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August 23, 2022

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2022-Aug-23 (PDF)

L008 - Tue 23 Aug 2022 / Mar 23 aoû 2022

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 23 August 2022 Mardi 23 août 2022

Orders of the Day

More Beds, Better Care Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 pour plus de lits et de meilleurs soins

Members’ Statements

Health care

Lacrosse championships

Capital Pride

Ukrainian Independence Day

Events in Kiiwetinoong

Sports and recreation funding

Events in Markham–Unionville

Health care

Kinmount Fair

Events in Flamborough–Glanbrook

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Long-term care

Health care

Health care funding

Municipal government

Respite care

Long-term care

Transportation infrastructure

Health care

Immigrants’ skills

Employment standards

Workplace safety

Child care

Long-term care

Affaires francophones

Autism treatment

Housing

Deferred Votes

Appointment of House officers / Committee membership

Birthdays

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

Introduction of Bills

Speaking Out About, and Reporting On, Workplace Violence and Harassment Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 sur la dénonciation de la violence au travail et du harcèlement au travail

Petitions

Dairy industry

Health care workers

Winter highway maintenance

Government’s record

Emergency services

Government’s record

Gasoline prices

Tenant protection

Economic development

Orders of the Day

More Beds, Better Care Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 pour plus de lits et de meilleurs soins

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

More Beds, Better Care Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 pour plus de lits et de meilleurs soins

Mr. Calandra moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 7,

An Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 with respect to patients requiring an alternate level of care and other matters and to make a consequential amendment to the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 / Projet de loi 7, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2021 sur le redressement des soins de longue durée en ce qui concerne les patients ayant besoin d’un niveau de soins différent et d’autres questions et apportant une modification corrélative à la Loi de 1996 sur le consentement aux soins de santé.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I look to the Minister of Long-Term Care to lead off the debate.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. At the outset, let me just mention that I’ll be splitting my time with my parliamentary assistant, the member for Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston.

I rise today to speak on the proposed amendments to the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. The changes are part of the government’s larger Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery.

As everyone knows, health care systems around the world have been facing unprecedented challenges, obviously due to COVID-19 and a number of other issues that we have been facing across not only the province of Ontario, but all across the planet since the outbreak of COVID. Ontario, I would suggest, has done an exceptional job working together with our federal partners and really working with our municipal partners and across sectors to help address the challenges that we have been facing with COVID-19.

I think it is important to note, Speaker, that Ontarians have also really done an extraordinary job in helping us combat COVID-19. We have one of the highest vaccination rates in the entire world, and I think that is a testament not only to Ontarians’ desire to move beyond this, but it is also a testament to the incredible health care workers that have also helped us every single day to ensure that we had the ability to provide these vaccines in such an incredible fashion, as we have in the province of Ontario.

Now, based on the latest modelling from Ontario Health, further action is obviously needed to strengthen the health care system, action that if not taken immediately could see a shortage of beds of about 2,400 spaces as we head into the fall, where respiratory challenges, flu and COVID-19 again will rear their heads, because we are certainly not behind this.

Much of this summer’s focus has been on hospital emergency departments, which have faced many challenges. But of course, emergency departments are only a part of the larger, interconnected system of care. We need to look for solutions at every stage of a person’s health care journey, and that is why we are here today.

As Minister of Long-Term Care, and, frankly, as an Ontarian and parliamentarian, I take pride in our health care system and its ability to adapt. There are many steps that we can take now to address these challenges and to avoid overstrain of our health care system and to establish better models of care.

One of the main ways to help hospital capacity challenges is to ensure that patients are getting the appropriate level of care in an appropriate setting. There are many patients in hospitals across the province whose care needs can be better met elsewhere. These patients are often referred to as alternate-level-of-care patients, or ALC patients for short. ALC patients in hospital no longer need to be there, and many would have a much better quality of life in a long-term-care home. At the same time, moving these ALC patients out of the hospital and into long-term care obviously frees up much-needed space in hospitals for patients who require hospital treatment.

Our priority is for people to live and receive care where they can have the best possible quality of life close to their family, caregivers and friends.

As the Minister of Long-Term Care, my ministry is taking several actions to improve how we transition ALC patients, whose needs would be better met in long-term care, out of hospitals and into homes. Initiatives that help divert people out of hospitals when they don’t require hospital care are the key part of the broader health system stability and recovery plan that our government released last Thursday.

The steps that the Ministry of Long-Term Care is taking to deliver on this plan include, very specifically, the following actions: We will be reactivating long-term-care respite programs for high-needs seniors to prevent possible hospitalizations—and I want to just talk about this really briefly. This is a very important program, and I’m sure a lot of colleagues, as they were knocking on doors, might have heard people talk about this. I did on a number of occasions.

This is a program where long-term-care homes are used to provide temporary relief for somebody who is providing care for a loved one at home and just simply needs a break. COVID-19 forced us to close these temporary respite care opportunities across the province of Ontario, forcing many people to use the hospital system as their opportunity to get a break. These people, these families, these caregivers providing help to loved ones—more often than not, it is for very challenging cases, like dementia and other very serious issues.

I was knocking in my riding on a number of occasions, and I can’t tell you how many people asked me, “Could we reopen the respite care?” They’ve done all that they needed—a number of cases where people had said they can’t get the surgery they need because they don’t have another option for their loved one. So this is part of the plan.

Reopening these respite care opportunities for people would help open up spaces in our acute care system—also, opening up long-term-care beds that no longer need to be held for pandemic-related isolation purposes. I’ll be doing that through an updated minister’s directive coming into effect on August 23—today. I just want to really briefly talk about this. There are thousands of beds that were set aside for isolation purposes in the province of Ontario at the height of the pandemic, Speaker. Predominantly, as we learned through the first two waves—and admittedly, the province of Ontario was not in a position in the first two waves to properly address COVID-19.

I have said this on a number of occasions: We inherited a system that was badly broken. We inherited a system that was not prepared to deal with a global pandemic. It did not have infection prevention and control measures. It still had ward rooms, outdated and old long-term-care facilities. PPE was something that was not being addressed.

But, to be very clear, at the same time, we started, almost immediately after getting elected in 2018, to start to address the underfunding in long-term care with an immediate upgrade, an announcement of 30,000 new long-term-care beds across the province of Ontario. Part of the rationale for that was to not only catch up to the serious backlog that we had because of the years of underfunding, but it was also to modernize those old, outdated homes. That work was already under way. It also included, in co-operation with the Minister of Health, the transition to the Ontario health teams.

Now, that was something that is very important. We don’t talk about it a lot, but for long-term care, that is a very important part of an integrated health care system. Because what that means is whether you’re in long-term care, hospital care or have a family doctor, you have a ribbon of care. We saw that undertaken in some of the early stages when hospitals took over the administration of some of our long-term-care homes that were incapable of reacting as quickly as a hospital could.

We dealt with the PPE not only in our long-term care but across our health care system. And of course, vaccines have changed the conversation, especially in long-term care. So what we did was put about 2,000 beds aside for isolation purposes across the province of Ontario. These are beds that could not be used, that needed to be there in case homes went into outbreak. That obviously is no longer required. That level of a bed is no longer required, because of the impact of vaccinations in our long-term-care homes.

I just want to leave you with this, Speaker. I think it’s close to 85% of our residents of long-term care who are eligible for their fourth dose have had their fourth dose. That is incredible. It is an incredible testament to the work that is being done by our health care professionals in those long-term-care homes and the impact that vaccines have, which allows us to remove so many of these beds for purposes of isolation, to put them back and make them available to the long-term-care system again.

But let me just say this: Part of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act requires that every home have an emergency plan and that that plan be submitted to the ministry for approval in case they have an outbreak. We are not suspending that, obviously. It just means that vaccines, the availability of vaccines, the investments that we’re making allow us to bring at least 1,000 beds back online into the system, and I think that is a very positive step for long-term care.

We are further exploring the use of vacant long-term-care beds as hospital-operated transitional or convalescent care beds, based on regional availability. And this is something that’s worked quite well, as well. This is where vacant long-term-care beds are, in essence, handed over to a hospital—we’ve done this in co-operation in Ottawa—and the hospital uses these beds as an extension of the hospital. It is a program that has worked not only in Ottawa and a couple of other communities in and around the GTA, it is a very important program and something that hospitals have asked us to continue. And we are going to be doing that.

We are going to work to enable community partnerships to provide more supplies, equipment, diagnostic testing in long-term-care homes to prevent potential hospitalization. And we are expanding specialized supports and services for people in long-term care with complex needs like bariatric, behavioural and dialysis.

I’m going to talk to those last two points before I get onto the final point of this. We’ve heard this a lot. Look, long-term-care homes can be more than just—it’s an important place. One of the things that I learned a lot, from the member from Haliburton and my parliamentary assistant too, and we’ve talked about this, is that a home is a home. My parliamentary assistant said it best when he said, “We want people to go from being patients to being residents.”

The member for Haliburton, every time we’ve discussed this, has always talked about—we always talked about long-term care homes. And I’ve heard this a lot. It’s not from her, because I’ll tell you what she has said. I’ve heard this a lot from people who have said, “You’ve got to stop thinking of long-term-care homes as places where we warehouse people, and we have to start thinking of long-term-care homes as a home, where somebody goes in their next

chapter of life.” That is the guiding principle, something that the member for Haliburton has helped us understand and has helped guide—many of the things that are part of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act and many of the resources that we are putting here.

We’re talking about adding additional services in our long-term-care homes, Speaker, because they can be more than just a home. Like, if somebody needs dialysis right now, it is inappropriate, I believe, that we ship somebody from their home to the hospital and back to the home for dialysis. Can a long-term-care home provide that dialysis? Yes, it can. If it has the appropriate nursing staff, if it has the equipment, it can provide that service so the patient can be a resident and can stay in their home. This bill will allow us to do that.

We are also expanding behavioural supports through Behavioural Supports Ontario and with a partnership with Baycrest, which offers a virtual program which has been very, very successful across the province. We are seeing this more and more often. Dementia has become a very challenging issue, something that is challenging in our hospital settings, Mr. Speaker, but is also challenging in our long-term-care homes and, sometimes, a barrier to somebody going into a long-term-care home, where their needs are better serviced. This will allow us to provide those direct supports to homes.

Before somebody has moved into a home, assess a home—does it need additional supports? This bill allows us to do it. It provides immediate funding and it provides permanent, ongoing funding. I think that is a very important part of this.

Finally, it provides further authority—and this is the part where I think a lot of discussion is, around this particular part. It provides further authority to assess an ALC patient’s ability to transfer into an alternative long-term-care home. What I mean by “alternative” is different from the home that they have put down as their preferred choice. I’m going to spend a couple of seconds just talking about that, because I suspect that that will come up a lot.

