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November 23, 2021

42nd Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Nov-23 vol. A (PDF)

L022A - Tue 23 Nov 2021 / Mar 23 nov 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 23 November 2021 Mardi 23 novembre 2021

Orders of the Day

Extension of emergency orders

Wearing of pins

Members’ Statements

Land use planning

Places of religious worship

Electric vehicles

Shoshinkan Martial Arts

Diabetes

Josée Forest-Niesing

Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurpurab

Health care workers

Omemee bicentennial

Visitors

Michael James Breaugh

Question Period

COVID-19 immunization

Employment standards

Highway safety

Green power generation

Child care

Post-secondary education

COVID-19 immunization

Tenant protection

Electric vehicles

Anti-racism activities

Small business

COVID-19 immunization

Driver examination centres

Land use planning

COVID-19 testing

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Government Agencies

Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Petitions

Student safety

Affordable housing

Optometry services

Optometry services

Front-line workers

Nurses

Optometry services

Long-term care

Prévention du vapotage chez les jeunes

Long-term care

Gasoline prices

Orders of the Day

Extension of emergency orders

Private Members’ Public Business

Stay Home If You Are Sick Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 permettant aux employés malades de rester chez eux

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Extension of emergency orders

Resuming the debate adjourned on November 22, 2021, on the motion for extension of emergency orders.

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

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: It’s a real honour to rise today to debate the extension of the reopening Ontario act. Speaker, I’d like to start by, of course, thanking all of the front-line workers who have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle over the past 18 months. I know many of us in this chamber have had a chance to rise and speak about the sacrifices made by our nurses, our PSWs, our DSWs, our amazing medical professionals, our public health teams right across the province, and I just want to re-echo those thanks.

This debate today is a little bit about the sorts of things that we can do here in this Legislature to make sure that we are supporting those front-line heroes in their time of crisis. Speaker, as you know, I oftentimes like to draw on historical parables sometimes when I’m speaking in the chamber. As we think about emergency powers and dealing with the crisis, I’m of course reminded of the story of Cincinnatus, the great Roman statesman from the early Roman republic. That, of course, was one of the foundations in democracy, the idea of emergency powers to deal with crises.

Cincinnatus was a Roman statesman and he was a farmer; he had a small farm just outside of the boundaries of Rome. All of sudden, Rome was under invasion and the people were trying to figure out what to do. Armies were raised, the armies were sent out and the armies were defeated, and suddenly these enemies were at Rome’s gates and Rome needed to figure out what to do in this time of crisis.

The Roman people, the Roman senate, got together and decided, “We need to deal with this crisis,” so they sent a delegation out to the farm that Cincinnatus lived at and they said to Cincinnatus, “We want to give you some emergency powers to deal with this crisis.” Cincinnatus took up that challenge. He came to Rome and helped fight back the enemies who were at the gate, and then, the moment that crisis was over, Cincinnatus went to the senate and said, “I’m giving up all of my emergency powers and I’m returning back to the farm.”

Speaker, that story has gone down in history as a parable of civic virtue. It has also, of course, provided the basis in democracy for emergency powers that has been passed down through the millennia to us today and provided a bit of a road map. Of course, now, in modern days, there are many safeguards that are put in place to make sure that when we have to deal with a crisis, we can do so responsibly—and that’s exactly what the reopening Ontario act has done.

Early on in the pandemic we needed to respond to a growing crisis, just as Cincinnatus did back in the day. The enemy, COVID-19, was at our gate, and to our credit everyone in this Legislature came together and unanimously passed emergency orders, giving the government emergency powers to deal with this crisis, to be able to protect Ontarians and to be able to give our health care heroes the tools that they needed. But, Speaker, we needed to make sure that there were time limits built into this. We needed to make sure that there were accountability measures put in.

That’s why this legislation that was tabled requires that it must be extended by the Legislature or else it expires. On top of that, an additional accountability mechanism is that it requires that every 120 days a report be tabled in the Legislature that speaks about the progress of these emergency orders and their status etc., and that was done on November 22 of this past year.

So those are two accountability measures that I was speaking about: We have to make sure that it’s extended or else it expires and we have to make sure that reports are tabled in the Legislature. Then, also, we have our Select Committee on Emergency Management Oversight that has to meet every 30 days to go over the emergency orders that are in effect, and the Premier is required to send a representative to the select committee.

Speaker, this has been somewhat unprecedented in Ontario’s history: We’ve had a member of the cabinet who has appeared before this committee almost every 30 days throughout the pandemic to answer on behalf of the government what is happening, to make sure that members of this Legislature know why these emergency orders are in effect and the rationale behind them.

I think that’s been such an important mechanism, and I really commend the House leader for bringing this forward and for working with members of this chamber to introduce that accountability measure to make sure that we react and support those who need it most.

Speaker, when we’re required to table our report to the Legislative Assembly, there’s two things that the government must report on. The first is that we need to report on the orders that were extended during the reporting period, because many of these orders have specific time frames in place and some of them end up needing to be extended. So that’s the first piece. Then, the second piece is, of course, explaining the rationale of these extensions and why we have had to bring them forward.

Now I want to speak a bit about some of these specific emergency orders and what exactly they are, because I think there’s a lot of, perhaps, confusion out there about what specifically these emergency orders are that the government has had to bring in place. Now, many of them, Ontarians would be familiar with. These are some of the ones that have already expired and those were ones that brought in place some of the measures to keep Ontarians at home, to keep people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those were some examples of emergency orders that have since expired.

There were also orders that allowed us to react rapidly to emerging outbreaks at long-term-care homes or retirement homes. For example, some of the emergency orders allowed for the province to deploy additional hospital resources to a long-term-care home that was in an outbreak situation, that required that immediate support to help get them through those tremendously trying days in the middle of the pandemic.

There were also orders in place that mandated single-employer status. To make sure that some of our incredibly valuable PSWs weren’t having to go between multiple long-term-care homes, potentially putting at risk outbreaks in those homes, these orders allowed us to mandate that folks work for a single employer throughout the COVID-19 pandemic—again providing additional protection to those PSWs as well as the residents at those homes.

Speaker, some of the emergency orders that we’re talking about were put in place to support some of our small businesses. One of the most popular that I hear about quite often in my riding was the extension of patio season, which came about through an emergency order, to make sure that our small businesses could get some of those additional weeks and days that they could have their patios open and continue to have business when they weren’t allowed to welcome patrons into their restaurants.

I remember being down here at the Legislature last May, and it had been a long winter where none of us were able to go into restaurants because of the ongoing pandemic. Suddenly, we had a beautiful, beautiful early summer day in early May, and I remember leaving the Legislature and thinking, “You know what? I wish one of the restaurants was open.” Sure enough, there was a pub just down street that had opened up its patio, and there we had an opportunity to gather with a couple of close friends and family and enjoy a nice meal outside. That, again, was an example of an emergency order that was brought into place to support some of our small businesses throughout this difficult time.

I’m really pleased to announce that our Associate Minister for Small Business and Red Tape Reduction is actually bringing forward legislation that will enshrine that particular emergency order in legislation permanently, because sometimes in the middle of a crisis we stumble upon something that should have been done ages ago, that just makes common sense, something like this that allows us to support our small businesses and give them extra business and make sure that Ontarians can enjoy some of our beautiful patios that I’m sure each and every one of us has in our riding. So that extension of patio season is going to be enshrined in legislation that Minister Tangri will be bringing forward.

