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April 5, 2022

42nd Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2022-Apr-05 vol. A (PDF)

L053A - Tue 5 Apr 2022 / Mar 5 avr 2022

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 5 April 2022 Mardi 5 avril 2022

Orders of the Day

Working for Workers Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à oeuvrer pour les travailleurs

Members’ Statements

Home care

Canadian men’s soccer team

Senior citizens’ housing

Education funding

Municipal planning

Agri-food industry

Armenian Heritage Month

Residential schools

Economic reopening and recovery

Introduction of Visitors

David Ramsay

House sittings

Question Period

Long-term care

Prescription drugs

Affordable housing

Automotive industry

Northern health services

Ontario Disability Support Program

Employment standards

Homelessness

Fiscal accountability

Ontario Parks Store

Health care funding

Mental health services

Climate change

Taxation

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Government Agencies

Introduction of Bills

Green Shirt Day Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 sur la Journée du chandail vert

Petitions

Social assistance

House sittings

Orders of the Day

Working for Workers Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à oeuvrer pour les travailleurs

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Working for Workers Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 visant à oeuvrer pour les travailleurs

Mr. McNaughton moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 88,

An Act to enact the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 and to amend various Acts / Projet de loi 88, Loi édictant la Loi de 2022 sur les droits des travailleurs de plateformes numériques et modifiant diverses lois.

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

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I’m pleased to rise in the House this morning. I want to begin by personally thanking my parliamentary assistant, the member for Mississauga–Malton—he’s the PA at the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development—for working alongside me as we help ensure that our government is working for all workers.

I also want to thank the Premier for his continued leadership throughout the last four years, and particularly on this bill and other historic legislative changes our government has made to put workers in the driver’s seat of Ontario’s recovery and build a stronger province.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those front-line workers in our communities right across the province—Speaker, the thousands of front-line workers across every corner of our province who have braved it all to keep us safe during the pandemic. It’s because of them that Ontario is coming back stronger than ever. I want to thank these workers for their dedication and for their perseverance. We all know that it hasn’t been easy for any worker across the province or their families.

Ontario must be a place where the economy is about the people on the front line. As we look to Ontario’s future, we need to make sure our labour laws keep pace with advancements in technology and changes in the way people work. We need to ensure we have skilled tradespeople to build the highways, roads and bridges to get people and goods where they need to be. We need to ensure workers are paid a fair wage, have benefits, have the opportunities for jobs with pensions and ensure that they have greater opportunities for career advancements and upward mobility.

This will require a lot of work by a lot of people working together. Our future is bright, but it has to be brighter for many more people. That’s why we’re relentlessly working for our workers. Mr. Speaker, Ontario was built and is built by workers who shower at the end of the day, not the start. To accomplish our mission, we need all hands on deck. Things only work when everybody works together—workers, labour leaders, business and government.

We all want to build our roads and bridges, build broadband, build our health care and long-term-care system and build projects that our communities need, be it a new school or an ice rink. We all want to build an Ontario where hard work pays off and big dreams come to life. To do that, we need everyone pitching in.

Today’s bill, Bill 88, although historic, is part of a much larger, ambitious plan that this government has been tirelessly putting into motion over these past few years to ensure Ontario is the best place to live, work and raise a family. Late last year, the Legislature passed unprecedented changes, including our first Working for Workers Act and the Build Ontario Act, to rebalance the scales and put more workers in the driver’s seat.

These changes further protect and support our workers and help them earn bigger paycheques for their families by protecting work-life balance by requiring employers to have a policy on disconnecting from work; putting more money in workers’ pockets by raising the general minimum wage to $15 an hour as of January 1 of this year; giving workers more control over their careers, and helping small businesses and start-ups find the skilled workers they need by banning non-compete agreements; making it easier for internationally trained individuals to practise in their profession by recognizing international credentials; and giving delivery drivers the basic human dignity of access to a restroom at businesses they are serving.

Many of these changes were truly unprecedented, but Ontario is a province of leaders. We’re not afraid to chart a path forward and be the first in Canada—or even North America—to act. The bottom line is clear: Better jobs—with pensions, benefits and bigger paycheques—are right here for the taking in Ontario, because we’re taking a side, and it’s the side of those who work hard every single day.

With Bill 88, we’re building on the progress we made by going a step further. These legislative proposals would, if passed, support the people of Ontario by protecting privacy through providing transparency on electronic monitoring to workers, keeping workers safe on the job and attracting more skilled trades workers to Ontario. They would provide additional supports for our brave men and women in the Canadian forces and crack down on businesses that repeatedly violate health and safety laws that put workers at risk. They would help ensure that those in key regulated professions who want to live and work in our great province will receive their licence to work within 30 business days.

Since the passage of our first Working for Workers Act last year, our government has continued to stand up for workers and make bold changes that improve their lives. This includes recently raising the minimum wage from $14.35 to $15 per hour on January 1. Along with this change, liquor servers are now earning the general minimum wage of $15 per hour—a 16.3% increase over their previous rate. We’ve all seen how hard our servers work and how important they are to making our favourite local restaurants what they are. They should never be making less than the general minimum wage.

Not only that, but students under 18, homeworkers and hunting, fishing and wilderness guides also saw an increase in their special minimum wage rates.

Ontario’s workers, as I mentioned earlier, have been the unsung heroes of this pandemic. They’ve stocked shelves, kept our supply chains moving—they’ve helped us in so many ways. They helped us enjoy a meal among family and friends at our favourite local restaurant. In fact, the industries employing the most minimum wage earners are accommodation and food services, and retail, with nearly 37% of workers earning the general minimum wage of $15 per hour in retail and almost 24% in accommodation and food services.

As a result of our actions, Ontario’s new general minimum wage is now one of the highest in Canada. This is real, meaningful support to help workers deal with the rising cost of living. These raises help the workers who need it most by providing over 700,000 workers and their families with bigger paycheques, which means a stronger economy for everyone. Because when our workers are supported, they build strong families and stronger communities, and that’s good for all of us.

Mr. Speaker, for years the way we work has been changing, but obviously the pandemic has dramatically accelerated the rate of change here in Ontario and everywhere around the world. More people are working remotely than ever before, and many employers have adapted to new technologies. These changes are presenting new challenges and opportunities for workers and businesses across our province and around the globe.

The future of work is already here, and we need to ensure that Ontario workers continue to be protected and that our economy remains strong. That is why last June our government established the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee to examine the changing landscape of work and to provide recommendations that position Ontario to lead our nation coming out of the pandemic.

Through their research and discussions with workers and other people, they looked at how we could adapt to the changing nature of work and the opportunities these changes present, as well as lead economic growth by helping workers develop their skills and by ensuring that Ontario’s employment laws continue to protect our workers.

The committee submitted their final report last fall. Their research and consultations confirmed many of our assumptions about the future of work, such as an increase in remote work and the need to address looming labour shortages in the skilled trades, health care and other sectors. Their recommendations laid the foundation for our bold plan to address the challenges we face. I’d like to once again thank Rohinton Medhora, the committee chair, for leading such a thoughtful and thorough process, along with Kathryn Marshall, Vass Bednar, Mark Quail, Sean Speer, Mark Beckles and Susan McArthur. They provided many valuable and thoughtful recommendations.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, their advice led to our bill the House passed late last year, as well as the bill that I’m speaking about here today. And I’m proud to say that we’ve already implemented several of their key recommendations. This includes changes passed last year through our first Working for Workers Act, which protected personal and family time by requiring larger employers to have right-to-disconnect policies for workers and the banning of non-compete agreements, which hold both workers and small businesses back.

Other recommendations included advising on how to expand health and other benefits coverage for workers so that benefits coverage isn’t tied to employers. Most workers in Ontario with full-time permanent jobs have medical insurance and dental coverage through their employers. In comparison, less than a quarter of those who work part-time or in precarious jobs have similar benefits. This means these workers and their families often have to make difficult choices between their health and other necessities, like food and shelter.

Independent contractors, low-wage workers, newcomers, younger workers and gig workers are also less likely to have workplace benefits. That is why, in response to the committee’s recommendation, we recently announced the appointment of a portable benefits advisory panel to seek advice on designing and implementing a plan that provides workers with benefits, such as health, dental and vision care, even if they change jobs. This would make Ontario the first province in Canada to pursue such a comprehensive benefits program.

I’m also pleased to share that we have now appointed the five experts to this panel: Chair Susan McArthur, the co-founder and executive chair of LockDocs Inc.; Sunil Johal, the vice-president of public policy of CSA Group; Brad Nicpon, a partner with McCarthy Tétrault; Marlayna Perrone, a professional sommelier and advocate with first-hand experience working without benefits; and Allan Shapira, a senior partner and managing director with Aon Wealth Solutions. These panel members represent a variety of sectors and have expertise in financial, legal and labour issues.

They not only have experience in the structure and administration of benefit plans, but also offer the perspective of those who do not currently have benefits.

As a first step, the panel will conduct research and consultations over the coming months on how benefits could reside with workers, not their employers. This includes assessing existing gaps in benefits coverage for different types of workers and analyzing best practices and innovative models from other jurisdictions. They will submit a final report in summer 2023 with recommendations on how to best administer and implement a new benefits program.

This will help millions of people and their families get greater access to benefits coverage, especially workers who do not have health and dental coverage through their employers, and it would offer peace of mind to workers who currently have coverage that they can take bold steps in their careers, knowing a safety net is there to catch them.

In addition to the establishment of our portable benefits panel, the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee’s advice also guided many of the proposals in our second Working for Workers Act legislation that I’m speaking to today.

First, I’d like to touch on a proposal that would support and protect digital platform workers who offer rides or deliver food and other items for companies such as Uber, DoorDash and Instacart. The committee spoke with workers, employers and unions about how we can better support our workers in this changing landscape of work. They came back saying that gig workers feel particularly vulnerable in their jobs. Not only that, but their Ipsos survey found that the majority of people in Ontario also thought we could do more for these workers, with 62% of people agreeing that the province should guarantee a certain minimum level of income for technology platform or gig workers.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a boom in Ontario’s gig economy as our province collectively relied on these app-based workers to see us through the height of the pandemic. These people worked on the front lines throughout the pandemic, providing ride-share, courier and delivery services. They got us where we needed to go and, for many of us, brought essential goods like food and medicine as we isolated to keep our friends and neighbours safe.

Data now shows as many as one in five Canadians work in the gig economy—a number that is only predicted to increase. However, these workers often face uncertain working conditions, including finding it difficult to predict paycheques or resolve workplace complaints. Today, we’re continuing to stand up for these workers by addressing the challenges many of them are facing.

Many digital platforms use algorithms to determine when and how quickly workers are given their next delivery or customer; however, most digital platforms do not share how this works with their workers, making it unclear why other workers may pick up more work than them or why they get more work at some times than others. Some digital platforms also do not provide their workers with clear explanations on how their pay is calculated. This makes it difficult to predict their earnings. Furthermore, digital platforms can currently remove workers from their platforms without providing an explanation why. If workers appeal the decision, they may not be able to speak directly with a person.

