role="main" class="main-container container js-quickedit-main-content" id="main-content">

December 7, 2016

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

< Previous sitting day

Next sitting day >

Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2016-Dec-07 (PDF)

L041 - Wed 7 Dec 2016 / Mer 7 déc 2016

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 7 December 2016 Mercredi 7 décembre 2016

Orders of the Day

Patients First Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 donnant la priorité aux patients

Introduction of Visitors

Ukrainian immigration

Oral Questions

Energy policies

Health care

Government’s record

Hospital funding

Highway tolls

Health care funding

GO Transit

Long-term care

Labour dispute

Gasoline prices

Health care funding

Employment standards

Affordable housing

Private members’ public business

Visitors

Deferred Votes

Patients First Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 donnant la priorité aux patients

Members’ Statements

Tendering process

Climate change

Poverty reduction

Film and television industry

Season’s greetings

GlobalMedic

Westside Secondary School

St. Andrew’s Society of Kingston

Internet access

Visitor

Private members’ public business

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs

Introduction of Bills

Medical Assistance in Dying Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 modifiant des lois en ce qui concerne l’aide médicale à mourir

Protecting Passenger Safety Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 sur la protection de la sécurité des passagers

Conservation Authorities Amendment Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 modifiant la

Loi sur les offices de protection de la nature

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Computer Science Education Week

Petitions

Hydro rates

Anti-smoking initiatives for youth

Hydro rates

Long-term care

Long-term care

Hospital services

Wind turbines

Missing persons

Employment standards

Hydro rates

Orders of the Day

Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 modifiant des lois en ce qui concerne les élections

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Good morning. Please join me in prayer.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Patients First Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 donnant la priorité aux patients

Mr. Hoskins moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 41,

An Act to amend various Acts in the interests of patient-centred care / Projet de loi 41, Loi modifiant diverses lois dans l’intérêt des soins axés sur les patients.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’ll turn the floor over to the minister.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I get started, I want to thank the member from Ottawa South for his support on this important piece of legislation. I’d also like to take a moment to acknowledge the dedicated and hard-working people who make our health care system work every day. From the doctors and nurses to the support staff and the administrators, we’re so fortunate to have so many committed people across this province striving to provide the best possible care to Ontario patients. They’re doing excellent work; the results speak for themselves.

We’re seeing shorter wait times—among the shortest in the entire country—for most surgical procedures; we’re seeing, in recent years, improved emergency department wait times; and we’re seeing more support for people to stay healthy through a greater focus on disease prevention and health promotion.

We also know that there is more work still to be done. Despite all that we’ve achieved, too often the services we deliver are segmented and disconnected from one another. We know that system coordination could be better and so could the distribution of health services across the province.

While our achievements are making a difference in the lives of many Ontarians, not all of these patients have benefited equally or equitably. Our health care system could do better at delivering the right kind of care to the patients who need it most. That’s why our government introduced Bill 41, the Patients First Act. This act would, if passed, serve as a path to improve the patient experience and provide better access to care for Ontarians no matter where they live.

It would improve communication and connections between the various aspects of our health care system in order to create a more seamless patient experience. It would make it easier for patients to find a family doctor or nurse practitioner when they need one, see that person quickly when they’re sick and find the care they need closer to home. It would make it easier for doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and other primary care providers to connect their patients to the health care that they need.

One of the key things this proposed legislation would do is enhance local planning so that health care providers are available to patients where and when they’re needed and that they can provide care that’s culturally and linguistically appropriate and sensitive to their patients’ needs and their circumstances. Now, few organizations are better equipped to address the need for greater planning in the community than our local health integration networks, or LHINs.

In their current form, LHINs are already responsible for our hospitals, our long-term-care homes, our community services, and our mental health and addictions services. But we still need to address the other services like primary care, home and community care, and public health, which are not connected enough with each other.

When our government created the LHINs 10 years ago, it was with the goal of improving local health care system planning, integration and service delivery to better meet the needs of patients in their local communities. Our government understands that local decision-making is essential to the improvement and delivery of health care, and LHINs already play an important and, indeed, essential role in achieving the goals of our Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care. They understand the unique needs of their regions.

They work closely with their communities to determine the local health care priorities and service needs. Over the past decade, our LHINs have developed knowledge about the health and health care needs of the communities that they serve. They’ve helped us to make substantial progress on reducing emergency room wait times, expanding access to care and increasing accountability. Our health care system has improved significantly as a result.

Our government believes that LHINs are ready to build on the progress that they’ve made over the past 10 years, and we want to leverage their expertise and their partnerships, as well as their knowledge of the unique needs of the communities they serve.

If this bill is passed, we would give our LHINs greater responsibility for home care delivery and primary care planning and make those sectors more accountable to the public. Working with health care sector partners, all proposed changes would be done in collaboration to make sure that patients have ongoing access to the health care they depend on, and we would update patients, caregivers and our health care partners at each step along the way.

Home and community care is a critical part of our health care system. This legislation will enable home care workers to continue to do the incredible work they are doing but with the added support they need to ensure a better health care journey for Ontario patients. That’s why our government is proposing to better connect our home and community care sector to the rest of our health care system.

I want to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge all of Ontario’s community care access centres. I want to recognize the period of transition we’re about to undertake. Last year in Ontario, community care access centres provided home care to more than 800,000 Ontarians, helping more than 200,000 Ontarians return home from hospital, and I want to thank them for that work.

Our government is transforming health care to make Ontario the healthiest place in North America to grow up and grow old, and home care is a very important part of that transformation. That’s why it’s so important that we pass the proposed bill before us.

I’m going to leave it to the member from Ottawa South to speak more about some of the other aspects of our health care system that are going to benefit from the legislation we are considering here today, but I want to take a moment to talk about some of the false claims that are being made about Bill 41.

First, there are claims being made that Bill 41 would give government officials or LHIN employees access to personal health information. Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker: This is absolutely not the case. Bill 41 would continue to protect the full privacy of personal health information. No patient health records can be accessed without the explicit consent of the patient—full stop. With the passage of the Health Information Protection Act, confidential health records have never been more secure.

Lastly, with the full support of the privacy commissioner—we worked closely with him over the course of drafting this legislation and listened to his concerns and incorporated them into the legislation. With his support, we’re confident that patients can rest assured, knowing their personal information is not in any way at risk with this bill.

Second, there are claims being made that the Patients First Act will increase costs and increase bureaucracy. Again, let me be clear, Bill 41 will not lead to increased costs or bureaucracy. In fact, with Bill 41, we anticipate substantial savings that will be directly reinvested in front-line services. With the transfer of home and community care services from the CCACs to the LHINs, the CCAC boards will be dissolved and administrative and management savings will be realized with the integration.

I’ll mention, in terms of the sub-LHIN regions that we’re creating as well, which in many cases already exist, that leadership has already been identified. In many cases, it will be through existing health links across the province, but it will not be a new office or a new bureaucracy. We will be harnessing the local expertise within the LHINs, the front-line health care expertise that can best identify what services are available, what the needs of the population are, matching those two things, and harnessing the resources of the LHINs and of the government to provide additional resources.

That will not be a layer of bureaucracy, Mr. Speaker. That will be an important mechanism for local planning and implementation.

Third and lastly, there are claims being made that the government officials will be making medical decisions for patients. On this, let me be clear: This is, again, absolutely not the case. Clinical decisions have always been and will continue to be made by our clinicians.

We want to make sure that patients remain at the centre of this process, that patients are the ones that we build our health care system around, that they remain at the centre of the Patients First Act. We also want to make sure that their voices are heard, whether it is through a patient and family advisory council in their hospital, whether it is through their local LHIN or through our provincial government.

The proposed Patients First Act represents the next major step in the evolution of our health care system. It would improve and integrate planning and delivery of front-line services and increase efficiency to direct more funding to patient care within the existing system.

Speaker, as I mentioned, the member for Ottawa South will make some remarks later on this morning, but I want to take a moment to encourage all members to support this important piece of legislation so that we can improve access to quality health services, we can improve the patient experience, and we can help our communities deliver health care that truly meets their local needs.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate? It rotates. Further debate?

Mr. Jeff Yurek: I’m very pleased to be here this morning and participate in the third reading of Bill 41. It was interesting to hear what the minister had to say, but I’ll go on with my speech and then we’ll go from there.

First, I’d like to thank those people—various organizations, health care professionals and individual patients and caregivers—who came to committee during the rushed deputations for this legislation and gave their thoughts on this bill.

It was spoken quite frequently of how health care is rationed in this province. If we go back a year ago, we notice that the Auditor General highlighted that 39% of monies going into the CCAC stay within the bureaucracy and don’t reach front-line patient care. Another report from the Auditor General showed that LHINs are failing the health care system.

It was just last week that we received another Auditor General’s report, and I thought I would just go over some of the highlights of that Auditor General’s report, which also notes how this system is in trouble, our health care system, and in fact care is still being rationed. One headline: “More Attention Needed to Placement of High-Needs Individuals in Mental-Health Housing and Supportive Services.” “More Oversight and Analysis of Child and Youth Mental-Health Agencies Needed.” “eHealth Still Unfinished After 14 Years and $8 Billion.” “Ministry Needs to Improve Oversight of Physician Billing and Payment Models.” “Ontario Lacks Comprehensive Provincial Mental-Health Standards.”

Mr. Speaker, it speaks to quite a number of problems in this system which Bill 41 does not address. Unfortunately, this government has been charging ahead with Bill 41. From patients that I was speaking to and health care professionals, they seem to be ignoring the true issues that are occurring in the health care system. Bill 41 transforms the health care system. I’m in agreement with that, with the government, this minister. However, it transformed to a top-down structure. The government talks about more local decision-making.

What this essentially does is it transforms the power back up to the ministry to control the LHINs. Unfortunately, the people who are going to lose out are the local health care providers and the patients. It also increases bureaucracy, which the minister claims it’s not going to be creating, but they have already started creating the extra layers of bureaucracy in the system.

I’d like to touch a bit on what happened at committee. Nothing else can be more stunning than to hear various patient groups—Patients Canada, other patient groups—and doctor groups—the Ontario Medical Association, the Coalition of Ontario Doctors, Doctors for Justice, family physicians—none of them were consulted for this piece of legislation. None of them were consulted at all during this legislation, and they brought that forth at each step. I was quite shocked that patients were left out of this situation. So at committee we developed amendments going into this legislation.

Over 90 amendments were created for this piece of legislation. Again, which is following this typical path of this government of not listening, one NDP amendment was passed, no PC amendments—we actually snuck one through on the PC side. The government members were sleeping, and we got one through, only for the government to remove the whole

section in the next amendment. So 90 amendments, one NDP amendment, zero PC amendments—it’s unfortunate. We brought forth amendments from the deputants who had concerns, the health care professionals and patients, and this government said no to them. Again, it’s following through. They rushed the debate of this bill, they rushed it through committee, they didn’t listen to any of the amendments from anybody who came with a deputation, and they’re rushing through time allocation to get this bill passed by tomorrow, apparently.