Speaker, those are just some examples of these emergency orders and how they’ve made a difference throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting our front-line workers, helping our businesses, keeping Ontarians safe.

I want to go a little bit more minutely and I want to speak a little bit about how these emergency orders provide a case study of how they were actually used in my riding. At the onset of the pandemic, I took the time to reach out to all of the developmental services agencies in my riding. For those listening at home, our developmental services agencies are a number of agencies that each of us have in our home ridings that support individuals with developmental disabilities.

They provide congregate care, so group home settings for folks with special needs, they provide day programming, respite services, all sorts of incredibly critical things that support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

Of course, at the onset of the pandemic everyone was incredibly concerned about our congregate care settings. A lot of folks focused, rightly, on our long-term-care residences where we knew we had vulnerable seniors who were at highest risk of COVID-19, but I wanted to make sure that some of those other individuals with developmental disabilities in the congregate care settings also had access to the highest level of protections throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. So I started bringing together on a weekly basis all of our developmental services agencies in Ottawa for a Zoom round table.

All of us got very used to doing Zoom round tables. I kept saying I wished I could collect Zoom air miles, because I feel like right now I could probably fly to Australia and back a couple of times. Meeting with these developmental services agencies allowed me to hear right away what some of those challenges were on the ground.

I want to just take a moment to recognize the folks who came together around that table. There was a wonderful group. We continue to meet on a monthly basis. There was Dave Ferguson from OCAPDD, Jocelyne Paul from Ottawa-Carleton Lifeskills, Gina St. Amour from the Ottawa Rotary Home, Risa Plotnick from Tamir Ottawa, Daniela Bara from L’Arche Ottawa and Mitchell Bellman from Service Coordination Support. Meeting with them on a weekly basis, those individuals were able to pinpoint for me where the vulnerabilities were, where we needed additional resources.

Sometimes it was things as simple as, how can we make sure that PPE is getting down to these homes, these workers, these residents. And we worked very closely with the then Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, now the Minister of Energy. I thank him for the close collaboration that we had during the pandemic. We would work with him and his office to make sure that there was a dedicated stream of PPE available for those developmental services agencies.

It also meant making sure that emergency orders that were in place would impact those in congregate care settings. For example, that single-employer mandate that I mentioned before was something so critical in our long-term-care homes and equally critical in our developmental services congregate care settings, because we needed to make sure that the workers going into those congregate care settings weren’t moving around to multiple different settings where they could be transmitting COVID-19 unwarily to other homes, other residents, other workers. We made sure that that emergency order was in place for those congregate care settings.

Speaker, another piece of that was making sure that those workers in our developmental services congregate care had access to emergency daycare, something that was put in place for our health care workers. We needed to make sure that it was also there for our developmental services workers, because we couldn’t afford to be short-staffed at this time of crisis. We needed to make sure that our homes had the adequate staff to support these residents during this time of crisis, so making sure that those staff had access to daycare was something else that we had to make sure we were dealing with.

And making sure that the staff had access to the pandemic pay increase to allow those agencies to continue to attract good staff who wanted to be there, who wanted to do their part through COVID-19 supporting these vulnerable individuals. All of these things were examples of how I was able to work with these agencies in Ottawa, bring their feedback to the government and make sure that we were responding nimbly and as folks would expect their government to respond in a pandemic, to be able to adapt to changing situations on the ground and protect our residents.

I’m really proud, Speaker, that for the most part our developmental services agencies in Ottawa fared quite well throughout the pandemic. I really cannot thank all of those agency heads enough for all of their hard work and their leadership, and also of course to thank all of their staff, who have done just a phenomenal job, just like our PSWs. Oftentimes, our DSWs don’t often get enough recognition, so allow me to just take a moment in this speech to sincerely thank our developmental services workers, our DSWs, for everything that they do to keep our folks protected.

Speaker, throughout that, we met to deal in a reactive way with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but a silver lining has been that we’ve now continued those meetings and we’re now talking about and getting feedback on what sort of proactive steps we can take to improve that sector going forward, talking about how do we attract more DSWs into the sector, how do we keep them there, how do we make sure that these agencies are adequately resourced to support the most vulnerable Ontarians in good times and in bad. So, Speaker, that again has been a true silver lining out of the pandemic, that we’ve continued to be able to deal with that ongoing situation.

There’s so many examples that I could go into about how these emergency orders have helped on the ground. Another one that I can speak of a little bit is my work with the United Way in eastern Ontario. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Way in Ottawa pulled together a community response table; it was about 75 different community agencies reflecting a vast variety of different community needs, whether it was supports for refugees, whether it was mental health supports, whether it was support for women fleeing violence—all of these different issues.

Every month we tackled one of those issues and gave the opportunity for those agencies to talk about the issues on the ground and to brainstorm potential solutions.

I was really honoured to be the provincial representative at that table and so got to be there working with all of these agencies, working with our partners in the municipal and federal governments to be able to pivot and respond. It was wonderful. I had the opportunity to bring a number of ministers forward to speak to that United Way community response table. We had the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions who spoke to that community response table, which was fantastic.

Again, the former Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues, all of them came forward and met with the group, heard about those issues and were able to take that feedback and bring it into the emergency order situation and make sure that we could continue to respond to protect some of those most vulnerable Ontarians who needed that protection.

Of course, Speaker, beyond the emergency orders, one of the biggest pieces there was the unprecedented investment of over $1 billion through the social services relief fund that was getting down to those agencies, that was being used on the ground to support those who needed it most. These agencies were so innovative. They were coming up with truly remarkable ways and solutions to access some of those people who needed help when everybody was stuck at home and so many supports were being moved into a virtual setting.

All of this is to say that these emergency orders have been so important throughout COVID-19. Obviously, some of them have now lapsed and we no longer need them, but there are some of them that we need to keep in place for the time being to make sure that we can continue to protect some of our most vulnerable, support our front-line heroes and make sure that Ontarians are protected from COVID-19, and that’s why we’re doing this extension today. We’re going to keep these accountability measures in place. We’re going to have the select committee continuing to meet, providing access to ministers.

We’re going to have the reporting mechanism in place and we’re going to bring these extensions forward to the Legislature.

I’m pleased to support this extension, Speaker, and I thank you for indulging my remarks this morning.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

This government could put an end to that urgently and they choose not to. That, Speaker, is truly shameful—truly shameful. People are being put in harm’s way and this government could do something about it and they’re not. Instead, we are here because they are trying to extend their powers under the emergency order.

Speaker, really, I don’t have a lot of time to speak. I’m going to try and get through as much as I possibly can. This government has been a step or more behind for this entire pandemic, ignoring the advice of experts and the needs of everyday Ontarians.

As a Gretzky, I can’t pass up an opportunity to use a sports analogy. I’m going to quote a family member of mine, Wayne Gretzky, who said, “A good player plays where the puck is, a great player plays where the puck is going.” Frankly, the Premier and his Conservative government have done neither of those things during this pandemic. They are always well behind where we are and where we need to go. The foresight is missing.

Frankly, Speaker, oftentimes when you have the health experts, the science experts and those people working on the front lines—whether that is in health care, education, long-term care or congregate care settings—the government disregards or dismisses the advice that they are being given that would actually start to get us ahead of this virus and get us out of this pandemic.

