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November 25, 2020

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2020-Nov-25 vol. A (PDF)

L213A - Wed 25 Nov 2020 / Mer 25 nov 2020

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 25 November 2020 Mercredi 25 novembre 2020

Orders of the Day

2020 Ontario budget

Special report, Auditor General

2020 Ontario budget

Members’ Statements

Addiction services

Organ donation

Long-term care

Health care

Gillian’s Place

Adamson Barbecue

Taylor Lindsay-Noel

COVID-19 response

Indigenous affairs

Heritage Hockey Sticks

Question Period

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Affaires francophones

Long-term care

COVID-19 response

Forest firefighting

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Lake Simcoe

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response / Réponse à la COVID-19

Tenant protection

Prescription drugs

COVID-19 response

Deferred Votes

Time allocation

Estimates

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Introduction of Bills

Payday Loans Accountability Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur la responsabilisation du secteur des prêts sur salaire

Cannabis Licence Amendment Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 modifiant la

Loi sur les licences liées au cannabis

Motions

Private members’ public business

Petitions

Documents gouvernementaux

Community planning

Optometry services

Optometry services

Equal opportunity

Optometry services

Long-term care

Anti-vaping initiatives for youth

Injured workers

Health care funding

Equal opportunity

Soins de longue durée

Orders of the Day

2020 Ontario budget

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

2020 Ontario budget

Resuming the debate adjourned on November 24, 2020, on the motion that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.

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

Mr. John Fraser: I was here not that long ago last night, but I don’t want to think back to last night, because I know that many people were here much later than I was. God love you, all of you, for staying so late last night on something that we really didn’t need to be debating. It’s not what we’re talking about today, but at a time when we’re in the middle of a pandemic, we’re having an eight-hour debate on something that we shouldn’t be having a debate on, that should have been taken care of much sooner than it was, and I’ll leave it at that.

It’s really interesting that one of the first things the finance minister said in his budget speech was, “It is better to be a week too early than a week too late.” I think I’d be happy if this government was only a week late. What we were debating last night was something that should have been done six months ago—a panel should have been struck. That’s what we do. That’s the right thing to do. It’s our responsibility in here to ensure those things that are important to Ontarians to protect Ontarians, like appointing a Chief Medical Officer of Health, are done, and we’re prepared and we take the steps necessary, as we do each time, to get it done right.

It’s also interesting that the finance minister used this colloquialism or whatever you want to call it about better to be a week early than a week late, when I look at long-term care—which is something that the government is saying that they’re investing in here in this province: They’re going to four hours of care. That’s a great thing. But there’s actually no money in the budget to achieve that.

Let’s take a look at what’s happened to long-term care. The budget is—well, we’d like to say it’s a budget, but it’s halfway through the year. Understandable, but here’s what’s happened since last March. Last March, this government took more than a month longer than British Columbia and Quebec to raise the wages of PSWs in long-term care, to stabilize their workforce at a critical time. Why did it take us a month longer? Were we waiting for money from somebody else to do that, when actually Quebec and BC didn’t do that? They moved, and it made a difference in their outcomes. Their outcomes would have been far worse.

Move ahead to this summer: Long-term-care homes are asking the government, the minister, for a plan for long-term care to stabilize the workforce, to get people to safety, because they know a second wave’s coming, but they don’t get a plan. One of the things they asked for is—first of all, it’s wrong for us not to be transferring people who have COVID-19 from long-term care into hospital. It’s wrong for us, because it’s not fair to those people, but it’s also wrong because we have to isolate people. We have to get people apart. That’s the point of COVID-19: to stay apart.

When people are in a four-bed ward room—and I have to say to the government, I’ll congratulate them for not putting people back in, but not having a plan for getting some people out is really, I think, unconscionable.

There is capacity in the system. In Quebec, they’re opening up hotels. And do you know what? Even here in Ontario, we built a field hospital in Burlington—a field hospital. But we can’t make a plan for long-term care. And then the response—right now, they’re starting to do some things, and we’re three months into the second wave. There were opportunities to do things, and they haven’t been done.

I don’t understand why there’s not a plan. I know that there’s capacity in the system and that there are opportunities for us to have all hands on deck, as we did for acute care. We really did. I’ll give that to the government as well: We took care of acute care really, really well. The problem is, long-term care, not so much. We can talk about the challenges that exist in long-term care and we can talk about how it should have been better. The reality is, right now we need to take action. It’s a brush fire. If you simply don’t put people back into four-bed ward rooms, that’s not good enough. What’s your plan to get them out?

In one home, they were putting up Plexiglas dividers. I don’t think that’s the best infection control practice. You need to get people apart. There are capacities in hotels. Our policy for transferring people to hospital—hospitals and long-term care are working together. It needs to be there. It needed to be there.

We’re not a week early on that. We’re not a week late. We’re not weeks late. We’re months late.

Interjection: Fifteen years.

Mr. John Fraser: I hear what the member is saying there. That’s not going to help someone’s mom in long-term care, who’s in a four-bed ward room. You can keep saying that, and that’s fine.

The reality is, there’s the ability to make decisions that will protect people, and they are not happening quickly enough. Then, when they happen two or three months later, there’s an expectation as we’re taking this action—no, you need not to worry about being right or wrong. You need to say, “We need to get people out of four-bed ward rooms. How the heck are we going to do that?” I don’t think a fireman goes to a house and says, “Should we do this?

Let’s think about what we’re going to do.” No, what they do is say, “Let’s take this action.” And if it doesn’t work—because there is a risk that maybe what you’re going to do is not going to work the way that you planned it—then you have another plan.

The government has done some things right. I’m willing and I think it’s right to say they got acute care right. We tilted way too heavy that way, but we got it right.

But right now, the people who are most at risk—and we saw this in the first wave, and then the same people in the second wave are our seniors in long-term care.

I know that on the other side, you’re going to come back and talk about the history of long-term care, which goes back a long way, and all of us share a duty in that—different degrees. I’m not going to debate that.

But the budget, when it says it’s better to be a week early than a week late—is not what has happened in long-term care.

What I’d really like the government to do is to move right now in long-term care to find ways to get residents out of risky situations. Do what they’re doing in Quebec. Look at the capacity in the system that exists right now in long-term care. I know there are beds in long-term-care homes that aren’t being used right now. Single rooms, semi-private rooms are empty because of the transfer policy.

I anticipate questions from the members on the other side, what they’re going to say, and you’ll know what my response is.

What I’m really asking you to do this morning is to put pressure to get those things done, because they’re not happening fast enough. That’s why we’re seeing in homes across Ontario—there are not as many homes as last time, but where it’s happening, it’s really happening. West End Villa in Ottawa, 20 people dead; Starwood, 25—those are not inevitable deaths; they’re preventable.

When I think of all the things that are happening in our province right now, when I think of what we owe to the people, who, as members on all sides often say in this Legislature, did so much to bring us here, who sacrificed for their province, for their country, for their families—we owe it to them, and it’s all of our collective responsibility.

So I wanted to use my time this morning to talk about that as it relates to the budget, and to ask the members on the other side—because you sit in a caucus and you work with your colleagues. We need faster action. I know it’s possible. And I would just ask that the members opposite use their relationships, their power inside their caucus, their voice inside their caucus, to step up. You’ve been stepping up in other ways; we all have. This one is really important. What happened in long-term care in the first wave, we can’t turn away. We can’t look the other way.

We can’t say that it’s not as bad as it was last time and it’s inevitable, because there are ways to prevent many things—many unfortunate deaths from happening.

I look forward to the questions and answers.

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

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: Good morning to all members. I have a great respect for the member from Ottawa South. We had some great discussions yesterday on palliative care in committee, and I actually asked him in committee what was one of his biggest regrets as the PA to the former Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and he did indicate in committee that, actually, long-term care was one of the regrets or one of the points of advocacy that he’d wished he worked on longer.

I couldn’t agree more: It should have been better. Yes, Mr. Speaker, it should have been better, because we shouldn’t have inherited a total mess when it comes to long-term care. In 15 years, under the Liberal government, only about 600 beds were built in 15 years. Mr. Speaker, recently in my city of Mississauga, we have announced an accelerated build project for around 600 beds—in my city alone.

My question to the member is: How long does it take to build a long-term-care bed, and why did your previous government not invest into building long-term care for us?

Mr. John Fraser: If you actually check the record from 2003 to 2018, there were about 14,000 new beds and 16,000 rebuilds, which you know because we’ve got this problem with Cs and Ds.

We invested in home care. The point of my debate this morning—and I know you understand this. And also, my regret was—it is more advocacy in long-term care, but specifically palliative care. Because there was a piece—I talked about compassionate care, which was ready to go, and which didn’t move because it got caught in the transition. You didn’t get it done fast enough. The problem in this place is not being able to do all the things that we want to do for people.

The challenge now is, we’re not going to get those beds built in time to fix what’s going on right now. There was a delay with this transition. There was stuff—

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

Mr. John Fraser: We need to take action now, like we did in hospitals. That’s my point. I know you know that. I know you care very deeply about this, so I appreciate your question very much.

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

Ms. Suze Morrison: It’s certainly interesting to be in the House this morning. I listened intently to the member from Ottawa South and his remarks accusing the current government of their absolute failings in long-term care, and government members retorting back at the 15 years of failure in long-term care by the previous Liberal government. Both of these things are true, but we have to be better than this. I don’t care anymore that the Liberals ruined long-term care, sat there and did nothing for 15 years.

I don’t care anymore that you have absolutely failed in your response to COVID-19—as I look at the government members. I care that nine people died in Fudger House in my riding since the beginning of COVID-19. I care that half of the residents at that 250-bed facility have tested positive for COVID since the beginning of this pandemic.

At some point, we have to rise above the political potshots that are going back and forth and take responsibility for your failures on both sides.

Mr. John Fraser: I’m not going to go into this because of what she said, but we all have some responsibility, to varying degrees, about what we make priorities. But what I’m talking about is right now. What are we doing right now? How are we getting people who are in four-bed ward rooms in C homes to a safer place and not having them close together so that when COVID-19 gets in a home, the fire starts?

Homes have been asking since July, and I think we need to put pressure on the people who are making decisions to make sure that that gets done; that we get people to safety; that we make a bold move; that we take a chance. Because right now, we’re just looking at it and waiting for it to catch fire.

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

Mr. Jim McDonell: I listened to the member opposite, and I realize he’s right; there’s a lot of blame to go around. But I think that what we’re not talking about here—I heard him talk about how poorly we’ve done, and I guess I’d have to say the opposite. I saw stats the other night, and our long-term-care-home stats are much better than—I’m going to exclude the Atlantic bubble—everybody else in this country. BC doesn’t report their numbers. Our stats are twice as good as Alberta’s, Manitoba’s, Saskatchewan’s.

