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May 5, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-May-05 vol. A (PDF)

L258A - Wed 5 May 2021 / Mer 5 mai 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 5 May 2021 Mercredi 5 mai 2021

Orders of the Day

Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la lutte contre la traite des personnes

Members’ Statements

Mental health and addiction services

Border security

Indigenous services

University of Toronto Chair in Tamil Studies

Red Dress Day

Mother’s Day

Jewish Heritage Month

Small business

Joanna Gratkowska

COVID-19 response

Question Period

Long-term care

Long-term care

Long-term care

Border security

Long-term care

Long-term care

Border security

Government accountability

Long-term care

COVID-19 immunization

Indigenous long-term care

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 immunization

Government accountability

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Petitions

Water extraction

Injured workers

Orders of the Day

Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la lutte contre la traite des personnes

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Mr. Michael Mantha: Point of order.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Algoma–Manitoulin.

Mr. Michael Mantha: Today is a very beautiful day, and I just thought I wanted to welcome everyone to the House today and remind everyone that May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Just reach out to your community who are affected by the disease, and let’s not forget those individuals and make sure that we raise Lyme awareness every day of the month.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you for the member for that intervention. Technically not a point of order, but I appreciate the information notwithstanding.

Orders of the Day

Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la lutte contre la traite des personnes

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 25, 2021, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 251,

An Act to enact, amend and repeal various Acts in respect of human trafficking matters / Projet de loi 251, Loi édictant, modifiant et abrogeant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les questions de traite des personnes.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll give the member a moment to catch her breath.

Further debate? The member for Toronto Centre.

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you, Speaker. I was having problems with my printer this morning and I was running to the chamber.

I have a few minutes remaining on the clock from the last time I rose to speak to this bill, and it’s certainly a pleasure to do so again today. Before I resume my debate, though, I would like to take a moment and recognize that today is also Red Dress Day. Red Dress Day is the national day of awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. This day is marked every year on May 5.

I’d like to call on all of the members of this House, on all sides of the chamber, but particularly those on the government benches, to join me today in remembering and honouring the Indigenous women and girls and two-spirited people who have been taken from their families and their communities as a result of colonization and ongoing colonial violence. I ask this House today, on this day, to recommit itself to fully implementing the calls for justice in the national inquiry report on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and two-spirited people.

As I said the last time we debated this bill, we need to stand with survivors in calling for real, substantive action to help victims of human trafficking to rebuild their lives and to prevent these crimes from ever taking place. As a member of the official opposition and as critic for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, I want to see a comprehensive response from this House to ending human trafficking.

Like other forms of violence, sexual violence against Indigenous women and girls is rooted in colonialism and results from the intergenerational trauma caused by the residential school system, the Sixties Scoop and other harms done by the Canadian state. Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people are significantly more likely to experience violence in their lifetime. Indigenous women are six times more likely to be a victim of homicide than non-Indigenous women, and two-spirited and trans people experience violence nearly five times more often than their cisgender peers.

Indigenous women and girls in Canada continue to go missing and continue to be murdered. Communities and families grieve these losses. They grieve them deeply every single day. This government continues to neglect the systemic nature of gender-based violence, racism and colonialism in our societies. There’s so much more that we can and need to be doing to address human trafficking and violence against women in Ontario, but that means responding to issues at a systemic level, including racism, poverty and discrimination and, importantly, implementing—actually implementing—the calls for justice in the national inquiry report on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The last time we debated this bill, I ended my remarks discussing the ways that racism and discrimination stand in the way of survivors accessing the supports that they need. Survivors experience racism and bias in their interactions with police, with health care workers and with social workers. The discrimination that they experience has made it more difficult for them to access the vital services that they need to ensure their safety and security, and it’s made it harder for them to access health care, to access housing, to access justice.

It’s disappointing that this government is refusing to confront the racism in our institutions here in Ontario that clearly impacts the ability of victims of human trafficking to actually receive help. Instead, what have we seen from this government? We’ve seen them make deep cuts to critical anti-racism work and to reconciliation. If this government wants to stop human trafficking and actually support victims, they need to address the systemic nature of anti-Indigenous violence, racism and colonialism in our society.

I urge this government to invest—actually invest—in the Anti-Racism Directorate; to pass the bill brought forward by my colleague the MPP from Kiiwetinoong, who’s here with us today; to fully adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; to respect treaty rights; to reinstate mandatory Indigenous education in Ontario’s classroom—which, I’ll remind this House, was one of the first things this government did: Days, literally days, after coming into office, one of the first things they did was cancel curriculum writing sessions to incorporate reconciliation into our grade school curriculums, for no purpose.

If this government was serious about addressing the root causes of racism, which is the underlying source of violence against Indigenous women, you could do things like ending boil-water advisories on First Nations and securing clean drinking water, making communities safe and healthy for everyone in this province.

As a downtown Toronto member of this House, I’m particularly concerned by this bill’s omission of short-term rentals as places for human trafficking, and this is an oversight that I believe needs to be addressed. The first

section of this bill requires hotels to maintain a registry of every guest who checks in, including their name and address. It also allows police officers and First Nations constables to more quickly gain access to a hotel’s registry if “there are reasonable grounds to believe information recorded in the register will assist in locating or identifying a person who is currently a victim of human trafficking or is at imminent risk of being trafficked....”

Currently, this

section is limited to hotels and does not include Airbnb-style short-term rentals, even though advocates have raised concerns about the sex traffic trade increasing the use of short-term rentals to avoid scrutiny.

In my riding in downtown Toronto, like many communities across the province, we’ve seen a steep increase in the number of Airbnbs in our community. Not only do these Airbnbs take much-needed affordable housing out of our community, but there is a very serious concern about how safe and secure these units are, and how under the radar they are and easily used by human traffickers.

On the issue, Christa Big Canoe, who is the legal advocacy director for Aboriginal Legal Services, said “One of the things that we heard over and over again in the national inquiry [on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls] was the role of hotels or this type of temporary residence or living situations that sees Indigenous women put through sexual exploitation and trafficking at a huge rate.” She goes on to say, “If it’s not clear on its face when you read the act who is a ‘prescribed class’ or what lodging services apply, then it needs to be right in legislation so that everyone knows who it applies to.”

Speaker, I see I only have about less than a minute on the clock, but to wrap up my remarks, what I want to say to the government is that there are some gaps in this bill, certainly, that I want to make sure that you’re aware of. I think the Airbnb piece is a significant one. But, overall, my message to you is that violence doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Violence doesn’t happen in a vacuum; violence is a result of generations of unchecked racism and colonial violence that has led to Indigenous women being disproportionately affected by gender-based violence and human trafficking.

And if you aren’t willing to do the work to address the systemic racism in our system, this bill will never be successful.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): It’s now time for questions.

Ms. Jane McKenna: Thank you for your continuation today, this morning. Given the critical nature of the provincial anti-human trafficking strategy, does the member opposite agree regarding the importance of establishing a legislative requirement to review the strategy?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you to the member for your question. Like I said in my comments, I think the most important piece that can’t be missed—whether that happens through legislative reviews or however you want to do it—is that there needs to be a commitment from the government to address the structural, systemic racism in our communities. Like I said, that is really the source of the violence against Indigenous women, who are disproportionately targeted for human trafficking.

I’m open to having a conversation about how we do that work, how we work together to address racism and the tools and the mechanisms that we can use to do that. But I might suggest that a good place to start would be adequately funding the Anti-Racism Directorate.

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

Mr. Michael Mantha: I want to thank the member from Toronto Centre for her words this morning. Not only does this require police enforcement to deal with the pimps and the traffickers that are out there—that’s a given. However, we need the supports, the funding and the programs inside to deal with the educational portion. We need the social programs that are going to be required to address a lot of the addictions and mental health issues that are there as well.

Another big part of what is required in this bill that I’m surprised is not in this bill is one where you need to create that environment where a person is going to feel safe. You need to provide them with shelter. You need to provide them with a room where they’re going to say, “Here I am safe,” and that requires some funding in housing. What would the member suggest that could be part of this bill that may address those security needs for individuals that are caught up in trafficking?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you so much to the member for that question. You’re absolutely right. Victims, survivors of violence are whole people who have emotional, spiritual, mental and physical needs. When we have bills that only address one aspect of their trauma and violence and isolation, we forget that part of that trauma and isolation is, as you said, a lack of access to housing, a lack of access to clean drinking water and a lack of access to safe, trauma-informed social services. All of those piece are things that we need.

On the housing piece, specifically, I would say we are probably about three decades behind on any substantial investment in safe, culturally appropriate supportive housing in the province of Ontario and, in fact, any affordable housing. The wait-lists are astronomical in almost all of our communities for any sort of affordable housing. Again, we see that these are the types of investments that this government does not want to make.

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

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Thank you to the member opposite for your debate. I just would like to emphasize and highlight that, usually in the cases of human trafficking we see, we see that the victims find themselves alone. They don’t know where to go. Who can protect them? Who can stand beside them in such a situation, and bullying and everything else—sometimes the cases start from as young as the age of 14.

Can the member opposite give us a little bit of an opinion about what you think we could do, other than the bill containing our enforcement partners stepping up and being the trusted entity that can support the victims and get them out of that situation?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you to the member for the question. I think human trafficking is not something that you can exclusively enforce your way out of. If we only focus on enforcement, it means we are only going to address the issue once it’s already happened. We are going to enforce and save survivors, but we’re not going to actually prevent them from being victimized.

I think that prevention stream piece is, as I’ve said, what happens upstream. It’s poverty reduction. It’s safe drinking water in communities. It’s affordable housing. It’s eliminating poverty. Those are the things that put targets on young women’s and girls’ backs that say, “I’m easily targetable. I am at risk.” If we aren’t addressing those social targets around those women and girls, then we’re always going to be chasing the problem downstream and we’re not actually going to stop the victimization of women and girls, and particularly Indigenous women and girls from being human-trafficked.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch, Speaker. Thank you to the member for the presentation and for the words. I know that from an Indigenous perspective, when we talk about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, we have to look at the efforts to truly reduce the vulnerability of Indigenous women and girls to human trafficking. We must also address that.

The issues that we face in the child welfare system, with the lives of young Indigenous mothers and the high rates of apprehension of Indigenous children in our communities—what else can Ontario do to improve, so young mothers don’t go into that system?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you to the member for the question. I think one of the most important things we can be doing is supporting those young mothers to actually live successful, stable lives. The only reason that that’s not currently the case is poverty, colonial violence and racism.

