Hansard Transcript 2019-Apr-17 | Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Bill 74, An Act concerning the provision of health care, continuing Ontario Health and making consequential and related amendments and repeals / Projet de loi 74, Loi concernant la prestation de soins de santé, la prorogation de Santé Ontario, l’ajout de modifications corrélatives et connexes et des abrogations.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Further debate.

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: I rise today to speak on Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act, introduced by my friend and colleague the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the Honourable Christine Elliott.

Mr. Speaker, it was Winston Churchill who once said: “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” These words ring true when it comes to health care. We are always seeking to improve upon our health care system to reach for better outcomes, to seek that perfect system.

That’s why a successful health care system is one that adapts. One need only look to history to see this. Until the 1960s, hospitals, Mr. Speaker, weren’t designed to treat emergencies. Visitors at night would often find the doors locked. Ironically, ambulances at the time were often run by mortuaries, not exactly the stuff of great confidence-building.

Now, in the United States, emergency medicine ranks as the seventh-largest physician speciality out of 38, and its numbers are rising in Canada. The system changed and adapted for the better.

For those of us who have, unfortunately, needed to access an emergency room, I am certain that we are all thankful that the system changed for the better. I would rather wake up in a world-class hospital like the Ottawa Hospital than in a mortuary, Mr. Speaker.

As documented in the book SuperFreakonomics, Dr. Craig Feied would lead another wave of change in the late 1990s at Washington Hospital Center. Feied was amongst the first physicians to realize that the flow of information within a hospital could mean the difference of life and death for some patients.

In his early research, Dr. Feied found that doctors in the emergency department were spending 60% of their time on information management and only 15% on patient care. Those are startling statistics, Mr. Speaker: 60% on information management, 15% on patient care. It’s an alarming statistic.

By “information management,” Feied meant that doctors were spending much of their time trying to transcribe information, send it to different sources that didn’t communicate well with each other, if at all, and receive critical information that they needed in return. It was a veritable hodgepodge of handwritten notes, lab results, scanned images and videos.

Feied set to work to rectify this by building a computer system that could centralize this information into a quick, efficient and easily accessible program for front-line hospital workers. Naturally, he faced resistance. Any time someone seeks to introduce change, there will be those who resist that adaptation. Feied tells us that one top administrator hated him so much, he would routinely go into the hospital service request system at night and delete his requests for new computer equipment.

But Feied persevered and developed his information management system, which he called Azyxxi. Putting it into use in the hospital ER, the results were astounding. After a few years of testing, doctors began spending 25% less time on information management and double as much time on directly treating patients, which is exactly what we want our front-line hospital workers to be doing. To quote from the book, “The old ER wait time averaged eight hours. Now, 60% of patients were in and out in less than two hours. Patient outcomes were better, and doctors were happier and less error-prone. Annual patient volume doubled from 40,000 to 80,000, with only a 30% increase in staffing. Efficiencies abounded, and this was good for the hospital’s bottom line.”

The program was eventually bought by Microsoft and rebranded. It is now used all over the world, covering roughly 10 million patients. Dr. Feied saw an opportunity to change the system for the better. Using technology and data, he was able to propel the health care system into the next generation. Most importantly, he improved patient outcomes, which, at the end of the day, is what we’re all trying to achieve.

Our own health care system has traversed many miles in the past several decades, jumping forward with leaps and bounds, but problems still arise that demand a response.

As I have stated many times in this chamber, I have the unique privilege of representing the riding with the largest seniors’ population in all of Ontario. This is a tremendous honour and it allows me the opportunity to engage with many of the incredible people who helped to build our great province, but it also comes with challenges. As one gentleman said to my staff recently when they were trying to arrange a meeting between him and I, “I’ll have to get back to you and see if I can fit Mr. Roberts in between doctors’ appointments.”

“Hallway medicine” was not just a slogan for me during the election. It was a reality that I faced on a daily basis at the doors. Our local hospital, the Queensway Carleton Hospital, was over capacity, with many individuals taking up beds who should have otherwise been in long-term-care facilities.

The facts speak for themselves. Every day, there are 1,000 people being treated in hallways—1,000. That’s unacceptable. Likewise, long-term-care facilities in my riding have been overburdened, with some staff suggesting that a better home care system might free up their resources and beds for other patients who are more critically in need.

The wait time for long-term-care beds ballooned during the previous government’s administration by 300%. The wait time went from 36 days to 146 days. Minister Elliott’s recent announcement of 8,000 new beds across our province was welcome news in Ottawa, and particularly in my riding. It’s part of a broader plan to hit 15,000 beds and then 30,000 beds, to start getting us ahead of the curve on this important and critical challenge.

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All of these health care challenges are interconnected, and they can’t be solved on their own. They demand solutions that will engage multiple pieces of our health care system and harness them together towards a patient-focused delivery system. That’s exactly what this bill seeks to do. It will seek to bring about a fundamental change in our health care system that will put patients at its centre, Mr. Speaker. That’s exactly what we want out of a health care system.

In leading these changes, I can’t think of a better person to lead the charge than our Deputy Premier. Along with being the opposition critic for health for many years, Minister Elliott also served as Ontario’s first Patient Ombudsman. She also co-chaired two all-party select committees, one on mental health and addictions and the other on developmental services. This tremendous experience has meant that she has had the opportunity to engage with hundreds of patients, caregivers and front-line health care workers and hear about their challenges and some of their ideas on how we can improve. There is no one I would rather see leading this charge, and she’s well supported by two talented parliamentary assistants, the member from Eglinton–Lawrence and the member for Oakville North–Burlington.

When I first had this bill explained to me, the analogy used was that of our local family health teams. I am fortunate enough to be a patient at a local family health team, Riverside Court Medical Clinic. It’s a phenomenal team of health care practitioners. When I’m dealing with a health issue, I have access through them not just to a family physician but also to a nurse practitioner, a dietitian, a therapist and on and on. It’s a one-stop shop for health care needs.

Bill 74 will empower health care partners to do the same on a larger scale. Hospitals, long-term-care facilities, home care providers and community health centres will be encouraged to form partnerships that allow them to share resources and give their patients access to a network of care, a wraparound network of care. It will put the patient at the centre of the health care experience. Now instead of being left feeling disconnected from the various health resources at your fingertips, patients will be able to seek assistance in navigating these health care teams. It’s taking a model that works, Mr. Speaker, and scaling it. That’s exactly the sort of thing that our government has committed to do.

These new groupings will be called Ontario health teams. These teams will be focused squarely on front-line patient experience. No more complex transitions between different treatment centres: Under this plan, patients will experience easy transitions from one health provider to another. Patients will have one patient story, one patient record and one health care plan. That’s going to make it a lot easier for patients and their families. Moreover, each patient and their caregiver will have help navigating the system 24/7.

I’m thrilled that this bill not only puts the patient first but also emphasizes the experience of caregivers. This is an issue close to my heart, Mr. Speaker. As you know, back in November, I tabled my private member’s bill, the Caregiver Recognition Act. The act enshrines a set of eight principles about the important role that caregivers play in our health care system. I’m going to list those eight principles.

The first is recognizing and respecting the relationship between caregivers and the persons for whom they care; second, recognizing and supporting the valuable social and economic contribution that caregivers make to society; third, acknowledging caregivers as individuals with their own needs within and beyond the caring role; fourth, supporting caregivers to enjoy optimum health and social well-being and to participate in family, social and community life; fifth, considering caregivers as important contributors with other care providers in the provision of care, support or assistance and acknowledging their unique knowledge and experience; six, treating caregivers with dignity and respect; seventh, supporting caregivers to achieve greater economic well-being and sustainability, where appropriate, and making sure they have the opportunities to participate in employment and education; and lastly, supporting caregivers in a timely, responsive, appropriate and accessible manner.

We know that a successful health care system cannot exist without caregivers. The Canadian Association for Retired Persons, CARP, estimates that the economic contribution of caregivers is as high as $31 billion in this country. Imagine taking $30 billion out of our health care system.

My private member’s bill calls on the government to take these eight principles into account in the development of new policies. While my bill has not yet passed final reading, I am so pleased to see that these principles are already being taken into account in this bill, Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act. For example, the minister is making the Patient and Family Advisory Council a permanent body so that she can benefit from direct input from patients and caregivers on evolving issues. I had the great honour of attending that announcement with Minister Elliott in Ottawa at the Ottawa Hospital.

Moreover, by helping patients and caregivers better navigate our complex health system, we are easing the burden that they are facing. As these reforms roll out, I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that both the patient and the caregivers remain squarely at the centre of our public health care system.

Make no mistake, while the opposition might want to keep suggesting that privatization is on the way, nothing could be further from the truth. These reforms will strengthen our public—I’ll say it again, Mr. Speaker, public—health care system. The opposition may not like change, but we know from history that change and innovation in the health care system is the best way to move ourselves forward and improve outcomes.

In our quest to improve and innovate, part of this will involve looking at best practices here at home and considering how to scale these elsewhere across the province. We have a lot of examples of best practices in our health care system, Mr. Speaker. In fact, I am incredibly proud that some of the phenomenal centres of excellence are right in my backyard, in Ottawa. The Ottawa heart institute is likely the best centre of cardiac care in all of Canada, let alone Ontario. I had the chance recently to tour the heart institute with its CEO, Dr. Mesana, and my good friend Brenda Rothwell to see the remarkable work that they are doing there every single day.

By increasing interconnectedness, we will be able to help share some of these best practices, whether it be from the heart institute or other such centres, and expand them across our health care system. That’s going to be particularly helpful, Mr. Speaker, in our historically low-served areas in health care, areas like mental health.

Here again, we see another area of leadership in Ottawa. From a young age, I have been deeply involved with our local children’s hospital, CHEO. I might have even donned the mantle of CHEO’s furry teddy bear mascot once or twice. At a recent visit at CHEO, I spoke with my friend Alex Munter, their hospital CEO, about their impressive plan to expand the #1door4care project. I am proud that our government funded this project in our 2019 budget, Mr. Speaker. This project will make it easier for families to navigate and access mental health in-patient and outpatient services by centralizing these services on the CHEO campus. No more, if your child is going through a mental health crisis, will you be trying to figure out, “Do I have to drive to Vanier or Kanata or go downtown.” Now, families will know, “I can take my child to CHEO and that’s going to be where they can get the help they need.” I have no doubt that this project will serve as an example of best practices that can be spread across Ontario to improve access to mental health supports everywhere in this province. I think this is something that all of us across all party lines want to see happen.

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As a millennial, I am immensely pleased to see the focus on technology in Bill 74. As we look to scale best practices, we must look at areas where technology has helped to make our public health care system more efficient and effective. Just like Feied caused a quantum leap forward with his Azyxxi program, so too are app developers across our province helping to lay the groundwork for that next great leap forward. I had the chance several weeks ago to attend an enlightening presentation at Algonquin College in my riding that highlights innovations in health care. A local app developer presented to us his CANImmunize app, which is giving parents an easy tool to track their children’s immunization records and access them when needed for school verification. It’s a simple yet groundbreaking way that we are helping to improve our health care system through technology.

Mr. Speaker, my family has been embedded in Ontario’s public health care system throughout my entire life: My mother is a nurse, my father is a hospital fundraiser; and when I was born, Mr. Speaker, I had a cleft palate. The doctors at CHEO told my parents I’d never be able to talk, and now they say they can’t shut me up.

All this to say, Mr. Speaker, I am deeply committed to our public health care system in Ontario, and I think that this plan lays down the groundwork for us to innovate, to change and to adapt, and to leap forward into that next generation. With change for the better, we can build an even better public health care system.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions and comments.

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: I’m pleased to rise today to respond to the honourable member from Ottawa West–Nepean. I have severe concerns about Bill 74, because it does not create legislative restrictions to prevent some areas of the province from being overserviced, while others are being underserviced. We already had a service where rural and northern Ontario had less. We have a northern travel grant that is insufficient, and nothing about that is changing.

The system was broken. I had people from many areas of health care come to me and visit with concerns. I have nurse practitioner clinics, family health teams, hospitals and long-term-care facilities saying they are wanting change in our health care system. They know it’s in crisis, but they feel that the time that they have to address and for their feedback is far too short. They’re confused. They’re being asked to sit in on webinars to apply for family health teams, but feel that the system right now is in chaos because they have so much uncertainty.

Bill 74 just fails to ensure equitable access, and in northern Ontario we’ve lived with that long enough. We need a system that addresses that in the legislation, that ensures universal health care for everyone in northern Ontario.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments?

