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April 12, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Apr-12 (PDF)

L244 - Mon 12 Apr 2021 / Lun 12 avr 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 12 April 2021 Lundi 12 avril 2021

Private Members’ Public Business

Condominium legislation

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Members’ Statements

Laurentian University / Université Laurentienne

COVID-19 immunization

Events in Black River-Matheson

Agricultural labour policy

COVID-19 response

Hospital funding

Bite of Brant

Trucking licensing / Small business

Tourism

Community grants

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Drapeau franco-ontarien / Franco-Ontarian flag

Question Period

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Women’s issues

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 immunization

Public transit

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 immunization

Northern health services / Services de santé du Nord

COVID-19 immunization

Deferred Votes

Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 soutenant l’expansion de l’Internet et des infrastructures

Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Access to Mental Health Support for Essential Workers), 2021 / Loi de 2021 modifiant la

Loi sur la sécurité professionnelle et l’assurance contre les accidents du travail (accès des travailleurs essentiels aux soutiens en matière de santé mentale)

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly

Orders of the Day

2021 Ontario budget

Royal assent / Sanction royale

2021 Ontario budget

Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 modifiant la

Loi sur la sécurité professionnelle et l’assurance contre les accidents du travail

Correction of record

Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 modifiant la

Loi sur la sécurité professionnelle et l’assurance contre les accidents du travail

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I wish to acknowledge this territory as the traditional gathering place for many Indigenous nations, most recently the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

This being the first sitting Monday of the month, we will now have the Canadian national anthem, O Canada, followed by the royal anthem.

Playing of the national anthem/Écoute de l’hymne national.

Playing of the royal anthem/Écoute de l’hymne royal.

Private Members’ Public Business

Condominium legislation

Mr. Aris Babikian: I move that, in the opinion of this House, the government of Ontario should consult with stakeholders and interested parties about expanding the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal to better serve and protect condominium owners.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 101, the member has 12 minutes for his presentation.

Mr. Aris Babikian: It is an honour to stand up today and table an important social policy-related legislation affecting hundreds of thousands of condominium owners and their families who live in Ontario. The motion to consult the public and the stakeholders about expanding the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal would give owners the ability to resolve more condominium-related disputes more conveniently, quicker and more affordably, and would also build on the excellent work that is under way.

The vision of owning a home where parents can raise their children is a Canadian dream, and the most significant investment in one’s life. When making their decision, it is important that purchasers are appropriately informed and protected so that they can be confident in their new home. Regrettably, far too often, the dream turns into a nightmare for a large number of condominium owners due to no fault of their own. The condominium owners are in a David-and-Goliath struggle with condo management corporations.

In her December 2020 value-for-money audit, the Auditor General of Ontario stated: “The existing model for the condo sector does not provide effective consumer protection and does not address the risks that exist for condo owners and buyers.”

Mr. Speaker, almost two million people in Ontario live in condos and many more are currently considering a condo purchase. We have seen the number of condo units increase by roughly 300% since 2001, and there are close to 900,000 condo units in Ontario, with 86% owned by individuals. This is a growing and important sector in our province, and it is a priority as we recover from COVID-19.

The Ontario condominium industry is valued at $300 billion and there are 11,350 condo corporations that manage the industry. The Ontario condominium construction market is the fastest-growing condominium market in North America. Meanwhile, the GTA is one of the three most-prohibitive housing markets in Canada.

The Condominium Authority of Ontario exists to fulfill responsibilities under the Condominium Act and to safeguard consumers in making what is often the biggest financial decision of their lives. When the Condominium Authority of Ontario was designated in 2017, the Liberal government did not give the Condominium Authority Tribunal enough provisions to deal with disputes that owners were facing. This left many condominium owners unable to deal with issues that were occurring.

During the last three years of my service as an elected official of Scarborough–Agincourt, I have heard heart-wrenching stories that condominium owners had to face. Through meetings with condo owners, I found out that some of the owners’ complaints are related to the management’s lack of transparency and accountability.

Other common recurring complaints included excessive maintenance fees, a rapid increase in reserve fund contributions, the manipulation of the boards’ elections by the management company, unqualified property managers who lack basic knowledge in the field, questionable financial decisions, ignoring the director’s right to see accounting records, pushing repairs of damages back on owners, maligning owners who challenge or criticize the manager, and last but not least, there are threats of legal proceedings against outspoken owners.

In one such case, at the AGM of the condo board, an owner who publicly criticized the manager’s performance and submitted a complaint to CMRAO was accused of harassment and was threatened with legal action if she did not stop expressing her views. Another owner who wanted to run for a board position faced a mini-war with the management and the corporation. These restrictions infringe on the owner’s most fundamental human and civil rights.

Due to the absence of industry standards and enforcement of regulations, the 11,350 condominium-management corporations are self-governing. Each drafts its own regulations and bylaws. It is perplexing to realize that this industry does not have a vigorous administrative authority compared to other Ontario industries in similar or parallel fields. In that spirit, I completely support the action of consulting the stakeholders and interested parties about expanding the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal to better serve and protect condominium owners.

That is why our government has shown, time and again, that we are committed to improving the availability of information for protecting the growing numbers of condo buyers.

I want to begin by looking at the problem we are solving. We have heard through our constituents and past consultations that access to the tribunal to resolve more types of disputes is a priority of condo owners and condo corporations. In the past, the only way condo corporations, condo owners or mortgagees could resolve disputes not covered by the jurisdiction of the tribunal was informally or through mediation, arbitration or court. This could be burdensome and expensive for the parties involved, resulting sometimes in thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of expenses. Plus, as the Auditor General has recognized, it bogged down the courts.

Last October, we achieved a significant milestone to deliver a better tribunal for Ontarians. We worked with the Condominium Authority of Ontario to both expand the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal and to launch its online multi-party dispute platform. Following the government’s amendments to O. Reg. 179/17, effective October 1, 2020, the tribunal finally became able to receive applications for a wider range of dispute types.

The tribunal’s online dispute resolution is Canada’s first fully online tribunal, another digital first for the Condominium Authority of Ontario under our government. The online tribunal offers a three-stage dispute resolution process—negotiation, mediation and adjudication—and allows individuals to participate online from anywhere, including from their homes. The platform now supports cases involving three or more parties and the participation of witnesses and intervenors in a more user-friendly and cost-effective way than ever before. It relieves the courts of small disputes, and results in much faster resolutions.

Given that Ontarians have been spending so much time at home during the pandemic and that, of course, has led to a rise in common element issues, it is more important than ever that we give people the ability to deal with issues quickly and easily from anywhere. I welcome the tribunal’s expansion, which already has been a catalyst for enhanced accountability and transparency related to the obligations related to the access to records. With the increased jurisdiction and a better digital process, the tribunal will be able to resolve more disputes and bring further clarity regarding the issues condo owners and my constituents face. But there is more to do.

In December of last year, the Auditor General of Ontario conducted an audit of the Condominium Authority of Ontario and made a strong recommendation about further improvements to the tribunal. Her office stated, “To better protect condo owners as they face condominium-living issues and disputes, we recommend that the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services work with the Condominium Authority of Ontario to include key areas relating to condo fees, repairs to common areas, board misconduct, reserve funds, commercial units or other areas considered appropriate within the Condominium Authority Tribunal’s jurisdiction.”

The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services in turn agreed that tribunal jurisdiction should continue to expand. My colleague the Minister of Government and Consumer Services is an incredible advocate for homebuyers. She and her team are planning for future regulatory proposals to expand the tribunal’s jurisdiction in phases.

Through today’s motion, I am asking for government to consult with the stakeholders and interested parties about future steps so that we can make best-in-class improvements to protect the people of Ontario. Our homes are so much more than investments. They are where we live our lives, where our families grow, and now, where many of us spend our workdays. We have an opportunity here to create a better consumer protection process that will address the concerns that keep too many condo owners up at night. With the support of this motion, we will engage those very same people and do it right. This will be a key

part in our government’s commitment to listen to the needs of Ontarians and respond with the modern solutions that work in today’s changing marketplace.

This Legislature will recall that in January we launched our Ontario’s first comprehensive condo buyers’ guide, full of easy-to-use plain language that puts knowledge into the hands of people at one of the biggest decision points of their lives. I am proud of my humble contribution to pave the way for a better future to condo owners and their families. As elected officials, it is our mandate to safeguard the financial, social, health and well-being of our citizens.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Minister of Government and Consumer Services, the Auditor General, Nancy Kuyumcu and so many other condo owners—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you. Further debate?

Mr. Gurratan Singh: I want to start by saying that the NDP has a long-standing history in standing up for condos—people who own condos, rather. We’re talking about people who are fighting to make sure that something that they spend their whole life trying to buy, their residence, is something that is being treated with dignity and respect. We’ve been a long-time fighter to ensure that people who own condos are treated with dignity, treated with respect and have access to the rights that they need.

Many in this House may know a long-time veteran MPP, someone I had the pleasure of knowing for a long time: the past MPP for the area of Spadina–Fort York, Rosario Marchese.

Interjections.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: A round of applause for Rosario. I know Rosario very well, because I know he and my brother had long-standing conversations about a variety of topics. Particularly, they were both a bit of fashion icons. Rosario is well known in this House for his iconic—I want to say, green glasses, was it? He had very iconic glasses.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rosario many, many times, and he would continually communicate and talk about this issue of condos, because this area, Spadina–Fort York, to my understanding, has the largest concentration of condominiums in the entire country. Because of that, he was well aware of the obstacles that people who own condos were facing. They were widespread. They were talking about issues around repairs, issues around mismanagement of the boards under which people resided, in these condominium corporations.

When you buy a home, when you buy a condominium, you want to have that feeling of security, that security of safety, that feeling of reliability. But instead, time and again, owners of condominiums are facing a whole slew of issues that are resulting in basically them not having that sense of security with their home because of issues around repairs and issues around the management of the condominium corporation.

I’m very proud to say that this legacy of standing up for condominium owners has been continued by current NDP MPPs right now, and I talk specifically about the member from Spadina–Fort York, MPP Chris Glover. He is an individual who has been standing up and fighting very hard for condominium owners and for people trying their very best to just have a home and make sure their home is treated with respect.

The member from London North Centre, Terence Kernaghan, is another strong advocate for people who own condominiums and don’t want to be faced with this whole slew of repairs and issues that arise because of mismanagement, because of not-proper processes around repairs and all these issues that can stem from them.