We heard from Patients Canada, which I mentioned; RNAO, the nurses; OMA, the family physicians. Pharmacists wrote in, chiropractors, mental health associations. The government did not accept any of their amendments that we brought forward on their behalf. In fact, the minister was quoted as saying that the Ontario Medical Association was as close to lying as possible in their deputation. Unbelievable that he would—trying to build a system, and the Auditor General is talking about a need for improved oversight of physician billing and payment models.

The best way to fix the system, other than the Ministry of Health doing their job, is to work with family doctors to find solutions. But this government spends day in and day out vilifying their doctors and calling them liars. It’s unacceptable.

This bill has not come forth—not once in committee or through debate has it given us an idea of the costs associated with creating this new system or the savings. They keep saying, “Oh, we’re going to have savings.” How much? We’ve asked this government about costs before. “The gas plants should only be a few million dollars.” It was over $1 billion. They can’t estimate. We don’t want estimates. We would like to actually see a study showing us how much this is going to cost us and how much this is going to save us and if that money is actually going to go back to front-line patient care—or is it going to be reinvested in the bureaucracy?

I’d just like to read a little bit of what we heard at committee from various groups that were in attendance. We heard from the Patient Ombudsman. The Patient Ombudsman said that “the Patient Ombudsman’s office should be the specialized single point of access for patient complaints relating to the LHINs, including the health service providers for which the LHINs are responsible, and the Patient Ombudsman should be an independent officer of the Legislature to enshrine both the appearance of independence and actual independence.” We put through amendments to fix that; the government said no.

We heard from Mr. Ted Ball at the committee: “After Minister Smitherman left, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care,” the bureaucracy, basically convinced the other ministers to ignore the 12-year piece of legislation, “which, if it had been implemented, would have decreased the staff of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care by 50% to 70%, and reduced the power of the ministry to micromanage local health care delivery systems through the empowerment of local communities.”

They’ve reversed this in this legislation. They’ve empowered the ministry. In fact, he points out that when Dalton McGuinty became the Premier, they had five deputy ministers; we’re now at over 20 deputy ministers in that office. Bill 41 reverses the previous LHIN legislation; it disempowers the LHIN board and returns the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to its original function as a centralized command-and-control bureaucracy.

The OMA, Ontario Medical Association, represents family physicians who care for 155,000 patients every day: “Ontario’s doctors have been subjected to unilateral decision-making by government which has caused physicians to feel devalued and disrespected, and Bill 41 continues that trend.

“High-performing health care systems around the world respect and meaningfully engage physicians in change. It is essential for success, and this is missing with Bill 41. There was no meaningful consultation with Ontario’s doctors....

“Bill 41 demonstrates this government’s indifference to health professionals by making professional advisory committees optional.”

This government does not want to hear from health care professionals. Why would they make the committees at each LHIN optional if they don’t want to disregard what the health care professionals want to offer to the local system? It’s unfortunate that they’ve taken that step forward in dismissing the voices of the health care professionals.

The general and family practice

section of OMA: Their concerns were that there was no opportunity for meaningful family doctor input in the creation of this bill, even though family doctors play a vital role within every sector of the health care system. That was assured when the Baker-Price report was introduced. This government is creating a new level of local planning, and then it goes and gives itself the power to supersede it and impose decisions that impact on how patient care is delivered.

We also heard from the chiropractors. Chiropractors have a pilot project going around this province which is improving patient care in decreasing the use of opioids in this province. They asked that they be included as a health service provider so that they’re able to implement this treatment through family health teams and through other physiotherapy clinics in order to improve the health care of those in local areas throughout the entire province. We put in an amendment on their behalf: “Include chiropractor services under ‘Professional services’”—that’s under the Home Care and Community Services Act.

That was ruled out of order because that part of the act wasn’t open, but under the Local Health System Integration Act, “A person or entity that provides musculoskeletal services in a clinical setting, including physiotherapy services or chiropractic services, that is not otherwise a health service provider”—the government said no to that.

We hear when the chiropractors come and have their lobby day that the government is right behind them and working to improve their scope of practice. There’s an opportunity, a door, to work with the chiropractors when they’re transforming the health care system: Give them a strong role as a health care provider. This government is notorious for not supporting chiropractors. They cut their services when they first formed government many years ago.

We also heard from pharmacists. Pharmacists sent in a letter asking basically for the same type of status as a health service provider. Again, the government didn’t add that amendment in.

We also heard from the paramedics. Paramedics have a community paramedicine program in this province which is benefiting patients. They’re able, in between calls, to visit patients at their home, do some screening, some monitoring, and lower admissions to hospitals, lower transportation to ERs. It’s a program that’s working. They’d be great if they worked towards a health service provider. There are many barriers that this government is not willing to work with.

We asked for paramedics to be added as a health service provider so they could be utilized by the LHINs, increasing the individual health care of Ontarians throughout this province and decreasing costs. The government said no to this as well. It’s unfortunate.

We also heard from many groups and organizations, such as Addictions and Mental Health Ontario and the Canadian Mental Health Association. They are concerned that they do not receive all their funding from the government, from the LHINs—they receive a portion of their funding from the LHINs—but under this legislation, because they receive the tiniest amount of funding from the government, they’re able to be taken over by the LHINs and controlled. It’s devastating to these organizations, that rely on volunteer boards to do their fundraising and also provide their services, to have an outside government organization walk in and take them over.

We put through two amendments. We first said 75% funding, and then we cut it down to 60%, and this government said no to that.

It’s a concern. Every single organization that came to speak to us with regard to the funding aspect is concerned that this is a move by the government to take over their organizations, with the merest amount of funding, and there’s no guarantee this government won’t stop the LHINs from doing so.

If the government listened to the front-line health care professionals—we had Dr. Gandhi here. Dr. Gandhi was here, and he gave a great testimonial, a great deputation, at the Legislature. In his part of Ontario, which is up in the Collingwood area, he has his family health team, but they’ve created their own integrated network with pharmacies, labs, other doctors and specialists, and they actually share—they’ve created their own e-health system, and it’s a system that functions. Their patients are seen. They look after 60,000 patients in that area. They’ve stabilized the budget, and they’ve decreased the hospital overload by working together. Were they consulted on this?

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: Isn’t that health links?

Mr. Jeff Yurek: I’m hearing “health links.” No, it’s not health links.

What’s going on is they were not consulted. There are ideas out there from front-line health care professionals, but this government does not want to listen to them. This government doesn’t want to go forward with them. This government wants to create more bureaucracy. This government wants to empower the Minister of Health to dictate what’s going on, moving away from what Minister Smitherman did years ago. It’s unfortunate that we’re headed down this section.

As I mentioned earlier, we added in so many amendments that were shot down by this government, and it’s disappointing. It’s disappointing that this government, under Premier Kathleen Wynne, promised to be open, accountable and transparent, and to work with the parties to create a better Ontario—they’re not open; they’re not accountable. They’re hardly transparent, if you look at the Auditor General’s report.

It’s seen, through many of the bills that go through this Legislature, that they’re not interested in working with the opposition parties. They rush through legislation and don’t listen to any of the concerns brought forth by opposition.

We know we’re going to be here, after two or maybe three more Auditor General’s reports coming back, and the government is going to have to change what they’re doing today.

This is setting up for failure. You created a system without involving the patient, without involving the doctor, and now you have the nurses’ association rallying against this bill. How do you create a system that’s going to be functioning correctly? Bureaucrats cannot deliver health care. This is a concern going forward, and it’s unfortunate that we’re here today, rushing through this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, we ask these questions, which we didn’t get answers to:

Will the bill increase more spaces in long-term care? No.

Will the bill improve access to doctors and nurse practitioners? No.

Will this improve access to mental health care? No.

Will this enable health care professionals to do their jobs? No.

This bill is being more strict on our health care professionals, giving them more guidelines. The patient-doctor relationship is at risk here with this legislation. We need to empower our health care professionals to do their job in order to perform it for our patients.

Does this bill focus on the patient? Other than the title, no, it does not.

Will this bill take money away from patient services? Yes.

Will this bill increase bureaucracy? Yes.

Mr. Speaker, the PC Party stands with health care professionals and the PC Party stands with patients, but we cannot stand and support Bill 41.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate?

M me France Gélinas: It’s my pleasure to take the few minutes that were allocated to us to talk about a very important bill, a bill that people had been waiting for for a long time.

When the minister started his comments this morning, he laid out what needed to be done. He talked about improving access to our health care system. People want improved access. There are many groups out there, including indigenous people, francophones and minorities, that have a really tough time accessing our health care system, not to mention people living in northern or rural Ontario.

He talked about improving the patient experience. We’ve heard from many, many patient groups that we need to do better. He talked about a health care system that meets the needs of the people it serves. The end goal is something that the NDP supports 100%. It is something that everybody knows needs to be done.

Let’s look at what the bill will really do. The minister says that there are false claims. He says that the LHIN employees won’t have access to personal health records. Well, I have the amended bill in front of me, and I will read into the record what people find very, very troubling.

We have people such as Concerned Ontario Doctors who are worried about that; Doctors for Justice, who came to committee, who are worried about that; we have the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, who’s worried about that; the Ontario Medical Association,

Section on General and Family Practice; we have individuals who have written to us—Jennifer Sargent—and the list goes on.

Let me quote directly from the bill. First, on page 16, it says, “Powers of investigator conducting investigation.” Those will be when something has happened in a community health centre, in a family health team, in an aboriginal health access centre—people who have medical records on-site. Something has happened. The LHIN, this unaccountable, non-democratic LHIN, will appoint an investigator. I read from the bill:

“An investigator conducting an investigation may,

“(

a) require the production of records or anything else that is relevant to the investigation, including ... records of personal health information.” It’s clear. It’s in the bill.

It goes on to have restrictions. The restrictions are as follows:

“An investigator shall not exercise the investigator’s powers under subsections (7) and (8) to access personal health information except”—and the minister is right,

“(

a) with the consent of the individual who is the subject of the personal health information; or”—and this is where it all falls apart,

“(

b) in such circumstances as may be prescribed.”

I cannot tell you how hard I tried to get that

section out, how hard I tried to say, “Define what ‘in such circumstances as may be prescribed’ will mean.” I am not a lawyer, so I actually asked the lawyers who sit on committee, “What does ‘in such circumstances as may be prescribed’ mean?” It means anything. It means whatever you want it to mean. This is where the worries come from.

It goes on to say, “If an investigator accesses personal health information under subsection ... the investigator shall”—and it goes on.

So there is no doubt—it is in the bill—that an investigator will have access to personal health records “in such circumstances as may be prescribed,” without individual consent. This is why people are worried. I wish we would have taken that out. The minister recognizes how important this is. He brought it up in his remarks this morning. Yet, the bill still leaves it—“in such circumstances as may be prescribed” would have been really easy to take it out.

