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March 28, 2022

42nd Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2022-Mar-28 (PDF)

L048 - Mon 28 Mar 2022 / Lun 28 mar 2022

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 28 March 2022 Lundi 28 mars 2022

Members’ Statements

Cricket clubs

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Autism treatment

T.A. “Bud” Bradley

Seniors

Canadian Community Services Organization

Soccer clubs

Automobile insurance

Volunteer organizations in Oakville

Question Period

Public sector compensation

Tourism industry

Northern health services

Skills training

Gender equity in sport

Government accountability

Small business

Affordable housing

COVID-19 immunization

Automotive industry

Affordable housing

Property taxation

Tenant protection

Education

Private members’ public business

Notice of dissatisfaction

Notice of dissatisfaction

Motions

House sittings

Petitions

Retirement homes

Optometry services

Highway safety

Multiple sclerosis

Front-line workers

Optometry services

Anti-vaping initiatives for youth

Access to justice

Gasoline prices

Orders of the Day

Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à ce que l’Ontario reste ouvert aux affaires

The House met at 1015.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. We’re going to begin this morning with a moment of silence for inner thought and personal reflection.

Let us pray.

Prayers.

Members’ Statements

Cricket clubs

Ms. Doly Begum: First I hope everyone will join me in congratulating the men’s soccer team for qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Today I want to talk about the game of cricket, the people who play this sport and the challenges they face despite being a part of a community with a rich history of this game. Cricket is special to many across our province. The South Asian and Caribbean diasporas specifically have taken local initiatives to engage youth, children, families and seniors alike through cricket clubs and leagues. The GTA alone has more than 300 cricket clubs.

Cricket is not new to our city. In fact, Toronto used to be a cricket city. Some of the greatest players from around the world have come and played here in our city. And yet lack of investment and strategy and growing inequities have made it nearly impossible these days for even local clubs to find space to practise.

Speaker, complete lack of infrastructure and barriers to accessing practice space—even when the city fields sit empty—led to local clubs in my riding of Scarborough Southwest and across Scarborough without much option. Community members have often shared that they felt a sense of double standard when it comes to getting access to space to play cricket.

In many communities, cricket builds bridges among different generations. Young people, for example, are kept away from harm with positive mental and physical health impacts. The least we could do is provide people with the space that they are asking for and they need to play this beautiful sport.

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Mr. Aris Babikian: I was proud to participate in a historic announcement to create a medical school in Scarborough. The Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health will provide 30 undergraduate and 45 postgraduate positions to Scarborough students. Finally, Mr. Speaker, the dream becomes a reality.

The University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus will be home to the new school in Scarborough. In addition to graduating physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and physical therapists, it will also provide a life sciences program. SAMIH will graduate up to 30 physicians, 30 physician assistants, 30 nurse practitioners, 40 physical therapists and 300 life sciences undergraduates per year.

After 15 years of Del Duca and Kathleen Wynne neglect, broken promises and dilapidated infrastructure, Scarborough and Scarborough–Agincourt are getting the attention they deserve. In Scarborough–Agincourt alone, our government is building and renovating and expanding the Birchmount emergency department, allocating $20 million to renovate and expand Terry Fox and David Lewis Public Schools, building the Bridletowne community and health hub, and constructing the Scarborough subway. The best is yet to come for Scarborough.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I remind all members to please refer to each other by your riding name or your ministerial title, as applicable.

Autism treatment

Ms. Catherine Fife: My constituent Allana Boussey, a mental health clinician and the parent of two children on the autism spectrum, recently wrote to me about how her family has been affected by the disastrous state of Ontario’s autism program. She spoke of her son, who was diagnosed with autism when he was four years old and at the time was struggling to stay in kindergarten for even a half day, as the sensory input and communication demands were overwhelming.

Once he was diagnosed, Allana and her spouse paid out of pocket for ABA therapy and occupational therapy. This first year of therapy was an incredible success for her son, but financial ruin for the family. Allana’s son has continued to access ABA therapy and occupational therapy, but to a lesser extent each year. Because of his therapy, he is now actually able to attend school full days and shines as a student, but Allana says, “While we have sacrificed our life savings for this success, we don’t think we should have had to.” She’s right.

No family should have to drain their savings to ensure that their child has access to necessary therapy. Families who can’t access private services should not be forced to languish on wait-lists while their children’s long-term development suffers. I ask on behalf of Allana and parents of children with autism across Ontario that this government acknowledge the devastation it’s putting families through, rethink its proposed changes to the OAP and clear the 53,000-child wait-list in this province.

T.A. “Bud” Bradley

Mr. Toby Barrett: I’ll commence my statement by saying, “This Bud’s For You.” That was the election slogan of my mentor, my MP for Haldimand–Norfolk, Dr. T.A. “Bud” Bradley, who very recently passed at the age of 84. Bud was in office from 1979 to 1988, serving as parliamentary secretary to supply and services and to the Minister of Defence, for example, with responsibility for files like NATO and Turkey.

Raised in Dunnville, Bud moved around as an army brat. He played hockey for the Montreal Junior Canadiens and the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Then he joined the Canadian Officers’ Training Corp. in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and became an army dentist. After 18 years in the army, it was back to Dunnville to practise, and then he was asked to run.

Bud would do anything to help anyone. He once accepted a dental payment in the form of a cow, a black Angus named Suzy Q. He could talk politics for hours. He could fix anything. He loved dogs and was quite the gardener. Two summers ago he sent me home with some suicide peppers.

I was pleased to see him just before Christmas with his wife, Susan, and his son Drew. Bud, if you’re listening, for all you do, this Bud’s for you.

Seniors

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I am pleased to stand in my place and share some voices of the seniors across my community. We recently asked them for their input to tell us what life was like as seniors across the Oshawa area.

Kathleen Pellarin wrote: “The impact of the pandemic, both from the point of view of the virus (medically speaking) and socially, has been unprecedented for most people. I am very concerned with the directions the current provincial government is headed in, in terms of life for seniors in Ontario. From my point of view the government needs to invest in models that keep families living in their own homes (whether that is owned or rented) in a supportive setting. Long-term care homes should never be built as a for-profit entity.

I believe it has been proven through this pandemic that the care of the individuals in a for-profit LTC home is not the same as that in others funded in large part through government funds....

“As you are aware the other key issues facing seniors in our community are affordable housing and, for some, hunger (reliance on food banks).”

I heard from J.A. Clark who said: “Warehousing our elders is not the solution; funding and expanding home care is.” He goes on to give examples.

I heard from Melanie Kitchen, who reminds us that, “Large institutions cannot do what smaller home care or care in individuals’ homes can do no matter how new or pretty they are.” She goes on at length to explain why we need to be investing in home care for our loved ones.

I heard from Jerry Newson who—I would be glad to talk to the minister of digital affairs—talks about how hard it is for seniors to cope in this world, and we need to support them in so many ways.

Thank you for giving me the chance to share a few of them today.

Canadian Community Services Organization

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: I rise today to congratulate an organization that has stepped up to support community in a major way in the community of Thorncliffe Park in Don Valley West. From the very beginning of this COVID pandemic, a small band of only four volunteers led by community leader Masood Alam came together to do everything in their power to support their neighbours through this very trying time.

There are wonderful, established organizations like The Neighbourhood Organization that have provided strong leadership through this period, and they deserve a huge vote of thanks.

But what’s remarkable about Masood Alam and his team is that they had no official backing at the start of their work. Since March 2020, the Canadian Community Services Organization, as we now know them, has grown to 70 volunteers and they’ve accomplished an enormous amount. They have held 23 food drives, serving over 6,000 people; distributed over 10,000 masks; distributed thousands of PPE kits, face shields and hand sanitizers; held a toy drive; helped nearly 200 families every month with groceries; and engaged new high school volunteers.

I know that there are many individuals in small organizations who have supported CCSO’s work. As a local MPP, I want to thank them all, Speaker. But most particularly, I want to thank Masood Alam and his team: Taqi Khan, Rahana Imtiaz, Nasir Malik, Adil Butt, Asif Mahmood, Azhar Bokhari, Moazzum Raza, Shakeel Ahmed, Syed Almas, Azfa Alam and Rizwan Saleem for their dedication to the community and their positive energy throughout this pandemic. Thank you all.

Soccer clubs

Mr. Lorne Coe: Yesterday, over 29,000 fans braved the cold weather to cheer on the Team Canada men’s soccer team at BMO Field as they took on Team Jamaica. What a game and what a win for Team Canada as they scored early and never looked back, winning the match 4 to 0. With the win, Team Canada has officially qualified for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Speaker, soccer is now Ontario’s largest provincial sport organization with over 600 clubs across the province. And I wanted to congratulate Ontario Soccer for having 80% of Team Canada’s roster pass through this system at one point or another. Speaker, this goes to show that investment in community sport has world-class outcomes, which is why the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries announced that our government is investing $30 million to stabilize Ontario’s sport and recreation sector.

I would like to recognize the outstanding youth soccer clubs across Ontario. In the region of Durham this includes Whitby FC, the Durham Open Ladies Soccer League and many terrific soccer clubs that are part of the Durham Region Soccer Association.

Speaker, on behalf of this Legislature, I want to wish Team Canada the best of luck as they represent our country on the world stage later this year in Qatar.

Automobile insurance

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Why is the Conservative government allowing billionaire insurance companies to rip you off? People are struggling right now with how unaffordable life is becoming, from the housing crisis to the skyrocketing gas prices, to groceries and more. Instead of helping out people, the Conservative government is allowing them to struggle with one of the greatest expenses they face: car insurance. There are some families in Ontario who pay more for car insurance than for the mortgage of their own home. But instead of helping them, they’re helping their insider friends and buddies in the car insurance industry.

If we look at the track record of this Conservative government since getting elected, time and again they have voted no to lowering rates. They have voted no to two NDP bills to lower car insurance rates. They said no to lowering rates during the pandemic, and they continue to say no today as people struggle to make ends meet. And in case people were confused, your rates only go up when the Conservative government allows them to go up.

That’s why this election is so important. We in opposition, in the NDP, can only raise the issue of car insurance, but an NDP government will once and for all stand up to these billionaire car insurance companies, mandate lower rates, give you a break and make life more affordable for you.

Volunteer organizations in Oakville

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Good morning to everyone in the Legislature today.

In my community of Oakville, you can recognize the strong sense of community support. Local organizations, churches and individuals work tirelessly to help those in need.

I recently joined the Kerr Street Mission to celebrate their successful Ontario Trillium grant. This grant is supporting the incredible efforts of the Kerr Street Mission in its relaunch and expansion of the Fresh Food Box for Halton. The Fresh Food Box for Halton program aims to provide healthy food for all in Halton by equipping local community groups to respond to food insecurity within their own neighbourhoods. Since its relaunch in July 2020, over 1,500 fresh food boxes have been distributed. No one should have to go without healthy and nutritious foods.

