This Conservative government must give our front-line health care workers what they need to be successful. Embrace equity. Bill 124 was ruled unconstitutional, yet this government continues their appeal against this ruling, attacking yet again some of the very women workers who have been disproportionately hit over these last challenging years.

This Conservative government’s privatization and profitization of health care in Bill 60 is gutting our public health care system by yet again attacking predominantly women, our front-line health care workers. We cannot recruit, retain and return nurses to a public health care system that has been grossly underfunded and understaffed by this government.

Embracing equity is properly funding public health care, so that people have fair and equitable access to exactly what care they need in Ontario—not in the States; just saying.

I want to make it clear that derailing front-line health care workers also derails the families of sick patients. Make no mistake: Society’s gendered division of labour is still very much in place. It is women, yet again, who must often take care of their loved ones, children, partners and aging parents when they fall through the cracks—cracks this government has widened, a crisis this government has worsened due to their Darwinian health care approach. These informal family caregivers are mostly women, doing this unpaid work at their own financial ruin, many without vacation time, without equal pay for equal work, without pay equity, without paid sick days, without supports for their injuries from WSIB, without any access to a caregiver benefit program like what we, the official opposition, proposed to help put some money back into the pockets of folks caring for their loved ones. Some of these women who are caregivers are escaping gender-based violence themselves.

Speaker, our communities are built on the backs of strong women, and it’s high time that this government not just commend women for being resilient, but that they invest in our community-based, non-profit programs, for instance, that are inextricably linked to the health care outcomes of our communities.

I want to extend my thanks to Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario CEO Marta Hajek for her leadership and her advocacy.

I want to say a special thank you to our local community member in St. Paul’s, Jane Teasdale, who is working tirelessly, advocating for the rights and protections of aging adults.

There has been a 250% increase in elder abuse, yet we’ve seen this government, the Conservative government, cut supports for elders during a pandemic—the same elders that mostly women are caring for out of pocket. They need stable funding, and it cannot be below the inflation rate. Funding below an inflation rate is actually a cut.

I want to also recognize that March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, courtesy of legislation spearheaded by our former MPP for Toronto Centre, Suze Morrison, and the official opposition leader, Marit Stiles. Endometriosis impacts one in 10 women, one in 10 people who menstruate. As I learned from endowarriors Leah Haynes and Tami Ellis, founders of Endometriosis Events, and my fellow panellists there, it simply is not enough for the government to say they care—“thoughts and prayers”—while there’s no funding for endometriosis. We need more funding for research. We need more training for doctors and surgeons to properly diagnose. Many with endometriosis have to go out of province and pay out of pocket.

Health care needs to be publicly funded.

Let’s be clear: Diseases that disproportionately impact women are often not the priority of this government. We only need to look at the health care wait-lists for eating disorders, for instance. We only need to look at our fight—we’ve been begging this government to cover take-home cancer drugs 100%. That’s another disease disproportionately impacting women—still crickets from the government.

So on International Women’s Day, while we celebrate the gains, let us remember the realities for far too many women in Ontario. We need help, and no amount of resilience can pay the rent, put food on the table, keep your housing secure—in an affordable housing market created by this government.

It is up to this Conservative government to do right by women and girls, because yes, when women win, we all win.

Just before I started, I want to express to anyone watching or to those who aren’t familiar with the government’s Bill 60, the profitization and privatization of health care, which the member from Eglinton–Lawrence spoke so proudly of: Make no mistake, the excess service that this bill claims to provide Ontarians is only provided to those who have the pockets, the money, the finances to purchase. It’s very, very problematic when procedures that should be covered and are covered by your OHIP are all of a sudden being covered by credit cards, courtesy of Bill 60. I just wanted to clear that up so that folks got the reality check of what Bill 60 is.

Anyone with a prostate can get prostate cancer, and this includes cisgender men, trans women and nonbinary people. I wholeheartedly support this motion, and I’m calling on the Ford government to follow the lead of eight other provinces and fully cover the prostate-specific antigen PSA test under OHIP when prescribed by a doctor.

I must also note that this motion, put forth by our outstanding member from Niagara Falls, is a fiscally responsible piece of legislation that calls for investing now to help save lives, as opposed to not covering the PSA test, which has been known to act as a deterrent for those who may have limited financial means. A cost for diagnostic tests will deter people from seeking answers early, and with prostate cancer, early detection is key. If prostate cancer is left undiagnosed and unchecked, the cost to our health care system would be tenfold. As the saying goes, prevention is better—or, I might add, cheaper—than the cure.

The cost of a test should never be a prohibitive factor, especially for groups in society who have felt the disproportionate impact of health inequities. This is especially true for many Black men, who are disproportionately impacted by prostate cancer. Black men, as we have heard, have almost double the risk of developing prostate cancer compared to non-Black men. They’re also more likely to have prostate tumours that grow and spread quickly. Black men are also more likely to die from prostate cancer compared to other men.

I want to read into the Hansard a quote from Mr. Ken Noel, the president of the Walnut Foundation: “Prostate cancer disproportionately impacts Black men in this province, according to a recent study co-authored by the Walnut Foundation and published in the Canadian Medical Association open journal. The Walnut Foundation, a prostate cancer awareness and support non-profit organization targeting the Black community, encourages Black men to be more involved in their personal health, get the facts, ‘know your numbers’ and that ‘early detection saves lives.’ However, men are thwarted by having to pay for a simple blood test in Ontario. We need to minimize barriers to early diagnosis and getting the PSA test funded by OHIP will improve outcomes for those most impacted by this disease. Remember Black men are 76% more likely to be diagnosed and 2.2 times more likely to die from prostate cancer.”