A lot of the times, as we see families getting caught up in the CAS system, the problem isn’t the family; the problem is the family doesn’t have the resources to live. They don’t have enough money to put food on the table. They can’t keep a roof over their head. The issues are so intricately connected to poverty, systemic oppression and violence, and they can’t be untangled.

As a Legislature and as a government, if you’re not willing to address the root causes of poverty and violence, we are going to be chasing down these downstream systemic effects forever. We are going to be chasing down and breaking apart families through CAS and not preventing women from being trafficked, if we can’t ensure that everyone, particularly Indigenous women and girls in this province, are free from poverty and have clean drinking water.

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

Ms. Jane McKenna: We have heard the Ministry of the Attorney General talk about the value of lengthening restraining orders. Speaker, through you, does the member opposite agree that it’s important to lengthen restraining orders to keep offenders away from those who have gotten out of trafficking?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you for the question. I think the piece on restraining orders is a particularly interesting one. I think anyone in the room who has experienced gender-based violence or has ever been in need of a restraining order—I know I have in my family—a restraining order is a piece of paper. Lengthening the time on them—if someone is going to break a restraining order, they’re going to break a restraining order. It doesn’t matter the length of time on it. I’ve been in that situation where a restraining order has been broken, and it’s difficult.

Again, it doesn’t address the upstream causes of why that violence is taking place in the first place. It doesn’t change the attitudes of why women, and particularly Indigenous women, are targeted more often. It doesn’t address the reasons why women are targeted, like poverty, lack of housing—all of those issues. The restraining order piece is an interesting one, but, at the end of the day, it’s a piece of paper that’s very, very easily violated. Thank you for the question.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Unfortunately, there’s not enough time for further questions and responses, but there is time for further debate.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I’m honoured to rise in support of Bill 251, the Combating Human Trafficking Act, introduced by my friend the Solicitor General. I’d like to thank her, the Attorney General and the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues for all of their work on this important bill. Of course, I want to thank the Minister of Infrastructure for her leadership on this file as well.

Speaker, human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the world. Unfortunately, the vast majority, about two thirds, of police-reported incidents of human trafficking in Canada happen right here in Ontario. Yesterday, Stats Canada released new data, and it was disturbing to see that the number of human trafficking incidents reported to police has increased by 44%. The rate of 1.4 incidents per 100,000 people is the highest rate since this data became available more than a decade ago. Of course, these are the only offences that we know of.

Megan Walker, executive director of London Abused Women’s Centre, said that it’s just “the tip of the iceberg,” because “the majority of women or girls who are trafficked or ... exploited do not report to police....” Calls to the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline confirm that only a small percentage of incidents are even reported to the police. As other members have said, over 70% of human trafficking victims identified by police are under the age of 25; more than 20% are 17 years or younger. The average age of those who are recruited into sex trafficking is just 13 years old.

Many are Indigenous women and girls or from other racialized groups. Many have mental health and addiction challenges.

Last year, a study from Family Services of Peel and the Peel Institute on Violence Prevention concluded that the region of Peel is a hot spot for human trafficking, with a rate of human trafficking much higher than the rest of the province and the rest of Canada. Much like COVID-19, they concluded that the region of Peel is a hot spot in part because of the proximity to the Pearson international airport and easy access to the 400-series highways. We’re partnering with our trucking industry and ONroutes to raise awareness of these crimes on Ontario’s 400-series highways, and we’re partnering with our police and school boards to raise awareness in our schools.

Last year, the associate minister and I spoke at a webinar on human trafficking in Peel. Speaker, almost 600 people attended from across the region of Peel. I just want to take the opportunity to thank Peel Regional Police constable Joy Brown again for her presentation and for her leadership on this issue. From the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, chair Sharon Hobin, trustee Bruno Iannicca, director Marianne Mazzorato and so many others have organized seminars and webinars like this to educate staff and the students about how victims can be lured, signs of what to look for and tips about how you can help.

Soon afterwards, last December, I was proud to announce that the province is providing over $3.1 million to the region of Peel service hub, which provides low-barrier detection services for victims and survivors ages 12 and up. The hub offers immediate and specialized support, including trauma consultation, mental wellness and substance use consulting, health care and case management; long-term support, including housing, education, employment and family reunification; and access to the services and support which are specifically designed for victims of sexual exploitation.

The province has also provided over $97,000 seized from crimes to the Peel Regional Police to Project Haven to support victims of human trafficking and to ensure that those responsible for exploiting them are identified and prosecuted.

Speaker, this is all about the government’s $307-million anti-human trafficking strategy to raise awareness of the issue, protect victims, support survivors and hold offenders accountable. This represents the largest total investment dedicated to anti-trafficking support and services in Canada. If passed, Bill 251 would build on this strength:

—firstly, by providing a long-term provincial strategy to end human trafficking, which emphasizes that all Ontarians have a role to play to fight human trafficking;

—secondly, by strengthening the ability of our children’s aid societies and law enforcement to protect exploited children;

—thirdly, by helping survivors to apply for obtaining restraining orders against human traffickers, with specified considerations for Indigenous services; and

—lastly, by collecting non-personal data so that we can better understand the impact of human trafficking in our communities and providing law enforcement with more tools to locate victims quickly.

Speaker, Bill 251 would provide us with many important new tools to fight human trafficking in Ontario.

Schedule 1 would enact the Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act.

Schedule 2 would enact the Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Act.

Schedule 3 would amend the Child, Youth and Family Services Act.

Schedule 4 would amend the Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking Act. I’d like to take the opportunity to address these.

Speaker, we know that many hotel and motel operators in Peel and across Ontario are unknowingly providing opportunities for human trafficking. Hotels and motels are allowing victims to be moved often to evade detection by police. They can also be used as a base for recruitment and luring. I want to join the Solicitor General in thanking the Hotel Association of Canada for their leadership in raising awareness of human trafficking among their members and supporting education and training to raise awareness of this problem.

The proposed Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act included in

schedule 1 of Bill 251 is another important step which would discourage human trafficking in hotels, motels and resorts and support police investigation and enforcement. Currently, the Hotel Registration of Guests Act, which was enacted 77 years ago in 1944, requires hotels to collect names and places of residence for their guests. Unfortunately, we know that false names and false addresses are often used. Given the connection between human trafficking and the hotel sector, it is clear that we need more information and more reliable information about hotel guests.

We also know that the human traffickers are exploiting short-term rentals like Airbnb, which are outside the scope of the current Hotel Registration of Guests Act. It is clear that we need to modernize the definition of “hotels” in the legislation.

Speaker, we also know that enforcement is the important tool. That’s why

section 5 of

schedule 1 includes fines of up to $5,000 for failure to maintain a guest registry or knowingly accepting false information. Taken together, these are important steps toward a more thorough and more accurate hotel guest registry, which can be such a valuable tool in human trafficking investigations.

Speaker, if passed,

schedule 2 of Bill 251 would enact the Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Act, the first of its kind in Canada. It would position Ontario as a leader in enforcing against human trafficking across the country.

Schedule 2 would require the province to maintain an anti-human trafficking strategy.

Section 3 would require the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services to publish reports on the actions the province is taking as part of this strategy.

Section 4 would require the minister to review and update the strategy regularly, at least every five years, to help the province stay ahead of human trafficking.

Finally, if passed,

section 6 would create an enabling authority to require certain organizations to post information about human trafficking, to provide or receive anti-human trafficking training as part of employment, and to report any suspected human trafficking either to the police or to a hotline. Speaker, this would help send a strong signal that everyone in Ontario has the responsibility to help fight human trafficking. Raising awareness is our first line of defence in protecting children and youth. It is also a critical tool in helping victims find the help they need.

I know the Minister of Education has updated the elementary health and physical education curriculum to include mandatory learning about online safety and the dangers of human trafficking.

The Minister of Indigenous Affairs has also developed an Indigenous-focused awareness campaign for Indigenous youth.

Speaker, prevention and early intervention are also key pillars in our government’s strategy to fight human trafficking. If passed,

schedule 3 of Bill 251 would make important amendments to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act to better protect children and youth from these crimes.

These proposed amendments would, firstly, clarify the role of children’s aid societies to intervene where a child is a victim of sex trafficking or at risk of being trafficked; secondly, authorize child protection workers to remove 16- or 17-year-old victims for a limited period of time to another location, to give them the opportunity to access protective measures and supportive resources. Speaker, this will help to show children and youth there is help for them when they need it the most. This includes community support and culturally appropriate care.

Lastly, if passed,

schedule 3 would increase penalties for human traffickers who interfere with or harbour a child in the care of a children’s aid society for the purposes of sex trafficking.

Together, they are important new measures that would strengthen the authority of our children’s aid societies and law enforcement to intervene in child sex trafficking cases and to discourage traffickers from interfering with children in the care of a children’s aid society.

Speaker, finally,

schedule 4 would amend the Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking Act to allow individuals caring for child victims to apply for restraining orders. This responds to the needs of Indigenous communities with their customary care arrangements.

Schedule 4 would also allow for restraining orders to be extended for a period longer than three years if the courts believe it is necessary to protect the child. As other members have said, these changes will provide the police and our courts with flexibility to ensure they are able to better protect victims of human trafficking in Ontario.

I also want to thank the Attorney General for his ongoing support enhancing a program that provides free legal supports for human trafficking victims and those at risk of being trafficked so that they can apply for restraining orders. I understand the Ontario Court of Justice has granted 100% of the applications submitted through this program, including 30 on behalf of children, two of whom were only 13 years of age.

I want to conclude by once again thanking the Solicitor General and all the ministries and staff who have contributed to Bill 251, and to our cross-government anti-trafficking strategy, which includes activities from the range of ministries, including the Ministries of Children, Community and Social Services; the Attorney General; Indigenous Affairs; Education; Health; Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries; and Transportation.

I also want to thank our partners who are on the front lines in our fight against human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of our children and youth and other vulnerable people. This includes our service providers like Constable Brown at the Peel Regional Police, the team at Armagh House and Embrave in Mississauga–Lakeshore, and the Indigenous organizations across the province who are on the front lines of this fight against human trafficking.

It includes Rav Bains and his team at Peel Children’s Aid Society, and Nicole Bonnie and the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, who care for the victims of these horrific crimes. Ms. Bonnie wrote that Bill 251 is “a step forward for raising awareness” and “is a critical piece to a comprehensive anti-human trafficking approach in Ontario.”

I also want to thank the survivors of human trafficking, including the members of the Human Trafficking Lived Experience Roundtable, who have provided their feedback on Bill 251.