I put the amendment forward. I brought the debate forward. I brought the lawyers in from the Liberal government, from legislative research, who sit there in committee and help us, but to no avail. They had their scripted notes, and they kept reading them over and over to me. It didn’t matter that what they were saying did not make any sense whatsoever. They stuck to the party line. That’s why people are worried.

The second thing that I wanted to put on the record is, what an opportunity lost for us to do better for the First Nations. Here, again, in the opening comments—we want to improve access. I can tell you that pretty much every indigenous Ontarian has access problems with our health care system.

The aboriginal health access centres wrote to the committee, and I want to put their two recommendations on the record. The first one is, “Add a new object of a LHIN to reflect the aboriginal health policy vision: to implement the Ontario aboriginal health policy (AHP) 1994 and its successor policies, in order to promote health, healing and reconciliation with the diverse indigenous populations across Ontario.”

I put that amendment forward, Speaker. It was voted down, and although the mandate has been there for the government to have an Ontario aboriginal health policy and an advisory committee, it has never been implemented.

Recommendation number two: “Activate and rename indigenous advisory health council.” They ask to amend LHSIA to ensure the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care activates the provincial, aboriginal and First Nations health council referred to in

section 14 of the bill; that it rename the council to “indigenous advisory health council”; and that it ensure inclusion of indigenous people with senior-level subject matter expertise in service delivery and lived experience.

This has been in the bill for the last 10 years—that we were supposed to have an aboriginal and First Nations health council. It was never activated. We know indigenous people have problems with access to our health care system, yet that was never—and when I put it forward as an amendment, it was voted down.

There were also many amendments that came forward from the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario. The French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario made it clear that he wanted—we have French entities in Ontario that do work to connect with the French-language community of Ontario and that give advice to the LHINs who make the final decision. The commissioner asked that rather than—in the bill, it says that the LHINs have to engage with those entities. But “engage” means, “Yes, we received your report. Here’s the trash can.

We’ve engaged.” So all we ask, all the French Language Services Commissioner asks, is that they be consulted with. Make it a little bit more formal that all of the good work that is being done by the French-language services entities was going to be respected. They voted that down.

But the one that takes the cake—and the one that is really, really difficult to swallow, for me—has to do with the new power that the government has given itself. This new power is the power to appoint a supervisor that takes over the board. It takes over the governance of an agency. So as soon as an agency talks against the LHINs, as soon as an agency is not in line with the direction that the LHINs want to go in, their board will be taken over. They can force a merger.

You know, the supervisors are using our hospitals very sparsely, by the order of the minister, under the direction of cabinet—but not for community agencies. An unelected, unaccountable LHIN will decide to take over the governance of an agency.

Let me tell you that Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors spoke about this. Rural Ottawa South Support Services spoke about this. St. Stephen’s Community House spoke against this. Supported Training and Rehabilitation in Diverse Environments spoke about this.

So did Toronto Neighbourhood Centres; the Neighbourhood Group; United Way Toronto and York region; Volunteer Toronto; West Neighbourhood House; West Scarborough Neighbourhood Community Centre; Mission Services of London; Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario; Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors; Ontario Community Support Association; Ontario Nonprofit Network; Dr. Harold S.

Trefry Memorial Centre; Evergreen Markham Stouffville Thornhill; Early Words; Hospice Dufferin; Hospice Georgina; Acclaim Health; Addictions and Mental Health Ontario; Association of Ontario Health Centres; Affiliated Services for Children and Youth; Canadian Mental Health Association; Dietitians of Canada—and the list goes on.

They all told the government that the LHINs cannot appoint a supervisor without at least the Minister of Health ordering it and the cabinet being accountable for it, because you will destroy community agencies who have served their community well in the past and will continue to serve us well in the future. It is not because they don’t agree with the LHINs that their governance should be taken away.

Bill 41 was brought forward because our home care system is broken. Nothing in this bill will fix our home care system.

My colleague will give us an example as to what happens to Ontarians when our home care system is broken, and why it is so important that we fix this privatized home care system that fails more people than it helps.

But none of that is in that bill. That’s why the NDP will not be able to support it.

I leave a few minutes on the clock to share a very typical story of the failures of our home care system.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate?

Mr. John Fraser: It’s a pleasure to rise again and speak in support of the Patients First Act.

First off, I’d like to thank the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care for his leadership on this file. I think we can all agree in this Legislature that the responsibility of being Minister of Health is really quite an incredible one, considering we spend just about half of the revenue that the people of Ontario give us on health care. It’s incredibly complex.

I know that members would agree that he’s responsive to them. I see members across the floor coming down all the time to speak to the minister. I know that I very much am proud to work with him.

Before the Patients First Act was drafted, we spoke and consulted with thousands of Ontarians—in fact, with over 6,000 Ontarians. We held consultations, round tables and various meetings right across the province. We spoke to doctors, nurses, personal support workers and, of course, patients about the challenges that exist in health care in Ontario.

I just want to respond to the member opposite with regard to the consultation. I don’t generally like to read litanies, but I think this is important to read into the record. This is in reference to the consultations we had with the Ontario Medical Association. In April 2015, the ministry presented to and discussed with the OMA executive the Price-Baker report, from which many of the key concepts for the Patients First strategy emerged.

In June 2015, we met with the physician services committee to further discuss the report.

January through March: The ministry had significant physician engagement through discussion paper consultations led by the ministry in LHINs. This included over 6,000 individuals and organizations and nearly 200 formal submissions, including physicians and physicians’ groups.

In February 2016, there was a round table on Patients First where the OMA staff were present and participated. Also in February, we received the OMA’s formal submission on Patients First.

On May 30, the ministry met with the OMA CEO and president to provide advance notice of the tabling of the Patients First Act.

On June 3, we met with OMA staff and legal counsel for a detailed discussion on the components of Bill 210.

On June 8, the deputy minister and ministry officials met with the OMA primary care advisory group to further discuss Bill 210.

On July 7, the ministry provided assistance to OMA staff in answering Bill 210 questions.

On September 26, we presented Patients First to the Coalition of Regulated Health Professional Associations, and the OMA was present.

On October 13, we requested to consult on the clinical leadership components of Patients First.

There is a standing meeting that occurred at least six times between the OMA CEO and the deputy minister to discuss Patients First.

So the accusation that there was no consultation is simply not true. I want to make sure that that’s on the record.

Over the last two weeks, we did have committee. We had presentations from many people. We heard from the opposition, and we’ve heard from them regularly, about what they felt should be in this bill and what they felt its shortcomings were. We don’t always agree on these things—and I do hear back, “We didn’t see our amendments passed,” but you may have seen your comments and your suggestions and your concerns expressed in government amendments. So to characterize that you had no influence on that—I can see how you may feel that way, but I don’t think that simply is the case.

I feel it’s important to respond to the message that health care is rationed. We all know we’ve got a fixed budget for health care. We all know that. Every party here has made decisions on that fixed pot at some point in time, and the reality is that we’re always working to use that money as best we can. Unless we start to devolve the powers for planning and collaborating down to the local level, we’re not going to get the kind of system we want.

Those are all really tough choices. It’s easy to say, “You should do this.” It’s easy for the Leader of the Opposition to say, “You know what? I’m going to build that hospital”—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Just a little reminder that you’re talking through me and not directly over there. I think you’ve looked over here once.

Mr. John Fraser: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be transfixed on you.

I think that that is an easy thing to say. It’s easy to promise everything to everybody. The future of health care is collaboration based on outcomes. It’s people working together at the local level. At committee, I agree, we heard a great story about what doctors, I think it was in Brantford, did. I apologize if I’ve got it wrong. And do you know what? If we could do that across Ontario, that would be great, but we can’t do that unless we build structures that have responsibility for incenting that kind of collaboration and working together.

As I said, I’m transfixing on you, and I was a bit transfixed on the consultations with the OMA.

The reality is physicians have a lot of power in our system. They have a lot of power. One out of every $10 that Ontarians contribute comes to us, comes to doctors, okay? That’s what we spend. That’s a lot of power. What we need is for people to work together. The only way that we’re going to do that is if we do that at the local level. This bill does this. I agree with the member opposite. We are going to continue to work together with our francophone community. I know that one of her amendments in the bill was passed. There is still much more work to be done in that regard.

C’est très important que les services francophones augmentent parce que la première langue des personnes est très importante aux temps critiques de leur vie—la fin de vie, la démence. C’est très important.

We understand. We know that we need to do more. I’ve spoken directly with the French Language Services Commissioner. I know that the minister has, as well. So there’s more work to be done in that regard.

There are many more things that I could say about the bill, but I think that to characterize that this is a command-and-control exercise—it is not. The purpose of this bill is to strengthen local decision-making. It’s to empower people locally. I come from a LHIN where—I’m very fortunate that Champlain let us move forward on things like children’s mental health. We reduced our wait times in hips and knees because we got practitioners to work together to say, “It’s not good to have a year and a half waiting list for my patients.

So we’re going to develop a system where if you want a certain doctor, you can go to that doctor, but if you want to get your surgery right away, you can go to the next surgeon up.”

That would not have happened if we had not had a local LHIN. We wouldn’t be doing the things we’re doing in children’s mental health, youth addictions—I could go on for the rest of the day with the kind of work that’s being done. That’s the kind of thing that needs to happen across this province.

So I support this bill totally, and I really appreciate the opportunity to speak to it.

I did remain transfixed on you, Mr. Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate?

Ms. Cindy Forster: I want to thank the member from Nickel Belt for her advocacy on this bill.

I wanted to just spend a few minutes talking about a personal story, because if you have never experienced the health care system as a patient or a family member here in Ontario, you have no idea. We all hear from constituents in our office on a daily basis about their experience, but until you are actually caught up in that vortex, you have no idea.

I have been a nurse for many, many years and I thought I knew the system. My husband was very sick this past year with lymphoma, and I have his permission to talk about this. He experienced a fractured leg while he was in the hospital, and he had to live with a fractured leg for six and a half months while he was undergoing chemotherapy. He got to experience the home care system for a very long period of time.

I can tell you, from the date of being discharged from the hospital to the readmission to finally have his leg fixed two weeks ago, he had home care almost every day.

But there are tremendous problems in the system, from trying to actually get a meeting to get home care planned with discharge planners in the hospital and with home care case managers in the hospital, which never happened in my case—and I mean, I’m an advocate; I know how the system works; it never happened—to my husband arriving home by ambulance with no equipment other than a bed and a wheelchair, because I couldn’t get a meeting with them, so I didn’t know what the CCAC was going to be providing and what they weren’t going to be providing, what they were going to be delivering to my house.

Home care, personal support workers—I never got any care for the first three weeks. So I have a very sick patient—husband—with a lymphoma, who has had his first chemotherapy. He has a spiral fracture of his leg, unstable. He’s basically on bedrest in my home, and for three weeks I had no personal support.