The NDP is going to continue to stand up for folks who spend their hard-earned dollars to get a home, to get a condominium. They just want to make sure that they are treated with respect and they get access to the resources that they need and access to a home that doesn’t have to be continually faced with repair issues or mismanagement of condominium boards or even shoddy construction. That’s a huge issue as well, when you have these condominiums that are, frankly, growing every day throughout Toronto and specifically throughout ridings like Spadina–Fort York. We have seen issues around the quality of these condominiums and how they’re being constructed.

If we don’t stand up for condominium owners now, it’s going to result in issues down the road because the status of these condominiums is going to further deteriorate, the status of their investment is going to potentially be further worsened, and their quality of living is at risk when you have shoddy construction. We need to continually stand up for condominium owners.

I’m very proud of the long legacy of folks in the NDP, starting from the past MPP Rosario Marchese, to the member from Spadina–Fort York currently, and the member from London North Centre. The NDP is committed to folks who are trying their best to have a livelihood and to have a home. It’s the least that people deserve after working such a long period of time to get enough resources together to purchase a condominium: that they get one that is built with due diligence, that is managed properly and that is safe and healthy.

Thank you so much, Speaker. That concludes my remarks. I look forward to the debate.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Mr. Robert Bailey: It’s a pleasure to rise today and speak to the motion tabled by my colleague the member for Scarborough–Agincourt. This is a very important motion, Speaker. As the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services, I’m glad to let everyone in the House know today that the ministry is very interested in this motion and the debate here as well.

Mr. Speaker, motion 149 reads: “That, in the opinion of this House, the government of Ontario should consult with stakeholders and interested parties about expanding the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal to better serve and protect condominium owners.” It’s really a very simple motion, but it takes on a few issues that are very important: consultation and home ownership.

I will start with the importance of the latter. Home ownership takes on many forms these days. Condominium ownership has grown immensely in our province over the last two decades. Of course, everyone knows about the boom in condo ownership in the GTA and major urban centres. Almost two million people in Ontario live in condos today.

Even in smaller cities like my riding of Sarnia–Lambton, we are seeing the development of a number of condo projects. Condominiums make up about 5% of residential housing in my riding, and that number is expected to continue to grow. There are many people in Sarnia–Lambton living in family homes who are looking to downsize and give up some of the added responsibilities that come along with the ownership of a detached single-family home.

But condo ownership has different challenges than home ownership as well, and buyers might not truly appreciate those challenges until after they put their money down. So it’s very important for our government to do everything we can do to take the necessary steps to ensure that the Condominium Authority of Ontario can fulfill its responsibilities under the Condominium Act and increase protections for condo buyers in the process.

In that spirit, I completely support the member’s motion and the emphasis on consulting with stakeholders about expanding the scope of the Condominium Authority Tribunal to better serve and protect condominium owners.

Over the years, my constituency staff and I have had a number of conversations with condo owners who were frustrated by the existing system created by previous governments. The only way to resolve disputes that fell outside of the tribunal’s authority was through mediation, arbitration or court. No one wanted to use any of those options. They were expensive, time-consuming and difficult to navigate. That’s why our government has already got to work modernizing the old system.

The Auditor General has looked at the condominium authority and made her recommendations. The AG has recommended that the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services work with the condominium authority to include key areas related to condo fees, repairs to common areas, board misconduct, reserve funds and commercial units, among many others. I can let you know that the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services agrees that the tribunal’s jurisdiction should continue to expand. My colleague the Minister of Government and Consumer Services is an incredible advocate for homebuyers, and the ministry is already working on a series of regulatory proposals that will expand this jurisdiction.

As a government, we’ve proven over our mandate our ability to listen to the people and implement the change they want to see. Mr. Speaker, I completely support the member’s motion calling for consultations on expanding the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Mr. Jamie West: I want to thank the member from Scarborough–Agincourt for the opportunity to debate his motion, private members’ motion 149, the expansion of the Condo Authority Tribunal jurisdiction. I really think this has the potential to be something good, an opportunity to move forward, and it’s been a lot of slow progress.

I think it’s important as well—sometimes people think about these things and they go, “I’ve never had a problem. Why does it have to be changed?” It really comes down to that 90-10 rule, if you’ve ever heard of that, where 90% of your resources go to 10% of your problems. When you have problems with a condo board, they become critical to you and your family. As the member from Brampton East already said, one of the largest purchases that you would make is your condo or your house, and struggling with those decisions becomes very difficult.

Also, as the member said, the NDP has been calling for reforms to the Condominium Act since 2007. He talked about Rosario; he tabled his first condo private member’s bill in 2007, so it’s been a long time coming to move this forward. In fact, he tabled it several times. I pulled up an

article from toronto.com from 2012. It says, “For the fourth time in five years, Trinity–Spadina MPP Rosario Marchese has tabled a bill calling for reforms to the condo act.

“Marchese’s bill calls for a number of measures designed to help protect condo owners following a growing number of complaints surrounding the industry in recent years.

“Most notably,” his bill “demands the establishment of a condo review board, a tribunal where condo owners can have their complaints heard quickly and avoid having to engage in lengthy and expensive court proceedings when they have an issue with a developer, property manager or condo board.”

In short, what he wanted to do was to better protect condo owners who were struggling with corrupt condo managers, rigged repair contracts. These are things that we heard from the member opposite when he was explaining his bill—just a sense of fairness, which is, I believe, the goal of the motion as well. I apologize for calling it a bill; the motion.

One of the supporters talked about the importance of establishing a review board, and this motion is about strengthening the review board’s ability. The idea of having this ability to resolve disputes is really important, because you want to be able to do this cheaply and quickly without having to go through the court process, because it’s not just the anguish, it’s the time it takes to resolve things that causes a lot of stress.

It’s interesting. Rosario was the member for Trinity–Spadina, which now is probably Spadina–Fort York, MPP Glover’s area. When I first became an MPP, MPP Glover, the member from Spadina–Fort York, showed me his area, which probably has the highest density of condos across Canada. Coming from Sudbury, where we do have condos but not to the extent you have in Toronto, it was eye-opening for me, the struggles that people had looking for daycare, child care and other resources and parks, and how there is nothing—no sense of a Landlord and Tenant Board, which don’t get me started on—really could be resolved. That sense of fairness and being able to work through things is really, really important.

The Liberal government took many, many years to move forward and get this tribunal in place, but it fell short. I think my colleagues would agree with me: They really fell short on it, because all it could do was follow through on if you failed to disclose statements. That doesn’t really help anybody.

By 2019, it was expanded to include pets and parking and storage. I don’t know how many disputes there would be, but that’s not far enough. I think this is why it’s a good move to expand what we have here.

We have been talking about improving it for a long time on this side of the House, as the Ontario NDP. In fact, when we talked about our housing platform, we talked about strengthening the condominium tribunal to resolve a greater range of disputes quickly and cheaply so that condo owners don’t have to fight long and costly lawsuits in court. Also, we want to look at the opportunity that maybe this shouldn’t just be private; maybe it should be public to be less costly for the taxpayers as well, and better resourced.

I think it’s a decent bill, an opportunity for improvement. I’ll end my debate there, Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Mr. Jim McDonell: It’s always a privilege to stand in the House. Today, we speak to the member from Scarborough–Agincourt’s motion on the condo fees.

As a former critic for consumer and government services, I very much was involved with the condo issue before and attended one of Justice Cunningham’s sessions that he had here in Toronto to hear all the different issues that were going on.

I think the Minister of Government and Consumer Services in her bill just a short time ago—a couple of years—handled a lot of those issues. Certainly, the news of the new online tribunal is so important, because most of the issues that came forth were similar to neighbours’ issues—owners, builders. The bill very much separated those two groups and gave them the confidence that the messaging and the answers they were getting were truly independent. I think that’s so important.

As the former mayor of South Glengarry, we received so many disputes between neighbours. I think that that resolution mechanism—in this case, very inexpensive—is so important, because they want to see an independent answer. Sometimes, they can call the municipal office and get an answer, but there’s always that feeling: Is it the right answer? Generally, lots of times, it’s not in their favour. So by taking them to the online consultation board that we have today, they’re able to do it cheaply. You have an independent body. I think those are really some of the things that we saw and we heard.

This government truly has a history of listening. In the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, we’ve gotten to the point of reaching out to our stakeholders, making sure that they’re heard and then putting legislation in place that handles any of the concerns that we can deal with. That’s similar to what the condo act did. We saw many of the complaints were—builders were accused of not building what they were supposed to and the owners having that.

So we separated those two boards so that, it was that appearance of—and not only the appearance, but the fact that you’re getting a truly independent view and it’s not tainted by one side or the other. We’re glad to see that government is continuing to do that. This motion really encourages that. We’ve heard from the Auditor General.

It’s so important. A person’s house is their kingdom. It’s so important, if you get ownership, that you can rely on it and it provides that confidence.

While we don’t have a lot of condominiums in my riding—they’re starting in the city of Cornwall—we’re finding a lot of retired people want that confidence of being able to move someplace with not a lot of maintenance; maybe they like to travel. But they can move in. They’re getting off their farm; they don’t want the maintenance there. I think that condominiums are becoming more of an important solution.

It’s great that we’re seeing more progress, and I commend the member from Scarborough–Agincourt on this motion.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Mr. John Vanthof: It’s always an honour to rise in the House, and today on motion 149, increasing the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal. I’d like to commend the member from Scarborough–Agincourt for bringing this motion forward. I think the thing about private members’ bills and motions is they often reflect an issue that is very prominent in an individual riding. I’m sure this is a prominent issue in this riding, as it is in many. In my part of the world, there aren’t a lot of condominiums, but I rent one now because we live in Toronto.

He’s been mentioned here before: I got my first education about some of the problems about condominiums from my colleague at the time, Rosario Marchese. He was a very well-known MPP here. He introduced his first private member’s bill to change the condo act in 2007.

I always like personal stories about this place. Some of you who’ve served with Rosario—he was an incredibly snappy dresser. I don’t think anyone has to really look too hard to see that I am not. He asked me one day, “John, do you only have three jackets?” Because he was watching. I said, “Yes. I’m from northern Ontario. I have one for each season.” And then I said, “In my part of the world, if I put a press release out that I bought a fourth one, it actually gets printed.”

But people—and my daughter owns a condo as well. Condos are a great way to live for people who want to downsize or who don’t want the extra work of home ownership. But your neighbours are much closer, and it’s a way of communal living and communal paying of costs, and because of that, it can get problematic. When things like that get problematic, they can get very problematic. So anything that we can do together to improve the lives of condo owners, we’re in favour.