During this entire time, things have just been getting harder and harder for the people of the province. The cost of everything is going up. And rather than addressing the housing crisis, rather than addressing the food crisis, this government takes this power grab and ensures that those with the most—their friends and well-connected insiders—are getting everything that they need to get even further ahead while everyday Ontarians, the majority of the people in this province, are getting none of what they need and are getting even further and further behind.

They haven’t brought in urgently anything to address paid sick days. In fact, they voted against paid sick days. On a good day, people in this province should have paid sick days, but certainly we have seen that, during a global pandemic, people need paid sick days.

Again, as this government looks to extend these extraordinary powers that it has given itself and continue those until March 28—I should point out: I said the government has this lack of planning or foresight, but apparently they can predict that the pandemic will end on March 28, 2022. As of today, anyway, that’s their prediction, March 28, 2022, because that’s how long they want to extend these overreaching powers for themselves. We can hope that it will be over by then. I certainly hope it will be over by then. I hope it’s over before then.

But the government has put an end date on this virus, is lifting vaccine mandates that are in place, because they certainly haven’t put mandates in all the places they need to be. They’re lifting vaccine mandates and the vaccine passports, and they’re looking to lift masking and social distancing before they predict, through their crystal ball, that this pandemic will be over.

Speaker, I can tell you what I’m hearing from my constituents, even the ones that, although they didn’t like it in the beginning, understood why certain measures had to be in place and why those had to be really strong measures. I think it was said by one of my colleagues in the House yesterday that nobody wanted to be in lockdown. Nobody wants to be in lockdown, but many understood why it was necessary. They don’t have to like it, but understood why it was necessary.

Speaker, I want to take the opportunity to talk about some of those measures, specifically in the congregate care settings. I want to point out to the members in this House and the people potentially watching at home that when we talk about congregate care settings, although there’s updated guidance—it’s not rules; it’s not legislated. The government could do that through my More Than a Visitor Act. They supported it the first time it came through the House and they can do that now.

So while there’s guidance that is being followed by some long-term-care homes, there are many individuals living in group homes, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are still—still, to this day. How many months in are we now? Twenty months into this pandemic, and they’re still being denied that consistent, meaningful access to their designated caregivers, to their families. In this government, there’s no urgency to address that. They could have addressed it in September of last year when I tabled my bill.

I tabled a motion in the summer; they could have addressed it then, but they didn’t. In fact, what they did was, they prorogued the Legislature to ensure that every bill on the order paper died and we all had to start over again.

The Premier has done nothing to ensure that those that are struggling financially, especially low-income workers, had the boost that they need in order to be able to make a wage to be able to afford a home, or rent, or food. In fact, the Premier, when he first got elected, said no to a minimum wage increase. And now, just months before an election, he wants to be the hero by saying, “Okay. We’ll give you a little bit.” It’s not enough now. It’s not enough now, but this is what we see from this Premier, where he comes in and he says, “Absolutely not. We’re scrapping this,” or “We’re not going to do that.

Absolutely not.” And then, just a few months before an election, he comes in and says, “I’m a great guy. I’m going to do this now. Vote for me. I always meant to do this. Vote for me.”

He hasn’t done anything to lower gas prices. Everybody in this House, I’m sure, remembers the Premier: “We’re going to get those gas prices down.” Well, they haven’t gone down. They haven’t gone down. In Windsor, the cost is high, and we are usually one of the lowest-cost jurisdictions for everything. Ours are really high. In the north, I don’t know how people afford groceries and gas without taking out another mortgage on their home. And, yet, this government has done nothing to address that.

Speaker, the government wants to extend their extraordinary power under the emergency orders, but they haven’t urgently worked to bring in $10-a-day child care. There’s no urgency with them for that. How are we to believe, when we look at the price of gas, when we look at auto and home insurance—in my area alone, some the highest auto and home insurance rates, something the Premier promised to address when he was elected, and it hasn’t happened. He’s allowed them to continue to rise.

So when they say that they’re going to do those things and they don’t deliver, how are we supposed to believe and how are the people of the province supposed to believe the members on that side of the House, who stand up and say that it’s all about openness and transparency—“We need this motion to pass because we’re open and transparent”—when there has been nothing open or transparent that they have done, really, since taking office, let alone throughout the pandemic?

Frankly, it’s about the Premier not wanting to spend the money where it needs to be spent: on health care, on education, on paid sick days, on raising rates for people with disabilities that are on ODSP. Do you know, Speaker, that with the cost of inflation and the rise in the cost of everything in this province, an individual with a disability is further behind now because there have been no increases—no substantial increases—to social assistance? They are actually further behind than they were 17 years ago—17 years ago.

They can’t secure housing, they can’t get food, they have trouble paying for transportation and they have trouble getting supplies for their specific medical needs. This government wants to extend their power to do whatever they want, including taking over decision-making for municipalities—they want to do that because it’s urgent, but people with disabilities living in abject poverty is not urgent for this government.

Nearly 4,000 seniors died alone in long-term care in the midst of this pandemic. Now, we all knew, in this House, that there were problems in long-term care. My NDP colleagues and I, the workers in long-term care, the unions that represent them, the families have been raising alarm bells for years about the issues in long-term care. I will admit: Nobody expected us to be in the position where we are in the middle of a pandemic. But this government did nothing to address any of the issues that led to the horrors that we saw in long-term care. They did nothing to try to negate those from happening.

In fact, when we talk about the priorities of the government and openness and transparency, when we address the members opposite who are saying, “Just trust us. Give us these powers and trust us. We’ll do you right”—look at what happened in long-term care: 4,000 seniors died in long-term care under this government’s watch, and the government’s response was to push through legislation to protect those private, for-profit long-term-care operators who were making millions of dollars in revenues and doling out millions of dollars to their shareholders. This government said, “We’re going to protect you through legislation so that you can’t be libel for that negligence.”

Not only did they protect those long-term-care operators, many of whom are Conservative insiders, donors, former Premiers and MPPs, but this government protected themselves from liability. So I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that the people on this side of the House and the people of the province don’t trust the government side, don’t believe that the government side should have these powers, because they’ve proven what happens. They’ve proven what their priorities are.

The government side gets up and talks about the health care heroes, the front-line nurses, but brought in Bill 124, which suppresses the wages of nurses. In a pandemic, it nonetheless suppresses the wages of nurses. While nurses are being run off their feet—they have mental stress, physical stress and they’re doing everything they can to keep all of us safe and healthy and alive—this government’s response was to say to a workforce that is largely made up of women, “We don’t believe that you should be able to bargain fair wages.

We’re going to bring in a bill that says you’re capped at 1%.” And I want everyone to know that, based on inflation—I think it was 4.7%—that is actually a cut to their wages. This government could urgently repeal Bill 124. They haven’t done it. So, again, why would we trust them with the powers they’re asking for now?

I have a lot more here and I’m almost out of time, but I want to make sure that I mention the workers at Stellantis back home in my riding. We lost the third shift last year, they’ve announced that the second shift will be going, and this Premier has done nothing—nothing; no concrete steps. I mean, when the third shift left, he didn’t even bother to return phone calls or emails to the president, Dave Cassidy, of Local 444. When Oshawa closed, he just waved those jobs goodbye, just like he did in Windsor.