I had a case manager call me maybe on day three that he was home and basically said she didn’t think that I needed any support, that I had agreed to take him home from the hospital and that she didn’t think I needed any support to help get him into the shower or get him onto a commode chair or whatever. So I had to rely on family members to actually do that.

At week three, his case was changed to another case manager at the CCAC who finally came and visited. That was the only visit from a case manager in six months, the only call from a case manager in six months.

Then the home care finally started, after three weeks. It was like a revolving door. We’ve heard from the member from Nickel Belt about elderly patients being bathed by a different personal support worker every day. That was how it was. For the first three weeks, it was a different personal support worker every day. So every day I had to train a personal support worker on his care.

We saw a registered nurse or an RPN for the first week, and it is like piecework. It’s like when I worked in the canning factory as a teenager. The nurse would come in and she’d change the antibiotic in the IV pump, and away she would go. There was no holistic care of patients in the system.

So here we are discharging patients one and two days post-op. We’re sending them home to their families, many of whom don’t have a nurse to look after them. Thankfully, in this situation, there was one; right?

What are people doing who do not have someone to advocate for them, someone to actually look after them— which is why we have all of these readmissions to hospital? And then, when you actually get the home care workers in, sometimes they don’t show up. They’re sick; I get that. Maybe they’re sick. But you don’t even get a call from the scheduling office of the providers to say that nobody is showing up. You normally have a visit at 10 in the morning, and you’re waiting until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. You’re calling and saying, “Is anybody coming?” “No. We don’t have anybody to give you.” “Well, do you know what? Maybe you should have told me that at 9 o’clock this morning.”

That happened on a fairly regular—I would say that at least once a week, somebody didn’t show up. So if I had plans, if I had booked a meeting in my constituency office because I knew that there was going to be somebody at my house for an hour or an hour and a half, I couldn’t even get to that meeting.

The system is broken, even the way the system is parcelled out in home care. Saint Elizabeth was actually my care provider, but they only have about 15% of the contract in the Niagara Peninsula. So you’ve got this agency trying to provide full-time jobs for personal support workers but in fact they don’t have enough of the work to actually keep all of these people employed on a full-time basis, and so they let their services out to a different home care provider.

So now they’re working part-time at two places when, in fact, if one non-profit provider had the entire Niagara region or had the entire city of Hamilton, they could actually provide regular work schedules for these personal support workers. They could keep them all employed full-time. Patients would actually have care, and more regular care, but when you’ve got ParaMed doing this and ComCare doing this and Saint Elizabeth doing this, it makes for such a piecework system that I have to say that patients at the end the day are not getting the care they deserve in this province. Something has to be fixed.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate?

Mr. Todd Smith: It’s great to have the member from Welland back in the Legislature with us today. It’s so important, I think, that the minister hears that story, because we’re all hearing those stories every day in our constituency offices, where the current system isn’t working to meet the needs of the patients who are out there. It’s a broken system, as the member describes. She has lived it first-hand. She’s also a nurse. She’s also an MPP. She also knows how the system is supposed to work and knows the various players in the system, yet it was very difficult for her to try to make the system work in her own personal case because of just how damaged the system is.

The front-line health care workers don’t exist to make it work properly. That’s the thing that I think is most confusing and frustrating for people who are trying to navigate the system: The front-line workers just aren’t there when we need them. They’re hearing from the government constantly, “We’re investing in more home care. We’re investing in more home care.” They’re taking money out of the hospital system to invest in our home care network of services, but while services are being cut at the hospitals, services are also being cut in home care, and we can’t meet the demand that’s there.

I commend the member from Welland for bringing her story to the Legislature this morning because it’s not an unfamiliar story to all of us who are dealing with this on an everyday basis. It’s very, very frustrating.

What is the government doing in Bill 41? They’re doubling down on the same types of policies that got us in this mess in the first place. I know this wasn’t the minister responsible for bringing the local health integration networks and creating the new level of bureaucracy. There have been a couple of different health ministers since that occurred eight or nine years ago. However, what the government is doing with the new iteration of LHINs is creating an even larger bureaucracy, as has been described by our critic the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London.

The title of the bill shouldn’t be the Patients First Act; it should be the Bureaucrats First Act, because that’s what we’re actually seeing, the creation of more layers of bureaucrats, more people sitting in offices, pushing pencils and paper—people who aren’t actually providing the services that the member from Welland just described are so necessary.

The consistency that should be provided for those services simply doesn’t exist. People are telling me every day that it’s a different personal support worker who shows up to provide the service, if one actually shows up. What she just described is exactly the stories that we’re getting in our constituency offices on a daily basis. Is this piece of legislation going to fix that or is it going to make it worse? I would argue, and I know our critic would argue, that it’s going to put up more barriers to people trying to access the services.

The reason is that the government hasn’t listened to those who are integral in providing those services. Those who have been trained to provide the services that we require are being ignored when this piece of legislation is being put together, when it’s being debated at committee and when it’s being debated in the Legislature. We can do so much better.

This should be the Bureaucrats First Act, not the Patients First Act.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The time is up for debate.

Mr. Hoskins has moved third reading of Bill 41,

An Act to amend various Acts in the interests of patient-centred care. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour, please say “aye.”

All those opposed, say “nay.”

I believe the ayes have it.

This being the morning meeting, this vote will take place after question period.

Third reading vote deferred.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Orders of the day? Minister of Community Safety.

Hon. David Orazietti: No further business.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): This House stands recessed until 10:30 this morning.

The House recessed from 1004 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I’m pleased to rise to recognize Joszef Horvath from my constituency office, who is here in the gallery today. Welcome to Queen’s Park, Joszef.

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: I’m delighted to welcome Drew Woods from Parkdale–High Park to Queen’s Park today, in the gallery.

Hon. Jeff Leal: They haven’t arrived yet, but I will introduce them. From the great riding of Peterborough, I’d like to welcome individuals from the municipality of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen. They will be in the east gallery. We’ll have Mayor Ron Gerow, Deputy Mayor Jim Martin, and Councillors David Gerow, Barry Pomeroy and Hart Webb. We want to welcome them to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Norm Miller: I’d like to welcome, from the Ontario Principals’ Council, Mary Linton and Steve Blok, who are here at Queen’s Park today in the members’ east gallery. Welcome.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I want to welcome a special guest today—it’s her first time in the Legislature: Ellen Hastie from London.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: I would like to welcome to the House, from the Principals’ Council, Steve Toffelmire from Prince Charles Public School in the great downtown of Trenton. Welcome.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I’d like to introduce to the assembly Michelle Roe, my executive assistant, and Brooke Folan, my constituency assistant from Sarnia–Lambton, here with us at Queen’s Park today.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I’d like to welcome Sylvia Dixon, a constituent, to question period. She’s here to watch her grandson William, who is a legislative page. Welcome.

Mr. John Fraser: I’d like to welcome members of the Ontario Principals’ Council. I met with John Hamilton, who is from the Durham board; and Nancy Brady, the principal of Ridgemont High School in Ottawa South. She’s also a constituent. Welcome.

Mr. Steve Clark: Fast times at Ridgemont High?

Mr. John Fraser: That’s exactly right.

Mr. John Yakabuski: I too would like to introduce Steve Blok, who is here from my riding of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, with the Principals’ Council. I will be meeting with him later today.

Miss Monique Taylor: I’d like to welcome members of CUPE 4914, led by their president, Sonia Yung. Carrie Lynn Poole is in the audience today, also from CUPE Ontario.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I’d like to ask all members to join me in welcoming a number of the leaders of our Ukrainian Canadian community who are here today to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Ukrainian immigration to Canada.

We have with us Lidia Narozniak, who is the president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Ontario provincial council; Andrii Veselovskyi, who is the consul general of Ukraine to Toronto; and we have a number of other leaders in the community, whose names I will mention: Lydia Cymbaluk; Daria Diakowsky; Bozhena Gembatiuk-Fedyna; Victor Hetmanczuk; Alexandra Hetmanczuk; Tamara Ivanochko; Walter Kish; Oksana Kornilova; Natalie Korpan; Lada Kozak; Valentina Kuryliw; Oleh Lesiuk; Marc Marzotto; Myroslava Oleksiuk; Bob Onyshuk; Myron Pyzyk; Lesia Spolsky; Marijka Stadnyk; Paul Strathdee; Krystina Waler; Borys Myckhaytics; and Antonina Kuksenko. Please join me in welcoming them.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: I’d like to introduce probably the best constituency office staff in Ontario and Canada: Whitney McWilliam, Marlene Bainbridge, Trish Fifield and Penny Rice. Welcome to the Legislature today.

Ms. Soo Wong: I have a lot of guests this morning visiting Queen’s Park. Let me begin by welcoming our guests from the Salvation Army. From the Ontario central east division, the divisional commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sandra Rice; the divisional secretary of Ontario central east public relations, Mr. Andrew Burditt; the Ontario camping ministries assistant executive director, Captain Deana Zelinsky; executive director, Toronto housing and homeless supports, Mr. Bradley Harris; and executive director, Belinda’s Place, Mrs. Rochelle Saunders.

From Ontario Great Lakes division, divisional commander Major Everett Barrow; the divisional secretary of Ontario Great Lakes public relations, Major Patricia Phinney; Ontario director of women’s ministries, Major Violet Barrow; program area commander Major Margaret McLeod; program area commander, Lake Erie region, Major Glenda Davis; the divisional emergency disaster services director, Major Alan Hoeft; and Colonel Marguerite Ward.

I also want to welcome my former principal at the Toronto District School Board, Principal Mary Linton, here today. Welcome, all, to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Bill Walker: On behalf of my colleague Michael Harris, MPP for Kitchener–Conestoga—and the guests of page William Dixon—we’d like to welcome his grandmother Sylvia Dixon, who’s joining us in the members’ gallery today. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: The Ontario Principals’ Council are here at Queen’s Park today, and their executives are also in attendance this morning. I’d like to welcome Kelly Kempel from Waterloo, Mary Linton from Toronto, Larry O’Malley from Halton, Steve Toffelmire from Hastings-Prince Edward, Heather Highet from Limestone, Andrea Taylor from Halton, Steve Blok from Renfrew, and Nancy Brady from Ottawa-Carleton. All are practising principals—and Ian McFarlane, the executive director. Please welcome them.

Mr. Lorne Coe: I’d like to welcome to Queen’s Park three members of the Whitby Sunrise Rotary club—Dave Robinet, Larry Greenland and Doug Byers—as well as the students from Donald A. Wilson high school, from the town of Whitby.

Hon. Eleanor McMahon: I’d like to welcome to Queen’s Park today one of our fabulous principals from Burlington, from M.M. Robinson High School, Andrea Taylor. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ukrainian immigration

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member for Etobicoke Centre on a point of order.