Once again, I commend the member. I hope that the government takes this private member’s motion and seriously looks at it and seriously looks at some of the issues that condo owners are facing, because many are the same issues that my friend Rosario Marchese identified in 2007. That’s a long time to wait, Speaker. This is becoming a more popular way of living, and we need to make sure that people have their full enjoyment from it.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Mr. Lorne Coe: I want to commend the member from Scarborough–Agincourt for his efforts on behalf of his constituents, many of whom live in condominiums. Many of us in the Legislative Assembly this morning know that it’s essential that we consult with that community about expanding the jurisdiction of the Condominium Authority Tribunal to better serve and protect condominium owners.

The Minister of Government and Consumer Services’ support for further improvements has been echoed by the Condominium Authority of Ontario itself, which has as its mandate a commitment to protect and support condo owners as they face condominium living issues and disputes. With this in mind, the motion we’re discussing this morning is a natural next step in our work to strengthen remedies for condo residents across Ontario. Clearly, we must continue to consult with stakeholders and interested parties about future steps so that we can make industry-leading improvements to protect the people of Ontario.

Now, Speaker, I can tell you that in Whitby, I’ve got several condominiums, some that are situated within the middle of my riding and some that are fronted onto the beautiful waterfront at the south part of my riding overall. There are common issues that arise: condo fees, repairs to common areas, reserve funds.

This particular consultation that we will be embarking on will provide an opportunity to address those types of challenges by continuing to expand the jurisdiction of the tribunal in phases, and the input of condo residents, whether it be in Whitby or other parts of Ontario, in my estimation, is critical to a strong rollout. Based on the level of consultation that’s taken place thus far, and we will be embarking on, they know best the issues that arise in their homes. We want to hear from them about what they need in their tribunal. That’s an important distinction. It’s their tribunal, Speaker.

This motion is incredibly timely. It will be a priority for our government, and I thank the minister for her leadership on this particular file, her parliamentary assistant and the civil servants who have worked on this particular issue going forward.

Clearly, it builds on the work already under way and, if passed, will contribute to our government’s work to expand the tribunal to cover key areas where issues and disputes arise. There has been a gap in that particular respect for a number of years, some of which previous speakers have pointed out. But this particular consultation that we’re about to embark on, I’m pleased to say, will fill that gap. I’m also pleased, as a result, to provide my full support to the hard work of the member from Scarborough–Agincourt.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): There being no further debate, the member for Scarborough–Agincourt has two minutes to reply.

Mr. Aris Babikian: I’m quite pleased to see support from both sides of the aisle for this important initiative. It shows once again that when we work together, we can achieve lots for our communities, our residents and citizens of Ontario.

I would like to thank the members from Brampton East, Sarnia–Lambton, Sudbury, Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, Timiskaming–Cochrane and Whitby.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the Minister of Government and Consumer Services, the Auditor General, Nancy Kuyumcu and so many other condo owners of Scarborough–Agincourt who had the courage to contact me and bring their and their neighbours’ plight to my attention.

This motion will support the launch of public consultations to prepare the ground for the strengthening of accountability. With the Auditor General, it is our government that—the accountability to condo owners.

Mr. Speaker, this is an important initiative. I understand there were attempts in the past to bring similar strengthening and enhancing of the condo authorities act. But as they say, better late than never. We still have the opportunity to work together to make this issue a reality, to give the condo owners in Ontario peace of mind. At least they know that their elected officials and their government are working to protect them to enhance their safety and to provide them a brighter future, at least when it comes to one of the most fundamental rights of Ontarians: to own a home in our province. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The time for private members’ public business has expired.

Mr. Babikian has moved private members’ notice of motion number 149. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the government House leader on a point of order.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to move a motion without notice respecting an humble address on the passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to move a motion with notice that an humble address be presented to Her Majesty the Queen. Agreed? Agreed.

Once again, I’ll recognize the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I move that, notwithstanding any standing order or special order of this House, a motion respecting an humble address may be immediately moved without notice and that 15 minutes shall be allotted to debate on the motion, with five minutes for Her Majesty’s loyal opposition, five minutes for the independent members as a group and five minutes for Her Majesty’s government; and

That the proceeding of members’ statements shall not commence until the debate is completed or until 10:15 a.m., whichever is later.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader has moved that, notwithstanding any standing order or special order of the House, a motion—

Interjection: Dispense.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Agreed? Agreed.

Again, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I move that an humble address be presented to Her Majesty the Queen in the following words:

“To the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty:

“Most Gracious Sovereign:

“We, Your Majesty’s dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, in Parliament assembled, approach Your Majesty with the expression of our deepest and heartfelt sorrow of the demise of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

“We mourn the loss of His Royal Highness, whose grace, distinction and commitment of service to the Kingdom and to the Commonwealth and whose humble and loving support for Your Majesty over so many years has set such an example of strength, character and compassion for us all.

“While His Royal Highness is so fondly remembered by all of us for a lifetime of public service, truly a debt owed by us which shall never be repaid, we know that this loss is most profoundly felt by Your Majesty—the loss of a loving and devoted husband and a lifelong companion and friend.

“We shall, Your Majesty’s loyal subjects, commit our whole selves to sharing the burden of Your Majesty’s profound sorrow and grief. We shall mourn for His Royal Highness as our Prince, we shall mourn for Your Majesty’s partner as our partner, and we shall mourn for the royal family’s father and grandfather as our father and grandfather.

“We repeat the prayer offered to Your Majesty by the House of Commons upon the demise of the Queen Mother: We pray that the God of all consolation may comfort Your Majesty and members of the royal family in your bereavement, and that Your Majesty may long be spared to continue the eminent public services of your great predecessors.”

And that the said address be engrossed.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: I rise on behalf of the official opposition to express our condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and her family on the passing of Prince Philip.

Speaker, in a place as diverse as Ontario, it comes as little surprise that people across the province, and in this House, hold opposing views about the role and impact of the monarchy in Canada—but that is a debate for another day.

As the news broke this past Friday, we heard two recurring accounts of who Prince Philip was. Understandably and expectedly for a man of his standing, we heard about his accomplishments as a decorated war hero and as a patron of hundreds of organizations.

But despite all the accolades, the stories about the Queen and the royal family’s sense of loss made no reference to his status or formal titles. It was his contributions as a husband, father, grandfather and friend that fuelled their grief. We don’t have much in common with the royal family. I don’t think any of us really understand what it means to be part of the royal family, to be part of the spectacle; it’s so hard to have a personal life. As politicians, we probably understand a little bit of it, but certainly not the full extent.

But if there’s one thing I hope that we all share with the prince, with the royal family, it’s that our loss will resonate most with those closest to us, not because of who we are or what we have accomplished, but for the way we made our loved ones feel in our presence. This sentiment rings even truer in our current circumstances when many of the communal rituals that we normally lean on to get us through grief have been taken away by the pandemic, irrespective of our social standing.

On behalf of Andrea Horwath and Ontario’s NDP, I extend our sympathies to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family. We sincerely hope that the memories that now bring sadness will quickly become a source of strength that will get them through the challenging days ahead.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the member for Ottawa South.

Mr. John Fraser: It’s an honour to rise today to say some words in honour of Prince Philip. I’d first like to begin by extending the condolences of my family and families in Ottawa South and families across Ontario to Queen Elizabeth II, the royal family, families of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

His was a life of great public service. In here, we understand a bit about what public life is all about, but I don’t think we can fully understand the public life that the royal family, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II, have lived. It’s one of tremendous public scrutiny and high expectations, and he met those.

There’s a need to be constant, a need to be resolute, a need to be available and accessible, to be there in times of celebration, in times of grief and in times of trouble; and Prince Philip did that, did that for the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and, most importantly, for his family and his wife, Queen Elizabeth II. Seventy-three years being together is a very long time, and that is remarkable.

I want to add a little bit of a personal story. My mother-in-law and father-in-law, who passed away two years and one year ago, respectively, were both very captured by Prince Philip and the Queen—my mother-in-law very much so. I don’t think it was the magic of royalty, but it was a young family that caught her imagination; it was the resoluteness, the constancy, the public availability, being that rock and being there for people, that inspired her.

I got to understand it a little bit more when my father-in-law—they were both about 90 years old—wrote the Governor General on the Queen’s and Prince Philip’s last visit here to Canada. He wrote a letter that said he was on the advanced team for the princess’s tour, I think, in the 1950s, but he never got a chance to meet her—in the end it just didn’t happen, it didn’t connect—and that my mother-in-law, Yvonne, had a great deal of appreciation and admiration for them; and that she’d lost a brother, Ansley, at Dieppe. So he wrote this letter and he sent it off because he was hoping that they could meet Prince Philip and the Queen.

Lo and behold, a few weeks later, a letter arrives from the Governor General inviting them to Rideau Hall for when Prince Philip and the Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, were going to be there. They got there. They just expected to be one of the many of the hundreds there to witness it. They were handed a card that said, “You go over here.” What happened was really quite incredible for my mother-in-law, and I can’t forget this: They got to personally meet them, have a brief conversation. That meant so much to my mother-in-law. She was 90 years old—90 years old. They were actually both married about the same length of time.

That’s what the life of public service is about. It’s about connecting, taking a genuine interest in people, even if it’s for a brief moment. Prince Philip, as the longest-serving consort of the longest-serving monarch, delivered on that and many, many other things. On behalf of all those families—the royal family—but all those families across the Commonwealth here in Ontario, our deepest condolences and sympathies, and a celebration of a life of service.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Speaker, is my sad duty to rise in this place to offer condolences to Her Majesty the Queen for her profound loss. Last Friday, the world learned of the passing of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the final months of his 100th year. His Royal Highness has been a soldier and a hero, a leader and a follower, a father and a grandfather, and a husband and a friend.

Born in 1921 on the island of Corfu as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, his early life was characterized by tribulation. At only 18 months, His Royal Highness and family were evacuated from Greece by the Royal Navy as political unrest led to the abdication of his uncle King Constantine I.

As a boy at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, Prince Philip distinguished himself as a proficient athlete, a start which would grow into a lifelong love of sport.

As the world was entering a second great war in 1939, His Royal Highness, like most young men, heard and accepted the noble call to military service. In 1940, he was appointed a midshipman in the Royal Navy, and commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in 1941. At only 19 years old, His Royal Highness won the distinction of Mentions in Dispatches for bravery in the Battle of Cape Matapan aboard HMS Valiant. At only 21 years of age, he was promoted to first lieutenant, making him one of the youngest of that rank in the Royal Navy.

While Prince Philip ended his active military career in 1952, his relationship with the armed forces continued his entire life, both in the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth. On the occasion of his 90th birthday, His Royal Highness was made a general in the Canadian army and Royal Canadian Air Force and an admiral of the Royal Canadian Navy by Prime Minister Harper, marking the first time that an honorary rank had been granted at the highest levels of the Canadian Armed Forces.