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I’m delighted to rise in the House this morning. I’m very delighted to speak to The People’s Health Care Act, 2019, introduced by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and the Deputy Premier. I’m just thrilled that I get to sit with two of her hard-working parliamentary assistants who are in front of me: the member from Eglinton–Lawrence and, of course, the member from Oakville North–Burlington.

This bill is necessary, as we all know. The member from Ottawa West–Nepean had mentioned it very well, and that’s the fact that he himself has had experience with the health care system, and the fact that improvements do need to be made. He has seen the rollout of long-term-care beds within his community, as well, and the impact that has had on the lives of many people in the Ottawa region who rely on health care every day.

Mr. Speaker, we made a solid commitment. We said we were going to end hallway health care, and that is what we are doing.

I just want to wrap up my quick remarks, following my colleague opposite, and say, promise made, promise kept. We said that we were going to end hallway health care, and this bill here today is a step towards that.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments? The member from Kingston and the Islands.

Mr. Ian Arthur: Thank you, Speaker. I always enjoy your introductions of all the members in this House. They’re fantastic.

It’s great to rise today and talk about Bill 74 a bit.

It was mentioned that the member from Ottawa West–Nepean had experience with the health care system, and I think that’s probably true of almost every Ontarian. You are a very lucky person if you have not had some sort of interaction or experience with this health care system. There’s a universality to that. There are lots of us who have experiences with it.

And then there are people who actually work in the system and understand it. Those are nurses, doctors, administrators and health experts from across Ontario, be it in mental health, community care, long-term care—all of those different groups.

What troubles me about this legislation—and I’ve said this before, but I’m going to keep saying it because it’s incredibly important—is that those folks who are experts in their fields were not consulted on this piece of legislation. Over 1,500 people wanted to testify before committee; only 30 got to. Of those 30, only one was consulted by this government in the drafting of legislation that dramatically transforms the health system in Ontario. So regardless of the outcomes, regardless of whether you agree with the direction that this government is taking on health care—maybe they will get to the right spot. I doubt it; it’s an incredibly complex system that they’re trying to radically change in a very, very fast manner. Maybe they will get there. Maybe the outcomes are what they say they’re going to be. Even so, there is an obligation to consult with people who understand the system, who are experts in their field and who can provide valuable input to avoid the mistakes that were made in the past. We have to honour the process in this Legislature, and I have not seen that done.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments?

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: I do agree with my colleague the MPP from Ottawa West–Nepean that the health care system should be dynamic and flexible. What was a great enhancement 15 or 20 years ago might not be good enough for today—not only technology changes, procedure changes, profession changes, capacity changes; but also, costs and cost structures change. We need to reflect that in our legislation. We need to reallocate the resources to serve the new changes. Management methods change, with all the new tools and communication methods, being able to seamlessly—and communications methods change. Having one management, one board, one agency could enable the system much further. Being able to seamlessly move patients through one system, one agency—Ontario Health—removes many barriers, saves time and, I might also say, saves lives.

Families of patients always complain about their struggle with the different areas of the health care system. Even front-line service teams complain about their challenges with the silos of the health care system.

Mr. Speaker, it’s time to take steps to move our health care system to the 21st century and enable it to serve Ontarians.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I now return to the member from Ottawa West–Nepean for final comments.

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: Thank you to the members from Thunder Bay–Atikokan, Barrie–Innisfil, Kingston and the Islands and, of course, my wonderful seatmate, the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills, for their comments. They were appreciated, and despite the fact that we may have some disagreements, I think we all fundamentally agree on the need for change in our health care system. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so thrilled with this bill.

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I opened my speech by saying a quote, “To improve is to change....” This bill, Bill 74, is going to introduce the kind of fundamental, once-in-a-generation change that we need to get our health care system moving in the right direction.

I’m thrilled to see us focusing on those in their golden years, making sure that seniors are getting that interconnected care between long-term-care facilities, hospitals, home care and local health teams so that when a family goes in with a parent who is perhaps dealing with a degenerative disease like Alzheimer’s, it’s not, “Well, we’re going to have to treat you here and then you’re going to have to find a long-term-care facility.” No. Now when a family goes in, their caregivers and the patients will access that network of support, which is going to be fantastic to see.

Not only are we focusing on those in their golden years, but we’re also focusing on making sure that the experience of our younger generations improves too by tapping into the wealth of innovation that is happening across our province, whether it be app developers or folks looking at information management the way that Dr. Feied did at Washington hospital.

We are on the cusp of what I believe will be a tremendous amount of innovation in our health care system, and I, for one, can’t wait to see it.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate? I recognize the member from Kiiwetinoong.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch, Mr. Speaker.

Remarks in Oji-Cree.

Mr. Speaker, this morning I’m going to use my second language to speak to you, as you cannot understand my language.

Today I’m going to speak about Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act.

I was given an opportunity to sit on the Standing Committee on Social Policy two weeks ago. We were given the opportunity to listen to 30 presentations from a variety of stakeholders in the health field from all over Ontario. Again, only 30 groups got to come and present to the committee, and over 1,500 groups that applied for standing were not heard. The two days of hearings were held in Toronto, but nowhere else in the province of Ontario. The last time I checked, we have a very big province.

Our health care system is public, and it’s unfair that such a big change is made without further consultation. There are many organizations doing very good work across Ontario in First Nations health, and we were only permitted to hear two of them.

They pointed out that there were no meaningful consultations with First Nations in Ontario prior to Bill 74 being introduced. First Nations in Ontario are the treaty rights holders and must be consulted directly on any changes to legislation and policy that may impact and infringe on their inherent, Aboriginal and treaty rights. What this means for First Nations is that they are then forced to respond to legislation that does not respond to the realities and the needs of our communities.

So these new laws also do not respect our inherent, Aboriginal and treaty rights. The requirement to consult and accommodate First Nations’ interests is a must, but it is also good practice.

First Nations in Ontario do have concerns with Bill 74 and its content, and also what it means when implemented. They believe the way health care is planned and delivered in this province must change and improve. First Nations want to see structural changes to the way health care is designed and delivered for our people, but they have concerns that Bill 74 will not bring about the changes that are so badly needed without consideration and action and response to First Nations’ input in this process.

First Nations have already developed relationships with the provincial and federal governments, either bilaterally or trilaterally, and these must be respected, as the Minister of Health committed to on the day this legislation was announced. But there have been no meetings to date.

Also, we know that governments come and go; programs and services come and go. But our people are still here. Work with us.

First Nations have the poorest health outcomes out of any group in Ontario. Suicide rates are six times the national average. Diabetes currently occurs in 6% of First Nations children as compared to 4% of the general population, and in 19% of the adult population as compared to 12.5%, and these numbers are climbing. Over the past decade, they have risen by approximately one third. The complications in our communities from diabetes include amputation, dialysis, palliative care, and kidney and liver failure.

Our people are continually failed by a broken health care system, but over the last few years I’ve learned that it’s in fact not broken. The systems that are there provincially and federally are working exactly the way they are designed to, which is to take away the rights of our people to the lands that people have access to—lands and resources our people have. It’s not broken. It’s working exactly the way it is designed to.

This shouldn’t even be a discussion. When we talk about humanity, when we talk about human rights for First Nations, what our communities ask for should be supported. I’m not sure if you’ve been on-reserve in the north, Mr. Speaker. The things that happen there would not be allowed anywhere else in Ontario. The status quo in our communities is construed as normal and acceptable but would be unacceptable anywhere else in the province and in the country of Canada. There are people dying in our communities. The level of services that we have to deal with would be unacceptable in your communities.

I represent 27 fly-in First Nations in the north. The provision of health care services is mostly federal. I know that our people get caught in a jurisdictional black hole of health services because of who we are and where we are. I have two small hospitals in my riding, in Sioux Lookout and Red Lake. Also in northern Ontario, we have 28 airports, which act as lifelines for these communities in order to access service. In 2015, Mr. Speaker, there were 2,750 medevacs in those 28 communities, 28 airports. That’s about eight per day, at a cost of about $12,000 to $15,000 per medevac.

The system that is in the north is a sickness system; it’s not a health system. When we talk about integration in a provincial sense, integration is more than that for First Nation communities because it creates a larger jurisdictional barrier for our people.

Since being here, I’ve asked the government about health. Often, one of the things I get in response is, “It’s a federal responsibility.” I have asked many times for this government to respond to on-reserve services, physician services, health services, water and housing.

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In my home community, we get five days of physician services per month—60 days per year. Out of those five days, two of those are travel days, which leaves three days per month of physician services. That’s what health care is. That’s what health care looks like. I ask my colleagues from southern Ontario, from the south, would you settle for only being able to see a doctor three days a month, for a community of 600?

We heard from the First Nation leadership, such as Nishnawbe Aski Nation, during the hearings. They have a plan. That plan has to be respected because they are ready to transform their own health care system, using both federal and provincial resources, the two responsibilities.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of complacency, of doing nothing, will be at the cost of people’s lives and people’s health. In January 2017, one community in NAN territory lost two 12-year-old girls—they were 12 years old—in a two-day span. That community struggled for months. They got sent all over the country to get services—BC, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ottawa—because there are no services in the communities. Even Thunder Bay couldn’t handle providing all the services that they needed during that time.

Also, we cannot discuss health without talking about treaty. First Nations possess constitutionally protected, inherent treaty rights to health. The inherent rights to health and health care are granted by the Creator. The riding of Kiiwetinoong is covered by three treaties: Treaty 9, Treaty 5 and Treaty 3. We have to understand NAN First Nations have always asserted treaty rights to health care.

Ontario was a direct signatory to Treaty 9. As such, First Nations in NAN territory in Ontario are regarded as having a government-to-government relationship with treaty partners. The signatories of this treaty and its adhesion understood that the treaty contained a promise of health care. In fact, in 1905 and 1906, a physician who performed medical examinations and assistance was part of the treaty. This created a reasonable understanding and expectation that the treaty included the provision of indefinite, quality health care.

All First Nations have a right to self-determination, including the rights and the responsibility for their own health and wellness programs and services, which includes the inherent right to lead the First Nations health system. If the government did properly consult communities, it would show that racism is a factor in hospitals and that our people are being discriminated against by the systems that are there.

For First Nations to participate in these institutions that will become the new Ontario health teams is unconscionable. The new system that this government is entrenching is the same system that will be designed by these same people, and our right to self-determination will not be visible in these new health teams. Ensuring equitable access to health care services requires a removal of jurisdictional barriers through the development of trilateral partnerships that do not take away the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights.

In February 2016, NAN chiefs in the Sioux Lookout area and the Chiefs Committee on Health declared a health and public health emergency. The declaration stated that the entire health system for NAN First Nations is in a state of perpetual crisis. As a result of that system, we have seen devastating health outcomes due to inadequate diagnosis and treatment of preventable diseases such as diabetes, hepatitis C, rheumatic fever and invasive bacterial diseases.

First Nations suffer from multi-generational trauma from residential schools and social conditions, including an ongoing suicide epidemic and high rates of prescription drug abuse. People in our communities also suffer from the epidemic of sexual abuse committed by Ralph Rowe, who was a former Anglican priest and a Boy Scout leader who victimized over 500 First Nations boys across NAN territory in the 1970s and the 1980s. These issues are made worse by interjurisdictional squabbling, leading to inequitable access to health care that is unthinkable in the general population of Ontario.

I’m going to share a quick story here. It’s a story about Laura Shewaybick from Webequie. In the fall of 2016, Laura Shewaybick had been struggling to breathe. She and her husband were desperately waiting for a medevac, Ornge. Norman decided she needed to go back to the nursing station. On their way, Laura fainted twice. The oxygen tank that had been alleviating some of her distress had emptied, and there were no oxygen tanks left. The other tanks sat empty in the hallway of the nursing station, which is operated by Health Canada.

Laura was flown to Thunder Bay. She was sedated and remained unconscious for the first two days in the ICU. She spent a few weeks there, and she was transferred out of ICU. With the move, the quality of her care dropped dramatically. Norman sat quietly beside his wife’s bed as a nurse pushed the monitor near her face and told him, “There’s nothing wrong with her.” Laura stood up, then collapsed into her husband’s arms. The husband said, “I watched her run, that nurse. I watched her use the little radio: ‘Code blue!’” Then everybody showed up, he recounted with a grimace. “They tried to revive her.” He said, “I lost my wife. She wasn’t supposed to die. She fought hard to stay alive.”