Mr. Yvan Baker: Mr. Speaker, I believe you will find that we have unanimous consent to recognize the 125th anniversary of Ukrainian immigration to Canada, with a representative from each caucus speaking for up to five minutes.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Etobicoke Centre is seeking unanimous consent that all members pay tribute to the 125th. Do we agree? Agreed.

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be sharing my time today with the member from Etobicoke Centre.

It’s with great pleasure that I rise to mark the 125th anniversary of Ukrainian immigration to Canada. Over the decades, Ukrainian immigrants have built homes, started businesses and grown communities here, all the while making our province a better place to live. Today, Ontario is fortunate to be home to the largest number of Ukrainian Canadians in the country.

The year 2016 is a special year for this vibrant community. Back in August, we all joined in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Ukrainian independence, and we’re proud that Canada was the first Western country to recognize a free and independent Ukraine. As well, the member from Etobicoke Centre and I joined Prime Minister Trudeau and Ukrainian cabinet members to discuss opportunities brought by the new Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, a partnership that holds a great deal of potential.

While we celebrate these milestones, we also share the pain of the Ukrainian people, who, as we speak, are fighting to defend Ukraine’s independence, protecting the same values that their families advanced in Canada over the past century: freedom, justice and human rights. We continue to condemn the Putin regime’s aggression towards Ukraine, standing firm in our support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. I’m proud of the humanitarian aid our government sent to support the Ukrainian people as they defend their democracy.

But our country is not blameless, Mr. Speaker. During the First World War, Ukrainian Canadians were among those interned by our federal government. In the 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, a genocide few countries would acknowledge.

We are, however, learning from this painful history. As you will remember, Mr. Speaker, the Holodomor Memorial Day Act was the first-ever piece of Ontario legislation sponsored by all three parties, because we all recognized the importance of remembrance and education. It’s why our government added the internment of Ukrainian Canadians and the study of the Holodomor to Ontario’s high school curriculum. Now every young person in Ontario will learn about these dark chapters in our history.

Let’s honour the Ukrainian immigrants who over the years chose Ontario as their new home and thank their children for helping us build a better province. Slava Ukraini! Thank you.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Etobicoke Centre.

Mr. Yvan Baker: Thank you very much, Speaker, and thank you, Premier. Today we commemorate 125 years of Ukrainian immigration to Canada. Here in the gallery we have with us leaders of the Ukrainian Canadian community. Some of them are immigrants to Canada from Ukraine. Some of them are the children and grandchildren of immigrants to Canada from Ukraine.

My mother and my grandparents were immigrants to Canada from Ukraine. My grandparents Ivan and Olena came to Canada fleeing oppression and seeking a better life, like so many people who have immigrated to Canada from Ukraine over the past 125 years. They were incredibly proud of their Ukrainian heritage, but they were also incredibly proud to be Canadian. In fact, I’ve said it many times—many of you have heard me say this before—my grandparents are the proudest Canadians that I’ve ever met.

To ensure that I learned about my Ukrainian heritage, my parents and my grandparents insisted that I attend Saturday school. This was not unique to me; this is common to members of our Ukrainian Canadian community. After Saturday school—every Saturday—my grandparents would pick me up. We’d have lunch and my grandfather would sit down with me and help me with my Saturday school homework. We would learn the Ukrainian language, culture, history, traditions etc.

I have to admit, Speaker, when I was a teenager and a kid I didn’t really enjoy Saturdays. I really didn’t enjoy doing homework on Saturday afternoons, either. There was one day in particular where I was particularly frustrated. I was struggling and I said to my grandfather, “Dido”—I called him Dido—“I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to stop.” And he said, “Yvan, you cannot stop.” He said, “Let me tell you why. I’m incredibly proud of my heritage and my homeland and I think that if you learn more, you will be, too.”

But he also said, “I want you to learn about the history of our people, the Ukrainian people, because so many of them came here to Canada—they came before you did, they came before I did—and they helped to make this country great. I want you to learn about the people who made Canada great.”

That’s why I’m so proud to stand here today, Speaker, and that’s, I think, the things that we are celebrating here today.

For 125 years, Ukrainian Canadians have come to Canada seeking a better life, and for 125 years Canada has supported them. That is why Canada was the first country in the world to recognize Ukraine’s independence 25 years ago.

That is why this Legislature was amongst the first in the world to recognize that the Holodomor was a genocide. That is why our government has ensured that the Holodomor and the internment of Ukrainian Canadians here in Canada is included in the Ontario curriculum—so that every young person can learn about the Holodomor and can learn about the internment. That is why our government supported the Holodomor mobile classroom, which will support the teaching of the Holodomor around Ontario.

Speaker, for 125 years, Ontarians of Ukrainian descent have left a historic mark on our province. Their contributions span communities across Ontario and every riding represented here. They have impacted our economic, our political, our cultural and our social life.

Ukrainian Canadians assisted in the creation and the conception of multiculturalism that has since shaped Canada into a model of diversity, of equity and of prosperity. For 125 years, Ukrainian Canadians have played an important role in the development of Ontario into one of the best places in the world to live, and they have contributed to making Canada the great country that it is today.

Ukraine’s most prolific poet, Taras Shevchenko, once famously said:

Remarks in Ukrainian.

Translated, this means: “Teach, read and learn from others, but be proud of that which is your own.”

Today, I think we feel what my grandparents would feel, what the people here feel, what their parents and grandparents would feel, what prior generations of Ukrainians who have come to Canada for 125 years would feel if they were here today: proud of the contributions that Ukrainian Canadians have made to Canada over the past 125 years, proud of their Ukrainian heritage and proud to be Canadian.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further responses?

Mr. John Yakabuski: I’m honoured to rise today, on behalf of Patrick Brown and the PC caucus, in recognition of 125 years of Ukrainian immigration to Canada. I, too, would like to welcome all the visitors from the Ukrainian Canadian community joining us today. I’ve had the pleasure over the last couple of years, as our cultural liaison with the community, of getting to know some of them much better, and I’ve appreciated all of the interactions that we have shared.

It was in 1891 when the first two Ukrainian immigrants stepped onto Canadian soil. Both from the region of Nebyliv in western Ukraine, Wasyl Eleniak and Ivan Pylypiw arrived in Quebec City on the S.S. Oregon. They travelled to Canada’s west and propagated the message of the vast Canadian farmlands back to Ukraine. Their arrival marked the beginning of Ukrainian immigration to Canada.

Ukrainians have a long, proud and rich history in Canada. For 125 years, Canadians of Ukrainian heritage have been contributing to the essential fabric of Canada and Ontario. While doing so, they have remembered their traditions, language and culture, enriching communities all across this great province.

Today, Canada and Ukraine continue to enjoy an incredibly strong bond. A prime example of this solidarity has been Canada’s unwavering support during the crisis in Ukraine.

I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the Ukrainian Canadian community for their incredible mobilization and organization in support of the people of Ukraine. It is through various medical, charitable and political initiatives that they demonstrate the very best of what it means to be Canadian.

Today, our country is home to well over 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage, with close to one third of them making their home here in Ontario and over 100,000 living right here in the GTA. Indeed, many of our nation’s best and brightest, from our generals to our judges, from our politicians to our business leaders, proudly call themselves Canadians of Ukrainian descent.

In 2011, to mark the anniversary of the arrival of the first Ukrainian settlers, former Progressive Conservative MPP Gerry Martiniuk introduced the Ukrainian Heritage Day Act, which sets September 7 as Ukrainian Heritage Day in Ontario, a day we celebrate every year.

In closing, we are fortunate to live in a province and in a country where all people, people from different communities and walks of life, work together, understand and support one another. I look forward to working with the Ukrainian Canadian community in the coming years, and I congratulate them on the 125th anniversary of their immigration to Canada. Thank you. Slava Ukraini.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further responses?

Mr. Taras Natyshak: If I might first say that I am a bit jealous of my colleague the member from Etobicoke Centre. He has such a wonderful grasp of Ukrainian culture and language. He’s able to quote my namesake, Taras Shevchenko, in poetry, and it’s beautiful. My friend, we should get together, and maybe I could learn a few words. It’s wonderful. Thank you for your wonderful tribute.

I’m pleased to join many other colleagues in the House to recognize the 125th anniversary of Ukrainian immigration to Canada today, on behalf of the Ontario NDP and our leader, Andrea Horwath.

Ukrainians first came to Canada in the 19th century. The initial influx came as Canada promoted immigration to farmers. My great-grandfather, John Natyshak, was among those immigrating to Saskatchewan in 1898. Like so many other Ukrainians, he came by boat, with the promise of a better future. He purchased a 160-acre parcel of land for $10 and began to attempt—attempt, Speaker—to tame the Prairies. I’m told that my aunt Audrey Hately still has the receipt for that 160-acre parcel of land.

During the First World War, thousands of Ukrainian Canadians, however, were imprisoned as enemy aliens due to their origins in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It’s important to note that in 2011, Ukrainian Canadians numbered around 1.2 million, or 3.7% of our county’s population, and many of them are Canadian-born citizens. Ukrainian Canadians are the ninth-largest ethnic group, and Canada has the world’s third-largest Ukrainian population, behind Ukraine itself and Russia. Slightly more than 110,000 Ukrainian Canadians speak Ukrainian, and more than half live in the Prairie provinces.

Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants have left a profound mark on the development of Ontario and western Canada. They have made, and continue to make, remarkable contributions to Canada in the fields of culture, the economy, politics and sports.

Distinguished Canadians of Ukrainian ethnic origin include Stephen Worobetz, Sylvia Fedoruk, Peter Liba, Ray Hnatyshyn, Roy Romanow, Gary Filmon, Ernie Eves, Mary Batten, Roberta Bondar—the first Canadian woman to walk in space—as well as many players in the NHL such as Johnny Bucyk, Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Mike Bossy and a little-known NHL player, my brother Mike Natyshak, who played for the Quebec Nordiques. Nobody would know him because he only played a little bit. Sorry, Mike. He was Ukrainian.

Applause.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: He’ll like that. Thank you very much.

In the 19th century, the Russian Empire ruled 80% of Ukraine. The rest lay in the Austro-Hungarian provinces of Galicia, Bukovina and Transcarpathia. As serfs in Austria-Hungary until 1848 and in the Russian Empire until 1861, Ukrainians suffered from economic and national oppression. When attempts to establish an independent Ukrainian state from 1917 to 1921 collapsed, the greater portion of Ukraine became a republic in the USSR, while Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia divided the remainder. Following the Second World War, the western Ukrainian territories were annexed by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

The first major immigration—around 170,000 rural poor primarily from Galicia and Bukovina—occurred between 1891 and 1914. Ivan Pylypiw and Wasyl Eleniak, who arrived in 1891, are generally considered the first two Ukrainian immigrants to Canada. Immigration grew substantially after 1896 as Canada promoted the immigration of farmers from eastern Europe.