In closing, I just want to encourage everyone to take a moment and visit ontario.ca/humantrafficking to learn more about human trafficking and all the services and supports that are available across Ontario. As other members have said, this isn’t a partisan issue. As the Attorney General has said, it is a looking-after-our-children issue. So I look forward to voting for Bill 251, and I hope that all members will support this important bill.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Time for questions.

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you to the member for his presentation. I think my question to the member—we know that the upstream root causes of violence against women lie in poverty. So I would ask the member today: Will you commit your government to making investments in supportive housing, in affordable housing, in raising the rates for ODSP and OW? These are the types of anti-poverty initiatives that are going to prevent women from becoming victims of human trafficking in the first place, because we really, truly cannot exclusively enforce ourselves out of human trafficking.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member across. I noticed you brought up the affordable housing piece, and I agree, we have to build more affordable housing. I want to thank the minister for building affordable housing in Mississauga–Lakeshore. We’re building 219 units right on Lakeshore in Port Credit, so that is one step forward to doing that. But not only do we need housing, we need education as well as employment for this group of unfortunate people that this has happened to.

So, I agree with you that we do have to continue building affordable homes, and build them quickly, sometimes even using MZOs like the minister has done in the past, over the last year.

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

Ms. Jane McKenna: I’ve heard from the Solicitor General and others about the importance of providing tailored supports for Indigenous youth, who are more vulnerable to being trafficked. Can you provide more detail about those supports offered?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member for Burlington for all of her hard work that she does in her riding of Burlington. I’ve known her for many years, and I know how committed you are to your community.

The Indigenous service access is for culturally relevant and specialist support that they need to recover and rebuild their lives. Indigenous-specific elements are embedded into this bill here today. This includes empathy for Indigenous service and programs, including Indigenous leaders, community-based trauma information, cultural response and anti-human trafficking programs, improving access to victims for certain supports in the court system, and Indigenous leader training and education. This is very important, and I think we’re going to continue doing this moving forward to reduce human trafficking in the province Ontario.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions? The member from Kiiwetinoong.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch, Speaker. Thank you for the presentation there, member from Mississauga–Lakeshore. I know that those who work in addressing trafficking of Indigenous women and girls point to the root causes of exploitation of Indigenous women, including pervasive racist and sexist stereotypes, but also the normalization of colonial violence. I know what I’m talking about because I live it. We live it on a daily basis.

Can you explain further, member, on how this bill addresses those stereotypes and that colonial violence? Meegwetch.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member across for that question. I’ve been working very closely in Mississauga–Lakeshore with my Indigenous community on this issue. This issue has been going on for many years, and we have to put a stop to it. How we’re going to do that is by increasing education in all the communities and the protection of the Indigenous communities that have been taken advantage of in this trade.

Let’s work together to improve it and make it better for all people in the province of Ontario.

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

Can the member speak a little bit about what aspect of this legislation can help in protecting the victims in this case, and why it was not more specifically mentioned in the bill in regard to some short-term accommodations like Airbnb?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member from Erin Mills, the riding right beside me, for all his hard work that he does in his riding as well.

What we’ve been doing with the hotel and the motel industry—the registry is outdated; it’s 77 years old. It was done in 1944. This has to be updated so that the managers and the hotel owners will properly report the names and the addresses of people who do register in their hotels, so that the police can have more access to that information so we can stop the sex trafficking that occurs, especially in our area of Peel with the airport so close to us and the 400 highways that are very accessible for these people to be transported very quickly from one hotel to the other.

More information has to be given to the police from the hotel industry to help us, and thankfully the hotel industry is helping us with this.

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

Ms. Suze Morrison: I want to thank the member across very much for creating an opportunity to have an educational moment in the chamber. I noticed in his remarks earlier a comment of “my First Nations,” “my Indigenous community.” I just want to flag for the chamber—for all of us, not just directly directed to the member across—that the language of colonialism is insidious, and we aren’t always aware of how it’s received in communities.

When we use possessive language over Indigenous people and communities and nations, it is a reinforcement of the colonial claim of ownership over those people and communities and nations. I would just kindly ask all members of the House that we all learn and be respectful to Indigenous communities and try our best to refrain from using possessive language.

Again, I just actually want to thank the member for giving me the opportunity through this debate to raise this for all of our colleagues. Thank you.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member for that. I work very closely with our Indigenous community in Mississauga–Lakeshore. I grew up in Mississauga, Port Credit. I have the Credit River that runs down to it. The Indigenous community is part of the community—I’m part of their community, really, because we came here. They didn’t come here; we came here. My parents came from Italy and immigrated to Port Credit in 1950. We worked together to build a better community.

I work very closely with the Indigenous community, and I’m very grateful for them to be part of Port Credit, just like I’m part of Port Credit and Lakeview. We are even working together to build Turtle Lodge in Lakeview, which will be one of the biggest buildings ever built in Lakeview for the Indigenous community. So thank you for that.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions? Member from Burlington, you have 28 seconds.

Ms. Jane McKenna: I just wonder, will you continue to consult with stakeholders going forward?

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Wow, that was fast.

Ms. Jane McKenna: There you go.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Back to the member for a response.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member for that question. Yes, we will continue working with stakeholders on this issue. It’s a huge issue. It’s our children and other people’s children. How can this happen in a province like Ontario? This should never be happening here. Let’s continue working and consulting with agencies on how to improve the system.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): There isn’t any further time for questions and responses, but there is again time for further debate. I recognize the member from Brampton Centre.

Ms. Sara Singh: Good morning, Speaker. It’s always a pleasure to rise in the House and contribute to the debate. I’ve been listening to our members on this side of the House and members from Peel on the other side of the House, and I think we’re very much on the same page with the importance of addressing human trafficking in our communities. Although we may have different approaches, I think we understand how pervasive this issue is, how insidious it is in our communities and how it’s spreading rapidly.

As a member from the region of Peel, we actually have some of the highest numbers of human trafficking happening in our community. The airport and all highway corridors running through the region of Peel, particularly Brampton, have seen an exponential increase in human trafficking over the last decade. Family Services of Peel highlight that from 2006 to 2016, for example, Peel region alone saw a 50% increase in human trafficking. This is astonishing, especially when you consider that the average age for victims of human trafficking is between 12 years old and 24 years old.

These are young women, and sometimes men, who are lured into human trafficking and often do not have ways of getting out of this cycle of violence and trauma.

I understand this bill seeks to address that. The Combating Human Trafficking Act seeks to address the issue of human trafficking by providing police more powers, for example, to access hotel registries. While this might be helpful, there are some glaring loopholes here in this piece of legislation. For example, as my colleague from Toronto Centre points out, Airbnbs were not included in this piece of legislation. I understand the government will be consulting with further stakeholders. I’m hopeful that it will include expanded

definitions of where and how we can protect some of those victims.

But what we also have been hearing from community and experts is that there needs to be, in tandem, investments in housing, for example. In Peel region, we have some of the longest wait-lists for affordable housing. Some people are waiting 14 years to access affordable housing in our community. When you look at some of the underlying issues here that really prevent victims from exiting human trafficking, it is a lack of affordable housing. But there isn’t necessarily a real commitment from the government to address this underlying issue in our community of Peel, but also across the province. That is deeply troubling.

I think of Katarina MacLeod who was a victim of human trafficking in Peel. She actually founded an organization to help other victims after her own experiences. Rising Angels is the name of her organization. They seek to help other victims of human trafficking exit, and also access mental health supports, for example, but those are also not readily available in our community, Speaker.

I don’t think anyone in this chamber can fathom the trauma, the abuse, the scars, the psychological impacts of what human trafficking and sex trafficking in particular does to an individual. So, while we can talk about prosecuting the offenders, I think there also needs to be a conversation about how we’re going to properly support those victims once they exit, because in Peel region, Speaker, the wait-list for mental health services continues to grow.

For example, for young people in our community, some are waiting 790 days to access mental health services in our community, and that’s from Children’s Mental Health Ontario. Can you imagine making a courageous decision to exit, but not having the supports you need to actually meaningfully move on with your life, to heal? This is the reality for many people who are experiencing human trafficking and are victims of human trafficking, Speaker.

Victim Services of Peel is doing the best it can, but it truly needs more support in order to be able to help individuals in our community who have been victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking, but they don’t have the support they need.

I recall a conversation I had with members of the Peel District School Board, actually, a principal in my riding. I was shocked to learn that children as young as 12 and younger were being solicited into human trafficking and sex trafficking. The principal detailed for me one particular hotel in our community. For many people in Brampton, this hotel is very well known—it’s on the corner of Kennedy and Queen Street, a corridor—as being a place where human trafficking, sex trafficking and prostitution happen on a regular basis. When you drive by this hotel, what you see is broken windows, a dilapidated building.

What I was shocked to learn was that this was also being used as a space for supportive housing, and so there were families, for whatever means, facing homelessness being housed in this hotel—children. There were no kitchenettes. It is most likely a one-bedroom, maximum two-bedroom suite, that someone would be able to live in. But these children, Speaker, were being exposed to this and being preyed on by these perpetrators. I couldn’t believe it. But the principal indicated that it wasn’t just one family. They were seeing a very disturbing pattern of younger and younger children coming to them and sharing with them those experiences.

Now, for an adult, it’s one thing. For a child who may be 10, 11, 12, this will stay with them for their entire life, Speaker. This may lead to mental health, substance abuse, lack of stable employment, inadequate housing issues—all contribute to the situation and further exacerbate a very heartbreaking situation for a young person who may not have any other means to exit. They are stuck in a cycle of abuse, because systems fail them, because the supports they need aren’t there. For some young people, suicide might be their only option to escape a very dire situation. It shouldn’t have to be that way, Speaker.

It truly shouldn’t have to be that way for anybody in the province of Ontario, yet this continues to be the reality for so many.

Speaker, in Brampton we also have a very high percentage of international students coming from around the world. Last year, I actually had the opportunity to meet with several of them. They also shared with me these stories of how they were being lured into sex trafficking, taken away from their communities. For many of them, this was one of the only ways that they could generate an income.

I find that heartbreaking, because these are students who are coming to our country and coming to our beautiful community of Brampton to seek out better opportunities, to fulfill their hopes, their dreams, their goals and aspirations. But to know that they are being subjected to this type of violence and that they are becoming victims is deeply concerning.

I think of one young woman who shared with me that she just simply didn’t know what else she could do. She did not know who she could ask for help. She did not know where to turn for support, because she’s an international student. She was afraid of being deported, had she spoken up, had she reached out, had she sounded the alarm bells.

