December 30, 2016

Mr. Peter Milczyn
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour
Ministry of Labour
400 University Avenue, 14th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1T7

Dear Mr. Milczyn:

I am honoured to have you as my parliamentary assistant, and thank you for the valuable support that you will provide me in this crucial role. I welcome you to the Ministry of Labour, and look forward to continuing to work closely with you to ensure that both ministry and overall government objectives are achieved.

The mandate letter I received in September from Premier Wynne sets out my specific priorities as minister for the coming two years. Parliamentary assistants play a key role in meeting these priorities and in helping put our government’s plan into action.

The Ministry of Labour’s mission is to advance safe, fair and harmonious workplace practices that are essential to the social and economic well-being of the people of Ontario. We know that fair, healthy and safe workplaces are the key to a productive and vibrant economy, not an impediment to it.

Through the ministry’s key areas of occupational health and safety, employment rights and responsibilities, and labour relations, the ministry’s mandate is to set, communicate and educate business and the public on workplace standards and to enforce compliance with those standards. This includes developing, coordinating and implementing strategies to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses and setting standards for health and safety training.

As Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour, your specific responsibilities include:

  • Working with me, our ministry and the Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) to develop a Ministry of Labour Accreditation and Employer Recognition Program. The first crucial stage will be to hold a robust consultation with organized labour, employee advocates and employer stakeholders to help the CPO develop standards and implementation details and other key elements of the program. This program should recognize those employers, who working in partnership with their employees, have achieved superior health and safety systems, protocols and results, and incentivize others to follow their example.
  • Continuing to engage with our stakeholders — individual workers, labour and businesses — to develop recommendations for a small-business focused internal responsibility system that helps small business to realize the productivity improvements and other economic advantages of a healthy and safe workplace.

A tremendous opportunity lies before us — to ensure that our ministry’s mandate is fully and effectively implemented, to continue to build Ontario up and to deliver real benefits to all Ontarians.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

The Honourable Kevin Flynn
Minister of Labour