The full breadth of Prince Philip’s honours would be impossible to recount here, but I will recall that he was the second-longest serving member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, an Extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit, an Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada, and he held the Canadian Forces’ Decoration with five bars. His Royal Highness served faithfully as colonel-in-chief of several Canadian regiments, and selfishly I will note that above the rest, he was colonel-in-chief of the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh’s Own) when I was a reservist.

Inasmuch as I have drawn a picture of a stalwart military hero, which His Royal Highness most certainly was, there was a lighter side to his unique character which must be remembered. It is no secret that Prince Philip would not hesitate to speak his mind. In a speech in 1960 to the General Dental Council, he joked, “Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practised for a good many years”—a sentiment that I think many of us in this chamber can understand well.

As this House will know, every man is more than the sum of his career, and the picture of no man is complete without his family. In July 1947, the engagement of Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten to then Princess Elizabeth was announced, and they were married in November. His Royal Highness was a father of four, a grandfather of eight and a great-grandfather of 10.

Her Majesty and His Royal Highness were married for more than 73 years, through which time he was an irreplaceable source of love and support, perhaps easing the heavy burden that is the crown. Her Majesty’s remark, which has been quoted often in the last several days, that Prince Philip “has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years,” certainly explains the sort of man that he was.

Mr. Speaker, this House remembers His Royal Highness as a Prince, as a consort, as a war hero, as a sportsman, as a conservationist, as a father and as a husband. I offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to Her Majesty the Queen, whose loss we cannot fully know, and to the royal family in their time of bereavement.

Your Majesty, we, your loyal subjects, share absolutely in your sorrow and grief. His Royal Highness may be gone from this earth, but he remains in our memories and in our hearts.

God rest his soul, Mr. Speaker, and God save the Queen.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Mr. Calandra has moved that an humble address be presented to Her Majesty the Queen: condolences on the loss of her beloved husband and consort, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Orders of the day?

Hon. Paul Calandra: No further business.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): There being no further business, this House stands in recess until 10:15.

The House recessed from 1002 to 1015.

Members’ Statements

Laurentian University / Université Laurentienne

M me France Gélinas: Today I want to ask this government, one more time, to cancel the companies’ creditors arrangements that Laurentian University has fallen into. This process does one thing: It determines how many cents on the dollar creditors will get. But the government can see that the assets of Laurentian University are way more than that. It is the bilingual mandate. It is the three cultures. It is the oldest Indigenous university program in our province.

Can you not see what my community is losing because of this government’s inaction? Students are missing out on their education, having to switch schools, switch their majors, switch their entire career paths. People are losing their jobs, their paycheques, in the middle of a pandemic, throwing more families into crisis.

Premier Ford, Minister Romano: Vous pouvez arrêter ce carnage de ma communauté dès maintenant. Vous devez prendre vos responsabilités envers la communauté francophone qui fait les frais de votre inaction.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Robert Bailey: It’s my honour to rise today and pay a special tribute to the team at Lambton Public Health. Unfortunately, negative chatter and misinformation have led many in Sarnia–Lambton to believe that our community is falling behind the vaccination efforts of other communities in the province. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, Public Health Ontario’s latest surveillance report on COVID-19 uptake in Ontario reports that thanks to the tireless efforts of Lambton Public Health, the residents of Lambton county are receiving their vaccines at the sixth-fastest rate of all 34 public health units in the province. In southwestern Ontario, Lambton Public Health has administered more vaccines to residents than every other public health unit of a comparable size. Lambton Public Health has also undertaken the important step of beginning to vaccinate education and child care workers, faith leaders, first responders, border inspection officers, food manufacturing workers and agriculture and farm workers.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend all of the staff at Lambton Public Health for the tremendous work they have done so far in delivering these life-saving vaccines to the people of Lambton County. Everyone in Lambton county owes a debt of gratitude to Lambton Public Health for the work they are doing—and, I might add, we also have five new pharmacies that are also administering vaccines this week. So, on behalf of all the residents of Lambton county, I say thank you to everyone at Lambton Public Health for all your efforts over the last year.

Events in Black River-Matheson

Mr. John Vanthof: I would like to take this opportunity to make the House aware of the state of emergency that has been declared by the municipality of Black River-Matheson. When I talked to Mayor Gilles Laderoute, they at that point had three cases of COVID in their municipal workforce, and as a result the entire workforce, the entirety of the public employees of Black River-Matheson, are self-isolating. Other contractors have stepped up to the plate to take over municipal duties because, as you know, in northern Ontario we’ve had a very warm spring, but we are still expecting snowstorms in Black River-Matheson.

To add to how big an impact this could have, there was an accident last Saturday on Highway 11 in Black River-Matheson that closed the highway for hours and hours and hours. This is the second Saturday in a row that that stretch of highway has been closed.

To the people of Black River-Matheson: Hang in there. Everyone is doing what they can. Mayor Laderoute is keeping us up to date, and I made a commitment to him to keep the Legislature up to date, because at some point they might need further help.

Agricultural labour policy

Mr. Toby Barrett: Across farm country in Haldimand–Norfolk, apart from soil temperatures, soil moisture, weather forecasts and commodity markets, the availability of farm labour and local medical officer of health restrictions weigh heavily on labour-intensive agriculture.

Recently, 250 Norfolk county tractors rode into town for a rally to express their collective frustration at some of the difficulties COVID-19 restrictions are causing for local farmers. The restriction of the movement of temporary foreign workers from Pearson International Airport to three workers per vehicle rather than together in a bus is one such example. This restriction and others, if I refer to consultant Trish Fournier, is adding a cost of over $19,000 per farm worker to the 5,000 workers arriving in Haldimand–Norfolk.

As announced in our Ontario budget, $10 million is available to farmers to purchase PPE, enhance cleaning and disinfection, and redesign work stations to better protect workers. The funding will also help farmers who experience unexpected costs for short-term or temporary housing and transportation as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks. As well, increased flexibility has been built into the program to ensure that it can respond to the emerging issues and risk.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Taras Natyshak: This is a statement that I had hoped to not have to make. I bring forward today, on behalf of my riding and the good people of Essex county, the frustration and anger that has existed and continues to permeate our region due to this government’s ineptitude when it comes to dealing with COVID-19. We are now in the third lockdown, one that certainly was preventable.

When we’re looking back, the first lockdown was unfortunate, but people understood. The second one was definitely unfortunate. The third one now is sheer negligence. We knew what to do. The answers were around us in other jurisdictions, around cohorting, around protecting seniors in long-term care, around ensuring that smaller class sizes and proper ventilation were made and supporting small businesses and supporting those workers that needed paid sick days. This government has done none of that, and here we are today in a third lockdown that has devastated the small business community in my area.

We will probably never see some of the businesses that had a footprint on our main streets ever again. They’ve lost hope, and it’s strictly, specifically and solely due to the actions and inactions of this government. They are mad. They are absolutely frustrated, and there continues to be a lack of help or any hope coming from this government.

I implore the members of the government to enhance and support the small business supports that are there, make sure the eligibility criteria are broadened and deliver paid sick days for all the workers in this province of Ontario.

Hospital funding

Mr. Jim Wilson: The Collingwood General and Marine Hospital redevelopment is listed by Infrastructure Ontario in the pre-procurement phase, with an estimated cost between $200 million and $499 million. We now know that a request for proposals is targeted for the fall of 2023 and a contract could be signed by 2024. I want to thank the Premier and the Minister of Health for making this happen.

Members will know that a new Collingwood hospital located at a central, easily accessible site on donated land is much preferred by residents of south Georgian Bay than a rebuild at the existing confined hospital location. I encourage residents to continue fighting for a brand new hospital on Poplar Sideroad. I hope the government will keep an open mind.

My constituents are looking forward to the new state-of-the-art hospital facilities they need and deserve and have long fought for.

Bite of Brant

Mr. Will Bouma: Good morning. I rise in the House today to highlight the efforts of Bite of Brant. Organized by the county of Brant agricultural awareness committee, Bite of Brant is an opportunity for local elementary students in grades 4 through 6 to learn about the agri-food industry and the vital role it plays in our local food supply and economy.

Bite of Brant is an initiative which began 26 years ago, and in the past, students would visit the Burford fairgrounds to learn about farming. Last year, the event was cancelled due to the pandemic, but this year, the organizing committee pivoted to a virtual event. The free learning opportunity, run by countless volunteers, ran from April 6 through 9, with over 47 local classes participating. The week’s activities included the livestreaming of discussions with area farmers and tours of local agricultural operations, including dairy, beef, chicken, grain crops, sheep and fruit.

In addition, the teachers received an extensive list of resources which can be used to further teach the students where their food comes from.

In 2019, Bite of Brant was awarded the Farm and Food Care champion award, recognizing their support for Ontario’s farming community. I extend my appreciation to the many involved in the organization of this year’s event and their continued focus on the value of Ontario food and farmers.

Trucking licensing / Small business

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Dump truck drivers are essential workers in our province, but the Conservative government is threatening their very livelihood. Drivers of tri-axle dump trucks have explained how changes in what is known as the SPIF regulations are forcing dump truck drivers to make huge investments in buying new equipment and new retrofits for their trucks in a very short amount of time. They have explained to me that many dump truck drivers may not be able to afford this new investment, and they may actually have to pull their trucks off the road.

That is why the NDP is calling on the Conservative government to stand up for dump truck drivers. The Conservative government must stand up for dump truck drivers, bring in reasonable, safe accommodations so that these drivers can continue to contribute to our province.

Small businesses are struggling right now, at no fault of their own. Businesses that were incredibly successful before COVID-19 are now struggling to make ends meet. And the Conservative government has not only abandoned small businesses, but they’re refusing to make further investments to ensure that they survive this pandemic. The Conservative government didn’t listen to the experts and they walked us right into this pandemic. The Conservative government now should have brought in additional financial support to small businesses during this most recent lockdown. Instead, they are leaving small businesses out to dry.

That’s why the NDP is calling on the Conservative government to act now, invest in small businesses and make sure they have the support that they need to get through this pandemic.

Tourism

Mr. Norman Miller: Parry Sound–Muskoka is home to thousands of tourism businesses, small and large. As we all know, tourism is one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, and I have been advocating for help for these businesses.

I was pleased to see our government act to support this important part of our economy in the recent budget. Our government has allocated $100 million for the new Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant to help those tourism businesses that were not eligible for the Ontario small business grant. This will include hotels and motels, hunting and fishing camps and children’s overnight camps. I look forward to seeing applications for this grant program open soon.