That’s one story of what’s happening in our communities. Preventable cases like this, like Laura’s, should not be happening in this decade, with the advancements in medicine. This is not equity. This is not equality. This is not human rights at all.

One of the things that communities have told me is that they want proper consultation and they want meaningful involvement in whatever decisions are made that involve the treaty rights of our people. I mentioned earlier that Ontario is a signatory to Treaty 9 and must start acting like it. Within the treaty, we agreed to share, Ontario agreed to share—the representatives that signed the treaty for Ontario said our rights would never be lost.

I’m here to tell you that the government has not lived up to that agreement and the government has not lived up to the treaty. The government took most of our lands, outlawed our religious beliefs and practices, destroyed much of our animal life and forests, restricted our movements, stopped us from using our languages and tried to convince us that our music, dances and arts were barbaric. Despite the overwhelming odds, our people have survived, and we will continue to survive.

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Today, on Bill 74, I call on this government to quit underserving First Nations communities. Today, I call on the government to quit using jurisdictional ambiguity as an excuse to let our communities suffer and die. There are too many unnecessary deaths and needless suffering that is happening in our communities.

Why are we not entitled to the same health and safety as everyone else in Ontario? This is not acceptable because of the doublespeak that gets used when we talk about First Nations here in the House. First Nations people have come forward and said to the government over and over again that our communities are suffering and are provided substandard services, and this government continues not to listen.

I call on my colleagues once again: We can do better; the government can do better.

I thank you for listening. Meegwetch.

Remarks in Oji-Cree.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions and comments?

Mr. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Once again, I’m very happy to speak to this piece of legislation because it’s about strengthening our public health care system. It’s unfortunate that after 15 years of scandal, mismanagement and waste, we’ve been left with a system that’s on life support. That is why this piece of legislation is so important.

We see over 1,000 patients who linger in the hallways of our hospitals across this province. We see it in my community of Brampton. This government needed to take action, and it’s exactly what this piece of legislation is doing.

It’s unacceptable that Ontario, on an average, pays 30% more of its health care costs on administrative expenses than any other province. That’s exactly what this piece of legislation is going to help fix, because we’re going to make sure that health care dollars are getting diverted to front-line care—front-line care that can be used to end hallway health care, a commitment our government made back in June, something that we have been delivering on and something that this piece of legislation really focuses on.

It’s also reflected in the budget that was presented last week and something that this government and I are very proud of because, contrary to a lot of what was being said, we increased spending in health care by over a billion dollars. That’s a commitment to ensure that the system that was left behind by the previous government, a system on life support, a system that didn’t care about the patients, will be fixed: a system where we will respect our front-line workers and we will invest in our front-line workers and, ultimately, end hallway health care.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I want to say congratulations to the member. I have a hard time pronouncing his riding, so I’m going to ask for the pronunciation of your riding.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Kiiwetinoong.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Kiiwetinoong.

The member from Kiiwetinoong always brings us down to the reality of what we are experiencing in the broader Ontario and then what’s really happening in First Nations communities. I don’t think this bill is going to really address the disparities that are happening in First Nations. You hear the stories. These are not things that we can understand because we don’t experience it, so we have to respect the voices that bring what is really happening in the riding of this member. People are dying and they can’t get services in their own communities. Imagine if that was happening in your city. No one would sit back and let that happen; there would be an outcry.

I hope that this bill will really focus on what is going on in First Nations. We owe it to everyone, and especially to people in First Nations who are suffering so terribly with the lack of health resources, to make this bill work for them. And I don’t know if there’s enough legislation here that’s strong enough because we tried to push that in committee and a lot of our amendments—everything was shut down except one. So, I hope the preamble will be strong enough to make this government act and do the right thing in these First Nation communities.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments.

Mr. Vincent Ke: It is my honour to rise and speak again on Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act, 2019. I want to thank the Minister of Health for bringing this transformational piece of legislation to the House.

We have a great health care system, but it is on life support. Daily, thousands of patients are treated in hallways and storage rooms in our hospitals. We spend 42 cents of every tax dollar into our health care system; however, wait times grow longer. The long-term-care wait time has increased 300% since 2003. Quality of care is decreasing too. Hallway health care has become the norm when it should not be.

Bill 74 will work towards patient-centred care that is for the patient, their families and the caregivers who treat them. Our health care system should be better, faster and provide connected care to a team of health care professionals. The era of working in silos must end. The creation of Ontario health care teams will give health care providers the power to work as a team to address a patient’s health care needs in a coordinated and integrated model.

We know ending hallway health care will take time, but passing Bill 74 will start the process in ending this practice.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments? The member from Trinity—sorry, Spadina–Fort York.

Mr. Chris Glover: Trinity–Spadina was the old name, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Let’s see: I want to just make a couple of points about this. Obviously, our public health care system is one of the best in the world, and it’s one of our competitive advantages. It not only provides good-quality care for people, but it also provides us with that good-quality care at a fraction of the cost that the private system in the States provides.

My big concern about this bill is the way it’s been developed. First of all, there was no consultation, as my colleague from Kingston and the Islands said—a completely inadequate consultation for a major transformation of one of our biggest competitive advantages: our public health care system. There was no consultation with the people who understand it best. So, there’s going to be mistakes that are made that could have been avoided.

The other concern about this bill is, and my colleague from Kiiwetinoong mentioned it, there is a health crisis in the northern communities. We’re talking about unsafe drinking water for decades, mould in the buildings, mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows that has been going on for 50 years, and a suicide epidemic. And yet there is nothing in this bill that gives direction to address those, to set goals about how that health epidemic, those health crises, in the north will be addressed.

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Finally, my biggest concern is that this government refuses to say that they’re not opening the door to private, for-profit care. Private, for-profit care, we know, from comparing with the cost in the United States, is far more expensive. We also know that from our own experience here where some hospitals were built through the public sector and some hospitals were built through the private sector, through a P3 model, a public-private partnership model. The P3 model ended up being many times more expensive and ended up costing taxpayers much more.

I would ask this government to please reconsider this bill. Take it out and consult with the people who understand it best.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Now I return to the member from Kiiwetinoong for his final comments.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch, Speaker. Thank you to the members from Brampton South, London–Fanshawe, Don Valley North and also Spadina–Fort York on their response.

Again, Mr. Speaker, thank you for the responses and also for an opportunity to speak on the bill. I know one of the critical things that impacts the health of our people and First Nations Indigenous people is the jurisdictional ambiguity. I believe with proper consultation, with proper involvement, where we sit at the table as First Nations to make change and transform the health care system, we’ve been told, using both of the jurisdictions of provincial and federal—First Nations believe they are ready to transform their system. They are ready to create a system that is First Nation-led.

We believe also that we can actually build a better health care system than the rest of Ontario because of the uniqueness of the challenges, the barriers, that we have in the north. It’s not just challenges; it’s about the successes that are happening in the north as well. We are very unique, and we have access to the land resources that are there. You just have to work with us.

Again, we need better consultation, we need real engagement, we need real involvement within the processes of when we build legislation in this House. Meegwetch. Thank you for listening.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate?

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I’m delighted to speak to The People’s Health Care Act, introduced by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. This bill is very necessary, Mr. Speaker, as it helps strengthen and reinvigorate our very damaged health care system left to us by the previous administration.

Our government is building a connected and a sustainable public health care system for all of the people of Ontario. We were elected to ensure that patients get the best possible care. We were elected to make sure that we cut hospital wait times and end hallway health care. This was one of our core commitments. Since being elected, I’ve met with patients, doctors, constituents and other health care professionals, and they have all agreed that there are major flaws in our current system. Our professionals have stated time and time again that change needs to be made, as previous governments have severely damaged our health care system. Our new health care plan, however, provides hope and prosperity again to this province. It will recognize the types of flaws in the system and introduce positive solutions to start addressing ongoing concerns in making our system more efficient and effective.

Ontario’s health care system is broken, and everyone knows that these changes are well overdue. Health care providers tell us on a regular basis that they are ready for a system that encourages collaboration and partnership, one that finally frees them from a system slowed down by government red tape and the current administrative burden. These are medical professionals. These are front-line workers that have told us over and over again that change is needed. Our government is delivering that change. Our government is the one that respects the opinions of our medical professionals, values the constructive feedback from professionals in their industry field. They are the ones that are the most knowledgeable and their insights are very valued by our government. They want to make sure that patients are well taken care of, and we’re on track to do that.

Constituents in my riding of Barrie–Innisfil have met with me and they’ve emailed me and spoken to me first-hand about our broken health care system. Time and time again, I hear the same things: They want to fix the wait times, they want to end hallway health care and they want change. That is why our government was elected to bring that change. The people of Ontario are always wanting a government that will put them first and make them a priority. We are listening to the concerns of thousands of people and we will create a public health care system that works for them. This bill is a major step in the right direction. We will stick to our promises and ensure the people of Ontario get the services they want and deserve.

Our health care dollars need to be spent where it is most impactful: on our patients and our front-line workers. Our patients should not be confused about the care they need and how to access that care. Our patients have said time and time again that our system is not working for them and they need a desperate change to happen. We have heard these concerns time and time again, and it’s time to listen. It’s time to fix the problem and work toward a much-needed step forward in our health care system.

My riding of Barrie–Innisfil is serviced by the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, also known as RVH. RVH is currently operating at over 135% capacity. That is why it was much relief to Janice Skot, the president and CEO of our local Royal Victoria hospital, who welcomed our proposed changes in this bill. On March 1, she said as she was talking to local news and media, “We have 110% occupancy, which constantly leaves us with a lack of beds for patients and we know how frustrating that is for them and their families.... With a new system that can be seamless and easily integrated, we can get the patients to where they need to be right away and turn their long wait times into the more immediate help they need....

“It is often very complex to navigate the system from the technology side,” as our CEO said. She went on to say, “We’re already looking at updating our system, so this should be quite seamless for us. But the truth is, health organizations across the province will need to do this and I look forward to working with all our partners to make a new Ontario health system a joint effort by everyone.”

That is coming first-hand from many of our front-line service workers in the health care system. That is why we made a promise as a government to ensure that we end hallway health care. The People’s Health Care Act will ensure that we keep that promise. It is not fair to patients to be receiving health care in hallways and storage rooms. This is unacceptable, and it is no way to treat our family and our loved ones.

As amazing as our health care professionals are, there is no way they can deliver exceptional and quality health care under the current circumstances. Our system is broken. We have thousands of excellent health care providers who want to ensure that their patients get the highest standards of care they can possibly provide. With their dedication, one would think that it should be easy for patients to get the care they need, but the current system works for the bureaucracy more than it actually works to provide patients with care.

The previous government, over the last five years, spent 30% more than the Canadian average in administrative expenses on our health care system. I think we can all agree that we have not seen a 30% increase in efficiencies in that system. If we are going to go on to have an effective and an efficient health care system, change is needed. If we continue down the path we are currently going on, our patients will not get the care and assistance they need on a daily basis.

Our patients need to be our number one priority, and we need to ensure we’re getting value for our health care dollars and that they’re being well spent. Patients should receive the care they need and not have to wait for the absurd wait times. Mr. Speaker, 85% of the people who arrive at RVH emergency end up leaving due to wait times and only 15% are actually admitted. This roughly corresponds to 85 out of every 100 people. If we have better health care access and we have better access to professionals, they wouldn’t necessarily need to go to the emergency room. The reality is, a vast majority of patients don’t have access to a family doctor, so their first instinct is to go to the hospital. Roughly 25% of patients don’t need to be seen at RVH, but they simply don’t have access to an alternate level of care.

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Why is it that even though 42% of every tax dollar that the government spends into our health care system—Ontario still ranks poorly compared to our provincial counterparts? We have one of the worst wait times, and our quality and system of integration in Canada is broken.

Let me give you examples of wait times in my region—and that is why our government is working to fix these wait times. For example, a resident needing cataract eye surgery will need to wait 330 days in order to get surgery. Wait times are becoming absurd. For more common surgeries, such as knee or hip replacements, you are looking at 250 days.

Here’s another example. I spoke with a constituent who just finally received a knee replacement she had been desperately waiting for. She had been referred to a doctor about her knee in November 2017. It took 300 days since her referral to get the knee surgery she needed. She couldn’t walk around the house, she was very immobile, and prior to the surgery she wasn’t able to move as it caused her much pain. She had lived like this for 300 days because of the dreaded wait times.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you, it is unfair to our patients that they must endure pain for that long.