Let’s just take a look at that for a second, Speaker. Somebody who has been discharged from a hospital is an ALC patient but is staying in the hospital while they await their preferred long-term-care home. Right now they could be waiting in a hospital for six months—for six months. There is virtually nobody who would agree that, for somebody who is on the long-term-care waiting list, who wants to be in a long-term-care home, the best place for them to be would be in the hospital waiting for that.

What this bill allows us to do is it allows the long-term-care discharge coordinator in the hospital to access the resident’s choices: What are their choices? What are their preferred homes? Where do they want to be? Because when somebody has made that choice, they have presumably chosen to be near family, friends, their spouse, a partner, other available caregivers, in communities where they want to be. This bill allows us to do that. It allows us to say, “Look, these are your choices.

They are not available, but these are the homes that might be available around your choices while you wait for a space to open up in your preferred home.” That is the very important part of this; it allows for these conversations to continue.

It also then allows the long-term-care placement coordinator to look to ensure that there actually are the services and supports that a patient would need when they become a resident of a home while they are waiting. There is no point in us transferring somebody who has been discharged from hospital out of hospital into a home that doesn’t have the appropriate nursing staff, that doesn’t have the appropriate PSWs, that doesn’t have the supports like behavioural supports or other supports needed to handle that patient.

It allows us to review the homes, making sure they can handle the patient and, should the patient then ultimately consent to going into one of those homes, what changes would need to be made to ensure that we can accommodate the patient as they become a resident of that home temporarily.

Now, I’ve heard a lot of discussion from the opposition critic, who suggested we are going to be filling up the ward rooms and that’s where patients will go. Well, that is absolutely, positively false. It is absolutely incorrect. It is not something that is contemplated in this legislation. The vast majority of the rooms that are available in the long-term-care system right now are preferred rooms. It is a higher standard of room than the person has actually asked for.

This bill protects them, because the vast majority of the times when we are placing somebody with their consent into a temporary home while they wait for their preferred home, they will be placed in a preferred room. And what I mean by “preferred room” is a single room or a higher standard than what they have chosen for. This bill protects them because it obviously is not going to charge them for preferred rooms; we offset that cost while you wait for your preferred choice.

I think that is a very, very important part of this, because we obviously don’t want to disadvantage people while they are waiting for their preferred home.

There have been a lot of things that we have done, across the sector, to prepare our homes. I’ve said this on a number of occasions: Long-term care, finally, is in a position in the province of Ontario where we can be part of the solution to the acute-care challenges that have faced this province for literally decades. The fact that we so underfunded long-term care, as a province, for so many years is what has, in part, led us to the situation that we are in today. It is no secret that we have an aging population.

It is no secret that we have to make the investments that we are making in long-term care, and it is no secret why we are making those investments—because we are building an integrated system of health care in the province of Ontario, something that people have called for for decades. We are doing it, and long-term care is going to be a part of that. Let’s look at some of the investments we have made that led us to the ability to do this.

We are bringing about four hours of care. This is an enormous change for the province of Ontario. I think when we took office in 2018, the previous government had left us with about two-and-a-half hours of care per resident a day. That was the legacy of the previous government. They had built something like 600 long-term-care beds. What have we done? Speaker, 58,000 new and upgraded beds across the province of Ontario. At the same time, we said it’s not just enough to build new beds; we have to have an increased level of care in every single long-term-care home across this province.

That means 27,000 additional PSWs to care for people, and not just PSWs, but other health care professionals: nurse practitioners, allied health, dietitians—a whole spectrum of services available for our residents in long-term care as we go to the North America-leading four hours of care.

Again, I have to thank the member for Haliburton, who was instrumental in helping us get to this understanding of how important it was that we close down the ward beds and how important it was that we build new and modern facilities, and how important it was, if you’re going to build an integrated system, that you do it with the appropriate level of care so that there is no difference; so that, whether you’re in a hospital, whether you’re in a long-term-care home, you know that you’re going to get the highest level of care that is available to you as a resident in the province of Ontario.

We have also gone further than that. We’ve said that we have to do a better job of inspecting, ensuring the accountability.

A lot of people in this place will say that there can’t be private, for-profit, not-for-profit or municipal—one is better than the other, and so on and so forth. Mr. Speaker, I would submit to you—and I’ve said this outside of this chamber as often as I’ve said it inside of this chamber: When long-term care has failed, it is the responsibility of all of us that it has failed. It is because the rules weren’t put in place. It shouldn’t matter where you are, in what type of home you are; the standards should be exactly the same. And that is what we are doing through the Fixing Long-Term Care Act. We are ensuring that all of the standards are the same.

Mr. Speaker, we have hired additional inspectors. We are literally doubling the inspections. We will have the highest inspector-to-home ratio in the entire country by virtue of the investments we are making in long-term care.

But we’re going even further than that, because we know how important it is that people have access to information, at the same time—and finding the information on long-term-care homes in the province of Ontario was a difficult thing to do. You had to be able to search through a whole host of different websites to find information, to find an inspection report, to see what’s going on in a home. That is no longer the case in the province of Ontario.

Through the good work of the Associate Minister of Digital Government, we were able to bring forward a brand new website that allows individuals easy access to click on a map and say, “This is the home I’m considering. What is the vaccination rate? What is the care that they are having there? What is the last inspection report that they have had? What are the issues that are facing that home? And how do I apply and get into the system if that’s where I want to be?” You can do that all across the province.

It also allows you to look up that this is what’s happening in the community, this is the construction that’s happening, this home is being updated, when it is being updated, and where they are at in the process. I think that is also a very important change to long-term care.

We also brought in—and this was something that was driven by the former minister, now the minister of children and family services, the member for Kanata–Carleton, Minister Fullerton—the community paramedicine program. This is something that was driven by Minister Fullerton. This program started off as a pilot program. Those people who are waiting for long-term care, who are on the waiting list for long-term care, it allows paramedics in communities across the province to provide direct services to them as they wait.

This program has been so incredibly successful. It is something that communities across the province of Ontario have been asking us for, and it is something that, recently, I was able to extend across the entire province. I can’t tell you how well received it has been, how well it is going and how important it is to recognizing the fact that, yes, people may be on a long-term-care wait-list, that may be the case, but they don’t want to go into long-term care, in a lot of instances, until they are ready to go into long-term care. There should be other options available to people.

The community paramedicine program allows that to happen, in co-operation with what the Minister of Health is doing with respect to the billion-dollar investment in home care in the province of Ontario, the initiation of Ontario health teams. This is a very, very important time, I would submit, Mr. Speaker, for legislators and for us as the province of Ontario, because what we are doing is putting in place a change, a fix for health care for generations to come. It recognizes the extraordinary work that has led up to this.

Now, look, have we had challenges in health care? Absolutely, we have. We have a province that has grown so quickly, so fast, but despite that, Speaker, I would submit to you—and I hear this constantly—part of the challenges that people have with health care is not the care that they are getting. It is accessing the system. It is very difficult from one region to the next.

I’ve talked about it in the House. A father-in-law who injured himself in Durham region coming to live with me in Stouffville, changing from Durham to York region, how you get your PSWs to help, and the assistance, the changes—very, very difficult system to get into. But once you are in the system, it is a spectacular system despite the challenges that we are facing. We want to ensure, by the investments we’re making in health, the investments we’re making to increase staffing, that we are in a position to have the best quality of care.

Speaker, I talked about some of the new building that is happening across the province of Ontario. I think it’s worth noting, because a number of colleagues here will know that last year, as part of this, we announced a number of allocations, which have actually exceeded what our goal was. We’ve actually exceeded the goal.

I’ll put that in context. In the first three months of this year, I announced bed allocations in pretty much every part of the province. Some of the areas: Lancaster, Simcoe, Brantford, Sarnia, Hanover, Hamilton, Mississauga, Guelph, Gananoque, Paris, Killarney, Marathon, Elliot Lake, Manitouwadge, Haliburton, London, Timmins, Kapuskasing, Toronto, Niagara, Markham and Stouffville.

We also announced that surplus government lands in Mississauga, Hamilton and Etobicoke would be made available for long-term care—and these are unused government properties—something that we’re able to do, that we’re able to expedite and get moving quickly. We also did the accelerated build program, which saw the Lakeridge Gardens built in Ajax in record time as part of this, trying to understand how we can get shovels in the ground quicker and faster.

The other part of what we’re doing—I think there are over 115 homes that are being built as part of a campus of care. Now, this is such an important part of the transition on—it’s partnering. As I said, it’s part of this partnering that we’re doing in health care in general, building a system that allows health care to be integrated.

If you’re in a hospital and you need service of some sort, you’ll know before you leave that you will have your home and where your home is going. If you’re going into long-term care, that will be made available to you. But these campuses of care are so important to the transition of health care in the province of Ontario. I can’t tell you how exciting and gratifying it is to see that so many partners are coming on board for that.

Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, in the short time that I have left, I wanted to reiterate that this is a very important part of helping the acute-care challenges that we have faced in the province of Ontario. We are not leaders on this. This legislation does not make Ontario a leader. In fact, many provinces already have similar types of legislation, have been doing this for much longer than we have. We are catching up. But we are catching up because we’ve made the investments that allow us to be part of the solution. We are behind other provinces because the previous government never made these investments.

And because this government has made those investments, Mr. Speaker—and that is the important part.

Again, despite what we are hearing from the opposition fairly, pretty exclusively on this, it does not remove somebody’s ability to consent. We are not forcing anybody out of a hospital into a place where they do not want to live. That is not what this legislation does. It allows us to better prepare and to assess where somebody could go and to present those options to an individual. It allows us to continue conversations that would have otherwise stopped right at the beginning, Mr. Speaker. Since long-term care can be part of the solution, I think it should be a point of pride for us that we are in this spot in the province of Ontario.

I do hope—I do sincerely hope—that my colleagues will take the time to read the bill; to see what it does; see how it will impact your local communities; see how it will impact your local health care, your local hospitals. Talk to your administrators in your hospitals, but also talk to your long-term-care homes. Talk to them. Hear what they say about the quality of care that they can provide. I think if you do that, you will see that this is the right approach, and I hope that all members will support us on it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Long-Term Care indicated he was sharing his time. I recognize the member for Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston.

Mr. John Jordan: As the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care, I thank him for this opportunity to speak to the proposed amendments to the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021.

It’s an understatement to say that the last couple of years have been challenging for the long-term-care sector and the broader health care system. COVID-19 challenged all of us, and it continues to challenge us today. There were also many learnings and realizations that should not be lost. The shortfalls in our health care and long-term-care system were exposed.