Ontario has allocated another $100 million for larger tourism businesses that are the anchors of local tourism economies. As well, our government has set aside $150 million for the staycation tax credit to encourage people to support Ontario tourism businesses as soon as it is safe to do so. We are increasing funding to Ontario’s regional tourism organizations, like Explorers’ Edge, by $15 million. We are also supporting resource-based tourism businesses like hunting camps by waiving some licences and crown land fees.

The Minister of Finance is going to join me for a discussion with local chambers of commerce in Parry Sound–Muskoka to go over these and other things, and I thank him for that.

Community grants

Mr. Lorne Coe: The Ontario government is investing $2.9 million through the Inclusive Community Grants Program to support community projects that will keep people of all ages and abilities healthy and engaged across the province.

In my riding, the town of Whitby is receiving $60,000 to facilitate the evaluation of its age-friendly action plan and expansion of social inclusion programs. Speaker, this new funding will help town staff and council to continue to create opportunities for seniors and people with disabilities to connect socially from home, something that is of critical importance right now during the pandemic.

Through the Inclusive Community Grants Program, we’re taking steps to ensure that municipalities like the town of Whitby and the region of Durham and local organizations are able to make our communities more inclusive and accessible. Speaker, it’s a great example of what we can achieve when we work together.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader on a point of order.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for a moment of silence in remembrance of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader is seeking the unanimous consent of the House for a moment’s silence in remembrance of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Agreed? Agreed. Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And may God save the Queen.

Members, please take your seats.

Drapeau franco-ontarien / Franco-Ontarian flag

Le Président (L’hon. Ted Arnott): J’aimerais que tous les députés remarquent que sur le mur sud de la Chambre derrière moi, le drapeau franco-ontarien a été ajouté à côté de ceux de l’Ontario, du Canada et de notre Assemblée législative. I’d like all members to notice that on the south wall of the chamber behind me, the Franco-Ontarian flag has been added next to those of Ontario, Canada and our Legislative Assembly.

Après accord à cette Chambre le mois dernier, la décision a été prise d’installer le drapeau ici ainsi que sur les terrains de l’Assemblée législative. After agreement in this House last month, the decision was made to install the flag here as well as on the Legislature’s grounds.

Le drapeau franco-ontarien est maintenant un symbole officiel de notre province et un symbole qui représente notre dynamique communauté franco-ontarienne. The Franco-Ontarian flag is now an official symbol of our province and one that represents our vibrant Franco-Ontarian community.

Je suis certain que vous êtes aussi heureux que moi de le voir ici alors que nous célébrons et reconnaissons ce nouvel emblème provincial important. I’m sure you’re as pleased as I am to see them here as we celebrate and recognize this new and important provincial emblem.

Merci. Thank you.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is to the Premier. On Friday, Ontario reached a tragic milestone: 4,227 people diagnosed with new cases of COVID. At the time, it was the highest number since the pandemic began. Why would the Premier claim on that same day that “things are looking pretty good”?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Last Wednesday, I think, was the day that we started to fight back in the province of Ontario, after spending a year on the defence, preparing our long-term-care homes, preparing our hospitals, making important reinvestments in the sectors that were so important to ensuring that we got through the first and second waves. Last week, we finally started to fight back by taking the vaccine into the communities that have been most affected, by taking the vaccine to workplaces that have been most affected. The results are encouraging. If I’m not mistaken, over three million vaccines have been delivered to the people of the province of Ontario.

We are fighting back, Mr. Speaker. That’s what the next 28 days are about: They’re about turning the corner. Does that mean there won’t be some difficult days ahead? Of course there will be, but last week marked the time when we finally started to fight back and left the defence behind. We are attacking this virus where it’s hurting people the most.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. John Vanthof: This is a crisis that the Ford government marched us into with eyes wide open—until last Wednesday, it seems. Since February, the Premier was warned over and over again by doctors, nurses, hospitals and his own experts that COVID-19 was spreading, that it would hit workers who couldn’t stay home especially hard and that our ICUs would be overwhelmed. He denied it then and he’s still claiming that “things are looking pretty good.”

At what point will the Premier stop the denials and admit that we are in a crisis that he created?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, in fact, what the Premier was referring to was the rate of vaccinations that were proceeding. Over 3.2 million vaccines have already been administered. We are moving forward with that very quickly. The rollout is going very well. There are more and more locations where people can be vaccinated. We just added another 700 pharmacies. We’re up to about 1,400 pharmacies; we should be up to 1,500 by the end of this month. That is what the Premier was speaking about. That is a good rollout of the vaccination campaign—because we want every person in Ontario who wishes to receive a vaccine to receive one as quickly as possible. We’re doing just that.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And the final supplementary.

Mr. John Vanthof: We’ve just learned “good news”: We’ve just learned that another 15 people died yesterday. I don’t call that good news. There are over 600 people struggling to breathe in our ICUs. Thousands more have seen desperately needed surgeries postponed. Things are not looking pretty good.

Will the Premier stop denying the crisis, admit that we need to do much more and provide the resources and measures we need, whether that’s paid sick days, 24/7 vaccinations, paid vaccination time or military personnel?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Through you, Mr. Speaker: I would say to the member opposite, what you seem to be denying is the fact that this is happening across Canada. This isn’t just happening in Ontario; look at what’s happening in BC, in Alberta and in Saskatchewan. This is not just happening in Ontario.

The variants of concern are now the dominant strain in Ontario. We’ve been listening to our health experts every step along the way and making the adjustments that we’ve needed to. We’ve added over $5 billion to our hospitals in the last year alone.

We’re making sure that we create the added capacity. That’s why we’ve taken the steps that we’ve taken to declare the emergency and have the stay-at-home order in effect, and all of the other steps that we’re taking to bring more people in, health care personnel; to ramp down the scheduled surgeries, which is unfortunate, but sadly necessary right now; and make sure that we can do the client patient transfers so that we can use our entire health system, the entire capacity that exists in the system—to make sure that everyone in Ontario who needs to be in an intensive care bed will be able to do so.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Last Friday, when the Premier was asked about the record-high amount of COVID-19 cases in Ontario, the highest since this pandemic has begun, with over 4,200 cases reported in a day, the Premier responded by saying, “Ontario is doing pretty well right now.”

Countless people are sick. COVID-19 patients are filling our ICUs. Small businesses are struggling to get by. Our largest school boards are closed to in-person learning and the entire province is in a third lockdown. That doesn’t sound like Ontario is doing pretty well; it sounds like a disaster that this Premier led us straight into.

My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier finally admit that he failed Ontario with his response to the pandemic?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Once again, through you, Speaker, to the member opposite, it is a myth that the Premier made a suggestion with respect to the rate of COVID infections in Ontario. What he was referring to that was going well were the levels of vaccinations.

However, having said that, we certainly recognize that there is concern in our hospitals and our intensive care units right now. That’s why we are creating the capacity. We anticipate that with the ramping down of surgeries, with the redeployment of staff and the ability to transfer patients from one hot-spot area to another that might not be in a hot-spot area, we will be able to create between 700 and 1,000 beds to make sure that we can deal with the incoming influx of patients. In fact, by the end of this week, we anticipate having created 350 net new spots.

So we are dealing with it, we are creating capacity and we are making sure that every Ontarian who needs an intensive care bed will get one.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Premier: Ontario’s Friday record high was just beat on Sunday, with another record day of COVID-19 cases, with over 4,400 cases reported in a single day. Ontario ranks eighth lowest amongst provinces and territories for per capita vaccinations. We are in our third province-wide lockdown since the pandemic has begun. Despite this all, the Premier thinks that Ontario is doing pretty well.

I can tell you that in my community of Brampton, folks are not doing so well. Essential workers risk their lives every single day going to work so others can work from home, and they’re becoming sick because of it. But the Premier chose not to listen to the experts. He chose not to bring in paid sick days. He chose not to adequately fund our health care system, and this is the result.

Why, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it can save lives, is the Premier refusing to bring in paid sick days?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Let me remind the member opposite and all the people in Ontario that there are now 20 days of paid sick days available to every single worker in the province of Ontario. In fact, the very first initiative this government brought in was job-protected leave. If you’re a worker in self-isolation, if you’re in quarantine, if you’re a mom or a dad that has to stay home and look after a son or a daughter because schools are closed, you can’t be fired for that. We also brought in job-protected leave for anyone who has to go and get a vaccination. We were the first jurisdiction in Canada to do that.

It is clearly a disservice to all workers in the province when a member stands up like this and says that there are no paid sick days for workers. More than 300,000 workers in Ontario are receiving the federal benefit. We tell all workers: Go to canada.ca/covid-19 and you can qualify for sick day pay.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Premier: Despite being in a lockdown, which is meant to stop the spread of COVID-19, today countless workers woke up and had to make the dreadful decision between going to work sick or paying their bills, because their Premier continues to refuse to bring in paid sick days for workers. The Premier continues to ignore the evidence that states that workplaces are some of the highest areas of spread of COVID-19 and one of the best tools we have to stop this spread is paid sick days.

So I ask the Premier: Will you continue to fail Ontario’s workers, or will you act now, bring in paid sick days and save lives?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Mr. Speaker, here they go again. There are four weeks of paid sick days available to every single worker in the province of Ontario. The members opposite need to serve their constituents, serve the people of Ontario, and let them know that they can go to canada.ca/covid-19. In fact, it was this Premier, the Premier of Ontario, who worked with the other provincial and territorial leaders and the Prime Minister to bring in $1.1 billion worth of paid sick days. There are still three quarters of that money remaining.

Every member who does not tell constituents that paid sick days are available is doing a disservice to all workers in the province of Ontario.

COVID-19 response

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour le premier ministre. Ontario’s surgical backlog presently sits at a quarter of a million delayed procedures. Some 250,000 Ontarians have had their surgery delayed. Some had their surgery already booked only to have it cancelled with no new dates in sight.

Starting today, the government directed most hospitals to cancel all non-emergency surgeries. That directive was issued on the same day that the Premier said that Ontario is doing great and everything is fine. Is this what the Premier wants to tell those 250,000 Ontarians waiting for delayed surgery, that Ontario is doing great right now?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, the Premier is very concerned about having to cancel these surgeries, as am I, but unfortunately it’s sadly necessary.

What we need to do right now is to make sure that people who are coming into hospital with COVID are going to be able to be treated.

There are younger and younger people coming into intensive care right now. One hospital CEO told me on Friday that she has a 22-year-old in intensive care right now. We need to be able to create those spaces so that these people will be able to live.

Now, if someone needs emergency surgery, if it’s life- and limb-saving surgery for cancer or whatever else it happens to be, they will receive that surgery. Other surgeries will unfortunately have to be cancelled, but they are not being forgotten.