With our proposed Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, as part of this bill, we are sending a message that this stops today by giving these workers the rights and protections they deserve. This would include guaranteeing digital platform workers the general minimum wage for each work assignment; the right to keep their tips; the right to certain information about their work assignments, including how their pay is calculated; the right to resolve their work-related disputes here in Ontario; and protection from reprisal should they seek to assert their worker rights.

Speaker, I think we can all agree that gig workers in Ontario should never make less than minimum wage—nobody should make less than minimum wage. These workers should also not be removed from the operator’s platform without explanation. And they should not have to travel out of Canada to resolve a work-related dispute.

By passing these changes, Ontario would be the first jurisdiction in Canada to guarantee foundational rights and protections for our hard-working digital platform workers who help us get around, or deliver to our doors, by providing ride-share, delivery or courier services. There is no blueprint in Canada for these changes, but, without a doubt, gig workers in Ontario are significantly better off than their counterparts in any other province because of these changes. These core rights are a foundation in our mission to help all workers earn bigger paycheques to take care of their families, not an end point.

We would once again be leading Canada by requiring platform operators to give digital platform workers the rights that others have.

Speaker, advances in technology have allowed our workers to reach new heights, and we’re accomplishing more than we ever thought possible. Ontario continues to get stronger every day. Our economy is bouncing back, jobs are returning and workers have more opportunities than ever to earn bigger paycheques. But as the world of work changes, we need to make sure our laws are adapting to protect our workers and their families.

One of these areas is the electronic monitoring of employees. Delivery persons are being followed by GPS, construction workers are using phones and tablets on the job site and office workers are logging on from home—often from kitchen tables, living rooms or other shared spaces. We cannot leave our workers in uncharted territory and we cannot wait for others to find the path forward for us. The people of Ontario are leaders and, as a government that is working for workers, we must act decisively.

That is why, as part of Bill 88, we are protecting privacy by proposing that employers with 25 or more workers will be required to have a written electronic monitoring policy in place for all of their employees. The policy would need to contain the information on whether the employer electronically monitors its workers, and if so, a description of how and in what circumstances the employer does this. In addition, the employer would need to disclose the purpose of collecting information through electronic monitoring.

Our new legislation, if passed, would be the first of its kind in Canada. Ontario would once again be breaking new ground and taking historic steps to protect privacy by addressing electronic monitoring in the workplace. Our government is breaking down barriers by increasing transparency. We’re empowering our workers by giving them the tools they need and deserve. This is just one of the ways we are rebalancing the scales and how we’re putting our workers in the driver’s seat of our future.

Our proposed legislation also includes new actions that would further protect workers on the job and save lives—because every worker deserves to be safe at work and to come home at the end of a hard day’s work. Severe injuries or death should never be considered a cost of doing business in Ontario. Unfortunately, some businesses pay fines and are not deterred, even after repeated violations, continuing to put their workers at risk. We’re stopping that now.

As part of Bill 88, we are proposing to increase the maximum fines for officers and directors of businesses that fail to provide a safe work environment that leads to a worker being severely injured or dying on the job. If convicted, businesses and their officers and directors could face fines of up to $1.5 million. Other individuals with the business could be fined up to $500,000. This is a significant increase from the current maximum fine of $100,000, making Ontario’s penalties the highest in the country. These increased fines would reinforce the importance of putting worker safety first, further penalizing those that treat injuries as the cost of doing business.

We’re also taking further action to promote safety in the workplace and address the opioid crisis. From March 2020 to January of last year, there were approximately 2,500 opioid-related deaths in Ontario, including in workplaces. Of the victims who were employed, 30% were construction workers, by far the most of any industry impacted. Bars and nightclubs are also seeing increased opioid usage, which often involves recreational drugs laced with deadly opioids such as fentanyl.

Everyone in our province knows someone who has been impacted by the opioid pandemic. These are brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers, and we need to do everything in our power to save lives. That is why our government is proposing to bring life-saving naloxone kits to workplaces where there is a risk of a worker having an opioid overdose. Naloxone is an effective first aid intervention and can prevent death if administered quickly.

Requiring these businesses to have naloxone kits on-hand will help reduce the stigma around opioid abuse, raise awareness about the risks of accidental overdoses and save hundreds of lives every year. Staff training would also be required to ensure they are familiar with how to use these kits. In addition, these kits could be used to help clients, customers or anyone else in an emergency under the Good Samaritan Act. We’ll also ensure there isn’t a financial burden on businesses: Provincial grants would be available to cover costs related to the kits and training.

I’d like to take a moment to highlight other actions our government is taking to protect worker health and safety throughout this pandemic. According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, Ontario’s occupational health and safety record is among the best in Canada, with our province achieving the lowest rate of worktime lost to injury among any province or territory since 2009. Despite this, we are constantly looking for new and better ways to protect our workers.

That is why, last year, my ministry released a five-year Prevention Works strategy to protect workers from workplace injuries and illness. The strategy aims to help workplaces comply with and exceed workplace health and safety laws and standards to keep workers safe, focusing on occupational illnesses, employee mental health, and workplace violence and harassment.

In support of this strategy, late last year we invested more than $6 million to support research led by the Occupational Cancer Research Centre to identify the causes of workplace cancers, prevent them from occurring and better support workers already impacted by occupational illness. This investment will help scientists identify and track occurrences of workplace cancer and exposure to harmful substances, research the causes of workplace cancer and, ultimately, help improve the recognition of occupational illnesses in the province.

We also recently announced a $1.7-million investment to support mental health training and resources for mining and forestry workers in northern Ontario. Unfortunately, research shows that mining and forestry workers are at higher risk of experiencing anxiety, stress and depression. Our miners and forestry workers operate in challenging environments, day in and day out, to deliver materials that communities across Ontario rely on. While these jobs provide rewarding, meaningful careers, we need to acknowledge the mental toll they can take.

To address this, Workplace Safety North has developed a three-year program that will deliver in-person and online training for mining and forestry operations and improve mental health outcomes for workers in the industry. As part of the project, workers and employers will have 24/7 support, including an online portal with mental health tools and free resources and awareness sessions for small businesses. These services will help reduce the stigma associated with mental health challenges so that workers can ask for support when they need it.

Speaker, as I mentioned previously, our first Working for Workers Act also included several actions to support workers and workplace safety. One of these includes requiring temporary help agencies and recruiters to have a licence to operate here in Ontario to help protect vulnerable employees from being exploited. Inspections by my ministry’s officers have shown that there are multiple temporary help agencies in Ontario that are illegally paying people below the minimum wage and denying other basic employment rights.

In doing so, they gain an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding agencies by undercutting rates. That is why we will enable officers to levy penalties against an unlicensed temp help agency or recruiter, or a business that is using an unlicensed operator. As well, those who use deceitful recruiters could be required to repay workers for illegal fees charged, and we will hire a dedicated team of officers to crack down on temporary help agencies and recruiters who are exploiting and trafficking domestic and foreign workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge for workers and employers across Ontario—a challenge our government acted on by introducing new and historic measures to further support and protect the workers and workplaces of our province. This includes introducing and extending the worker income protection benefit program, which provides up to three paid sick days for certain reasons related to COVID-19.

To date, this program has helped over 375,000 workers by providing them with up to $200 a day for three days if they need to miss work for reasons related to COVID-19, such as to get vaccinated, self-isolate or care for a family member. To support employers, Ontario has continued to reimburse businesses for providing this support to their workers, which has now totalled more than $144 million. The top three industries that have submitted claims include manufacturing, retail and construction—sectors that have been hard hit by the pandemic and which have relied on this support to see them through.

Next, we also introduced an unlimited job-protected infectious disease emergency leave, which workers can use if they need to miss work because of specified reasons related to COVID-19. We also hired over 100 new occupational health and safety inspectors to support business inspection campaigns and help ensure employees, businesses and the public are protected.

We released free tools and resources to help businesses comply with COVID protocols, including an online workplace safety plan builder, which allows workplaces to think through some of the COVID-19 risks in their workplace and then choose actions to make their workplace safer. Together, these actions have enhanced worker and workplace health and safety protections and will continue to guide us as we emerge from the pandemic.

Returning back to today’s bill, next I’d like to discuss our proposed action to support military reservists. Canada has a proud military tradition, and our reservists are an integral part of that. We rely on these brave women and men in times of need to provide support and protection without a second thought. I’d like to thank all of Canada’s military personnel for their service and bravery.

Reservists are deployed on international operations and here within Canada. This may involve providing assistance in dealing with an emergency or its aftermath, including search-and-rescue operations; recovery from national disasters, such as flood relief; military aid following ice storms; and aircraft crash recovery.

Throughout the pandemic, the Canadian forces have been ready to respond wherever and whenever they were needed. They were deployed to long-term-care facilities, they distributed personal protective equipment and they helped with contact tracing efforts. They were and continue to be heroes. We also know that it hasn’t been easy. Regions across Ontario have seen the number of new recruits cut in half due to the pandemic, and this shortage of reservists and troops has put a heavier burden on current reservists and military operations.

Currently under the Employment Standards Act, reservist leave is available for deployments, but reservists are required to be employed with their employer for at least six consecutive months before they qualify for job-protected leave. This is far longer than other jurisdictions in Canada. To make it easier for reservists to serve their country, we’re reducing this unnecessary burden to three months. We’re also proposing changes that, if passed, would broaden the reasons for taking reservist leave to include participation in Canadian forces military skills training.

With these new proposals, we are going one step further to support, protect and attract our best and brightest to the Canadian forces.

Speaker, the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have shown us the importance of being visionary amid a rapidly changing world. The pandemic has impacted every sector of our economy. It’s changed the way we work, the way we live and the way business is done. As we move towards our economic recovery, we must heed the lessons the pandemic has taught us. We need to be agile, we need to have the courage, and it will take bold actions to build a stronger Ontario. Speaker, our legislation does just that.

Our government is working for workers by implementing first-of-their-kind changes that deliver better workplace protections, bigger paycheques and greater opportunities for workers across our province. We’re building a stronger economy for workers and businesses. Part of that means tackling the labour shortages we’re seeing in all of our communities across Ontario. This is truly a first-of-its-kind challenge.

Businesses are ready to hire, but many are having trouble finding workers. Shopkeepers and merchants on main streets say, “I want to hire, but I just can’t find the workers.” I’ve heard it; all of our MPPs have heard it; the Premier has heard it. Each of these jobs is a paycheque going uncollected. That’s a wasted opportunity for workers, families and our communities.

Recently there were over 330,000 vacant jobs in Ontario, including rising job vacancies in skilled trades-related occupations. That’s more than the population of Windsor. Unfilled jobs cost our province billions in lost productivity. Worker shortages like this impact our economy, disrupt our supply chains and the services that all of our families rely on. Even worse, they can force companies to close or relocate, affecting local jobs and local economies. For the rest of us, we feel the labour shortage in our everyday lives.