That’s not something we should take pride in, but we come in here and there are no PSWs. You can say what you want, but we were short when this pandemic started, and there were a large number of them that had to retire or quit early or can’t go to work because of health conditions. So now it’s critical. It just goes on. You can’t manufacture these people overnight. It takes a two-year course. We can’t import them because we don’t accept them. So I guess—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. Back to the member from Ottawa South for a response.

Mr. John Fraser: I’m trying to be measured here, because it’s about what we need to do right now. So I’m not going to go down this wormhole. As the member said, nobody wants to listen to that. I don’t want to listen to that.

My point is, we need to do some things right now, and it’s not happening. The people who take care of the people we care for most, the homes, are saying, “We need a plan,” and there is not a plan. There is no action being taken to move people out. The only time that it happens is if two hospitals get together, like they have in Hamilton, and they do the work necessary. They did that of their own volition. They need direction. That’s the role of the minister and the role of the government, and you can do that. That’s my point.

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

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you to the member from Ottawa South for his remarks this morning. I think we’re all in a sombre mood as we see the numbers skyrocket. In our local newspaper this morning, the headline was, “Senior Is the Second Casualty of COVID-19.” When I read that, I said, what is wrong with this, that we don’t call that person a person, that they’re a senior?

Unfortunately, I’ve also heard comments from folks like, “Well, they were going to die anyway.” I’ve actually heard that in coffee shops. To me, I said maybe that’s the problem, because people who are in long-term care—not all are seniors, but maybe the underlying feeling is that their life really doesn’t matter as much as others. I’m hoping that’s not the case in this House.

I know that people are trying, but it’s just not good enough, and we need to do better. I agree with the member about that. I would want him to comment, and I want to ask him, do you agree that perhaps when your government was in place—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. Back to the member from Ottawa South.

Mr. John Fraser: I’ve already talked about the redevelopment and the development of new beds. Money was invested in home care. I’ll go back to, it’s not about that right now. We can debate that, and there are things that we did that I am particularly proud of, that were successful, and there are things that—and this government will feel the same way when they’re done. We all feel that way as members.

There is a challenge of ageism. There is, and we have to be careful in here. I’ve cautioned the minister before on this. It’s not good enough to say that the majority of homes aren’t in outbreak, that the majority of homes don’t have resident cases. The reality is, there are 20 homes in Ontario that have double-digit resident cases. I think what we need to lead with is, sadly, yesterday 12 seniors, residents, died in long-term care. We’re working hard to help those families. Here’s the situation, but there’s also the news—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. Further questions? I recognize the member from Scarborough–Agincourt. You have 30 seconds.

Mr. Aris Babikian: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the member from Ottawa South for his input and thoughtful ideas and input in this discussion. For Ontario to recover, we need a strong, sustained economic growth. We cannot expect our economy to just bounce back and the lost jobs to return—

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

Mr. Aris Babikian: Okay. The question: Will the member opposite be supporting our government’s investment of an additional $181 million in employment services and training programs to connect workers—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. Back to the member.

Mr. John Fraser: I just want to say, at the end of this debate, I don’t think anybody in here doesn’t want things to be good in long-term care. That’s my point. You have a job to do, we have a job to do, and—

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

Further debate?

Mr. Will Bouma: It’s an honour to rise today. For the first time, I think, I’m speaking on the budget. I wanted to say thank you to the member from Ottawa South for his comments today and the fact that he’s putting forward ideas on how we can work together. I appreciate that very much.

Secondly, I would like to wish the member from Sudbury a very happy birthday. We were here until midnight last night, and we actually got to wish him a happy birthday last night. There was a little but of singing at the tail end of our discussions last evening.

Again, I really appreciate the tone that we’re taking this morning, not because we’re not seeing the eagle and the owl going back and forth, but because these are serious issues. I heard the member for Thunder Bay–Atikokan saying that the mood is sombre in here today because of the pressing issues that the province faces. Indeed, this is the test of our time, this COVID. And so, I want everyone to continue to think also about what we’re trying to do: Protect, support, and now, recover. I think we’re still very much in the protect and support phase of COVID-19.

We need to be there for businesses, for long-term-care homes. But let me just get started. So again, thank you, Speaker, for allowing me to rise.

The next phase of Ontario’s action plan will make available every necessary resource to continue to protect people’s health during the second wave of COVID-19 and beyond. Our action plan is, I believe, the province’s first stab at a multi-year budget, and we’re putting $45 billion over the next three years to make available the necessary health resources to continue to protect people; deliver critical programs and tax measures to support individuals, families and job creators impacted by the virus; and then we need to lay the groundwork for a long-term, robust economic recovery for the province.

“Protect” is the first pillar of our plan because it represents our most fundamental responsibility as parliamentarians. The people of Ontario have done, and they are doing, their part by respecting and following public health advice. And we here in the Legislature are doing ours.

Our government has made unprecedented investments within the “protect” pillar of our budget. In total, to date, we have made $15.2 billion available to support our front-line health care heroes and protect people from COVID-19. In March, the action plan provided an immediate $3.3 billion for health care. In August, through the 2020-21 first quarter finances, the government announced an additional $4.4 billion for health care, for a total of $7.7 billion.

The initial response to COVID-19 focused on these key areas:

—maintaining public health measures;

—identifying, managing and preventing outbreaks;

—preparing for surges in COVID-19 cases;

—expanding digital health and virtual services;

—recruiting, retaining, training and supporting health care workers, families and caregivers, and supporting Ontario’s hospitals;

—launching COVID Alert, a made-in-Ontario exposure notification app;

—investing to enable more physicians to conduct virtual care visits with their patients; and

—providing eligible front-line workers a temporary pandemic pay increase of $4 an hour.

That is $7.5 billion in new spending on health care that is building on an existing $7.7 billion in supports to date.

Within the health care sphere is protecting loved ones in long-term-care homes. Our government has provided a total of $783 million in additional funding for the 2020-21 fiscal year for long-term-care homes, as follows: $243 million in March for emergency capacity and virus containment and close to an additional $549 million in new funding to protect residents, caregivers and staff from future surges of COVID-19. We are also investing $1.75 billion to increase long-term-care capacity and access, including through the Accelerated Build Pilot Program.

Compassion and direct contact are vital for our loved ones in long-term-care homes. That is why we are increasing average daily direct care from a nurse or personal support worker per long-term-care resident to four hours a day—phased in over four years. This requires significant changes in the sector and collaboration with labour partners, care providers and training providers. Our government is also providing $461 million in temporary wage increases for over 147,000 personal support workers and direct support workers.

Speaker, it is said that mental health is health, and that’s why we’re investing $176 million in 2020-21 for the mental health and addictions Roadmap to Wellness. This includes opening the Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital site, investing $2.5 billion more in the hospital sector in 2020-21 than in 2019-20. We are also creating capacity by investing more than $18 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years. Our government is also hiring 98 more—nearly a 25% increase—occupational health and safety inspectors. Another key initiative is that we are investing $30 million over two years for infection prevention and control in congregate care settings throughout Ontario.

In addition to the key priority to make Ontario’s health system patient-centric, our government is providing $2.4 million to support an additional 13 Ontario health teams across the province, including in my riding of Brantford–Brant. These teams are a new way of delivering care that brings together health care providers and organizations to work as one coordinated team to improve patient outcomes. This approach is allowing the province to respond more quickly and effectively to COVID-19 and reduce hallway health care.

Through an Ontario health team, patients will experience easier transitions from one provider to another, including, for example, between hospitals, home care providers or long-term-care homes, with one patient story, one patient record and one care plan. As Ontario health teams mature, patients and families will also have access to 24/7 navigation and care coordination services. This includes enabling the further expansion of virtual care for patients through dedicated funding to maintain access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To add to Ontario’s “protect” pillar, our government is creating a new provincial emergency volunteer unit to coordinate and activate in future pandemics, natural disasters and other emergencies. Through this pandemic, Ontarians have stepped up and shown that they want to help in their communities. We want to thank everyone who has answered the call for volunteers throughout COVID-19. Whether it was helping a senior pick up groceries or donating to local food banks, these contributions have made a difference. Thank you.

We have some of the brightest and most talented minds right here in the province, and it is important that we leverage this in times of crisis. That’s why our government will be creating a new organization to oversee a provincial emergency volunteer unit to support these efforts. The group will be comprised of volunteers from diverse backgrounds, geographic locations and ages, and they will be called upon to help in times of emergency.

By registering with our new organization, you’re not prohibited from volunteering with other bodies, like the Red Cross; instead, we will stand shoulder to shoulder with all of our partners in the volunteering space. We look forward to talking with our sector partners later this fall to discuss how we can best collaborate to launch this initiative successfully. We want to support existing efforts and work together in times of crisis.

Moving on, Mr. Speaker, to “support”: This is the second pillar of our plan. Since the beginning, we have promised to be there, to help those struggling the most. In Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, we are expanding that support. As COVID-19 continues to create challenges, we will continue to be there to support the people of Ontario. This starts with giving back to all the seniors who built this province. We’ve provided $75 million in relief by doubling the guaranteed annual income system payment for 194,000 of our lowest-income seniors.

We allocated $16 million to the Ontario Community Support Program to help deliver 230,000 meals and other essentials to low-income seniors and persons with disabilities. We also increased funding to the Seniors Active Living Centres Program by 22%, for a total of $17 million.

COVID-19 has reminded us, all of us, that our homes are a special place where we should be safe, but for many seniors, Mr. Speaker, staying in their homes requires expensive improvements such as wheelchair ramps and stability bars to make them safe and accessible, which is why we are proposing a new Seniors’ Home Safety Tax Credit for the 2021 tax year. This investment will help tens of thousands of seniors stay in the homes that they love longer. The tax credit would be worth 25% of up to $10,000 in eligible expenses, and will be available to every senior, whether they pay taxes or not.

It means an Ontario senior or a family with a grandparent living in their home would receive up to $2,500 back for a $10,000 renovation to make their home safer.

Moving on to education: This September, all publicly funded elementary schools reopened province-wide with in-class instruction five days a week. Most secondary schools started this school year in an adapted model that includes a hybrid of in-person and remote learning. These approaches were designed to support keeping our students and staff and their families safe.

Our government has also adapted to the new realities of COVID-19, keeping students engaged and learning while at the same time taking appropriate health precautions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. This year, approximately 20% of students have chosen to stay at home doing online learning. Therefore, we have expanded the digital learning portal to provide access to curriculum and learning resources to parents, teachers and students.

To date, we have already given parents $378 million to help with the additional cost of technology for online learning, and we’re putting in another $380 million that we’ll be giving out as we continue to help offset some of the extra expenses incurred with online learning.