While the Prairie provinces absorbed the bulk of the first two waves of immigration, Ontario played an enormous part as well. In the 1950s through the 1960s, only a few Ukrainians entered the country annually. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, limited renewed immigration from Poland and the Soviet Union saw perhaps 10,000 Ukrainians and Soviet Ukrainian Jews come to Canada.

Ukrainian Canadians have made an indelible mark on our nation’s fabric. From all aspects of our social lives, Ukrainian Canadians can be proud of their contributions to the cultural mosaic of Canada. I am proud to count myself as one of them and proud to stand in a Legislature that has recognized the unique and special relationship that we have as Ukrainian Canadians, especially in recognizing the Holodomor genocide and enshrining that into the curriculum of this province.

I want to thank the members of this Legislature for recognizing that important cultural aspect, and I thank you, Speaker, for allowing us this opportunity to highlight this heritage.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I thank all members for their very thoughtful and kind words on this anniversary. Diakuju.

What I’d like to now do is to let you know that I still have the same passion to do the job but you might not be hearing me. I would advise that you listen very carefully.

It is now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Energy policies

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier.

I would like everyone in this House to think about where they were on November 10, 2016. It was a particularly windy day in Ontario, and I can tell you what this government was doing on November 10. This government was exporting surplus power, so much surplus power that Ontario might have set a record for power wasted.

How much power did they waste on November 10? They wasted $9.4 million worth of power. That might have been a record day for this government in terms of wasted power.

So my question to the Premier—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock, please.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You’re not helping. I’m getting attention for your leader.

It does seem like my calm request is not going to be heard, so I may have to move as quickly as possible to get control. Please don’t make me get up again. I’d appreciate that.

Please finish.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, I guess the government is a little bit touchy when it comes to their power giveaways, the electricity giveaways.

My question, Mr. Speaker: Was the government trying to set a new Ontario record that day for surplus electricity?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m very pleased to be able to stand and talk about remembering, because I know that every Ontarian remembers where they were in August 2003, when that government let our system disintegrate and that blacked right out.

I know we will continue to ensure that we invest in a system that is clean and reliable. I know that they don’t—

Interjections.

Mr. John Yakabuski: We had nothing to do with that blackout. That’s a lie and you know it.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order, please.

The member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke will withdraw.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Withdraw.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): And the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke is warned.

We’re now moving to warnings, and if it continues, we’ll go into naming. I’m getting control today.

Finish, please. You have one wrap-up.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaking of touchy, you know what, Mr. Speaker? We make sure that we have a reliable system. We invested, we’ve made it clean, and we’re going to continue to have a great system, something that we can be proud of.

When it comes to exports, we are an exporter, and the net benefit of those exports to ratepayers was $230 million in 2015, much better than actually having to spend $500 million, like they used to. They used to have to pay to import electricity. We—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, I have a serious question for the Premier. Rather than reinventing history and talking about a power failure in Ohio, I would appreciate an answer.

We have a serious problem with surplus power in the province. On November 10, we gave away $9.4 million worth of surplus power. How much did we get for that? Any guesses? It’s $144,000. We gave away $9.4 million worth of surplus power, and we got back $144,000. This is embarrassing for the province of Ontario. We are hurting our businesses. We are subsidizing competitors.

My question to the Premier—I know she’s going to want to pass this off because she doesn’t want to assume responsibility for this failure, but my question is, did the governors from New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania actually send us a thank-you note? And if so, what did the thank-you note say for all your great work on behalf of Pennsylvania, New York—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. Be seated, please. Thank you.

Minister.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: It’s obvious that the Leader of the Opposition has no idea how the system works. At the end of the year, when you actually look at the books, we made $230 million.

But let’s not forget: In 2003, when they had the blackout, when they let the system crash, they spent $400 million—

Mr. Jim Wilson: It was a tree branch in Ohio, and you know it. Stop making up history.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Simcoe–Grey is warned.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: As I was saying, in 2003, Ontario paid $400 million to import electricity. We’ve made the investments now to ensure that we don’t have to import electricity, that we’re an exporter. We created a system in which we can make money now. We made $230 million at the end of the year in 2015; in 2014, $300 million.

We’ve made sure that our system is clean; we no longer have coal. It is reliable. It is something that they left in tatters and we had to fix.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Final supplementary.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier—and once again, I hope the Premier will eventually answer one of these questions rather than passing the buck. It’s bad enough that we’re giving away surplus power, subsidizing our competitors in the States, and the government doesn’t want to answer that, but we also have this fire sale of Hydro One, which has been denounced, with 200 municipalities passing resolutions saying that it’s a bad idea, 80% of Ontarians in polls saying, “Don’t proceed.”

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and the Minister of Housing are warned.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Go ahead and blame each other, but you all have control of yourselves.

Finish, please.

Mr. Patrick Brown: The Financial Accountability Officer is saying that this fire sale of Hydro One is a bad deal. Then you’ve got the cloud over the fundraiser for the Liberal Party that happened just after the fire sale, by high-powered bankers. And now we have a lawsuit. Now the government is under a cloud of a lawsuit alleging wrongdoing with this fire sale.

My question is, with all these concerns, with all this opposition inside Queen’s Park, the legislative offices, municipalities, and now a lawsuit, will the Premier do the right thing and put a pause on the fire sale of Hydro One?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: When it comes to Hydro One, the broadening of the sale is actually allowing us to invest in infrastructure and transit, so much of it that I think it’s important for me to talk about some of the great work that’s being done by the Ministry of Transportation and the Minister of Finance—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Leeds–Grenville is warned. The member from Chatham–Kent–Essex is warned.

Carry on.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Here are just some of the projects that were committed to through the 2015 and 2016 Ontario budgets: $13.5 billion for GO regional express rail; 12 new GO stations along Kitchener, Barrie, Lakeshore East; GO rail service—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): If you’re going to play, I’m going to win. The member from Dufferin–Caledon is warned.

Carry on.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: —GO bus service between Cambridge and Milton; $43 million for a proposed multi-modal hub in Kitchener; double the number of weekday trips along the Kitchener GO corridor.

As well, Mr. Speaker, Highway 69 is being four-laned, turning it into a 400-series highway. There are investments happening—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.

Health care

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Three questions on hydro and no answer—obviously the Premier does not want to be on the record on hydro. So I’m going to try something different and maybe the Premier will choose to answer this, this time on health care. Hopefully, you don’t pass this question as well.

The government’s talking points have been that the wait times are at their lowest, but we found out in the Auditor General’s report that this Liberal talking point is not true.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. The member from Etobicoke North is warned.

If you haven’t got the message, I’ll move right to naming, which I am loath to do.

Mr. Patrick Brown: The Auditor General said that patients visiting the emergency room or having surgery are waiting longer now than any time in the past 20 years. This is directly from the Auditor General, in complete contradiction with what the Liberals have been saying on wait times. Patients are being rationed health care in this province. Patients are suffering.

My question to the Premier directly: The Auditor General says the wait times are the worst in 20 years. Will you tell us the truth? How have you allowed to this to—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I stand, you sit.

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, it gives me the opportunity to say, thank goodness we started measuring wait times in this province. It was that party—it was the opposition party that didn’t even bother to measure wait times for important surgical procedures, for wait times in the ERs.

What we found when we came into office in 2003, as a result of that opposition party when they were in government under Mike Harris—we found that we had the longest wait times in all of Canada. Now, as we measure those consistently year after year and make that information publicly available, we have some of the shortest, if not the shortest wait times for surgical procedures, for ER wait times. We have the shortest wait times in the entire country for access to MRI and CT and ultrasound. We’ve seen a decrease, despite an increasing population, in the wait times in our ERs. That’s because we’re measuring it and that’s because we fixed their mess, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier—this is my fifth question today and I have yet to receive an answer from the Premier.

A story that was shared with my office was the story of Filomina Zita. She is 81 years old and she was taken to the hospital last week after suffering a stroke. Ms. Zita was placed on a stretcher along the hallway of an emergency room, against a wall. She remained there for 32 hours with a hospital gown tucked under her head as a pillow. When her family asked if this was normal, the hospital staff said, “This is our Ontario health care system. Yes, it is.”

Mr. Speaker, I didn’t get an answer on having the longest wait times in 20 years according to Auditor General. Now we have got the story of Filomina Zita. My question, directly to the Premier, and I would appreciate an answer is how can you allow this to happen in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has pointed us in the direction of how we can continue to make improvements, but it’s important to remind the public that the leader of the official opposition, who speaks so eloquently about the need for health care services—in 2013, it was Patrick Brown’s government in Ottawa that closed the Health Council of Canada. In 2012, it was Patrick Brown’s government in Ottawa that closed the National Aboriginal Health Organization. He was part of the government that cut hundreds of jobs from Health Canada, Mr. Speaker.

He voted for a budget that axed the Canadian immigration interim federal program for health care for refugees, and in 2011 he was part of a government that unilaterally announced they would scale back federal health transfers, costing the provinces $36 billion in health care over 10 years—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Stop the clock. Be seated, please.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Please tell me no, after recognizing your voice. Order, please.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Well, what do you think? Order, please.

Final supplementary.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, for the sixth time I have a question for the Premier. I have yet to have a single question answered today. Maybe on the sixth time, we’ll finally get an answer or a response.

Hearing these Liberal spins—all of a sudden I was leading the government. You just shake your head at how desperate they are to divert responsibility.

Back to the Auditor General on health care: The Auditor General—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. You want to take that chance? The Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation is warned.

Finish, please.

Mr. Patrick Brown: In each of the hospitals the Auditor General visited, only one operating room remained open on evenings, weekends or holidays, and that was just for emergency surgeries. They closed operating rooms for March break and from anywhere between two and 10 weeks in the summer. That’s unacceptable. Doctors are willing to work, they want to work; hospitals have the rooms and space available; patients need the surgery, but it’s this Liberal government that is stopping them.

Mr. Speaker, for the last time today, will the Premier finally answer a question and say how she has allowed this erosion of health care to take place—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you.

Minister?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: We need to remember that it was his party, in the last election, that promised to cut 100,000 jobs, many of them in health care. In fact, it was his party that fired 6,000 nurses in this province and it was his party that closed 10,000 hospital beds. I have no doubt that just like under their party—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. Thank you.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have no doubt that just like in 2003—under their party’s leadership in government, we had electricity brownouts and blackouts. With that party in power again, we will have a health care brownout.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please. Be seated, please.

New question?

Government’s record

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Premier. The Premier began this session by promising a reset. I hoped that this signalled that people would see the bold change that is needed in this province, but since September, instead of making hydro more affordable, the Premier is still selling Hydro One. Instead of fixing our health care system—new data shows that 60% of our hospitals have an unsafe level of overcrowding. Instead of creating opportunity and good jobs—young people are earning less and struggling to find work.

