Behind the stats and the rhetoric are real people. Miners like Howard, Rick, Jacques, and Mike. Hard working Ontarians who devoted their lives to their craft, who raised kids, volunteered in their community, enjoyed time with their friends. If you don't live in a mining community, or if you don't have friends or family who have spent decades underground, you might not know the toll it takes. That's why it's so important we continue to share these stories. That's why it's so important that we continue to push for change, for safer workplaces, and for supports that are there for workers if they are made ill or get injured on the job.
My gratitude to Sean and David from @usw6500 for coming to Queen's Park to share some of these stories, and highlight the very real human impact that decision-making around health &safety has.
Students from @loellenpark have been working on a documentary project exploring the value of protest and the difference it can make in society.
It was great to engage in a discussion with them, and share some of my perspective both being active in the labour movement prior to my election, and the kind of impact protest can have on decision-makers now that I am in office.
I always remain impressed and heartened to see our young people engaging in these meaningful thought experiments.
Thanks Kate, Luca and Lillie for stopping by!
With the growth of the mining industry in Ontario, and the importance of critical minerals for our economy, we must not forgot the workers that make these advances possible.
I was joined today by workers health and safety advocates from @usw6500 to urge Ontario to adopt stricter exposure limits for diesel fumes and silica.
Our province’s successes in mining must not come at the cost of workers’ lungs. The science is clear and Ontario needs to follow other provinces and major industrialized countries who have set stricter limits to keep workers safe.
BREAKING: Doug Ford’s private luxury jet cost taxpayers nearly $200,000 in additional fees. He tried to tell us there were no additional fees to return the jet..
He lied.
While hard working Ontarians can’t afford groceries or rent, Ford continues to waste your hard earned dollars like they’re monopoly money, all so he can live like a king.
The Auditor General’s report affirms the widespread failures in Ontario’s truck driver training and licensing system that Northern NDP MPPs have been pushing Ford to address for years and calling for stronger oversight by the government when it comes to the delivery of truck driver training and licensing.
People call my office about this, it was raised at our Highway 69 townhall, and during our Northern Highway Safety road tour we heard about this in every community.
Our roads are not safe because the Ford government has allowed fraud to flourish in truck licensing processes and Ontarian families pay the price with their lives on the roads.
Warnings from road safety advocates and pleas from new drivers to get the training they need, have been ignored for years. Now, the Auditor General has confirmed what we feared. This is not a case of simple lack of oversight; it is neglect. This is neglect from ministries that have failed to enforce standards, failed to enforce bad actors, and failed to protect Ontarians.
Doug Ford cut osap. Saddled students with a lifetime of debt. His excuse? Student fraud. Student fraud was rampant he said.
But guess what? The actual data just came out. And less than 1% of osap funding was wrongly issued over two years. And ZERO cases were referred to police.
So Doug Ford invested a crisis to cut student aid. All while he was busy spending billions on his own luxury projects:
$30 million private luxury jet
Billions for a spa in downtownto Toronto that no one asked for
Taxpayer money to a strip club owner
100s of millions of taxpayer dollars into government ads to gaslight you that everything is ok
We are going to continue to fight to reverse these osap cuts and ensure every student in Ontario can afford an education.
Brother Ron Michaud will be dearly missed. He fought for Canada when he was enrolled in the army, and when he returned he spent the rest of his career (and even into retirement) fighting for workers. For safer workplaces, for pensions, and for workers' rights.
Brother Ron was a proud member of Mine Mill Unifor Local 598. But Ron's advocacy for workers extended accross the province. From Oshawa to Thunder Bay, Ron made sure workers accross this province were joined in solidarity.
To his wife of 57 years, Carol, his daugheter Kathleen, and a large extended family, we want to thank you for sharing Ron with us.
Of the mining fatalities in Ontario, 87% are caused by occupational disease. In the last decade, of those reported, we have lost 179 Ontarians to occupational disease.
We all know how important mining is for Northern Ontario, and I know firsthand what a career in mining meant for my family, but we cannot pave the way for mining at the expense of our workers.
Our diesel and silica limits are too high! Lowering these limits is a very meaningful and concerte way we can help keep our mine workers from being made ill on the job. It is a step advocates and members of long been pushing for. The Government needs to take action and support lower the limits!
Kicking off Police Week with @sudburypolice at their community event today. Really interesting demos, hands-on displays, and it’s always great to chat with officers and hear about the needs of our community.
It’s game day! 🏀
So excited to join fans across the country in cheering on the @torontotempo as play their inaugural game tonight. It’s amazing to see the WNBA come to Canada and inspiring for so many young athletes to see these incredibly talented women take to the court.
Let’s go Tempo!! 👏🏻
The WSIB age-cap hurts workers. It forces miners like Ron Rousseau to make impossible decisions. When workers get sick from occupational disease, they deserve to focus on treatment and getting the care they need, not wondering how they will support their family when support gets cut off.
Today was Sudbury page Onyioza’s day as page captain! She is one of the hard working pages here at Queen’s Park as part of the legislative page program. It was great having her and her mom join me for lunch today and to get to hear about all the amazing things Onyioza is getting to learn about our legislature and experience as part of this program.
For any families who want to learn more about applying to be a page please go to the legislative assembly of Ontario website “Page Program”. Applications are open now until June 15th, for the fall 2026 cohort.