With this bill, however, there is hope. Together, we will fight. We will fight to end hallway health care. We will continue to fight to end wait times. Together, we will put patients first and give them the services they need.

Physical activity, for example, will help patients who are ready for rehabilitation—to go out and explore the outdoors—but they can’t do this if they don’t have their health.

One would expect that if you receive a major injury to a ligament, you should be able to get quick, convenient services and not have to wait 131 days to get an MRI, for example, just to have a doctor determine that something needs to be done. That’s over four months before getting to a surgeon—and looking at 250 days of a wait period.

Patients are looking at over a year-long process before they can get back on their feet and do the same things that they love to do again: walking, exploring our parks, running and enjoying the great outdoors. That is why we’re constantly encouraging Ontarians to be active and live healthy lives—so they can also focus on prevention. But if there’s fear of getting hurt and not being able to see a doctor, how will people want to start living healthy lifestyles again?

One of my constituents I spoke to most recently shared with me a story about a torn ACL they had suffered during a sporting event. Torn ACLs are very painful and require lots of care. My constituent suffered this injury playing sports and needed to go to the hospital to get it checked out. It took over four months to book the MRI just to confirm that they had suffered a torn ACL, and six months to actually get the surgery they needed. This is unacceptable. In addition to this, after they did receive the surgery, it took about six to nine months for the ligament to heal. People who suffer this type of injury may not be fully healed until up to two years.

With this new patient-centred care model that we have introduced, our government is proposing local teams of health care providers who know and who understand the patient’s needs and will be able to provide the appropriate, timely, high-quality, connected care that residents of Ontario deserve and expect.

The People’s Health Care Act will start improving access to secure digital tools, including online health records and virtual care options for patients. This means that medical professionals will be able to have access to our records with technology, and it will allow for patients to book appointments online.

We are bringing the outdated health care system into the 21st century, Mr. Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Just to remind the member: You do have time left on the clock, and there will be an opportunity for questions and comments—should the opportunity arise.

Right now it is 10:15, and this House stands recessed until 10:30.

The House recessed from 1015 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): With us today in the Speaker’s gallery we have some very special guests from the Parliament of Ghana: two members of Parliament, the Honourable John Ntim Fordjour and the Honourable Della Sowah. They are accompanied by the consul general, Thomas Seshie, and Minister Counsellor Alexander Ben-Acquaah. Please join me in warmly welcoming our guests to the Legislature today.

Applause.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: I’d like to welcome Madeline Della Mora to Queen’s Park for the first time. She was an amazing volunteer on my campaign, and I’m just thrilled that she’s here with us today.

Ms. Jane McKenna: I just want to introduce today, in the east lobby, my friend Jim Fitzpatrick and his son Andrew, who was just at his first year in political science at Guelph. Welcome.

Mr. John Fraser: I’d like to welcome Sylvain and Denise Belanger, parents of today’s page captain, Julian Belanger, who are visiting from the great riding of Ottawa–Vanier. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: It’s my pleasure to introduce today a special guest who we have here, Rebecca Machado. She’s the executive director from Daya Counselling Centre in London. Welcome to the Legislature.

Mrs. Robin Martin: I just wanted to welcome to the Legislature today my friend Alanna Newman, daughter of former parliamentarian MPP Dan Newman, who is in the gallery.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: I’d like to welcome my son, Hosea Mamakwa, and my daughters, Martina and Juanita Mamakwa. Meegwetch.

Mrs. Amy Fee: I’d like to welcome my legislative assistant to the chamber this morning, Brandon Crandall, as well as his mother, Joanne Crandall.

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: I’d like to welcome a very special group today: grade 8 students from Parkdale Junior and Senior Public School, visiting the Legislature as part of the Girls Government program. I would like to welcome Antonette Ha, Ava Nelson-Balda, Bintou Singhateh, Courtney Powers-Luketic, Georgia Clark, Lily Otis, Maddy Bennett, Mepham Shakyatsand, Nirvana Singh, Zoe King, and their amazing teacher, Stephanie Hawkland.

I’d also like to welcome in the House today David Morales. David is completing his last day of placement in my office as part of the community worker program with George Brown College. I’d like to thank David for all of his work and wish him the best in his future endeavours.

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: I’d like to introduce Blake Weber, who is here somewhere in the gallery. He’s from the municipality of Central Elgin, in Sparta, and he was the youngest candidate in their 2018 municipal elections. He almost won, but he threw his hat in the ring, and we’re happy to have him here in the Legislature.

Mr. Stan Cho: I’d like to welcome Alanna Newman again and point out that Madeline Della Mora is from Willowdale. Welcome to the Legislature.

Hon. Jeff Yurek: I’d like to introduce a former page. Jacob Will is with us. Also another former page, Ryan—I’m going to kill your name here—Shahmohamadi, and his brother and future page, Jamie, are here with us. Welcome.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: I’m pleased to welcome a town councillor from the town of Oakville, Natalia Lishchyna.

Ms. Lindsey Park: I’d like to welcome to the Legislature Aimee Chada and her son Jaden Chada. Aimee was very involved in my campaign. Thank you.

Oral Questions

Education

Ms. Sara Singh: My question is to the Premier. Parents, students, teachers and school boards have been raising concerns about the Premier’s plan for cuts in our classrooms. Yesterday, the Premier made it clear they should also plan for chaos in September. The Premier accused teachers of being underworked and overpaid and then described the relationship with teachers and the government as being at a state of war.

Does the Premier think this strengthens our education system?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: I’ll tell you what strengthens our education system, but, even better, what strengthens our country was the big win from our friend Jason Kenney yesterday. What a great ally to join the anti-carbon alliance. I’ll tell you, he’s going to be there, shoulder to shoulder, for everyone in the country. We see just a blue wave going across this country from west to east, no matter if it’s Blaine Higgs out in New Brunswick, if it’s—

Interjections.

Hon. Doug Ford: —Jason Kenney—sorry, good one—Scott Moe, Brian Pallister. There’s going to be five Premiers who are dead against this carbon tax. We’re building an anti-carbon tax alliance like this country has never seen.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you, Speaker, but that does not answer the question. There hasn’t even been a single day of negotiations and the Premier is already talking strike. He’s declaring a war on the people who teach our students, and our students will pay the price. We’re already seeing the results. In my community in Peel region, 369 teachers with the Peel District School Board learned yesterday that they will no longer have permanent positions heading into the new school year.

If the Premier respects teachers and educators in our province here in Ontario, why is he firing so many of them?

Hon. John Yakabuski: They were out picketing before the budget, before negotiations. What do they want?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry has to come to order.

Premier to respond.

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: Again, this is a process that’s been going on for years and years. It went on under the Liberals. You know how the system works. The school boards are going to get their budget. They’re going to be hiring back the teachers, because not one single teacher will lose their job—not one single teacher.

We put $700 million back into education, Mr. Speaker, making sure that our grade 6 math students are going to be able to be at the top tier of this country instead of the bottom tier of this country. We respect the teachers. Teachers do an incredible job, an absolutely incredible job. We’re going to support them.

The teachers’ union went on strike under Bob Rae. They went on strike under Mike Harris. They went on strike under McGuinty and under Kathleen Wynne as well. What stops them from striking again? We don’t want a strike. We want the teachers back in the classrooms. What they’re going to be doing is hurting the parents. They’re going to be—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Final supplementary?

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you, Speaker, and through you to the Premier: If you want to work with the teachers, maybe you should listen to the concerns that they’re raising. But even the education minister couldn’t defend the Premier’s comments yesterday. It’s clear that he’s hoping for a fight, and we know what that means: cuts and chaos in our classrooms, and our students will pay the price. It truly does not have to be this way.

Will the Premier tone down the rhetoric and scrap his plan for larger classes, fewer courses and his war with our educators?

Interjections.

Hon. John Yakabuski: Oh, no, just give them what they want?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, come to order. The member for Kitchener–Conestoga, come to order.

Premier to reply.

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: Before the ink was dry, when we won the election, the teachers’ unions declared war on us. They told all the teachers to save up three months of pay because they’re going to war. It was the day after. They couldn’t help themselves.

We don’t want to go to war. We want the teachers in the classrooms. We want the kids in the classrooms learning. That’s what we want. We’re going to do everything we can to negotiate a fair deal—a fair deal for the teachers, a fair deal that the parents and the students get back into the classroom.

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Mr. Speaker, we have a great system; we just want to make it better. We want to make sure there’s accountability. We want to make sure there’s transparency. Most importantly, we want our students to succeed when they get out into the work world. They’ll be able to go out there and find an incredible job because we have the economy booming right now.

We support our teachers. We support our students and the parents as well.

Teachers

Ms. Marit Stiles: My question is to the Minister of Education. Yesterday, in response to the Premier’s comments, the minister emphasized “the importance of making sure we have good-faith conversations with our labour partners and our education partners.” Would the minister describe the Premier’s declaration of war against teachers as good-faith conversation?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I’m very pleased today to stand in front of you and share with everybody in this House, as well as everyone watching, that we are approaching our negotiations with the teacher unions—our labour partners and our education partners—in good faith. We’ve actually invited them to come to the table as early as April 29. We’re ready to go because, again, teachers want to teach and we need to ensure that they have a great learning environment so students can learn, because they want to be in the classroom. They want to be learning and they want to be achieving. That is our number one focus.

I would suggest to you, Speaker, that everyone in this House should agree that our number one priority should be student achievement. The politics need to be left to the politicians and we need to leave the classrooms alone so that, again, teachers can teach and students can learn. That is what we’re standing up for.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Back to the Minister of Education: I’d like to remind the minister that her responsibility is to defend the students and staff and not the Premier. Students, parents and educators are watching this government with concern. They’re already seeing the cuts. We mentioned the 369 layoff notices in Peel, but just yesterday we got news of 111 teaching jobs disappearing in Lambton Kent and 69 in the Avon Maitland board in the minister’s own riding. And today in Ottawa, the board is reporting 300 more teaching positions at risk.

Now we see the Premier gearing up for a strike before a single day of negotiations have taken place. Does the minister believe the Premier picking a fight with teachers is good for our education system? And if not, what is she going to do about it?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Well, Speaker, I can tell you very clearly and distinctly that I will not cave in to the nonsense and the rhetoric that is coming across from the member opposite, the critic of education, because it’s absolutely ridiculous, what she is suggesting.

She referenced surplus notices that have been given out around southwestern Ontario. I find it interesting that she should reference one in my particular riding, because if anyone went to Blackburn News and checked the source of that particular story, they would see that that press release came from OSSTF. Again, it’s shameful. It’s shameful, the forces behind the scene. There’s no end to what they will do to cause chaos. It’s the forces behind the scenes that are propping up this opposition party. It’s that behind-the-scenes nonsense that is causing the chaos.

We are focused on student achievement. We’re focused on making sure teachers have a great environment in the classroom where students can learn. That is—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa Centre has to come to order.

Supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Well, let’s talk rhetoric, because if the government would come clean about what these cuts mean, then you wouldn’t have to have OSSTF explaining what these cuts look like. And by the way—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government side, come to order.

Ms. Marit Stiles: —board after board after board is repeatedly contacting us and talking out publicly now.

Good-faith conversation with the people who teach our kids and make schools work is absolutely vital to our education system. The minister can’t claim she’s talking to teachers in good faith while the Premier has declared war on educators. And she can’t claim that no one is losing jobs as the layoff notices are flying out the door. This is not normal. This is a recipe for cuts in the classroom and chaos in our schools.

Will the minister stand up for education, tell the Premier to tone down the rhetoric and scrap the government’s plan for larger classes, fewer courses and a war on education?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Markham–Stouffville will come to order. The member for Mississauga–Streetsville will come to order.

The Minister of Education, to reply.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: The only rhetoric that people are hearing is being generated by the NDP and their friends behind the scenes. That needs to stop, because what they’re trying to do is deflect from the amazing things that we’ve announced in our budget and that we announced in our education plan. They are deflecting. They are deflecting from the reality that we have a broken education system in this province. After 15 years of mismanagement, the school system is broken, and it’s time we get it back on track.

We’re not going to cave in to rhetoric from the opposition party or their forces behind the scenes. We’re going to stay focused. We’re investing in education. As the Premier said, we’re investing $700 million alone this year. Again, not one teacher will involuntarily lose their job. We’re investing $1.6 billion in attrition protection. That is a fact.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. I apologize to the member from Mississauga–Streetsville. I should have called to order the member for Mississauga East–Cooksville, as a matter of fact.

Now we have to start the clock again. There’s another question to come. Next question.