People can’t wait forever. When will Ontarians see some action on these files that they need to see action on?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: On a range of issues that the leader of the third party has referenced, we are working. I don’t know if the leader of the third party remembers the throne speech, but we made an announcement in the throne speech that we would be reducing people’s electricity costs as of January 1, taking the provincial portion of the HST off their bills. That was an idea that had come from many places, including from the third party. So we are moving forward, we are taking action.

We need to look at what’s happening in the economy in Ontario. Look at the number of jobs that have been created. Look at the fact that we are leading the country in economic growth. We recognize that there is more to be done. We recognize that everyone needs to feel that growth. But we are on a path that is leading to economic growth in this province, which is leading the country.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: People across Ontario want to have a reason to be hopeful. The thing is, they know what a great place this can be, but they’re worried. They’re worried that even though life is tough today, their kids, the next generation, won’t have the opportunities they did. Unless we see some big changes, it’s only going to make life harder here in Ontario. It’s going to make it harder to create a good life here.

Will this Premier tell Ontarians why she didn’t use this past session to make the changes that people need to see?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let’s talk about the changes that we’re making. Let’s talk about the investment in 100,000 child care spaces that we are making. Let’s talk about the fact that just this morning we made an announcement about community benefits projects that are going to tie job creation and training opportunities for young people, who otherwise would not have access to the job market, to the building of infrastructure—infrastructure that the third party does not support building, but we are building, and we’re tying job creation to that infrastructure.

Those are the kinds of changes that are leading to the growth that we are seeing in the province. Those are the kinds of changes that we are making that will ensure a bright future for this province, and that is exactly what government exists to do.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: People who own or work for a small business know that skyrocketing hydro costs are threatening their future. Hospitals are overcrowded and underfunded. The Premier, who is a former education minister and trustee, has let schools crumble and repair backlogs grow. It is harder than ever to get a good job in this province with benefits and decent wages.

That’s not what people voted for. They’re disappointed because they expected so much more from this Premier. With one more day in the session, will the Premier commit to the action that people need to see to make life better for them and their kids here in Ontario?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: If the leader of the third party is asking whether we will commit to rebuilding and renovating and building new schools, yes, we will. We’re doing that. If the leader of the third party is asking whether we will work on wait times, whether we will make sure that people have access to primary care, whether we will make sure that they have more direct access by putting in place legislation that will guarantee that: Yes, we will, and we are doing—

Ms. Catherine Fife: After 13 years, why start now?

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Kitchener–Waterloo is warned.

Carry on.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: If the leader of the third party is asking whether we will make tuition free for low-income students in this province, yes, we will. We are doing that so that every young person in this province who can will go to post-secondary and will have the life that they deserve and that they are capable of.

Yes, we are doing all those things.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): New question. The leader of the third party.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Premier as well, but what I have to ask is, why is it that after 13 years of Liberals in charge in this province, things have gotten so bad? That’s the question that this Premier needs to answer.

Hospital funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The Auditor General, on the health care file alone, has confirmed it: 60% of our hospitals are dangerously overcrowded. St. Mary’s hospital in Kitchener and Grand River Hospital in Waterloo are regularly overcrowded, but that’s okay because I guess people can just go to Guelph, right? No. Guelph General has been overcrowded for two and a half years.

How many people in Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph have been treated in hallways or gotten an infection in an overcrowded hospital?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The leader of the third party referenced my work as a school trustee, and I know, as a former educator and school trustee, she will understand that when we came into office and the graduation rate in this province from high school was 68%, we thought that was not adequate. The graduation rate now is 85.5%.

The changes that we have made in this province in education, in health care, in investment in infrastructure, in investment in a clean electricity grid that’s reliable—those are all changes that affect people’s lives every single day.

Now, is there more to do? Is there more that we need to do to make sure that health care and education and electricity all work for people? Absolutely. But has there been improvement on our watch? Absolutely.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please.

Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Toronto hospitals are overcrowded as well. It means going to the hospital could leave you sicker than when you went in. Here in Toronto, North York General, SickKids, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, Toronto General, Sunnybrook and St. Mike’s are all overcrowded.

Will the Premier tell us how many people in these hospitals here in Toronto have been treated in a hallway and how many got an infection because of overcrowding in Toronto’s hospitals?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I do understand that negativity is a tactic. It’s a strategy. It’s something that opposition parties choose to use, and I understand that it is their job to point out where there are challenges and where there needs to be improvement.

But I am not going to buy into the denigration of the health care system in this province. I am not going to buy into the notion that somehow the hospitals and the health care workers in this province are not doing an excellent job, because they are. I know that because I go into those hospitals. I talk to the people who are working in those hospitals.

My first grandchild was born in North York General. It’s a fantastic hospital. Sunnybrook hospital is in my riding. It’s a fantastic hospital that delivers wonderful service. That’s the health care system in Ontario.

Is there more to do? Absolutely. There’s $345 million for hospitals in the budget, another $140 million—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please. Thank you.

Final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, it’s the government that’s not doing a good job when it comes to the hospitals: four years of frozen budgets, year and year after that of under-inflationary funding. That’s the problem in our hospital system, and it’s leading to a crisis of overcrowding. The Premier is denying it yet again, just as she did yesterday.

An 85% occupancy, that’s what’s considered a safe level for hospitals. But according to the Auditor General, 60% of Ontario’s hospitals are overcrowded. Some are filled to over 100% capacity. In 2014, the president of the Canadian Medical Association described how hospitals deal with occupancy rates that are over 100% and people being put in over-capacity beds. Here’s what he said: “What they really are, are windowless nooks, crannies and broom closets—anywhere we can squeeze in a stretcher or a bed.”

When will this government fund hospitals properly and develop policies to stop—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please.

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Of course, there’s always more work to be done, and that’s why we introduced and will be voting on the Patients First Act shortly. I look forward to the response of the third party.

I actually would prefer to take the perspective, Mr. Speaker, of my critic in the NDP party, and I agree with her on this point, where she rightly said that—she was speaking initially about Ontario’s cancer services, saying they are one of the best in the world, which is true. Then she went on to say that we have an excellent health care system and an excellent cancer care system. I happen to agree with that assessment.

In fact, literally every third-party analysis of our health care system ranks it as the best or one of the best in the entire country.

Highway tolls

Mr. Michael Harris: My question is for the Premier.

Speaker, this Liberal government doesn’t want to take a clear stand when it comes to road tolls. That’s because Liberal members outside of the downtown core know their constituents can’t afford them, because they know they can’t afford—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock, please. The Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services is warned.

Carry on.

Mr. Michael Harris: It’s because they know that they can’t afford to pay new tolls. Those members need to stand up for their constituents. Will the Premier allow her members to vote with their constituents and against road tolls on our leader’s private member’s motion tomorrow?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Steven Del Duca: It’s interesting. I know that over the last couple of days, this topic has come up a number of times. What confuses, I think, not only me, but I would argue it confuses most people across the province of Ontario, as it relates to where the Leader of the Opposition stands on this particular issue—I’m looking at a quote from Patrick Brown, from the Leader of the Opposition, from the Flamborough Chamber of Commerce just a few months ago, July 25 of this year. Here’s the quote: “I don’t think it’s appropriate for the province to come in and say ‘we know best,’ when frankly it should be the local issues that have the best sense of where the gridlock exists.”

Just a day later in the Hamilton Spectator, another quote from the Leader of the Opposition: “I respect the autonomy of municipalities. If the mayor and council have stated very clearly that’s where they want the provincial partnership to be, that’s where it will be.”

This morning on CBC’s Metro Morning, that leader said, “What I have said on road tolls is not that I’m against them completely.”

Will the real Patrick Brown—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Supplementary.

Mr. Michael Harris: The members for Durham region, York region, Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, Scarborough, Etobicoke and Waterloo region need to stand up for their constituents. They need to vote for their constituents, constituents who want no

part in highway tolls.

Now, Speaker, something tells me they will be forced to vote the way the Premier’s office tells them. They need to decide if they’re with their constituents or Premier Kathleen Wynne.

I’ll ask again: Will the Liberal members be allowed to stand up and vote with their constituents and against road tolls?

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I thank the member for the follow-up question.

Here’s another quote from the Durham chamber of commerce—Durham, in the 905, on August 29, 2016, from the Leader of the Opposition: “We have to reflect what the top priorities are in each community by looking at what the council is saying. And if there’s a resolution of council saying that this is the top priority, then governments should try to work with our municipal partners to respect the municipal wishes.”

I think there’s additional confusion, because the only party that has ever come forward with a plan to toll in this province, at the provincial level, broadly speaking, has been the Conservative Party with the 407. Then, not more than a year or two later, they sold the 407. They killed the Eglinton subway. They didn’t just kill the Eglinton subway, Speaker; they killed it and they filled it. Both of those transportation decisions continue to haunt the people of this region and the people of this province.

We will not go back to those days. We’re building the province up, and we’re moving forward.

Health care funding

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour la première ministre.

I have a question on behalf of the Premier’s own constituents. Aidan Wellsman is just 16. He was going blind and he desperately needed surgery, but his family was “shocked and appalled” to learn that OHIP wouldn’t pay for the surgery to save Aidan’s sight. His parents were forced to choose between thousands of dollars out of pocket or to let their son, their child, go blind. It was an absolute nightmare.

No parent in this province should be let down so badly by their own government. How can the Premier say that she believes in medicare, where care is based on need and not on ability to pay, and at the same time refuse to cover Aidan’s surgery, a surgery that is covered by many other provinces?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: My heart goes out to the family, to this young man and to his parents. I know that the Minister of Health will speak to the specifics of the way decisions are made around these very, very difficult issues. But what I will say is that it is extremely important in a health care system as large as ours that we have evidence-based decision-making, that we have a system that relies on the expert evidence, and that those decisions are made in as objective a way as possible, based on the evidence. That is paramount in a system as large as we have in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health will speak to that decision-making process in the supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

M me France Gélinas: I believe in decisions made based on evidence—no problem about that. But exactly how much effort is the Premier putting in developing the body of evidence that would allow us to make that decision? It has been five long years that Ontario has been studying these procedures. Every other province has concluded their body of evidence and supported the surgery, but we are still reviewing.

Meanwhile, Aidan Wellsman deserves a bright future. In his time of need, this province said that he would have to go blind first before he could get any help from this government. This is senseless and, frankly, this is mean. Families like Aidan’s face the worst dilemma of them all: Let your child go blind or pay for a surgery that you can’t afford. Remember, Premier, with medicare, care is based on need, not on ability to pay. Why is this government putting the future of kids like Aidan at risk by refusing to cover the surgery?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Of course, our decisions are based on need but they’re also based on evidence and science and expert advice. The Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee, or OHTAC—because we took the politics out of the decision-making for these types of procedures—recommended, for corneal cross-link surgery, that it be made available in a limited fashion because they determined that more evidence was needed to establish corneal cross-linking surgery as an appropriate alternative treatment pathway for patients with certain medical conditions.