Be it long wait times, lineups and travelling far from homes to find basic necessities, we’re quietly making sacrifices because our economy doesn’t have enough people in enough jobs.

That’s why our government is working to support the incredible talent we have right here in Ontario. As the Premier has said, Ontario has the best workers in the world. We’ve invested $1.5 billion over four years in programs to attract more people to the skilled trades, train for in-demand jobs, retrain people who lost their jobs and encourage more employers to hire and bring on apprentices. Through this work, we are helping to create opportunities and keep and attract talented workers.

But we need to do more. Now is the time to act. It’s never been more important for our province to keep, train and attract more skilled workers, because our government is building Ontario, with over $148 billion in infrastructure projects, including bridges, roads, highways and hospitals.

By 2025, it is estimated that as many as one in five jobs in Ontario will be in the skilled trades. At the same time, one third of tradespeople are nearing retirement. We’re projecting a shortfall of 100,000 skilled workers just in construction over the next decade. There are opportunities in the trades for well-paying careers with pensions and benefits, doing meaningful work that includes opportunities for entrepreneurship. Those opportunities should not go to waste, and our businesses and economy should not be held back by a lack of skilled workers.

Without workers in these jobs, companies can’t expand, prosper and create even more jobs in and out of the trades. Without enough workers in these jobs, our government’s historic investments in subways, in highways, in hospitals can’t be built on schedule.

That is why our government is taking action to prepare our workers for the future. That is why our investment to support the skilled trades strategy helps break the stigma around the trades, simplify the system and encourage employers to participate in apprenticeships.

Initiatives under the strategy include expanding our investment in the Pre-apprenticeship Training Program to $28 million to provide potential tradespeople with the training they need to launch rewarding careers in the trades; investing a total of $20 million annually in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program to expand the program and provide more opportunities for students; and, finally, we’re going to finalize the second round of projects under the Skills Development Fund, a more than $200-million initiative that supports innovative training projects, that connects job seekers with the skills and training they need to find well-paying careers close to home.

The Skills Development Fund seeks to support projects from a range of applicants that unlock the potential of skilled trades and broader training initiatives to support those impacted by COVID-19. The first round of funding for the Skills Development Fund last year supported almost 150 projects, including many focused on the skilled trades, and helped 280,000 people around our province take the next step in their careers.

Speaker, we also launched our new agency, Skilled Trades Ontario, replacing the Ontario College of Trades or OCOT. Skilled Trades Ontario is responsible for promoting trades and apprenticeship, updating apprenticeship training and curriculum standards. It also provides 24/7 online support for clients and delivers a one-stop-shop customer service approach that is long overdue.

Together, these actions will simplify the journey to becoming a tradesperson, making it more straightforward to start, more straightforward to follow and more straightforward to complete. Registration times will be cut from 60 days under OCOT to 12 days or under, under the Skilled Trades Ontario agency. That is truly a win for all of Ontario and for all of us.

Today’s legislation also includes proposed actions to make it easier for regulated professionals, including skilled workers, to come to Ontario from other provinces and territories. If passed, this would ensure that workers in 14 regulated professions, including 23 compulsory trades, would get registration decisions in 30 business days. That’s a crucial step in cutting red tape, making it easier for workers from other jurisdictions to find good jobs here in Ontario. Workers would not have to wait for weeks to know whether their application has been received, months while it’s being assessed by regulators and then weeks for the decision to be sent.

To be competitive, we must cut the red tape holding back our workers and put them in the driver’s seat. That’s why Ontario will move forward with recognizing all Red Seal trades, why we’re making it easier for workers who are trained to work at heights to do so here in Ontario and why we’re aligning curriculums so apprentices can easily keep training when they move.

Speaker, the Red Seal program sets common standards for the skills of tradespeople across Canada. Tradespeople who have successfully passed the Red Seal examination receive a Red Seal endorsement on their provincial or territorial trade certificate of qualification. The Red Seal endorsement makes it easier for out-of-province skilled workers to come to Ontario. That’s why Ontario is already participating in 52 of the 55 Red Seal trades, and now we’re taking steps to recognize the remaining three occupations as trades under Ontario’s skilled trades legislation and to have these three trades recognized as Red Seal trades in Ontario.

To start this process, we will begin to take steps to name gas fitter class A, gas fitter class B and oil and heat systems technicians as Red Seal trades here. This recognition will not only boost the prestige of Ontario workers in these occupations, it will also make it easy for workers from other provinces and territories in these trades to start working in our province. We’re keeping and attracting the best, and building a stronger Ontario.

Speaker, our Working for Workers Act stands up for workers across Ontario from all sectors of our economy. No matter what job you do or where you do it from, be it on a construction site, delivering food, stocking shelves or logging on to a laptop from home, Bill 88 has something for you. It protects privacy by requiring employers to provide information on electronic monitoring of employees, empowering workers to know how and when they are being monitored.

It protects the jobs of military reservists, so they don’t need to worry about providing for their families when they return home from defending our great country. It guarantees certain rights and protections for the digital platform workers who deliver our groceries, help us get around and so much more. It protects workers on the job by mandating that workplaces with a risk of a worker having an opioid overdose have naloxone kits on site and by increasing occupational health and safety fines to be the highest in Canada for businesses that fail to keep workers safe.

Ultimately, this bill creates a better future for the workers of today and tomorrow by ensuring their basic rights are protected and our labour laws keep up with the changing world of work. Workers across Ontario are all different. The types of work they do are different. But it is our dedication to building our province that unites all of us.

This legislation sends a clear message to workers that our government has their back. It supports the drivers who get us where we need to go and who bring us essential goods and services. It supports transparency at work, whether we are on a work site or working from home. It reduces barriers for qualified workers to come to Ontario and protects their health and safety. It builds on what our government has already done to promote economic growth.

By taking these steps now, we can position Ontario as a global leader and the best place in the world to live, pursue a career and raise a family. As I said at the start, Mr. Speaker, things always work best when labour, business and government work together. We all want to get it done. We all want to build an Ontario where hard work pays off and big dreams are made real. To do that, we need everyone pitching in. We’re all in and, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’re going to get the job done.

I urge all members to support this bill—truly game-changing and life-changing legislation for many workers across the province. We need to ensure that every worker in Ontario has the opportunity to earn more take-home pay—bigger paycheques for themselves and their families. That’s how we build strong families and stronger communities in every corner across Ontario. We need to ensure that we’re bringing in more health and safety measures for workers. How can you be opposed to bringing in naloxone kits in workplaces where we’re battling an opioid pandemic in this province?

We have an opportunity to ensure that every worker has the chance for a better job, a bigger paycheque and a career with a defined pension and benefits. That is something that all of us should be supporting in this Legislature.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to share a couple of stories. We all meet workers who have an amazing story—an inspiration to all of us—but I want to share one story with a young lady named Nattisha that I met a number of months ago. She told me that she came from an at-risk community in Toronto. She lived in community housing. She was a single mom on social assistance, with two young daughters. She had the opportunity to try the different skilled trades through the government’s pre-apprenticeship program, where they had four or five weeks to try all different trades.

She decided that she wanted to become an ironworker, which is—for me, I’m afraid of heights, so it wouldn’t have been one that I would have chosen, but Nattisha started an apprenticeship program to become an ironworker, and about a year ago, she became a licensed ironworker, a journeyperson in the trade. I found her phone number and gave her a call one night. I said, “Nattisha, congratulations.

I’m just curious, how much are you earning?” She said, “I’m earning $44.08 an hour, with a defined pension, with benefits.” I asked her, “What are you most proud of?” She said, “Well, two things: For the first time in my life my young daughters are looking up to me. I’m in a career that they can be proud of and that I can be proud of.” She went on to say that for the first time in her life, she was able to afford a car.

These are the careers that we need to be promoting across Ontario. That’s why I continue to say that going to university is not the only way to be successful in life. There are amazing opportunities in the trades. There are 140 different trades to choose from. And I’m proud of our government’s investment: $1.5 billion over four years to end the stigma around the trades, to ensure that we have a simplified apprenticeship system and to ensure that employers are bringing on apprentices, because they obviously have a key role to play in ensuring that apprentices get the full scope of the trade and the hours to become licensed.

Secondly, I just want to share a story about providing more opportunities to people in Ontario. I was actually in Hamilton a number of months ago. Our government partnered with the John Howard Society to help people with criminal records, criminal backgrounds, to find meaningful opportunities, to find upward mobility in their careers. I met a young lady named Colleen. She’s married with three kids. I remember calling her. She was a participant in this program.

She told me that for years and years she would get to the final stage of an interview, and they would ask, “Do you have a criminal record?” and obviously she would tell them that she did, and she would be turned down for that job. So we partnered with the John Howard Society in Hamilton. They had a target of recruiting 40 people with criminal records to find work in manufacturing jobs in Hamilton. All of them would come with pensions and benefits. Well, they thought that it would take a year.

Literally within a matter of weeks, they fulfilled their commitment to find 40 people with a criminal background a defined, meaningful job.

So when we talk about all hands on deck to build a stronger Ontario, we’re doing this because it’s changing lives, it’s building stronger lives for those individuals. It’s giving them more freedom. It’s building stronger families, it’s building stronger communities, it’s filling labour shortages across the province. It truly is a win for everyone. And we have to continue to really look at these innovative training projects. I referenced the Skills Development Fund. That project in Hamilton was funded through the Skills Development Fund.

Speaker, I think of Colleen, who is now providing more take-home pay for her three kids and her family, with pension and benefits. Those are good things. I think of some of the changes we’re making for people on social assistance. The Auditor General pointed out that under the former Liberal government, only 1% of people left social assistance. That, to me, is an injustice. Why would we not help people on social assistance find meaningful opportunities? That’s why we’re reforming the Employment Ontario system: to help people find meaningful jobs. We’re providing people on social assistance $28,000 a year.

That includes child care expenses. That includes a living allowance while they take training. All of these training programs are 12 months or under. We’re now paying for work boots to get people started in a job. We’re paying for uniforms for their first day on the job. We’re sitting through job interviews to help people on ODSP, for example, get through that interview and land a well-paying and meaningful job. We’re buying transit passes in communities across the province to help people get from point A to point B and get to that job.

All of this, Speaker, comes from the position that meaningful jobs change lives. This is how we’re going to build a stronger Ontario. All of the changes we’re doing, we’re leading Canada. In many cases, we’re leading North America.

I think of our first working for workers legislation that we passed, to recognize international credentials. Only 25% of immigrants today here in Ontario are working in a profession that they’ve studied. That’s an injustice to them, but it also costs our economy billions of dollars every year because these people aren’t working in jobs that they’ve trained for. We became the first province in Canada to recognize international credentials. Quite frankly, all governments of all different stripes should have dealt with this many years ago. But we took this on in the fall, and this is going to give a hand up to so many newcomers who make all of our communities stronger.