In light of the events in Ukraine, Oakville residents have been looking for ways to aid the Ukrainian people. The Ukrainian flag has been prominent in Oakville and is proudly displayed on cars, churches and businesses. In addition to this public display of solidarity, St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church held a call for prayer for relatives and friends in Ukraine. St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre partnered with the Ukraine Medical Assist to collect donations from the community to be sent directly to Ukraine during this time of need. Donations included items like bandages, tape, gloves and first-aid products.

Residents from all of Oakville, including the various communities, worked quickly to gather supplies that could aid this country.

I am fortunate to live in an engaged community where people are going above and beyond to make sure Oakville is such a great place to work, live and raise a family.

Question Period

Public sector compensation

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Before I begin, I just want to send our condolences, on behalf of the Ontario NDP and I’m sure all of our colleagues in the House from every party, to the victims—and the family and friends—of a tragic house fire in Brampton over the weekend, where five people died, three of them children. Our hearts and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims.

Speaker, my question is to the Premier. The sunshine list shows that the high flyers of this government have made big raises while the front-line heroes of the pandemic have gotten gimmicks. Front-line health care workers are stuck with the Premier’s low-wage policy while his buddies have raked in huge raises. The top 10 earners on the list got a combined raise of $1.9 million just this year. Front-line workers in health care are neglected, thanks to this Premier’s Bill 124, but the Premier’s CEO of Ontario Health got a $186,000 raise just this year. That’s three times the average Ontario worker’s salary.

Speaker, why does this Premier have a huge salary increase for the CEO of Ontario Health, but have nothing but gimmicks for nurses, health care workers and front-line heroes who are getting us through this pandemic?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: He is correct; the sunshine list was released last Friday, Mr. Speaker, as it is every year. But let me just tell the member this: We have provided a significant amount of resources for our front-line health care workers. I know in the Ministry of Long-Term Care we’ve been working for the addition of 27,000 PSWs. Of course, we’ve provided additional funding, a salary bump, for our front-line workers. You know how important that was, Mr. Speaker. It was something that we knew we had to do the moment we came into office.

We’re making significant investments in long-term care. It’s not just about adding staff, as well; we’ve heard from the people who are working on the front lines that the facilities that they work in have to be top-notch facilities. They have to be facilities that they’re proud to work in, that give people the best quality of care. That’s why we’re building a brand new hospital in Brampton. That’s why Peel is getting the largest hospital in the country. That’s why we’re building schools, universities and colleges. A lot is happening in the province of Ontario, and it’s leading to the most economically prosperous jurisdiction in North America.

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

Mr. Taras Natyshak: As I guessed, Speaker, the government House leader fails to justify those enormous raises in the midst of the pandemic.

The Premier promised to reduce hydro prices, but he has raised them every year, and those higher prices are paying for over $5 million for the top salaries at Ontario Power Generation. At OPG, the top four officials made—get this—$1.1 million on top of their already enormous salaries. While Ontarians watched their monthly bills skyrocket, the Premier’s top OPG officials took in between $160,000 and $399,000 in one-year raises alone.

Speaker, why does this Premier refuse to rein in these outlandish salaries at the top of OPG, leaving Ontarians to literally foot the bill with higher prices for their hydro rates?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, as I’ve said, the sunshine list was released last Thursday. Of course, this was an initiative that was brought in by a Conservative government back in the 1990s, and it does highlight, I think, very effectively for the people of the province of Ontario who is making what.

Having said that, when he talks about hydro prices, we knew that the only way we were going to bring back the economy in the province of Ontario is if we made hydro prices stable. That’s something the Premier said right from the beginning: We had to stabilize the hydroelectricity system in the province. We’ve done that. The Premier also said we had to eliminate that 19% hydro increase that was planned by the previous Liberal government. We have done that.

That has led to investments and growth. The Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade made the largest investment in the auto sector. He was able to close a $5-billion deal which would see thousands of jobs brought to the province of Ontario, which will literally save the auto industry for generations to come. You get that because of a strong, stable Progressive Conservative government, and we will continue to do that for a long time.

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

Mr. Taras Natyshak: That’s strike two for the government House leader in justifying these enormous raises. We’ll give him one more shot at bat here, Speaker.

Even as ridership and fares plummeted at Metrolinx due to the pandemic, the Premier rewarded the CEO with a raise of $96,000. His total salary is over $836,000—this is a typo. Is this a typo, “$836,000”?

Miss Monique Taylor: No, it’s not a typo.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: That’s incredible. To put that into perspective, just to pay for Metrolinx’s CEO salary, the agency would have to collect fares from Ontarians for five full days. That raise alone is more than one and a half times the annual salary of the average Ontarian worker.

Speaker, why, when our transit agencies need to increase affordable and accessible transit across Ontario, has this Premier handed the Metrolinx CEO a $96,000-a-year raise just this year alone?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, Mr. Speaker, what we’ve done is handed a mandate to our partners to deliver the largest increase, the largest build in transit history in the province of Ontario.

Now, we didn’t just stop—I know yesterday the Minister of Transportation joined the Premier and a number of our colleagues for the official groundbreaking of the Ontario Line, something that they said couldn’t be done. We are actually doing it, Speaker.

Now, the Ontario Line, of course, will lead—it’s part of a $29-billion investment in transit in Toronto and in the GTA. I know the member for Oak Ridges–Aurora–Richmond Hill has been working very hard, as has the member for Richmond Hill, to get a subway to York region. We’re getting that done.

The people in Scarborough have been waiting for a very long time for a subway. I note that the member for Scarborough–Rouge Park, the members for Scarborough–Agincourt and Scarborough Centre and the minister from Scarborough North have been fighting. They delivered a three-stop subway, as well as a medical school at the University of Toronto, as well as long-term care. A lot of good things are happening across the province.

Tourism industry

Mr. Taras Natyshak: The government House leader cannot, in any good conscience, justify the enormous wages and the raises to these people, so we’ll move on. That’s strike three.

We’ll move to the minister of tourism and sport. Tourism operators have had some of the most difficult years of their business thanks to the pandemic. That’s exactly why the province should have had their backs with financial support to keep these businesses afloat, but that is not what happened.

The Premier has abandoned tourism operators, because the CBC reports this morning that not a cent—not one cent—of the $100 million that this Premier has promised has gone out the door. Why has the Premier and his minister of tourism and sport abandoned the tourism sector when they needed it the most?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: As Minister of Sport, I always enjoy a good gutter ball over there by the NDP. I can tell you, that member opposite has not stood in this place and asked a tourism-related question for the hardest-hit sectors, who were hit first, hardest and would take the longest to recover, in the past two years of this pandemic. Why? Because all they are focused on, on the other side, is complaining. All they are focused on, on the other side, is trying to draw out potential scandals that never really exist.

Speaker, I have stood up for the tourism sector this entire time. I have held over three dozen webinars and round tables with—

Interjections.

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

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I’ve travelled the entire province. I’ve invested $400,000 in the Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island in order to help restore the branding issues after the Ambassador Bridge.

The member opposite says one thing in his place, but when it comes time to vote, he has voted against a billion dollars’ worth of tourism supports, Speaker.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The opposition will come to order.

Supplementary.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: It’s been six months since this minister promised support to tourism operators—six months since she promised support for them. They filled in their paperwork months ago. They were well ahead of the game. Yet, five months later, this government is still delaying while hundreds of businesses are waiting for supports.

The CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario said, “Every day that is lost is an opportunity lost for Ontarians to be hired and for businesses to get the revenue that they’ve simply not had for the last two years.” Businesses like fishing lodges and bed and breakfasts need support, Speaker, not further delays.

Why is this Premier failing to help the tourism sector with the support they desperately need to stay open?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Speaker, the member opposite has limited, if not zero, credibility on these issues. I’m glad that somebody wrote him a question, but I guess he could answer a few things for me. Why, when it came time to invest $270 million into an Ontario Staycation Tax Credit, did he vote against it? Why, when it came time to invest $25 million to sustain iconic institutions across the province, including in Windsor-Essex, did he stand there and vote against it? Why, when this government brought forward $100 million in small business supports for tourism sectors, did he vote against it?

And I’ll ask another question, Speaker. Why, when we doubled the Reconnect Festival and Event Program—every dollar in yields $21 back in return. Why did that member vote against events like the Windsor International Film Festival? I want to know why I have been the only person in this assembly standing up here for two years speaking about heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries, because they have not.

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

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Speaker, it’s question period. We get to ask the questions. They have to answer the questions. If spin and deflection were worth 10 cents, the tourism sector would be overflowing with cash from this minister, but unfortunately they are not.

One business told the CBC that they need a lifeline to stay open, but when that operator tried to find out what’s happening with the funding, he was met with radio silence. That business, an excursion company on Manitoulin Island, said, “But what we do know is the tourism industry generally is hanging on by a thread these days.”

These businesses have cleaned out their savings; they’ve maxed out their credit cards just to keep the doors open. Why have this government and that minister failed to get the funds out the door for a tourism sector that is desperate to stay alive in Ontario?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I believe I must have touched a nerve with the member opposite. He clearly doesn’t really understand the file. He hasn’t travelled tens of thousands of kilometres across this great province, meeting directly with tourism operators, as I did last week when I was in Manitoulin, investing $260,000 in Indigenous tourism at Wiikwemkoong First Nation. Why does the member vote against those initiatives?

An additional $100 million to the Ontario Trillium Foundation in order to support heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries: Do you know who voted for that? Progressive Conservatives. Do you know who voted against it? New Democrats. That’s all they do. They’re the party of no; we’re the party of yes. I am the minister responsible for a sector that has been hurt. It doesn’t deserve politics; it deserves their attention. And I am so sad and disappointed that it took them two years to figure out the hardest-hit sectors are the ones that they have always taken for granted.

Northern health services

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Remarks in Oji-Cree. It’s a good morning.

My question is to the Minister of Health. Red Lake Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital, like many hospitals in northwestern Ontario, has many challenges to ensure full-time emergency department position coverage. Many physicians find it daunting to work in small hospitals, where obtaining diagnostic services such as CT scans have to be done off-site. They also must practise with a very broad scope of expertise, with minimal specialist support.

This government must address the inequitable access to basic emergency medical care for northerners in Red Lake and in all of northwestern Ontario. How will this be done? Meegwetch.

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member opposite for the question. It is quite an important one. I can advise that the municipality of Red Lake did declare an emergency on March 25 of this year, and the declaration was due to a service disruption in the emergency department at the Red Lake Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital from 8 o’clock on March 26 through to 8 o’clock on March 27 as a result of a physician shortage on that particular day.

But the provincial emergency operations centre and the Ministry of Health coordinated patients to be redirected to Dryden, and air support was available for EMS transfers as required. Fortunately, no air transfers were required, but two ambulances did drive to Dryden with patients. However, the situation has been rectified for the present, and Ontario Health will continue its efforts to find coverage and build up resiliency through the province’s local program.