We did put $300 million into our budget this year in order to be able to deal with this backlog in surgeries, and we anticipate getting back to that as quickly as possible once we have dealt with this surge in intensive care beds. But none of these people will be forgotten. Every surgery is going to be important and we will do it. Unfortunately, because of the variants of concern and the surge in intensive care, we simply have to do it right now to save lives.

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

M me France Gélinas: That’s not very reassuring to the people who are left waiting. Last week, I met with members of the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network. They shared the stats on the number of cancer patients and on the number of pre-diagnosed people waiting for their cancer diagnostics. They shared the number of weeks and months that they wait for a rescheduled appointment, surgery or procedure.

The first wave had shown us that delaying non-emergency surgery is leading to more Ontarians being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer due to the delay in every step of their cancer journey. It did not have to be that way, Speaker. We should have prevented the overcrowding of our ICUs.

Will the Premier admit that Ontario is not doing great right now, that everything is not fine?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, we’ve taken steps since the beginning of this pandemic last year to create over 3,100 beds to be able to deal with increases in our hospitals, and we’ve also increased our intensive care capacity by 14%. There is more that we need to do, and that’s what we’re doing with the orders that have been brought and the declaration that it was necessary to step back on these surgeries.

Certainly, it is a concern, and that is something that we want to get back to as quickly as we can, but Ontario’s doctors also support this. If I could just quote from the release that was issued by the Ontario Medical Association: “Ontario’s doctors support the government’s decision to halt non-emergency surgeries as an unfortunate but necessary step to reduce the death toll from COVID-19.” The OMA “said the order is necessary to preserve capacity in the health care system to treat not just COVID patients but others with critical illnesses or injuries.”

That is the unfortunate state that we’re in right now. This is what needs to be done to preserve lives, despite the incredible capacity that has already been created, and we are going to create more capacity. This is not going to be a pause in surgeries for months or years. This is in order to deal with the critical surge that we have right now from the COVID variants, which is happening across the country.

Women’s issues

Mr. Jim McDonell: My question is to the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues. Speaker, COVID has had a social and economic impact on all Ontarians, but it has impacted women across the province the most. Some 81% of women make up our health care and social assistance workforce. There are also many women in retail, education, child care and the early years sectors.

Our Minister of Tourism has also talked extensively about those in the tourism and hospitality industries.

If it isn’t women who have been on the front lines working, it is those who have been taking extra caregiving duties for those kids and the loved ones in their life.

The bottom line is, we need to have a plan to support these women, who are the heroes behind the pandemic. We cannot leave them behind.

Speaker, can the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues tell the House what the government is doing for women across Ontario, especially during this pandemic?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: I want to thank the member for being such a strong supporter and advocate for women in his riding.

Speaker, it is true that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women. Our government recognizes that and is doing something about it. Our government has been steadfast in increasing women’s economic empowerment and getting more women into the workforce.

Budget 2021 has only reaffirmed that commitment to support women right now and post-pandemic. Just last week, I was with the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development and others to speak about our government’s initiatives to get more women into trucking. That’s just one of many industries.

In our budget, we are investing $117 million to assist women, racialized individuals, Indigenous peoples, youth and people with disabilities, who are facing the highest rates of unemployment during the pandemic. As the member stated, many women have unfortunately lost their jobs, but initiatives like the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit will have an incredible impact on women who have lost their jobs and who want to upgrade their skills to get into new, rewarding careers.

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

Mr. Jim McDonell: Thank you to the minister for that response. It is reassuring to know that the government is focusing on protecting those who have been impacted the most by this pandemic, including women. Initiatives like the job training tax credit will be very helpful for women and others who have lost their jobs in my riding and across the province.

But one area that women have taken extra responsibility in during this pandemic has been child care. Many women have left the workforce for that exact reason. To get more women into the workforce and keep moms and dads working means providing choice for child care. I have heard this many times in my riding as I have farmers and other jobs that are not typically 9 to 5, but rather odd hours or shift work. I also experienced this first-hand with my grandchildren.

Speaker, can the minister please explain to my constituents and the House how the government is helping working parents, especially moms, who need to get back into the workforce across the province?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you again to the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry for this important question.

Not a single round table goes by that child care isn’t discussed. That is why our Minister of Education has made child care a priority. I commend him on his work of building 30,000 child care spaces in Ontario.

Another way we are helping parents today is by providing more flexibility. Through the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education, we are expanding the CARE tax credit and the support for parents’ funding. These initiatives will give working moms and dads choice in the child care that works for them. This also includes nurses, PSWs and many others who are doing shift work, who may need care for their children in the evenings.

Speaker, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to child care. Our government trusts parents to make the decision that works best for them and their child care needs. The Minister of Education and I will continue to fight for those moms and dads, and work together to find solutions so more women can get into the workforce, because our government knows there is no—

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

The next question.

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Doly Begum: My question is to the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Frankly, we’ve been at this for the last couple of months. The minister knows exactly what I’m going to ask; I know exactly what the minister will respond. We’re talking about equity in Scarborough.

I’m just going to cut to the chase and say that Scarborough has not been treated equally or equitably. We’re not getting an equitable distribution of vaccines. So I’ll start with that today.

On April 7, the Premier announced that essential workers, education workers and many other factory workers—technically, all essential workers and those living in high-risk communities with postal codes that are highlighted—will have access to vaccines. Many of those postal codes that are high-risk are in my community of Scarborough, yet I’m hearing from education workers, from factory workers, from grocery workers and from many others in my community that they have no idea when and where this rollout will be taking place.

We have learned from the Scarborough Health Network that the delay in this rollout and the mobile clinics are due to the lack of supply and clear communication from this government. Why is this government once again failing the most vulnerable people in our province through another poorly planned vaccine rollout?

Hon. Christine Elliott: First of all, I would have to say that I disagree with the statement made by the honourable member. Phase 2 of our vaccine rollout is going to be facing older adults, those at risk of serious illness and those in hot-spot areas. We know that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected certain neighbourhoods. We’ve identified postal codes in different units.

In fact, there are 15 postal code areas in Scarborough that have been identified, that will be treated as hot-spot areas, that will have more pop-up and mobile vaccination centres, as well as those that are available through our booking centre and in our pharmacies. Two of the locations that are already going to be receiving extra volumes of vaccines are, in Scarborough North, the Taibu Community Health Centre and, in Scarborough Southwest, the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities.

We are paying attention to those areas that are at higher risk. They are going to be receiving more vaccines—all of the areas in the hot spots will, because we know that if we don’t deal with the hot-spot areas, that risk of transmission is going to increase, so the healthier the people are in those communities, the healthier people will be across the entire province.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Ms. Doly Begum: I want to get the facts straight, because, for example, Taibu is actually two or three buses from people living in my community in Scarborough Southwest. Scarborough is quite large. There are six ridings in Scarborough. We have over 650,000 people, and the sad reality is that some of the Conservative ridings are having these mobile clinics and we’re left behind.

Frankly, all of Scarborough has been delayed more than other parts of Ontario. I want everyone across the province to get vaccines—don’t get me wrong—but I want my community, the people who are most vulnerable, to be getting those vaccines as well. We shouldn’t be eight days, two weeks, three weeks—people are confused. The websites don’t even have any slots available. That’s not fair. That’s not being treated equitably.

Speaker, many in my community are worried sick between not having paid sick days or protection in their workplaces and unsafe classrooms. Families, teachers, workers—quite frankly, everybody is facing uncertainty regarding their livelihood, their health. On Friday, we heard the Premier say, “Ontario is doing pretty well”—unbelievable. Ontario is caught in the epicentre of the pandemic in Canada, and for those of us seeing the third wave unfold, that’s the reality that I’m not sure the Premier is facing.

Speaker, when can the people of Scarborough—especially those who urgently need to be protected, like essential workers—rely on the vaccine rollout of this government? And if they cannot give me a date, then please tell us: Is there an actual—

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

The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, Speaker, what the honourable member has suggested is simply not the case. In fact, Scarborough is receiving an equitable volume of vaccines. In fact, there have been 15 areas, 15 postal codes identified in Scarborough, as high as any other part of Ontario. They are receiving an equitable number of vaccines. People are being vaccinated. We are making sure that we have pop-up areas, that we have mobile vaccine testing, that we can go to apartment buildings, that we can go to seniors’ homes to make sure that everybody who wants a vaccine is going to get one.

So any suggestion that Scarborough is not receiving their fair share is simply not the case. We are treating everybody across Ontario equally. We’re targeting the hot spots, because we know that because of certain determinants, people need to receive these vaccines as soon as possible. That is for the benefit of everyone in Ontario, and certainly for the benefit of the people in those communities, and Scarborough is receiving its fair share.

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: My question is to the Minister of Health. Last week, I asked the minister about paid vaccination leave for front-line workers in my riding of Scarborough–Guildwood and places like Brampton, which are hot spots, so that people can take the time from work to get vaccinated and not have to choose between the health of their families and feeding their families. This is a choice that they shouldn’t have to make in a pandemic. I essentially heard that this was not something that you were looking into.

The government has said—the Premier himself has said that that everything is on the table and he would do anything possible to save lives. Paid vaccination leave is not a new idea. Jurisdictions like Saskatchewan and New York have introduced a form of special vacation leave to allow workers to get the vaccinations during working hours.

We know that those that are affected the most are people in diverse communities, who oftentimes are the essential workers without the option of not working. They have to work to keep food on their table and a roof over their head, yet they need this vaccine because they are the most affected by the pandemic in terms of infection rates. You know this. You have that data.

So I am putting paid vaccination leave on the table today. Will your government do the same and step up so that these workers—

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

Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I thank the member opposite for that question. Let me begin by congratulating the people of Ontario: More than three million vaccinations have been given out to date, and every day, we are setting new records. As the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health said earlier, we announced yesterday that 700 more pharmacies are going to be delivering vaccinations. That brings the total to about 1,500.

My message to all employers and to all workers: Please continue to work together. We’re going to get through COVID-19. There is light at the end of the tunnel. By the end of the next 28 days, 40% of adults in the province of Ontario are going to be vaccinated. That’s great news. I look forward, in the supplementary, to talking about being the first province in Canada and one of the first in all of North America to offer job-protected leave for those workers to get vaccinated.

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

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Job-protected leave ensures that people can’t get fired when they get sick, but it doesn’t offer them a continuation of their salary so that they can stay home and get well and continue to feed their families. It’s not enough.

Why is your government slapping itself on the back for vaccination rates? You’re lagging behind other provinces. Ontario often leads in Canada, so don’t slap yourself on the back as if you’re doing a great job in terms of vaccination rates.