I think of the right-to-disconnect policy—again, the first in Canada to allow people, when they go home, to be disconnected from work, to truly be off-the-clock when they’re at home, to go home and hug their son, daughter or spouse, to spend time with them and get away from work. We’re the first to do that, Mr. Speaker. I mean, obviously the pandemic has changed everything. I’ve mentioned about technological changes where people are working, but this is good news for workers in Ontario.

But we’re not done. This legislation here today, Bill 88: We ask the opposition to support us, to support getting tradespeople here from other provinces. This is supported by unions. I’ve worked closely with our labour partners since becoming Minister of Labour back in June 2019. I remember those first three months, meeting with literally hundreds of labour leaders and sitting at the table all the way through.

I remember in March 2020, when the pandemic hit the province of Ontario, we had other political parties and others out there, telling us to shut down construction, to close construction outright. But, Mr. Speaker, do you know what that would have done? It would have prevented us from building hospitals. It would have prevented us from building testing assessment centres. It would have prevented people from going to nuclear plants to work to provide energy to our homes. It would have stopped workers from putting broadband in our northern communities, in our rural communities. It would have stopped the expansion of natural gas.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier and I took a different approach. We reached out to our labour partners, to our labour leaders. We reached out to workers in construction. We reached out to contractors and industry associations to say, “How can we keep construction open, but keep workers safe?” That’s why we invested in health and safety programs. That’s why we brought in more controls in the construction industry. I’m proud to say that because of that decision, 550,000 women and men continued to work during COVID-19 on construction sites, and relatively, it’s been a very safe industry. It’s something that I think we can be damn proud of, as a government, that we kept construction open.

Speaker, these are good, union jobs, with pensions and benefits. We need more people picking up careers in the skilled trades. We need more people working in construction. I think of my good friend the member from Sarnia–Lambton. He came from industry in Sarnia. Heck, the member from Sarnia–Lambton was a union member. He also was on management. He was a champion for the skilled trades. Could you imagine—to the member from Sarnia–Lambton—that we shut down industry in Sarnia? No, but that’s what opposition parties were telling us to do.

I mean, the leader of the Liberals said, “Just shut construction down for two weeks.” You can’t turn these job sites and industries down for two weeks and expect to get them back open again. These are gigantic projects. Again, it just speaks to working with labour, government and business to build a stronger Ontario for everyone, to build more opportunities for everyone and to help fill the labour shortages.

I remember I was with the member from Carleton up in Ottawa, and the member from Ottawa West–Nepean as well, where we announced a partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the IBEW. We worked with the IBEW. We’re training 2,500 electricians. We’re giving them free apprenticeships and free upskilling, because there are electricians out there who need to upskill to work on electric vehicles, for example.

Of course, we can all be proud of Premier Ford’s leadership—I think down close to home for me and you, Speaker, in Windsor, the news yesterday about General Motors at the plant in Ingersoll, thousands of jobs are coming back to the automotive sector. It’s because of the leadership of Premier Ford, and innovative training projects to ensure that we have the trained workers, not only for today, but for tomorrow.

I just want to point out to the member from Carleton, I’ll never forget the speech she gave that day in Ottawa when we did this partnership with the IBEW. Her dad came to Canada in 1988 from Iran—

Interjection.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Oh, 1986, excuse me—and he is a member of the IBEW. He is ensuring that we stay connected throughout the pandemic, but truly a great story that you shared. Again, this is about how these opportunities create stronger families, more opportunities for people and really do help businesses.

In closing, we just encourage—put the partisanship aside on this bill. There are a lot of good things in this. Naloxone kits: How can you vote against protecting those workers in providing life-saving naloxone kits? How can you prevent skilled workers from coming to Ontario? How can you be opposed to being transparent when it comes to telling workers when they’re being monitored through tracking devices?

I think of probably the story that disgusted me the most during the pandemic was when there was a warehouse that was literally tracking movements of their workers and how long they spent in the washroom. This is Ontario; we’re not going to tolerate that.

And for the opposition to be playing politics on this, it isn’t in the best interest. I implore everyone to unite together and work together. Let’s do what’s in the best interests of working families and hard-working women and men across the province.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): We do have time for questions and responses. The member for London–Fanshawe is first.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Speaker, I want to share an email I’m sure all of us got, from Richard. He’s a worker at SkipTheDishes. He says that “nowhere in the bill is the term ‘work assignment’ defined. This is a critical problem with the bill. As per the SkipTheDishes model, there are three possible

definitions of ‘work assignment.’ Each will result in dramatically different calculations on a driver’s active time and will thus result in dramatically different impacts on my earning potential.”

He says, “The critical take-home message is that under any potential ‘active time’ model, I will make less money than I currently do. Bill 88 has no potential to do anything but cause me to earn less money than I currently do. The Working for Workers Act will only cause me to lose money each week.”

So, Speaker, my question is, why is the government refusing to pass the member from London West’s Bill 28, the Preventing Worker Misclassification Act, that would actually help gig workers like Richard?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I thank my friend from London–Fanshawe for that question.

As I said, Mr. Speaker, we’re leading not only Canada but North America in a number of the changes we’re bringing forward. We are the first in Canada to bring forward foundational rights for gig workers. But I’ve said clearly this is not an end point; this a major start.

Workers in the gig economy are going to be far better off under these changes. They’re going to be guaranteed at least a minimum wage during active hours. They’re going to know how they’re paid. They’re getting a pay stub for the first time. They’re going to resolve workplace disputes here in Ontario. Their tips that they earn are actually going to be on top of their wages that they’re earning. We’re making sure that that happens in legislation.

Again, technology’s continuing to evolve; every single year there are thousands more workers in the gig economy. I think this is something that our government after June 2 or future governments have to continue to monitor to continue to improve things for workers out there.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for Sarnia–Lambton seems to have a question.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I want to applaud the Minister of Labour and skilled trades and immigration etc.—he’s got all those different titles and he does them all very well.

He touched on Nova, the petrochemical centre of Sarnia, Ontario. Of course, the Nova project—they’re spending over $2 billion there. It would have been a tragedy—well, we couldn’t have allowed it to happen. It would have been a catastrophe to shut that plant down. It’s right in the midst of being constructed—$2 billion-plus, with $100 million from the province of their own money to see that project completed.

Having said that, I wonder if the minister could speak on a program—I haven’t got a lot of time; I don’t think you touched on it in your speech: Helmets to Hardhats.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Again, I want to thank the member from Sarnia–Lambton. There is likely no one in the Legislature that is more of a champion for men and women that shower at the end of the day. That’s who we’re doing this for. There are a lot of people in politics that forget about those blue-collar workers out there, but I can tell you that this government doesn’t and this member doesn’t.

One of the partnerships that I am most proud of is our partnership with Helmets to Hardhats. Helmets to Hardhats, which is run and led by our good friend Joe Maloney, the former head of the boilermakers’ union, they take people who come back from active service and get them into a career in the skilled trades. They help with mental health supports, shelter and then get them into an apprenticeship program. I’m proud to say that over 1,000 people who served in the Canadian Armed Forces are now in the skilled trades.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The next question.

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: I think this government is really prone to unilateral decision-making. Each time legislation gets tabled here, they talk about overwhelming support, and then when it gets to the committee process, you have a very open, public process, people coming and criticizing and saying, “Well, we need to change this or maybe improve this.” There’s a

schedule in here that the gig workers have spoken quite against and have asked for changes—to pull it entirely or make changes.

I’m reiterating what my colleague has said: Why doesn’t this government listen to those who are affected most by their legislation when they come to committee and make changes?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Mr. Speaker, I can tell you, I met personally with dozens and dozens of gig workers. I know there are some voices out there that would like to see some other things, but I can tell you that the majority of gig workers are supporting the foundational rights that we’re bringing forward.

Again, I’d say to the member opposite, this isn’t an end point. Under this legislation, gig workers are going to be much better off. They’re going to be much better off working here in Ontario than in any other jurisdiction across the country.

But, Mr. Speaker, I have to say that we have been listening. That’s why we brought in foundational rights for gig workers. It’s why we cracked down on temp help agencies. It’s why we’re bringing in portable benefits. There are millions of workers in Ontario today that don’t have benefits. Under Premier Ford and our government, we’re going to expand benefits to millions of workers across the province.

Look, Mr. Speaker, we’re just getting started.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The next question.

Hon. Steve Clark: I’m going to go back to the military reservist leave piece in the bill. The Brockville Rifles is a primary reserve infantry regiment with the Canadian army in my riding since the 1800s, long and established. We value some of our partners in terms of this particular piece in the legislation. I know it’s near and dear to my constituents, and certainly I want to continue to support the Brockville Rifles in any way, shape or form that I can.

I just wondered if the minister could outline some of the partners that he has worked with to create this piece in the legislation.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I want to thank the minister, who is just such a strong champion for people in his riding, those of the Canadian Armed Forces, in the military, military reservists.

Before I answer his question, I do want to pay tribute to the minister. He has single-handedly saved Kemptville College. I think of the skilled trades training that they’re doing; it’s because of this minister pushing to ensure that Kemptville remains open and continues training the people of today and for generations to come. Mr. Speaker, I remember being in Kemptville with the minister when we were in opposition. The Liberals, supported by the official opposition, gutted the college and wanted it closed. But through his leadership and his push and his drive, working with local partners, we’re saving that college.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank him on the reservists—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): And I’d like to remind you, you’re out of time.

The member for London West has a question.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I was at the committee that had public hearings into this bill. The committee heard from many, many gig workers and representatives of gig workers. One of the things committee members were told is the risks that gig workers face when they are doing their jobs. They talked about policies that are set by the app companies that incentivize even more risks and make the work even more dangerous, and yet gig workers have no access to WSIB, no access to EI. If they’re injured, they have no access to occupational health and safety.

None of this is reflected in the digital platform, the workers’ bill of rights. So I ask the minister, why does he not care about the health and safety of gig workers in Ontario?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I’m proud to say to say that we’re going to be the first jurisdiction in North America to bring forward portable benefits for millions of workers, including gig workers. They’re going to have access to health benefits—benefits like dental and vision. Mr. Speaker, we are going to be the first in North America to do that.

I have to say to the member opposite—I mean, I flipped through this Green New Democratic Deal that says you’re going to transition workers from legacy industries into new jobs. That means hundreds of thousands of skilled trades workers will no longer be working in Sarnia, will no longer be working in nuclear facilities.

I was just up in Kapuskasing. We announced 100 jobs at the pulp and paper mill. Under the new deal here with the New Democrats, are those jobs going to be gone?

Mr. Speaker, we need to stand up for blue-collar workers. This party opposite has abandoned workers, and we will take no lessons from the NDP or the Liberals. We’re supporting workers every single day with our second piece of legislation to ensure they’re earning bigger paycheques.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you. Well, there’s seven seconds, Bob. You’re not going to get a question in.

At this time, normally we’d go to further debate. It’s a couple of minutes before we get to members’ statements—I’m going to look to the desk for direction. Members’ statements it is.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Home care

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I want to set the stage. My constituent Lynn Johnston wants to share her experience with home care. Her husband, Joe, is 76 years old, had surgery February 24 and March 4. So you’d expect that they would get home care supports. Nope, that’s not what happened. When home care was set up for Joe, Lynn was given two options: drive Joe to the local ParaMed location twice a day or administer intravenous antibiotics for Joe at home by herself.