I’ll speak to other efforts that we’re making in the supplementary.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Back to the Minister of Health: Red Lake physicians regularly work 24-hour shifts every three days, or even every two days. Over half of the physicians are locums who need extra time to travel to Red Lake, mainly from southern Ontario. Scheduling is precarious, and one missed flight or sick day for physicians forces the small complement of physicians to cover these shifts or risk closing the hospital’s emergency department.

On March 26, our over-strained system cracked. Over 6,000 Ontarians were left without their emergency department in Red Lake. What is this government doing to ensure that it doesn’t happen again?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I think it’s really important to look back in history to see and understand how this situation became this way. The physician shortage was the direct result of the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, eliminating, then capping, medical school seats in Ontario. The Del Duca-Wynne Liberals froze hospital spending for years and eliminated 50 medical residency positions from Ontario.

However, our government is dealing with that. That’s why we’re adding 160 undergraduate seats and 295 post-graduate seats over the next five years, which is the largest expansion in medical schools in the last 10 years. This expansion will support all six medical schools across Ontario.

But especially important to your question is: The Northern Ontario School of Medicine will receive 41 undergraduate positions of medical school and 30 post-graduate positions. This will help eliminate the situation with—

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

Skills training

Mr. Norman Miller: My question is to the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. In my riding of Parry Sound–Muskoka and from businesses across the province, we hear the same issues being raised everywhere. They are desperate to hire, but they cannot find the workers they need.

There are hundreds of thousands of good-paying positions going unfilled across Ontario. Businesses in my riding, from contractors and manufacturers to resorts and restaurants, are all having trouble finding workers. Mr. Speaker, will the minister please tell us what actions the government has taken to address this historic labour shortage?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I want to thank my colleague from Parry Sound–Muskoka. Before I answer his question, I just want to say, on behalf of all the people in his riding, on behalf of the province, thank you so much for your service to Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right: Every paycheque uncollected means a family going another day without. That is why I was pleased to join labour leaders, apprentices and tradespeople in London at the Ontario Masonry Training Centre to announce our government’s investment of $28 million in pre-apprenticeships.

With our increased funding, there will be nearly 100 pre-app projects in every corner of Ontario to help people learn the skills they need to fill these in-demand jobs. From stonecutting and masonry work to hospitality and manufacturing, these programs are open to anyone who wants to learn.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll look forward to the supplementary.

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

Mr. Norman Miller: Thank you, Minister, and thank you for your kind comments. It’s comforting to know our government is tackling this generational labour shortage head-on.

One of the many tools our government is using to accomplish this goal is the Ministry of Labour’s pre-apprenticeship program. Pre-apprenticeships are excellent ways to open new doors for people. They offer Ontarians the opportunity to try a new trade that they might not have considered. Can the minister please explain more about his recent London announcement and how our government is determined to help workers upskill and connect with better careers?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Again, thank you to the member. Through you, Mr. Speaker: I am a big advocate of pre-apprenticeships and encourage anyone interested in trying a trade to check them out. These programs are short—less than one year long at most—and provide a stepping stone to a better career. Most importantly, they provide an opportunity to learn while working and earning a paycheque.

Through investments like these, the Premier and our government are saying yes to a stronger Ontario. We are bringing together business and labour leaders to make our future brighter for average people who are working hard to get ahead.

Speaker, we’re working for workers. On this side of the House, we’re getting it done.

Gender equity in sport

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier.

Ontario University Athletics took the remarkable step of releasing an open letter condemning this government’s choice of failing to address the gender imbalance in sport. The government has allocated $3 million to men-only hockey scholarships. The OUA says, “The government of Ontario should be equally concerned about providing fair opportunities to all genders with public funds.” We agree.

Instead of acknowledging this unfairness, the minister of sport called the open letter “quibbling” and “misleading.”

Women in sports, including hockey, deserve equality and the chance to reach their athletic potential. They do not deserve attacks. Why would the minister downplay these legitimate concerns of Ontario’s university athletics sports community?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Obviously, as a former female athlete myself, a hockey mother and coach, I have dedicated my career to making sure, even when I was minister of women’s issues, that women and girls had an opportunity to succeed, and an equal opportunity to young men and, of course, male sports.

What the member opposite is talking about is a letter after myself and the Minister of Finance announced that there would be additional, brand new money, $30 million, that will go out to a number of different sport entities, including to the OHL for their scholarship program.

That said, what the member opposite is not talking about is the additional $300,000 that the Ontario University Athletics association has received through my ministry—not through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities—whereby they can spend every single cent on that, if they like, to support female athletes.

I’d also like to point out that 52% of our Quest for Gold funding, which is a $6-million fund, went to high-performance female athletes.

We continue to work on a strategy within the ministry, and we’ll not apologize for the great work we’re doing to support women in sport.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: Speaker, you will never address a problem if you don’t acknowledge that it exists.

Instead of acknowledging the inequity in scholarships, the minister attacked the leadership of Ontario University Athletics and rejected their concerns, as she just did right now. She accused the association last week of trying to “confuse the argument.” She said that they’re quibbling about a scholarship program for a male-dominated sport.

Speaker, leaders in Ontario’s university athletics just want the simple principle of equity in scholarships. Funding choices speak volumes about values, but it is never too late to do the right thing—and they put that in their letter. Equally allocating university athletics scholarships would help launch future sports careers and make huge contributions to our society.

As a former varsity athletic water polo player—even I get that concept—will the minister do the right thing and stand up for women in sport and invest in women athletes like the Ontario University Athletics open letter calls for?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: My ministry and our government are committed to supporting community-based athletics and recreation across Ontario, which is why we invested $30 million in new money to support all of our provincial sport organizations, multi-sport organizations, and actually have, for the first time ever, opened up to female-dominated sports—skip rope, cheer and dance—which has never been done before, but we got a line of sight into that during the pandemic.

I also wanted to point out that, through the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we’ve invested $105 million, as I mentioned to her colleague, in order to support community-based sport.

Let me read something that the Ontario University Athletics association sent me after we made the announcement: “Just a quick thank you for the additional MHSTCI funding to OUA. Much appreciated and helpful.”

I would encourage the Ontario University Athletics association to use the existing funds and the new money they’re receiving as a result of this in order to distribute it to female athletes if they so choose.

Government accountability

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Minister of Health.

Speaker, we know the Premier called Dr. Mohammad, and we know that Dr. Mohammad felt that his hospital’s funding was being threatened and put at risk.

Can the minister tell us what threats were made and whether anyone in her office or ministry participated in these intimidation tactics?

Hon. Christine Elliott: None at all. In fact, there were no intimidation tactics. In fact, with respect to Dr. Brooks Fallis, we’ve never heard of this individual, and the allegations that he is making are categorically false.

We have listened to a variety of people, including our Chief Medical Officer of Health, to make decisions with respect to COVID-19 that were based on clinical evidence and science. We will continue to listen to the Chief Medical Officer of Health and to make sure that the decisions we make continue to be based in fact.

As I said before, we have never heard of Dr. Fallis, and any allegations he’s making are false.

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

Mr. John Fraser: Well, we’ll send you the clip so you can watch it, Minister. But look, we all know if you stand up and criticize this Premier, he can be vindictive—or he will be vindictive—and that’s why the seats behind me keep filling up. So I’m not surprised the minister does not—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. The government side will come to order.

Start the clock. The member for Ottawa South has the floor.

Mr. John Fraser: Well, they’re laughing, but they were your friends and colleagues at one point. Remember that.

So I’m not surprised the minister denied this and denied the interference and intimidation by the Premier, but Ontarians deserve real answers. That is why we’re asking the government to call the Standing Committee on Social Policy to be convened to investigate exactly what happened, including calling Dr. Naveed Mohammad and the Premier and anyone else to speak about this matter under oath.

We can’t have a health care system that’s on the whim of the Premier’s vindictiveness. Speaker, will the minister agree to convene the Standing Committee on Social Policy, so we can get to the bottom of this and get to the real truth about what happened?

Hon. Christine Elliott: The short answer is no, because I can advise that the Premier has always made decisions based on the recommendations of Dr. Moore and his advisers. He has always made his decisions based on the clinical evidence and science. That is what Ontarians have known from the beginning, and so there’s no need to refer it anywhere else.

Small business

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: My question is to the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. Speaker, as we all know, small businesses are the backbone of the Ontario economy, and I have seen the support of small businesses first-hand in my riding of Erin Mills during this pandemic. While our government has taken strong, unprecedented actions to support them, we know there is more we need to do, especially among businesses owned by Black, Indigenous and other racialized entrepreneurs.

Now that Ontario is on the road to economic recovery, we need every small business in every community across the province to succeed. Can the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism please inform the House what our government is doing to ensure no one is left behind?

Hon. Parm Gill: I want to thank my colleague from Mississauga–Erin Mills for the question, and also the tremendous work he does on behalf of his constituents, not just here at Queen’s Park but also in his riding.

Mr. Speaker, as the member pointed out, of course, we know that during the pandemic all small businesses were hit hard and faced lots of challenges. Those owned by Indigenous, Black and racialized communities were the hardest hit. That’s why our government was proud to announce a $5-million investment that we’re providing to support businesses owned by Indigenous, Black and racialized entrepreneurs. Eligible recipients can qualify for up to $10,000 in funding to grow their business and create innovation, as well as to provide culturally relevant training and business coaching.

As a former small business owner myself, I understand some of those challenges first-hand, and I know this investment will be really, really well received by every single business out there.

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

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Thanks to the minister for this answer. I know small business owners in my community of Mississauga–Erin Mills will be very happy to hear about the grant and the billions of dollars in business support from our government.

Small businesses need to know that their government is creating the right environment for their businesses to grow and flourish. That has never been more important than now. Now more than ever, we need targeted supports to help deliver culturally related programming and remove disparities in all communities, while building new pathways to economic success.

Speaker, through you, can the minister tell us how the RAISE grant will help create more opportunities for everyone across Ontario?

Hon. Parm Gill: I want to thank my colleague for that important question, again. Our government is ensuring that racial equity is included within our COVID-19 recovery plan for the long-term economic growth of our province. With this RAISE grant, we are saying yes to supporting new opportunities for economic success. That’s because encouraging equal opportunities for everyone is the right thing to do. It’s good for jobs. It’s good for businesses. By improving access to economic opportunities, we’re supporting local communities and we’re building a stronger, more inclusive Ontario for everyone.

On this side of the House, we remain committed to turning possibility into prosperity across our great province.

Affordable housing

Mr. Faisal Hassan: My question is to the Premier. In my riding of York South–Weston, hard-working people are facing an affordability crisis. Housing, renting and purchasing continue to be unaffordable and people are being forced to leave the community they were raised in.