I am proud to be part of a government that has set such a high priority to improving our systems, providing a higher quality of care and being prepared for the future with new health care facilities, resources and staffing. To this end, our government released the Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery. We are acting to secure the stability of our health system. It is paramount that we maintain stability and we continue our recovery and be prepared for new challenges moving forward.

In keeping with the staffing challenges evidenced across the health system, the strain on home care workers, nurses and administration has also increased. Patients are waiting for long periods of time in hospital emergency departments. They’re also waiting for long periods in hospitals to be transferred to a bed in a long-term-care home. Furthermore, health care workers across the health system have not had the time they need to rest, recharge and recover from the increased pressure brought upon the system from back-to-back Delta and Omicron waves. The picture is made even more serious when we look at the challenges we could face in the fall and winter, our flu season.

If no further action is taken to strengthen the health system, Ontario could experience a 2,400 hospital bed shortage by the peak of a potential flu and, perhaps, another COVID-19 wave later this year. As Minister Calandra mentioned, much of the focus over the last few months has been on hospital emergency departments, and rightfully so. However, emergency departments are part of a much larger system. Long-term care is a critical part of this system. These amendments are actions we can take now to address these challenges, actions that will help us to avoid overstraining the health system and establish better models of care.

One of the main ways to help with hospital capacity challenges is to ensure that patients are getting care in an appropriate setting. There are many patients in hospitals across the province whose care needs could be met elsewhere. Long-term care is one of those places. These are referred to, as you know, as alternative-level-of-care patients: ALC. Many of these patients have care needs that can be met in long-term-care homes. Moving these patients out of the hospitals and into long-term care frees up much-needed space in hospitals for patients who require hospital treatment.

This also benefits the ALC patient since they are being moved to a more appropriate setting where they can receive care again. These are patients who want to move from patients to being residents in a home, a long-term-care home.

That’s why, as part of our plan to stabilize the health system, we are seeking to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, in order to improve how we transition ALC patients into long-term-care homes, because our priority is for people to live and receive care where they can have the best possible quality of life close to their family and friends. In hospitals right now, there are currently about 1,900 ALC patients waiting for long-term-care homes. Some of these patients have been waiting for more than half a year, even though they no longer require hospital care.

We are all aware of the challenges our hospitals are experiencing. Having ALC patients in hospitals contributes to backlogs in acute care services in hospitals because they occupy beds and use staff resources that other patients urgently need. When they cannot be discharged, these patients continue to receive care, but in the wrong setting. The hospital is not the appropriate place for them to be. They no longer need acute care, but are in an acute care setting.

The proposed amendments we are putting forward would, if passed, support the movement of some ALC patients to temporary care arrangements in long-term-care homes, in an appropriate setting, while they wait for their preferred home. It is important to note that this would only apply to ALC patients who are eligible to receive, and would benefit from, care in a long-term-care home. And this would only happen after conversations with a placement coordinator and after efforts have been made to obtain consent.

By allowing a placement coordinator to assess and authorize an ALC patient’s admission to a long-term-care home, but with their best care in mind, this amendment will, if passed, enable attending hospital clinicians to discharge patients from the hospital to a more appropriate care setting that better meets their needs. These changes, if passed, may be met with some concern at first and there may be initial barriers to implementation. But parameters within the changes will help ease concerns.

One of these parameters is that the home must be within a specific distance from the patient’s preferred location, including that it is near a partner or spouse, loved ones and/or friends. Another parameter is the requirement that the long-term-care home must be able to meet the ALC patient’s care needs, whatever these needs may be. In addition, field guidance will be developed to support implementation and promote ongoing conversations with ALC patients, which will encourage and help with their comfort level.

Long-term-care placement coordinators will be encouraged to make ongoing efforts to re-engage with patients at frequent points throughout the placement process. At any stage in the process, patients can change their minds or choose an alternative care option.

The next part—this is very important to me, in particular, and to the whole program: Furthermore, hospital patients who have applied to live in a long-term-care home but have been moved into another suitable home temporarily will remain on the wait-list and be prioritized to permanently move once a bed becomes available at one of their preferred homes. In other words, they won’t lose their place in the queue. Change is hard, so they can also choose to remain permanently in the initial home that they are moved to.

The changes will also recognize the importance of partner and spousal reunification in long-term care.

These proposed legislative amendments will, if passed, reduce ALC patient volumes and support their movement out of hospitals now and in the future. This change is crucial because it would help ensure that patients who need hospital treatment can get the emergency treatment, surgeries and other hospital services they need when they need them. At the same time, it would make sure the ALC patients receive care in a more suitable setting that will offer a better quality of life while they wait for their preferred long-term-care home. We’ve all probably been in long-term-care homes.

You see the social interaction, the laughter in the dining halls, and the extra care they get—allied health services and other services that are available in a long-term-care home that aren’t available while they’re waiting in a hospital in an ALC environment.

The Ministry of Long-Term Care is also taking several other actions that will ease the strain on the health system. These include the following:

—opening up long-term-care beds that no longer need to be held for pandemic-related isolation purposes, through a minister’s directive coming into effect on August 23, 2022;

—reactivating long-term-care respite care programs for high-needs seniors to prevent possible hospitalizations;

—expanding specialized supports and services to support movement out of hospitals and to avoid entry into hospitals;

—enabling community partnerships to provide more supplies, equipment and diagnostic testing in long-term-care homes, to prevent potential hospitalization.

These interconnected actions, along with the proposed changes to the legislation I detailed earlier, will help reduce the number of ALC patients in hospitals and ease the strain on hospitals now and in the future. This will, in turn, reduce the risk of a hospital bed shortage at the peak of a potentially challenging flu and COVID-19 wave in the fall and winter.

This proposed amendment is part of a broader strategy from our government to ensure recovery and stability in the Ontario health system. Informing all of this work are the lessons that we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the changes to the legislation we are proposing today.

It is no secret that COVID-19 exposed long-standing issues in the long-term-care sector—issues that were the result of decades of inaction and underfunding. The pandemic shone a spotlight on a system strained by critical staffing shortages, increasing capacity pressures, complex and diverse resident needs, gaps between staffing levels and resident needs, and other challenges that the long-term-care sector was experiencing well before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health care workers on the front line have worked day after day, long hours, to protect our friends, families and loved ones, to provide them with the care they needed. Our government has taken many steps to support our front-line health workers in long-term care and help the sector through the pandemic. To this end, we’ve invested billions of dollars in COVID-19 emergency funding, which has helped the sector to respond and cope with the multitude of challenges that have accompanied the pandemic.

From the earliest stages of COVID-19, the government took decisive action to support all long-term-care homes, staff and residents. As always, our government is working hard both to help Ontarians stay healthy and to ensure that the appropriate level of care is available when it is truly needed. That’s what these amendments are about. Ensuring that the long-term-care sector is stable and that their residents experience the best possible quality of life, supported by safe, high-quality care, is a priority for our government.

That’s why, at the end of last year, we introduced the aforementioned Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. This landmark piece of legislation was proclaimed into force on April 11 and speaks to our government’s ambitious plan to fix long-term care in Ontario. This plan centres around three key areas: building modern, safe, comfortable homes for Ontario seniors; improving staffing and care; and driving quality through better accountability, enforcement and transparency. We’re taking action and making progress under all three of these areas.

When it comes to building long-term care homes, for instance, we’ve made historic investments. We have invested $6.4 billion to build over 30,000 new and 28,000 upgraded long-term care beds. We’re making incredible progress on these projects and already have more 30,000 new and 28,000 upgraded long-term-care beds in development.

Of the 365 projects that are in the pipeline, 115 projects have proposed to be part of a campus of care model. The model focuses on integrating the long-term-care home into the broader health care system. Additionally, with the redevelopment of older homes, the prior system of three- to four-bed ward rooms is being eliminated, and all homes will now be up to modern design standards. No more ward beds.

We also recognize the diversity of our aging populations. That’s why 39 of the announced projects have proposed to serve Ontario’s francophone population, and 30 have proposed to serve indigenous communities. The progress we are making and the bed allocations we are announcing on a monthly basis is what this province needs. In the first three months of this year alone, our government announced bed allocations in every corner of the province. We are building beds for our loved ones in the communities that they call home.

We also marked the sales of unused government properties to build new long-term-care homes in Etobicoke, Hamilton and Mississauga. These sales are part of the surplus provincial lands program. The program uses the sale of unused government properties to secure much-needed land for building long-term-care homes in large urban areas of the province where available land is costly and difficult to secure. The program also opens the door for additional uses for unused land, such as affordable housing and recreational facilities.

Another innovative program we have created to build is the accelerated build pilot program. In February of this year, we celebrated the completion of the first brand-new long-term-care home built under this program. The new home, named Lakeridge Gardens, is built in Ajax and is located on the same grounds as the Ajax Pickering Hospital. The home will be part of a campus of care at Lakeridge Health to ensure residents have access to the specialized care they need and access to the broader health care system in Durham Region. The proximity of long-term care to other services like this will contribute to greater collaboration, communication and efficiencies in our system.

Of course, when building new and upgraded homes, it is vital to ensure that there are enough staff to provide care within these homes. That’s why strengthening staff is a key part of our government’s plan to fix long-term care. When it comes to staffing, our central commitment is to increase the hours of direct care provided by registered nurses, registered practical nurses and personal support workers.

And as the minister has previously stated, we aim to increase it from the 2018 provincial average of two hours and 45 minutes per resident per day to a system average of four hours per resident per day over four years. To achieve this ambitious target, we are investing up to $4.9 billion by 2024 to help create over 27,000 new full-time positions for registered nurses, registered practical nurses and personal support workers in long-term care. This includes a commitment to invest $1.2 billion and $1.8 billion for staffing increases in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years respectively.

In addition, this funding will support a 20% increase in direct care time by allied health professionals, including physiotherapists and social workers, by March 31, 2023.

Increasing staffing levels is important, but it is just as important that the right culture of care is present in the staff. The focus must always be on the residents and providing them with the care that they want and they need. To build this culture, the ministry will continue to engage with residents, essential caregivers and families to understand what quality of life and quality of care means to them.

We have already taken many steps this year to achieve our ambitious staffing goals. This year, we are providing $673 million to long-term-care homes to hire and retain up to 10,000 long-term-care staff. This major investment will lead to more direct care for residents.

A month earlier, we announced a $73-million investment over three years to train and provide clinical placements for over 16,000 personal support workers and nursing students. This enabled the creation of a new program known as the preceptor resource and education program for long-term care. This program provides more opportunities for career development within long-term care and ensures that PSW and nursing students receive critical hands-on experience to better serve the needs of residents. Clinical placements are a key part of nursing and PSW education and provide students with critical hands-on experience under the supervision of experts or existing long-term-care staff.