Mr. Speaker, the province is providing students and teachers with new learning supports to help them during COVID-19 by investing $7 million over three years. New online modular content for elementary grades will be introduced to cover the full curriculum and support flexibility between face-to-face and remote learning. These new elementary content modules will be developed through a phased approach, starting with four subjects: language, math, science and social studies.

With the anxiety of students returning to class, we have made $1.3 billion available to school boards to help make the return to school safe and a welcoming experience. Some of the areas that we will be focusing on are:

—$100 million to hire more teachers to keep class sizes small;

—$90 million for personal protective equipment—or, as we call it, PPE—for staff and students;

—$62.5 million to hire 625 school-focused nurses to provide rapid response supports to schools and boards and to facilitate public health measures;

—$79 million to hire up to 1,300 additional dedicated custodians and to purchase cleaning supplies;

—$65.5 million for enhanced cleaning and safety measures for student transportation;

—$42.5 million to support students with special needs and provide student mental health supports;

—$50 million in one-time funding to support improved ventilation, air quality and heating, air flow and air-conditioning system effectiveness in schools;

—$54 million to hire additional principals, vice-principals and administrative staffing supports to better deliver and oversee remote learning;

—$100 million to be responsive to local school board reopening plan priorities supporting a broad range of activities, such as increasing the number of educators and custodians, additional busing supports and keeping class sizes small;

—$15 million to purchase technology and approximately 30,000 devices for students;

—$44.5 million toward the school-bus-driver retention strategy;

—up to $496 million by allowing boards to unlock reserves and access up to 2% of their operating budget from their reserve funds. This funding can be applied to the local priorities of each board, based on immediate needs.

Post-secondary students received a 10% reduction in tuition for the 2019-20 school year, and we have frozen tuition fees for the 2020-21 school year for all publicly funded colleges and universities. OSAP loan repayments were temporarily suspended from March until the end of September to help post-secondary students.

To protect, support and recover Ontario’s economy, a solid approach to business sector stabilization and growth is a large portion of our government’s action plan.

To promote recovery for businesses throughout Ontario, the 2020 budget will reduce taxes, support job growth and make operations simpler and more affordable. Overall, our government is investing $4.8 billion to help create conditions for economic growth.

First, Ontario’s action plan will reduce taxes for businesses throughout the province. One way that we are doing this is by lowering high business education taxes, known as the BET, thus reducing business property taxes. At most, some businesses were charged at a rate of 1.25%. We’re going to be dropping that to 0.88%, resulting in benefits for over 94% of Ontario businesses. This accumulates to about $8.5 million in savings for businesses in Brantford–Brant alone. At the same time, we are allowing our municipalities to target property tax relief for small businesses, and the province is considering matching those municipal tax reductions.

Finally, we are proposing to provide relief to employers through the employer health tax exemption. Some employers pay as much as 1.95% of total payroll costs on the employer health tax. This proposal would make the health tax exemption that we introduced earlier this year permanent, allowing employers to be exempt from this portion of the payroll for up to $1 million.

In addition to our commitment to reduce taxes on businesses, our government remains focused on supporting job growth in Ontario. We’ve realized that in order to provide relief we have to help businesses with fixed costs, rather than profits—for example, corporate tax relief—as many of Ontario’s businesses are not making a profit this year.

One major component of this is our investment in skills and training. While we have seen job recovery following the initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment remains high. We are investing an additional $100 million in Employment Ontario for 2020-21 for skills training programs. Through this program Ontarians will be able to access employment advice and training as well as skills upgrades.

We are also seeking to upgrade and modernize Ontario’s skilled trades system to encourage participation and provide easier access to trades through a skilled trades strategy. These investments will help job seekers gain access to good jobs and any necessary training or supports. They will also allow employer to actively participate in training and mentorship for apprentices.

Additionally, the Ontario action plan will make business operations simpler and more affordable. The first step in this plan will be to lower electricity cost for employers. Businesses throughout Ontario have seen increases in electricity prices since 2008, primarily caused by the previous government’s failed Green Energy Act that was supported by the opposition. Starting on January 1, 2021, the province will fund a portion of business electricity costs, resulting in average savings of 14% for medium-sized industrial and commercial businesses and 16% for larger business.

Speaker, we are committed to reducing unnecessary red tape requirements and the business costs associated with it for Ontario’s businesses. Our proposed changes will help modernize existing regulations and help increase productivity and economic growth. We have achieved a total of $331 million in annual savings for businesses throughout the province. Through Ontario’s action plan, our government is continuing to support workers and employers throughout Ontario as we continue with the provincial recovery plan.

Speaker, I’m looking forward to the question and answer session to speak more about this. But I believe, in the middle of a pandemic, that it’s imperative that government’s focus is on protecting and supporting Ontarians. I would just like to say that it’s been an honour to rise today to speak about the budget, and again, I look forward to questions and answers.

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

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: Good morning, Speaker, and good morning to my colleagues as well as the other members of the House. When the budget was revealed, I was hoping to see the government chip away at the dangerously understaffed long-term-care homes, and yet more staff won’t come this year. In fact, they voted for four hours a day and then tell us to wait until 2025. It looks like nine months into a pandemic has not been enough time to move on fixing this issue—and then you applaud it. It is concerning that this budget does not address the staffing shortage gap. What’s more horrifying, Speaker, in St.

Catharines, is that the ministry has created a staffing nightmare for front-line workers in hospitals, because they are no longer covering paid sick days for the front-line heroes, who have to self-isolate due to COVID-19 in some circumstances.

Speaker, through you to the member opposite: Will you make sure that this government will actually fix long-term care in St. Catharines and across this province at this point, and what are you going to do about it?

Mr. Will Bouma: Thank you for the question. As the member knows, we have made significant investments in long-term care this year to help support. The member also knows that a problem can’t be fixed immediately and that it needs to be fixed right. That’s why I’m so pleased with the investments that we’ve made, not only to be able to construct more long-term-care homes, but the fact that we’re putting those supports in place, supporting PSWs in order to pay them more now and to bring more available online quickly.

Also, one of the most important programs as far as I’m concerned is the funding of our community paramedicine programs that I’ve been very, very excited about, because those community paramedics will make it so that people can stay in their homes longer, while not removing them off the wait-list for long-term care, so that they don’t end up there and they can age in place at home.

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

Mr. Aris Babikian: Thank you to my colleague for his presentation. Our government understands that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on the finances of many seniors. Can the member please share with the House what our government has done to support seniors through the ensuing economic crisis?

Mr. Will Bouma: Speaker, through you, thank you to the member for Scarborough–Agincourt. I appreciate his continued passion for his constituents. That’s an excellent question.

Speaker, “support” is the second pillar of our plan. Since the beginning, we have promised to be there to help those who are struggling most. In Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, we are expanding that support. As COVID-19 continues to create challenges, we will continue to be there to support the people of Ontario. That’s why we’re providing $75 million in relief by doubling the guaranteed annual income support to 194,000 of our lowest-income seniors, and we’re putting $16 million into the Ontario Community Support Program to deliver 230,000 meals and other essentials to low-income seniors and persons with disabilities.

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

Mr. Percy Hatfield: Good morning, Speaker. My friend spoke a lot about the action plan; I’d like to ask about the inaction on price gouging when it comes to the insurance industry. I heard from a landscaper who clears snow and never had a claim filed against them—a $4,000 increase in insurance.

I’ve heard from condo boards. In one association, the rates are doubling; the other one is tripling.

The town of Lakeshore—I talked to the mayor there the other day, Tom Bain, on another matter; never a claim filed, the rate has gone up $180,000. He told me about a nurse, a friend of his, who had a fender bender, filed a claim and was told her premium would go to $9,000.

Price gouging is going on by the insurance companies in Ontario under the guise of the pandemic. The member is the parliamentary assistant to the Premier. I’d like to ask him: What is his and the Premier’s plan to get into the price gouging going on hidden away by the pandemic?

Mr. Will Bouma: I appreciate getting the question from my friend across the way. He’s looking bright and chipper. He looks a lot better than I feel after last night’s late night activities here in the House.

He’s absolutely correct. This is completely inappropriate. This is a priority for our government, and that’s why I’ve been so excited to see the member from Parry Sound–Muskoka’s private member’s bill moving through, because the fact of the matter is I have a lot of friends who are in the snow removal business and they can’t even get insurance because they’re in that business and because there are so many lawsuits happening and everything else. So I’m really excited to see some of the changes that we’re making to bring that in line.

Thank you very much for the question.

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

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: I was listening intently to my friend from Brantford–Brant. Our Premier often says that we need to put an iron ring of protection around our seniors who are the most vulnerable citizens right now, especially in light of COVID-19. That’s why it’s so important that we are investing $1.75 billion as part of our investment to build 30,000 new beds, and since the onset of the pandemic, we have invested $800 million to protect the most vulnerable citizens in long-term care.

Can the member please tell us why these investments are needed now more than ever?

Mr. Will Bouma: I completely agree that the devastation that this disease causes amongst our most vulnerable—I heard those comments earlier too. I’ve had people express that to me that, “Well, they’re just a bunch of old people,” and, quite frankly, if I can say that in here, Mr. Speaker, I will say publicly to everyone in Ontario that that’s disgusting. That’s disgusting that we would value life so low.

In fact, I will say here in this House that one of the most inspiring parts of this COVID-19 pandemic is the steps we are all as a group willing to make, that as people of Ontario we are willing to take, to protect those who are most vulnerable. That’s why we’re making those significant investments: to protect our seniors, to build that iron ring.

I appreciate the question. That is something that’s deeply personal for me.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions? The member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan.

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you, Speaker, and good morning. And thank you to the member from Brantford–Brant for his comments.

I’d like to emphasize the comment around protecting people. Protecting people means stopping this virus, frankly. We need to do everything we can to stop this virus, and one area that I was disappointed not to see in the budget is for paid sick leave, because there are people in this province who cannot afford to take a day off. It’s between taking the day off and not being able to feed their children. This government actually stripped away those emergency days that were going to be put into place—in your first budget, one of the first things you actually did as a government.

Can the member now—I would like to ask them: Don’t you think that paid sick leave would help stop this virus?

Mr. Will Bouma: A great question. I am very pleased I was just told from a colleague here that, indeed, we are doing 10 days of paid sick leave from this past September until next September. Thank you for the question, and I’m glad to bring you that good news that that is happening.

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

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I wanted to just ask the member about the importance of investing in the tourism sector. Of course, recognizing right now we’re trying to get people to rest at home, what will the impact be in the budget, do you think, of the introduction of a tax credit for those who are going to be visiting places like Niagara and, of course, beautiful Brantford–Brant?

Mr. Will Bouma: I really appreciate that. I’ve had so many conversations with the Minister of Finance about these issues, and I remember we had a great presentation from the Ontario Home Builders’ Association and OREA also—the realtors—talking about different options for how we can help get the economy to recover. What became so clear to the Ministry of Finance is that we need to support, to help bring back, to recover those industries that have most been affected by COVID-19, which is why we’re providing the training supports for people who have been laid off because of COVID-19.