Why is this government so slow to act? Our front-line health care workers are doing all that they can to fight the devastating third wave, so why isn’t the government doing what it can do? The Toronto Star reports, through data from Toronto Public Health, that 68% of workplace outbreaks come from offices, warehouses, construction sites, food production plants, and these workers need protection. So my question is, will you deploy the rapid testing that is available in Ontario’s factories and schools, as well as N95 masks, to keep workers safe?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Let me again begin by thanking and congratulating the people of Ontario—more than 3.2 million vaccinations to date. That is how we’re going to defeat COVID-19. But the health and well-being of every single person in this province is our government’s top priority. In fact, that’s why on Thursday, we launched an inspection campaign. Hundreds of inspectors went into warehouses, food processing plants, distribution centres, big box stores, malls. On Friday and Saturday, 260 sites were visited. We issued a number of orders and 16 tickets to employers and to managers and supervisors.

Everyone has to continue doing more, following public health guidance. For every employer out there, they need to go to ontario.ca/covidsafety—more than 200 resources in multiple languages are available to them. And I’m proud to say that more than 5.5 million rapid tests have been deployed to workplaces.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Jim McDonell: I have a question for the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. This pandemic has demonstrated the need for made-in-Ontario solutions. Our government has taken extraordinary measures to protect people and their businesses. The enabler behind many of these measures has been the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, which has been an engine behind our pandemic warehouse in particular.

Can the Minister of Government and Consumer Services explain how her ministry has ensured that we have the supplies we need to continue the fight against COVID-19?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Thank you to the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry for that important question.

I want to share with you that, since the beginning of the pandemic, my Ministry of Government and Consumer Services has been partnering together with a multitude of ministries to make sure we have an all-of-government approach to take action on this front. As you know, we set up Supply Ontario, we partnered with Ontario Together and we leveraged made-in-Ontario procurements to fill our pandemic warehouses.

As we announced last week, Speaker, Ontario-made N95 masks are now rolling off the line at 3M Canada’s Brockville plant, a milestone in a major federal-provincial procurement of 55 million respirators annually to protect front-line heroes and create good jobs for years to come. All of Canada will benefit from the stable domestic supply of N95s, and here in Ontario, my ministry is working quickly to get these important pieces of PPE to those who need them.

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

Mr. Jim McDonell: This is great news to hear. Quality PPE is essential to keeping our province running and protecting the health of our front line.

We know that the necessary public health measures have forced many businesses to adjust their operations, and this has been felt hard by families and companies across the province. Beyond PPE, getting money into their pockets has been a major priority for this government, as is getting needles into arms. To do this, we’ve needed robust online platforms, call centres and transfer payment systems.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Government and Consumer Services explain how her ministry is providing this kind of service infrastructure across the pandemic response?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I am very pleased to share with everyone in the House and those watching today that since March 2020, my Ministry of Government and Consumer Services has worked with 15 ministries to launch 28 emergency COVID-19 programs worth more than $4 billion in funding through Transfer Payment Ontario. This includes $1.47 billion to small businesses to date, with a second round of payments coming soon; and the Support for Learners program, providing an additional $300 million to support students in learning. We will also be supporting the tourism sector with a program that will be announced by the end of this month.

Mr. Speaker, we have also supported the Ministry of Health on the vaccine rollout. I can tell you, last week, we hit a daily record: Well over 300,000 appointments were made in one day, and we heard about the number of vaccines that have been realized to date.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario ministries are coming together to execute an all-of-government approach. I’m pleased with the efforts at the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. We’re protecting health, jobs—

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

The next question.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Taras Natyshak: My question is to the Premier. Speaker, the Premier promised that when it came to fighting COVID-19, he’d take a fire hose, put it right down on top of every hot spot in the province and stop at nothing to support these communities. But, today, CBC is reporting that for hot spots in Hamilton, where cases are spreading like wildfire, the Conservatives aren’t even willing to send a garden hose.

CBC’s review of the data identified seven postal code zones that have felt greater impact from COVID-19, as measured by the province’s official criteria. But for some reason, they’re not listed as hot spots by this government.

My question is, why is the Premier still playing with matches when hot-spot communities like Hamilton are on the verge of becoming an inferno?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member very much for the question. In fact, the original hot spots were identified based on historical data, transmission records and hospitalizations. We are working to deal with those hot spots right now, as well as the rest of Ontario. But saying that, we want to make sure that we can get all of the adults, first of all, over age 50 in the hot-spot areas vaccinated in Toronto and Peel areas. There will be adults over age 18. But that doesn’t mean that other hot spots won’t be identified as we go further.

If there are surges, there is a small reserve that we hold back to be able to deal with some of those surges and some of those additional hot spots. We’ll certainly deal with them readily as well.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Taras Natyshak: It’s not just Hamilton that’s been left behind by the Premier. In Windsor and Essex county, we have higher case counts, higher positivity rates and higher hospitalizations than some of the Premier’s other hot-spot areas, but we’ve still been left out in the cold and on our own. Thanks to Dr. Christopher Leighton, who made us aware that our Chief Medical Officer of Health stated this week that we are still weeks away from addressing people in our region in Windsor and Essex county with chronic health conditions and disabilities. This is ableism to the largest extent.

We saw what happened last year when the Conservatives refused to support our region: Case counts and outbreaks spiked and we had some of the highest numbers in the province. The variants are spreading too fast for us to be ignoring communities again.

When are the hot spots, like Windsor, Essex, Hamilton and everywhere else, finally going to get the support that this Premier keeps promising but keeps failing to deliver?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I would say that all areas of Ontario are being considered. Some areas, Toronto and Peel right now, account for approximately 60% of COVID-19 transmission. It’s obviously necessary to lessen the transmission in those areas for the benefit of people across Ontario.

With respect to Windsor-Essex, I know that the member will be very pleased to know that a planning grant has been given for the creation of a new hospital in that area, which is going to help people. Of course, it’s going to take a while to get a hospital built, but the people of Windsor-Essex are being considered. This is a major development and a major expenditure that the government of Ontario wants to make in the Windsor-Essex area.

But we are dealing with hot spots across the province. That’s why the stay-a-home order was declared and the state of emergency, that’s why the surgeries are being ramped back, that’s why we’re redeploying staff and that’s why we’re transferring patients: to make sure that across the entire province, regardless of where you live, if you need to be in an intensive care spot, you will have one across the province of Ontario. Everyone is being treated fairly—everyone in every part of this this province.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. John Fraser: My question is to the Premier. For the first time, Ontario hit over 600 patients in ICU, and that number is going to continue to rise. We’ve had more than 4,000 cases in the last two days. Throughout this pandemic, the government has been two weeks behind, two steps behind this virus—reacting to it more than planning for it.

Last Friday, the Premier said that we have mobile units as we speak going out there right now to get people vaccinated in high-priority neighbourhoods. Yet, members of the vaccine taskforce admitted it’s going to take a while to get those things going, and local public health units—well, nobody told them that announcement was being made. They were caught by surprise.

So Speaker, through you, to the Premier: Why were the plans to deploy mobile units not made months before? And why did the Premier give people the impression that they were out there in neighbourhoods right away to do vaccinations when they clearly were not?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health to reply.

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, plans have been made to deal with the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of this pandemic, since the very beginning. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been placed into creating 3,100 new hospital spaces and an increase of 14% in our intensive care facilities. We have been listening to the medical experts at every step along the way.

When the case came forward—we’re dealing with something different with respect to these variants of concern—we have been listening to that from the experts. We’ve been following the modelling data. We have been taking steps to be proactive to deal with this situation. That’s what we’ve done every step along the way. That’s why we started the emergency shutdown a week or so ago. That’s why we then followed up with the state of emergency and the stay-at-home order, with the steps that we’re taking to create that capacity. We are going to create 700 to 1,000 more spaces in our hospitals, including 350 net new spaces by the end of this week.

We have been listening and dealing with the situation. COVID is moving fast and we are moving fast too. We know we need to be nimble. We know we need to be—

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

And the supplementary question.

Mr. John Fraser: With all due respect, Minister, Ontario’s doctors, Ontario’s nurses, Ontario public officers of health had to run a campaign publicly to say, “We need you to do this,” three weeks after they told you to do a lockdown. So that’s not nimble.

This morning, CBC reported that five neighbourhoods have been deemed hot spots despite their COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and death rates being below the provincial average. Hot-spot neighbourhoods are given priority access to vaccines. Four of these neighbourhoods are in government-held ridings. These postal codes were selected even though they experienced less impact from COVID-19, less hospitalizations and less deaths than many other neighbourhoods. For example, a postal code region in Kanata, a riding of a government minister, is deemed a hot spot despite lower rates of hospitalization and death than some 300 other neighbourhoods in Ontario.

So, Speaker, through you, can the Premier explain to Ontarians how these four postal codes were selected, despite not meeting the criteria to be deemed a hot spot?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Speaker, I would say to the member opposite, through you, that any suggestion that any postal codes were selected for any reason other than the fact that they were hot spots and experiencing high rates of transmission is really beneath you. It is really, honestly beneath you.

We have been listening to the doctors, we have been watching the transmission records. We know that those hot spots that we’ve identified are areas that are having high transmission. That is how the decision is made about the postal codes that we are selecting to receive extra doses of vaccine.

Public transit

Mr. Jim McDonell: My question goes to the Associate Minister of Transportation. Speaker, we need to recognize the importance of building transit that meets the needs of future generations. As we consider the expected population growth for the GTA, critical transit infrastructure will be necessary to connect people to their jobs, homes and families.

Last summer this government passed two pieces of legislation to build transit faster and to adopt a new, modern approach to building new stations better. Today, the government has identified the first two subway transit-oriented communities. Could the minister please speak about the significance of this news?

Hon. Kinga Surma: Thank you to the member for the question. We are making incredible progress on our four priority subway projects. But we are not only building faster. We are taking action to build the right way through a thoughtful, integrated approach based on smart planning principles. Today, we shared preliminary plans with the city of Toronto to build two proposed transit-oriented communities located at the future East Harbour transit hub and the Corktown station along our Ontario Line. This is the first step in bringing to life our shared vision of more housing, more jobs and more community spaces within walking distance of reliable and fast public transit.

Mr. Speaker, we have a unique opportunity to build stations and complete communities that truly make sense for the hard-working people of Toronto, and we are working closely with the city of Toronto to get it done.

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

Mr. Jim McDonell: Thank you to the minister for that answer. I am pleased to see that this government is taking steps to advance these important infrastructure projects. I also recognize that the province has committed to working closely with our municipal partners to ensure collaboration.