Ambulance services

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is to the Premier. Communities across Ontario were blindsided by the government’s surprise decision to scrap 49 of the province’s 59 local paramedic services. Michel Chrétien, director of emergency services in Prescott–Russell, expressed the views of many rural communities: It “really scares me, where the rural communities will be less well served than the urban communities.”

Why did the government blindside these professionals instead of working with them?

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of Labour.

Hon. Laurie Scott: Our government was elected to transform the health care system. We’re modernizing the emergency health services in Ontario by building a more integrated and efficient dispatch and communication service delivery system that will better meet the needs of Ontario communities.

I’ve heard for years, if not over a decade, of the need for transformation to come about in the emergency medical system dispatch. I want to say to the member opposite that no Ontario paramedic will lose their job—just the opposite. We’re actually empowering our great front-line paramedics to improve the already great emergency care they provide in communities each and every day.

Our government has said all along that we’re reinvesting back office administrative efficiencies right into improving front-line care, where it’s the patients first that we care about, and that’s what we’re focused on.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. John Vanthof: People in rural Ontario have a right to be afraid, because in a lot of parts of rural Ontario, we don’t even have 911 service. But even if you look in urban Ontario, in Hamilton, when only one or fewer ambulances are available for emergencies, it’s known as a code zero. It happened 19 times in February alone.

Paramedics say a plan to disband and amalgamate municipal ambulance services will be “a kick in the teeth.” Why did the government develop this scheme without talking to front-line providers first?

Hon. Laurie Scott: Mr. Speaker, I take a bit of offence to the member opposite for the question. He’s saying that the government and especially myself, representing rural Ontario, don’t know the needs of rural Ontario. That is absolutely not true. We do, and we’ve heard from those communities.

This isn’t happening overnight. In the coming months, we’re going to continue to work directly with our municipal partners, our paramedic service providers and others as we modernize emergency health services. We’re going to upgrade technology used by ambulance communication services, better connecting ambulance and communication centres, dispatchers and paramedics; introducing new models of care to ensure patients are treated at the most appropriate health care facilities; and modernizing that system by better integrating dispatch and service delivery.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve already had communication this morning from paramedics and former paramedics who said the system was long overdue in changing and that the patients will receive better care. That’s what we’re going to do on this side of the—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Stop the clock.

Restart the clock. Next question.

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Economic development

Mrs. Robin Martin: My question is for the Premier. Last week’s budget showed that we are taking a balanced approach to government. We are on a path to balance, while at the same time, putting money back into people’s pockets and making Ontario open for business and open for jobs.

Just look at the action we’ve taken so far: Since taking office, we’ve sent a clear message that Ontario is open for business and open for jobs, we cancelled the Liberals’ cap-and-trade carbon tax and we reduced WSIB premiums, allowing businesses to keep more of their money to reinvest and to create jobs.

We’ve been hard at work making Ontario a competitive place to invest, grow a business and create jobs. Could the Premier tell the House how our first budget builds upon this success?

Hon. Doug Ford: First of all, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the member from Eglinton–Lawrence. What an incredible champion. Do you know something? I know a lot of people up in Eglinton–Lawrence, and she’s an absolute champ up in the area there.

Let me also take a moment to thank our incredible Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. We’ve been travelling around the province, Mr. Speaker, talking to small, medium and large companies. They’re just over the top with our government. They know that they have a pro-job legislation government. That means it’s pro-people, and when you have pro-people, you have pro-community and pro-Ontario.

We are thriving right now. Our biggest problem out in the province: We’ve created the environment to create so many jobs that we don’t have enough people to fill these incredible jobs. We’re putting incentives out there for companies to thrive. Again, when companies thrive, the employees thrive—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Supplementary question.

Mrs. Robin Martin: Thank you to the Premier for his response. It is exciting to see the renewed confidence the business community has in Ontario, because for far too long, we’ve watched businesses leave our province, overtaxed and overburdened, and take their jobs with them. But those days are over.

Ontario’s competitiveness is a top priority for this government. We know that restoring the province’s fiscal health goes hand in hand with restoring its economic health. This is particularly important in light of recent tax reforms in the United States. Now more than ever, we must ensure that Ontario can truly be open for business and open for jobs.

Could the Premier please inform the House what our government is doing in our budget to increase Ontario’s competitive advantage?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the great question.

We promised we would cut corporate income tax, and that is exactly what we’re doing. We’re actually delivering earlier on our commitment for that. The Ontario Job Creation Investment Incentive will reduce the tax burden on businesses. We create immediate investment into Ontario.

I’ve always said, with the federal government, if they do something great, I’ll compliment them. They’ve worked with the province to accelerate the write-offs in any capital investment in any company. What they’re able to do is invest and write it off immediately, compared to prior—you would have to wait years over years over years to write it off. So they’re investing back into their companies.

This incentive will provide $3.8 billion in Ontario tax relief for businesses over the next six years. It’s estimated that the incentive will create between 50,000 and 90,000 net new jobs. That’s on top of our other 125,000 jobs that we’ve created. We’re creating the environment—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Next question.

Government advertising

Mr. Taras Natyshak: My question is to the Premier. Throughout the week, the Premier and his team have struggled to defend their plan to spend millions of public dollars on making campaign stickers for Andrew Scheer, millions more on forcing every gas station in Ontario to sport one and even millions more to collect a $10,000 fine from any businesses that refuse to pledge allegiance to Andrew Scheer.

Now the Toronto Star reports that the government is about to flood the airwaves with even more partisan ads. The Premier campaigns and sends the bill to the taxpayers.

Speaker, how much are we going to pay for the Premier’s massive ego trip with these stickers in the province of Ontario?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, come to order. The member for Etobicoke Centre, come to order.

The question is to the Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Greg Rickford: I just want to say, last night, Alberta sent a clear message—

Mr. Taras Natyshak: So you’re ducking my question?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Essex, come to order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Essex, come to order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, come to order. The clock’s ticking.

Interjection: The clock’s ticking.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Yes, it is.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Waterloo, come to order.

The question has been referred to the Minister of Energy.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last night, Alberta spoke loud and clear, Mr. Speaker. They said, “End-DP.” They chose a Premier who said right off the bat that Alberta is open for business. Mr. Speaker, I see an alignment here: ending the carbon tax. From Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick, we stand shoulder to shoulder to get rid of this job-killing, regressive carbon tax. We are hearing from businesses across the province that the price, the sticker on every product, is going to go up as a result of this job-killing, regressive carbon tax.

We won’t have anything to do with it, Mr. Speaker. We have a responsibility to let the people of Ontario know how much the tax is costing and we’re going to put those stickers up as an opportunity to be reminded of it every time they go to get gasoline at that shop.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Speaker, it’s clear that the Premier wants to campaign for the Prime Minister’s job and stick the taxpayers of Ontario with the bill. Not only that, he plans to hit anyone who doesn’t go along with his plan with a $10,000-a-day fine.

If the Premier wants to be a part of the federal campaign, he should register with Elections Canada as a third party today. I can send the guidelines along to the Premier for his reference. Speaker, will he do that, or will he admit that these schemes are wrong and cancel them today?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. The member for Kitchener–Conestoga, come to order. The Minister for Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade—I can hear—must come to order as well. The member for King–Vaughan has to come to order.

Start the clock. The minister to reply.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Mr. Speaker, what’s sticking in the minds of the people who live in Essex, what’s sticking in the minds of people from Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, what’s sticking in the minds of people in Timmins, Kiiwetinoong and Algoma–Manitoulin is the cost of this job-killing, regressive carbon tax. Some of those members over there drive big pickup trucks—I know at least one does—to get around their vast riding for safety, to help folks out. This is going to make gas way more unaffordable.

As those costs climb for the people of northern Ontario, we’re taking a stand. We’re fighting this job-killing, regressive carbon tax. At every opportunity, we are going to let the people of Ontario know where it hurts the most, when they’re fuelling up their automobiles, their buses, their business vehicles, that this is costing them and the people of Ontario too much and we won’t have anything to do with it.

Public transit

Mr. Ross Romano: My question is for the Minister of Transportation. I am ecstatic to hear our government’s announcement of the subway expansion project to get the GTHA moving again. With a total project cost of $28.5 billion, this is truly an amazing opportunity.

An investment of this magnitude is not only important to help get the Toronto area back on track, but it is important for so many others in the province of Ontario. This incredible plan will take years to build and will certainly provide a significant boost to the economy by creating many jobs, as well as creating great opportunities to suppliers in many industries and sectors.

Can the minister please explain the ways this project will help the province, outside of the benefits to the future riders of the subway?

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Hon. Jeff Yurek: I want to thank the member from Sault Ste. Marie for a great question. He truly is an amazing member for northern Ontario, and a strong voice.

As the member noted, last week we made a historic announcement in Etobicoke: $28.5 billion to build new subways in Toronto and the GTA. This is the largest investment ever made in Canada in order to get shovels in the ground and to build the subways. And that’s what we’re going to do: We are going to build subways in Toronto and the GTA. The construction of these projects is going to create tens of thousands of jobs, well-paying jobs for middle-class people and for the hard-working people who want to get to work.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to sharing more of the economic benefits in my supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Mr. Ross Romano: Again to the minister: In the words of my friend the member from York Centre, I want to hear more about subways, subways, subways. While the GTHA anxiously awaits the building of all this infrastructure, I can tell you that the people of my riding of Sault Ste. Marie are getting just as excited. As you are well aware, Mr. Speaker, my riding is home to Algoma Steel, a manufacturer of high-quality CITT-certified steel plate. And we are thinking that you are going to need a lot of steel, steel, steel—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to interrupt the member and ask the opposition to come to order so that I can hear the member, who is at the other end of the chamber. I would ask the member to conclude his question.

Mr. Ross Romano: And do you know what, Mr. Speaker? That is going to create a whole lot of jobs, jobs, jobs. Will the minister please tell us more, more, more about all of the opportunities that this will create for all of the people of Ontario?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thanks for that follow-up question. As the member has stated, our province is going to need plenty of skilled-trade workers and materials like steel to build the subways going forward, so we can build the subways in Scarborough and the Yonge extension, so we can build out the Eglinton West and, of course, the much-needed Ontario Line.

Mr. Speaker, the NDP may want Algoma Steel not to be involved in the process. They may want them to shut it down. But we believe all companies throughout Canada and throughout the world should be able to bid. We need people like Algoma Steel and all job creators to put their pencils down and to sharpen them up and be part of the RFP process so that we can get the shovels in the ground as soon as possible. As soon as they’re released, we’re going to get these tenders, and we hope that all companies are part of the process. We’re not giving up on northern Ontario. We think it’s a possibility. If they bid right, if they participate in the RFP process, there are jobs, jobs, jobs for northern Ontario.

Public transit

Ms. Jessica Bell: My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Yesterday, Toronto city council released 61 important questions about the Premier’s vague transit plan. These 61 questions cover everything from cost estimates, project life cycles, types of vehicles, ridership levels and station locations. With the lack of details we’ve seen on the Premier’s plan, it will be years before he can provide answers to these questions.

How can the minister expect Ontarians to support tearing up well-researched plans in favour of lines on a map when there are this many unanswered questions?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thanks very much to the member opposite for the question. I’ve answered this question previously, that we’re going to utilize the work that has been done to date in building our Ontario Line. We’re going to take the spine of the relief line and extend it out from Ontario Place to the Ontario Science Centre. The Ontario Line is going to be built, and it’s going to be built two years ahead of schedule. We’re aiming for 2027, Mr. Speaker. That’s what we’re doing.

Now, the city council has offered a bunch of questions. It’s not going to take years to answer these questions, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to get to work on these questions and give them back to the city council. I think what the member opposite is missing out here is, generally, the mayor is supportive of our plans. The regional councillors are supportive of our plans. The subway rider, the commuter, is finally saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. We’re finally going to get the extensions we need.”

I would hope the member opposite can get to work and help us move this project further. Let’s build subways together.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

Restart the clock. Supplementary?

Ms. Jessica Bell: Back to the minister: The very same city of Toronto report also confirmed that the Premier’s broken promise on the transit tax transfer will cost Toronto $1.1 billion over the next decade. That means that much-needed repairs to buses, subway tracks and stations will be put off indefinitely, putting the safety and sustainability of the system at risk.

If you want to address overcrowding, you invest in the TTC with a transfer tax.