But when we get through this, I am really looking forward to 2021, the Lord willing, being the absolute year of the staycation, where people will be able to get out and enjoy those cultural opportunities and be able to get out to enjoy the great outdoors across the province of Ontario and then have that back as a tax credit system. I think it’s critical, it’s so important and it’s so innovative, the way that we are supporting those industries most affected by COVID-19. Thank you for the question.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: Point of order, Speaker,

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I recognize the member from Windsor–Tecumseh on a point of order.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: I wonder if we could have unanimous consent and have the members tell us more about their 10 days of sick leave that we haven’t heard about before—if they could tell the House now.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): The member is—

Interjection: No.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I heard a no.

Special report, Auditor General

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I beg to inform the House that the following document was tabled: a special report entitled COVID-19 Preparedness and Management, from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario.

2020 Ontario budget

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: It’s a pleasure, as always, to rise to speak in this House on behalf of the great people of Davenport, who I’m honoured to represent.

Today we are discussing the budget bill that the government has tabled, a bill that I want to say was—I was going back over the speech that the Minister of Finance gave when the budget was introduced. He reminded us that back in March, Premier Ford made a very simple and what he called “non-negotiable” promise to the people of Ontario. He said that your government will “do whatever it takes” to get you through this. You know, Mr.

Speaker, when we go through this bill—in detail, in particular—we find that it’s actually not so, that what the Premier and the government have done in presenting this budget is waved a white flag in this battle against COVID-19, and I think that’s how a lot of Ontarians feel today.

This government is telling people, actually, the opposite. They’re saying, “You’re on your own.” As we sit here and Ontario is on the brink of a health care and economic disaster, this budget doesn’t take any new actions to make people in this province safer or healthier. In fact, in this budget, the government is telling seniors, as my colleagues have mentioned, those seniors living in dangerously understaffed long-term-care homes, that more staff aren’t coming this year. They’re on their own.

The government is telling the 30-plus kids packed into classrooms even though we know that schools are the source of over 4,000 infections—and I’m going to get more into those numbers later on in my comments. But they’re on their own.

The public health units: All those folks on the front line who have been working so hard to keep our communities safe are getting no new money. Despite families being put at risk by the lack of contact tracing and testing, public health is still on their own, and so are the families that are trying to stay safe.

This budget tells businesses and workers that they’re on their own. Workers aren’t getting the paid sick days that they’re going to need to stay home and stop the spread, and small businesses that have to board up this year won’t be helped by a tax break when it comes too late.

There’s no money in this budget to get moving on the need to guarantee the minimum of four hours of care per resident per day in this province. In fact, the budget cuts long-term-care funding compared to what the government had planned to spend in 2020-21. In the March fiscal plan, long-term care was budgeted at $4.63 billion. This new budget lowers that to $4.53 billion.

This budget doesn’t even give hospitals the funding they need to cover their deficits, and the Premier, as we know, is sitting on contingency reserve money, billions of which came from the federal government to help stop the second wave, and the government is choosing to chase the crisis instead of preventing it.

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment—I’m going talk more about some of the other areas—but I do want to take a moment as the official opposition education critic to talk specifically about education funding. As I’ve said in this House many times since the budget was introduced, there are no new dollars here for education. In fact, arguably, if you take into account the rising cost of living, the cost of goods and services, this is actually a cut in education funding in this budget.

I want to go back to a number that we’ve used here a number of times, the $9.3 billion that the government had kind of squirrelled away. I want to explain a little bit of that here today. We know that this government is sitting on $9.3 billion—unspent and unallocated dollars—that should have been used to prepare for or help people during the second wave, which is now upon us. In fact, we know this because the Financial Accountability Office’s Economic and Budget Outlook back in October showed that very specifically: $9.3 billion in unallocated cash.

We know that this has been part of a very disturbing pattern of this government. During the summer, we had the government promise to spend over $1 billion on a safe return to school. But when the supplementary estimates were tabled on September 17, none of these spending promises were included, even though the school year had already started. The budget for the education ministry was still only 0.4% higher than what the government had spent in the previous fiscal year—in the middle of a pandemic. It makes no sense.

I want to say that, again, this $9.3-billion figure comes from the FAO, and they have not yet published an updated report showing how many billions in COVID cash still remain unallocated, but we’re expecting to get one soon. The truth is, the government is not very transparent about their spending plans, and we really shouldn’t trust them, I think it’s fair to say.

If we look back at, for example, the autism spending at this time in the 2019-20 budget, you will recall that the government promised to increase autism spending to $600 million. But this budget promise was not reflected in the spring estimates. The promised spending increase was only finally included in the supplementary estimates published in December. And then earlier this year, we learned more disturbing facts, as we all recall, about that claimed autism spending—again, that the government froze $62 million while families were sitting languishing on waiting lists.

Anyway, getting back to education. The fact is, if you turn to page 15 of the budget, the government members like to point to this figure: $2.6 billion in remaining balances. This is what the government would call a projected balance of the various contingency funds after all the budget’s announced spending promises. I want to point something out to you, and I know it’s a little dry, but it’s important that Ontarians understand that when the government throws around numbers like this, it’s really not based in any kind of reality thus far. These are just aspirational numbers.

We’re going to have to wait, again, for the Financial Accountability Office report to find out how much of this is actually being reflected in formal allocation and what the government is actually going to spend.

I find it very interesting that this government, despite all of this, has not yet allocated any of these dollars to, say, school boards. In fact, when you look at, for example, what they have spent: allocating $2 billion to the Ministry of Transportation for transit, but only $666 million of this has been allocated to specific transit agencies. The government says they’re going to allocate the remaining $1.3 billion in the new year, and there will be conditions attached.

Is it possible that there could be similar conditions attached to the remaining Safe Return to Class Fund dollars that have yet to be allocated to school boards? Is it possible that some or even all of this allocated money will actually never be allocated to school boards or municipalities or agencies that need it?

I think what’s really clear, Mr. Speaker, is that—and I know the government gets a bit defensive and testy about these things, but they’re sitting on a mountain of cash. Even if the government finally does allocate all of those funds that are discussed in this budget, it’s going to be too little, too late. This is a question that I’ve been asking the Minister of Education here for weeks and weeks: Why, if you know it’s needed now, aren’t you moving heaven and earth to provide the support that our students and staff need now?

I was on a round table discussion last night with folks in York region, and it was really fascinating. There was a teacher, there was a student, there was a biostatistician as well who joined us and a number of parents from York region. I want to talk a little bit about some of the things that we discussed last night. One of the things that we talked about with the biostatistician was the numbers, because the Minister of Education stands here pretty much daily and claims that 99% or so of our schools remain COVID-free. This is creative math, Mr. Speaker.

The truth is that right now—let’s start with York region. Fifty per cent of all schools in York region have had cases of COVID-19. The number across the province is about 47%. In Brampton, 48% of schools have had at least one active case. In Toronto, it’s about 35% in the public school system and 40% of Catholic schools. We know that the risk is greater in some regions than others. We see that reflected in the nature of the lockdown that is under way right now.

But what’s really concerning to many out there is that the minister continues to use these—I’m going to say misleading—statistics and percentages in this House and keeps repeating this over and over and over again, when the facts really don’t play out. In fact, the numbers are so much higher, and that is the experience of so many parents and families and students and staff in our education system, and it’s very insulting to them to hear the minister misrepresent what is happening in our schools today.

I have asked the minister many times here, and the Premier, why, again, they aren’t doing everything that they could possibly do in this moment, why they couldn’t be increasing the testing that needs to happen in our communities, but especially in our schools, why we aren’t doing the contact tracing.

I want to share that when we were talking to the biostatisticians last night, one of the things that the biostatisticians that were on the call made a point of was that, even if we have about 4,000 cases in our schools right now, students and staff, we are only catching—and this is a pretty conservative estimate—about one in four of the cases that are out there.

If you do the math, then you’re looking at probably closer to 16,000 cases currently, but again, we don’t know, because when a child is sent home from a class, a class is closed down because there are a number of cases and they go home, they’re not required to be tested, and there’s no tracing happening. Again, we’re not really sharing with Ontarians a true picture of what’s happening in schools right now.

Why does it matter? It matters because we are trying to stop the spread of this infection. Until we do that, we will be going through this cycle of lockdowns and closures. That will continue, and that’s why so many Ontarians across this province have made such significant sacrifices: because we know what’s at stake. What is astounding to me and to the parents that I speak to every day is that the government wouldn’t be doing everything possible, wouldn’t be taking every single opportunity to curb the spread of infection throughout our province, including schools.

I think if you look at the plans that this government has rolled out—very delayed—you will find that the efforts that have been made when it comes to schools have been limited.

I know we talk about it all the time and it has become—maybe the government members opposite just close their ears now because they’re so used to hearing us say this. One of the critical elements that has contributed to curbing the pandemic spread in many other jurisdictions has been reducing class sizes in schools, has been capping the number of students in schools who are in a class. The reason this matters is very simple: It’s because they are spaced out, and the more space that they have between them, the less likely it is that they’re going to be able to spread the infection.

That is where this government has failed Ontario students. That’s why we continue to raise that, and why it’s so astonishing that to this day our classes continue to be reorganized.

I look at the members sitting here with me today in the NDP official opposition and I know we’ve all received many, many calls from frustrated parents who have gone to their principals, who have gone to their superintendents, who have gone to their trustees, who have gone to the government, and said, “My child still doesn’t have a teacher,” “My child hasn’t had the same teacher for more than a week all school year,” “My kindergartener started out in a class of 20 and is now in a class of 29 or 30.” Everybody is thinking, “How could we possibly be in this situation? It goes against everything we know will help to curb the pandemic.”

I’ve had many parents say to me over and over again, including last night, “We keep calling the Minister of Education, we keep calling the Premier, we’re calling our Conservative MPPs, and it’s not doing any good.” I said, “Just keep doing it.” We know they’re hearing the same things we are. My hope is that at some point one of them is going to get the backbone to actually start standing up for the children in their communities who deserve better than this.

Last night, we heard from a high school student—and I always feel that often what’s missing in a lot of the conversations, certainly in the government’s planning for this pandemic, and overall, is that voice of students, is the experience of students. It’s so critical right now, and it’s what the government isn’t listening to.

The government, I want to also point out—and again, I’m disappointed, in this budget, that there’s no discussion of what we’re going to learn here, of what evaluation is happening, in every respect. But I’m going to talk specifically about schools.

I asked the Minister of Education and the deputy minister in estimates committee if they could point me to any evaluation of what the experience is right now, of what we’re learning, and any kind of meaningful collaboration that’s happening with students and teachers and other education workers and boards on the front line. The answer was silence, nothing. There is no evaluation happening. We’re not learning.