Speaker, it’s important to acknowledge that this is very much connected to issues like housing because, as this young woman explained, there are maybe 15 other girls in the home that she lives in who are all experiencing the same thing—15 of them, all living in one rooming house, because that is what affordable housing looks like in our community for students.

Fifteen is actually a relatively low number compared to what we hear. I’ve spoken to our fire chief, Bill Boyes. What a wonderful chief. He highlighted for me how the lack of affordable housing options for people in our community has contributed to these illegal rooming and boarding houses, where upwards of 30-plus students are living in a home, Speaker. It’s shocking—I can see by your reaction—to think of 30-plus people living in a home, inflatable air mattresses lined up in rows in living rooms, in bedroom after bedroom. This is a reality that these international students are being subjected to because there aren’t affordable options for them.

What Chief Bill Boyes highlighted for me was that not only is it a sad reality for these individuals and young students trying to live out their hopes and dreams here in the land of opportunity, what this meant for many of them and for our first responders was that, should a fire or emergency happen, the fire and emergency services did not know how to respond. They didn’t know how many people would be in a home when they showed up. Tragically, Speaker, there have been deaths because of this situation.

I remember driving down the street one day. There must have been 20-plus emergency crews—fire trucks, ambulances—just around the corner from where I live, because I grew up just across the street from Sheridan College, which is now a booming college. The community has changed. I drove by and I saw all of these emergency vehicles and I wondered, “Oh my goodness, what happened?”

It was horrifying to read in the paper that our fire chief had to respond to a home where there were multiple residents, but because they could not locate where this individual was—because of the way it was set up as an illegal rooming house—this individual, tragically, died.

The fire chief explained to me that when they arrived on scene, they did not know how many people they were actually going to be triaging. So they kept knocking on door after door and not finding the victim, until they got into a basement, into a cellar. This is where this individual, sleeping on a cot, passed away.

This isn’t the last story. The fire chief explained that they would often go into these homes, and because they were illegally renovated, what would happen is that a door would be there, and what they thought would be stairs were not. So first responders were opening doors and literally falling through a basement because they thought stairs were there.

I know I’m sort of digressing from the topic of the bill, but I think it’s important to highlight what the reality of housing looks like in our community, because when we talk about helping victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking, we need to make sure that appropriate housing options are going to be available for them. That simply isn’t the reality in our community of Peel. It isn’t the reality for international students and it certainly wasn’t the reality for Katarina MacLeod.

I’m going to quote from an

article here. These are Katarina’s words: “I don’t believe it’s a choice, I believe it’s lack of choice. That’s it’s things that had happened to somebody before ever entering that leaves them vulnerable.”

When you think of that and you think, “What does that mean, ‘things that happened’ before?” Well, living in poverty, being forced into unsafe housing, not having the supports that you need if you’re experiencing mental health issues: These are the factors that Katarina is highlighting that contribute to someone being taken advantage of or becoming prey for a pimp—which we have control over. We have control over this as a province to help ensure that people have a choice, because they had the supports that they needed in their communities, and that they weren’t forced into a lack of choice.

I think of organizations like Rising Angels that are working to help heal, help support other victims of human trafficking. I want to thank Katarina MacLeod for taking her own experience and trauma and turning that into something will help other women who are experiencing abuse. But we as a province need to do more to help women like Katarina, to help those young children who are being forced to live in this hotel that I explained, to help our international students gain access to stable housing and employment. We have a role to play in this, Speaker.

While this bill provides enforcement powers, it isn’t getting at the heart of the issue. It isn’t helping to prevent, to proactively intervene or to support exit out of human trafficking. I think that’s where we need to focus our energies: prevention. We need to support people in our community, so they aren’t brought into human trafficking and they aren’t becoming victims.

There are definitely ways to do that, and it starts by investing in housing. It starts by investing in mental health. It starts by ensuring that when women or men need to exit, they have the supports they need to heal, grow and continue to flourish as human beings in our community.

I understand that my time has expired. Thank you very much, Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. Questions?

Ms. Jane McKenna: We’ve heard some commentary from the opposition about the importance of capturing short-term rentals under the new legislation’s registry of guests. Frankly, we agree. Given the current hotel registry of guests legislation is unable to capture any type of accommodation other than hotels, does the member opposite not agree that this legislation is an important step forward along with the nature of the sector?

Ms. Sara Singh: I think what’s important to highlight is that this legislation does provide additional powers to police, but as we’ve highlighted on this side of the House, there is absolutely more that needs to be done here. If the intent is to truly protect and prevent human trafficking from occurring in our communities, the government needs to do a lot more. Hopefully, through regulations, we’ll see some amendments to the language around what those powers look like.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch to the Brampton Centre member. Today is Red Dress Day and the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. What message would you like to send to the families, individuals, women, girls and grandparents who are affected by this issue?

Ms. Sara Singh: I’d like to thank the member from Kiiwetinoong for that question and opportunity to share a few words. I’m actually wearing a red dress today in honour of Red Dress Day to stand in solidarity with First Nations and Indigenous communities across this province that have had to endure the trauma and legacy of colonialism.

To the missing and murdered Indigenous women, to their families, to the grandmothers, to the sisters: I want them to know that we are going to continue fighting to ensure that this doesn’t continue to happen for further generations to come. It requires education. It requires learning. And it requires a commitment to truth and reconciliation and acknowledging the reality that Indigenous people in this nation have had to endure.

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

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Thanks to the member opposite for your contribution to this debate.

Looking into the situation of the accommodations, different accommodations, which is the main vehicle for the human trafficking, we are trying with this legislation to balance between the protection and also not impeding or affecting the businesses, like the non-traditional rentals like Airbnb and whatever comes in the coming short future, because they’re always moving in the technology and online business.

Knowing that accommodations and hospitality is one of the biggest sectors of business, don’t you think—because whenever we put some restrictions, the opposition complains about the small businesses affected by that. So can you tell us a little bit about what you think about this legislation’s balance between protecting victims and as well making sure that the accommodation small businesses do not get affected by extra restraints?

Ms. Sara Singh: I’m having a hard time with the question from the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills, I believe it is. I don’t think this is about protecting a business. I think this should be about protecting victims of human trafficking. I find it very troubling that we would want to balance the interests of a business that is maybe engaging in illegal activity. I think that what we need to be doing is prioritizing prevention. We need to be prioritizing investments—

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Point of order.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Excuse me. I recognize the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills on a point of order.

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: I don’t think talking about small business engaging, or putting the whole category of small—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. I appreciate that. That’s not a point of order.

I will return for final comment from the member.

Ms. Sara Singh: I think at the end of the day, what we need to be doing is prioritizing investments in our communities that are going to protect victims of human trafficking. This bill doesn’t go far enough.

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

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Thank you so much to the member for sharing with us those stories, especially the story about that hotel in your riding. It’s right there and we know what needs to be done. It’s about preventive measures, like addressing poverty and addressing issues of domestic violence.

One of the first things that this government did was they disbanded the expert panel on violence against women and girls. That was an expert panel that was providing advice—the very kind of advice that would have made this bill more effective. So, what do you have to say to a government that has disbanded this expert panel and has put a bill forward that doesn’t include the agencies that have been working so hard for so many years to address the issue of human trafficking?

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Back to the member from Brampton Centre: You have about 30 seconds.

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you so much to the member for Hamilton, Dundas and—

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas.

Ms. Sara Singh: There we go, okay. Speaker, it’s a tough job.

I think, to the member’s question, what we want to see from this government is not cuts to services that are going to be supporting victims of human trafficking. We need to see meaningful investments that will allow victims to have the supports that they need and seek out supports—

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

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I apologize; I had to cut a little bit short. There will be additional time for you, though, at a later point in time, but it is time for members’ statements at this point in time.

Members’ Statements

Mental health and addiction services

Mr. Joel Harden: This is Mental Health Week in Ontario, and I want, with this speech, to tip my hat and offer my sincere thanks to every single mental health worker, every single advocate for mental health in the province of Ontario. Thank you for all you do.

For a minute, Speaker, I actually want people watching this to pause this clip and follow the link that will be embedded in this video to a terrific song that was recently composed to honour the work of street health workers in the city of Ottawa. It’s called Rise Up Strong, and I want to quote one verse from the song. It says:

We’re working in a system that’s bursting at the seams.

The money, the resources: They’re so few and far between.

But poor is not on purpose, and illness is not a crime.

There’s a lot that’s got to change. Rise up, people: It’s time.

When I think of that verse in that amazing song, Speaker, I think about a tragedy in our community, because we lost a street health worker. His name was Carl Reinboth. He worked at the Somerset West Community Health Centre. On April 23, Carl lost his life. He was killed by someone in a mental health crisis.

When I think about the legacy Carl and so many other folks at the Somerset West Community Health Centre have to offer to us, I want to make an urgent plea: that we not think about a ramp-up of police resources for mental health issues. As Theresa Tam, Canada’s officer for public health, has said, we are not going to police our way out of the mental health crisis. We need resources to the Somerset West Community Health Centre.

Their number for crisis, folks, is 613-447-0029. Call it if you need help.

Border security

Over 12 million people have entered Canada by land or air since March 2020. According to the Toronto Star, over 5,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival since February of this year, and almost one third of them carried a variant of concern into Canada.

Speaker, some will say that only a small percentage of cases in Ontario can be linked directly to travel, but I firmly believe that the only acceptable number of cases and variants of concern coming through our borders is zero. The federal government needs to start listening and act now to protect Ontarians.

Indigenous services

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: In March, the Pikangikum chief and council voted to remove the OPP from the community. They took action over serious allegations of assault involving the service and community members. The day after the OPP left, Indigenous Services Canada removed nursing staff from Pikangikum, even though Pikangikum has its own First Nations police and peacekeepers.

Speaker, 3,800 people live in Pikangikum. It’s almost comparable to the size of Sioux Lookout, a municipality that has its own hospital. Pikangikum did not have 24-hour nursing services because the feds had concerns about their community safety.

Chief Dean Owen said, “The more we talk, the more we are resolved to move as quickly as possible towards running our own stand-alone police service—and due to the negative impacts to the nursing station, we are looking at taking over our own health services. It is evident that these systems are tied to each other at the government level, leaving our community helpless and the solution out of our control.”

Can you imagine, Speaker, the government shutting down your hospital in the evening and overnight because police weren’t available in the middle of a pandemic? Pulling out essential services in Pikangikum is racism and colonialism in action, and the double standard is no longer acceptable.