As you can imagine, Speaker, given that Joe was released from the hospital just last month following two surgeries and Lynn has only 45% use of her dominant arm, neither of these options was ideal. After receiving the limited training ParaMed offered, she administered the IV at home, but what followed was a series of alarms that ParaMed had not informed her of how to troubleshoot. When she decided it would be better to get Joe to ParaMed’s clinic instead, she was left to navigate an entirely frustrating and not-so-friendly customer service system. ParaMed did not return calls, nor inform her of her appointments despite billing the Ontario government for them.

Under the Conservative and Liberal governments, these are the only options for Ontarians: a deficient home care provider or an overburdened caregiver system. I wonder if the Premier or any of my colleagues in this Legislature would feel comfortable administering an IV to their spouse with little-to-no training. ParaMed in London has a long, troubled history of how this for-profit company is allowed to continue to collect public funds with no oversight, no strings attached, no transparency and no commitment to delivering quality of care.

What the NDP would do: We would deliver home care to help people live at home longer. We would end the for-profit understaffed patchwork of home care companies and make seniors not wait and make sure seniors get the care they need now, not in the future.

Canadian men’s soccer team

Mr. Michael Parsa: Good morning. Last Sunday, we as Canadians witnessed something special as we watched our men’s national soccer team officially punch their ticket to the 2022 World Cup. Our soccer team hasn’t qualified for the World Cup since 1986, which was 37 years ago.

As a huge soccer fan and growing up playing the sport, I was beyond excited to watch the team that I have followed my entire life finally qualify for the largest and greatest tournament on Earth.

Speaker, I would like to point out that not only did they qualify, but they finished top in the CONCACAF group, with 28 points ahead of powerhouses like Mexico and the United States.

There was just something special about this group when they began qualifications. It was extra special as Aurora’s very own Alistair Johnston, a local Auroran who played on both the Aurora Soccer Club and the Richmond Hill Soccer Club, took part on the team. Watching a local resident play and be a part of something so special is remarkable, and I was thrilled to see them pull through and qualify.

To Alistair Johnston and the entire team, I want you to know that I, along with 38 million Canadians, will be cheering you on as you begin your 2022 World Cup journey in Qatar. I can’t wait for them to play in November, and I know that the entire group will continue to shock the world and make us all proud. Go, Team Canada!

Senior citizens’ housing

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: When I walk the dogs to the beach, I often meet Vince out walking one of his little dogs he cares for on behalf of his neighbours. Vince is in his seventies and this is how he supplements his income, which he needs to do.

Like many seniors, Vince has lived in his little triplex for decades, and like many, he has faced eviction notice after eviction notice. The building he lives in is owned by a local realtor who lives in a huge house a few streets over, which the whole neighbourhood knows, so when he sends Vince an eviction notice on the grounds that he wants to move into Vince’s tiny apartment, nobody, not even the Landlord and Tenant Board, believes him. But that doesn’t stop him from trying. Vince is fighting his seventh eviction notice.

Just up the street from Vince, on Queen Street, are small apartment buildings that are increasingly owned by large corporations that are squeezing their tenants out to get the most profit out of the buildings they can. This is what the financialization of housing does. Many of these tenants are seniors like Vince. If they are forced out, they will have nowhere to go.

Speaker, seniors are calling us and telling us that they are hungry and scared. Solving the housing and food insecurity crisis is about caring for our elders.

Yesterday, the minister threw up his hands and said he couldn’t fix it. That is not governing. Our elders deserve better. If the NDP were in government, this would have been solved by now. We need to do better.

Education funding

Mr. Billy Pang: I am happy today to share this government’s $14.5-million investment to build a new Markham Centre elementary school. As part of the Ford government’s $600-million commitment for improving education across Ontario, this new school will create 638 new student spaces.

Markham–Unionville is a growing community, and this new school will continue to ensure my constituents receive the highest quality of education this province offers. I look forward to seeing the positive impact that the new student spaces and public facilities have on our community.

This is an amazing example of our government investing in state-of-the-art schools for students in my riding, while promoting STEM education and preparing them for the jobs of tomorrow. With investments like this, I am confident that Ontario will be set up for economic success and remain among the best-educated populations in the world.

Mr. Speaker, with the rapid and steady growth of young families in Markham–Unionville and other cities in Ontario, our government is committed to meeting such demands by building more schools.

Municipal planning

Mr. Joel Harden: Good morning, Speaker. Last week was a really rough week for folks in Ottawa Centre. It was rough because, if you have ever visited Dow’s Lake and the beautiful Rideau Canal, you will know that there’s a gorgeous park called Queen Juliana Park just across the street, toward Carling Avenue, and right now Queen Juliana Park is home to an incredible amount of new tree stumps. The Ottawa Hospital is moving forward with the plan to clear 750 mature trees from the experimental farm in that area to make way not for a new hospital, Speaker—a four-storey parking garage, with 2,500 spaces, is the first thing that is getting built in our city, to the detriment of our urban tree canopy.

I have spoken out. Bike Ottawa has spoken out. The Ottawa Disability Coalition has spoken out. The Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition has spoken out—elders like Norm Odjick, Albert Dumont, who is the poet laureate for our city, and Irene Compton from Minwaashin Lodge. No one is listening.

The Ottawa Hospital board will not listen to city residents. The province of Ontario, apparently, will not listen to Ottawa residents. The federal government will not listen to Ottawa residents. For some reason, a parking garage is necessary.

So I am making a desperate plea: We need a lawyer to pick up a legal injunction to stop the construction of the Ottawa parking garage. I will be making this an election issue in the upcoming election on June 2. Call me, contact me if you can help stop a parking garage over our health.

Agri-food industry

Mr. Rick Nicholls: The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has been devastating and is taking a terrible toll on civilians, the armed forces and the country itself. While this humanitarian crisis is the most important aspect of this war, another huge factor is its impact on world agriculture, including fertilizer and grain supplies.

It is important that we find ways to maximize our food production this year. Ontario is Canada’s most productive region and I know first-hand that our farmers are eager to do what is required to produce the food we all rely on.

The three major fertilizers used in world crop production are nitrogen, phosphorous and, of course, potassium. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put a massive portion of the world’s fertilizer supply at risk, adding to concerns over soaring global food inflation. Ukraine is one of the world’s most important exporters of grains like corn and wheat, as well as of vegetable oils. Canada is the world’s fifth-largest wheat producer, the 10th-largest corn producer, the seventh-largest soybean producer and is the sixth-largest barley producer.

I sat in on a meeting with the Grain Farmers of Ontario, the OFA and the Ontario Agri Business Association recently. Together these organizations represent over 50,000 farmers and all the agriculture retailers in Ontario. Prices for staple crops like wheat, corn and soybeans are soaring while rising costs for farm input costs, such as fertilizer, could add a further increase to the price of food. Food prices could increase between 8% and 22%.

Simultaneous drought conditions in western Canada and South America have created great concern and uncertainty heading into this year’s planting season. Depending upon how the agriculture and other related sectors respond to this crisis, it could very well determine how much food will be available around the world.

Armenian Heritage Month

Ms. Donna Skelly: Last week our government proclaimed the month of May as Armenian Heritage Month. Ontario is home to more than 100,000 people of Armenian heritage, many in my hometown of Hamilton. Over the past century a vibrant community was established in the east end, centred near the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian community centre. Members of the business community, such as the Alexanian and Vartanian rug companies, are household names in Hamilton.

Armenians first came to Canada to escape the atrocities of the Armenian genocide. In the 1920s Canada began taking in orphaned Armenian children. More than 100 Armenian children lived on a farm near Georgetown. They became known as the Georgetown Boys. One of those boys was an eight-year-old named Toros Toumajian. Toros, who changed his name to Ernie Jackson, was the father of Hamilton city councillor Tom Jackson.

Tom is deeply touched by this government’s acknowledgement in designating May as Armenian Heritage Month. Tom said, “As a descendant of the Georgetown Boys and on behalf of the 2,000 families of Armenian heritage in Hamilton, and on behalf of the thousands of Armenians who call Ontario home, I want to applaud and express my sincere gratitude to the government of Ontario for this recognition.”

Tom Jackson offers his heartfelt gratitude to Premier Ford, MPP Aris Babikian and members of the Legislature for this recognition.

Residential schools

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Last week, a delegation of Indian residential school survivors, leaders, knowledge keepers and youth travelled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. The Pope acknowledged and apologized for the Catholic church’s role in the Indian residential school system which inflicted spiritual, cultural, emotional and physical abuse on the children that attended residential schools.

While the Pope’s apology may be a start, reconciliation is an ongoing process that must be followed by concrete actions. We have seen this action being taken over the past year, with more than 1,800 unmarked graves being identified in Canada—over 1,800. Now, through the Indigenous-led process and ownership of records, Lac Seul First Nation is leading the search on the grounds of Pelican Lake residential school. I stand in unity with Lac Seul and all those doing this work. Finding and bringing home our children will not be easy. It is a difficult task. It is a stark reminder of the abuse our children suffered at the hands of the church and state. However, it is a necessary responsibility.

With Lac Seul taking charge, I know it will be done with tremendous care and respect, honouring survivors, their families and all the children who did not get to come home. Meegwetch.

Economic reopening and recovery

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Economic recovery is one of the greatest concerns in my riding of Richmond Hill. Last week, I had the honour of attending the Richmond Hill Board of Trade’s signature event, the Power Hour, where representatives from three levels of government shared their outlook and welcomed questions from the floor.

Businesses expressed their appreciation of the provincial government’s support through the business costs rebate, the small business grants and the provincial interest and penalty-free period. They are all excited with the $10 daycare program. The immediate savings of 25% right now and 50% by December 22 is timely for families. That means more females can get back to work.

They’re very happy that the manufacturing sector is coming back and jobs are being created. This will stimulate business across the province. Business in Richmond Hill is confident that our economy is recovering.

I ended with four Ps of encouragement for the people who attended:

(1) Protect: Take the vaccination.

(2) Be positive: Having a positive attitude gives good health and insights.

(3) Plan: Reassess a business plan. Do they have the right clients or should they go digitally and develop the business globally and locally?

(4) The last one is proactive: Act swiftly and adapt to the marketplace.

Yes, Ontario will soon be the economic engine for Canada.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Today we are honoured to remember and pay tribute to a former member of our provincial Legislature, the late David Ramsay, who was the MPP for Timiskaming during the 33rd, 34th, 35th and 36th Parliaments, and MPP for Timiskaming–Cochrane during the 37th, 38th and 39th Parliaments. Many of Mr. Ramsay’s former staff are here with us today in the Speaker’s gallery. Welcome.