Positive clinical placement experience supports recruitment, because many students take jobs in the homes where they completed their placements. At the same time, it provides existing long-term-care staff with an opportunity to oversee those students. We will continue to do what is needed to ensure that there are enough staff in long-term care to meet our target of providing a system average of four hours of daily direct care per resident.

In addition to all the progress we’re making on long-term care staffing and capital development, we’re also making progress to drive quality in long-term care. We’re achieving this through instituting better accountability, enforcement and transparency in the sector.

Another important aspect of driving quality is ensuring that residents have the food and nutritional support that they need. That’s why we invested over $40 million in additional nutritional support funding for long-term-care homes this year.

A key factor in driving quality is the inspection system. The inspection system exists to keep residents safe, and the ministry continually assesses information and reprioritizes inspections daily based on harm or risk of harm to residents. As part of the work to fix long-term care and ensure long-term-care resident safety, our government is investing an additional $72 million over three years to increase enforcement capacity. This will allow us to hire 193 new inspection staff, which will double the number of inspectors across the province in the 2022 fiscal year. This will make Ontario’s inspectors to long-term-care homes ratio one of the highest in Canada.

The new proactive inspection program adds to the current risk-based program of responding to complaints and critical incidents. The program also takes a resident-centred approach by allowing for direct discussion with residents so that the focus is on their care needs as well as the home’s programs and services. The results from proactive inspections will help the government determine where the sector can benefit from additional resources, including guidance material and best practices.

Another important way to drive quality is by amplifying the voices of residents and their families and caregivers and listening to their insights and experiences. The Fixing Long-Term Care Act requires every long-term-care home to take a survey of residents, families and caregivers to measure their experience with the home. Homes must make every reasonable effort to act on the results of the survey to improve the home.

The Fixing Long-Term Care Act also requires every home to implement a continuous quality improvement initiative that must include an interdisciplinary quality improvement committee for the home. The committee is intended to support an ongoing culture shift in long-term care that encourages continuous quality improvement through collaboration between the long-term-care homes, staff and leadership as well as representatives from the residents’ council and family council. Among its responsibilities, the committee makes recommendations regarding priority areas for quality improvement in the home.

To improve transparency under the third pillar of our fixing long-term care plan, our government launched the Long-Term Care Homefinder website earlier this year. This website and search tool provides prospective residents and their families with a one-stop shop to find and compare long-term-care homes across the province, and it also provides them with other resources to help them to make an informed choice when considering long-term care. In addition, we have continued to expand the behaviour-specialized units, also known as BSUs, across the province.

BSUs provide specialized care to individuals with responsive behaviours that cannot be effectively supported in their current environment and for whom all other applicable services, like regular long-term-care beds and community supports, have been fully explored. Specialized care in a BSU is required due to the frequency, severity or level of risk that the individual poses towards themselves, co-residents, visitors or staff members. This includes $5.9 million to establish four new BSUs in Ajax, Scarborough and Toronto.

We’re also investing $3.6 million to continue the operation of three BSUs established in 2019 in St. Catharines, Mississauga and Whitby.

Ontarians who need long-term-care services frequently report that they prefer to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. Our government listened by launching the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care Program to help seniors remain stable in their own homes while also providing peace of mind for their caregivers. This is a great program. This program was announced in October 2020 for five communities, with a total commitment of $33 million over four years. The program was then expanded to additional communities, with a further commitment of $137 million over four years.

And last fall, we announced that we were investing another $82 million over two and a half years to expand the existing Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care Program to an additional 22 communities. This final expansion made the program available to all eligible seniors across Ontario.

The program provides individuals eligible for long-term care and soon to be eligible for long-term care with 24/7 access to non-emergency support through home visits and remote monitoring. The program also leverages the training and expertise of paramedics in a non-emergency environment to help seniors and their caregivers feel safe and supported in their own communities. This has the added benefit of potentially delaying the need for care in a long-term-care home or a hospital visit.

As of this summer, there are more than 23,000 individuals receiving care through the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care Program. This is yet another action we are taking to help maintain the stability of our health care system while ensuring that Ontarians receive the care they need and deserve.

It is extremely important for our government to hear from the people within long-term-care homes when moving forward with our plan to fix long-term care. That’s why we’re always connecting with residents; essential caregivers; families; and long-term-care staff, including registered nurses, registered practical nurses and personal support workers. The feedback and insights that we receive from people on the ground in long-term care are invaluable and help shape the solutions and direction our government pursues. This will continue to be true moving forward as we continue to innovate and evolve in long-term care and in the broader health system.

For the reasons I mentioned at the beginning of this speech, this is a critical time for action in Ontario. That’s why we are doing everything we can to fix long-term care and to ensure that our broader health care system is stable. That’s why I’m here today, joined by Minister Calandra, to put forward proposed amendments to the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. Through these proposed amendments and the other actions we are taking, our government is taking a holistic approach to solving the challenges facing the health system. Using this approach will ease the current strain on the health system and help ensure that every Ontarian has access to care when they need it and where they need it.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Questions and responses?

Miss Monique Taylor: My office, like I’m sure many offices across the province, has received calls from families saying, “My parent is being pushed out of hospital. I don’t have the ability to care for them”—

Interjection.

Miss Monique Taylor: We’ve sat quietly the entire time, and now the member wants to start. I mean, honestly.

Interjection.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Order.

Miss Monique Taylor: Telling the truth, on that side, is far-fetched.

Anyway, what’s happening is—and we all hear this—patients are being pushed out of hospitals. Family members are concerned. They’re threatened that if they don’t take their family member home because there is no care for them, they’re going to be charged with a bill. This is a great concern.

As we’re changing the system, I’m asking the minister specifically: What will the consequences be for families who choose not to be pushed out of the ALC into a long-term-care home that they choose not to be in?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I think the member herself has just highlighted the fact why the legislation is needed and why the member should actually be in support of the legislation. That question frankly puts it all out on the table.

Right now, it does not give the families and the patient other alternatives. The conversation stops. This legislation allows the conversation to continue. It allows us to highlight some of the other homes that might be available for this patient in and around the patient’s preferred choices. That is something that this legislation does.

It also provides resources so that we can ensure that any patient who is discharged, with their consent, into a long-term-care home has the resources they need in order to manage that. Just given what the member has said, I think it highlights the need to actually vote in favour of this bill for patients who are wanting to become residents of long-term care.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): The member from Markham–Unionville.

Mr. Billy Pang: Can the minister let us know how Bill 7 would play a role in supporting Ontario’s broader health care system?

Hon. Paul Calandra: That’s a good question. The member from Markham–Unionville in particular would know the challenges that we have at Markham Stouffville Hospital with respect to ALCs. He would also know the tremendous amount of investments that he has helped bring to his riding with respect to new long-term-care homes.

As I mentioned in my speech, it is part of this transition to Ontario health teams. It’s part of long-term care being the solution to the acute-care challenges that we have faced for decades in this province, Mr. Speaker. We are in a position to participate, and we are. It is part of building an integrated health care system.

As I mentioned yesterday, when we are building systems and making it better, the NDP—the opposition—typically go to their old standby: tearing down what is being built up. This bill allows us to continue that transition, to continue to be part of building an integrated system. It’s better for patients who want to be residents, and I would hope that the member and the members opposite would support this.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Questions?

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: The pandemic brought to light the deplorable conditions in many of our long-term-care homes and facilities across Ontario. We heard horror stories of residents living in deplorable conditions, dying of dehydration. It’s great that this government plans to double the number of inspectors. However, our loved ones in these homes deserve to live with dignity and respect and the necessities of life.

Is this government planning to best utilize these additional inspectors to ensure poor conditions in long-term-care homes don’t revert back once the inspector leaves? And will they be doing surprise visitations instead of planned? Better yet, is this government willing to repeal Bill 124 so that our workers—our housekeepers, our hospitality aides and nurses—get paid their fair share for the work they do?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I will remind the member that they voted against an increase in the wages for our PSWs that this government brought in. I will remind the member that the NDP and that member also voted against the 27,000 additional health care workers that we’re bringing into long-term-care homes, which brings it to four hours of care. I’ll remind the member that she and the party also voted against the doubling of inspectors, something that she now wants. Again, once you build it up, the NDP tear it down. That’s what they do.

She talks about surprise inspectors. Doubling the amount of inspectors allows us to do that work, and if you vote in favour of this bill, it puts it right in there. So I would suggest to the member, vote in favour of the bill for once and you can help us build a better Ontario health care system, as opposed to tearing down what we are building.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Questions?

Ms. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta: Earlier this year I was proud to welcome the minister to my riding of Mississauga Centre for a wonderful announcement at the Saint Mary and Saint Athanasius Coptic church. Yes, indeed, we announced a brand new long-term-care home, which will service the Coptic community, including for the first time in the Arabic language. Further to that, we have also announced a Muslim long-term-care home through the Muslim Welfare Centre in Mississauga, in addition to our francophone strategy, which we were so proud to announce last year.

Can the minister please tell us why linguistically and culturally appropriate care is so important in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: That’s also another very good question, and part of the reason it gets so frustrating when the opposition is against these important initiatives, right?

The Minister of Francophone Affairs and the parliamentary assistant have helped me identify just how important it is that we bring services to people in their languages, and culturally appropriate services. But it wasn’t just those two ministers; it was part of the most diverse caucus in the history of the province of Ontario that helped me understand, helped this government understand how important it is, whether it’s the Coptic community, the Persian community or the Muslim community, so that people can have services in their own language.

If we are building a diverse province that we are so proud of, services should be available to them in their language, and in the culture that they know best and that they are comfortable in. And that’s what we have done with the largest buildout of long-term care in the history of this country.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Questions?

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: In Kiiwetinoong, I think we have 20 long-term-care beds for 34,000 people, and we have 14 long-term boil water advisories. I’m not sure what this bill will do for a person who is in Fort Severn. Fort Severn is the most northerly community in Ontario. There’s about 600 people who live there. When you access a long-term-care facility, it takes four and half years to get a bed. You leave your community without your family, you die alone and you come back in a casket.

How is this bill going to support our elders, our knowledge keepers in Fort Severn, Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member will know that we are also having the largest expansion in long-term care—history in the country—in the northern parts of this province. The member highlighted how underserviced the north was, Mr. Speaker, and that is why we have made so many important investments, including with First Nations partners across the province of Ontario, to do exactly what the member says.

Now, the irony is that the member voted against each and every one of those initiatives. So I would suggest to the member to work with us, to help us as we expand services to our friends in the north, because it is so important. Whether it’s the francophone community in northern Ontario or whether it’s our First Nations partners in the north, they were ignored for so long.

That’s why so many Progressive Conservatives from the north are here for the first time: to fix a problem that the other two parties never addressed. We will get it done, Mr. Speaker, and I hope he votes for this bill, because it gets it done for the north as well.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Quick question; quick response.