The name of that study, and I would encourage everyone to read it—it is a study that was led by Dr. Aisha Lofters. It is titled Prostate Cancer Incidence among Immigrant Men in Ontario, Canada: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study.

I of course also want to give a shout-out to Mr. Henry as well. Thank you for your leadership and your advocacy—and your research, at that.

The Walnut Foundation’s annual Walk the Path Walkathon to help raise awareness about prostate cancer is taking place on June 3 this year. I also want to give a shout-out to Ivan Dawns, who has been named the honorary campaign chairperson of this year’s walk. Ivan Dawns is the first Black union representative with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and recently received the Ontario Black History Society Dr. Anderson Abbott Award for his leadership and advocacy. Dr. Abbott, born in 1837 in Toronto, Upper Canada, was Canada’s first Canadian-born Black person to be licensed as a doctor.

The Ontario NDP has long called for the collection of race-based socio-demographic data in health to prevent worse health outcomes for racialized Ontarians. If we see where the disparities are, we can address health inequities through a full systems approach. According to the Black Health Alliance, “Although there are some conditions that are inherited at greater rates in some ethnic groups, such as sickle cell disease”—which we’ve also raised legislation for in this House—“the majority of chronic illnesses have many different contributing factors including—social determinants of health such as access to health care, support networks, education and stress.”

Lastly, “One ongoing stressor is anti-Black racism, which we believe is a major contributing factor to many of the disparities in health that Black people experience.” Experiencing everyday systemic and even internalized racism intersecting with class or socio-economic barriers and disparities, according to evidence-based research, has been shown to worsen illness and health outcomes for many within Black, Indigenous and racialized communities.

I couldn’t support the member for Niagara Falls’ legislation more, and I hope that this government passes it and saves lives.

In September 2015, Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kukyk and Nathalie Warmerdam were murdered by a man in Renfrew county. The perpetrator knew all three women.

Their tragic murders led to the Renfrew county inquest, which last June made 86 specific and concrete recommendations to prevent intimate partner violence. The very first recommendation is to identify the problem and declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. Will the Premier accept the first recommendation from the Renfrew county inquest and declare intimate partner violence an epidemic?

I’ll ask the government again: Will they implement the first recommendation and name intimate partner violence what it is, an epidemic? And furthermore, will they do recommendation number 4 and create the role of an independent survivor advocate to advocate on behalf of survivors and their experience in the justice system?

On November 23, Kartik Saini, a 20-year-old international student, was struck, dragged and killed in my community at Yonge and St. Clair by a Ford F-250 pickup truck.

Kartik was a cyclist. He was riding his bike home that day. He deserved to get home safely. All road users, including vulnerable road users, deserve to get home safely. They do not have two tonnes of steel protecting them.

On November 30, a ghost bike memorial ride was organized with hundreds from the cycling community and allies in attendance to honour Kartik.

Speaker, we must have tougher road safety rules to save lives. We must implement a Vision Zero provincial road safety strategy, to reduce deaths and injuries on Ontario’s roads to zero. Make the Fairness for Road Users Act and the Protecting Vulnerable Road Users Act law today to help families and communities find justice and some comfort, if that is ever possible. These laws will make our roads safer for all.

I want to thank Cycle Toronto; Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists; the bicycle mayor of Toronto; Bells on Yonge; Centre for Active Transportation; Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition; the Bike Brigade; Darnel Harris, ED of Our Greenway; Robin Richardson of Yonge4All, and so many others who are leaders advocating for safe roads for vulnerable users and overall low-carbon modes of transportation, like walking, biking and taking transit.

Yonge4All has been appealing for our midtown Toronto Yonge complete street pilot to be permanent. Complete streets are safer streets that take into account the needs of all users. I support their work because everyone deserves to get home safely.

Yesterday was the Labour Day parade, and I had the privilege of joining thousands of dedicated workers, including many from Toronto–St. Paul’s—people who work day in and day out, committed to the betterment of themselves, their families and our communities. It got me thinking about Mrs. Green and her legacy.

Mrs. Evelyn Green was a hard worker, and she lived in her house on Arlington Avenue for over 50 years. She raised her family there. She passed away on May 23, 2020. In her life, she worked as a civil servant, and in 1993 she was recognized for 25 years of service with the government. As if that wasn’t enough, she had been a tireless volunteer at the Castleview Wychwood Towers long-term-care home in our community and with St. Clair West Services for Seniors. She was also a homestay host for international students and was recognized as a cultural ambassador of Canada.

I didn’t get to experience Mrs. Green’s good humour or the many stories she would tell, but I see the fruits of her labour—her heart work—in the eyes of her son, Jason, a health care worker and educator, and his beautiful family. We’re currently advocating through the city of Toronto to have a nearby laneway named the Evelyn Green Lane in her memory. I ask all of you, my peers in this Legislative Assembly of Ontario, to wish us success.

Our community of St. Paul’s is full of angels, and I guarantee you Mrs. Green is surely one of them.