Also in the Speaker’s gallery is Ms. Judy Marsales, former MPP for the riding of Hamilton West during the 38th Parliament and chair of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians, and Mr. David Warner, who was the Speaker during the 35th Parliament. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly. We’re delighted to have you back.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: It’s my pleasure today to rise to introduce my uncle, Norman MacLeod, from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, who joined me yesterday as we hosted the Scottish culture minister here in Ontario to celebrate Tartan Day.

And while I have the microphone, I do want to pay tribute to our former colleague who has passed away, the honourable David Ramsay, who I had the pleasure of serving with. I know there will be tributes later. He was a gentleman and a very kind individual.

Mr. Rick Nicholls: It gives me great pleasure to introduce to the Legislature this morning the president of the Ontario Party, Mr. Raphael Rosch. Welcome.

David Ramsay

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader on a point of order.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance for the late Mr. David Ramsay, with five minutes allotted to Her Majesty’s government, five minutes allotted to Her Majesty’s loyal opposition and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to allow members to make statements in remembrance of the late David Ramsay, with five minutes allotted to Her Majesty’s government, five minutes allotted to Her Majesty’s loyal opposition and five minutes allotted to the independents as a group. Agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Norman Miller: I’m honoured to stand today to pay tribute to the late David Ramsay, MPP for Timiskaming and then Timiskaming–Cochrane from 1985 until 2011. I had the pleasure of working with David as his critic when he was Minister of Natural Resources and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs between 2003 and 2007. In my experience, David was a true parliamentarian. I found him approachable and willing to discuss issues when I was his critic, and I know I’m not the only one. Former MPP Norm Sterling said the same thing when he paid tribute to David upon his retirement.

David was born in Australia, was adopted and moved to Canada at a year old. He lived in Oakville, attended Concordia University in Montreal and then moved to a farm near New Liskeard with his bride, Kathy. Elected in 1985, David was an MPP for 26 years and served as minister in both the Peterson and McGuinty governments. I’m sure others will talk more about his political accomplishments.

David’s legacy is unique because he is the only member of this chamber to have successfully been re-elected a number of times after having crossed the floor. I can only think of one person who was more successful after crossing the floor, and that would be Winston Churchill. In the British Parliament, crossing the floor is referred to as “ratting.” Churchill is quoted as saying that anyone can rat, but it takes a special person to re-rat. I would say it takes a special person to get re-elected after ratting.

David was first elected in 1985 as an NDP, but 17 months later joined the Liberal Party. In preparing for this tribute, I called the former member with the longest memory I can think of, and that is Sean Conway. In 1986, Sean was Minister of Education in the Peterson government. He told me that when David was thinking about crossing the floor, he asked for Sean’s advice. Sean strongly, strongly recommended against crossing the floor—likely that he’d lose the next election, and many other concerns.

He suggested if he really wanted to do it, he should make a statement of principle, then sit as an independent and then approach the riding association, and then later the entire Liberal caucus. David did not follow this advice. The next week, he crossed the floor and joined the Liberals.

Shortly after this, Sean, who was exhausted after a year of being Minister of Education in the Peterson government, went on a holiday to London, England, where he had a memorable lunch at Canada House with former Conservative ministers Roy McMurtry and Tom Wells. Roy was then the Canadian high commissioner to England. Midway through the lunch, Sean received an angry phone call from the NDP leader and future Premier Bob Rae, who accused him of stealing his member, luring him to join the government. Rae had learned that Sean was the last person to speak to David and was not happy.

Well, crossing the floor didn’t affect David’s electoral success. In his first election as an NDP, David won by a little more than 2,800 votes. In the next election, running as a Liberal, David won by some 4,300 votes, and he went on to win five more elections after that. And, when David retired, the riding went back to the NDP. To me that proves that the voters in Timiskaming–Cochrane were voting for David Ramsay and not for the party. I can’t think of a better compliment than to say he was elected because he was liked and trusted by the people in the riding.

David was also liked and trusted by his staff. David treated his staff like a second family. A number of his former staff are here today. Joining us here today are: Ginette Albert, who worked for David for many years; Kevin McGuire, who worked for him in both the Peterson and McGuinty governments; Amanda MacKenzie; Amy Swanson; Anne-Marie Flanagan; Babak Abbaszadeh; Derek Luk; Eric Bianchini; Hillary Thatcher; Jennifer Tuck; James Harvey and Melissa Wilson. Welcome to Queen’s Park. I hope I haven’t missed anyone. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to join us here today. I understand you’ll be gathering at David’s favourite spot, Swiss Chalet, later to share fond memories.

I reached out to Craig Hughson, who was senior policy adviser for David at natural resources. Craig is overseas in Dubai, so he can’t be here today, although he did text me to say he’s watching from Dubai.

Apparently on the many road trips that a Minister of Natural Resources must take, Minister Ramsay seemed to be able to locate the local Dairy Queen in every community, and that was before GPS.

As those of us who have large ridings will probably understand, it seems that David was known to drive a little over the speed limit, but when his staff was driving, he was a little more conscious of the speedometer. Craig told me that on an occasion where he was driving Minister Ramsay, MPP Mike Brown and an OPP officer, David looked at the speedometer and very calmly told Craig that if he had an accident, he would cause two by-elections and a police funeral. Craig says he slowed down after that.

Of course, like all of us, David had a family and interests outside of politics. David was a passionate sailor. He and Kathy kept a boat on Manitoulin Island and loved to sail Georgian Bay and the North Channel.

As we all know, there are parts of Ontario where the cellular coverage isn’t great, including around the North Channel, and a cabinet minister does need to be able to check emails and get phone calls periodically. I understand that in order to get cellular service, David was known to climb a tree with his phone to return calls, leaving Kathy a little concerned about the dangers of the job.

In 2011, I remember asking David what he was going to do with his retirement, and he told me of their plans to sail to the Bahamas, something I understand they did and very much enjoyed.

After David retired, he and Kathy moved to Nova Scotia to be close to their children and grandchildren, and I am sure it’s only a coincidence that it is another great sailing destination. I am glad that David and Kathy got to enjoy more time sailing and more time with their family after his retirement.

On behalf of the government members, I want to thank David’s family for the sacrifices that allowed David to serve in this place for so many years. Our thoughts are with his wife, Kathy; their children Michael, Danielle and Erin; grandchildren Isaac, Cameron, Riley and Abbey; and with David’s friends, including, of course, his former staff who are here with us today. Thank you.

Mr. John Vanthof: It’s an incredible honour today to pay tribute to a predecessor in this seat of Timiskaming–Cochrane, Mr. David Ramsay, on behalf of the official opposition. David was, in his time, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs; Correctional Services; Agriculture and Food; and Natural Resources. Without question, he was the longest-serving member of any riding that held the name “Timiskaming” in it, and the only one to do it from two parties.

With that, I would like to go back a little bit in history to talk about David in the riding. If you go back to 1985, we had Mr. Ed Havrot as our MPP; I had the privilege of doing a tribute for him, as well. Ed shot from the hip. David was different. David was actually, I would say, a calming influence. We thought, “It’s going to be smooth sailing from here on in.” And a year after his election, boom. He switched parties. To switch from the orange team to the red team was quite something. Now, it didn’t bother me that much because I was blue back then.

Interjections.

Mr. John Vanthof: I had to say it. I had to say it. But in the research package, there was a time when David Ramsay was blue, as well.

But the fact that David crossed the floor—it was incredibly tough. As I was thinking about what to say today, it had to be incredibly tough, not just to cross the floor here, but to go home to the people who supported you on one side. It was incredibly tough, and he survived it. He not only survived it, but he excelled in it. He increased people’s confidence in him, and that is a true testament to his personality.

I really got to know David during one of our biggest issues in Timiskaming, and that was during the Adams mine fight—and a fight it was. The area was divided, and David was in the centre of it. If there was one thing that David Ramsay excelled at, the only thing he maybe could have been better at than as a member of provincial Parliament was as a poker player, because he did keep some of his feelings close to his chest. It frustrated me sometimes, because we didn’t always agree, but I think we respected each other.

Just before the 2003 election, the Liberals promised to stop the Adams mine, and for a while David Ramsay and I were almost friends. After the election, when that didn’t happen right away, David one time—we were on a plane travelling to Toronto—poked me in the shoulder and he said, “John, I would just like to remind you that politics is a team sport.” Okay, I could live with that.

But in 2007, I ended up running against David Ramsay for the NDP, of which I am proud to be a member, but not actually to become a MPP. When the Adams Mine Lake Act was passed, I was also being sued. No one did anything about that, and I was going broke, so we decided to run for the NDP to bring some light to that issue and hopefully the government or somebody would tell the company who was suing me to drop the lawsuit. And that happened.

In that campaign, David Ramsay was a hundred times the candidate that I was—unbelievable. He could talk to a five-year-old or to a captain of industry and treat them all with the same level of respect, with the same level of dignity. They all learned something from him.

I would just like to clarify something. We came within 634 votes of taking out David Ramsay, and there was no one more surprised—no, there was one person more surprised than David Ramsay: That was me, obviously. But I would just like to take a minute to say why, and how politics is local.

David Ramsay was the Minister of Natural Resources, and that spring, the blueberries froze in May. When the blueberries freeze in May and the election is October 7, the black bears are really hungry by around September, and there were black bears everywhere. So when you go to knock on a door, two things you would look for: first, a black bear, just in case; and, second, damage from black bears. You would go to the door and knock—and this is a testament to David Ramsay—and almost every door, they’d open and I’d say, “I’m John Vanthof, running for the NDP.” They would say, “No.

We are solid David Ramsay supporters.” They didn’t say Liberal supporters; they said David Ramsay supporters. I said, “Yes, great. I’ve worked with him. He’s a great guy. But do you recall that the McGuinty government promised they were going to clean up the nuisance bear problem? How is that working out for you?” David Ramsay had—really, there was nothing you could do about that. I want to say that publicly, because he was a great representative.

I know I’m going over time, but I’d like to thank very much for many of his staff members for being here. I also have a staff member who worked for David Ramsay, Darlene Bowen. She was still friends with David when he passed. And she also told me that she worked for him for two years and she drove with him to a lot of events, but she only let him drive once. Once was enough.

He treated everyone—during that campaign, I made lots of mistakes. I was young. I wasn’t smooth. I’m still not smooth. There were lots of times where his experience, his skill, his knowledge—he could have done many knockout blows, and he didn’t. He was always gracious.

I’d like to take this opportunity—I’ve always regretted that I’ve never had the opportunity to tell him in person. The last time I talked to David Ramsay, or the last time I saw David Ramsay, was about two years after I was elected. We were going through—it was the McGuinty minority government, and it was a really tough time. We were at an event and somebody walked up and said, “Vanthof, how does it feel to be the MPP?” I said. “You know what?

In the last couple of years, I’ve developed a whole new level of respect for David Ramsay.” He was a couple seats over, and, as I walked out, we nodded at each other and smiled. I’ve always regretted that I’ve never able to shake his hand before he passed.