If the Premier thinks that he needs to do something urgently, then I suggest that he get on that, that he ensure that those thousands of jobs in my community, and others across the province, are secure by having a real, concrete auto strategy so that we don’t lose any more of those jobs, and, in fact, we can build on them and create more of them.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Mr. Roman Baber: Ten days ago, the head of the Ontario science table said that we need two weeks to flatten the curve. Almost 20 months later, after the longest and harshest lockdown in the world and the longest school closure in the world; passports which Ontarians are supposed to present to strangers to get a bowl of soup at Tim Hortons; when doctors, nurses, first responders and everyone else are coerced into a medical procedure or lose their job; after we’ve done what the government has asked of us and 90% of us are vaccinated—after all of that, we go back to where we were 20 months ago for two more weeks to flatten the curve.

Now the government needs to extend the emergency orders by another four months. What does that tell us? It tells us that they were wrong about everything. They were wrong about the lockdown and the effect of the lockdown. They attribute cases going down to the lockdown, but, miraculously, the pattern is the same: Every time we approach May, cases go down. It’s not lockdown; it’s seasonality. The governor of California, a big purveyor of lockdowns, admitted a couple of days ago that it’s seasonality and it was never about the strategy or how many people get COVID. It should have been about who gets COVID, because the illness is so highly transmissible.

On October 15, Statistics Canada confirmed that more than 80% of everyone who regretfully died from COVID died in a long-term-care home. The average age is on par with life expectancy and one or more comorbidities. That doesn’t mean that we should take COVID lightly or leave the vulnerable people destitute—no. We need to protect long-term-care homes. We need to protect the frail and elderly. We need to look at evidence objectively, end the mass hysteria and respond to the actual crisis before us. The groupthink, the politically correct narrative, fortified by cancel culture, led to the greatest policy error of our lifetime and it is now leading to the segregation of a whole group of people.

Look at the evidence, Speaker: We now have two years and we’re still behaving as if it’s March or April 2020. But it’s this government that kept feeding the fearmongering narrative to justify its own actions.

Here’s what happened. The Premier was late to the game on March 17, 2020. He was already accused of being a COVID denier because on March 12, 2020, he told everyone to go and enjoy their vacation. So, after the weekend, his advisers probably got together and they decided that they’re going to get ahead of it and they’re never going to deviate from what public health says. To be clear: I think Premier Ford himself disagrees with his own government policy. The Premier agrees with me and so do most government members. This is all a show. All of this is a show, except they do not have the courage to admit it and they allow the catastrophe to go on.

Remember what the Premier said on March 13, 2021. He was at Centennial College and he said: “No politician will disagree with the medical officer. Disagreeing with the medical officer is like tying a noose around your neck and going off a bridge.... I’m telling you the truth, it’s not going to happen.”

The Premier forgot who he was talking to at that moment. He thought he was talking to his caucus or his cabinet. He forgot he was talking to the media and he told everyone what he really thought—that not following the insane course that we were on may amount to a political disaster for him. That tells you everything you need to know about what’s happening here today. It’s not about COVID. It’s not about health care. It’s not about keeping people safe. It’s about politics.

That quote was also very demeaning and insensitive toward anyone who suffered mental health anguish as a result of the pandemic and the lockdowns, and toward the families of those who self-harmed.

Every day this government looks at opinion polling, and this is where the polling led them to. They created all this fearmongering and now they have to respond to it. They also have to justify their actions so they have to feed more fear. Now they can’t retreat from it. They are stuck. Instead of calling out public health, they decided to take a back seat.

But how did they not make the distinction with long-term-care homes, and allow for this catastrophe to unfold? Why did more people die in the second wave in long-term-care homes than in the first wave? All of this is a distraction because of their failure to protect long-term care, because of the fundamental unwillingness by public health, the science table and the celebrity doctors to admit that they were wrong.

Public health was wrong about everything. Even when the science evolved, public health continued to deny science. Let’s look at some examples. We understood very early on that there’s no transmission on surfaces, but public health has not acknowledged that until recently, and the obsessive cleaning at my Metro grocery store continues.

They claim that it’s a droplet virus. That’s one thing I agree with, with my buddy David Fisman: It’s not droplet; it’s aerosol. The New York Times had a piece on this in the summer of 2020. We still can’t admit that it’s not a droplet virus because acknowledging that distinction will make so much of what we’ve done for the last two years completely absurd. We had evidence that it’s not droplet when the restaurants opened in New York in spring 2020. People were getting COVID through the ventilation, but they continued to suggest that it’s droplet as late as last week. Finally, Dr. Tam admitted last week that it’s not droplet. It took them two years.

Until two weeks ago we had restrictions outdoors. Why? Why this theatre of the absurd? We know that the virus does not transmit outdoors, but they prohibit gatherings. The government cannot point to a single example of an outbreak outdoors—not one—and yet we denied gatherings, assembly and expression. People were getting arrested for holding a Canadian flag at Dundas Square because they wanted their kid back in school or because they wanted to open their shop.

They claimed that they wanted to reduce mobility, remember? We’re talking about mobility. They were going to implement a police state on April 16, but 34 out of 35 police forces in the province said no, God bless their hearts. But then they were wrong about mobility, because as mobility increased into the spring and summer, cases decreased, but the talk about mobility by public health still went on.

For two years, they refused to utter the words “natural immunity.” Natural immunity is the first principle of immunology. But we’re firing nurses and paramedics who had COVID because of the cancel culture that the Premier has succumbed to, because he wants to be loved and re-elected. Millions of lives are broken, Speaker. Millions of families are broken.

The goalposts kept moving every month, for the last 20 months. Public health knew of resistant variants as early as November 2020. Moderna said on January 12 that their shot is only good for a year. Pfizer was talking about a booster about a year ago. But public health continued to insist that we needed to reach herd immunity. How are you going to reach herd immunity with a leaky vaccine? How are we going to reach herd immunity when the efficacy wanes after six to eight months, and yet the government continues to deny science—which is why now it needs two more weeks to flatten the curve and four more months of emergency orders.

Despite this policy of destruction, they’re coming back for more. They want an ability to reimpose lockdowns, to reimpose restrictions without any limitations, without coming back to Parliament and having a debate. Does it sound right to anyone, conceptually, that we should have emergency orders without a declaration of a state of emergency? If they want emergency orders, if they believe that there’s an emergency or if they require extraordinary action that will only be available through emergency orders, then they should declare a state of emergency. They should put their money where their mouth is.

Instead, they have a government-controlled committee which rubber-stamps everything the Minister of Health and the Solicitor General put before it. They’re not even allowed to ask questions, the government members. They have staffers out of university writing down questions for them that they’re permitted to ask. I don’t even know what it is they do here and why they don’t stand up for their constituents. Instead, they’re suffocating small business, suffocating hospitals, suffocating school boards and suffocating children, literally and figuratively.

The greatest denial of science is the failure to acknowledge that, thankfully and statistically, kids are almost at no risk. We should celebrate that. We should shout it from the rooftops. But instead, we’re scaring children: “Stay away from Jenny. If you play with Jenny, you’ll get the virus, and grandma will die.” That’s the generation we just raised. That is the catastrophe we’ve caused to Ontario’s children when we put them in boxes in the schoolyard and behind Plexiglas, in masks for eight hours.