The Toronto Star recently did a story that highlighted the 33 King Street building in my riding and shared the struggles tenants are facing. Almost 20 years ago, Sharlene Henry moved into the 33 King Street building. She would like a bigger space but feels stuck, as rents have soared. Sharlene stated, “We’ve outgrown our space, but the market has outgrown us.”

The reality is that people have to hold onto units even when it does not make sense for the householder to live there. What is this government doing to address the housing crisis we are in, unreasonable above-guideline rent increases, and holding tenants hostage because they cannot afford to move?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond on behalf of the government, the member for Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill.

Mr. Michael Parsa: I thank my honourable colleague for the question. He is absolutely right: Life had become incredibly unaffordable because of the decisions made by the previous government, and of course often supported by the NDP, which is why we wanted to turn things around. We want to make sure that life is more affordable for Ontarians.

Part of that includes making sure that the jobs that were lost because of the previous government—300,000 manufacturing jobs were lost because of the decisions of the previous government. As you heard last week, the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade announced a $5-billion investment that is bringing more jobs, good-paying jobs, back to this province again. What we are going to do is we’re going to make sure that the housing supply that was neglected by the previous government—we are increasing housing in all areas. Last year, more housing starts were built here in Ontario.

We’re going to make sure housing is built for everyone across Ontario that is affordable for every—

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

The supplementary question.

Mr. Faisal Hassan: Back to the Premier: The 33 King Street building in York South–Weston serves as a good example of what is wrong with this government’s approach to housing. When tenants lived in the same apartment for more than a decade, their average rent increase was 28%. If the apartment changed hands, that average rises to an astonishing 73%. Above-guideline rent increases for work done in improvements is another tool to make tenants vacate and to raise rents substantially.

I will end with the words of 33 King Street tenant Sandy Bathie, who feels, “I can’t afford to move, and I can’t afford to stay.” Will this government ban and eliminate above-guideline rent increases and support real rent control today?

Mr. Michael Parsa: Again, I thank the member for raising an important issue here, which is affordability in the province of Ontario. He’s absolutely right, which is why the Minister of Housing took the initiative, under the leadership of Premier Ford, to make sure that we work to ensure that housing supply is increased in this province for anyone who is looking to have—whether it’s affordable housing, whether it’s that dream of owning a home in this province. As I mentioned earlier, housing starts in this province increased for the first time since the 1990s. That’s not by accident. That’s because of the policies of this government under the leadership of this Premier.

I encourage the opposition to work with us so that we can build more houses for all Ontarians. Whether they want to look to rent, whether they want to buy again, we need to make sure these homes are affordable for all Ontarians. We’ll make sure we deliver for them. I hope the opposition supports us along the way.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Speaker, my question, through you, is to the Minister of Health. The objectives of directive 6 were to set out a provincially consistent approach to COVID-19 immunization policies in covered organizations. Directive 6 was issued by Dr. Moore under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, 2004,

section 77.7, on August 17 of last year and it was implemented 21 days later on September 6.

The first stated objective of directive 6 is to optimize COVID-19 immunization rates. Emerging evidence now demonstrates natural immunity to be superior and longer lasting to vaccine-induced immunity. It is a breach of medical ethics to ignore natural immunity and to force employees to undergo vaccination unnecessarily that could expose them to an adverse reaction. Compelling employees to submit to a medical procedure that has little or no benefit may put many at potential risk.

My question to the Minister of Health is, why was natural immunity to COVID-19 disregarded?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Natural immunity was never disregarded. It was regarded by the experts but wasn’t considered to be sufficient enough to prevent a person from contracting COVID.

What is important is to be vaccinated, not once but twice—three times actually. We have actually exceeded over 32 million vaccinations in Ontario right now. This is the best protection for people. Natural immunity helps, but it isn’t going to be the salvation for someone if they contract it. Even with the third inoculation, people can still get COVID, but they are unlikely to be hospitalized because they have that natural protection. It’s more likely to appear as a case of flu or a cold. But that isn’t because of natural immunity; that’s because of vaccination.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Back to the Minister of Health, through you, Speaker: Directive 6 allowed for unvaccinated employees to continue to work and undergo antigen testing at intervals to be determined by the covered organization. It was amoral that employers decided on their own and were allowed to further jeopardize patients and staff when they implemented an unnecessary policy of vaccinate or terminate. Forcing employees to be vaccinated with a non-sterilizing vaccine, still in clinical trials with no long-term safety data, was unethical. The vaccine did not shield patients or staff from transmission.

It was the employers who took away the right to informed consent, not directive 6. Sadly, other government levels stood idly by as employers explicitly violated some of the most valued ethical principles of medicine. Your government allowed employers to move far beyond directive 6 into a heavy-handed authoritarian approach of vaccinate or terminate.

Minister, why didn’t you step in and stop these non-medical employers from forcing an invasive medical procedure on employees? It was coercive and illegal.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to caution the member on the use of some of the language that he used in his question.

Minister of Health to reply.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Frankly, Speaker, it’s hard to know where to start with an answer here. But ultimately, the best protection against COVID is vaccination. That has been demonstrated by experts across the world. Millions and millions of people have been vaccinated without ill effects. In fact, it’s saved hundreds of thousands of lives. I won’t apologize for that, because that is what the science says and that is what the clinical evidence says.

Employers are allowed to develop their own vaccine policies. Most required vaccines, particularly where there are vulnerable people, in our long-term-care homes and other places. But the way that we’re getting out of this pandemic right now and able to start opening up our economy is because so many Ontarians went out and were vaccinated, and I thank them very much for that. That’s giving Ontario back its future.

Automotive industry

Ms. Donna Skelly: My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

After 15 years of Liberal mismanagement, generations of workers were forgotten, 300,000 manufacturing jobs left Ontario, and there was absolutely no plan for economic growth. The lack of investment had our auto and manufacturing sectors running scared.

But recently, we have seen billions—that’s billions with a “B”—of dollars’ worth of investment back into this province. Could the minister outline what historic investments have been announced recently and how they will support our auto and manufacturing sectors?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, since day one, our government has worked to reduce the cost of doing business by $7 billion a year, giving business the confidence to invest here in Ontario.

Over the past 18 months, we’ve seen an historic $13 billion invested in our steel, EV and EV battery manufacturing: Ford, $1.8 billion; Stellantis, $1.5 billion; General Motors, $2.3 billion; Honda, $1.4 billion; Dofasco, $1.8 billion; and, of course, last week, the single biggest auto investment in the history of the country, LG and Stellantis, $5 billion in Windsor.

But, Speaker, we’re just getting started. Stay tuned as auto companies announce more and more and more investments as we unleash Ontario’s economy.

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

Ms. Donna Skelly: Speaker, we know that Ontarians are so relieved and so happy that Ontario is back and is reversing the damage that the previous Liberal government, supported time and time again by the NDP, did to our economy.

It’s clear that our government has been focused on restoring this critical sector in Ontario’s economy. But reviving Ontario’s auto sector was no easy task, one that took many years. Can the minister please outline how our government’s automotive plan has helped drive automotive investment back into Ontario?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, the member from Flamborough–Glanbrook is absolutely correct. Under the previous government, Ontario saw 300,000 jobs flee the province. The Liberal government simply gave up on manufacturing jobs.

Here’s a direct quote from the Liberals’ final economic report: “The structure of the Ontario economy will continue to shift from goods-producing to service-producing sectors.” How sad.

But we knew it did not have to be that way, and we immediately put in steps to stop that loss of jobs. Driving Prosperity was the name of our plan that restored Ontario’s auto sector, and the $13 billion of investments shows that that plan is working.

Ontario has gained 500,000 jobs since we took office, as we unleash Ontario’s economic potential to secure a future for generations to come.

Affordable housing

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Affordability is a huge concern for most people today. Housing costs ballooned under the last government and have only accelerated under this one.

Constituents at One Richmond Row reached out to tell me they’re facing rent increases of 7% to 10% simply because they are in a building built after 2018. This government cancelled rent control on new buildings, forcing these tenants to pay hundreds more dollars in additional rent. Seniors living on fixed incomes and young families trying to start their lives are afraid they’re going to end up on the street.

Marnie told me, “I’m very frustrated as to why it will be such a large increase when it should be 1.2% like other renters. As a new renter I had no idea this would” happen “to me. It has been very stressful for several of us as our rent is at top dollar already.”

It’s a simple question: Will this government do the right thing, return rent control to buildings built after 2018 and stand up for Ontario’s renters, yes or no?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

Mr. Jim McDonell: Thank you, Speaker, for that question, and I thank the member opposite. Since taking government, we have taken all the measures possible to make sure that housing was affordable for the people of Ontario. This province was in terrible shape. We had the lowest number of housing units per capita in this country, and this country was the worst in the G7, and that’s after decades of the previous government’s stifling red tape.

We took measures. When we came to power, our government immediately put in measures to get rid of the red tape and allow builders to build and developers to develop. It was a key factor in keeping rental units as low as possible. We’ve had the highest number of rental units and the highest number of housing units built since the 1990s in this province, and that goes to the measures we put in place.

The NDP and the Liberals said no to requiring landlords’ efforts to negotiate repayment for agreements.

We’ve done things to make rental issues affordable, especially during COVID-19. We stopped evictions during the COVID-19 time frame to give people who were having trouble with employment time to make repayments and time to get their payments in order.

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

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: My question is back to the Premier.

Scrapping rent control makes things unaffordable. I’d like this government to get that through its head.

The worst part about this is that people like Marnie thought the Ontario government was on their side and that there were rules to protect renters. The member’s answer shows that this is not the case.

This government voted against my Bill 23 which would protect renters.

With the stroke of a pen, this government could stand up for renters and bring back rent control, but instead, they’d rather help wealthy developers.

For decades, Conservative and Liberal governments have made the housing crisis worse and worse. They’ve allowed the greediest developers and corporate landlords to gouge tenants and throw people out of their homes to make a buck.

My constituent Chris said, “This is an outrageous attempt to essentially evict tenants because they feel they can get more money. It is simply unaffordable. The cost of moving and the horrible burden of finding a new home will be very imposing on the residents in my building.”

What does this government have to say to Marnie, Chris and the other families living at One Richmond Row who might get evicted because they can’t afford the massive, unfair jump in rent that this government has rubber-stamped?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill.

Mr. Michael Parsa: I thank my honourable colleague for the question.

My message to all Ontarians and those who are looking for an answer from the government is this: We’ve had your back and we’ll continue to have your back through policies that we have always put in place.

Let me just point out a fact that members opposite never want to bring up, and that is the question of supply. Because of bad decisions by the previous government—and remember who supported them along the way, whenever they needed them—Ontario lacks the supply that we need to house Ontarians, which is why the policies and the decisions that were made by the minister, alluded to by the parliamentary assistant, helped to make sure that we have more units available so that it does help with the prices for Ontarians. It’s simple supply and demand.