We thank the peacekeepers, the rights-holders and the leadership in Pikangikum for your step towards nationhood. Meegwetch.

University of Toronto Chair in Tamil Studies

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: I’m pleased to rise today to talk about community spirit during these unprecedented times. The Canadian Tamil Congress and the Tamil Chair Inc. spearheaded an extraordinary initiative to create a Chair in Tamil Studies at the University of Toronto. I would like to thank president Sivan Ilangko from CTC, writer Appadurai Muttulingam and all the members and volunteers who worked with the global Tamil community to reach its target. With over 3,800 supporters, they have raised $3 million for this position. This is the first community-funded chair at the University of Toronto.

The Tamil language is over 3,000 years old. It is the oldest and longest-surviving classical language in the world, spoken by more than 80 million people. This creation of a Tamil chair will leave a mark in our history.

When Tamils fled Sri Lanka due to the war, 300,000 of them escaped to Ontario, Canada, as a safe haven. They fled because embracing their identity as a Tamil wasn’t accepted, but here today, we are showcasing that the Tamil community is rebuilding what we lost for half a century. Now, Tamil studies at the University of Toronto will institutionally continue the richness of our culture, language and heritage that was almost systematically lost in Sri Lanka.

Red Dress Day

Mr. Michael Mantha: Today, normally, I would be in Serpent River or another community on Red Dress Day with my tobacco in hand. I would like to deliver this message to communities: Red Dress Day is just one way that we can demonstrate that we have not forgotten the mothers, sisters and daughters who have been taken from us before their time.

To those left behind, the loss can be highly traumatic and long-lasting. The effect upon entire communities can be like waves that overwhelm us, if we allow it to do so. That is why it is important to stand together, shoulder to shoulder, as sisters, brothers, parents, elders and youth to ensure the tragic losses we experience are recognized as significant and real. It is essential that we ensure that the issue of the missing and lost Indigenous girls and women receives the national attention and actions that it deserves.

We must ensure that we draw the attention of the world to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against Indigenous women. As well, we must ensure that the issue is not seen to be simply a women’s issue, but rather an issue for all people of every gender, race and nationality.

By wearing red on this day, we signify that these loved ones are not forgotten, but remain in our hearts for eternity. Support and participation in this movement is essential if we are to build a future in which Indigenous girls and women can focus on their future, rather than looking over their shoulders in fear.

Mother’s Day

M me Lucille Collard: This upcoming Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that supporting women and mothers is a tangible benefit for the province. Access to child care, education, counselling or good jobs is essential to making sure women are included in the economic recovery the province needs.

I am lucky not only to be the mother of four wonderful children, but also to have my mother by my side, living with us and being part of our daily life. I owe it to her, in large part, to be here today.

I am certain that all of us in this House know of women and mothers who have made incredible contributions to our families and communities over the last year. Women in sectors such as health care and social services, education, and accommodation and food services have continued to work on the front lines throughout this pandemic. While some continued to put their lives at risk for our sakes, others were forced to leave their job to take on child care and schooling at home, once again putting others ahead of themselves.

This Mother’s Day, let us all show extra love and appreciation for the women and mothers in our lives, and let us commit to using the abilities we have here in this House to do better by them. I’m wishing a happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers in this House and to all the mothers in Ontario.

Jewish Heritage Month

Mrs. Robin Martin: The month of May is Jewish Heritage Month in Ontario and Canada. Formally recognized by the Ontario Legislature in February 2012 and by the federal Parliament in March 2018, Jewish Heritage Month provides us with a unique opportunity to learn, share and celebrate the history and culture of Jewish Canadians. Canada is home to the fourth-largest Jewish population in the world, and Jews have played a vital role in every sector of our society, establishing themselves long ago as crucial and vibrant contributors to our multicultural society.

Unfortunately, this community continues to be the target of unwarranted attacks of hatred and anti-Semitism. According to B’nai Brith, there were 2,610 anti-Semitic incidents in Canada last year, an 18.6% increase over 2019, and this translates to the equivalent of seven incidents on an average day, every day, making the Jewish community one of our country’s most targeted minority groups.

According to B’nai Brith’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents for 2020, about one in 10 of them involved the promotion of conspiracy theories, vandalism or violence related to the COVID pandemic. Sadly, some 44% of violent incidents last year were COVID-related, and half of those were against visibly observant Jews who were denied service at various retailers, spat on, assaulted, randomly pelted by items and shot with air pellets.

Last October, Ontario adopted the international Holocaust remembrance working definition of “anti-Semitism,” and our government wants to stand with the Jewish community and every other community to defend their rights and their freedoms.

Small business

Ms. Sara Singh: Last week, I held a small business forum with businesses from across Brampton Centre, and many of them raised very troubling concerns about this government’s lack of support for small businesses in our community. I heard from businesses that are facing bankruptcy, frankly, because they haven’t been able to get any support from this government.

I spoke with driving instructors who are not able to qualify for the small business grant because of the eligibility criteria. I’ve also spoken with folks in the personal care services who are at their wits’ end with lockdown after lockdown that has not provided them the support they need as a small business to continue to sustain their business while keeping their doors closed. The expenses for many of these businesses are piling up, and this government is failing those businesses.

I’ve also connected with independent producers and ethnic media who are wondering why they haven’t received any supports from this government through an ethnic media stabilization fund, something that New Democrats have been calling on this government to implement since the start of this pandemic.

It’s unfortunate that Brampton businesses are being forced to close their doors and are waiting and waiting weeks and weeks on end to hear even an email reply from this government with respect to their small business grant. I encourage this government to step up to the plate, help support businesses in Brampton and across Ontario. Get them the supports they need so they don’t have to close their doors forever.

Joanna Gratkowska

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: Today, my beautiful and strong grandmother in Poland is turning 90 years young. I miss her very much, as I have not been able to see her in two years now due to travel restrictions and keeping her health and safety in mind. Thankfully, technology is a wonderful thing, and I was able to see her via Zoom to personally wish her a happy birthday, and even toast her with champagne.

Joanna Gratkowska, maiden name Dudek, was born on May 5, 1931. She gave birth to five children, two of whom passed away, unfortunately. Widowed in her thirties, she lived through the Second World War and the communist regime, raising three children as a single mom, including my mom, Anna. To me, she is the embodiment of courage, perseverance, generosity and motherhood. I fondly remember my summer and sometimes winter holidays spent at Babcia’s house in Poland playing in the fields, collecting flowers, feeding the rabbits and chickens, watching grandma make perogies and, of course, attending the holy mass religiously every Sunday.

My grandma is a great orator and storyteller. She passed on to me and my brother her memories of war and hardship, but also her wisdom in having faith in God and always helping those less fortunate than us. Even though she struggled as a single mom, she took in an orphan whom she raised as her own.

So today, even though I’m thousands of miles away, my heart and my thoughts are with my Babcia Asia.

Remarks in Polish.

Happy birthday.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Vincent Ke: Springtime typically signifies new beginnings, warm sunshine, gardens growing, yet during the third wave of the pandemic, many of my constituents say they feel stuck inside, yearning for outdoor activities, wishing they could visit their loved ones. They are tired of the restrictions and the sacrifice required to help stop the spread of the virus. Yes, COVID-19 fatigue is real. I understand.

However, as doctors and nurses continue to work around the clock on the front lines with COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and especially in the ICUs, they help us overcome the darkest days of this pandemic. The fatigue they experience is overwhelming and exhausting. Our gratitude for their sacrifice and service is endless. We must show them our support. Action always speaks louder than words.

Speaker, I ask all Ontarians to act selflessly and comply with the stay-at-home order, with these health care heroes in mind. It is our best opportunity to help them save lives. Together, we look forward in hope and courage to better days ahead.

Question Period

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, my first question this morning is to the Premier. It’s now been six days since the long-term-care commission issued its report outlining the horrifying conditions in long-term care as COVID-19 ripped through, as well as this government’s failure to protect seniors. In fact, I quote from the report: They said, “Alarm bells should have been ringing loudly in Ontario,” and “There was no plan to protect residents in long-term care.”

The Premier and the minister, all summer long, claimed that there was an iron ring around long-term care, and everybody knew that there was no such thing. And yet, nobody on the government side is prepared to take responsibility for the horrifying tragedies that took place in long-term care. When is this Premier going to do the right thing and remove the Minister of Long-Term Care?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: I first want to acknowledge the families whose loved ones were impacted by what happened in long-term-care homes. It was a tragedy and it was absolutely terrible.

Our government called the commission to action to provide accountability and justice for the families as soon as possible. It is now all of our responsibilities to fix the system that no government has gotten right—not Bob Rae, not Mike Harris, not Dalton McGuinty, not Kathleen Wynne. The final report shows what we’ve been saying all along: After years of neglect by governments of all political stripes—red, orange and blue—our long-term-care system was broken.

But, Mr. Speaker, we’re the government who will finally fix it. According to the commission’s report, “Many of the challenges that had festered in the long-term-care sector for decades—chronic underfunding, severe staffing shortages, outdated infrastructure and poor oversight—contributed to deadly consequences for Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens during the pandemic.”

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Part of the Premier’s problem is that nobody has taken accountability for what happened in long-term care through the first and second waves. There’s no denying that decades of Mike Harris and Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne and Steven Del Duca were a big part of the mess in long-term care, but this government—this government—has to take some responsibility for the cuts that it made: in 2018, cancelling the comprehensive inspections and, in 2019, cutting funding for long-term care and for public health.

No single home has lost a licence. There has been no minister who has lost their job. There have been literally no consequences for the horrors that families lived through, through COVID-19, in long-term care. Why does this Premier continue to protect his minister, instead of showing families that someone will step up and take responsibility? The Premier needs to do that by removing the Minister of Long-Term Care from her portfolio.

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: I have full confidence in my minister. She’s done more as a doctor to serve those most in need than anyone in this chamber—anyone, bar none. For 30 years, she has dedicated her life to protecting the most vulnerable, caring for those who are sick on the front lines. That deserves respect.

Her voice and experience are vital as we correct the decades of inaction in the long-term-care sector caused by many governments. Because of her leadership, we’re already seeing success in this sector: for example, thousands of new long-term-care beds are being built, the implementation of four hours of care, and hiring thousands and thousands of new PSWs.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, it is absolutely disheartening to hear this Premier defending his Minister of Long-Term Care instead of having spent the last year defending seniors who were losing their lives to COVID-19.