If this government won’t support transit now, why should anyone believe they will support transit in the future?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Mr. Speaker, I don’t understand how the member opposite can say that we don’t support transit in this province. We have invested $1.2 billion in the Ottawa LRT. We have committed $1 billion to the Hamilton LRT. We’ve committed to expanding the six-laning of Highway 401 from Tilbury to Elgin county. We’ve committed to twinning the highway up in Kenora. We have committed $28.5 billion to subway expansion in the city of Toronto.

Mr. Speaker, I would hope the member opposite could look up in a dictionary and see what is the opposition to this build.

We are supportive of transit in the city. We are going to work with the city through the terms of reference and continue our upload. We’re going to take those maintenance costs off of the city’s books in order to help them operate the TTC day to day.

Subways are coming to Toronto and we’re going to deliver them on time, on budget.

We’re looking forward to your support going forward.

Education funding

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: My question is for the Minister of Education.

Mr. Speaker, we have had an announcement from the minister about the plan to take thousands of adults, including teachers, out of grade 4 to 12 classrooms in schools and to remove 440 hours of in-person classroom time for high school—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

The member for Don Valley West has every right to ask a question, just as every other member does, without constant interruptions right off the bat.

I ask the member for Niagara West to come to order and the Minister of Government and Consumer Services to come to order.

Start the clock. I apologize to the member. Please place your question.

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Right now, there are no details about what those cuts are actually going to mean school board by school board.

Right now, schools can’t plan for the next school year. Their staffing committees can’t do their work because the minister has not yet informed boards about the size of their Grants for Student Needs.

As Minister of Education and then as Premier, I endeavoured to get GSNs to boards by March 31, even if that meant releasing them before the budget, so that boards could have information about what was coming.

Because of the uncertainty this year, the surplusing that the NDP has been talking about and that is happening all over the province is happening because boards don’t have those numbers.

Mr. Speaker, the government made a very big fuss on budget day about releasing future budgets before the end of March, and if that did not happen the millionaire Premier and the millionaire finance minister would have to pony up a few thousand dollars—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Northumberland will come to order.

Start the clock. Minister, to reply.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Again, I’m stunned at the question and the manner in which it was presented by the member opposite. The fact of the matter is, after 15 years of mismanagement, when she had her hand on the education wheel, we saw schools across the province crumble.

Speaker, we are getting back on track.

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We’re listening and we’re working with our education partners, and we want to work with our labour partners. We’ve invited them to come to the table as early as April 29. We want to hear, in good faith, their ideas and suggestions on how they might try and put some elbow grease into the situation that’s broken and help us solve the issue that the Liberal government created under that member’s watch.

Hon. Todd Smith: How many schools did she close?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: The fact of the matter is, we’re investing. We’re investing $13 billion over the next 10 years to build schools and to renew schools—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Supplementary question.

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: Every time I ask a question about education, there’s a heckle across the floor that there were schools closed on our watch. Mr. Speaker, there were 800 schools built on our watch—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

Mr. David Piccini: Shame on you.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Northumberland–Peterborough South will come to order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Northumberland–Peterborough South is warned.

Start the clock. I would ask the member for Don Valley West to conclude her question.

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: The point is that the question has not been answered. This is not business as usual. The minister knows full well that if all the decisions about cuts and changes have been made, she could either release the GSNs or at least reach out to the directors of the 72 boards and tell them what is coming. The minister’s lack of action on this front raises the question of what else is going on.

Is the minister actually interested in creating turmoil in the system or is the minister withholding information from the boards because she is looking for further ways to cut the education budget? Is that what is going on, Mr. Speaker?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. The member for Windsor West has to come to order.

The minister can reply.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I totally and absolutely re—reject—I can’t even spit that word out. I reject the premise that that member opposite is trying to perpetuate. The fact of the matter is that it is taking absolutely every effort we have within our ministry to get back on track after 15 years of mismanagement that that member was responsible for.

Let me tell you what we’re doing: We’re working with our boards every day, and they know that they’ll be receiving their GSN numbers by April 25. Over and above that, they know that we’re sincere when we say we are going to focus on getting back to the basics and the fundamentals to make sure student achievement is once again the number one priority for education in Ontario.

Again, we’re investing in education this year, over $700 million alone to start fixing the problem that that member opposite created under her watch. I can’t wait to get started. Again, the GSN numbers are going to be out by April 25.

Taxation

Mr. Roman Baber: My question is for the Minister of Finance. The most difficult time for a family is the loss of a loved one. It’s a time when families need support most. When dealing with the death of a loved one, the last thing a family wants is to deal with a tax bill from the government. That is why I’m proud of the changes being proposed to the Estates Administration Act in last week’s budget.

Can the Minister of Finance please tell the House what our government is doing to restore respect for families in their time of need?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you to the member from York Centre for that thoughtful question. Last week, we were proud to stand in this Legislature and deliver our government’s first budget. Budget 2019 is a plan that respects families, puts people first and protects what matters most. As part of that plan, we are proposing to eliminate the estate administration tax on the first $50,000 for all taxable estates.

With our proposed changes, about 2,500 estates would be exempt from paying tax, and all other taxable estates would see an approximately 20% reduction in the estate tax they are required to pay. This is all about restoring compassion and respect for families, putting people first during the most difficult time of their lives.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Mr. Roman Baber: Thank you to the Minister of Finance for that response. I’m proud to be part of a government that stands up for families when they need it most.

The previous government imposed arbitrary timelines for families to file returns, which caused undue hardship and stress on already grieving families. They were forcing families to provide a detailed account of their assets to the government within days of the passing of a loved one. It was an approach which showed no compassion whatsoever. This is a tough time for families, and they have every right to expect sympathy and understanding from their government.

Can the Minister of Finance further outline how these changes speak to our government’s commitment to put the people first?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: As a government, we should be focused on reducing the burden, not adding to the burden, of families. That is why we are extending the deadlines for filing returns from 90 days to 180 days in order to reduce the burden on grieving families. Unlike the previous government, we will give families more time to respond to the unexpected death of a loved one.

In addition, our government will continue to explore options to provide even further estate administration relief, including to charitable donations. We’re fundamentally changing the way government treats taxpayers and building a relationship that is founded on respect. The people of Ontario deserve nothing less. Our government is and will remain focused on putting people first and ensuring they are always at the centre of every single decision we make.

Transportation infrastructure

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Minister of Transportation. This government’s first budget cuts $250 million from our provincial highways, with further cuts planned down the road. This means less money, or even no money, for projects like the twinning of Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph. This project was first announced in 2007. It is the ultimate Groundhog Day project. Unfortunately, this project was absent from this budget and, so far, the government has only committed funding for repaving. The province has already spent $120 million on this project. It just needs to get done.

Can the government commit to a funding—a commitment and a completion date for the twinning of Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thanks to the member opposite for that question. I heard yesterday on the radio the member opposite saying that this project was cancelled, which is untrue, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we’re doing our due diligence in reviewing every and all projects that we’ve put forward that have been on the books and ensuring that we’re going to plan this out right and ensure that projects are under way.

The new Highway 7 from Kitchener to Guelph, as I said, is still under review and our capital plans are going to be released in the next couple of months, so I respectfully ask the member to stay tuned for how we’re going to proceed. But construction of Highway 7 is undergoing three new phases to be built. Eighty per cent of phase 1 constructions are complete. The final phase 1 construction project at the Victoria Street bridge in Kitchener is going to be completed later this spring.

The design of two new highway bridges across the Grand River continues, which is part of phase 2 of the project. A design and construction report of the new Grand River bridges will be made available for a 30-day public review after the design is complete, and environmental fieldwork is ongoing.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Well, Kitchener-Waterloo has stayed tuned for 12 years now. It’s a long time in coming, and right now it is not in any plan and it was not in any budget. If this government won’t commit to twinning Highway 7, then they should be actively working to ease traffic between Kitchener and Guelph. If two-way, all-day GO, for instance, was actually delivered, at least some people would be able to move safely between Kitchener and Guelph, saving valuable time.

This project has also been proven to be an economic driver for the entire region, but both projects, both the GO and the twinning of Highway 7, are without concrete plans, set maybe to be delivered at an undetermined future date but with no funding commitments attached. But the government has been clear that there is money on the table for Toronto transit projects, while other areas in the province, like the Highway 3 project in southwestern Ontario—

Interjection.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Why can’t they be clear about the funding for Kitchener-Waterloo?

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The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for King–Vaughan, come to order.

The Minister of Transportation will reply.

Hon. Jeff Yurek: I don’t understand why the member is trying to be divisive on this issue. I think it’s something we’re all working to put forward on this. Members of the Kitchener region on this side of the House talk to me daily about how we’re working with Highway 7. We’ve increased Kitchener GO by 25% over the last year. We’re working towards two-way, all-day GO for Kitchener.

Look, Mr. Speaker, we’re investing across the entire province in builds, as I mentioned earlier in a previous question, from Kenora to Ottawa, all the way down to the London area and everywhere in between. It’s ironic that this member opposite is standing up. Where was she for the past seven years under the Liberal government, which never delivered? What did this member do? She propped them up and supported them on every single budget that didn’t deliver Highway 7.

This government is going to deliver on our promises, Mr. Speaker.

GO Transit

Mr. Lorne Coe: My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Yesterday, the minister made a very exciting announcement that affects Durham region residents. Our government for the people made a commitment during the election to get the people of Ontario moving, and in just nine months, we’ve made strides in doing just that.

For Durham region alone, our government has announced 15-minute midday service between the Oshawa GO station and Union Station from Monday to Friday, doubling midday weekday service; the opening of new park-and-ride lots in Durham region; increases in the size of some of the trains on the Lakeshore East GO, from 10 to 12 cars; and allowing kids ages 12 and under to ride free on GO Transit.

Can the Minister of Transportation share the details about yesterday’s announcement?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: I want to thank the member from Whitby for that question. He’s such a great caucus whip, keeping us in line here every day.

Members of our government from the Durham region are unrelenting champions on improving transit opportunities for their region, and I’m constantly working with them day in and day out. I was pleased to announce yesterday that as of today, our government is adding a new express GO train on the Lakeshore East line. This line will offer more choice for transit users and commuters travelling from Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering.

We are putting people first by investing in public transit to shorten commute times and get people moving faster so they can be where they need to be much faster and, in fact, get home after a long day outside. When we build and invest in transportation, we’re getting people home, and that’s the key focus, Mr. Speaker.

We’re going to continue to build. We’re going to continue to expand on GO Transit. It’s going to be nothing but great news coming from this government with regard to transit.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Lorne Coe: Thank you to the Minister of Transportation for that great response. I’m thrilled to hear this news and I know the residents of Durham region, as well as my caucus colleagues, are excited about these additional trains.

Durham residents will now be able to enjoy a new weekday morning express GO train leaving from the Oshawa GO station at 7:50 a.m., then serving Whitby, Ajax and Pickering before arriving at Union at 8:42 a.m. The return trip will leave Union Station at 4:50 p.m., running express to Pickering GO station and stopping at Ajax and Whitby stations before arriving at Oshawa GO station at 5:43 p.m.

Can the Minister of Transportation share more information about this great announcement?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thanks again for that supplemental.

As the member stated, we will be adding an express train in the morning and in the evening commute. Our government for the people in just nine short months has made significant announcements that benefit people across the entire province. I’d be happy to share what we’ve announced so far, Mr. Speaker, so the chamber and the members opposite can hear what has happened.

We’ve announced the largest investment to build subways in Toronto and the GTHA: $28.5 billion. Together, we ended the Drive Clean program. We’ve expanded GO service that offers more choice for commuters in Markham, Brampton, Etobicoke, Kitchener and Niagara. We’ve invested $1.3 billion in highway infrastructure outside of the GTHA. We’re investing $1.62 billion in joint provincial and federal funding for critical public transit outside of the GTHA. We’re investing $1.2 billion in Ottawa’s stage 2 LRT. We’re investing $1 billion in the Hamilton LRT.

Mr. Speaker, we even announced that kids ride free on GO. We have new GO stations in Woodbine and Mimico, and we’re just getting started. The next three years are going to be so exciting for transit.

Ontario budget

Mr. Gurratan Singh: My question is to the Acting Premier. Brampton has been left behind for far too long. The past 15 years of Liberal governments have left our city having only one hospital that is chronically underfunded and overcrowded, the most expensive car insurance in this country, and an eleventh-hour promise for a university that was cancelled by this Conservative government.