I understand that sometimes it’s difficult for others to fathom that, but it is a fact, which is why, when you reduce red tape, when you increase inventory through proper decisions, it will make housing more affordable for Ontarians.

We’ll make sure that every single decision we make reflects the best for the people of Ontario.

Property taxation

Mr. Stephen Blais: My question is for the Premier.

The highest-ranking public servant in the city of Ottawa has told Ottawa council that the illegal occupation is going to cost taxpayers $36 million. Mr. Speaker, $36 million is a lot of money, and it’s going to translate into hundreds of dollars of additional property taxes for the residents of Ottawa. That’s on top of hydro rates that are going up and gas prices that are out of control.

For months, Ontario Liberals have been calling on the government to support the residents of Ottawa and ensure they’re made whole as a result of this occupation that was spurred on by Conservative politicians across the country.

The government has offered $10 million—which is half of what the federal government has offered—to support businesses, but they’ve still not offered any support to Ottawa taxpayers who are going to be faced with the bill for this occupation.

Will the Premier commit to ensuring that Ottawa taxpayers are made whole and that he doesn’t force a property tax increase upon them?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: I think we addressed this last week. I know that the Minister of Tourism has been working alongside Ottawa officials to ensure that Ottawa continues to get the support that it has been getting.

At the same time, we’re also looking beyond what happened during the events of February. We’re looking towards building a better, stronger Ottawa—one that continues to be the centre of culture for the province of Ontario.

Ottawa is the second-largest city in the province of Ontario. It is the centre of our national government. It is also a hub for tourism. It is also a hub for culture. We know how important Ottawa is to the economic growth of the province of Ontario. That is why we are making so many important investments in the city of Ottawa.

The people of Ottawa know that a strong, stable Progressive Conservative majority government will continue to deliver for them, not only over the next number of months but well into the future.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Stephen Blais: The residents of Ottawa, particularly in the downtown, were traumatized by the occupation. Small businesses were forced to close right as they were supposed to start reopening because of COVID. Employees were losing shifts—shifts that they couldn’t afford to lose, Mr. Speaker.

The occupation has been over for almost a month. The government still hasn’t announced any funding to support Ottawa taxpayers and the Premier still hasn’t come to Ottawa to speak to residents who were affected, to speak to small business owners who were affected. He had time to go to Washington, DC, to lobby the Americans, but he hasn’t had time to come to Ottawa and speak to residents who were affected by the occupation.

Residents of Ottawa are starting to think that this Premier doesn’t care about them because their issues are continually ignored. He has failed to show leadership once again, and the residents of Ottawa have noticed. Will the government and will the Premier commit to making the city of Ottawa whole and ensure that Ottawa property taxpayers don’t get a tax increase because of this occupation that was spurred on by Conservative politicians?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I really reject the inflammatory nature of that question. The member opposite knows that I spent a great deal of time, including with one of his colleagues from Ottawa–Vanier, working with business owners, working with Ottawa police, working with transportation and transit officials, working with small businesses.

I also reject the premise myself. The minister responsible for children and community services and Minister of Transportation were actually with the Premier in downtown Ottawa on Elgin Street on Friday, right after we announced $29 million for the second-largest hospital project in Ontario’s history.

The member opposite talks about the Orléans Health Hub. They talked about a Barnsdale exit on the 416. They talked a lot about the expansion of the Ottawa Hospital. You know what? For 15 years in office, they delivered zip, zero, zilch to the people of Ottawa. But guess what? Doug Ford, he’s getting it done.

Tenant protection

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My question is to the Premier. Tenants at 12 Lansdowne Avenue in my riding are being renovicted by a landlord who was famously fined $135,000 for dishonest renovictions at 795 College Street back in 2019. Repeat offenders like this landlord know that $100,000 is a drop in the ocean, because renovictions allow bad landlords to sidestep Ontario’s rent control laws and rake in enormous profits. Successive governments, both Liberal and Conservative, have done nothing in two decades to fix it.

We know that allowing landlords to hike rent in between tenants incentivizes landlords to throw tenants out and leads to skyrocketing rents. Speaker, I proposed legislation to fix this, the Rent Stabilization Act, and the Ford government voted it down. So I ask: Does the Premier have a plan to protect tenants from renovictions? If so, what is the Premier’s plan?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

Mr. Jim McDonell: I want to thank the member opposite. I’ll say she was half right: The Liberal government did nothing for 10 years.

On coming into power, our Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act protected tenants from renovictions, as they call them. We put in fines. We put in that no tenant in this province can be evicted without an order from the Landlord and Tenant Board. The Landlord and Tenant Board also has the ability to review all other previous cases where a landlord has been involved with renovations, something that was not there before.

We see the Landlord and Tenant Board has now got the teeth it needs to protect tenants, as we have increased the housing and the rental units in this province. By getting rid of red tape, we have protected tenants. Last year, we had a zero increase in rent in this province, something that has not been seen in 30 years. We have the backs of tenants and we will continue to protect them.

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

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My question is back to the Premier. In my riding, two buildings, 103 and 105 West Lodge, now have over 200 vacant units combined. While shelters are overcrowded and encampments are bulldozed, landlords are evicting tenants and then sitting on hundreds of empty units. Corporate landlords are sitting on hundreds of empty units in the midst of a housing crisis.

Does the Conservative government think this is acceptable, and if not, why won’t the government do something to fix it?

Mr. Jim McDonell: I thank the member opposite for that question. As I said, our government has put in place the rules that the Landlord and Tenant Board now has the ability to review all cases—and actually, they must review all cases. Before a tenant is asked to leave, there is a requirement for an eviction order from the tribunal. As far as the renovations go, they have the ability to review the cases and decide whether they should be phased. Landlords must pay up to three months’ rent for any tenant that is requested to move out because of renovations, and also the tenant has the first right of refusal to move back in at the same rent.

These are protections this government put in. You look back and this party opposite voted against these changes. These were changes that were needed to protect renters in this province, because there was a shortage of rental units. That goes back to the previous coalition of the NDP and the Liberal government, who did nothing for 10 years to address the supply.

Education

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: My question is for the Premier. Since 1996, People for Education has been advocating for a strong publicly funded education system in Ontario. Led by Annie Kidder and her team, People for Education has surveyed schools across the province each year to determine the issues, gaps and progress in our schools in terms of funding, staffing and program adequacy.

People for Education formed in response to the neglect and underfunding of a previous Conservative government in Ontario.

The COVID crisis has made this annual sounding even more critical than it has been in the past. What the report found this year, Mr. Speaker: “In last year’s survey, principals pointed to the lack of communication between the Ministry of Education and schools as an ongoing challenge. One year later, no progress appears to have been made on this front.”

Can the Premier explain why this government has consistently ignored repeated recommendations to include the people on the front line of our education system in decision-making?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the member for Niagara West and parliamentary assistant.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I appreciate the member opposite and, of course, recognize the member opposite’s importance in raising these issues. I want to also acknowledge that the member opposite had the opportunity for many years to serve in this Legislature, also as the Minister of Education. Unfortunately, Speaker, what we saw over the course of those years of education, when the member opposite was both Premier and the Minister of Education, was a failure to invest in some of the crucial areas that we’ve heard from our stakeholders, that we’ve heard from partners in the education sector that we need to invest in.

In response to that, under the leadership of Premier Ford and Minister Lecce, we’re responding to the concerns that have been raised over the past years due to the lack of investment from the former Liberal Wynne-Del Duca government, and we’re ensuring that we’re building up our education system. What that means in practice is that we’re investing $304 million in time-limited supports through the COVID-19 Learning Recovery Fund for temporary additional staff and supports to address learning recovery, the implementation of a fully destreamed grade 9, supports and more that I’ll speak about in the supplementary.

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

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: The reality is that there has been funding removed from schools. Per-pupil funding has gone down. There are fewer staff in schools. There are, for example, fewer sections of courses being offered to high school students because of cuts that were made by this government before the pandemic hit, Mr. Speaker.

But my question was about conversations with people in the education system. I’ve spoken to school trustees, teachers, support staff, parents that this lack of inclusion in decision-making is how this government has functioned throughout the pandemic. The most recent example of this lack of respect and outright dismissal of the expertise of the very people who have responsibility for the two million Ontario children in our publicly funded schools is the refusal of this government to allow school boards to have the option to continue to enforce a mask mandate in their schools if they choose to.

There has been no consultation. There has been no respect for the front line. Every MPP in this House should know this already from their conversations in their constituencies.

What is being put in place right now, as the government presumably prepares to release the Grants for Student Needs, that will allow school boards and their schools to provide the staffing, mental health and curriculum support necessary to allow schools to support students? What is the plan?

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I thank the member opposite, but I have to push back on that assertion, which is factually inaccurate. We have raised funding for the sector of education—historically—since this government came to office. What we’ve seen as a result of those investments is, this year alone, a $683-million increase in our publicly funded education system to ensure that we’re reaching $26.6 billion for the Grants for Student Needs. This is an increase by over $3.25 billion that we’ve seen since the increase through the GSN over the past years—a 9% increase since our government came to office in 2018.

That’s a substantial investment to ensure that our students are receiving all the skills that they need to thrive and to succeed going forward, after many years of neglect under the former Liberal government.

But it’s not just more spending; it’s also about investing in the areas like math, STEM, and ensuring that our technological trades are being provided—that we’re providing pre-apprenticeship opportunities, and that we’re creating opportunities for our youth to thrive today and tomorrow. Those are things that we didn’t see under the former Liberal government, but under the leadership of Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce, we’re getting it done.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): That concludes question period for this morning.

Private members’ public business

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that pursuant to standing order 101(c), changes have been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members’ public business, such that Mr. Babikian assumes ballot item 42 and Mr. Crawford assumes ballot item number 43.

Notice of dissatisfaction

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 36(a), the member for Chatham-Kent–Leamington has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the Minister of Health concerning directive 6. This matter will be debated Tuesday following private members’ public business.

There being no further business at this time, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1137 to 1300.

Notice of dissatisfaction

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 36(a), the member for Ottawa South has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the Minister of Health concerning interference. This matter will be debated on Tuesday following private members’ public business.

Motions

House sittings

Hon. Paul Calandra: I move that, pursuant to standing order 7(c), the House shall continue to meet past the ordinary hour of adjournment until midnight on the following dates: Tuesday, March 29; Wednesday, March 30; Thursday, March 31; Monday, April 4; Tuesday, April 5; Wednesday, April 6; Thursday, April 7; Monday, April 11; Tuesday, April 12; Wednesday, April 13; Thursday, April 14; Monday, April 25; Tuesday, April 26; Wednesday, April 27; Thursday, April 28; Monday, May 2; Tuesday, May 3; and Wednesday, May 4, 2022, for the purpose of considering government business.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Mr. Calandra has moved government notice of motion number 11. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard some noes.

All those in favour, please say “aye.”

All those opposed, please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Ms. Catherine Fife: On division.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): On division.