I was joking with someone the other day. I was out for dinner this weekend—not a physically distanced dinner—that we should substitute all the classroom tables with restaurant tables, because that way it’s probably safe, and the kids should be able to take off their masks and even talk while they eat. How come the adults are allowed to go out for dinner, sit down, take off their mask, eat and talk with no physical distancing, but kids, who are known to transmit less, who are statistically at almost no risk, are not allowed to take off their masks when they sit at their desk, are not allowed to talk during lunch?

Speaker, none of this makes any sense. None of it ever did. A smart lawyer taught me once and for life—and it’s served me very well—that if it doesn’t make sense, it probably doesn’t work.

Interjection.

Mr. Roman Baber: My neighbour from Sault Ste. Marie should return calls to his constituents instead of heckling me.

Here’s what it is: It’s a respiratory virus, Speaker. It’s dangerous. For anyone who wants to understand COVID, here is my take on COVID: It’s dangerous to folks at end of life, especially with comorbidities. It’s very transmissible and it may be risky to folks with metabolic conditions, particularly diabetes. But it’s no cause to reorder society, to lock down people, to close schools or shut down our businesses. We have never done that before.

I know we don’t even talk about businesses, because the Conservatives are the new NDP now. They’re the party of yes, the party that can pay non-efficiencies and gravy trains. They’re now the party of yes. How many lives—how many businesses have been shuttered by virtue of these emergency orders?

According to the CFIB, an average business took on $170,000 worth of COVID-related debt. This is despite the fact that they were not responsible for much of the spread. You see, most of the spread is actually happening within government-run institutions. Why can’t we leave kids alone and leave small business alone? The saddest part, Speaker, is that all of this was foreseeable.

Lockdown is deadlier than COVID. I wrote that a year ago, which is why I now sit on this side of the House. Finally, the Minister of Health admitted yesterday that people died from related causes other than COVID, and the evidence against them is piling up. Lockdown is deadlier than COVID. I know that most members on the other side know it. The Premier knows it. I think the media is coming around to it. The Liberals play pretend. Some Dippers get it. But everyone here is still pretending. Yes, this is on all of us.

Let’s look at evidence. Look at the Toronto Star on May 19 this year, a day or two after Public Health Ontario released their report—

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Order, please. I’m sorry to interrupt the member from York Centre. We’re having cross-aisle dialogue which isn’t enhancing the debate. I have to listen to what the member is saying and I can’t always hear him if we’re doing the cross-aisle thing. So, please, he has another seven minutes.

I return to the member for York Centre.

Mr. Roman Baber: Let’s look at the evidence, okay? The Toronto Star comes out on May 19, two days after public health opined on overdose. The increase in overdose—

Interjection.

Mr. Roman Baber: The member from Sault Ste. Marie has a crisis in his riding and he’s heckling me over overdose. Shame on him.

The increase in overdose alone in people under 50 is more than double than all of those who passed away from COVID. Look at Statistics Canada this year on excess mortality last year. During some periods, excess mortality is 3 to 1 on other causes versus COVID. Don’t bury your head in the sand; go look at the evidence.

We have a mental health catastrophe, especially in pediatric mental health. We’ve always had hallway health care, but now CHEO and McMaster Children’s Hospital don’t have any pediatric mental health beds left. A quarter of a million surgeries were postponed. How many people are going to die as a result of that? We deserve an answer. A million cancer screenings were missed. How many people will die because they were diagnosed late?

Just under a year ago, when I warned the government about the mental health catastrophe, about the drastic increase in overdose and the pending tsunami of cancer that Princess Margaret hospital was worried about, I was accused of misinformation and removed from caucus. Instead of recognizing that we’re on a collision course with an iceberg, the government House leader decided to flex his muscle.

The deputy leader of the NDP: The only thing the NDP had to say in response to me sounding the alarm was that we need to recall Parliament a month early so they can take away my committee chair, so I make $1,000 less for the following month. That’s what the opposition thinks about children who are self-harming and the human catastrophe of overdose that is gripping their own ridings.

COVID is real and it can be deadly. Two very close people in my life lost a family member to COVID. It breaks my heart, but that doesn’t change the objective evidence that lockdown is deadlier than COVID.

If the point is to save lives, then we’re not saving any lives. We are costing and harming lives. This motion will cost lives.

I would like to conclude with portions of an

article cited by the CBC last Sunday by Dr. Sheila Singh, a pediatric neurosurgeon from McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton. Dr. Singh published an

article in Brighter World on October 5, 2021. Among other things, she writes as follows—this is a Hamilton brain surgeon, a pediatric surgeon. I’ll quote and I’m editing some:

“Many aggressive brain cancers occur before the age of five, and are difficult to diagnose in young children....

“Very often in the last year or so, I have seen children for the first time when they have already reached the end stage of brain cancer....” These “are children whose lives we could have saved if ... diagnosed even six months earlier....

“Sometimes families were too reluctant to take their children to see their family physicians, or regular care was only accessible through” virtual “appointments, where so much less information is available to the clinician. This includes the vital observations that can only come from a physical examination....

“The fear and distraction generated by our approach to the pandemic drowned out other concerns, with dreadful consequences,” says the doctor from Hamilton.

“Sadly, I’m certain that these preventable deaths are happening throughout the health care system, among children and adults alike. Patients have delayed seeking diagnosis and treatment because they were more afraid of the virus than of whatever else was happening.

“My colleagues talk about adult patients who skipped diagnostic procedures like colonoscopies, ignored chest pains or failed to investigate other serious concerns.”

Speaker, she says, “As we appear to be emerging from the worst stages of the pandemic, I am bracing myself to see more children with advanced terminal cancer, knowing they could have lived if not for this well-meaning but misguided approach.”

I want to be very clear, Mr. Speaker, these cancer deaths in these children, resulting from delayed diagnosis, are the fault of this government. This government, this Premier, this health minister, this Solicitor General, are responsible for every one of these children. And the opposition and the independent Liberals who have no courage to stand up for the vulnerable, for the minorities, for the children, just like they have no courage to stand up against the segregation that is now happening in our province, they too are responsible for the catastrophe that this motion seeks to extend.

It is important to note that Dr. Singh pleads for more in-patient, old-fashioned care, when a doctor can have a good look and feel, particularly with patients who don’t communicate well, like children. And yet the Minister of Health releases a nonsensical survey that suggests that patients and doctors like virtual care. It’s the main complaint I get in my constituency office: “I want to be able to see a doctor in person.” There should be an option to see your doctor in person.

Speaker, more and more people are realizing the gravity of the disaster caused by this government and this pandemic. I wish I was wrong in my letter to the Premier of January 15, but I was right: Lockdown is deadlier than COVID. Any MPP with a working cell phone would have known that a year ago, and a lot of MPPs are now waking up in this House. Don’t look away; I can see all of you, and the public can see all of you.

Yesterday, the Minister of Health finally admitted that people died from other causes, and we’re going to dig down and get to the bottom of it. I just surely hope that the truth will prevail. It’s important that it does, or else groupthink and cancel culture will drive the response during the next pandemic or any other issue that we’re dealing with—labour, health care, the environment, our finances. We should entertain opinions instead of censoring them or punishing well-meaning professionals who tender opinion.