Mr. Andrew Dowie: Families in my riding of Windsor–Tecumseh have reached out to me with respect to uncertainty for the transfer of their loved ones from the hospital to a long-term-care home that might not meet the needs of the residents and the families.

Could the member explain what measures will be taken into consideration when proposing appropriate long-term-care homes for ALC patients?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I’ll be very brief. The bill, in the explanatory note, highlights that nobody will be moved without their consent. It goes further in

section 60, subsection 7, which very specifically says nobody is moved without their consent. This is about continuing conversations to let people know what homes are available while they wait for their preferred choice.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Further debate?

M me France Gélinas: It is my pleasure to start my hour lead on Bill 7, the More Beds, Better Care Act.

Because I have a little bit of time, I want to place this in context. Our hospital system has been overcrowded for a long time. You have heard me and many others talk about hallway medicine for a long time. What does hallway medicine mean? It means that if a hospital has 300 beds, they have 350 patients admitted. The other 50 who don’t have a bed will end up in a hallway, in a TV room, in a bathroom, at the end of a unit, wherever they can place them. This has been an ongoing problem.

This government is making the link that, in general, most large community hospitals have about 20% of their beds which are occupied by what is called alternate-level-of-care—they’re referred to as ALC. Most people who get that designation are frail, elderly people. They want, like 90% of all elderly people, to live at home. They want to be supported at home. But the home care system fails them. The home care system does not allow them to stay home safely. They end up in trouble. They fall. They don’t take their medications when they are supposed to. They end up in the hospital.

Once they’re in the hospital, the attending physician says, “I cannot send you back home because I know that the home care system will fail you again and you will end up in more trouble,” so they put them towards a long-term-care home. They become ALC simply because they cannot do the transfer to a long-term-care home as fast as their care needs are no longer requiring hospitalization.

I want to go a little bit into what could be done to prevent 20% of most community hospital beds being presently occupied by patients labelled as alternate-level-of-care: Fix our home care system. Give people the care they need where they need it, which is at home.

I have many examples of people from my own riding whom the home care system has failed.

I want to share the story of Lucie Laplante. Lucie Laplante’s husband is Gabriel. Gabriel is in—oh, no, not this story yet. I will start with another, shorter story, because I see that I only have a few minutes on the clock.

I will start with Mrs. D. Mrs. D lives in Hanmer, in my riding. Her husband broke his neck several years ago. He has been on the mend, but he suffered another fall a year later and has deteriorated. She sold their home and moved to something that would be more accessible for him, but she cannot bring him home from the hospital, because there is no home care. He needs a lift to get out of bed and into a wheelchair to get around. He is unable to stand on his own.

He went for rehab for three months at the Clarion, which is a hotel that is presently being rented by our hospital to care for people in overflow—because our hospital is overflowing. He has been in the hospital since December 2021. While at the hospital, he got out of bed, fell and banged his head. She is making an inquiry on her own to find private home care, and she is buying all of the equipment that he needs to stay home, like a hospital bed to have at home. But everybody is telling her that he needs to stay at the hospital because home care is not available.

The hospital is telling her that they could provide home care for one hour a day, five days a week, as long as she got a lift and a wheelchair. She wants her husband to be cared for at home, not at the hospital, but she’s having difficulties working out a discharge plan, although she is willing to pay for all of the equipment needed. She wants her husband at home. This story repeats itself over and over. This person is now being placed for a long-term-care bed when all they want is to go back home.

I see you’re looking at your watch, Speaker, so I will sit down.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): Thank you.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): We’ll continue the debate, but right now it’s time for members’ statements.

Members’ Statements

Health care

Ms. Doly Begum: Ontarians and people across my riding of Scarborough Southwest are anxious. Our health care system is in a crisis. Staffing levels are at an all-time low. We are seeing a mass exodus of health care workers who have been on the front lines since 2020, protecting our province in the face of COVID-19. We’re hearing about ERs closing their doors, patients waiting up to 24 hours. And now, this government is forcing for-profit, private solutions to public problems that people have entrusted us to solve. This is unacceptable.

Every single one of us in this chamber, regardless of party lines, have been entrusted with a responsibility to represent hard-working, tax-paying Ontarians, many of whom have come from across the world with skills and experience and want to contribute to the health care sector. Free access to health care—universal health care—is at the core of who we are as a province and as a nation. It is universal health care that made sure that when my family faced an unimaginable tragedy, we did not fall through the cracks. I know my story is not unique; many share this, many rely on our universal health care.

It is a big part of why I am here today. We all carry an immense responsibility in this chamber to protect the people of Ontario and protect the values that make our province great. And today, I plead. I am calling on the government to protect our universal health care system that makes sure people get the care they need when they need it, and not only when they can afford it.

Lacrosse championships

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Today, I rise to celebrate the teamwork and athletic achievement of the Barrie Bombers lacrosse team.

The girls from the Barrie Bombers 15U division are the first Barrie team to win an “A” provincial championship. All the players showed tremendous sportsmanship, from Alexis Brubacher, Kelsey Brubacher, Alyssa Glass, Amelia Zealand, Annika Crouter, Carleigh Hill, Emma Coughlin, Jorja Whalen, Kady Shelswell, Kylie Kumm, Morgan Lowe, Nadia White, Ryley Black, Teagan Setterfield, Willow Davidson and Zoey Maseko.

But there is more to celebrate for Barrie minor lacrosse, as the players from Barrie helped Team Ontario bring home the gold for 14U girls and 12U boys lacrosse. Four members of the Barrie Bombers representing team Ontario 14U girls helped the team win the gold medal national championship game, with a 5-2 win over host British Columbia. Barrie families were cheering on Morgan Lowe, Willow Davidson, Ryley Black and Jorja Whalen as they helped bring gold home for Ontario. This win was followed by the Team Ontario squad wining the 12U national league championship game, where Sebastian Danelon of the Barrie Bombers played on the team to help bring Ontario to victory.

Congratulations to the players, coaches and families.

Capital Pride

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Will Bouma): The member for Ottawa Centre.

Mr. Joel Harden: Thank you, Speaker. Nice to see you in the chair this morning. Good morning, everybody.

More than usual, my body may be here in the Legislature, but my heart is back home. And the reason my heart is back home in Ottawa is linked to this tie I am wearing today. This week is Capital Pride in Ottawa, and Capital Pride is the moment where our city celebrates our gender diversity.

It’s a week where a talented crew, led by the executive director of Capital Pride Ottawa, Toby Whitfield, puts on event after event to mention that our city is open and inclusive to everyone, including, within minutes of this speech, there is going to be Family Drag Storytime, led by some of our city’s best and most talented drag queens, to welcome gender-diverse kids and their families in the story. There’s going to be Café au Gay tonight at Happy Goat Coffee at 35 Laurel Street. There will be a Capital Pride pageant for which people can buy tickets this Friday. There is going to be an amazing Capital Pride Parade this Sunday, starting at 1 p.m., marching through our downtown core.

I invite all the members of this House to visit our city and join us. Join your political party, join your faith community, join your community organization. For the first time in two years, let’s march and celebrate Capital Pride, and let’s also salute the donation target this year, Capital Rainbow Refuge, which welcomes gender-diverse people from all over the world to our community so they can be their fullest self.

Happy Pride, capital Ottawa. Let’s welcome each other to this great city. Bye for now.

Ukrainian Independence Day

Ms. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta: Tomorrow, the people of Ukraine will be commemorating the 31st anniversary of independence. Speaker, this independence day is like no other. For me, as a Polish Canadian, it is a stark reminder that freedom and independence are fought through the sacrifices of brave men and women.

Speaker, my riding of Mississauga Centre is home to many Ukrainian Canadians who, through their hard work, strong work ethic, dedication and commitment, have contributed to the cultural, social and economic fabric of Ontario. Ontario would not be the same without the entrepreneurs like the Horodynsky family, athletes like Wayne Gretzky or Tyler Bozak, or politicians like Ernie Eves.

Mississauga is home to over 30,000 Ukrainian Canadians, and we are proud to welcome several dozens of new families every week. Whether it is St. Mary’s Catholic church, the Mississauga Ukrainian Festival, the Barvinok dance ensemble, St. Sofia school, the UCC, or Business Woman PRO Canada, Mississauga has many flagship organizations ensuring the celebration and preservation of Ukrainian heritage and culture.

I was happy to recently welcome Minister McNaughton to Mississauga for a fruitful round-table discussion with newcomer families. We discussed our firm commitment to support newcomers from Ukraine with access to education, health care and other vital services.

I would also like to take a moment to thank my campaign volunteers of Ukrainian heritage: Natalya Halich, Svitlana Yanchynska, Nadiya Yashan, Liliya, Maryszka, Vira and Viktoria. And I would like to wish them a meaningful and commemorative Ukrainian Independence Day. Slava Ukraini.

Events in Kiiwetinoong

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: I just want to take this time this morning to mention some gatherings that we have been enjoying across Kiiwetinoong this summer.

They include: the Sioux Lookout Blueberry Festival, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year; the Red Lake Norseman festival; the Trout Forest Music Festival in Ear Falls; the Kingfisher Lake annual summer festival; Muskrat Dam family days; the Wunnumin Lake Warriors volleyball tournament; the annual Kingfisher Lake volleyball tournament; the Casey Tait Memorial Klik Cup tournament; the Wunnumin Lake summer festival; Neebin Odaminowin Summer Festival in Webequie; the Neskantaga traditional gathering; as well as powwows in Lac Seul, Grassy Narrows and, this weekend, in Mishkeegogamang.

These festivals are a celebration of community, of who we are, and the values that we have. These happen as a result of the planning and the hard work of many volunteers who create these events for us to gather.

I’d like to acknowledge and thank the volunteers and organizers for all the hours they work to continue making these events happen. These events are so important, as they allow us to show off our communities, but, most importantly, to have fun with our friends and families. Meegwetch.

Sports and recreation funding

Mr. Todd J. McCarthy: It gives me great pleasure to recognize two outstanding organizations from the riding of Durham that are 2022 recipients of the Ontario Trillium grant.

Last month, the Tyrone Community Centre was awarded $10,700 for much-needed improvements and expansion of community programs. And the Clarington Swim Club was awarded $32,800. This will be utilized to expand the club’s membership, program enhancement and club facilities.

Speaker, the Tyrone Community Centre and the Clarington Swim Club are just two of 279 organizations across the province receiving these important grants that our government is providing. I am proud that our government is supporting multiple applications to the Ontario Trillium grant program. I strongly believe that many organizations like the Tyrone Community Centre and the Clarington Swim Club enrich the lives of people in the riding of Durham while playing an important role in enhancing community spirit.