Motion agreed to.

Petitions

Retirement homes

M me France Gélinas: J’aimerais remercier Gerry Talbot de Gogama dans mon comté pour avoir signé la pétition.

“Oversight, Regulations and Limits on Fees Charged by Retirement Homes....

“Whereas residents of retirement homes are mainly seniors on fixed incomes who often pay very high amounts for rent and services and cannot afford big cost increases;

“Whereas we are seeing more financial hardships on seniors, their families and caregivers who support them, due to retirement homes exponentially increasing the costs of the services they provide to their residents;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To protect retirement home residents from financial exploitation, the government should implement oversight, regulations and limits on the fees charged by retirement homes for all services they provide to their residents.”

I support this petition. I will affix my name to it and ask my good page Jackson to bring it to the Clerk.

Optometry services

Miss Monique Taylor: I have a petition to save eye care in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government has underfunded optometric eye care for 30 years; and

“Whereas the government only pays on average $44.65 for an OHIP-insured visit—the lowest rate in Canada; and

“Whereas optometrists are being forced to pay substantially out of their own pocket to provide over four million services each year to Ontarians under OHIP; and

“Whereas optometrists have never been given a formal negotiation process with the government; and

“Whereas the government’s continued neglect resulted in 96% of Ontario optometrists voting to withdraw OHIP services beginning September 1, 2021;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To instruct the Ontario government to immediately commit to legally binding, formal negotiations to ensure any future OHIP-insured optometry services are, at a minimum, funded at the cost of delivery.”

I wholeheartedly agree with this petition. I will affix my name to it and give it to page Emily to bring to the Clerk.

Highway safety

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Chad Chenard from Sudbury for this petition.

“Make Highway 144 at Marina Road Safe

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas residents of Levack, Onaping and Cartier, as well as individuals who travel Highway 144, are concerned about the safety of a stretch of Highway 144 in the vicinity of Marina Road and would like to prevent further accidents and fatalities; and

“Whereas three”—now four—“more accidents occurred in summer 2021 resulting in severe injuries, diesel fuel spilling into the waterways, the closure of Highway 144 for several hours”—as well as the deaths of two people and their dog—“stranding residents; and

“Whereas the Ministry of Transportation has completed a review of this stretch of Highway 144, has made some improvements and has committed to re-evaluate and ensure the highway is safe;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows: “that the Ministry of Transportation review Highway 144 at Marina Road immediately and commit to making it safe, as soon as possible....”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and send it to the Clerk with page Vivian.

Multiple sclerosis

M me France Gélinas: I you would like to thank Brigitte Savard from Hanmer in my riding for this petition. It reads as follows:

“MS Specialized Clinic in Sudbury.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas northeastern Ontario has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Ontario; and

“Whereas specialized MS clinics provide essential health care services to those living with multiple sclerosis, their caregiver and their family; and

“Whereas the city of Greater Sudbury is recognized as a hub for health care in northeastern Ontario;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“Immediately set up a specialized MS clinic in the Sudbury area that is staffed by a neurologist who specializes in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a physiotherapist and a social worker at a minimum.”

I support this petition, will affix my name it to and give it to Vivian to bring it to the Clerk.

Front-line workers

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Johanne Lalonde from Azilda in my riding for this petition.

“Make PSW a Career....

“Whereas there has been a shortage of personal support workers (PSWs) in long-term care and home care in Ontario for many years;

“Whereas Ontario’s personal support workers are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, leading to many of them leaving the profession;

“Whereas the lack of PSWs has created a crisis in LTC, a broken home care system, and poor-quality care for LTC home residents and home care clients;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“Tell Premier Ford to act now to make PSW jobs a career, with” permanent “full-time employment, good wages, paid sick days, benefits, a pension plan and a manageable workload in order to respect the important work of PSWs and improve patient care.”

I support this petition, will affix my name to it and send it to the table with page Vivian.

Optometry services

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Louise Dubé for this petition.

“Vulnerable Children and Seniors Need Eye Care....

“Whereas the Ford government is allowing the withdrawal of eye care to Ontario’s children to continue, which has impaired their ability to learn in school, function freely in their daily lives and risk lifelong vision impairments;

“Whereas the lack of action from the Ford government regarding access to eye care for Ontario seniors has impaired their ability to maintain an independent and active lifestyle; and has increased the risk of permanent complications from manageable degenerative eye conditions;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To call on the Ford government to commit to a fair formal agreement with Ontario optometrists so that Ontario children and seniors get the preventative and diagnostic eye care they deserve.”

I support this petition, will affix my name it to and send it to the Clerk with page Vivian.

Anti-vaping initiatives for youth

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Gerald Clark from Hanmer for these petitions.

“Protect Kids from Vaping....

“Whereas very little is known about the long-term effects of vaping on youth;

“Whereas aggressive marketing of vaping products by the tobacco industry is causing more and more kids to become addicted to nicotine through the use of e-cigarettes;

“Whereas the hard lessons learned about the...impacts of smoking, should not be repeated with vaping, and the precautionary principle must be applied to protect youth from vaping;

“Whereas many health agencies and Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada fully endorse the concrete proposals aimed at reducing youth from vaping...;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To call on the Ford government to immediately pass ... Vaping is Not for Kids Act, in order to protect the health of Ontario’s youth.”

I support this petition, will affix my name to it and send it to the table with page Vivian.

Access to justice

Ms. Doly Begum: I have a petition here entitled “Ensure that All Ontarians Have Access to Justice.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the government of Ontario has cut the funding for Legal Aid Ontario by almost one third;

“Whereas injured workers may lose their ability to appeal WSIB decisions without legal aid;

“Whereas access to legal aid is essential to low-income Ontarians who are facing legal proceedings in criminal, family, mental health, poverty law and child protection cases;

“Whereas the cuts will lead to backlogs and delays throughout the justice system, causing chaos in the courts and costing taxpayers more, not less;

“Whereas provincial funding for the immigration and refugee law program at Legal Aid Ontario has been completely cut;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to reverse the cuts to Legal Aid Ontario so that all Ontarians, including our most vulnerable, have access to justice.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and give it to page Callum.

Gasoline prices

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Carole Brideau from Hanmer in my riding for these petitions.

“Gas prices....

“Whereas northern Ontario motorists continue to be subject to wild fluctuations in the price of gasoline; and

“Whereas the province could eliminate opportunistic price gouging and deliver fair, stable and predictable fuel prices; and

“Whereas five provinces and many US states already have some sort of gas price regulation; and

“Whereas jurisdictions with gas price regulation have seen an end to wild price fluctuations, a shrinking of price discrepancies between urban and rural communities and lower annualized gas prices;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“Mandate the Ontario Energy Board to monitor the price of gasoline across Ontario in order to reduce price volatility and unfair regional price differences while encouraging competition.”

I support this petition, will affix my name it to and send it to the table with page Stanley.

Orders of the Day

Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à ce que l’Ontario reste ouvert aux affaires

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 24, 2022, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 100,

An Act to enact legislation to protect access to certain transportation infrastructure / Projet de loi 100, Loi édictant une loi pour protéger l’accès à certaines infrastructures de transport.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I understand when this bill was last debated, the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore had the floor. He still has time on the clock. I recognize the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: Thank you, Speaker, for letting me finish my debate that I started on Thursday. It’s always a pleasure to rise here on behalf of the people of Mississauga–Lakeshore to speak in support of Bill 100, the Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, introduced by the Solicitor General.

The illegal blockade in February caused a lot of issues for the automotive industry that I used to work for before I was elected here at Queen’s Park. Members of the US Congress are pushing a new round of buy-American products, like Michigan Democrat Elissa Slotkin, who responded to this crisis by tweeting, “We can’t be this reliant on parts ... from” other “countries.... We have to bring American manufacturing back home to states like Michigan.”

As the Solicitor General said, this crisis has also caught the attention of President Biden. This is troubling for many auto sector families, including many of my constituents in Mississauga–Lakeshore. The measures in Bill 100 will help restore and protect Ontario’s reputation as a safe place to invest. I want to thank the Premier and the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade for delivering this message in person in Washington, DC, last week.

Speaker, while the blockades affected auto workers across Ontario from Windsor to Brampton, Cambridge and Woodstock, as well as Oakville, it had an impact on many other sectors as well, from agricultural to steel and other raw materials. About 70% of vegetables from Ontario’s greenhouses go to the US, and they depend on reliable access at the border. In our steel industry, American firms have threatened to withdraw their business from companies like Dofasco and Stelco.

Bill Anderson, the director of the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor, said that up to $6 billion in goods couldn’t cross the border because of the illegal Ambassador Bridge blockade. It hit our economy just as our supply chains are dealing with the greatest challenge since the Second World War, both because of the COVID-19 pandemic and now delays with the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well.

Lastly, I want to note that about 1,600 health care workers from Windsor cross the border to work in hospitals in Detroit. They have done this throughout the pandemic, taking care of patients in Michigan, where the rate of death from COVID-19 per capita was about five times higher than in Ontario. Speaker, some of these nurses had to stay in hotels in Detroit during the blockade rather than coming home to their families, and that’s also unacceptable.

While there weren’t any blockades at our airports at the height of this pandemic, as the Solicitor General said, Pearson International Airport in Mississauga served as the central hub for the delivery and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the entire country. This is critical transportation infrastructure, and we need to give Peel’s Chief Nish and the police services across the province all the resources and tools they need to protect it.

If passed, this is what Bill 100 would do. It includes many important new measures to protect our international border crossings, including the Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, from illegal blockades. If passed, these new tools would allow our police to protect jobs and families from illegal blockades.

Section 3 would allow police to direct owners and operators of vehicles to remove their vehicles from illegal blockades.

Sections 4 and 5 would allow police to remove and store any objects, including vehicles, from an illegal blockade for up to 30 days. Police services would be able to follow the process under the Civil Remedies Act to forfeit any removed objects to the crown.

Section 7 would allow police to temporarily suspend the driver’s licences of anyone taking

part in an illegal blockade. Ontario licences would be suspended for 14 days once the officer asks for the licence.

Sections 8 and 9 would allow the police to suspend or cancel the vehicle permits of anyone taking

part in an illegal blockade. This is a very significant penalty for anyone who is interfering with our border crossings or our airports. But

section 11 also includes penalties of up to $500,000 and a year in prison for individuals, and $10 million for corporations. Finally, failure to identify yourself could result in a fine up to $5,000, which is the penalty under the Provincial Offences Act.

The Solicitor General has been clear about this, but I just want to reiterate: This bill is very narrow, targeted only to illegal blockades at our international border crossings. It will have no impact on peaceful, legal and temporary protests. It will not affect the charter rights to protest, because blockading a bridge or an airport has nothing to do with the right to protest.

Speaker, to provide accountability and transparency,

section 16 requires the Solicitor General to conduct a review of the act once it has been in force for a year and to publish a written report online and table it here in the Legislative Assembly.