I want to tell the Premier something that I asked his minister on Monday. I want him to hear what I asked her. The commission, of course, had a number of family stories that they outlined, which were just horrifying, but on Monday, here’s the one I decided to bring forward: “Of all the pictures I have of my mother over the years ... the one that’s burned into my mind forever is her lying there in a wet diaper without even a blanket to cover her, with her arm up, stretched in the air, begging for water and asking God why he had forsaken her.” Speaker, this can never happen again in our province.

Front-line workers and family members have no confidence in this government, in this minister or in this Premier to fix long-term care. The very least this Premier should do is show some accountability. Fire that minister from her position, because nobody has any faith in her ability to fix the system.

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: What I do agree with the Leader of the Opposition on is it was a tragedy. It’s heartbreaking hearing these stories over and over again from decades of neglect.

We saw this happen right across the province. We’ve looked at—let’s use Roberta Place in Barrie. The UK variant got in there; one person wiped out all of Roberta Place. The mortalities were up close to 100, the infections were 200, because the variants got into our country—just one person.

Yesterday, 12 people that we know of—that we know of—just going through the airport came in with COVID. That’s 12 people. Multiply that by 10 in a day if they don’t stay at home—because they aren’t staying at home, by the way, Mr. Speaker.

We need the federal government to stop the leak. It’s like there’s a hole in the roof and the water is pouring in, and the federal government is just not doing anything about it, and it continues to spread. All front-line health care workers are working hard. Everyone is getting vaccines. We’re working around the clock, but there is a gaping hole right now. I’m asking once again for the federal government to tighten up our borders until we don’t see this tragedy happen in any long-term care.

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is to the Premier, but the people of Ontario deserve more than a Premier who just deflects to another order of government.

Residents and families are desperate for a change in long-term care, but we got a pretty clear signal yesterday that that change is nowhere to be found. For example, top executives at for-profit long-term-care chains collected massive bonuses during 2020 while literally thousands of seniors were dying in long-term care. The CEO of Extendicare was paid $1.7 million. The outgoing CEO of Sienna: $4.7 million. Extendicare is the same long-term-care chain that operated Orchard Villa, where some of the most horrifying situations occurred, where people were dying of neglect and dehydration.

How can the Premier continue to defend making profits in long-term care, continue to shovel public dollars at for-profit long-term-care homes in our province? This should stop. Will he make that commitment?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: I know it’s easy for the Leader of the Opposition to blame my great minister, but the buck stops with me; that’s who it stops with. It stops with me and I’ll take responsibility.

Across the province—and I’ll tell you what we’re doing to correct it. Just think, over 15 years under the NDP and Liberals, and especially the last few years of 2011 to 2018, 611 beds were put together out of all those years. I’ll tell you what we’re doing to fix it: As a province, the Ontario government is moving forward with 80 new long-term-care projects, which will lead to an additional 7,510 new beds and 4,197 upgraded long-term-care spaces. Ontario is investing over $933 million in these projects province-wide.

On top of that, $1.75 billion is already earmarked for delivery of 30,000—compare 611 to 30,000—new spaces over 10 years. We’re hiring over 27,000 PSWs and nurses. That’s 27,000.

We recognized there was a problem. We recognize there was a massive problem. But guess what—

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: There is absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind that the long-term-care system is a broken system, but here’s another example of how this government is prepared to carry on: Sienna and Extendicare took $157 million in COVID funding, and the government continues to shovel more money at those operators.

These are operators whose homes were literally scenes of horror for residents and family members, homes like Orchard Villa. This sector is one in which these bonuses are being paid while senior executives are mocking grieving family members, suggesting that they’re launching “blood-sucking lawsuits.” These are the buddies of this government. In fact, to add insult to injury, today, the Minister of Energy appointed one of the vice-presidents of for-profit Extendicare to the board of the IESO, a nice cushy appointment by this government.

Will no one on the government side ever step up and stand up for the families and the victims in long-term care, instead of their friends and buddies in the for-profit industry—

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

Interjections.

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

I recognize the Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: Again, I have no buddies in long-term care. But do you know who my buddies are? They’re the front-line PSWs, the nurses who are working their backs off.

Mr. Speaker, we’re the first government in Ontario and Canada—and I’m sure probably one of the first in North America—that will direct four hours of care on average to every long-term-care resident. We’re mandating air conditioning—and I want to give the reporter from CBC, they deserve the credit—in long-term-care homes, investing over $100 million to train up 8,200 PSWs. Our government has approved nearly $2 billion in staffing, as I said earlier, for 27,000 new staff. Over a few short years, we’re investing more than $9.6 billion. The previous government, and the NDP that supported them for years, never, ever invested.

Mr. Speaker, we’re exceeding the NDP’s own platform target of a 30% increase in spending by 2028. We’re exceeding what they were asking for. With our pandemic pay program alone, we hired—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you, Premier. Thank you very much. Please take your seat.

The final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, nearly 4,000 people lost their lives to COVID-19 in long-term care, and thousands of others lost their lives to neglect and dehydration in long-term care. The Minister of Long-Term Care has not taken any responsibility. She has shown no remorse for what happened. The government plan that the Premier likes to talk about is way too late. The commission said clearly that changes have to happen now, not in 2025.

So I ask the Premier again, will he do the right thing and show the families, the survivors, the families of victims of COVID-19 in long-term care that he understands that his minister has no credibility, that families don’t trust her, they don’t believe in her, and fire her so that they can maybe find somebody to do the job properly?

Hon. Doug Ford: You know something, Mr. Speaker? I’ll stand up for my minister all day long, because the Leader of the Opposition wasn’t on the calls till midnight that I would be speaking to the minister, day after day after day: the conference calls, her leading the charge, making sure that the appropriate changes that were ignored for decades—for decades, Mr. Speaker. She showed leadership.

It was a terrible, terrible situation. It was an absolute tragedy that happened, not just here in Ontario, but around the world. We saw what happened in the US. We saw what happened across Canada with long-term care. It was a tragedy, but, Mr. Speaker, we’re going to fix it. We’re going to make sure we fix it.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I will take personal responsibility. We will make sure we fix it. We will make sure that we have rapid builds. We’re going to make sure we hit our target of 30,000 new beds over the next 10 years. We’re well on our way. This will never happen again.

Long-term care

Ms. Sara Singh: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. Speaker, the minister has been running from the press gallery. She has been hiding from her record of failure. But do you know who can’t run and who can’t hide? The thousands of Ontarians who died in long-term care, or the staff who had to watch, painfully, as residents took their last breath, and wept through their face shields and masks. Those folks can’t hide, Speaker, and this minister stood by and watched this all unfold. Will she finally show some leadership and apologize to these families and staff, and will she resign?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I certainly understand the upset from the families, and the commission has been very clear with the report. It indicates the long-standing issues, the structural issues, the staffing issues in long-term care.

Absolutely, I’ve been very clear, and repeated this numerous times, that I do take responsibility for the well-being of residents in long-term care. I do take responsibility for the staff and the families. That’s exactly why I came to politics, because I recognized the importance of long-term care. I recognized that for decades, the measures weren’t being taken, so long before the pandemic came, I was taking responsibility for this, trying to get to this place, to be able to make the changes necessary, which we’ve done.

We already started with the staffing study; the capacity-building, 15,000 new beds in five years, 30,000 new beds in 10 years; a commitment to four hours of direct care; innovative programs, like community paramedicine, to keep people in their own homes; infection prevention and control; and integration with hospitals and public health.

We will continue to do this, because we are committed to solving the problems in long-term care so that this doesn’t—

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

Supplementary question.

Ms. Sara Singh: Speaker, with all due respect to the minister, these families are not just upset. They are dealing with trauma, with pain, with mental health impacts that will last for much longer than I think this minister understands.

Let’s recap what we’ve heard from the minister this week: She said that she “didn’t start the fire” in long-term care. She said that the death of 4,000 Ontarians was “overdue,” and she said that she has nothing to apologize for. She even said that it’s everyday Ontarians who need to do some “soul-searching” about why Conservatives let their loved ones suffer and die from neglect.

Speaker, this minister didn’t take action when she was supposed to. They didn’t hire PSWs over the summer. They didn’t increase infection control measures in our long-term-care homes. They failed to act. The only one who needs to do some soul-searching, Mr. Speaker, is this minister, and she needs to resign. When is she going to do that?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I know very clearly what is true and what is not true. When we look at the response to the outbreaks in our homes, we were working around the clock to address the capacity issues and the overcrowding in long-term care; to address the staffing, making sure that we were taking every measure possible, integrating the acute care sector into long-term care homes; the public health inspections; the public health efforts to support these homes; and training people during this time, to make sure we had the workforce necessary, starting with the staffing plan that we had already undertaken and begun and hiring over 8,600 people into long-term care, with the pandemic pay.

With the efforts in infection prevention and control, we were able to reduce the level of severity of the outbreaks, and I’m so grateful to the hospitals for coming to our aid when it was necessary. We were making sure all these levers were being taken, and we are continuing to advance long-term care, on the staffing, the four hours of care, on the capacity, on the innovation programs, on the infection prevention—

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

Border security

Mr. David Piccini: Over the past number of months, as I and members in this Legislature have been dealing with the very real conversations with constituents about variants of concern wreaking havoc in our communities, I join members on this side of the House in making the very real and difficult decisions to protect the health and well-being of Ontarians throughout this province. I know that one thing has remained consistent: Since the very beginning, our Premier has led the charge in calling for the federal government to address these variants of concern at the source.

I know, in fact, in the last number of weeks our government has written a series of letters to the federal government, asking for stricter measures at both land and air borders.

My question is to the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. My question is: What was in those letters? And what has the response been since we’ve sent those letters?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Thank you very much to the member for that question. Our government has done its part by restricting travel by land at both the Manitoba and Quebec borders. Unfortunately, we have heard no official response from the federal government outlining the concerns that we have with our border and the holes in our border.

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

Mr. David Piccini: Thank you to the minister for that answer. Speaker, many of my constituents are making very real sacrifices across our community. We’re seeing these sacrifices across Ontario. Ontarians want their lives back. Yet, we continue to see individuals flaunt loopholes at our land border crossings and getting around screening measures at the border that they know are in place to stop variants of concern from entering. We must do more.

Just yesterday, the Prime Minister and health officials were asked about how many people are circumventing these rules at the land border. In response, the Public Health Agency of Canada said they don’t know; they don’t have a specific number. Well, Mr. Speaker, that’s not good enough. That’s not good enough for the small businesses, for the health care workers and for the people across my riding making sacrifices each and every day so that we can get our lives back.