As the MPP for the great riding of Durham, I congratulate these organizations for their well-deserved honour and for providing excellent programs and services to the residents of Durham and the great province of Ontario.

Events in Markham–Unionville

Mr. Billy Pang: It’s great to be back at Queen’s Park, and I want to start by thanking the constituents of Markham–Unionville for re-electing me and giving me the honour to serve them. I also want to thank my family, campaign team, donors and volunteers for their endless support and encouragement.

Mr. Speaker, it has been an eventful summer. To kick off the season, I hosted an open house at my constituency office, the first in-person event since the pandemic. It was great catching up with my constituents and listening to their thoughts on how Markham–Unionville can continue to grow as a riding.

I’ve also attended many events organized by our vibrant senior community, including the Unionville Home Society’s Seniors’ Month barbecue and the Paradise Seniors Association’s 2022 Summer Dream event. In addition to that, I participated in local celebrations, including the 20th annual Night it Up! Night Market and the 45th anniversary of Apple Creek Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the organizers for inviting me to participate in their celebrations. I look forward to celebrating more accomplishments, milestones and upcoming events.

And to my constituents watching, I will continue to work tirelessly to serve and be your voice at Queen’s Park. Together, let’s get it done. Thank you.

Health care

Mr. Adil Shamji: Last week, the Minister of Health finally admitted what the people of Don Valley East have been saying for months, that the status quo in health care is unacceptable. What my constituents have meant is that ER wait times, when ERs are accessible at all, are unacceptable. Not having a family physician for 15% of us is unacceptable. And because of this government, there are too many foreign-trained health care workers in my riding who are not getting credentialed. This is unacceptable.

Now, the status quo that the Minister of Health opposes is our publicly funded, not-for-profit health care system. Though she asserts that Ontarians will be able to access health care with their OHIP card, make no mistake, the plan for private, for-profit delivery of health care will harm the people of this province.

We have already seen the harms from for-profit long-term-care homes in Ontario that had significantly higher mortality than not-for-profit. We have learned the harms from for-profit outsourcing of public health care in the United Kingdom, which led to significant preventable mortality, and we have learned the harms from for-profit dialysis centres in the United States. We have learned the harms from all around the world, as reported in Scotland, Australia, Italy, Ireland and even the World Health Organization.

The lesson in all of this is consistent and clear: Health care must always be about patients first and not profits.

Kinmount Fair

Ms. Laurie Scott: I’m pleased to rise today to recognize and celebrate an important milestone in my riding of Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, the 150th annual Kinmount Fair. Founded in 1872, the Kinmount Fair takes place every Labour Day weekend in the village of Kinmount. After two years, our loyal fairgoers will return to enjoy agriculture shows, horse pulls, live entertainment, the Conklin midway, a demo derby, tractor pulls, parades and more in what can only be described as the Brigadoon of Kinmount.

My family has been a part of the Kinmount Fair board for six generations, and my brother is the current president and author of a book on the story of the fair. I also have many memories of competing in horse shows, exhibiting in the exhibit hall and, when I turned 12 years old, being a junior fair director. I look forward to the unveiling of a 24-foot mural depicting 150 years of the fair and a fair film festival.

The Kinmount Fair has hosted events such as oxen pulls; fishing derbies; airshows; strongman, lumberjack and chainsaw competitions; as well a few unusual acts my dad recruited, including a mudwrestling team in 1985. The Tommy Hunter Show even filmed a special episode live for the 100th anniversary of the fair in 1972.

Every year there’s always something new to experience, and I hope to see some of you at the 150th Kinmount Fair because I’ll be there.

Events in Flamborough–Glanbrook

Ms. Donna Skelly: After two long years of waiting out the pandemic, the fall fairs in my riding of Flamborough–Glanbrook are back to welcoming visitors this year. For decades, the Binbrook, Ancaster and Rockton World’s Fair have showcased the incredible work done by the agricultural community, whether it’s growing crops or tending livestock or processing food on their farms.

The first is the Binbrook Fair, which opens September 16 and runs through the weekend. Binbrook is followed by the Ancaster Fair on September 22 through to the 25th. The Ancaster Fair is celebrating its 172nd season this year. It’s one of the oldest fairs in Ontario. The Ancaster Fair is a huge draw, attracting thousands of visitors from across the Golden Horseshoe. And then, there’s the Rockton World’s Fair on Thanksgiving weekend: a fair that has been running since 1852.

All the fairs are promising a full program this year, including exhibits, livestock competitions, horse pulls, dairy shows and, of course, traditional food and fun at the midway.

When my children were younger, I would take them to the fair and watch their eyes light up as they got close to the farm animals. This year I get to take my grandson. It’s important for city kids and adults to see what the people who work in agriculture do. One of the most enjoyable aspects of fall fairs is that they take us back to a much simpler time.

Mr. Speaker, this is a time to celebrate Ontario’s farmers. They are the people who keep food on our tables, and for that, I sincerely say, thank you.

Introduction of Visitors

M me France Gélinas: I would like to introduce nurse Dave Verch as well as Angela Glanzman from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions who are here with us today. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta: I’d like to welcome some very special guests this morning: all the way from Poland, my godmother Kasia, her daughters Ola and Gabi; from British Columbia, my brother Jakub with his girlfriend Carlie; and, of course, endearingly known by our caucus as the perogy queen, my mom Anna Kusendova. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch. It’s not every day that we get to see people from the riding of Kiiwetinoong because it’s just so vast, but I’d like to welcome Chris Moonias from Neskantaga First Nation. Meegwetch, say hello.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: It’s a great honour to welcome and introduce Garrett Hein from my office for the first time at Queen’s Park.

Mr. Nolan Quinn: I’d like to welcome our member of federal Parliament, Eric Duncan, from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. He’s travelled here today to see us in question period.

Mr. Deepak Anand: We are having a summer sitting, and this is the perfect time—the kids are having summer vacation—to bring them here and show them the chamber of responsibility. I’d like to welcome high school student and my daughter, Suvidhi Anand, to the chamber.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I understand there is a point of order. The member for Nickel Belt.

M me France Gélinas: I seek unanimous consent to move a motion to allow an emergency debate on the health care crisis this afternoon during orders of the day.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Madame Gélinas is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to move a motion to allow an emergency debate on the health care crisis this afternoon during orders of the day. Agreed? I heard a no.

Question Period

Long-term care

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. The government is now going to move people from hospitals to nursing homes that they do not want to go to. If they refuse to go, will they be billed for their hospital bed?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I really think the opposition would benefit from a reading of the bill, because if the Leader of the Opposition actually read the bill, he would see that on the very first page it says that nobody will be removed from a hospital who is discharged from a hospital into long-term care without their consent.

Just to reconfirm that: In subsection 60.1(7), it also again reconfirms that nobody will be removed from a hospital acute care setting to a long-term-care home without their consent.

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: It doesn’t seem to mention billing. There are cases of this government and the Liberals before it attempting to bill seniors for their hospital beds. A 2010 report from the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, written by lawyer Jane Meadus, says seniors have been threatened with a daily hospital bill for “the non-OHIP ‘daily rate’ which ranges anywhere from $500 to $1,500 or more per day.”

Can the minister guarantee right now that if a senior refuses to go to a care home they don’t want, they will never be billed for their hospital bed?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I assume that the member must be talking about a regulation that was put in place in 1979 in this place—that has been on the books since 1979. I can confirm absolutely, 100%, that nowhere in the bill that I have introduced does it suggest that seniors will be (

a) moved from a hospital without their consent, or (

b) be charged.

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, again to the minister: The government’s plan for health care seems to involve Ontarians opening their wallets. The minister has not ruled out fragile seniors and their families racking up thousands of dollars in a bill for a hospital stay. And the Ford government has a plan for more privatized surgeries and procedures, which always, always result in extra charges.

Why does this government believe it’s okay for health care to come with a bill?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I’m not sure what the member is reading. At some point in time, when you get the answer to your question on the first question, you might want to modify your second and third questions.

I’ll give it to the member opposite: As I said yesterday, I can appreciate that they didn’t read the bill when they had the opportunity Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday or even this morning. I can appreciate that he wasn’t here for the leadoff speeches, where we identified what we are actually—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Don’t make reference to the absence of another member.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I apologize, sir. I withdraw that. But he has the opportunity now, Mr. Speaker, to go to the table and get a copy of the bill, where he will see in the bill that no senior is being moved into a long-term-care home without their consent. And there is nowhere in this piece of legislation that suggests a senior will be billed for staying in acute care settings.

Health care

Ms. Sandy Shaw: This government’s grand plan to fix our health care crisis is to throw open the door to privatized health care. But funnelling patients to private health care will only bleed resources out of our public hospitals and will make the health care crisis even worse.

We know that health care privatization always ends up with patients getting the bill. If Ontarians won’t need to use their credit cards for health care, please explain why there is currently no provincial oversight to protect patients against inappropriate charges for publicly funded surgeries.

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: This gives me an opportunity to highlight our exciting announcement that we made last week as a government, a five-point plan to provide the best care possible to patients and residents.

I only want to highlight one comment from Allan O’Dette from the Ontario Medical Association: The OMA “supports the initiatives announced today by the government....

“Strengthening collaboration with government, doctors and other health care stakeholders is critical to resolving the unprecedented pressures on Ontario’s health care system.”

No one group can do this alone, Speaker. We must do this together.

Our five-point plan does that. We are working with our partners to make sure that all capacity within our health care system is there when people need it, where they need it.

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

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Speaker, that’s from the Auditor General’s December 2021 report. Let me quote further from that report:

“We found that some patients could be given misleading information as part of sales practices to make a profit.”

Further, “The ministry is putting patients at greater financial risk by allowing additional private organizations to provide publicly funded surgeries while also being allowed to charge patients directly for additional uninsured services to make a profit.”

In the case of cataract surgeries, these add-on charges cost patients anywhere from $450 to almost $5,000.

So my question: Do you believe it is your job to protect Ontarians and not the bottom line of for-profit providers?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll ask the members to make their comments through the Chair.

To respond, the Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: It does concern me that the member opposite and the party opposite do not believe that there can be innovative solutions to what are very long-standing problems. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Status quo is not an option. That is why our five-point plan includes additional capacity, like expanding surgical units and the access to it, like expanding how we are using—in 40 communities across Ontario—the community paramedic program. These are the innovations that Ontarians need and deserve.

I don’t know if you’ve heard from your constituents waiting for those surgeries, but I have. I want to make sure that where we have capacity within our health care system, whether it is in hospitals or, in fact, in independent health facilities, we use that to make sure that people get the surgeries when they need them, as quickly as we can get them.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Again, I’ll remind members to please make their comments through the Chair, not directly across the floor of the House.