People in Brampton want change. But instead of things getting better, they’re going from bad to worse. There was not one word in the budget about a new hospital for Brampton. But there are drastic cuts to education and transit that will hurt our city. Why is this Acting Premier leaving Brampton behind?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member for the question. I agree with you that the previous Liberal government led things from bad to worse, especially in health care, but we’re fixing that. We have a plan. Bill 74, if passed, is going to make sure that we put the needs of patients first and foremost, as we have in every other decision that we make.

We understand that Brampton is a growing community, that there are concerns with growth. We have a capital plan for hospitals, both for new builds as well as for making sure their existing hospitals are kept in good shape.

So we have put aside a huge amount of money, $17 billion, in capital over the next number of years to make sure that we can do those builds and that we can do that maintenance and repairs that need to be done to keep hospitals across the province open for business, including in Brampton.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Let’s look at the Conservative track record for Brampton. Since getting elected, they have already approved increases to car insurance rates, they cancelled our university and they voted against ending our health crisis in Brampton.

Brampton is the ninth-largest city in our country. It is the fastest-growing city in this country. But despite this, the Conservative government does not even name Brampton even once—not even once—for any sort of investment in their budget.

The people of Brampton deserve better. We deserve a budget that would have ended hallway medicine, brought in a university and lowered car insurance rates. Instead, we got a budget that gave us nothing. My question is very clear: Why?

Hon. Christine Elliott: To the Minister of Finance.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: As can be seen in our thoughtful budget, the fearmongering that came from the NDP was all for naught. The budget balances in five years, while protecting what matters most: health care, education and our core public services.

The health budget alone increases $1.3 billion this year, with $384 million to hospitals and $267 million added to home care. In addition, we’re investing $90 million in a new low-income seniors dental plan. I’m really looking forward to the NDP voting in favour of this budget to give those seniors that much-needed relief.

The education budget increases by $700 million this year, and we’re investing $13 billion over 10 years in capital improvements, including $1.4 billion this year alone, and $1 billion for 30,000 new daycare spots in schools. We’re looking forward—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Next question.

Child care

Ms. Jane McKenna: My question is for the Minister of Education. It is clear that our government’s budget is designed to protect what matters most and puts people first. After years of waste and mismanagement, it is great to see that we finally have a plan that will restore the people’s trust in government and put more money in people’s pockets.

I’ve heard from numerous people in my riding of Burlington that child care is unaffordable and not accessible. The good people of Burlington are thrilled that the CARE tax credit is going to help them access high-quality and affordable child care. Can the minister please explain how the government is bringing relief to Ontario’s parents and helping them access more options when it comes to child care?

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Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Thank you to the amazing member from Burlington. She’s a very proud mom and a very proud grandma, and she shows that she cares every day.

I am so proud to share with you, Speaker, that our plan is proposing to help support our parents like never before. This is about giving parents, not the government, control over the child care decisions that they have to make. Our Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses tax credit, or CARE for short, will provide 300,000 Ontario families with funding of up to 75% of their eligible child care expenses. Families will have the ability to choose the child care option that is best suited for their children, including care in centres, in home care or camps.

We know that choosing appropriate child care is absolutely the most important decision parents make, and that’s why we’ve designed CARE to be one of the most flexible child care initiatives ever introduced in Ontario. It’s about giving parents choice and leaving more money in their pockets.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Jane McKenna: Thank you to the minister. You’re doing a phenomenal job for all the parents and all the children. Thank you so much.

I’m so glad that this government believes in empowering parents to make the decisions that are best for their children and their families. Time and time again I heard that the previous government simply did not listen to the good people of Ontario. It is so refreshing to hear that finally we have a government that will support parents and put them in charge of making important decisions for their children.

Could the minister please tell me more about how the CARE tax credit will bring the greatest relief to parents and families in Ontario?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Absolutely, I’d be pleased to share more information on this support. Families in Ontario could receive up to $6,000 per child up to the age of seven, $3,750 up to 16. Families or parents that have children with special needs will receive $8,250. That is per child in the family, and families who support a child with going to camp or in care or in-home child care have so many opportunities to offset their expenses that may incur. This will enable them to take on a new job, or maybe work longer hours.

We were in the amazing riding of Pickering last Friday. The Minister of Finance and I heard first-hand from Herb Goldsmith—he has been in the business for 40 years. Herb Goldsmith says this is the best thing to happen for parents in decades. We really appreciate that perspective.

We’re going to build on the existing Child Care Expense Deduction, the CCED, and focus benefits on low- and middle-income families. This will make—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

Next question.

Legal aid

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: My question is to the Attorney General. Recently I met with lawyers from the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, which assists residents in Beaches–East York and elsewhere with their legal issues. They were worried that legal aid funding would be slashed, and they were right. The 30% cut to Legal Aid Ontario will be devastating for women like Monica, a client who was a victim of human trafficking, brought to Canada and forced into sexual slavery. The clinic helped her get permanent residence and build a better life.

Can the Attorney General explain why the government is balancing the books on the backs of vulnerable women like Monica?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: I thank the member opposite for the question and for raising the difficulties that Monica has been facing. It’s something that the government would like to work with clinics and with other government service providers to assist her with.

Mr. Speaker, the issues with legal aid have nothing to do with the kinds of services they are providing. As I’ve said in this House, they provide vital legal services for the most needy in our society. The problem with legal aid is the way it is currently structured. It doesn’t make sense that a government spends more and more money on legal aid services, and yet fewer and fewer people actually get those services. Over the last five years, legal aid has spent $86 million more and over 100,000 fewer people have received those services.

Mr. Speaker, I know that change can be a little bit difficult, but at this time, the Auditor General has pointed out the need for historic—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Supplementary question.

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: Cuts have deep consequences. Another client, Arti, was desperate to leave her abusive marriage and needed her parents’ help to take care of her kids while she resettled. SALCO helped her parents get a visitors visa. The racism and barriers that these clients face—

Mr. Ross Romano: You have no idea what you’re talking about.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: —mean that they often live in fear. For them, legal aid is a lifeline. Without it, more women, especially racialized women, will be trapped in situations of poverty and gender-based violence.

Can the Attorney General explain why this government continues to pay lip service to victims of gender-based violence, but has just made it harder for women like Monica and Arti to rebuild their lives?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Sault Ste. Marie will come to order.

The Attorney General to reply.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Legal aid is a vital service, and that’s why it is so important that we take the time and do the work to reform it.

It is not working as it is currently structured. The Auditor General provided 15 recommendations on ways to improve it, to make sure that those services are being provided to more and more people. Eligibility requirements were being increased year after year after year. Over those five years, Mr. Speaker, 106,000 fewer people had access to those services. That doesn’t make any sense. It is difficult to change such a huge agency—

Ms. Catherine Fife: You have no credibility anymore.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Waterloo, come to order.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: —but it is essential for the people of Ontario that we do this work. So I would ask the member opposite to join us in supporting legal aid as it continues down this path of reform—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

I apologize to the Attorney General. Once the ovation started, I could not hear her. I had to cut her off in mid-sentence.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa Centre has to come to order. The member for Niagara Centre has to come to order.

Start the clock. The next question.

Moose tags

Mr. Doug Downey: My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. Our government is aware of the absolute disdain the previous Liberal government had for Ontarians who enjoy taking advantage of our bountiful natural resources. Fifteen years of neglect led to a moose tag draw system that failed both the hunting community, as well as the tourism industry, in northern Ontario.

Starting today, April 17, Ontarians can submit applications for the 2019 moose tag draw.

Mr. Speaker, the minister is very vocal in supporting the things that matter most to Ontarians, and this is yet another example. Can the minister take a shot at updating us on how the government for the people is fixing this failed Liberal system and address the concerns expressed by the hunters?

Hon. John Yakabuski: I want to thank the member for that question, and I also want to thank him for standing up for Ontario hunters. My family are hunters too, and I’m hoping the Premier will give me a couple of days off this fall maybe to join them. They were ignored for far too long under the previous government.

Unlike the Liberals, our government for the people is listening to the valid concerns expressed by hunters. My ministry is reviewing our approach to how the province manages moose, including the current tag draw system. We want to ensure a sustainable moose population and hunting opportunities for future generations. Throughout the review, we will engage with hunters and other stakeholders to inform them of our decisions.

In the supplementary, I’ll be happy to expand on how our government is listening to hunters’ concerns.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Mr. Doug Downey: I want to thank the minister for his answer. I have some bad news for the minister. Even if the Premier says he can go, he has to get through the whip.

We know hunters across Ontario will be relieved to hear they finally have a government with a Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry who is willing to listen and take their concerns seriously.

The current situation is a personal one for a lot of Ontarians. They’re avid hunters and they use the moose tag system frequently. A review is long overdue. The previous government had years to fix a well-known problem in the system, and they chose to ignore it and focus on raising taxes instead. Can the minister update the House on what he hopes to achieve through this review?

Hon. John Yakabuski: Again, I want to thank the member for his supplementary. As mentioned in the great budget put forward by my colleague the Minister of Finance, fixing the current tag draw system is an important part of the overall review of Ontario’s approach to moose management. By continuing to engage with hunters and other stakeholders, I am confident that we will be able to identify solutions and address their concerns. Hunters are some of the best stewards of our natural resources, and by working with them we will make the system simpler and more accessible and ensure a healthy moose population.

Later today, I will have more to say on our new Big Game Management Advisory Committee—or BGMAC—and the work they will do in the coming months. The work to clean up yet another Liberal mess is only just beginning.

Notice of dissatisfaction

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 38(a), the member for Brampton Centre has given notice of her dissatisfaction with the answer to her question given by the Premier concerning education cuts to the Peel District School Board. This matter will be debated today at 6 p.m.

Member’s conduct

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): A number of members have informed me that they’d like to raise points of order. The first one is the member for London–Fanshawe.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Thank you, Speaker. I rise on a point of order this morning to draw your attention to a concerning behaviour by the member from Peterborough–Kawartha, and it truly is disappointing that I actually have to bring this to the House’s attention.

This morning, the member from Peterborough–Kawartha stooped to the level of looking over the shoulder of the member for Waterloo to copy information from her question to take details of the text to the government staff before the question was even asked. This type of behaviour, Speaker, is a new low here in this Legislature, and it falls beneath the standard of conduct expected by all of us here, the honourable members. Members should not have to worry about being accosted at their desks here in this House, and I ask you to do whatever is necessary to ensure that this does not become the norm in this place.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I appreciate the member’s point of order. I will take it under advisement, but I would certainly, obviously, indicate to the House that there has to be courtesy extended from member to member, and we have to maintain a standard of decorum in here if we’re going to have a civilized debate over the course of the next three years and a bit.

Correction of record

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I just want to correct my record because I want to manage expectations accordingly, given that we don’t know exactly how well the mail will work. I want to assure school boards across Ontario will have received their GSN numbers by the end of April.

Visitors

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: I beg the indulgence of the House to introduce the mom of Gwen Chasson, who is one of our pages, Vanessa Silver, and Gwen’s grandfather, Martin Chasson, who are both in the House today.

Mrs. Nina Tangri: I would just like to take a moment to welcome a civilian member of the Peel Regional Police, Mr. Jaz Singh.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): This House stands in recess until 3 p.m.

The House recessed from 1143 to 1500.

Members’ Statements

Environmental initiatives in Kingston and the Islands

Mr. Ian Arthur: Today I want to proudly bring attention to several environmental initiatives going on in Kingston and the Islands.

Today, outside of city hall in our historic market square, an exhibit titled Climate Change Is Here was unveiled by Sustainable Kingston. The exhibit uses photography to provide an informative look at the effects of climate change on the biomes of Canada, and the Canadian technologies being developed to fight it. This is only one example.

In March, the city council of Kingston voted unanimously to declare a climate emergency, and have changed their strategic direction to ensure that sustainability practices are a strategic priority in their planning. They are the first municipality in Ontario to do so.

Most encouraging is all of the advocacy being done by youth and children in Kingston and across the province. In September, a grade 5 student named Ryan Faaren was spurred into action to write a petition to the city to ban plastic straws after watching a video online of a turtle with a straw in its nose. Since then, other elementary classrooms have taken up the cause, and just yesterday they handed in the petition, with over 1,500 signatures.

Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to be a member of the community of Kingston and the Islands and to see true leadership on environmentalism and the fight against climate change.

Passover

Mr. Roman Baber: I rise today with a sense of joy to speak about the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover. Beginning this weekend, Passover commemorates the 400 years of slavery of the Jewish people in ancient Egypt, their exodus through the desert, and the 40-year journey to the promised land.