I want to share with you what Palwashah said last night at this round table. I was really moved by her comments. I can’t possibly summarize them all here, but one thing she said to me very clearly was that students feel like they’re at the bottom of the chain. Students feel left out. They are not listened to. Nobody is asking them how this is working for them. We see the reports that are coming out that talk about the rise in suicidal ideation. We see the statistics coming out in terms of the rise of depression and anxiety. What we know, as parents—I’m a parent of two teenagers—is that it’s always there. Anxiety, depression are already there—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. I apologize to the member, but it is now 10:15. When this bill is debated again, there will be an opportunity for you to complete your debate, as well as the questions and responses.

Debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Addiction services

Mr. Gilles Bisson: In all of our communities across Ontario, drugs are becoming more and more of a problem, especially opioids. We are seeing a fast rise in usage of opioids in our communities. We are seeing more deaths now than we had seen even a year ago. What’s going on in this pandemic I think is adding to all of this, and people are struggling to figure out how to respond to this really, really serious problem that we have in our community. In Timmins, we’ve lost far too many people to the use of opioids, and everybody is struggling to figure out what to do.

I want to give a shout-out to an organization that has sort of come out of the grassroots. It’s an organization called No More. They’ve been out there trying to bring attention to the issue of opioids and how we need to pull people together and not try to divide them apart when it comes to being able to respond to what is this problem.

There is hope. The city of Timmins—we’ve managed to pull together all of our service providers, and we’re doing a better job today than we did six months ago of being able to respond to the crisis by making sure that we have more safe beds, by making sure that we have more people on the streets in order to deal with the homeless and those who are affected by opioids and other types of drugs.

No More is an organization that we should encourage, because their simple concept is that we need to work together. We cannot divide each other if we’re going to be able to conquer what’s going on in our communities.

Organ donation

Mr. Deepak Anand: As per Ontario’s Trillium Gift of Life Network, each organ donation can save up to eight lives and enhance up to 75 more through tissue donation.

Thanks to Amar Karma, a not-for-profit organization from Mississauga–Malton that has been working tirelessly to raise awareness on organ donation for over a decade. Unfortunately, there are still over 1,600 Ontarians on the wait-list for organ transplants, and every three days, someone on that list dies of a preventable death.

With a heavy heart, I remind members of a recent tragedy. On November 7, Dante Sebastian Andreatta from Brampton, an innocent 12-year-old boy, was hit by a stray bullet and died in a hospital four days later. Dante lost his life, but Dante created a legacy that will live on forever. Through organ donation, Dante, at the tender age of 12 years, has gone on to save nine lives, who will live their lives to the fullest.

Dante’s heroic legacy and generosity should be a message to the 65% of Ontarians that have not registered their consent for organ donation. In Mississauga alone, the registration is only 22%. I urge everyone to please register your consent at beadonor.ca. Your deed will live on.

With less people going to ServiceOntario, Ontario numbers are further down. Please take two minutes. Spend those two minutes and you can help others; you can save lives. Let’s spread the word and save lives.

Long-term care

Mr. Wayne Gates: I rise today to speak on one of the most pressing issues in our province: the crisis in long-term care.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a total of 2,150 deaths of residents in long-term care, as well as eight dedicated, hard-working staff. It’s the tragic reality of how broken our system is in Ontario.

Right here in Niagara, we’ve seen tragedy in long-term care under COVID-19. Recently, there have been outbreaks at Gilmore Lodge, Millennium Trail Manor, Meadows of Dorchester and Bella Senior Care.

Right now, Meadows of Dorchester has been dealing with an outbreak and are facing even more positive cases. We’ve seen a total of 25 COVID-19 cases between residents and staff in this home.

Before they were taken over by Niagara Health, we had heard of horrible conditions in Millennium Trail Manor. The home was understaffed, and the staff were forced to reuse PPE that hadn’t been properly cleaned. People died as a result of corporate and government mismanagement.

People die because of neglect like this. We’ve seen this happen too many times in Niagara since March. We can’t continue to let this happen. At the end of the day, seniors are being neglected and we’re not doing enough. Seniors

There are things that we can do right now to make this situation better: Mandate four hours of hands-on care, provide the funding to support it and hire the staff necessary for this. Move away from for-profit care providers and provide a framework for caregivers and visitation in our care homes.

Sixty-eight seniors have died in Niagara. We can’t wait any longer. We need to protect our seniors now—our parents, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to remind the members that members’ statements are to be 90 seconds. I try to provide a bit of leniency if need be, but we can’t go too far over that, obviously.

The next member’s statement?

Health care

Mr. Aris Babikian: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. It was a great pleasure to join my Scarborough colleagues last Friday, November 20, to make a major announcement to improve the health care system in Scarborough.

The Scarborough Health Network received $11.8 million to create 45 new beds and eight additional critical care beds in order to help alleviate hospital capacity pressure and reduce wait times. In light of the recent news of the spread of the pandemic, this was welcome news to both the residents and front-line health care providers of Scarborough.

The staff and front-line care providers have been doing an outstanding job in trying to control the spread of the pandemic under very challenging conditions. They have been the true heroes of the pandemic in Scarborough and have gone beyond the call of duty by supporting our most vulnerable in long-term-care facilities, as well as other seniors’ communities.

This investment will help reduce surgical backlogs and improve access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This brings the total investment to $351 million for more than 2,250 new beds at 57 hospitals and alternate health facilities across the province, beds that will add more capacity for hospitals, help with occupancy pressure and support the continuation of surgeries and procedures.

Gillian’s Place

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: Sixteen days of activism against gender-based violence starts today. The UN calls it a fight against the Shadow Pandemic: violence against women during COVID-19.

Headline after headline highlights the increase in domestic violence during this pandemic. In St. Catharines, we have Gillian’s Place at the vanguard of the fight, an incredible women’s shelter. The individual stories from Gillian’s Place are empowering. So many women do not know what they would do without access to counsel and their support, from helping young mothers who are expecting a new baby, to developing skills in cooking and shopping, or learning how to have a healthy relationship in the future. In fact, this year, without the government’s funding, they opened up 10 transitional homes across Niagara.

I want to celebrate what they have done. It would be a missed opportunity if I didn’t point out that it is harder right now for women and the work this organization is doing during this pandemic. Women are disproportionately affected by the pandemic in St. Catharines, so remember your sisters, remember your mother, your neighbours, your colleagues right now more than ever. There are women in your life struggling, isolating and at risk. Continue to remember them and reach out to them. Continue to support great organizations like Gillian’s Place and the great work they are doing during the shadow pandemic.

Join me today. Text “courage” to 41010.

Adamson Barbecue

Mr. Randy Hillier: I want to recognize and applaud an individual today for his courage, convictions and resolve. Yesterday, Adam Skelly opened his restaurant, Adamson Barbecue, and is testing the government’s unlawful orders. I have no doubt—indeed, I’m certain—that these unlawful orders will be struck down by the courts. I encourage all restaurants, all businesses and all people to do the same and to stand with Adam Skelly.

In recognition, I believe the following poem by Charles Mackay is appropriate:

You have no enemies, you say?

Alas! my friend, the boast is poor;

He who has mingled in the fray

Of duty, that the brave endure,

Must have made foes! If you have none,

Small is the work that you have done.

You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,

You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,

You’ve never turned the wrong to right,

You’ve been a coward in the fight.

I will be sharing Mr. Skelly’s spirit as well tomorrow. I will be testing the laws once again on the front lawn of the Legislature and invite everyone to join me at our No More Lockdowns “pots and pans” rally.

Taylor Lindsay-Noel

Mr. Stan Cho: It’s my privilege to rise today to recognize the passion, strength and resilience of a remarkable young entrepreneur in my community of Willowdale named Taylor Lindsay-Noel.

At only 14 years old, Speaker, Taylor was an elite gymnast on track to represent Canada at the 2012 Olympics Games before a tragic neck injury during training left her paralyzed from the neck down. Taylor’s promising career as a gymnast is over, but with her heroic determination and with the support of her family, Taylor didn’t let her injury define her.

In 2018, as a new Ryerson University graduate, Taylor founded a home-based organic loose leaf tea company called Cup of Té. Taylor taught herself how to run a business and with only her laptop, Google, a handful of YouTube videos and her entrepreneurial spirit, she launched her store online.

Last month, Taylor yet again received life-changing news: This time, because her once fledgling tea company had been chosen to receive a massive global boost by being included on the list of Oprah Winfrey’s Favorite Things in the upcoming December issue of O magazine, just in time for the holidays, no less.

From the tragic end of her gymnastics career to her extraordinary new-found success in business, Taylor’s story is one of grit and resolve. As we all face the challenges of this pandemic, Taylor’s story should inspire us all, remind us that hard work, passion, perseverance and the support of friends and family is paramount and that good things come from even the biggest of tragedies.

Taylor, you’re an inspiration. Go get ’em out there. I can’t wait to see what you do next.

COVID-19 response

M me France Gélinas: This morning, the Auditor General tabled her report on the preparedness and management of the COVID-19 response.

My comments this morning are not to blame—we cannot change the past, but we can influence the future to do better.

Some of the things we learned is that Ontario is not using the command-and-control model, which is what our emergency system is based on. Instead, all of the decisions regarding COVID are made by the Premier, his chief of staff and cabinet. We also know that much of the advice that has been given by public health was not followed.

For example, to extend COVID-19 testing to any individual with no symptoms and no known exposure was not recommended by public health, yet was put in in Ontario and was not stopped till September. Requiring visitors to long-term-care homes to be tested for COVID-19 every two weeks and prior to visiting—there is no public health recommendation to do this. Public health says it gives people a false sense of security.

The same thing with the introduction of the new provincial colour-coded response framework—this is not based on public health advice.

Speaker, it is important for our Chief Medical Officer of Health to be an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly—the sooner, the better.

Indigenous affairs

Mr. Toby Barrett: The McKenzie Meadows occupation in Caledonia led by area protestors and outside activists has been under way for more than 123 days, preventing construction of a housing development project in Haldimand county. There have been significant impacts to residents, businesses and critical infrastructure.

The home builder, Foxgate Homes, has been granted a permanent injunction against the protestors. Haldimand county has an injunction against protesters blocking municipal roads, and CN Rail has an injunction against the protestors blocking the rail line. Despite these injunctions, the construction site is still occupied, municipal roads have been dug up, the CN Rail line has been disrupted, a hydro station is compromised and heavy construction equipment is stolen.

These actions have also put our Ontario Provincial Police in a difficult position. As of November 18, 38 arrests have been made and 177 charges laid, with minimal use of force.

However, police and provincial and local officials cannot continue to manage the situation indefinitely in the absence of federal leadership. This is incredibly frustrating. It’s been going on now for 14 and a half years with respect to the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision.