Notwithstanding that decision by the technical advisory committee, we made corneal cross-link surgery available through Kensington on a conditional funding program, not through OHIP, because the science wasn’t there. But we’ve made it available. We’ve quadrupled the funding for it. We anticipate having the results of that pilot available in the next few months, and we’ll make an evidence- and science-based decision based on the results of that report.

GO Transit

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: My question is for the Minister of Transportation. I know that the members of my community rely on transport each and every day. Whether they are a student who commutes from Barrie to York University, a parent who works in downtown Toronto—or a senior who can now visit their grandchildren in Toronto—they need a reliable way to get from Barrie to school or work and back home again.

When members of my community first heard about our government’s 10-year GO regional express plan, an investment of $13.5 billion, they were absolutely thrilled. That is because they knew that this investment would have a meaningful impact on their everyday lives and the way in which they move around the region. Ever since that announcement, I hear often from constituents who are eager to know when they can expect increased service along the Barrie line.

Can the minister please tell us when the residents of Barrie will see service improvements as part of our government’s GO RER plan?

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I want to thank the member from Barrie for her question today and also for welcoming me to her community just a couple of days ago, where we made a very important announcement, an announcement I know she has been advocating for some time.

Starting December 31, this New Year’s Eve, we are introducing new, all-year-round weekend and holiday GO service to Barrie. This important service will include three trips from Allandale GO station in Barrie to Union Station in the morning and three back in the evening for customers travelling between Toronto back home to Barrie.

Speaker, this is an extremely important step. It’s an important demonstration of meaningful progress with respect to delivering two-way, all-day GO service on the Barrie corridor. It means, for the first time ever, year-round, on weekends and holidays, that the people of Barrie will be able to get downtown to see a sports game, have dinner, see a show and be able to get back home safely in the evening.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Thank you to the minister for that answer.

I was very pleased to have the minister in Barrie on Monday for such an important announcement. I’ve already heard from residents who plan to take full advantage of the new weekend and holiday service. While I know that this investment means a great deal to GO train riders in my riding, it also means the world to our local businesses. For them, increased weekend and holiday service means new people from across the GTA coming to Barrie to experience all that my city has to offer.

For instance, this opens the door for more people to come to Barrie to attend classic events like Kempenfest, an arts and crafts festival that also features great food and entertainment. Torontonians would also enjoy the wonderful productions of Talk Is Free Theatre. If it’s too hot in Toronto in the summer, families are now able to ride the GO to the beautiful, sandy Centennial Beach, which is right across from the GO station.

Will the minister please provide members of this House with information on the service announcement he made yesterday at the site of the future Downsview GO station?

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I thank the member from Barrie for the follow-up question.

In addition to the announcement we made on Monday in Barrie, I was pleased yesterday to join the member from Newmarket–Aurora—the Minister of Housing and the minister responsible for poverty reduction—and our member from York Centre, Speaker, to announce that, also starting this December 31, this New Year’s Eve, we will be introducing weekend and holiday year-round GO train service throughout the day, with trains running at 75-minute intervals or better between Union Station and Aurora station. These service improvements are yet another example of our plan at work.

I think it’s important to stress—and I can see nodding heads right around this chamber, members of every caucus supporting the fact that we’re delivering more. I would simply say that I call on opposition parties to join with us to support budgets, to support the investments we’re making in critical transit infrastructure so that we can make sure that communities along the Barrie corridor in York region, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and right across the greater Toronto and Hamilton area have the transit network they need.

Long-term care

Ms. Laurie Scott: My question is to the Premier. A group of constituents from the riding of Peterborough, including Mayor Gerow and council members from the township of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, are here today calling on the government to invest in much-needed long-term-care beds.

Since 2009, the township has been campaigning for a long-term-care home in the community, and they have partnered with AON Inc. to build it. They presented their application for a 128-bed facility in 2011, but the ministry eventually responded by saying that they are not issuing any new licences for new long-term-care homes.

In Peterborough area, there is currently a wait-list of over 2,700 people in need of long-term care—the longest wait-list for long-term-care beds in the whole province. Here we have a well-prepared plan ready to go, yet the government has done nothing.

Will the Premier commit to overturning her government’s decision on this application and tell the good people from the township gathered outside that they will be getting the long-term-care beds that they so desperately need?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate the question because it gives me the opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation to the MPP from Peterborough. He and I have been discussing this issue intensively.

It’s unfortunate that it took individuals coming to Toronto for you to actually raise this for the first time.

The MPP from Peterborough and I have been working diligently on this issue. We had a meeting recently specifically on the Havelock proposal. I directed my office to become directly involved, and they are. My office has spoken with the mayor. My office has spoken with the chief administrative officer as well. We’re looking and working to see if we can find a solution—a solution that I believe meets the community’s needs but also understands that there are a variety of mechanisms in place that can address this need.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary? The member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound.

Mr. Bill Walker: That was a little bit below the belt. The member has been working on this for a very long time, and you know that.

Back to the Premier: Ontarians are very weary of her government. Everything it touches ends up in scandal, waste, a mistake or a broken promise from you, Premier. Your government wasted $8 billion on a flawed e-health system, while 24,000 frail seniors continue to go without access to a nursing bed. This is unacceptable, Speaker.

I’ve been trying valiantly to get this government to show us their capacity plan and say where they will build the promised new long-term-care beds. Considering the Premier does not intend to put the needed beds in Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, will you admit that there never was a capacity plan for new beds, and that your government has no plan to house the frail seniors on the wait-list?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, we have been working hard over the past years to the point where we have roughly doubled our investments in long-term care. We’ve built, since coming into office, 10,000 long-term-care beds. We’re in the middle of a process now where we’re redeveloping an additional 30,000 long-term-care beds. We are adding staff to our long-term-care facilities, including, importantly, that we added to that investment this year with new dollars for behavioural supports, because we recognize that the acuity is becoming more challenging. There are more individuals in our long-term-care homes with Alzheimer’s and forms of dementia.

We are making those important investments. We’re adding the staff. In fact, we have added 1,200 nursing positions in our long-term-care homes since 2008. There’s more work to be done, of course, as we see we have both a growing population and an aging population, but that’s work that we’re undertaking, including capacity planning.

Labour dispute

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is to the Premier. Workers at Peel region children’s aid society have been on strike since September—not about wages, but about workload. Yesterday, the workers voted on the employer’s last offer and they rejected it with 93% of the vote. Now, the workers want to get back to bargaining. They’ve looked to the minister and they’ve received nothing.

Premier, with the vulnerable kids and families in Peel desperate for help and the workers wanting to get back to work, where has your government been?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Children and Youth Services.

Hon. Michael Coteau: I thank the member for the question. I just want to take an opportunity to thank the men and women from the children’s aid society joining us here in the Legislature today. I recognize that they are hard workers and they are working evenings in many cases to protect our children. I just want to say, on behalf of the government, thank you for the work that you do.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that there are efforts that are under way. We need to make sure that process is followed. I’m optimistic that the union and the employer are going to be able to find a resolution in the end, and I believe that we’ve put in place the proper oversight to ensure that the services are continuing to be offered. We’ve made sure that we monitor the society on a daily basis, and we’re confirming that the mandated services are being delivered and that the contingency plan is being followed.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Miss Monique Taylor: Back to the Premier: Families and children don’t want to be thanked; they want to see this issue resolved. That’s why, weeks ago, CUPE proposed a compromise: End the strike and let everyone get back to work by sending the few outstanding issues to binding arbitration. But the employer refused. CAS management wanted to force a vote, and now they have a result, but it’s still unresolved.

Speaker, why did the Premier let caseloads soar, morale sink and the work stoppage drag on, affecting the most vulnerable kids and families in Peel?

Hon. Michael Coteau: Minister of Labour.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you to the member for that question.

Speaker, last night a vote was held. CUPE was able to vote. The CUPE members took

part in a vote. I think they clearly expressed their will in that regard. We certainly respect that.

I know this morning, the parties have been in touch with my ministry. I’ve assigned my senior arbitrator to the case. I think that both parties, as a result of the vote last night, are taking a look at this through fresh eyes.

At the Ministry of Labour, what we want to ensure is that in the vast majority of cases in the province of Ontario—98% of collective agreements are put in place with no strike, with no resort to a lockout. In this case that hasn’t happened.

We think that the parties can come to an agreement. We’re prepared to work with them this morning. They both have been in touch with my ministry. We’re prepared to support that resolution because we need these workers back on the job.

Gasoline prices

Ms. Daiene Vernile: My question is for the Minister of Energy. Many of us will remember how gasoline prices soared a few years ago. We were paying up to $1.30 a litre to fill our tanks. But gas prices in Ontario have fallen sharply in recent years. Regular operation of the market has ensured that these savings are being passed on to consumers.

At the same time, many families have expressed concern over the fluctuating cost of gasoline. Prices sometimes spike unexpectedly and often have great variation from one area to the next, without any obvious explanation to consumers.

The minister recently announced that he’s seeking a review of the transportation fuels market to provide greater insight for Ontario drivers. Speaker, could the minister please tell this House how this review is going to provide consumers with more transparency of the fuels market?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’d like to thank the hard-working member for Kitchener Centre for that question.

Families in Ontario are concerned about the prices they face at the pump, particularly in northern Ontario. They have asked for more information on just how these gasoline and diesel prices are set.

I’ve heard these concerns and so I asked the Ontario Energy Board to conduct a thorough review of the Ontario fuels market. Transparency will be the cornerstone of this report.

In the coming months, the Ontario Energy Board will consult with key stakeholders and reveal three items. First, they will explore the causes of price variations across the province. Second, they will identify how the Ontario market compares with other jurisdictions. Finally, they will examine what information is made available to consumers about pricing and price variation. The Ministry of Energy plans to use this report to identify gaps in information about the fuel market and, as a result, better serve customers.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Daiene Vernile: I’d like to thank the minister for his answer and let him know that we miss him here in the backseat.

We know that there are a number of factors that go into retail gas prices in Ontario. You’ve got crude oil costs, taxes, and the retail margin. These are all components of the price that consumers pay at the pumps.

Historically, our province’s gasoline market has fared very well. Ontario cities often have the lowest gas prices in all of Canada. A detailed report of the gasoline market will certainly help consumers identify these price components and understand how Ontario compares to the rest of the country.

The minister referred to stakeholders being consulted as part of this retail process. Could he please identify some of the stakeholders whom he’s going to be consulting in this upcoming review?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Again, I want to thank the member for the question, and for the supplementary as well.

As the member indicated, our ministry is listening carefully to the stakeholders most affected by varying fuel prices. In addition to consulting with the general public, the OEB will start conversations with the retail transportation fuels industry, the federal Competition Bureau and other external experts on this issue.

The ministry is also in the midst of consultations on the next long-term energy plan. The review will be complementary with this planning process, contributing to a greater understanding and a path forward to the transportation fuel sector.

When I was at the federal level, I was a vocal advocate on