I hope the truth will prevail, although there are either of two ways that this is going to end: Either the narrative will continue crumbling down and the truth will prevail and everyone is going to be held accountable, or the narrative will reinforce itself with censorship and misinformation. Of course, government members want this narrative to stick for re-election purposes. It’s very unfortunate that the Conservative Party, which used to stand on principle and good government, on doing the right thing even if it was the unpopular thing, is now the party of yes.

Please withdraw this motion, protect long-term care, build hospital capacity and leave Ontarians alone. Going back to normal is the best thing we can do for the health care of Ontarians.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Mr. Bill Walker: It’s truly a pleasure to stand here and speak today in regard to government order number 3, the reopening Ontario act and the extension until March 28, 2022. It’s truly a pleasure to stand today.

What I want to do is start off by saying, again, a tremendous thank you, a heartfelt, sincere thank you, to every single person out there on our front-lines, in every capacity—I’m not going to try to name them, Mr. Speaker, but every single person who has stepped up and put themselves first for the betterment of our community, for the betterment of our world. I want to make sure that we do that. We truly have had heroes at every step of the journey that we’ve been on.

And none of us want to be on the journey, Mr. Speaker. Let’s make that absolutely clear, that nobody had a choice and we’ve done our best to try to get through it. But the people of Ontario have truly stepped up and ensured that we have been able to get through it. And, now, as we go through the reopening act, as we go through the recovery period, we are continuing to put the health and safety of people first, Mr. Speaker.

Volunteers, businesses, Ontarians, not-for-profits, every single person, every business, every group has been impacted by this. And, sadly, Mr. Speaker, I want to pay homage to those who have lost their lives during this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all family members who have been impacted. It’s why we must remain vigilant and continue to do all we can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.

Mr. Speaker, I was part of cabinet when all of this happened, and I can tell that you that every decision made was with the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province and the medical and scientific table. Nothing was done just on a whim to say, “We’re going to do this,” and it bothers me, frankly, when I hear members of the opposition or the other side suggesting that this is about partisanship, that it’s about the Premier, that it’s about someone making an individual—because, if they were in that room, which they weren’t—the people speaking from the opposition were not in that room.

They do not know. But I sat through every one of those meetings while I was a member of cabinet, and we truly put the thought of the people of Ontario as the greater good of our decision-making and we truly did rely on the expertise of the science and health table, those experts.

Again, even they had never been through something such as COVID-19 as a pandemic, but they were doing their best. They were using their knowledge, their experience, their education to guide us, and we truly listened to them at every step of the way and continue to do that. I’m extremely proud to have been part of that cabinet, and I commend my colleagues who are still at that cabinet table continuing to make the decisions that they are, and that includes the extension to this order.

Mr. Speaker, we have to do things in a prudent manner. We are continually looking at how we can gradually and safely lift these restrictions and ensure that we move forward every day to get back, as some members opposite have said, to normal, whatever that normal will be. We want to safely reopen. We want to go back to a cautious restart of those everyday activities. Every single one of us has had to step back and actually appreciate how good we had it and how flexible our world was to allow us to have things on a whim, but we need that steady recovery from the pandemic.

I want to also do a shout-out, in my particular case, to our medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Arra, and his whole team at the medical health unit and all of the people who are involved, again, in every capacity of our health care system particularly. I’m so proud at the end of the day—and I’m going to throw some stats out just so that I don’t run out of time—to commend Dr. Arra and his team:

—total doses for Grey Bruce vaccinations: 244,716;

—per cent of eligible population with one dose: 86.2%;

—per cent of eligible population with two doses: 83.4%;

—per cent of total population with one dose: 75.6%;

—per cent of total population with two doses: 73.2%.

They’ve continued to work together to support pharmacies and primary care to administer COVID vaccines, and continue to work together in support of Indigenous communities in administering and implementing vaccine strategies and plans. We had the GO-VAXX bus come to Grey Bruce back on October 24 and October 25: 47 doses administered in Ripley and 67 in Durham. Those two buses, as you know, were converted to serve as mobile vaccine clinics and were great additions to our area.

A highlight of the vaccine rollout of Grey Bruce in 2021 was that Grey Bruce was the only health unit that was a hot spot for less than four weeks, and lessons learned were shared with colleagues across the province. A new provincial COVID-19 booking system was tried as a trial in Grey Bruce, to be part of the process to find ways to improve and do it as efficiently and effectively as possible, and the ability to download the Grey Bruce COVID-19 vaccine app so that, again, people who wanted to could utilize the latest technology to be able to do that.

It was truly an honour and it continues to be an honour to work with a doctor who has dedicated his passion and his commitment—his life, frankly—to serving the people of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound and our great province.

I might have said it already in the House, but it’s worthy of a repeat: Dr. Arra, again, was the originator of the hockey hub. How much more Canadian can you get than a hockey hub to serve the people’s health of not only Ontario and Canada but, frankly, around the world? This hockey hub transformed the effectiveness, the ability and, frankly, the speed with which people could get vaccinated. It was set up in a standard hockey arena and could administer around 4,500 vaccines in a 10-hour shift of five vaccinators. Mr. Speaker, it truly was a game-changer.

The hub model capitalized on the optimal readiness and collaboration among Grey Bruce Health Unit, Grey and Bruce municipalities, police services in Grey and Bruce and community partners. It actually was hosted in Hanover in my riding, in Owen Sound in my riding and in Kincardine in neighbouring Huron–Bruce, Minister Thompson’s riding. Again, over 5,000 people a day on average were seen.

I want to send a special shout-out to Bruce Power because Brampton, we’ll recall, was a significant hot spot, and what happened is Dr. Arra reached out to their medical officer of health and said, “How can we help you?” What they said is, “It would be great to have one of your hockey hubs here in Brampton.” So they did, and Bruce Power mobilized and helped set that up very, very quickly, again, to try to put that fire out in the hot spot, Mr. Speaker. It was fantastic.

Then, people around the world started calling. New Zealand, for example: A three-day clinic there running July 30 to August 1 averaged over 5,000 patients administered vaccine a day.

We also have a vaccine task force that was set up in Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound to be able to do that. Again, we had a hot spot happen in one of our First Nations communities. Dr. Arra and team rushed in as quickly as they possibly could to help put out that fire and make sure we could. They’ve also gone to homebound residents in Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound to help with that—again, just fabulous, fabulous leadership and execution by Dr. Arra and his team at the Bruce Grey medical health unit.

Mr. Speaker, I want to return to some of the key points in regard to some of the misinformation that’s out there in regard to how decisions are made, were made and continue to be made, and it is always under the guidance and support of the medical officer of health and the health and science table. They guide us. What we’ve tried to do is make sure that we actually have very prudent, very measurable and very methodical processes.

Some people are suggesting you don’t need to have this act, that you don’t need to extend the time. Mr. Speaker, what I would suggest to you is that then means that we would not be able to act as swiftly; we would not be able to act as quickly. As we know, we will rise for Christmas recess early in December. If something happened—we saw it with version 4 of the—it happened, it moved very quickly, and we had to again make very quick decisions on something that’s rapidly moving. If you don’t have this act, if you don’t have the ability for cabinet and government to act quickly, you would have to reconvene.

You would have to come back and debate. That’s a time delay when people’s lives are hanging in the balance. What are the consequences of having to go through that long process as opposed to giving process and ability for the government to make decisions quickly and swiftly to protect the safety of the people we are given the pleasure to serve?