The Caledonia blockades are part of a national insurgence. Ontario has asked the federal government to intervene to bring this conflict to a peaceful resolution for all parties.

Heritage Hockey Sticks

Mr. Will Bouma: I’m going to try to speak fast. I rise today to talk about something that’s very special and truly Canadian. Heritage Hockey Sticks has been making hockey sticks for elite and amateur athletes for more than 100 years here in Ontario. Just last week, it was announced that they are moving to the hometown of Canada’s most famous hockey player, to the great city of Brantford, in my riding of Brantford–Brant.

The company traces its roots in Waterloo region back to the 1880s. It’s a complex family tree, filled with amalgamations, name changes and different owners, such as the Seagram family, Cooper and Nike Bauer. Production at the current Sheffield Street facility in Cambridge dates back to 1905.

Heritage Hockey Sticks is now the exclusive supplier of wood hockey sticks for the Canadian Tire Corp. The new, 62,000-square-foot Brantford location is twice the size of the existing plant and allows for a production increase of about 300%.

Heritage Hockey Sticks owner Graeme Roustan anticipates his workforce will grow to 100 people, thanks to the new commitment from Canadian Tire. The company has outlived its domestic competitors. It is the only mass producer of wood, ABS, foam-core and hybrid composite sticks in Canada and the United States.

According to the owner, the city of Brantford offered a welcoming business environment as well as a closer connection to Canadian hockey lineage, as it is the birthplace of number 99, Wayne Gretzky, and the home to his father and ambassador of the game, Walter Gretzky.

Congratulations to Heritage Hockey Sticks.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Ms. Sara Singh: My first question is to the Premier. The Auditor General’s report on the government’s COVID-19 response paints a picture of a confused and bloated decision-making process, with the Premier in the middle and experts on public health left out in the cold. Among her findings, the Auditor General says, “Ontario’s command structure evolved to become overly cumbersome, and it was not dominated by public health expertise.”

Why did the Premier tell people on a daily basis that Ontario’s response was being led by public health advice when, in fact, it was not?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: While we appreciate, obviously, the report of the Auditor General, Mr. Speaker, you’ll know that all aspects of the battle against COVID-19 have been in coordination with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and public health officials across the province. I would suggest that’s why we have had such an impressive result in the province of Ontario. If the Auditor General has pointed out areas in which the government can improve, and recommendations for future governments who might face a similar pandemic, of course we’ll take look at that.

Obviously, this is something that no government has faced in many, many generations. It was a whole-of-government approach that we put in place to deal with this, and that approach obviously included the advice and support of medical officials across the province.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: The Premier has gone on for months saying that he follows the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health. But the Auditor General has proven this to be false. In fact, she goes on to say: “The Chief Medical Officer of Health and other public health officials did not lead Ontario’s response to COVID-19.”

The auditor notes that in provinces like British Columbia, the chief medical officer takes the lead. Why has the Premier sidelined Ontario’s chief medical officer and other public health experts and told the public the complete opposite?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, Mr. Speaker, the Chief Medical Officer of Health has been helping guide Ontario’s response to COVID-19 right from the beginning. In fact, not only through wave 1 but as we prepared for the second wave, the chief medical officer’s advice helped ensure that a safe restart for our schools was in place. He helped ensure that our second wave action plan was in place, a very comprehensive plan that has helped—whether it was on testing or on contact tracing, the Chief Medical Officer of Health has been the lead of that.

Of course we worked with other medical officers of health in all of the regions, in the different public health regions across the province. They have been instrumental in helping us battle COVID-19; they will continue to be instrumental in doing that. The Chief Medical Officer of Health, of course, is one of the co-chairs of one of the command tables, and he was there often. He was at the select committee just last week. He will continue to be very important, and I would encourage the opposition to do the right thing and help us extend his appointment right through to September.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: Speaker, through you to the government House leader, I’d actually encourage the government House leader to read the Auditor General’s report, because today’s report confirms what families already knew: The Ford government has ignored public health experts. Like the Liberals before them, they ignored years of reports and urgent recommendations from the SARS commission, they delayed implementing critical steps to stop the spread and they refused to take proactive measures to fight back against COVID-19. The Auditor General says very clearly, “we saw delays and conflicts and confusion in decision-making.”

Why did the government create so much chaos instead of accepting the advice from public health experts that could have prevented COVID-19 infections and deaths in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, the results speak for themselves with respect to Ontario’s response to COVID-19. It was a whole-of-government approach to COVID-19. This is something that no jurisdiction has faced in generations. We took the lessons from SARS, we took the lessons from H1N1 and we acted very quickly when the first wave hit. In fact, we were one of the first jurisdictions to close down schools, thanks to the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and the quick work of the Minister of Education. We were one of the first jurisdictions to initiate a lockdown.

We were one of the first jurisdictions to institute a state of emergency. We did all of that by bringing together, as I said, a whole-of government approach to tackling this, working with medical officers of health in the regions.

I am sure that there are instances where the government could have moved quicker—I’m not going to say that there wasn’t—but we have certainly learned a lot, and, in responding to a pandemic that nobody has seen in well over 100 years, I think the people of Ontario have done a great job.

COVID-19 response

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is to the Premier. For months, the Premier has insisted that all decisions about handling the pandemic were led by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, but the Auditor General was very clear in her findings today: “The Chief Medical Officer of Health and other public health officials did not lead Ontario’s response to COVID-19.”

If the Chief Medical Officer of Health did not lead the response, who did?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, Mr. Speaker, as I’ve said already on a number of occasions, the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health was instrumental in helping us attack not only the first wave of COVID-19 but in also helping us prepare for the second wave. It was on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, in co-operation with medical officers of health across the province, that we put in place a plan to safely reopen our schools and that we increased testing from 4,000 a day up to 50,000 tests a day.

It is on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health that we have been able to flatten the curve in the first wave—in fact, leading the country. We brought in a state of emergency before any other jurisdiction in the country. We’ve done that by working with the Chief Medical Officer of Health. Again, it’s a whole-of-government approach that we took to this by working with our officials.

I note that the members opposite certainly don’t believe that the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health is valued. They stand daily in this place and ask us to reduce the recommendations from the Chief Medical Officer of Health. We’ll follow that advice and we’ll continue to follow that advice.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: The Auditor General is very clear: Not only did the Chief Medical Officer of Health not lead Ontario’s response to COVID-19, many at the government’s command table were actually unclear on what his role was.

In her report, the auditor calls on the government to “immediately assess the role and strength of the Chief Medical Officer of Health to lead Ontario’s response in addressing subsequent waves of COVID-19.”

Will the government pull the motion to extend the term of the chief medical officer and actually follow the Auditor General’s recommendations?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: No, we will not pull that motion. We have the absolute confidence in Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams has been providing us with advice and recommendations since the beginning of this pandemic and was actually in charge of the table. He didn’t chair the table because that was an administrative job. We needed Dr. Williams to be able to participate in what was happening at the committee. Dr. Williams has throughout been in charge of the response from a health perspective and provided recommendations to our government which we have followed.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: The auditor has been clear that the Chief Medical Officer of Health has not taken a leadership role in Ontario’s COVID response and he has not been allowed to use the power of his office to take actions that could have saved lives. She has called on the government to assess the role and the strength of the Chief Medical Officer of Health to lead Ontario’s response. But instead of doing that, the government suddenly decided this week to rubber-stamp an extension of his term. Why is the government ignoring the recommendations of Ontario’s Auditor General?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, we respect the Auditor General. Her report contains many recommendations and insights that will be helpful to us in dealing with COVID-19. However, there are also some factual inaccuracies contained in the Auditor General’s report which we brought to her attention and which have been discussed. I have discussed them with her myself. We have agreed to disagree that there are some issues, particularly with respect to the role of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and the role that he has played in this pandemic. We continue to rely on Dr. Williams’s recommendations and advice.

He has been a leader from the health perspective in this pandemic from day one. We continue to rely on him, and we’ll continue to do so.

COVID-19 response

Mr. John Vanthof: I’d like to start my question with a quote from Doug Ford from September 25, 2018: “Unlike the Liberals, we respect”—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We refer to other members by their ministerial title or their riding name.

Place your question.

Mr. John Vanthof: To the Premier: Earlier this week, the Ford government suddenly, without any notice, announced plans to extend the term of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and had MPPs sitting here until midnight, literally in the dead of the night, in an attempt to force it through before today’s report. They knew this report was coming from the auditor today. Were they attempting to rubber-stamp an extension before the rest of Ontario, before the people of Ontario could see the findings in today’s report from Ontario’s Auditor General?

Interjections.

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

To respond for the government, the Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Absolutely not. Dr. Williams—we have the absolute confidence in him. Dr. Williams has 30 years of public health experience, both as the Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario as well as the local medical officer of health in Thunder Bay for many years—30 years. He has the knowledge and experience. To have someone else come in, as a new person, as the Chief Medical Officer of Health in the middle of a pandemic would be irresponsible, and we are not irresponsible. We take this very seriously. We are making decisions in the best interests of the health and well-being of the people of Ontario.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: For months, the Premier has insisted that his COVID-19 response has been informed by public health experts and that every measure was proposed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health. The Premier says he’s a perfect dance partner—but perhaps only because the Premier always gets to lead.

Will the Premier agree to put Dr. Williams in front of an all-party committee to review his appointment as the Chief Medical Officer of Health?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: In fact, last night, this chamber did seek unanimous consent to have the Chief Medical Officer of Health appear before a select committee of Parliament, and that was turned down by the members opposite, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we also tried to put a motion forward to extend and provide more opportunities for the opposition to speak, not once, not twice, but on 10 separate occasions. They turned it down.

We then went further and asked for unanimous consent to return this House today at 1 o’clock for further discussions with respect to the Chief Medical Officer of Health. They turned it down, Mr. Speaker. So again, it is the same thing with the NDP: Say one thing, but do another.

Affaires francophones

Est-ce que la ministre peut nous nommer des gestes concrètes qui ont été mises en place pour soutenir la communauté francophone depuis la pandémie de la COVID-19?

L’hon. Caroline Mulroney: Je remercie mon collègue pour sa question. Je suis fière des nombreuses mesures prises par notre gouvernement pour soutenir les Franco-Ontariens au travers de cette crise.

Dans le cadre du budget 2020, nous avons annoncé un investissement de 2 millions de dollars sur deux ans dans un fonds de secours pour les organismes francophones sans but lucratif suite à la COVID-19. Nous avons aussi créé un groupe de travail avec l’AFO afin de soutenir les organismes franco-ontariens. Cela s’ajoute à un investissement de 500 000 $ dans la création d’un réseau économique francophone et dans une campagne de promotion de produits et de services franco-ontariens. Cet investissement répond directement aux besoins exprimés par la communauté francophone.