The final supplementary.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: I’d like to let the Minister of Health know that my constituents are tired of being billed extra for what should have been publicly funded surgeries.

The most disturbing finding in the Auditor General’s report: “The inconsistency in the way oversight of various service providers is conducted means that neither the Ministry nor Ontario Health has a full picture of outpatient surgeries across the province.” This is remarkable.

We know that your government’s failure to provide oversight in for-profit long-term-care homes resulted in thousands of seniors’ deaths. So why then, for heaven’s sake, are you rushing into privatization before you make sure Ontarians can get the care they need in a public universal health care system in Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): One more time, I’ll ask the members to make their comments through the Chair.

Minister of Health to reply.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Through you, Speaker: Premier Ford and our government have been very clear that health care services provided in the province will continue to be provided and accessed through your OHIP card. We want people to get those services closer to home. We want all health providers to be able to practise at the highest level of their capacity, because they want to be able to provide the service quickly to their patients.

I point to a quote from Dr. Rose Zacharias, the president of the Ontario Medical Association: “Physicians are resilient, compassionate, high-capacity people. We need to spend our health care dollars strategically and fill these existing gaps.” We will do that working with our partners. I implore the members opposite to work with us on it.

Health care funding

Mr. Jeff Burch: Speaker, through you to the Minister of Health: A Niagara boxing legend is fighting for his life. Doug Dobias is a prolific boxer and coach. Nearly a decade ago, Doug suffered a botched surgery on a hernia. Over the years, it got so bad he lost nearly 100 pounds and was unable to eat or drink. His nutrient levels were so low doctors feared his heart would give out.

Surgeons have installed a feeding tube, but it can’t stay in place for long. If the surgery to correct the initial operation can’t be done quickly, Doug will suffer lifelong consequences. But because of Ontario’s massive surgical backlog, it will be many months before it can happen, and by then, it might be too late.

Will this government invest the $1.3 billion earmarked by the FAO to address the surgical backlog so that Doug and people like him can have timely, life-saving surgeries? Yes or no?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: The member opposite highlights exactly why our government proactively made sure that surgical backlogs that happened as a result of the pandemic are being dealt with quickly. It is why we are in a very good place in terms of diagnostic—basically, back at pre-pandemic.

Specifically on the surgical wait-lists: As part of our province’s Surgical Recovery Strategy, we’ve invested over $880 million over the last three fiscal years—and Speaker, I might remind the member that that’s over the last three years because we understood that there were going to be backlogs and we needed to take these steps proactively to make sure that individuals like Doug got their surgery as quickly as they could. We have funded Ontario hospitals to expand their surgical unit hours for exactly the reason the member opposite raises.

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

Mr. Jeff Burch: Speaker, because of the massive wait-list being ignored by this government, Doug’s family had to create a GoFundMe page to pay for the surgery to be done in Buffalo in case it can’t be done in time in Ontario.

Is it acceptable to this government that people in Ontario have to crowd-fund to pay for life-saving surgery in the US?

And will the minister stand up today and abandon her plan to bankrupt and privatize our health care system and instead invest in our public system so that people like Doug don’t have to pay with their credit card to save their lives?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Again, I will remind and reinforce that in the province of Ontario, we get health care systems paid for through our OHIP taxpayer-funded programs.

The 400 additional physician residents who are now practising in northern and rural Ontario are to expand and allow more opportunities for people to be able to access care closer to home as quickly as possible. We are making these investments. We are doing this because we understand. We want people like Doug to make sure that the high-quality, amazing health care that we have in the province of Ontario—they are accessing closer to home.

Municipal government

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam: Many of my constituents have seen commentary and concerns being raised by a group of former Toronto mayors regarding the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. According to them, the proposed legislation would eliminate any meaningful role of city councillors and therefore the voice of the local residents who elect them.

Residents of Toronto and Ottawa deserve the peace of mind that their elected officials are accountable to them and will act in their best interest.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing please explain how this legislation will ensure that my constituents still have power regarding the role of municipal mayors and councils and the democratic principles that shape governments are being upheld?

Hon. Steve Clark: I want to thank the member for the question.

Contrary to what the former mayors said, municipal councils and locally elected councillors play an important role in representing their constituents and ensuring delivery of local priorities. Council will not be left out of the process of local decision-making. Under our Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, checks and balances are built into the proposal. Council can override the mayor’s veto of bylaws related to provincial priorities and budget amendments made by council with a two-thirds majority vote.

Speaker, it’s important to keep in mind that these changes are put forward to help the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa cut red tape and get shovels in the ground faster. The mayor is obviously still a member of council and still would have one vote on matters brought before council in the very same way that they do presently.

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

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam: Speaker, the residents of Toronto and Ottawa deserve respect and they deserve to have all of their concerns and questions addressed.

Some of the additional concerns raised by the previous mayors of Toronto about this legislation include claims that mayors will have too much power to hire and fire senior staff, impacting the separation between executive and legislative functions. Additionally, they have said that the system provides too much control for mayors, providing them a veto on decisions that intervenes with provincial priorities.

Speaker, can the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing provide certainty for the people of Toronto and Ottawa by addressing the outstanding questions regarding this legislation?

Hon. Steve Clark: Those are fantastic questions. It’s important for members of this House to remember that under our proposed changes, mayors are still subject to the legislative accountability and transparency measure. This includes proposed new laws that would prevent the mayor from using the new powers when they would have a conflict.

The legislation also explicitly prevents the mayor from being able to hire certain positions. The posts would include positions like the police chief, the chief building official, the medical officer of health. There are many, many others that are under legislative prescription.

We’re giving mayors the tools they need to get things done, to get shovels in the ground faster. And we’re going to hold them accountable to the decisions they make. We’re counting on them to cut red tape to get housing built faster so that families can realize attainable home ownership.

Thank you for the question.

Respite care

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. Rick Brown lives in London West and is exhausted from more than five years of caring for his wife, Marian, who has an incurable brain disorder. His only break is during her weekly nine hours of home and community care. Before the pandemic, Marian could stay up to a week at a long-term-care home through the short stay respite program. That program was suspended in March 2020.

Will this government restore the short stay respite program to give caregivers like Rick the break they so desperately need?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Yes, Mr. Speaker. I announced that on Thursday, and of course the opposition have said they are not supportive of that.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: Marian is on the wait-list for long-term care, but Rick could manage her care at home if only he had the right support. A week of respite every few months would make all the difference for Rick and for Marian.

The ministry told us that the short stay respite program was suspended to free up long-term-care beds. Why is this government more interested in forcing seniors from hospitals into long-term care than in providing caregivers like Rick with the respite they deserve?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I honestly don’t know where this member is coming from right now, because that is exactly what we’re talking about in the legislation. I announced that with the Minister of Health last Thursday. I talked about it exclusively in my presentation this morning. I’ve talked about it entirely since we introduced this.

It is so important that we bring back respite care to the province of Ontario. We’re in a position to do that, Mr. Speaker. Many of us have heard how important this is during the campaign. We’re in a position to do that because over 85% of long-term-care residents have their fourth dose of vaccine, so we can do that.

I implore the member: If you believe in what you have just asked, then surely you will be supporting this bill.

Long-term care

Mr. John Fraser: My question is to the Premier. For months now, long-term-care homes across Ontario have been pleading with this government for help, and Bill 124 has done more damage to them than any other piece of legislation I can remember. Now the government is proposing Bill 7. Bill 7 is going to violate patients’ basic rights by changing the law to allow them, among other things, to be moved without their consent. That’s cruel.

Imagine this conversation, Speaker: “Mrs. Smith, we’re going to have to move your mom.” “But you can’t move her. We won’t be able to see her. That’s too far.” “I’m sorry, Mrs. Smith, that’s the law. I have no choice.”

Bill 7 is not going to work for patients, their families or the people who care for them. Will this government withdraw Bill 7?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Paul Calandra: As I said yesterday, look, it’s okay to be wrong, but it is not okay—

Interjections.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Yes, I have to be careful because, truly, I’m angry at this. Because what the opposition is doing is absolutely sad and, in many ways, it is disgusting. Because it says—and the member will know this. It says right on the first page of the bill—on the first page, the explanatory note—that it “does not authorize the use of restraints in order to carry out the actions or the physical transfer of an ALC patient to a long-term care home without their consent.” It goes further, in

section 60(7), to suggest that not only the ALC patient, but also the consent of the substitute decision-maker in an instance where there’s a substitute decision-maker.

I hope the honourable gentleman will do the honourable thing: Withdraw what he just said, stop getting people worried about what is happening. This is a way of building health care in the province of Ontario, including in Ottawa, and he should be a part of helping us do that.

Interjections.

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

Start the clock. Supplementary question.

Mr. John Fraser: It does say in the bill explicitly that people can be moved without consent. And the conversation I just described will happen. Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you don’t get the same rights as everyone else. Long-term-care homes are experiencing even greater staffing pressures than our hospitals. Unlike our hospitals, they don’t have a relief valve. To make things worse, for-profit agencies are poaching their staff and, in some cases, the same staff are coming back to work at two and three times the cost. At long-term-care homes, they can’t refuse an admission, otherwise they get penalized.

Instead of creating greater pressure in our long-term-care homes, this government should be repealing Bill 124 and withdrawing Bill 7. Will this government commit to do that?

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member can’t reference, the way I have in

section 60(7), where in the bill it says that, because it is very clear that not only will we respect a substitute decision-maker and a patient in ALC, but we will also respect the Patients’ Bill of Rights. That is what we said we would do. The member will also know—you would think he would know—that as part of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, which they voted against, nobody can be put into a long-term-care home that does not have sufficient staffing and resources in order to care for the patient that’s being transferred in.

If he went further, Mr. Speaker, he would know that the act guarantees that and it actually provides up to $60 million on a go-forward basis to ensure that we have behavioural supports for patients, that we can provide kidney dialysis for patients, because for the first time, long-term care will be part of the solution as we build an integrated health care system in the province of Ontario. And despite what he is saying, we will continue to do that on this side of the House, despite the failings of 15 years of Liberal government.

Transportation infrastructure

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Year after year, the previous Liberal government was warned about the economic damage that road and infrastructure gridlock was going to have on our economy. In 2011, the president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade warned that, “The longer we take, the more gridlock hurts our economy and quality of life. We have reached a tipping point.” In 2013, the C.D. Howe Institute said congestion in and around the GTHA has cost the economy around $11 billion per year.

In 2017, the Fraser Institute declared that, “Traffic congestion isn’t just a nuisance, a public health problem, or an environmental hazard. In addition to being all of those things, it’s also a significant economic harm.”