To build on the tools of Bill 100, our government is also investing $96 million in additional training of the Ontario Police College on safe, effective public order policing; new equipment, including tow trucks, to help police in physically clearing our border blockades; and expansion of the public order unit at the Ontario Provincial Police, including a permanent new emergency response team. This unit helps to manage all kinds of crowds, from the most peaceful to the most confrontational, while protecting peaceful protests using the least force possible.

While our focus today is to protect our borders, this unit can also help clear illegal occupations like we had in Ottawa as well. It is important that we provide law enforcement with all the resources and tools they need to effectively protect not just our international borders, but the right of all Ontarians and our businesses to freedom of movement.

We have heard from people across Ontario that the province needs to provide police with these tools and resources to act quickly and effectively where the openness of our borders is threatened. I’d just like to read some of their comments into the record today.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said that the measures in Bill 100 will help prevent any future blockades. He said, “This” bill “absolutely sends a strong signal and will make any sensible person think twice before they undertake this type of protest again and block an international border crossing.

“A lot of people looked at the events of last month of how it was even possible that a small amount of people were able to hold hostage the economy of our nation. A signal has to be sent how there will now be severe consequences for that type of action.”

Speaker, we agree completely. Without our government’s quick and decisive actions and without severe consequences, there is no doubt that the so-called “freedom convoy” would have expanded its blockades to include other international bridges, like the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia or the Peace Bridge in Niagara Falls. As the Solicitor General said, Ontario’s manufacturing heartland and our entire economy depend on these critical bridges. Trade with the US represents over 79% of Ontario’s exports and over 52% of our imports, so any threat to our border crossings are threats to our jobs, businesses and the economic well-being of families across Ontario.

Sarnia’s mayor, Mike Bradley, agrees. He said, “Once this has happened, and the economic terrorists can see what they” can do, “they’ll do something similar to blockade the borders ... in the future.”

To conclude, this bill is an important signal to the US and the world that Ontario remains a strong, reliable trading partner, and we will do everything in our power to protect Ontario’s workers, families and our international trade relationships from any future attempt to block our borders. I urge everyone here today to support this bill so we can move forward.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I want to thank the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore for his presentation. I’m now going to invite questions to the member.

Mr. Jeff Burch: I want to thank my friend from Mississauga–Lakeshore for his presentation. He mentioned

section 16 and the review by the Solicitor General, which I think is a very important part of the bill. Are there other checks and balances to guard against an abuse of power; for example, making sure that the powers aren’t abused toward land defenders and other protesters? And is there enough training for the police to ensure that it’s not an abuse from a policing point of view?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member from Niagara for that question. Like we said, it will be limited to border crossings and international airports, as well as illegal protests like the ones in Ottawa that had occurred during this protest that happened in February.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Oakville.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: I appreciate the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore and his discussion of Bill 100.

I know the member worked for Ford of Canada for many, many years. Ford of Canada is located in Oakville, in my riding. We’re proud to have them there, and thankfully, Ford of Canada is going to be staying in Oakville and in Ontario for decades to come, thanks to the government of Ontario. So I appreciate the Premier and ministers who worked on keeping Ford here, because they were looking at leaving, like a lot of manufacturers, with high hydro, high taxes etc.

My question to the member is: Ford of Canada plays a critical role in the North American automobile supply chain. How do you feel this bill will help ensure stability for companies like Ford of Canada and ensure we keep jobs right here in Ontario?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member for Oakville. To speak about Ford Motor Company. As you know, I worked there for 31 years. I know how important it is for the city of Oakville and for the whole area, those jobs that are being created in Oakville, with now the new EV vehicles arriving at Oakville. Five new products will be built out of that Oakville plant, as well as the new plant that was just announced by our minister there, the battery plant in Windsor—that’s another 2,500 jobs.

These measures are very important to keep our borders open because in the automotive industry, our parts get there just in time. If we can’t get our parts there just in time, these plants will shut down. Luckily, in the automotive industry itself, the workers are protected on a 40-hour week. So even if they do not work the 40 hours due to a shutdown of an emergency, they get paid. But other sectors in the auto industry do not get paid for that. So these measures will be very important, moving forward, to keep our auto industry alive and well here in the province, to be the number one jurisdiction in the world building electric cars.

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: Small and medium businesses in Ottawa have seen some of the worst repercussions on their livelihoods. Windsor saw detrimental effects on their auto sector: shut down shifts, not being able to do production. I sympathize with the communities in Windsor and border communities. Niagara is also known as a border city. The blockages at Fort Erie did cause some delays for people to be able to get back and forth to work and put paycheques on their tables.

We see this bill, largely as for show, may I say. I completely agree that this bill really is just paper, unless there is actually enforcement.

I want to ask the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore if he would care to comment on if he knows how badly small businesses and community organizations were hurt because of this government refusing to act quickly on legislation and waiting until now to bring it to the floor.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member for that question. As well, there was an emergency order in place, but our police acted very swiftly. And if you noticed, we did not have one death or one injury due to the convoy blockage in the city of Ottawa as well as our border. So I think that our police force had done whatever they could without any deaths or injuries during that time.

Mr. Norman Miller: As has been mentioned, I know the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore did work for Ford Motor Company for a number of years, and I know that in the automotive sector the just-in-time delivery system is used a lot. What I’d like to ask him is, what does it mean to the people who work for Ford and the company itself when you have a border closure like we saw at the Ambassador Bridge?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member again for that excellent question about Ford Motor Company, where I did work for many years.

When I was working there, when we had a snowstorm we sometimes had problems getting parts in, so we would have to shut down the lines, and that would cause the workers to go home. Like I said, fortunately, they were paid, because they had that in their contract, but in other businesses they would not be paid.

I think keeping our borders open is very necessary, especially for our economic trade with the US. Our number one trading partner is the US. We ship goods in and out of that border on a daily basis. We have to keep them open so we can move goods quickly and fast through our borders and get them to market so our economy can prosper moving forward even more than it is right now after this pandemic.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Brampton East.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: The anti-vaccine-mandate blockade at the Ambassador Bridge devastated workers across our province, and it hurt truckers who were working so hard to put food on our shelves, to keep our groceries stocked. It hurt them so terribly. Truckers in my riding of Brampton East were actually stuck on the Ambassador Bridge because of this blockade, and it took some of them hours of detour to get home. I spoke with a trucker named Simran who described to me how other truckers were just stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. They had no access to washrooms, medicine, food and more.

My question to the government is this: Why did it take you so long to act? Why did it take you so long to do what was right and ensure that workers and truckers didn’t have their shifts delayed and truckers weren’t being stuck in this terrible amount of traffic? Why did the Conservative government take so long to act to help people?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member from Brampton for that question. Yes, the truckers were stuck at the border, but we moved quickly. Remember as well, we had an emergency order in place, but now we do not have to use an emergency order after this bill is passed, so if there is ever an occasion where this happens again, we can move even more swiftly than we did. As well, like I said, there were no deaths or injuries that happened during that time at the borders.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Whitby.

Mr. Lorne Coe: I met about a week ago with Colin Goodwin, who’s the executive director of the Durham Regional Police Association. We were talking about protection of the border and expanding the anti-blockade tools, and what an honourable cause it is. But it led to a discussion about the costs for local police. Could the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore talk about what type of financial supports we will be providing for law enforcement protecting international borders?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member from Oshawa for that question. Speaker, like I mentioned earlier on in my speech, our government is also investing $96 million for our Ontario police colleges in additional training on safety; public order policing; new equipment, including heavy duty tow trucks to move vehicles that are blocking our borders; as well, the expansion of the public order unit at the Ontario Provincial Police, including a permanent new emergency response team. These are all things that have been put into Bill 100 so that we can never have this happen again at our borders. I want to thank the member for that very good question.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that, pursuant to standing order 101(c), changes have been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members’ public business, such that Ms. Khanjin assumes ballot item number 42 and Mr. Babikian assumes ballot item number 55.

Further debate?

Ms. Catherine Fife: It’s a pleasure to join the debate on Bill 100, the Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, 2022. I do think that before we get into the semantics of this piece of legislation, it warrants our full attention to reflect on what happened in Ottawa and what happened in Windsor at the Ambassador Bridge.

Many of us who hold power—we have power, we have licence, we have agency, as legislators—watched what happened in Ontario week after week after week in complete horror, because this was a situation that we had never seen in our country, in our province, to the degree where the power imbalance between the citizenry and the convoy, freedom fighters—there are so many names that were associated with this particular group of people.

I think we now fully understand, given that we have a better understanding of where the money was coming from, that this was not simply a group of truckers who were fighting to be able to go across the border without a vaccine mandate. This is not who we were dealing with in Ontario.

I think that if we’re honest with each other, as legislators, we can clearly say that when people move into our town squares, our main streets, our public areas, there are ways in which they have to adhere to the administrative guidelines. If you want to have a fun fair in a schoolyard, you have to do a fair amount of paperwork. If you want to host a parade, you have to adhere to the guidelines and the laws of that municipality. You have to make sure that you have hand-washing facilities and washrooms and that public health and safety guidelines are in place.

What we saw happen in Ottawa was a complete—well, to sum it up, it was disrespectful of our democracy, of the rules which we all adhere to, that we agree to because they are part of this democracy, a peaceful democracy for the most part. The fact that this was allowed and that the government was permissive in this role was a real switch in the culture of our politics.

When I heard the Premier of this province, in the early days of the protest, actually say, “They’ve got a lot of reasons to be angry. God bless them.

They’re exercising their democratic rights”—I think that if you looked back in our history with some context and you examined those particular words that came from the Premier of the province of Ontario and you compared it to the environmentalists who have been outside this very Legislature or those who have been fighting for safe, affordable, accessible housing in this province or the Indigenous communities who have been protesting and fighting for clean water, there was the prevalence of such a double standard in this province. I don’t think that we’ve ever seen it so clearly.

It actually became part of the political discourse, but also the social discourse, where people were saying that if the folks on Ottawa’s Parliament front lawn were BIPOC, if they were Black, if they were brown, if they were Indigenous, there would be no hot tubs set up on that front lawn. At the very least, let’s be honest about what happened in Ottawa.

We all have connections with our industries, with our business leaders in our communities. Herrle’s farm is a prominent business in Waterloo. I think, perhaps, Speaker, you’ve been there before. He’s now on his off-season time, and he has become a trucker. Trucking can be a really rewarding profession. We have really good people who move goods and services across this country and across this province, and their importance cannot be challenged and it’s not going to be questioned, because they do the real work on our roads in this province. Those were not the people, though, on Ottawa hill.

Now we have a very clear picture of who these people were, who was funding them and of how the government was caught as spectators in this display of undermining our democracy.