There’s a saying, “Extraordinary measures for extraordinary times,” and I truly believe COVID-19 has put us in that situation. We have to, as a government, regardless of what the political stripe would be, be given the ability to do the job, to make the safety and the health of the people of Ontario the absolute priority.

Mr. Speaker, we need to have acts like this that the Solicitor General is seeking to ensure we have flexibility and that we can move as quickly as we possibly can. We have, all the way through the pandemic, particularly in the recovery and now again in the reopening Ontario act—to move gradually, to move safely to reopen, to ensure that. The threat is still there, and we can’t lose sight, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we’re moving in the right direction; yes, we’ve been able to take back some of the precautions because we have as a society, as a community, as fellow friends of each other and family, stepped up and done the right thing so we are able to safely and gradually reopen, but that threat is still there. We still need to be vigilant, and we still need to be able to perform as quickly and rapidly to adjust.

Just as the vaccines have helped significantly—and to every single person out there who has stepped forward to have a vaccine, thank you, because not only are you doing it for yourself, more importantly, you’re doing it for others.

We will continue wherever we can to ease restrictions, but we will maintain the important select measures to protect the people from the ongoing threat of COVID-19. This act, the reopening Ontario act, allows—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Allow me to stand and say, unfortunately, sir, you have run out of time at this stage of the debate because the agenda says that we move on to members’ statements.

Debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): You will have the opportunity later when this matter is back on the floor to continue with your presentation. Thank you so much.

Wearing of pins

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): I recognize the member from London North Centre with a point of order.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: I’d like to ask the House’s permission to wear a diabetes pin for my member’s statement today.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for London North Centre is seeking unanimous consent without notice to wear a diabetes pin when it is his turn to do a member’s statement. Are we agreed? Agreed.

Members’ Statements

Land use planning

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: Last week, a new carving by Garrett Nahdee of the Seven Grandfather Teachings was unveiled inside the legislative chamber at Queen’s Park. The eagle, beaver, turtle, wolf, bison, bear and raven represent the guiding principles of love, wisdom, truth, respect, humility, honesty and courage. They watch over us to urge us to legislate in a good way and to take legislative steps towards meaningful reconciliation—which, in turn, must mean working with community, including urban Indigenous communities, to co-create transit that safeguards the environment and our urban wetlands and ravines wherever we can.

The Friends of Small’s Creek and local community are incensed that Metrolinx is intending to clear-cut half the Small’s Creek ravine—one that is treasured by local Indigenous people—and destroy its precious wetland in the coming days, because it is completely and utterly unnecessary. Engineers have outlined alternative approaches that would preserve the integrity of the ravine and wetland and save many of the ravine’s mature trees.

The bigger, systemic issue is that Metrolinx has been designed to not engage in meaningful consultation with community. Yesterday, the Auditor General blasted the government for exactly this failure where it concerns the environment. It’s time to do things differently. We can build transit and save our precious wetlands and ravines. There is no need to choose between them.

The Seven Grandfathers’ guiding principles must be central in everything we do, including building transit that doesn’t destroy the environment. It’s the only way that we will build Ontario in a good way, for everyone who lives here.

Places of religious worship

Mr. Billy Pang: This September, I was honoured to attend and speak at the Intercommunity Breakfast Summit. Organized by the Canadian Coptic Foundation, this summit was joined by many religious communities, including Greek Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Jewish, Hindu and more. This event created a space for attendees to openly discuss and create an appropriate response towards a growing concern many of us here also share: the concern regarding the incidents of targeted attacks on churches throughout our country.

According to the organizer, to date, over 68 churches of different denominations have been vandalized or set on fire across Canada. And, I want to emphasize, this number is just for this year alone.

Targeted attacks against churches and places of worship are wrong and unacceptable. Such crimes and acts of hatred have no place in Ontario and Canada. Ontario was built on the backs of Ontarians from different cultural and religious backgrounds. This is what makes Ontario unique, and this is what makes us strong.

Mr. Speaker, every Canadian, regardless of their religion or denomination, has the right to feel safe when they practise their faith. Here in Ontario, let’s raise more awareness towards this issue and continue to work together and stand against religious violence in all of its forms.

Electric vehicles

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: The Premier recently shared his plan to get electric vehicles built in Ontario. Unfortunately, like many of the Premier’s announcements, there is no substantial plan for how the Conservatives will motivate Ontarians to buy electric vehicles. An NDP government would start by reinstating the Electric Vehicle Charging Incentive Program that this government cancelled in 2018.

Though the Premier calls it a millionaire’s incentive, it’s not millionaires buying the award-winning Chrysler Pacifica that is built in my riding of Windsor West, it’s hard-working, middle-class families in my community and across Ontario that are looking for a reliable, built-in-Ontario vehicle—people who work in restaurants, grocery stores, health care, schools, auto parts manufacturing and those at Windsor assembly who build the Pacifica. It’s the people who work hard, give back to the community and live under constant uncertainty about their job security.

Thousands of my constituents lost their auto jobs while the Premier waves them goodbye, without any concrete plan to retain these jobs. Windsor assembly lost their third shift last year, and the second shift is now in jeopardy too. We continue to lose good-paying auto jobs to countries that offer incentives to buy electric vehicles.

The Premier said he won’t bring back incentives because of slow EV sales. News flash for the Premier: The purpose of incentives is to increase sales and usage of electric vehicles. By reinstating EV incentive programs and building back the charging stations his government removed, it would demonstrate a real commitment to the auto industry as our country competes to secure once-in-a-generation investment against other countries.

The Premier must immediately rethink his decision and offer incentives to promote EV sales, protect our environment and help save thousands of jobs in my community and across the province.

Shoshinkan Martial Arts

Mr. Michael Parsa: Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with Sensei Steve Armes, the director and chief instructor at Shoshinkan Martial Arts, to celebrate the dojo’s 10-year anniversary. Mr. Armes and his team instruct martial arts classes and teach self-defence to hundreds of youth and adults across my riding of Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill.

But, Speaker, joining a dojo goes beyond learning self-defence. They focus on developing patterns of thinking and problem-solving. When speaking to the staff and students at this event, it was quite clear that a dojo’s main goal is more than just teaching martial arts.

As students progress through the ranks, they develop life skills which promote a strong and disciplined mindset which will remain with them for life. Such skills include service to the community and unconditional support to anyone who is in need of assistance. Senpais also teach their students how to develop a relentless work ethic to achieve their goals, and obtaining a black belt, which is the highest honour, means you possess the leadership skills to not only defend yourself, but to also serve others around you.

Speaker, I’m proud of Shoshinkan Martial Arts for their commitment to helping people in my riding. Their work is vital to developing future leaders in our province. I want to thank Steve once again for being a wonderful leader in our community. Your commitment to helping others is very much appreciated.

Diabetes

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: I recently had the honour to be at Banting House in my riding of London North Centre to mark World Diabetes Day, Dr. Banting’s birthday and the 100th anniversary of insulin, a defining moment in Canadian and world history. Along with Charles Best, John J.R. Macleod and James Collip, Banting’s team changed the world for diabetics. They changed what was a life sentence for some and a starvation diet for many more into a full life, something many of us take for granted.