I’d like to thank his staff, but very much thank his family. And to David: May you have fair winds and following seas. On behalf of the people of Timiskaming–Cochrane, thank you.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: It’s an honour today to rise to pay tribute to the former, late MPP David Ramsay. I’m going to be brief, because I want the people who actually served with Mr. Ramsay to have more time, but I wanted to make one critical point that I admire so much about David Ramsay: He had the courage of his convictions and the personality to win over his critics. If there was ever a controversy in northern Ontario, the member from Timiskaming–Cochrane nailed it. If there was ever a Minister of Natural Resources who was going to make northerners happy, would have gotten rid of the spring bear hunt, and Mr. Ramsay didn’t do that.

I can tell you that as one of those dreaded southern environmentalists who fought so hard against the Adams mine landfill, it was such a joy to have a northern Minister of Natural Resources bring in the Adams Mine Lake Act in 2004.

I want to say thank you to MPP Ramsay’s family, friends and colleagues for sharing him with us, because he has made Ontario a better place to live.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa South.

Mr. John Fraser: It’s truly a privilege and an honour to say a few words about David James Ramsay, member for provincial Parliament for Timiskaming–Cochrane from 1985 to 2011. And a lot of the words that you’re going to hear me speak today come from people in the gallery and his colleagues outside the Legislature, and so I hope they truly reflect how people felt for David, which I think is David’s lasting and enduring legacy.

First elected in 1985 as an NDP member, and then becoming a Liberal about a year later, he then won six successive elections. That’s pretty incredible and it’s a testament to his deep dedication to the people of Timiskaming–Cochrane and the things that were important to them.

Here’s what he said when he retired in 2011:

“You know, I never fail to realize how down on a lot of people’s luck that they are every day, and they come in and sometimes we can make a difference in their lives....

“And I think in the end, that will be the enduring thing.”

You notice that he said “we.” David never used “I” a lot. He understood it was a team sport, whether it was with his colleagues or with his staff.

For 26 years, David held many positions of responsibility—in caucus, as a minister of the crown. He handled difficult issues with care and common sense.

Ginette Albert, who worked with him for a very long time, said this about David: “David took his work seriously and always tried to do his best to do what was right.”

And David was a listener. That’s was a big part of his success: He truly listened.

I understand that the ministry David liked best was the Ministry of Natural Resources, because it meant so much to his community and to the north. My first interaction with David was when he was the Minister of Natural Resources and I was working for Premier McGuinty in Ottawa, and the member for Nepean will remember this. At the time, a family in Ottawa South took in an orphaned baby deer into their home and then kept it in captivity as a pet.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Oh, of course, Bam-Bam.

Mr. John Fraser: So as the story goes, Bam-Bam the deer was rescued by about a dozen Ottawa police and conservation officers, who were, let’s just say, very well-armed. The ensuing mess was incredible. It was all over the news: “Free Bam-Bam the deer.” Quite frankly, the phones at the constituency office rang for four days straight. There was never a line open.

There’s a lot more detail on this, and the member for Nepean will share the story another time. It’s a really crazy story. It was really a difficult situation because people were truly concerned and upset, as often people are in the cases of animal welfare. But you can’t just keep a baby deer. That’s not the way things work.

Here’s the thing: David and his staff found a solution, for which I am forever grateful. And there are many other stories. They can recount them, like “Mike the Moose,” flying squirrels, and other crazy animal wildlife stories.

The truth is, the Ministry of Natural Resources is a hard ministry. It requires political skill to balance the many competing interests that are there. And with the skill of a sailor who always understood where the prevailing winds were coming from, David handled all those files very deftly.

He was well-respected by his colleagues. Premier McGuinty said this:

“David brought good humour and good will and good insights to Queen’s Park every day.

“David was equally at home and humble whether serving Ontarians as minister of the crown or helping his constituents. He never forgot where he came from or what he was sent to do.”

Monique Smith said this: “David always had a sparkle in his eye. He was a lovely colleague and friend.”

David had a great sense of humour. There is a story floating that David met Bob Rae after Bob became a Liberal, which was some 20 years after David had left the NDP, and his first comment to him was, “Welcome aboard.”

David really liked people. He always displayed a genuine interest, and as I said before, he listened. I think he understood that the most important things in life are your relationships with others. He built a lifelong relationship with the staff who worked with him here at Queen’s Park and in the riding. Some of them are in the gallery today. Kevin McGuire, his former chief of staff, said David would tell him to not book anything at lunchtime so he could sit down and have lunch with his staff. He treated his staff like family. If someone was having a difficult time, he always made himself available.

He loved ice cream and would drive by a Dairy Queen, apparently, any time he could. I can relate to that. He’d buy a container of Häagen-Dazs ice cream and just bring a spoon.

Interjection: I can relate to that.

Mr. John Fraser: I can relate to that too, yes. He also loved Swiss Chalet, or “chalet barbecue,” as they told me he called it. I know that his staff are going to go out and have a lunch in his honour today, and that’s just great.

The most important thing is that David was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He was always in a rush to get home to his family, and as you heard, he got quite a few speeding tickets as a result. We all know that as members, our responsibilities steal time away from our families. David understood this. It’s not easy, especially on our families. We give up a lot; our families give up even more. So thank you to his wife, Kathy; daughters, Danielle and Karen; son, Michael; and his grandchildren, Isaac, Cameron, Riley and Abbey. Thank you for sharing him with us and the people of Ontario.

Twenty-six years is an incredible legacy of public service. David brought to that service dedication, common sense, a sense of humour, and most importantly, a genuine interest in the people around him, and it’s been a real honour to pay tribute to him.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you to the members for their eloquent tributes. Together, we give thanks for the life and public service of Dave Ramsay.

Applause.

House sittings

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that, pursuant to standing order 9(g), the Clerk has received written notice from the government House leader indicating that a temporary change in the weekly meeting

schedule of the House is required, and therefore, the afternoon routine on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, shall commence at 1 p.m.

Question Period

Long-term care

Ms. Sara Singh: Good morning. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, people across Ontario believe long-term care should be a safe place to live. But for many of these for-profit care providers, they see these homes as just real estate transactions. Last week, Ontario seniors who live in places managed by Chartwell—the company led by former PC Mike Harris sold off 16 homes and flipped another three as a way to turn a quick profit. Outrageously, the company will net $277 million after this transaction.

Let’s be clear: These companies aren’t using these profits to reinvest in better standards of care or even to help hire more staff. This profit is for their shareholders. Why does this government think that it’s appropriate for private long-term-care operators to net hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate transactions?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Look, I think this has less to do with Chartwell and more to do with NDP ideology. What the member and her party are suggesting is that the long-term-care system be nationalized in the province of Ontario. What they are wanting to do is spend billions of dollars buying buildings.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we have chosen a different path. We are choosing to invest billions of dollars in building new long-term-care homes, billions of dollars in increasing staffing in our long-term-care homes—all things that would be at risk should the NDP proposal of nationalizing long-term care ever come to pass in the province of Ontario. It would put to risk the $40 million of additional funding that this government has earmarked for homes in Brampton.

Again, what we’re going to continue to do for long-term care is improve staffing. We’re going to build modern new state-of-the-art facilities to finally catch up after 15 years of neglect in the system. We’re putting in the resources and making the investments needed to make long-term care the best not only in Canada, but North America.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: What New Democrats are fighting for is to ensure that billions of dollars don’t go to for-profit care providers and that we reinvest in providing care with dignity to seniors in this province.

One of these homes, Chartwell, which has been sold off, hasn’t even finished construction yet. The company—which bills itself as a real estate trust, not a long-term-care provider—says the whole point of these sales is to find “meaningful management synergies.” That doesn’t sound like improving care to us.

It’s clear these big companies are using long-term-care homes and real estate speculators to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars. But when it comes to offering better supports for elders and people with disabilities, that is nowhere to be seen.

The company also says that these deals won’t be finalized without the government’s permission. Will the government do the right thing, stop these transfers to yet another for-profit provider and instead invest in not-for-profit care in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: To be very clear, the government will not nationalize long-term care in the province of Ontario. We will not spend billions upon billions of dollars buying long-term-care homes. What we will do instead is put billions of dollars into improving care, billions of dollars into building new long-term care, because what we’re focused on is people, places and community.

What we’re doing is building long-term-care homes across the province in smaller communities that have never had long-term care before. We’re investing in people, not only the people who work in long-term care, but the people who live in long-term care. For far too long, under the Liberals and the NDP, a long-term-care facility was just that: a facility. We’re making long-term care homes, because we recognize they are where people live and where they will have memories for many years to come. We’re improving staffing, improving the homes.

We will not do what the NDP are suggesting: nationalizing a system and wasting billions upon billions of dollars on buying homes. Instead, we’ll build the system and make it better for people.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: The government House leader and Minister of Long-Term Care and home care has made it clear: He is okay with companies like Chartwell profiting by $277 million off the backs of taxpayers and seniors in this province. That is shameful here in Ontario.

Instead of treating these long-term-care homes like real estate, we could treat them as decent places to live. What we saw during the pandemic was horrific, and we know that the government bailed out for-profit homes and failed to provide the support necessary for seniors.

It doesn’t have to be this way for elders and people who live in long-term-care homes, like people with disabilities. They deserve dignity, with enough staff to care for them. They deserve quality food and comfortable accommodations. But that’s only possible if we take the profits out of long-term care.

Why does this government continue to reward for-profit providers with taxpayers’ dollars and not invest in the dignity and care that long-term-care residents deserve?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, not one member of the NDP stood up when they held the balance of power between 2011 and 2014 and made long-term care a priority. Did they ever make four hours of care a priority when they held the balance of power? No. Did they make building new facilities a priority? No. Did they make—increasing staffing? No. Did they say that we needed long-term care in communities across the province, small communities, large communities? No, Mr. Speaker. This government has done just that.

What the member is asking me to do is to close down the 680 beds that we have brought to Brampton. She wants me to close those beds and redirect the $38 million in staffing to the NDP policy of nationalizing long-term care. Well, it won’t happen, Mr. Speaker—not on our watch, because what we’re going to continue to do is make up for the failures of the Liberals and NDP by bringing in new long-term-care beds: 30,000 new beds, 28,000 upgraded beds and 27,000 staff.

Prescription drugs

Ms. Sara Singh: My next question is also for the Premier. The Ontario government’s rollout of the antiviral drug Paxlovid has been anything but smooth. For immunocompromised Ontarians, getting a prescription for this drug has not been easy. The CBC reported on Friday that one Ottawa woman waited all week to get her prescription, even though the treatment with this medication needs to begin within the first three to five days of an onset of symptoms for it to actually be effective.

The CBC reports that Ontarians are only able to access these potentially life-saving antivirals at a provincial testing centre after someone has confirmed and tested positive for COVID. Why is this government not rolling out wider distribution of this drug to help Ontarians get access to the life-saving medication they need and to help us get this pandemic under control?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Originally when Paxlovid was first approved, we received very small quantities of this antiviral. It was distributed through 26 select sites across Ontario, including clinical assessment centres. However, the situation has changed since then. We are now receiving higher quantities. We have received over 40,000 courses of Paxlovid to date, and we are now looking at expanding so that people can receive Paxlovid, should they need it, from centres across Ontario.