This is very concerning for Ontarians across this country. I’d like to know, can the minister please respond to these concerns, and what more are we doing to address this?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Since February, over 5,000 people have tested positive for COVID because of air travel. In the past two weeks, we had over 150,000 people crossing our borders by land, and that does not include commercial truck drivers. We know that 90% of cases today in Ontario are variants of concern. We’ve seen other countries across the world—whether it’s Australia, New Zealand—enact stronger measures at their borders to protect people in their own countries. We have now confirmed cases of the B1617 variant in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

We are asking and pleading with the federal government to close the loopholes, to secure our borders, so that as we continue to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people in Ontario, our recovery is not jeopardized. We need the federal government to step up and secure our borders.

Long-term care

Mr. Jeff Burch: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. The long-term-care commission has revealed what anyone with a family member in a for-profit long-term-care facility already knew, that decades of neglect left long-term-care residents vulnerable, that this government was not prepared for a pandemic and that this government ignored the warnings of the risk that COVID posed to long-term-care residents.

I heard from a constituent in Welland whose mother was placed into Royal Rose Place, a for-profit long-term-care home. Over the course of only five months she saw her mother’s health deteriorate. She had two ulcers, constant urinary tract infections and she was left in soiled diapers for hours. Complaint after complaint to the ministry went unaddressed until her mother passed just a few weeks ago.

When will this minister take responsibility for her government’s lack of action and for what is happening to seniors in long-term care under her watch? Apologize and resign.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I certainly want to reiterate the concerns over the long-standing issues in long-term care, the tragedy that this was and that is ongoing as we deal with this collectively in Ontario, across Canada and around the world.

We continue to take measures in long-term care. We initiated these as soon as we became a ministry and even before that as a government to understand the capacity issues, to understand the staffing issues. That’s exactly what we’ve been addressing.

We were in touch with these homes on a regular basis, monitoring what was going on and moving as quickly as we could, using every lever possible. That’s why we’re committed to the four hours of direct care. That’s why we’re investing unprecedented amounts in long-term care for staffing, for capacity-building, for infection prevention and control and for integration with the hospital sector and public health.

That’s why we are committed, because we’ve seen the tragedy and we know the neglect of this sector. We are committed to moving forward and taking the measures necessary to address this. We will fix it.

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

Mr. Jeff Burch: What is happening today in long-term care rests on the shoulders of this government. For the Minister of Long-Term Care to claim that she holds no responsibility for what’s happening in long-term care is not believable.

I was contacted by another constituent whose mother was at Royal Rose Place. Her mother has dementia. She got COVID, along with 77 other residents in the 96-bed long-term-care home. She had great difficulty recovering and has since suffered seven falls, and a few weeks ago broke her neck. They’ve filed a number of complaints with the ministry, to no avail—no response.

Just this week, five staff and six more residents tested positive for the virus at Royal Rose Place. Will this minister stop shifting the blame, take responsibility and resign?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I have consistently taken responsibility. I have said numerous times I take full responsibility for the well-being of residents in long-term care, staff and families. That is why I came to politics, to address this long-standing issue.

The commissioner’s report and the Auditor General’s report have been very clear about the long-standing issues, and that’s exactly what we’re addressing with this staffing crisis that was pre-existing: with hiring over 8,600 people into long-term care after the first wave; with the pandemic pay over the summer; making sure that we understood the issues of capacity, and creating innovative programs to address that; looking at the infection prevention and control and investing in that; making sure that there were leads in the homes and IPAC hubs for this; and making sure that we were integrated with the public health units and the hospital sector.

Again, I want to thank everyone that came to long-term care’s aid during this very, very tragic time.

I take full responsibility and our government takes responsibility for fixing the system that was broken. We are committed to doing that, and we will continue to do this. Our actions demonstrate this. Whether it’s capacity, staffing, infection prevention and control, innovative programs or integration, we’ll continue to work on this.

Long-term care

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Premier: 3,771 people died in long-term care, more in the second wave than in the first wave. Instead of blaming others, I think the people of this province want a simple apology from their Premier and from the Minister of Long-Term Care. They want the minister to take the time to answer questions and to commit to a complete overhaul of the long-term-care system, starting with putting care before profits.

I have a simple yes-or-no question for the Premier: Will the Premier commit today to the people of this province that the government will immediately begin to implement all 85 recommendations from the long-term-care commission?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply on behalf of the government, the Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: In terms of the commission on long-term care’s 85 recommendations, they’re all very insightful. Some of the recommendations we’re well on our way to completing or have completed. Others will take more work and an understanding of how they can be implemented. We’re absolutely committed to the insightful recommendations and the report that the commissioners have provided to us. We are tremendously grateful for that insight. So, yes, we acknowledge the importance of the commissioners’ recommendations. There’s no question about that.

In terms of taking responsibility, we have; in fact, more so than any other previous government in the history of this province, for long-term care. Donna Duncan from the OLTCA indicated that publicly. When we look at what the mess was, we are addressing this: the staffing, four hours of direct care, the capacity, the innovative programs—making sure that we never let this happen again. And so we will do that.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Speaker, sadly, for the people who lost loved ones in long-term-care homes, I take it from that response that the answer is no. It’s one thing to say, yes, we acknowledge recommendations. It’s another thing to say that we will immediately begin to implement recommendations.

I want to quote from the commission report: “The working conditions ... in long-term-care homes must be improved in order to better attract, recruit, develop, and retain staff.” This includes guaranteeing PSWs full-time work and living wages. So, Speaker, if the government is not going to commit today to implementing all 85 recommendations in the long-term-care commission report, will the minister at least commit today to extending and making permanent the pandemic pay increase for PSWs which is set to expire on June 30?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I think the member opposite is saying it in a different way. I have said that we will look at all those recommendations. Some of them are already done. Some of them need to be done. Others, we have to understand how to do them. So, absolutely, when we look at the PSWs in our long-term-care system, they are the backbone and, I will say, they’re also the heart of our system. We have been very supportive of the PSWs, to understand what we can do to help them with the pandemic pay, with the temporary wage increase, and looking at ways that we can make sure that they are supported and recognized for the important work that they do.

The Premier has been very clear: Everything is on the table. While we work through this process, while we take the insights of the commission and the Auditor General to heart, we are committed to addressing these long-standing issues like no other government in the history of this province.

Border security

Mr. David Piccini: My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. Speaker, I just got an email from a constituent—literally just got an email. They were asking about the leadership that they’ve seen from the Premier on border measures. But they were confused because they hadn’t seen anything from the federal government. I quote, “Thanks, Dave. We are flying into Buffalo in June and walking across the border to avoid the mandatory three-day stay at a hotel.” Right here, Mr. Speaker.

We know that these loopholes are being exposed. We know that this is how variants of concern are entering our country. In fact, 90% of daily cases are variants of concern, and the dominant strain is the UK variant of concern. When we look abroad, we see that the UK has imposed travel restrictions and banned travel from over 40 countries worldwide. We know Australia is limiting travel to domestic nationals only or nationals of New Zealand.

Speaker, I don’t understand why certain opposition members and a political party would choose to make light of these very serious issues, these very serious concerns that the Premier of this province is flagging—

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

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Take your seat.

The Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: I agree with the member opposite: Any political party or leader that is against combating new variants that are coming into this province, which are deadlier and are more transmissible, and is making it about racial politics is completely wrong.

Are the Premiers of the Atlantic provinces racist for implementing the Atlantic bubble? Is the Prime Minister of New Zealand racist for calling for and enacting stronger measures at the border? Is the Prime Minister of Australia racist for enacting stronger measures at the border? No, this is about protecting our communities—

Interjection.

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

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: The city of Brampton has put forward a unanimous motion, supported by all members of council to support restricting air travel into this country. This is nothing about race, Mr. Speaker. This is about protecting our province. It’s about protecting cities like Brampton. It’s about protecting from the deadlier variants of concern, and that’s why we need stronger measures at our borders—

Interjections.

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

We can start the clock. Supplementary.

Mr. David Piccini: Thank you to the minister for that answer. You know, as we heard Liberal members opposite heckle, “Why aren’t you doing it?” this really speaks to what we need to see across this province. We’ve seen our municipalities link arms. I had 10 municipal leaders and two Indigenous leaders in our community write a joint letter calling on the federal government to work with the province to implement stricter border measures.

We’ve seen, as the member mentioned, unanimous motions moved in some of the most diverse communities in this province, because what we all understand is that this isn’t a matter of race. This is a matter of working together to protect the health and well-being of the people we have the honour to serve in this place. We have a Premier who continues to stand up, to call on the federal government to fix these loopholes, to call on the federal government to implement mandatory PCR testing.

Speaker, I know that there are a suite of measures we can use, including PCR testing. Can the minister please speak to what more measures we can do to protect the health and well-being of the people we have the honour to serve in this place?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: We know that, since February, over 5,000 positive cases of COVID-19 have come through travel. Mr. Speaker, that doesn’t even account for the thousands, because of that travel, that go across the community. There are holes in our border, and we need those loopholes to be addressed.

The Premier has called. Our ministers have written three letters to the federal government and have received no response. Our ask is simple: Close the loopholes at our land borders. Let’s ensure that there is PCR testing for domestic flights, and let’s also ensure that non-essential travel into Canada, specifically Ontario, is restricted.

We’ve done our part at the Manitoba and Quebec borders. We restricted travel by land and by water. We need the federal government to step up and to secure our borders, so we can continue to fight this third wave and so we can continue to vaccinate people, and get back and support our small businesses and get the economy opening. But we need the federal government to act and secure our borders immediately.

Government accountability

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Minister of Education. As we confirmed yesterday, the RCMP is investigating the shadowy group Vaughan Working Families for breaking election laws. We know this group has deep ties to the Premier and the Minister of Education. We also know the Premier and the minister happened to attend a Florida hockey game in December 2018 with the group’s chair.

Speaker, I’m sure the snacks were wonderful in the box seats. However, Ontarians deserve to know if the Minister of Education has anything to add, but he avoided answering my questions yesterday. Has the Minister of Education met with the RCMP regarding this investigation, and if so, what did he tell them?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: As I said yesterday, it’s my understanding that the Chief Electoral Officer conducted an inquiry into this, and it has since been referred off to authorities. I have full confidence that they have all of the resources and whatever they need to conduct a thorough investigation.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Interjection.

