Working without thought of self or thought of reward is the true nature of service. On Saturday, I had the honour of attending the London Central Lions and East London Lions Clubs’ Colour the Night Gold event in support of Childcan—two great clubs working together for a wonderful cause.

I sat with Greg and Catherine Millar, who had sent me many petitions about optometry since 2021. It is a small world sometimes, as I also ran into Greg and Catherine face-to-face at their home when I was out knocking on doors, speaking with the good people of London North Centre.

At our table, Luca told me about how nurses should be paid what they’re worth, allowed to bargain fairly and that there should be incentives to bring back retired nurses whom this government has insulted, demeaned and pushed out of practice. Luca also told me, “I used to be anti-union. But since Premier Ford, I am pro-union. You can tell him that.” Message delivered, Luca.

I want to thank the Lions for supporting Childcan. Families of children who receive the diagnosis of cancer are on the most difficult journey one could imagine. We heard about how Childcan helps families right from diagnosis, treatment, and through their recovery or bereavement journey. This great organization helps take the burden of external worries, allowing families to focus on what matters most: their children and their care.

Thank you once again, Lions and Childcan, for your true service to people in our community.

I’d like to thank the member from Niagara West for his question, although I think there are a few mistakes in there.

One of the reasons that I became very interested and very engaged in politics was Bill 115—and that was wage-suppression tactics that were by the Liberal government at the time and supported by the Conservatives. That was a direct attack on teachers, a direct attack on workers, and one that the Conservatives really supported.

And you see a parallel: There was Bill 115, which took away the bargaining rights of educators in the education system, and now we have Bill 124, which takes away the bargaining rights of nurses and front-line health care heroes. So, really, it’s old wine in new bottles. We see the same tricks. We see the same sorts of omnibus legislation.

Supporting workers in my riding is something that’s very key, and I find it very concerning that the member would try to paint this brush—we keep hearing about this coalition that never existed. It’s funny how this government is really trying to change history, but it’s really not working.

We don’t see any support from this government for front-line workers; if we did, we would actually see them repeal Bill 124.

I want to turn to the Premier’s comments from March 30, 2020, when he was speaking about Bill 124 and speaking about health care professionals. He said: “If it was up to me, I’d just give them the bank.” Well, it has been two years, and we still see this deliberate wage suppression, this disrespectful Bill 124.

To the second part of the question, in terms of social assistance rates: We know that there was a Conservative government that slashed social assistance rates by 22.5%, and then there were 15 years when the Liberals could have fixed that and they chose to do nothing—so much so that that initial cut was drastic, and yet people are worse off now than they were then. And this government seems to claim that 5% is going to change everything; it’s not. As the member points out, $58 is not going to fix it for people. There are people who have spoken to me who have indicated that they’ve withheld medication, that they are on the brink of losing their home, and that if they’re about to go on the streets, they may choose to take that medication. That is a shocking reality that this government refuses to admit. They should not be patting themselves on the back for 5%; they should be doubling it.

We always from the government that the private sector is going to somehow be the greatest thing since sliced bread—it’s going to be choice; it’s going to be efficient; it’s going to be accurate. And yet, no, as soon as they take over contracts, it ends up costing far more, and people don’t have the care that they need.