I’m a member of a Canadian Legion. I know many of our members here are as well. When I visited the Legion, I went there to listen, because veterans have a lot to share with us. They have a lot of experience and they’ve seen many things. And this was the topic in the Legion. They were expressing such disappointment—really heartbreaking disappointment—that the Canadian flag was being flown upside down as a measure of revolution, and that these people were at one point espousing, ironically, their amendment rights.

We are a Canadian country. Ontario is a province in Canada. They weren’t even quoting the right piece of legislation. This country is founded on charter rights. We have a Constitution, which is put in action by our charter.

At one point, I think the member will remember, many press conferences were held. I couldn’t believe that the media were even giving these folks a voice, in some respects, because they were sitting down and demanding an audience with the “dictator.” If they knew anything about dictatorships, dictatorships are not elected. There were even PC members in the Canadian Parliament who were calling out their PC colleagues and saying, “Listen, stop calling the Prime Minister a dictator.”

That is not the democracy we all fight for. When we take our place in these Houses of Legislature, of Parliament, across Canada, we have a duty and a responsibility to be truthful and to be honest and to be fair. It was astounding to me, I have to say, Speaker, to see several members of the federal Conservative Party standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the very people who were actively working to undermine our democracy.

When we talk about Bill 100, it shouldn’t be in a flippant way. It shouldn’t be, “This is something that we’re finally going to get to.” Legislation and the process by which legislation comes to this floor is an important part of getting legislation right.

In order to fully understand, really, the gravitas of what we’re charged with here as legislators, to protect the citizens’ rights to clearly articulate their dismay with any government of any stripe—that needs to be clearly protected—but also find the balance with the measure of the rights of the individuals and citizens of this province, and then also, our duty as legislators to create laws that will be actionable and that will make a difference, whereby the citizens of this province fully understand that we are in their corner on both sides of that balance of justice.

As a commentary, I think it’s also worth noting that during the “freedom convoy,” or whatever you prefer to call it—or ignore it; whatever you choose—the role of the media, as well, during this protest was severely compromised. We, as lawmakers, as individuals who have relationships with media, who depend on the media to tell the truth, who depend on their independence as media outlets—they were harassed. They were threatened. They were spit on, and they were compromised.

Finally, after many weeks, the government decided to take some action. And it was really what happened in Windsor, I feel—and several social and political commentaries have made this case as well. When finally, the pressure at the Ambassador Bridge reached a tipping point—when that happened, then Ottawa became a priority.

Our member MPP Harden was in this House on a regular basis, trying to tell the government what was really happening on the ground in Ottawa, and to no avail. So there were many questions at that time as to why the so-called “freedom convoy” was permitted to get to the point that it did, as well.

I started my comments off by saying there are caveats within the laws that we all adhere to, whereby I can’t go set up a hot tub in Waterloo town square and declare that my freedoms, my rights are more important than other people’s. They made a mockery of our democracy—a mockery. And we actually had one of our own legislators in that place, in that space, taking air up. To the law’s credit, of this province, that legislator has now been charged, I think with nine further counts, as he should be.

Our responsibilities—we take an oath when we take this seat. We say a prayer in the morning. Sometimes we just take a moment of silence, which sometimes I actually need. But we say a prayer that we are going to do our best. So I guess the question is, is Bill 100 our best? Can it be strengthened? Can it be informed by the actual experience of what happened in Ottawa and what happened on the Ambassador Bridge?

I do want to thank, in particular, our member from Windsor West for really fighting for the victims of this anarchy. I mean, there is no other way to say it. The victims were children in schools who were being terrorized. The victims were communities that didn’t feel safe anymore. There was actual violence. People had closed an apartment building door and threatened to set it on fire. This happened in our nation’s capital, and the Premier watched it.

There is a real, true calling here to get Bill 100 right, because we might not get a second chance to get it right. The division and the volatility in our province, in our country have never been so profound, and it does not help that there are factions within our own Parliaments that are flaming that dissent, that division. If there was ever a time for us to actually work together to make sure that a piece of legislation would be effective and would address the core issue, it would be getting this one right, and not having an imbalance of the powers that be.

That is the core goal of the justice system, to balance the lamb and the lion. What happened in Ottawa is that the lion won for too long before our police services at the federal, provincial and municipal levels had to come in and address this.

I do want to also bring the voices of businesses that were impacted. Ottawa has recently received a small portion of funding—some allocation to address their losses. I went to university in Ottawa; I went to Carleton. The shopping mall in the core centre—I think it’s called the Rideau Centre—is a core place where people gather, where businesses thrive. It has a lot of energy. It was shut down for almost four weeks.

And then what happened in Windsor—what was allowed to happen in Windsor—proved to be very costly, not only for the province of Ontario and for our country, but for the United States. That seemed to be the tipping point, where the Premier of Ontario said, “Well, now, we can’t tolerate this anymore.” Because that dissension was tolerated. It was permitted. It was allowed.

Our member from Windsor West has brought the voices of businesses to the core—one of the businesses is Mr. Bouzide. He said he was shut down. It affected his store’s sales quite a bit. Exact numbers aren’t available yet, but in the period that the truckers blocked the Ambassador Bridge until they opened up again, he said that they’re probably down $30,000 or $40,000 in sales. He said that it was quite a time. Even after, there’s a chilling effect when incidents happen like this, so people are still reluctant to even go into that space.

Windsor and Ottawa are huge centres, and they draw huge crowds for tourism. We’re very proud of what happens in Ottawa. Windsor has so much to offer from a tourism perspective.

We heard this morning that the $100 million that was promised for the tourism sector, which was obviously impacted negatively—people were not going anywhere. They haven’t seen one penny from that fund, and this was announced in November. It’s the end of March. So if it’s a red tape problem, get it dealt with. People in the tourism sector deserve the support. You’ve allocated it. As the finance critic for the official opposition, I know where the money is supposed to be going.

I know that there’s a contingency fund, and there’s a huge amount of money that did not get invested for small businesses, for economic relief—at last check, it was $5.5 billion. So there’s money to help the tourism sector. Get it out the door, particularly for these businesses that were affected in Ottawa, these workers who were affected in Ottawa, these workers who were affected in Windsor, and businesses in Windsor. They need to be compensated. You’re breaching this trust relationship.

You acknowledge that this should never have gotten to this place. You brought in a piece of legislation—you said, “Now we need this piece of legislation,” even though in the past you were able to effectively deal with protests, like the dump truck protest that happened. You moved in there after six or seven days. You threatened suspension of licences. There were fines and fees threatened. Even though they had a fairly legitimate cause, the dump trucks moved on. You moved them on. But you couldn’t move the two guys in the hot tub on the front porch of Ottawa. How come you can deal with legitimate concerns from truck drivers in one instance and then not in another?

I know my colleagues on the other side of the House must feel the same way that I do. We watched that play itself out in complete and utter disbelief. This was almost akin to what happened on January 6, 2021, in the United States, when you saw chaos rule. You saw the alt-right take over. You saw, really, democracy be actively, in your face—you can’t hide from it—undermined.

Our colleague MPP Gretzky from Windsor West said last week that first and foremost, in this legislation, there “needs to be a dedicated fund specifically for the businesses that have been impacted by the blockade. It cannot be a business program that the government is currently running, because access to those programs is very limited.” That’s very true.

She went on to say, “I think what they really need to do is speak to the local businesses that were impacted, to talk to the industries here that were impacted and the small and medium-sized business owners, to get a good understanding of what those financial losses were ... then to come up with the plan and the dollar amount....” Really, we are hopeful that the government will do this.

There are 37 days until the election. I’ve been counting a long time. I’m very excited about the election. I cannot wait for the election.

I want to say that there is no good reason, no rational reason, why this government would not compensate these Windsor businesses for your lack of action on addressing the Ambassador Bridge blockade.

With that, Speaker, I’ll conclude my comments. I look forward to the debate and the questions.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I thank the member for Waterloo for her presentation.

Now we’ll have questions. The member for Haldimand–Norfolk.

Mr. Toby Barrett: Thanks to the member from Waterloo for expressing her concern about the actions of the truckers. I followed the presentation by the member from Windsor West and the concern around the Ambassador Bridge and you ask how this can be strengthened.

I think of an incident a number of years ago in my riding—I’ve had a number of blockades over the years. A tractor-trailer came in—there was no sense yanking the plates, suspending or cancelling the plates on this tractor-trailer because they unhooked the tractor, took off and left the trailer. The trailer was stolen, so the company that owned it—I know the company—you can’t really come on them because it was stolen.

You’ve asked how it can be strengthened. Again, I know the NDP talked about yanking insurance. Well, with a stolen vehicle, how do you track down insurance? What kind of amendment are you looking at to strengthen this bill?

Ms. Catherine Fife: Thank you very much for the question. I want to start at the place, though—a year prior to this convoy, and this is from a CBC article: “Less than a year before the nation’s capital was ensnared by a convoy of flag-bearing big rigs, a line of dump trucks assembled outside an Ontario Ministry of Transportation building, blocking access....

“It’s a far cry from the hands-off response Ontario has had toward the Ottawa blockade that Premier Doug Ford himself has deemed an ‘occupation,’ says Ontario Dump Truck Association advisor Bob Punia.

“‘Literally about five or six days into it, we received an email from the MTO, pretty much extending their heavy hand....’

“The truckers were protesting a Ministry of Transportation requirement for dump trucks older than 15 years to undergo” ... some expensive retrofits to the tune of $40,000.

“At the time, the group received an email from the ministry, saying they had been provided notice on April 15 that they were no longer welcome on the property.” You’re not welcome here. “If they didn’t vacate by 7 a.m. the next morning, they could lose their commercial vehicle operating registrations, face charges or have their vehicles towed.”

I guess the question is, why did that not happen with the Ottawa protest or the Ambassador Bridge protest?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Questions?

Ms. Doly Begum: I want to thank the member from Waterloo for her excellent presentation. She mentioned a little bit—actually, quite a bit about the impact that the blockade had in our province on so many businesses and so many people’s lives. I would ask the member to talk a little bit about what kinds of things the government could have done to support people across the province who have been impacted.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Thank you very much for the question. It’s interesting because the Solicitor General in her place in this House was very defensive when we questioned her about this. But we do know that the counterpoint is that the province’s lack of response to the Ottawa protest dominated an emergency management meeting—there were three, actually—where opposition members pleaded for the Ford government to do more.

The Solicitor General did not participate in those meetings. So the first thing I’d say is, you show up, and then amid concerns about convoy protesters demonstrating outside schools, our members said that licensing and insurance are tools we have as legislators. Are we prepared to use them? It would seem to me that this convoy is breaking the law and they’re doing it with impunity.

This is how the majority of Ontarians feel. There were tools that we could have used and pre-empted this entrenched protest. The question is, why were those tools not used?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Next, we’ll have the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

Ms. Christine Hogarth: Thank to the member from Waterloo for her comments. I guess when I was listening to what you had to say, through you, Mr. Speake