My constituents know these statements and they live the hard truths of them. They are tired of the inaction by the previous Liberal government. Can the Minister of Transportation tell us why it’s critical that our government advance infrastructure like the Bradford Bypass and bring relief to the people of Ontario?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Thank you to the member from Barrie–Innisfil for the question. Speaker, for decades, previous Liberal governments ignored calls to build the Bradford Bypass. Under this Premier’s leadership, we are finally getting it done.

In the next 30 years, the population of the greater Golden Horseshoe will grow to the size of what Ontario’s population is today: 15 million people. With that in mind, the do-nothing approach of the opposition parties is no longer an option. Speaker, we need to get building. Farmers, families and businesses have been paralyzed by gridlock on our major highways long enough. Building the Bradford Bypass will change that. The new highway is expected to save 35 minutes per trip; that’s more than one hour per day, or five hours per week, that you won’t have to spend behind the wheel.

Speaker, we can’t afford to let gridlock get any worse. The time to act is now. Our government is getting on with the job of finally building the Bradford Bypass.

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

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Thank you, Minister. The Bradford Bypass represents an opportunity for economic growth for all Ontarians. The people of Bradford, Barrie, Innisfil and all of Simcoe county deserve to be respected. They deserve to have their quality of life recognized. Congestion takes hours away from spending time with their families, and that is no longer acceptable.

We saw how the previous Liberal government didn’t get it done. They delayed, deferred, demurred. And when it came to building transit infrastructure—the residents currently are just desperate, because there was no infrastructure.

Can our minister explain how we are getting it done, how we’re building key major infrastructure projects like the Bradford Bypass and how the progress of this project is currently being done?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Speaker, our major highways are filling up more and more each day, but this is not a new problem. The Liberals could have addressed gridlock by building the Bradford Bypass, but instead they quietly shelved it. Our government is taking a different approach. In the greater Golden Horseshoe alone, we are addressing gridlock head-on by making historic investments and getting shovels in the ground on highways, roads, subways and GO expansion.

Building capacity in Simcoe county and in York region starts with getting the Bradford Bypass done. Earlier this year, I was proud to announce the early works contract to construct a bridge crossing which will pave the way for shovels in the ground later this year.

Speaker, it is our PC government, led by this Premier, that is stepping up to the plate and delivering for Ontarians.

Health care

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: A constituent of mine—who wishes to remain anonymous, so we will call her Sarah—reached out to my office to share her “health care horror story.” Sarah explained that after waiting for three hours at Juravinski Hospital for a scheduled surgery to remove suspected ovarian cancer, the surgery was cancelled at the last second because there was not a single bed available for her post-procedure. Sarah’s surgeon had mentioned that numerous other patients experienced the same last-minute cancellations just a week prior, all due to a lack of beds.

Premier, our emergency departments are at their breaking point, with ongoing surgical delays. What is this government going to do to alleviate the increased ER visits that we are seeing from Ontarians with undiagnosed issues resulting from pandemic delays, surgeries being pushed back and preventable illnesses progressing?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: The member highlights exactly why we have been working so aggressively as a government, across ministries, to make sure that we have capacity within our health care system. I point to the ability for internationally educated health care professionals to be able to quickly get their licences so that we have that expanded capacity. I point to the 400 new physicians that are practising in rural and northern Ontario. I point to the $880 million over the last three fiscal years that was invested to reduce surgical wait times.

I understand. When scheduled surgeries have to be cancelled because a higher-priority patient has come in and needs to be looked after first through triage, it is incredibly frustrating for that patient and that family. That’s why we’ve made these investments, and that’s why we will continue to work with all of our health care partners to make sure they have the services and the resources they need.

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

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: To the Premier: It is clear your government is pushing for private surgical clinics. Yet these clinics will suck resources from the public health care that is already short thousands of nurses and thousands of support workers. Women with ovarian cancer who need their surgery in a hospital will wait longer and live in fear for longer.

Premier, is this inaction around bed availability this government’s cruel and shameful strategic move to convince Ontarians that private clinics are the end-all and be-all solution to our health care woes?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I will continue to focus on the entire system. I will make sure, through our caucus colleagues, that we have the capacity within the Ontario health system so that when you need regularly scheduled or emergency surgery, there is capacity in Ontario. And that capacity will be paid for from the patient with their Ontario health card.

The concept of picking one issue and insisting that is the solution—we’ve heard very clearly from medical experts across Canada and indeed worldwide that we are experiencing shortages, which is why we’re working with the College of Nurses, we’re working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to expedite those individuals who are living in the province of Ontario, have that experience and were educated in other jurisdictions to quickly be able to get their certification and licensing.

Immigrants’ skills

Ms. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta: With more than 370,000 jobs going unfilled across the province, we need to expand our workforce to meet the vital market needs to get workers building our roads, highways, schools and hospitals. Newcomers are crucial to growing our economy and building a strong future for us all. As my good friend from Mississauga–Malton had said, jobs need people and people need jobs.

We know that Ontario is a destination that has always been attractive for people looking for a bright economic future, including my very own family when we immigrated 22 years ago. But we also know that we are facing a global race for talent as people all around the world are searching for a better place to build a life and raise a family.

Can the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development share what our government is doing to make Ontario a more competitive jurisdiction to help bring people to our province and address the ongoing skilled job shortages?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I want to thank the member for that question. But most importantly, I want to thank the member for her leadership and standing up for the people of Ukraine against Putin’s illegal invasion. Thank you for everything you’re doing.

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. We are facing the largest labour shortage in a generation here in Ontario. To achieve our ambitious plan to build, we need all hands on deck. That is why our government is making it easier for newcomers to start working in their trade or profession faster. We’re eliminating Canadian work experience requirements and removing duplicative language tests. This makes it easier for engineers, auto mechanics, plumbers and others to move to Ontario, fill in-demand jobs and earn more for their families.

By working for workers, our government is making Ontario the destination of choice for more skilled workers.

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

Ms. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta: I thank the minister for his response.

Ontario deserves to be a part of a fair system, to have a bigger say in how we address the jobs and skills gap in our province. It is not right that Ontario only has a say in less than 5% of immigration applications, while other provinces have nearly 50% oversight in application approvals. It is vital that we address this now and fix the growing backlog.

Skilled individuals are in demand all over the world. Right now, when Canada is short countless people for jobs in the skilled trades, the Federal Skilled Trades Program has a processing time of 47 months, which is nearly four years. Can you imagine?

Can the minister please explain more about the advocacy from Ontario and the other provinces regarding fixing the immigration approval system and ensuring that we can bring more skilled workers to meet our growing needs?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Thank you again to the member for this very, very important question. She is correct that our current agreement with the federal government certainly isn’t meeting Ontario’s needs.

We continue to call on Ottawa to speed up timelines and let Ontario choose those with the skills that all of our communities need. Tackling Ontario’s labour shortage is essential to keeping costs down for families and keeping businesses open and expanding in our province. Action in this file is long overdue and it’s never been more important than now.

We need these workers to fill in-demand jobs and build stronger communities for all of us. If the federal government answers our calls, this will further unleash Ontario’s potential so we can start building together.

Employment standards

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: My question is to the Premier. The University Health Network in my riding has seen an increase in the use of temporary nurses. Their spending has gone up from $1.1 million to $1.7 million over the past three years. Other hospitals are seeing similar increases.

Nurses are burning out. They’re leaving the profession in droves. Why is it okay for the Ford government to pay private companies more than the nurses who are essential to delivering health care for our communities? When will this government repeal Bill 124?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The President of the Treasury Board to respond.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: This government has an unprecedented and historic record of investing in health human resources across this province. In fact, Mr. Speaker, since March of 2020, we have added over 10,500 health care workers across this province.

Every step of the way, the members opposite have opposed measures that we have put in place to support and increase health human resources across this province. For example, just in April of last year, when we put forward a plan to help speed up the process to train and include foreign-trained professionals in the province, the members opposite voted against that. In the fall economic statement, when we made investments of over $300 million to train, support and upskill nurses, the members opposite voted against that.

We will continue to support health care workers across this province, and we will continue to make historic investments to support health care in Ontario.

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

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: I recognize that some investments have been made, but clearly there hasn’t been enough, and the nurses that you speak about can’t be found anywhere.

Anything short of repealing Bill 124 will not fix the nursing crisis. This is really the question at the heart of what we are discussing. We have nurses all over Ontario who are crying out for help. I will share just one story. One nurse tells me that their profession is seen as a dead-end job in Ontario, because what they are now seeing is that health care in Ontario is going absolutely nowhere. I wish that that was not the case, certainly not within my lifetime.

Bill 124 is actually driving this low-wage economy for nursing. What is the government going to do? You called them heroes during the pandemic. Are they not heroes anymore to you?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for that question. We recognize how vital nurses are to the health care system. That is why this government has made changes to nursing education in Ontario, by allowing colleges to offer stand-alone nursing programs. There are 14 colleges in Ontario that, this fall, will now be able to start offering this program: colleges like Loyalist College in Belleville and Georgian College in my area. Do you know what that means to these communities? Students will have the option to train and practise in those communities where they may be underserved with nurses.

We’ve made incredible investments in nursing education. The stand-alone was only one of those. The Learn and Stay program for nurses in underserved and rural communities is an opportunity for nurses to have their tuition and all educational expenses covered, in exchange for two years in an underserved community.

We are doing many measures to increase the number of nurses in Ontario and give students the opportunity to enter this fabulous profession.

Workplace safety

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: My question is to the Minister of Labour. Minister, just a few weeks ago, Jamaican migrant farm workers in Niagara region wrote to the Minister of Labour in Jamaica, raising concerns about their working conditions here in Ontario. Sadly, days later, on August 14, Garvin Yapp of St. James, Jamaica, was killed in an accident with a tobacco harvester in Norfolk.

Every worker deserves a safe working environment and the basic expectation that when they come to work, they will return home to their family safely, just as they came, wherever that may be. Migrant workers come to this province in good faith and expect a safe working environment as they fulfill the jobs in our agricultural sector that are vital, not only to the agricultural sector but to our economy overall.

Minister, what are you doing to keep these migrant workers safe?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Please make your comments through the Chair.

Minister of Labour.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I thank the member for this very important question. First, I want to begin by expressing my condolences to the family impacted by the loss of life.

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, like the member opposite said, every single worker deserves to come home safely after a hard day’s work. We know the importance of agriculture workers in this province. They truly are heroes, putting food on all of our tables, supporting families right across this province.

Mr. Speaker, I did reach out to Minister Fraser, the federal minister. As the member opposite knows, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is the responsibility of the federal government. They’re also in charge of bunkhouses.

Specifically on the incident that she is referring to, we are investigating as we speak and committing to getting answers for these families as quickly as possible.

In the supplemental, I’ll talk about more actions that we’re doing to keep all workers safe in Ontario.

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

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Back to the minister: The agricultural industry is the cor