Nous avons également annoncé les récipiendaires du PAFO, un investissement d’un million de dollars dans les organismes desservant la communauté francophone.

Monsieur le Président, nous sommes à l’écoute de la communauté francophone pour comprendre leurs besoins face à la pandémie de la COVID-19.

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

M. Jeremy Roberts: Je remercie la ministre pour tout son travail au soutien de la communauté francophone. Mon bureau travaille en collaboration avec l’AFO, depuis mon élection, sur de nombreux projets importants, notamment la Maison de la francophonie dans ma circonscription. J’étais fier de célébrer l’ouverture de cette merveilleuse installation avec l’adjointe parlementaire à la ministre des Affaires francophones juste avant le début de la pandémie.

Est-ce que la ministre peut nous parler plus en détail de son nouveau groupe de travail avec l’AFO?

L’hon. Caroline Mulroney: Je remercie encore une fois mon collègue pour sa question. Ce nouveau groupe de travail, unissant le ministère des Affaires francophones et l’Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario, vise à maximiser l’aide aux organismes à travers les différents programmes gouvernementaux, dont plusieurs qui répondent directement au besoin de la communauté.

En effet, nous avons mis en place plusieurs recommandations du conseil ministériel sur la relance économique post COVID-19 lors du budget pour répondre aux besoins et aux aspirations des francophones : un investissement de 680 millions de dollars dans l’amélioration du service Internet à large bande; un investissement de 59,5 millions de dollars dans une stratégie de micro-crédit avec les métiers spécialisés; et un financement d’urgence en arts et en cultures de 25 millions de dollars.

Je suis très heureuse de pouvoir travailler avec l’AFO afin d’accompagner les organismes francophones et de leur offrir notre soutien lors de cette période difficile.

Long-term care

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: My question is to the Premier. In her report today, the Auditor General cites example after example of the Ford government delaying urgent action it needed to save lives. Staff in long-term care were working without personal protective equipment for nearly a month after the medical officers first requested it. Staff in long-term care worked in multiple facilities for over a month because the chief medical officer refused to issue an order to for-profit homes—as the auditor notes, provinces that acted earlier saved hundreds, even thousands, of lives—and failed to act on the lessons that should have been learned from SARS.

Will the Premier now admit that those failures cost lives in long-term care?

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

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. We’re in a 100-year global pandemic that is affecting the entire world. We must not lose context of that: global competition for PPE, global competition for supplies and a government that was moving swiftly and decisively from the beginning, taking the best evidence and the expert advice of not only the Chief Medical Officer of Health, but all the science and medical advice and public health care advice that there was, culminating in decisions made through the Chief Medical Officer of Health for long-term care.

PPE supplies were sent to our homes on an as-needed basis. There was no home that went without. Now, we have a much better situation with our own manufacturing here in Ontario in wave 2, and that is because of the determination and united front of so many people, hundreds of people, working together, not only on the front line but behind the scenes, making this happen and never giving up, being determined to get it done, and we have.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Families are worried about loved ones in long-term care. Families, loved ones, are worried about their loved ones in long-term care, and they aren’t just worried that the government failed to learn the lessons from SARS and countless previous reports; they’re terrified because it’s been clear the Premier has learned very little. They have failed—their decisions have caused 2,000 seniors to die in long-term care, and it’s being repeated again. Why is the Premier still refusing to admit that the government has failed seniors in long-term care?

Interjections.

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

The Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Once again, my heart goes out to absolutely everyone who is impacted by this, and particularly to the residents and families and staff affected in long-term care. As the Minister of Long-Term Care, there is nothing more important to me and to our government than our most vulnerable citizens in Ontario, and we will continue to work with everyone who’s willing to be a coalition of the willing: to do the right thing, to get the supplies to our long-term-care homes, as we have been doing.

This is in the context of a global pandemic where the science is evolving. We have been using the precautionary principle all along to the best of everyone’s ability, taking the expert advice of our Chief Medical Officer of Health and using every measure and every tool. I will insist on that as we move forward and as I have done, as our government continues to put the priority in long-term care, the dollars behind it. You’ve heard me mention over $1 billion. We will continue to advance, rebuild and repair long-term care, so badly neglected—

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

COVID-19 response

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Premier. For months now, we’ve been asking for your command table to appear before the Select Committee on Emergency Management Oversight. People across Ontario have been asking for the same kind of transparency, with no response. I think I know why. The Auditor General confirmed that the command table ballooned to 500 people. We couldn’t fit them in this room. I don’t know if we could get them in the galleries, which is absolutely incredible.

The Auditor General also found that public health advice was diminished and decisions were not dominated by public health expertise. Every day, the Premier stands up and says, “I am taking the advice of the docs. I’m taking the advice of the experts.” He’s “listening to the docs.” Well, it’s very clear, at least from the Auditor General’s report, that that hasn’t been happening.

Speaker, through to you to the Premier: Why does the Premier continue to say that he’s taking public health advice, the advice of experts, when clearly that’s not happening?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: I would say to the member opposite: Because we have been taking the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and the others at the command table.

I think it’s really important to note that the Auditor General did comment on the fact that there were, at some point, 500 people on the call. However, the 500 people were not participating in the call. Five hundred people were on the call to obtain information. They were from various ministries. It’s very important when you’re dealing with a pandemic such as we are that you have a cross-government approach. There are 13 or 14 ministries involved: Health, of course, is the primary, the Ministry of Long-Term Care, the Ministry of the Solicitor General, Education, others. It goes on and on.

It’s important for us to know what is happening in other ministries, to get it out of the silos, to be able to have a coordinated response.

But throughout, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the public health measures table, Public Health Ontario were the key people at the command table who were providing and discussing the advice and recommendations that they were going to give to government, which we have accepted.

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

Mr. John Fraser: Speaker, the Premier is always saying, “The buck stops here”—and clearly, the same thing is happening today, because it’s not stopping with the Premier. He’s not responding to this.

What the Auditor General said is that the structures led to delays and confusion. What we’ve been saying in this House is, delayed decision-making, like not stopping workers from working in more than one home, like not raising their wages, like not having a plan for school, like not having a plan to move seniors out of long-term care when we’ve had months—because the decisions aren’t being made, and people on those calls are saying they don’t know who’s making the decision.

So I just want to know, Ontarians just want to know, we all want to know: How are you going to fix it?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Decisions were being made and were made quickly from the beginning of this pandemic. Ontario was the first province that designated the coronavirus as a disease reportable to public health, so that the local public health units could then be prepared to test, trace and do the contact isolation and management. That happened. Ontario declared a state of emergency just after Quebec. Ontario moved into action. So despite some of the statements that were made by the Auditor General, even though we didn’t create the public health command table until February, actions were still being taken and continued to happen in a very quick response.

We had to create a lab system which didn’t exist as a coordinated entity, unlike what was happening in some other jurisdictions. We needed to create a lab system, and we did that in record time. We also created a system to increase our testing from 4,000 a day to 70,000 a day.

I think the results speak for themselves. Right now, Ontario has the lowest per capita numbers of COVID-19 of any jurisdiction in North America, except for the Atlantic bubble and the territories. That speaks to success, not delay.

Forest firefighting

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. Just a few weeks ago, the ministry announced that forest fire season had officially come to an end here in Ontario.

Back at the onset of this pandemic, there were legitimate concerns being raised that COVID-19 would make it harder for our provincial crews to fight forest fires. As we know, COVID-19 has placed an enormous burden on people across the province. They’re worried about getting through this pandemic. They’re worried about their health. They’re worried about their businesses. They’re worried about their livelihoods. The last thing people need to worry about is having a forest fire rip through their community.

Speaker, through you to the minister: Can he please tell the House what the government did this year to ensure that Ontario was adequately prepared for forest fire season in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Hon. John Yakabuski: I want to thank the member from Ottawa West–Nepean for that excellent question.

There’s no question that the COVID-19 outbreak presented a new set of challenges for firefighters and communities threatened by fire. Everyone in this House can appreciate the added level of risk of fighting fires during a global pandemic.

This year, funding for emergency firefighting was increased by $30.2 million at the start of the year to help support fire response activities further into the season. This increase also helped to ensure the ministry was able to put adequate safety measures in place to protect our fire rangers from COVID-19. We also placed an even stronger focus on early detection and on combatting detected fires with full force, in order to keep them small. Also, we implemented a restricted fire zone across Ontario’s legislated fire region from April 3 to May 16, to reduce the risk of preventable human-caused fires.

Speaker, we took an approach that would keep northern and remote communities safe, and that’s exactly what we were able to achieve.

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

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: I would like to thank the minister, through you, Speaker, for his answer. It is great to see that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is continuing to take the issue of forest fires seriously, and that it stepped up to the plate to make sure that Ontarians were kept safe from forest fires over this last season.

Speaker, I want to note that that this year’s forest fire season was more intense than the 2019 season but lower than Ontario’s 10-year average. However, forest fires and the conditions that cause them are very unpredictable, as I’m sure the minister very well knows. We can’t sit back and rest and just expect that next year’s forest fire season will be similar to this year’s.

Through you, Speaker, can the minister please tell the House what his ministry is doing to ensure that the province is prepared for future fire seasons where we may not be so lucky when it comes to numbers and size of forest fires?

Hon. John Yakabuski: Thank you again to the member from Ottawa West–Nepean. As he mentioned, the 2020 fire season was below Ontario’s 10-year average in both the number of fires and the total hectares burned. This fire season started slowly due to lingering snow cover and above-normal precipitation in the spring. In the summer months, for the most part, Ontario did not experience many long hot or dry periods that would produce extreme fire hazards.

Speaker, I want to thank the incredible work that Ontario’s fire rangers did this year. During the last year, some of these fearless front-line workers were also deployed to help fight wildfires in Australia, Quebec and Oregon.

At the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, we are committed to adapting to whatever the fire season may look like each and every year. We have a mitigation program in place to minimize the devastation caused by wildfires. We do this by working with municipal, Indigenous and industrial partners to develop info on the risks of living in fire-prone environments and assisting communities in the development of community wildfire protection plans. We’re working with our partners to protect the people of Ontario.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Speaker, yesterday the Premier admitted that his new rules for businesses aren’t fair but that it didn’t matter because he wasn’t really going to enforce them anyway.

The Premier keeps standing up in his press conferences and telling us that his heart breaks for businesses and families struggling, but at some point, something else is going to break, and that’s the people’s willingness to put up with this government’s continued mixed messages and constantly changing rules. One day he’s calling people “yahoos” and telling them he’s hitting the roof, and the next that his hands are tied and there is nothing he can do.

So the question is: Can the Premier clarify once and for all what rules he expects businesses to follow and which ones he is fine with them ignoring or breaking? Or should they just follow the government’s lead and make things up and hope for the best?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, Mr. Speaker, I think you see the inconsistency of what we’re hearing. The Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Ontario has come with recommendations for Toronto and Peel, and the members opposite—just in this question and last night—suggested that we ignore the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and do what they want.