For Passover, it is customary to host a Seder, a festive dinner with family and friends, when we get together to recite the story of Passover and our journey to freedom. You see, Mr. Speaker, Passover is first and foremost about freedom: freedom not just from slavery, but freedom to live, to worship, to speak, to love.

During Passover, I often reflect on the freedom that my family gained after leaving the Soviet Union, freedom that so many of my friends and constituents only gained about 30 years ago.

More than 4,000 years since the exodus from Egypt, many in this world are still yearning for freedom. Whatever that freedom may be, freedom is a blessing. Freedom is the greatest human right.

So on this Passover, I wish you and everyone here their own individual freedom. I’d like to wish the Jewish community of York Centre, Ontario, Israel and around the world a happy and kosher Passover.

Mental health services

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Today I rise advocating for more mental health support funding from the government of Ontario.

Organizations across Ontario are struggling to provide support and keep up with the demand for mental health care in our communities.

Daya Counselling Centre is one such organization in London. Daya was founded to serve the personal and emotional counselling needs of individuals, couples and families, and help people to reach their full potential. Their programming helps clients to address mental health issues that include depression, anxiety, addictions, abuse, trauma, family conflict, complicated grief and more.

Regrettably, the demand is so high that the staff at Daya cannot serve every person who may contact them. Their allocated weekly funding for free and low-cost counselling will run out by Monday morning each week. People are often referred to them by family doctors, hospital staff, crisis lines and various community agencies who know Daya’s reputation for service to their clients. Clients are often caught up in referral loops, with each agency trying to refer clients to the next one when their own resources won’t allow them to take on another case.

It’s clear that our mental health system appears to be relying on the availability of community services, but many of those community services, like Daya, are dependent on donations.

Providing appropriate care in a timely manner benefits individuals and the community, with direct and indirect impacts on hospital demands, emergency response services and child welfare needs, among many others. I stand today to recognize the value that organizations like Daya have in our communities and ask that the government recognize that value through the financial supports they deserve.

Al-Qazzaz Foundation for Education and Development

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Mr. Speaker, this past week I had the privilege to attend the third annual gala hosted by the Al-Qazzaz Foundation for Education and Development. The Al-Qazzaz foundation is a not-for-profit organization that runs innovative, needs-based education and development programs serving disadvantaged communities in our province, country and around the world. They turn to creative education technology to fill gaps, address resource shortages and increase accessibility of resources to individuals who have no education and language skills, and to vulnerable communities such as refugees who arrive from war-torn lands to seek hope, home and future in Canada.

The foundation was founded by U of T graduates Khaled Al-Qazzaz and Sarah Attia. It was Khaled and Sarah’s passion for democracy, human rights and social justice, combined with their professional experience in education and development, which led to the birth of the Al-Qazzaz Foundation for Education and Development. Mr. Speaker, the foundation’s vision is to foster equity of access and outcome through innovative education and development projects rooted in the values of human rights, democracy and social justice.

Thank you, Khaled and Sarah, for your shared dedication to serving the community and creating such an astounding organization with such a great vision. I cannot wait to see what great programs and projects the foundation will be working on next.

Library services

Mr. Jamie West: Today, I want to express my support for the proud members of CUPE Local 4705 in Sudbury from Ontario Library Service–North and CUPE 3604 in Toronto from Southern Ontario Library Service. Yesterday, both the northern and southern Ontario library services informed their clients and staff that their budgets are being cut by 50%. This is the fallout of the government’s cut to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. It’s a cut that we didn’t see in the black and white of the recent budget.

The Ontario library services ensure equitable access to public libraries across the province and they help all Ontarians have access to opportunities for lifelong learning. In the north, library services help us overcome the unique challenges of supporting library development in First Nations and francophone communities. Today, their attention is on the difficult cuts the organization will have to make to staff and to services.

My thoughts and those of my colleagues in the official opposition are with these dedicated public sector workers today. We know that a 50% cut of your budget will mean a significant overhaul of your work and a substantial amount of stress. I want you to know that we will stand by you. We will fight to protect your jobs and the jobs of all workers affected by the government’s cruel cuts.

Access to justice

Mr. Randy Hillier: For 10 years, Craig Wilson has been trying to build a subdivision off Highway 7 in my riding. He has faced 10 years of obstacles, moving yardsticks and increasing costs which have been perniciously reducing the scope of his project. Bill Katsoulis owns a restaurant on Highway 7 and is having similar experiences. MTO bureaucrats continue to press a capricious interpretation of poorly worded regulations to obstruct the objective of vibrant and healthy rural communities.

While the Premier touts that we’re “open for business,” it appears that access to fair and just treatment outside of Toronto doesn’t exist. With schedule 17 of the budget bill, we are now headed for even further restrictions on access to justice, blocking the public from seeking remedies against the crown for failings, acts or omissions of its officers, employees and agents.

I have two expectations: first, that a true government “for the people” will restore access to justice in the critical elements of checks and balances in our system by revisiting schedule 17; and that the Minister of Transportation will direct MTO employees that they are to facilitate development and growth in rural Ontario, not obstruct and hinder it.

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Ontario budget

Ms. Goldie Ghamari: I want to take this opportunity to talk a little more about the budget that our government for the people unveiled on April 11. The people of Ontario can sleep a little easier these days, knowing that our province is on the path towards balancing the budget so that we can protect what matters most: our vital services, such as health care and education.

I was especially encouraged by what this budget does for the city of Ottawa. Adding on to the $1.2-billion investment our government is making in the LRT, which was incredible news for residents in Riverside South, Findlay Creek, Manotick, Stittsville and, in fact, everywhere across the riding of Carleton, our budget included the word “Ottawa” 13 times. It included $2 million in funding for the Ottawa Police Service to help combat gang- and gun-related crime.

This budget will also mean great things not just for the residents of Carleton but for everyone in the city of Ottawa and across Ontario as well.

Not only that, but the province has also promised to contribute funding towards the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario’s children’s treatment centre, and it has committed to help the Ottawa Hospital with the expansion of the Civic campus, expected to open by 2026.

With that, I want to thank the Minister of Finance and his parliamentary secretary for their dedicated work, as well as the Premier of Ontario.

Home care

Ms. Jill Andrew: Kristina Tomory is a member of our Toronto–St. Paul’s community. She recently had hip replacement surgery. Kristina is 72 years old. The stress of her surgery was made worse when she learned that there was no home care, no physiotherapy, and that she didn’t qualify for publicly funded home care services such as out-of-hospital rehab. Kristina, like many seniors, can’t afford private home care. She didn’t eat for three days because she couldn’t get to the kitchen.

Kristina met with me recently and broke down in tears. She said, “I never told anyone how alone and scared I felt, and if, at 72 years, I didn’t qualify, who would?”

One senior citizen falling through the cracks is too many. Ontarians deserve publicly funded health care and home care, not this Conservative government’s health scheme that rolls out the red carpet to privatization and private, for-profit service providers.

The government is failing our seniors. There are no standard eligibility criteria for determining how patients qualify for publicly funded home care services post-surgery, and there are not enough publicly funded home care services to keep up with our aging population.

So let’s look beyond PC buzzwords of “health system restructuring” and “modernization.” After all, there’s nothing modern about a health budget that’s funded grossly and dangerously below inflation.

Our senior citizens have given their all to our communities, and the least they can receive is the opportunity to heal with dignity.

Volunteer awards

Mr. Norman Miller: Three residents of Muskoka have recently been recognized by our Lieutenant Governor.

Cyril and Marion Fry of Gravenhurst received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement on February 22. This award recognizes people who have made an exceptional volunteer contribution to heritage conservation for 25 years or more. Cyril and Marion were instrumental in creating the Gravenhurst Archives in 1978, and have been involved in collecting, preserving and sharing the history of the town ever since. They were also involved in the Segwun Steamship Museum.

On March 7, Jean Polak of Bracebridge was one of eight people to receive the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship. This award recognizes individuals for their exceptional efforts and outstanding contributions to their communities, and I can’t think of a more deserving person. Jean is highly involved in the community. She is probably best known for her work with the Rotary Club of Bracebridge. For 26 years, she has been involved with the Rotary Club’s annual theater production, most often as producer. This year, I attended the Bracebridge and Huntsville Rotary Clubs’ production of Mamma Mia! and I have to say it was a great show. Jean has also served on the boards of Muskoka Conservancy and the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital, and volunteered with Community Living South Muskoka and other organizations. Beyond our community, she has been a member of the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism and worked with the Advocates’ Society.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Cyril and Marion Fry and Jean Polak for their contributions to our communities and offer my congratulations.

Nurses

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: Last week, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and I had the pleasure of attending the annual general meeting of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. The RNAO represents registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students from all across Ontario, and this yearly event brings them together to recognize their hard work and to celebrate their achievements. The AGM is also an opportunity for Ontario’s nurses to meet with stakeholders and elected officials, to share their experiences and to engage in thoughtful discussions on policy recommendations.

I’m proud to have been a member of the RNAO since 2014. In previous years, I remember how excited I was to attend the AGM as a nursing student and then as a registered nurse, so you can only imagine how proud I was to return this year as an MPP, to return as that voice that represents nurses in this House, as someone who can relate with lived experiences of my own.

Every nurse has a story, and every story has the potential to improve our health care system to achieve the best patient health outcomes possible. That’s what the RNAO is all about: speaking out for nursing, speaking out for health. Nurses are the backbone of our health care system. They provide an incredible amount of support to patients and physicians when they report for duty at the crack of dawn, and in doing so they make a difference in people’s lives each and every day.

This year the RNAO’s Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Judie Surridge, who has been an RN for an incredible 48 years. Throughout her career, Judie has never ceased supporting the profession and Ontario patients. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank and to congratulate Judie on her award and years of outstanding service. Well done.

Introduction of Bills

End the Public Funding of Partisan Government Advertising Act, 2019 / Loi de 2019 visant à mettre fin au financement public de la publicité gouvernementale partisane

Mr. Natyshak moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 101, An Act to amend the Government Advertising Act, 2004 / Projet de loi 101, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2004 sur la publicité gouvernementale.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Is it the pleasure of the House that motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Would the member for Essex care to briefly explain his bill?

Mr. Taras Natyshak: The Building Ontario Up Act (Budget Measures), 2015 made numerous amendments to the Government Advertising Act, 2004. Among the amendments made were changes to the rules that apply when the Auditor General reviews government advertising. The bill amends the act to reverse those amendments so that the act reads substantially as it did prior to the 2015 amendments.

Petitions

Injured workers

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the member for Algoma–Manitoulin.

Mr. Michael Mantha: Thank you, Speaker. On such a beautiful afternoon, it was great seeing you outside, taking a little walk out there. It just feels good to refresh your soul and get some of that vitamin D on you.

“Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas about 200,000 to 300,000 people in Ontario are injured on the job every year;

“Whereas over a century ago, workers in Ontario who were injured on the job gave up the right to sue their employers, in exchange for a system that would provide them with just compensation;

“Whereas decades of cost-cutting have pushed injured workers into poverty and onto publicly funded social assistance programs, and have gradually curtailed the rights of injured workers;

“Whereas injured workers have the right to quality and timely medical care, compensation for lost wages, and protection from discrimination;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to change the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act to accomplish the following for injured workers in Ontario:

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“Eliminate the practice of ‘deeming’ or ‘determining,’ which bases compensation on phantom jobs that injured workers do not actually have;

“Ensure that the WSIB prioritizes and respects the medical opinions of the health care providers who treat the injured worker directly;

“Prevent compensation from being reduced or denied based on ‘pre-existing conditions’ that never affected the worker’s ability to function prior to the work injury.”

I wholeheartedly agree with this petition and present it to page Gajan to bring down to the Clerks’ table.

Affordable housing

Ms. Jill Andrew: I’m proud to present this petition on behalf of the residents of Toronto–St. Paul’s.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas for families throughout much of Ontario, owning a home they can afford remains a dream, while renting is painfully expensive;

“Whereas consecutive Conservative and Liberal governments have sat idle, while housing costs spiralled out of control, speculators made fortunes, and too many families had to put their hopes on hold;

“Whereas every Ontarian should have access to safe, affordable housing. Whether a family wants to rent or own, live in a house, an apartment, a condominium or a co-op, they should have affordable options;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately prioritize the repair of Ontario’s social housing stock, commit to building new affordable homes, crack down on housing speculators, and make rentals more affordable through rent controls and updated legislation.”

I absolutely support this petition, sign it and hand it over to Katherine.

Injured workers

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I present this petition to the Legislative Assembly.