We know that there are many people who want to receive it. They can receive it through their primary care physician, who can obtain it through an assessment centre, or they can receive it at the assessment centres. However, because we are now receiving larger quantities, we are looking at other points of distribution so that people can access it more easily.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: The federal government actually provided Ontario with over 100,000 courses of the drug Paxlovid, but that hasn’t been widely distributed. Dr. Menaka Pai says that too few Ontarians even know that they can be eligible for this drug: “People who are eligible need to know what steps to take to access the drug. People need to know where to go to get the drug. Those barriers are tremendous. And if we don’t tackle them, the societal benefit—and the individual benefit—of Paxlovid will not be realized.”

Speaker, in provinces like Quebec, pharmacists, physicians and nurse practitioners are all allowed to prescribe this drug. Why isn’t the government of Ontario allowing more prescriptions for this antiviral drug here in Ontario?

Hon. Christine Elliott: We certainly are allowing for more prescriptions, however, it should be noted that Paxlovid is not suitable for everyone, because there are contraindications with over another about 100 different drugs. Some people, even though they may want to take advantage of it, can’t take it for health care reasons.

However, we do recognize that many people are not aware of when they can obtain Paxlovid. We are going to be expanding our education process, so that people will know that more widely. We are looking to make sure we have broadened access for everyone, and we want to make sure that other parties can be involved in it, including pharmacies, in the future. So there are many different points of distribution that we’re examining, so that anyone who can take Paxlovid and is indicated for it will be able to receive it.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: No one wants to see things get worse in a sixth wave here in Ontario. This medication could be and should be a part of the province’s response, but access is the issue. For Ontarians who are not close to a provincial testing centre, it means that getting access to this life-saving drug will be very difficult.

The Ontario government has the tools to get this drug into the hands of rural and remote communities, but they continue to lag behind other provinces. It shouldn’t have to be this difficult for Ontarians to get access to this form of health care, especially when Ontario has, as the Premier has stated, over 100,000 courses of this drug already available.

Speaker, what steps will this government take to deploy the antiviral drug across Ontario, to help COVID-19 patients recover quickly?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, people who need Paxlovid can obtain access to it through their primary care provider, who can request it from the clinical assessment centre, so that even if a person doesn’t live in an area where there is a clinical access centre, they can obtain it through their primary care physician, nurse practitioner, whoever it happens to be.

We are also going to be expanding access and availability of Paxlovid, because—the member is quite right—we have received increased quantities. We are also embarking on a clinical education program for providers, but also for the people of Ontario to let them know that this is another tool that we can use to limit the spread of COVID within our communities, and to keep people from having to access hospitals and urgent care as well. We are making access available and expanding access for everyone in the province to be able to receive it if they need it.

Affordable housing

Ms. Jessica Bell: My question is to the Premier. Last week, RBC bank released a new report on housing affordability, and it’s grim. Housing affordability has dipped to its worst level in 31 years, which means the dream of owning a home has gone up in smoke. And it means the dream of even renting a home that you can afford has also gone up in smoke. An individual needs to earn over $118,000 a year to afford an available two-bedroom apartment in Toronto today.

The housing affordability crisis is this government’s legacy. You’ve got less than 60 days left. What is this government’s plan to make housing affordable for Ontarians now?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Steve Clark: Speaker, through you to the member opposite: Yesterday was a sad day for anyone who wanted to realize the dream of home ownership. New Democrats—again, Speaker—voted against our government’s plan, More Homes for Everyone, just like they did in 2019 for our plan, More Homes, More Choice: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan, and just like they did when they voted against the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act. Over and over and over again, New Democrats have ensured that anyone who wanted to realize the dream of home ownership was going to get a big, fat no from the NDP.

On this side of the House, we embrace the Housing Affordability Task Force report. It’s going to be our long-term road map. In the interim, we needed to do some immediate measures like the measures that are in More Homes for Everyone. On this side of the House, we’re going to keep putting forward suggestions. I know what’s going to happen, Speaker: This member is going to continue to vote against it.

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

Ms. Jessica Bell: Thank you to the minister for raising your new bill. This government’s new housing bill has been widely criticized by planners and municipalities because it financially punishes municipalities and could actually slow down building approvals. This is what Toronto’s chief planner Gregg Lintern had to say: This bill “could have the perverse effect of delaying development by sending more planning applications to the backlogged Ontario Land Tribunal.”

And there’s nothing in this bill to make it quicker and easier to build more affordable missing middle housing like townhomes, duplexes and triplexes in neighbourhoods we want to live in, even though your very own Housing Affordability Task Force, with your very own hand-picked experts, recommended that you do exactly that.

Minister, what is your plan to build more affordable missing middle housing so Ontarians can afford to live in this province?

Hon. Steve Clark: Speaker, I guess I would have thought, in one of these two questions, that the member—since she just recently contravened the Members’ Integrity Act by breaking parliamentary convention in her own constituency—I thought perhaps she would start her question with an apology to the people of University–Rosedale. But I guess that’s not in the cards today.

I’m going to quote a couple of reports from the Altus Group, in 2020, that were commissioned by the Building Industry and Land Development Association. It talks about subdivision approvals in Ontario taking between seven and 15 months. It talks about how rezoning takes an average of nine to 25 months. These timelines are too long. People who want to realize the dream of home ownership can’t wait 25 months. So our plan, as part of the plan they voted against yesterday, would gradually refund permit fees if municipalities don’t hit those very, very important marks.

Again, Speaker, on this side of the House, we want to work with our municipal—

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

The next question.

Automotive industry

Ms. Donna Skelly: My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Just yesterday we saw yet another vote of confidence in Ontario from a major auto manufacturer, General Motors, which is committing to investing and expanding their vehicle production right here in Ontario.

Under the previous Liberal government, 300,000 manufacturing jobs left Ontario, devastating many communities. But, now, under this government, we are seeing jobs and historic investments from some of the world’s biggest auto manufacturers.

Speaker, through you, could the minister tell us what our government’s recent announcement means for the people of Oshawa and this province?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Over the past 16 months, Ontario’s auto sector has announced over $12 billion in green steel, EVs and electric vehicle battery manufacturing. Yesterday, we were extremely proud to support GM’s $2-billion investment to reopen Oshawa and retool Ingersoll for electric vehicle production.

In Oshawa, GM’s historic investment will add a third shift to build the lightweight Chevy Silverado for a total of 2,600 new local jobs. At their CAMI plant in Ingersoll, GM will manufacture the BrightDrop. It’s a brand-new, all-electric vehicle and, Speaker, I’ve got to tell you, I drove it yesterday and it is a sweet ride.

This investment from GM will position yet another Ontario automaker to manufacture the next generation of EV vehicles, the cars of the future, and we will continue to support Ontario’s auto sector and the thousands of jobs.

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

Ms. Donna Skelly: Thank you, Minister. This announcement is clearly great news for the people of Durham region and Ingersoll who will have their future secured for generations. Investments like these are truly transformative. For Oshawa, GM has been a pillar in the community, and I’m sure this is welcome news for that local community. This announcement goes a long way to repairing the damage to our economy caused by the previous Liberal government.

Back to the minister, through you, Speaker: Could the minister tell us how our government has taken action to secure Ontario’s automotive sector for generations to come?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Since taking office, our government has worked very closely with Ontario’s auto sector to ensure that the cars of the future are built right here in Ontario. Driving Prosperity was our plan to position Ontario as a North American leader in electric vehicle production, and the plan is working.

We’ve been able to secure, as I said, $12 billion in investments in 16 months. This is unprecedented in the history of our province, and it is truly game-changing. It shows just how important it is to create the right environment for job creators, like reducing the cost of doing business in Ontario by $7 billion every year.

Speaker, we’re just getting started. Wait till we stand here next week.

Northern health services

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Good morning, Speaker. Remarks in Oji-Cree.

Families in northwestern Ontario are facing a dire shortage of doctors. Two weekends ago, Red Lake’s only hospital closed its emergency room for 24 hours because there weren’t enough physicians to run it. Nearly 6,000 residents had no emergency room. This is not an isolated problem, Mr. Speaker. It has been narrowly avoided in Sioux Lookout, a health care hub for area First Nations.

This government knows the doctor shortage crisis in the north will lead to more emergency department closures. What is the government doing to ensure that hospitals in the north can keep their emergency rooms open?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: The biggest thing we’re doing is increasing enrolment in our medical schools so we have more doctors in the province of Ontario. We’re adding another 160 undergraduate seats and 295 post-graduate positions over the next five years to make sure that we graduate more physicians and that more will be in northern Ontario because the Northern Ontario School of Medicine is receiving 30 undergraduate seats and 41 post-graduate seats. That’s going to go a long way to making sure that people who are trained in the north and who are from the north will stay in the north and practise medicine thereafter.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: We need solutions immediately, not five years down the road. Overworked and burnt-out physicians across the north are trying to keep hospital doors open to care for their patients. One physician worked 10 24-hour shifts in a month because of a lack of doctors to fill these shifts. Physicians are only supposed to work a maximum of four of these shifts. The well-being of doctors and patients is at risk.

When will this government take the urgent action needed to end the doctor shortage in northwestern Ontario?

Hon. Christine Elliott: First, let me express my appreciation to doctors and all front-line health care professionals for the tremendous work they’ve done over the past two years. That’s why we are adding to the ranks so they are going to be able to not work extra shifts, to be able to take time with family and friends. We have committed over $6.2 million across 32 primary care teams in areas of greatest need in the province, and that would include mostly in northern Ontario. That helps people stay connected to care within their communities and not having to go into hospital by reason of default.

We’re building up both by increasing the number of medical physicians in schools, but we are dealing with it now by making sure that local teams, primary care teams, have the resources they need to care for the people in their communities and, as I said before, that’s particularly in northern Ontario.

Ontario Disability Support Program

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Through you, Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Minister, because of COVID, lockdowns and rising costs in food, Internet, electricity and accommodation, my offices have been inundated with calls from desperate ODSP recipients. These recipients just don’t know where to turn. As you know, a single person’s maximum allowance for basic needs and shelter is $1,169 per month, while the maximum allowable for a couple’s basic needs and shelter is $1,750 per month.

The ODSP recipients have not had increases in years. The ministry is simply saying at this point in time, they are in transition and are working on this, but there has not been a cost-of-living increase and the rate of inflation is rising quickly. It’s more expensive to shop, let alone live, on the bare minimum called “basic needs,” which does not cover their biggest single bill: rising housing rents.

Minister, what is your ministry prepared to do now in the short term to provide for ODSP recipients? My riding’s constituents, now more than ever, must choose between shelter, heat—

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

The Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. In addition to raising the rates when we first took office in 2018, and in addition to the $1 billion in social services relief funding and the approximately $8.3 billion we spent annually, I’ve also been advocating for the federal governm