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

Start the clock. Supplementary.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: To the Premier: The Premier has traded favours behind closed doors with the same people who are involved in this shadowy group ever since he was elected. The Globe and Mail has revealed that the group uses the Premier’s own lawyer, Stephen Thiele, as legal counsel. The Premier gave one of the group’s former directors, Quinto Annibale, a plum position as the LCBO’s vice-chair. And now, the government has used the pandemic as cover to cut development deals with the chair of this group, Michael DeGasperis, the same developer who hosted the Premier at a Florida hockey game—remember those snacks.

Will the Premier tell the people of Ontario what he knows about this whole mess? Will he ensure his government cuts all ties with the people behind this group while they’re under RCMP investigation?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Of course, the honourable member will recall that, I think it was in June of last year, Elections Ontario made it very clear that there was no involvement of any party in this Legislature with respect to this particular group. But having said that, Elections Ontario has referred it, and I’m sure the resources are in place to thoroughly investigate it, to ensure that our elections continue to remain safe and that all of those who participated in it are doing so in the proper fashion.

Long-term care

M me Lucille Collard: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. Since the release of the long-term-care commission’s final report, the government has reminded us of how many new PSWs are being trained and hired to support our long-term-care homes. However, what they didn’t address is the shocking staff retention rate, which is central to the issue, and a temporary wage increase won’t do it. Recommendations were made by the commissioner of the long-term-care public inquiry and were repeated in the long-term-care commission’s final report.

As the Minister has said herself, PSWs are the backbone of long-term-care homes, and I couldn’t agree more. So, will the minister commit—and I believe it’s worth repeating the ask—to providing PSWs safe and adequate working conditions in conformity with the long-term-care commission’s latest recommendations so that we may be effective in attracting and retaining much-needed PSWs?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you very much for that important question. We acted very early in our mandate as a government to address long-term care, and we created the staffing strategy, the staffing plan, and eventually, it emerged as a better place to work and a better place to live. That is exactly why we’re working on those four hours of direct care per resident per day, making sure that we are supporting our PSWs in our long-term-care homes, because, as the member opposite has mentioned, it is about retention.

When we look at the 8,600 and more that we were able to hire with the pandemic pay, it needs to be about retaining them as well. We’re training over 17,000, right now, in terms of PSWs, and making sure that the staff is there to provide those four hours of direct care. We know, when we see the shortages during this tragic pandemic, how this impacts the staff that are there, so we’re taking the measures to address this. We’re taking the measures to support our PSWs. We will continue to take measures to make sure that they are supported and that the environment and conditions they work in are optimum for their safety.

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

M me Lucille Collard: Again to the Minister of Long-Term Care: My colleagues in this House have made it clear that while previous governments took significant steps towards improving long-term care, much more could or should have been done. If my colleagues and I can recognize past shortfalls, the minister should be able to do the same. The loss of nearly 4,000 Ontarians living and working in long-term care is completely heartbreaking, and the minister must admit that the government didn’t do enough. The families and workers affected by these losses deserve a government that takes ownership and commits to do better.

According to evidence presented in the report, the government failed to adequately protect long-term-care residents during the pandemic. Can the Minister commit to do better by implementing the recommendations the government itself asked for?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you again. Those recommendations from the commissioners in the commission report are very insightful, and we very much appreciate them. It has to be about making things better. That’s what we’ve said all along.

In terms of our efforts, we began immediately with the staffing, with the capacity issues, making sure that we had the innovative programs to allow people to stay in their homes as long as possible and as long as they could, if they wished to do so. This is part of the staffing plan for those four hours of direct care, making sure that our staff are supported and looked after. This is all part of a complex issue in terms of how we address an aging population and create the staffing necessary for this aging population. These measures were long neglected.

Could we have moved faster as a government? That has been our whole intent. COVID moved faster. Do I regret that we couldn’t move faster? Absolutely. I acknowledge the responsibility that we have, each and every one of us here, to make things better in long-term care, particularly myself and particularly our government, which we are tasked to do and which we will do.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: My question is to the Minister of Health. In my riding and across Ottawa, I hear from many constituents, like child care workers, who cannot work from home. They are anxious to get their vaccines so they can continue to provide high-quality care to our children. Can the minister please tell this House what we are doing to support these important workers?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member for Ottawa West–Nepean for this important question. Starting tomorrow, May 6, at 8 a.m., even more Ontarians who cannot work from home will be eligible to book their vaccination appointments through the provincial booking system. These include remaining elementary and secondary school workers, workers responding to critical events, food manufacturing and distribution workers, remaining individuals working in licensed child care settings, foster care agency workers, and agriculture and farm workers.

As more vaccine supply becomes available from the federal government, we will continue to expand the list of who is eligible to receive the vaccine, including more critical workers who cannot work from home.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: Through you, Speaker: Thank you for that response. Despite an inconsistent vaccine supply to date, our government has continued to build a solid foundation in Ontario’s vaccine rollout, with a focus on age and risk, allowing us to reach our most vulnerable populations and have a measurable impact. For example, I was particularly proud when Ontario became the first province in Canada to prioritize individuals with developmental disabilities for vaccines as part of our phase 2 rollout.

Can the Minister of Health please update this House on the status of our vaccination program for the month of May?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you again to the member for that question. I am very pleased to report that last week we achieved our goal of administering first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 40% of Ontarians 18 years of age and older. As of today, over 5.6 million doses have been administered. In just two days since we opened up booking eligibility to more groups of Ontarians, over 700,000 appointments have been made through the provincial booking system. On Monday alone, 420,000 appointments were made, and the system held up. Importantly, over 91% of Ontarians over age 80 have received at least one dose.

Over 25,000 first and second doses have been administered in 31 fly-in First Nations communities and Moosonee, and 95% of long-term-care residents are now fully vaccinated.

I strongly encourage everyone to sign up to receive a vaccine as soon as it’s their turn.

Indigenous long-term care

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. I read the report from the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission with great sadness. In our way of life as Indigenous people, it is unimaginable that we ask our elders to leave home on a plane to be looked after by other people, but this is the reality because we have so few long-term-care beds in Kiiwetinoong. We desperately need more long-term-care beds across the region in Far Northern Ontario.

I hear these numbers being thrown around—15,000, 30,000. Why has the government not taken any action to get the 76 long-term-care beds they promised the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre in 2018?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I appreciate the question from the member opposite.

Our last round of projects—80 projects—included projects for the Indigenous communities, because we believe that this is a very important area, as well as the francophone communities and other groups. We recognize the importance of being able to serve people in their own language, serve people with communities of care that are consistent with their cultural needs. We understand that, as a government, and that’s exactly why we’ve included those in the last round of projects. We’ll continue to have this top of mind. Thank you for mentioning it.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Back to the minister: We cannot measure the impact of approximately 4,000 deaths in long-term care from COVID-19 to those families. When I think about that number—the number is nearly the whole municipality of Sioux Lookout, where I come from.

Speaker, the commission’s report said the lack of Indigenous long-term-care homes leads to elders, especially those who only speak their language, being cut off from the love and contact of their families and communities. I have said this before: The elders leave and die alone, far away from their families, and they aren’t flown home until they have died. How cruel.

When will this government fulfill its promise—the Premier was in Sioux Lookout, actually, in 2018—that was made three years ago and invest in culturally appropriate long-term-care homes for our elders in Kiiwetinoong? Meegwetch.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Again, thank you to the member opposite.

This government is absolutely committed to making sure that we look after the Indigenous communities, the francophone communities and other groups that have specific needs for their cultural respect—and that was also clear in the commission report, as you’ve mentioned. Our government is endeavouring to make up for lost time from previous decades. We’ll continue to keep this at the forefront and address these issues.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Roman Baber: My question is to the Minister of Health. This morning, Ontario Soccer sent a letter to the Premier urging that the social and physical neglect of Ontario’s kids must stop. Ontario Soccer stressed that organized and controlled sports are safe for Ontario’s youth, and that it’s time we take the mental health of three million Ontario children and youth seriously.

Yesterday, the health minister said that hospitals and ICU numbers have to go down and, most incredibly, that the backlog of surgeries would have to be worked through before the ban on outdoor sports and other restrictions can be lifted.

My question to the Minister of Health: Will she listen to all the experts who unanimously say that being outdoors is safe and, to quote Ontario Soccer, “stop the social and physical neglect of Ontario’s kids and #LetUsPlay”?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member for the question. We certainly encourage people, especially as the weather gets nicer, to be outside, to go for a walk, to go for a run, to walk the dog. But organized sports, right now, are not something that we can encourage, based on the medical advice we’ve received from the experts. The levels of transmission are still too high in our communities. We need to make sure that people stay at home as much as possible. The levels are starting to go down, but it’s still too early to say because of the variants of concern.

We want to make sure that everyone in Ontario stays healthy and protected, even as we increase our vaccination rate.

We really encourage people to please go out, please get your exercise, please let children run and be outside. But right at this moment, organized sports are not something the medical experts have advised that we should allow to have happen because of the high risk of transmission.

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

Mr. Roman Baber: Back to the minister: It’s time for another

chapter in the “Adventures of Steini Brown in Ontarioland.” During his modelling briefing on April 16, which called for the most recent round of restrictions, Dr. Steini Brown said that under the strictest measures, Ontario will peak around April 28 with 7,000 daily cases. Strictest measures were not implemented because almost every police force in the province thwarted this government’s attempts to impose martial law. But on April 28, despite looser measures, if that’s even possible, Ontario reported under 3,500 daily cases, or less than half than what Dr. Steini Brown predicted.

It’s on the basis of Brown’s and the Ontario science table’s faulty modelling that millions of lives are being ruined daily, including those of three million children and youth referenced in the letter by Ontario Soccer.

Why does the minister continue to make far-reaching decisions based on junk modelling instead of firing Steini Brown and the Ontario science table for being wrong time and time again?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, I’m not sure why the member is ridiculing the efforts of some of the medical experts who are providing us with advice, but we are receiving advice from a number of people who are epidemiologists who understand the issues here. They are providing us with their best advice with respect to levels of transmission, what we can expect in terms of hospitalization and intensive care units. We have acted on the basis of the advice that we’ve received. We’ve built up our capacity in our hospitals. We’ve started our vaccination program. We’ve extended 50% of our doses from each allocation to go into the hot-spot areas.

We take very seriously the medical advice that we’ve been receiving since the beginning of this pandemic, and we will continue to do so.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Joel Harden: My question is for the Premier. Recently, the government announced that adults 18 and older living in three Ottawa postal codes will be able to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. One of the postal codes is K2V in Kanata, which is below the provincial average in terms of COVID incidence rates. Meanwhile, priority neighbourhoods identified by Ottawa Public Health in Ottawa Centre, including Centretown West and Carlin