We’re listening to the Chief Medical Officer of Health. We’re putting the people of the province of Ontario first, and as the Minister of Health just said, that is why we have some of the best results in all of North America.

These are difficult, challenging decisions that we’re having to make. Nobody likes to have to make these decisions. But we’re doing it because it is in the best interest of the people of the province of Ontario, because the sooner we flatten this curve, the sooner we will return to a strong, vibrant economy.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: It’s actually the Auditor General who has said that, Mr. Speaker. We believe the Auditor General.

But lets re-track here: If you’re a big corporation that’s got extra cash to hire the Premier’s friends and PC Party insiders, the rules don’t apply. If you’re openly breaking the rules but you run a barbecue restaurant in the Premier’s backyard, you can do whatever you want. But if you’re a small mom-and-pop shop just barely hanging on, you’re out of luck; you’re on your own. And you wonder why people are so frustrated. But after reading the auditor’s report this morning and realizing that the Premier had no idea what he was doing in any part of this pandemic, I guess it makes a bit more sense.

Speaker, through you to anyone over there who is willing to step up and finally provide some leadership: Does this government just not have a clue of what you are doing, or do you just not care?

Interjections.

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

Government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, Mr. Speaker, a strange question, given that the rules that are in place today in Peel and in Toronto are the same rules that were in place, through the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, in March, which they approved of; in April, which they approved of; in May, which they approved of; in June, which they approved of; throughout half of July, which they approved of. Now, all of a sudden, they want us to set aside the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and do what they say.

The only inconsistency here is from the members opposite. We have places in this province, in particular Peel region, with a high positivity rate. We’re going to focus on getting that rate down and protecting the people of Peel region, protecting the people of the city of Toronto.

When they had the opportunity to stand in their place and debate this last night, they chose on 11 separate occasions to say no, Mr. Speaker. When we said we would bring this Legislature back early today, they said no. The only people who are irresponsible are the NDP.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Randy Hillier: My question is for the Premier. Let’s review the facts rather than the fiction of COVID. COVID is from the family of coronaviruses, the same family as the common cold, and shares about 80% of the same characteristics. The majority of people have immunities to COVID. That is why so few people have symptoms and are infectious. The young and the healthy are not at risk, and asymptomatic transmission is now known to be a falsehood. The PCR test is faulty according to the government’s own experts. Lockdowns are ineffective, as stated by the WHO and many other doctors throughout the world.

And as CTV reported last week, 98% of all deaths in Canada occurred in long-term care. As your long-term-care minister has already publicly stated, it’s much like a bad flu season.

Speaker, the Premier’s daily theatrics are looking a lot like a cheap soap opera selling drama and fear.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The question has been placed. The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health to reply.

Hon. Christine Elliott: What I would like to say to the member opposite, through you, Speaker, is, you must be joking. You must be joking. Over 3,500 people in Ontario have died from COVID. We are doing everything in our power to protect the health and well-being of the people of Ontario. We have had to take the steps that we’ve had to take. Nobody wants to take these steps. We recognize that there have been serious difficulties for many as a result of this, but if we don’t take action, there are going to be many, many more people that are going to die. We don’t want that, and I’m sure no one else here wants that. We have to take the actions that we’re taking to save lives.

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

Mr. Randy Hillier: Again to the Premier: I believe the first vaccine the people of Ontario need is an injection of facts and truth about COVID. The truth is that 98% of all deaths in Canada have occurred in long-term care. The truth is, 99.5% of infected people will fully recover. The truth is, the number of cases is not a measurement of risk or infection. The truth is, in the name of helping, we’re harming both the healthy and the vulnerable. The truth is, we’re passing on a legacy of extraordinary debt to our children and grandchildren. Speaker, the truth is that the fear being created by our Premier with these daily theatrics is doing far more harm than the virus ever could.

Speaker, can the Premier please tell the people of Ontario what evidence is he waiting for and what will ever convince him that his policies are far more dangerous than the virus?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, I would say again, through you, Mr. Speaker, to the member opposite, that the actual facts are not as you state them. The actual facts are that people have died—3,500 people have died. The suggestion you’ve made is that if people are in long-term care and they die, somehow it doesn’t matter. We think it does matter. People are people. We respect our seniors. We need to protect them. They are the most vulnerable people in our society. It is our responsibility and our duty and our honour to protect them because of what they’ve done for our country.

We need to take the steps that we’re taking. We recognize that there are difficulties for people economically. We are providing economic supports. But you can’t have an economy that’s going to function if you don’t have healthy people. That is our primary responsibility: to protect the health and well-being of the people of Ontario. That’s always been the case and always will be the case.

Lake Simcoe

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: My question is for the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Since the 1960s, the natural landscape and threats such as excessive nutrients and pollutants, invasive species and climate change have put significant stress on the ecological health of Lake Simcoe. This has resulted in poor water quality, degraded habitats and a collapse of the cold water fisheries. After significant concern and calls for the former government to finally take action to improve and protect the health of the Lake Simcoe watershed, a Lake Simcoe Protection Act was introduced and in the following year, in 2009, the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan was released.

The restoration and protection of Lake Simcoe and the Great Lakes have been included in this government’s made-in-Ontario plan. Given that it has been 10 years since the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan was announced, can the minister tell the House what improvements have been made in Lake Simcoe over the past decade?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply for the government, the member for Barrie–Innisfil.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Thank you to the member for Ottawa West–Nepean for that question. Due to the collective efforts of our government and its many partners, we are seeing progress toward protection and restoration efforts that are so important to the natural areas and features in the Lake Simcoe watershed.

This summer, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks released a 10-year report on Lake Simcoe to detail the progress that Ontario has made on this vulnerable body of water. Some key improvements highlighted in the report are the improved dissolved oxygen in the deep waters that help the fish population, the creation and restoration of 120 hectares of wetland, and the restoration of 15 kilometres of degraded shoreline.

We’ve made great progress so far, and I look forward to building upon these efforts with great partners like our youth for Lake Simcoe and Zoe and her team, who continue to help us protect and restore Lake Simcoe.

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

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: I know that this is an important priority for my friend the MPP for Barrie–Innisfil.

Achieving the objectives of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan in the long term requires continued commitment from all partners and levels of government. Recent research shows that due to concerted efforts of government and other partners, phosphorous loads from sewage treatment plants in the watershed have been reduced by approximately 50% since 2009. In the lake, total spring and ice-free phosphorous concentration has dropped significantly from 1980 to 2018.

These are promising proof points of progress, but restoring Lake Simcoe will take longer than 10 years to complete. It’s important that the government conduct ongoing scientific research and monitoring. It is also critical that the plan adapts over time so that it continually addresses emerging threats.

Can the minister please inform the House about what the government is doing to support future improvement efforts in Lake Simcoe?

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: We have a solid commitment among all my provincial colleagues along Lake Simcoe, and our government has continued its commitment to protecting Ontario’s water resources and addressing the most significant environmental challenges facing Lake Simcoe. That is why we are engaging in public consultation with stakeholders on a review of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. We’ll continue to invest in ongoing research and monitoring, and in education about Lake Simcoe.

Most recently, we announced action on Lake Simcoe by providing $581,000 in provincial funding for four new partner-led projects that are key in making sure that we restore and protect Lake Simcoe and its watershed. This is in addition to the already 15 partner-led projects that are under way in the watershed that have received over $375,000 in funding from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

We’ll continue to ensure that each project we support results in the best outcomes for Lake Simcoe and its watershed, and we look forward to learning more about the federal government’s funding commitments to support ongoing improvements.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Doly Begum: Scarborough families are struggling right now. They’re not only experiencing abnormally high COVID-19 cases, they’re also slipping further into poverty and unemployment. Some Scarborough ridings—and actually some of them border my riding—as well as some of the government members’ ridings, have positivity rates of 15%, some of the highest in the province, combined with low testing capacity and an overwhelmed hospital system, but, still, this government is refusing to act. After years of being overlooked and underfunded by Liberals, this Conservative government has brought us to a breaking point.

When will the government commit to providing the people of Scarborough with the resources, including enough testing and contact tracers, they deserve, so people are not falling through the cracks?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member very much for the question. We certainly recognize there are parts of the city of Toronto that are considered hot spots, where there are serious concerns, there are high positivity rates and people are living in apartments where there are maybe several generations of family there.

I think this is a situation that really calls for all three levels of government to take action. We have had several discussions—I have with Mayor Tory—recognizing that parts of Etobicoke and parts of Scarborough are very hard-hit areas. He has requested some assistance from the federal government with respect to quarantine accommodation, which I certainly would agree with and which we will both ask the federal government to assist in providing that, so that if someone is diagnosed with COVID they can move away from their family members and be isolated themselves until they’re well.

But there’s also work that we need to do on the provincial level, which I’ll be pleased to speak about in my supplemental.

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

Ms. Doly Begum: I do appreciate the response and I do appreciate the intention, but we need action right now. The government is sitting on $9.3 billion in unallocated pandemic support money, and yet here we are. I know yesterday we heard the government members talk about how that’s saved for a rainy day, but it’s pouring. I don’t know what kind of storm we’re heading towards, but we need to act right now to stop the spread from getting further into this community.

Where is the money going, the $9.3 billion that’s unallocated? It’s not coming to our communities. My office is getting calls every day from across Scarborough—not just Scarborough Southwest—about workplaces with COVID-19 cases, about having to go to work sick, lack of PPE, not enough testing, about families losing the businesses they have worked so hard to build, about having to stand in line at food banks—just check out some of the lines at our food banks—losing their shifts due to lockdown, and now facing the risk of eviction. I could go on, Mr. Speaker.

My question is, what will it take for the government to see that with each day that this government refuses to act, people of Scarborough, many of whom are racialized, many of whom are working precarious jobs, are at the risk of losing their livelihoods?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond? The member for Willowdale.

Mr. Stan Cho: I’d like to direct that member’s attention to page 173 of the budget. About two thirds of the way down the page she will see three draw downs on the standard contingency, on the health contingency as well as the people and jobs fund. If we go to page 187, at the bottom of the page we will see the remaining contingency is $2.6 billion, not $9.3 billion as that member asserts.

Where has the money gone was another question she asked. Well, Speaker, when our front-line health officials said they need more masks, we were able to provide 600 million of them. When our front-line health officials said, “We need more gloves,” we provided 900 million of them. When the commercial rent relief program came upon us, we were able to respond with $241 million in direct supports.

This government has moved through in a prudent and adaptive manner through this uncertain and changing situation that is COVID-19. We will not apologize for treating taxpayer money with respect throughout this difficult time.

COVID-19 response / Réponse à la COVID