While it’s important that the government partners come to the table, we also know that the public and stakeholders have a big role to play in the success of these infrastructure programs. Could the minister please share how this government plans to involve the communities that will be served by these proposed transit-oriented communities?

Hon. Kinga Surma: Again, thank you very much to the member for the question. The future East Harbour transit hub and Corktown station were chosen as the first transit-oriented communities for a reason. The two sets of preliminary proposals would offer current residents and future generations a great quality of life, with better connections to what matters most.

As set out in the Ontario Transit-Oriented Communities Program, we will work closely with the public to understand the unique needs of every single, individual community. And I cannot stress enough our commitment to working with the city, heritage experts and Indigenous partners on a thoughtful plan to commemorate the rich history of the first Parliament site, where a future Corktown station will be located.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I’m excited to share that we expect to launch the public consultations in the summer and fall of this year.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: My question is for the Premier. A few days ago, the Premier told Ontarians that the province “is doing pretty well right now.” “Doing pretty well” is not what anyone on the front lines has said. In fact, London’s N6A postal code has the highest COVID-19 positivity rate in the province—the highest—yet this government refuses to declare it a hot spot. Wasting time will cost people their lives.

Last week, the leader of the official opposition and I, along with members from London–Fanshawe and London West, met with parents and educators. Educators like Sandra are on the front line and tell me they’ve never felt more unsafe or more scared, while Scott said the government’s “empty promises of enhanced safety protocols have not come to fruition.”

Speaker, how can the Premier tell parents, teachers, education workers and kids that he believes they’re safe enough right now?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: We have been working closely with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, who has said that schools have been safe in Ontario, but recognizing fully, as the member opposite has rightly pointed out, that rising community case numbers are most concerning to the province and are creating great challenges to our health capacity.

In the words of Dr. Kurji in York, he said, “I know we’ve been under a lot of pressure to try to close those schools. However, we believe that our schools in York region have a lower level of transmission occurring largely due to all the processes that have been put in place.”

When you ask medical experts, including Dr. Mackie in London, he said, “Transmission in schools is exceedingly rare in our area, that’s likely the case in other places as well ... it was likely in the community.”

At the end of the day, Speaker, we put in place a plan with an aim to keep schools safe. That is our number one priority. The rising case numbers in Ontario raise great concerns to all of us, and we’re working with the Chief Medical Officer of Health to make sure that our families can be safe through the third wave.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary? The member for Sudbury.

Mr. Jamie West: My question is to the Premier. Sudbury is still trailing when it comes to vaccinations, Speaker. And due to the number of COVID cases in Sudbury, all Sudbury area schools have been closed since March 15. Fast-forward to today, it’s four weeks later and Sudbury schools are still closed indefinitely.

This weekend, the Minister of Education told all schools across the province they had better plan to be open; however, when he announced the April break vaccination registration for education workers, he excluded Sudbury as one of the priority areas. It’s going to be pretty hard to open if none of the teachers get a vaccine, Speaker.

My question to the Premier is, does the Premier still believe that “Ontario is doing pretty well right now,” and how can he claim that schools are still safe?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: I guess it bears repeating what this Premier was referring to was vaccination rates, not in terms of the number of COVID cases. In terms of vaccination rates, we are doing very well: 3.2 million doses have been administered. We anticipate by the end of April, 40% of Ontario’s adults will already have been vaccinated.

I understand that in the London area, for example, 45 new pharmacies were opened up yesterday to provide the AstraZeneca vaccine. That’s to make sure that we can deal with the vaccinations in as many locations as possible, from the mass vaccination clinics to the primary care offices to the pharmacies to the pop-up clinics and mobile clinics. Everyone who wants to receive a vaccine in Ontario will be able to receive one, especially with the creation of these new pharmacies that are now available to provide the vaccines—45 additional ones in the London area.

COVID-19 immunization

M lle Amanda Simard: My question is to the Premier. Hundreds of thousands of essential workers going into work during a fierce third wave of COVID-19 have been abandoned by this Premier and his government. Patients are showing up at emergency rooms younger and sicker, and many of them got sick at work.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier can’t keep getting this wrong. Our vaccination efforts need to be focused on the people we know are acquiring COVID at work and are spreading it—our valuable essential workers. It’s time Ontario join other provinces in vaccinating essential workers at risk during an outbreak.

How much longer will this Premier and this government make essential workers risk their health? Where is the Premier’s plan to ensure the thousands of essential workers who have been bearing the brunt of this pandemic get vaccinated before it’s too late?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Mr. Speaker, once again, congratulations to more than 3.2 million people in the province of Ontario who got a needle in their arm. We are moving mountains to ensure that the people of Ontario get vaccinated as quickly as we get supply through the federal government.

Mr. Speaker, we are moving to vaccinate essential workers in those hot spots, but I want the member opposite to know, and all members, that the health and safety of every single worker is our government’s top priority. That’s why we hired 100 more additional Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development inspectors to go into workplaces. That brings Ontario’s number of inspectors to the largest amount in provincial history. And, Mr. Speaker, the opposition parties voted against that.

To date, as of yesterday, I am proud of our inspectors. They’ve done 46,000 workplace inspections to protect the health and safety of every single worker.

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

M lle Amanda Simard: Mr. Speaker, every day we see more and more stories of confusion and chaos when it comes to the Premier’s non-plan to vaccinate the province. Last week’s declaration by the Premier that everyone aged 18 and over in the designated hot spots can get vaccinated caught public health units and even health ministry staff by surprise. No arrangements had been made for people younger than 50 in those hot zones to book appointments, yet there was the Premier telling everyone 18-plus in hot spots that they could get vaccinated—again, no plan; again, chaos and confusion; again, playing with the health and safety of Ontarians.

Mr. Speaker, over one year into this, why does this government continue to fail Ontarians by having absolutely no plan, no strategy, and as we can see clearly now, no idea how to handle this pandemic?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, our vaccination plan has been highly successful, with over 3.2 million vaccines already having been administered. Our booking tool has already booked another 2.3 million vaccines. In fact, we are already booked to the end of April into the 1st of May so that every vaccine that we’re receiving is accounted for, and people have a response for it. This is rolling out across the province.

We have conversations every other day with all the public health unit public officers of health as well as the hospital CEOs. They are very well aware of what the plan is and they are working in their own regions to do the vaccines in the way that seems best to them, including making sure that they have a plan for any vaccines that have not been delivered by the end of the day if people have not been able to show up for their appointments or whatever.

They have a system to make sure that every single vaccine can be used by the next person in lineups being a front-facing person, a medical officer, or a person who is delivering front-line patient care. So we are using every vaccine. None of it is being wasted.

Again, as I said, we have 2.3 million more doses booked and more people to receive the vaccine so that—

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

The next question.

Northern health services / Services de santé du Nord

Mr. Guy Bourgouin: Good morning. Bonjour, monsieur le Président. Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

In a letter sent to the Premier, the mayors of the five largest cities in northern Ontario are demanding that this Conservative government put a brake on their public health cuts and their intent to fold 34 public health units into 10 large entities. As the mayors of North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Timmins write, the centralization and cuts “will immediately and dramatically reduce our province’s public health capacity.”

Premier, we are in the middle of a third wave that you failed to prevent. Mayors are demanding to stop cutting health services in northern Ontario. Will you listen?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Yes, of course, we’ll listen. We understand the work that the public health units are doing is very important and has been important since the beginning of the pandemic. They are our partners in working through our plan because they know their own units best. They know where people live and what’s the best place for them to receive vaccines, whether it’s at pharmacies, whether it’s in mass vaccination clinics or a combination.

In fact, we’ve also helped them financially. We have provided $212 million in mitigation funding to public health units in both 2020 and 2021 to ensure that municipal adjustments remain capped at 10%. We’re also providing public health units with an additional $100 million this year to address extraordinary costs related to COVID-19, support the rollout of the provincial vaccination plan and maintain critical public health programs and services. So, yes, we are supporting public health units throughout the province.

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

Mr. Guy Bourgouin: Speaker, in the fall of 2019, prior to the onset of the pandemic, the Premier’s Conservative government sought to cut provincial public health funding so all municipalities would pay 30% of costs.

C’est assez évident aujourd’hui, en pleine troisième vague de la COVID-19, que les coupures ciblées aux services les plus essentiels, comme la santé publique, mettent en péril la vie des Ontariens. Les bureaux de santé publique du Nord couvrent déjà des régions très vastes, ce qui cause présentement des problèmes, entre autres, pour le déploiement des cliniques de vaccination.

Ma question est très simple : le premier ministre croit-il que sauver une poignée d’argent vaut plus que l’accès à la santé et le bien-être de la vie des résidents du nord de l’Ontario?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, the member is speaking about ancient history. We’ve moved on since 2019. We made sure that we capped with mitigation funding to make sure that the public health units, both in 2020 and 2021, did not have any increase at more than 10%.

We’ve also recognized the importance of the work that we’re doing, and even before COVID-19 started, we asked Mr. Jim Pine to come in to speak to municipalities, to speak to public health units, to understand what we needed to do to modernize our public health care system—which is something that was pointed out by the Auditor General on several occasions. We were working towards that, and once we’re through the worst part of this pandemic, we will be going back again—Mr. Pine will be completing his consultations with municipalities, and decisions will be made then about what needs to be done.

There’s no question, we very much value the work that is being done by our public health units right now in terms of testing and vaccination.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Deputy Premier. I have a lot of respect for the Deputy Premier, but here’s what we have. The Premier created the impression last week that mobile units were out there, fanning across, ready to do 18-plus in areas. He had a pharmacy rollout that didn’t target hot spots, didn’t go into Peel, didn’t go into Scarborough, didn’t go into northwest Toronto, and then the second tranche of that didn’t go into places like the centre of Ottawa or Vanier. Then, on top of that, we had the region of Peel being offered 5,000 vaccines for Amazon, one business, that were turned down. And now we have this—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Mr. John Fraser: What I mentioned about that postal code—I know that postal code. It has Scotiabank Place, it has large businesses; the data doesn’t show it.

I’m asking you two things: Can you please communicate to the people of Ontario clearly why you made these decisions, and can you commit to giving the opposition a technical briefing about your vaccine rollout, so that we can understand the decisions you’re making, what the data—

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

Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Yes, of course, we’re pleased to provide a technical briefing on the vaccination plan and the vaccination rollout. It’s all being based on the clinical evidence and the data. We rely on the public health units to provide us with that information. We see the daily totals. We see where they’re coming from. That’s why we’re placing the vaccination units where they are.

We have mobile and pop-up test