It’s also inspiring that these visionaries understood that no one should profit from another person’s ill health, selling the patent to U of T for $1. This is truly Canadian: that no one, regardless of their ability to pay, should be out of pocket for health care. Banting never profited from his discovery, and I believe that we must continue Banting and Best’s legacy, to ensure that diabetes supplies and testing equipment are fully covered by the province.

On May 13 this year, I was proud to vote in favour of the member from Essex’s Bill 272, opening the Assistive Devices Program to include flash glucose monitoring and continuous glucose monitoring devices. While this particular bill did not pass, it remains something everyone in this House should support for those living with diabetes. Diabetes is an expensive disease to manage, and equipment and supplies should be covered. Diabetics deserve universal pharmacare, no matter how old they are. Too many people on ODSP live under the poverty line, on the brink of financial ruin, simply trying to manage their diabetes.

This is wrong, and this is not Banting’s dream. Banting believed insulin belonged to the world, and I couldn’t agree more.

I’d like to thank Banting House’s curator, Grant Maltman, as well as the donors, sponsors, visitors and volunteers, for maintaining the flame of hope and Banting’s legacy.

Josée Forest-Niesing

M lle Amanda Simard: C’est avec tristesse que j’ai reçu la nouvelle samedi du décès de la sénatrice Josée Forest-Niesing, une fière Franco-Ontarienne dédiée au service public. Nous avons perdu une femme remarquable qui a défendu les intérêts de la communauté franco-ontarienne avec ardeur.

Au nom de tous les Franco-Ontariens, de tous les gens de Glengarry–Prescott–Russell et de mon équipe, je tiens à exprimer mes sincères condoléances aux proches de M me Forest-Niesing. Son temps ici fut limité, mais tellement bien investi. Nous sommes plus forts à cause d’elle.

Mr. Speaker, Senator Forest-Niesing died of complications of COVID-19. She had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year, but had an autoimmune disease that made her particularly vulnerable to the virus. Despite how far we’ve come, people continue to get sick and, sadly, die. Senator Forest-Niesing’s death is a very real reminder of the importance that we all get vaccinated—to protect ourselves, to protect others, but most importantly to protect people like Josée, the most vulnerable who cannot protect themselves. They are counting on us.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurpurab

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: Friday, November 19, marked Gurupurab, the 552nd birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Gurupurab is a holy and religious holiday for members of the Sikh community, including myself. It is celebrated as the birth of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the creator and founder of Sikhism.

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji was a renowned philosopher who travelled the world teaching the three pillars of Sikhism. These three principles are: Naam Japna, remembering God through meditation; Kirat Karni, earning an honest living; and Vand Chakna, sharing with the needy.

Sri Guru Nanek Dev Ji travelled the globe on foot with a mission of uniting the world through love and kindness. All of his teachings and lessons contributed to the creation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, which is the central holy religious scripture in Sikhi.

Through you, Speaker, I would like to highlight Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s selfless and kind nature. Gurupurab is celebrated to honour his life, achievements and, most importantly, his legacy. The holiest day of the year for Sikhs is typically celebrated through visiting the gurdwara and partaking in seva, which is

an act of selfless service that is performed without any expectation of result or award for performing it.

Health care workers

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: I stand today to follow up on a commitment I made to honour Nursing Week. Decision-makers in this chamber and across Ontario have expressed genuine gratitude to the experience of our front-line health care workers throughout the pandemic. While I recognize these expressions are genuine, I also see through the lens as a former front-line health care worker.

Next spring, Ontario will be hosting an election, and the front-line health care workers who have kept us safe deserve more than to be treated as political tokens, more than being labelled heroes but seeing no action or delayed action on health care issues. So the last few weeks I have reached out to most of the front-line health care organizations in Niagara. Simply, they want to push for meaningful action in this Legislature today. That means hospital funding and resources when nurses need them so they feel safe. But, at the core, show them that you want to fix the human resource crisis in health care today.

Do it by enacting a policy that hires more nurses and PSWs to reduce burnout and increase recruitment today, not just commitments that are too little and stretch too far in the future. That means removing Bill 124 that caps earnings below inflation, to increase retention.

Across Niagara, we are launching a petition where we will get hundreds of front-line health care workers to join in and say the same thing. Just because there is an election coming up does not mean they need to settle for election promises. When it comes to health care, our true heroes deserve real action today.

Omemee bicentennial

Ms. Laurie Scott: I am pleased to rise today to recognize and celebrate the village of Omemee’s bicentennial. Two hundred years ago, in 1821, Omemee was founded by the Cottingham family who immigrated to Upper Canada from Ireland. In the early 1800s, after the Cottingham family established a grist mill and sawmill on the Pigeon River, a village grew around the mill. More than a decade later, in 1835, the village was named Williamstown, later renamed Metcalfe in the 1840s, and finally Omemee in 1857. The name Omemee was based on a Mississauga word meaning “pigeon.”

The construction of a railway in 1857 fostered the growth of the community, which became a thriving shipping point for timber and grain. In the late 1800s, Omemee had become a central hub with a grist mill, two sawmills, a tannery, a foundry, a shingle mill, a cloth mill, three churches, four hotels, an elementary and secondary school and a newspaper.

Today, Omemee remains a reflection of the bustling hub it was, with beautiful historic buildings and community landmarks. Small towns like Omemee are filled with history and character, and continue to remind us of the importance of our past and show us how communities are capable of growing and adapting to the changing economic need. Happy anniversary to Omemee.

Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m very pleased to inform the House that one of our page captains today is page Athisha Surees, from the riding of Markham–Unionville, and we have with us today at Queen’s Park her mother, Juga Surees, and father, Surees Panchadcharam.

Also, our other page captain today is Rishi Bharagava, from the riding of Etobicoke North, and we’re joined today by his aunt, Radha Mistri, and his uncle, Smiteen Mistri.

Welcome to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. We’re delighted to have you here.

Michael James Breaugh

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

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

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Agreed? Agreed.

I recognize the member for Ottawa South.

Mr. John Fraser: I’m honoured to stand and say a few words about Michael James Breaugh, member of provincial Parliament for Oshawa. First elected in 1975, he was re-elected four more times and then he successfully ran to fill Ed Broadbent’s federal seat in Oshawa in 1990.

He was a city councillor, a regional councillor and a teacher, and most importantly, he was a husband, a father and a loving grandfather. His long service to his community in elected office and as a teacher made a difference in the lives of many, and by all the accounts I have read and the people I have spoken to, Michael Breaugh was a positive, kind person who wanted to help people.

That kindness was not a weakness, because he had a sense of what was right and what was wrong. Brian Nicholson, a regional and city councillor, said, “If you went up against him, and tried to do things he thought were harmful, you were in for a fight.” Nicholson also said Breaugh taught him never to forget where he came from, which is an important lesson to all of us in elected office.

Michael Breaugh’s maiden speech in Ottawa reflected a common theme, a theme that I read and heard from others. He simply wanted his colleagues to be better at listening to each other and to the people who elected him. It’s noted that he often clashed with NDP leader Bob Rae in the 1980s, and—although leaders don’t agree on this, Premier—we all need a Mike Breaugh, right? We all do. We need people who speak their mind.

In his final speech in this chamber, he said, “We get a little carried away with party politics in this country, I think, and a ... bit more with party discipline.... I have found, in all parties, people who are good, honest people trying to do a job, and that is the bottom line.”

To Michael Breaugh’s family, his wife, Andrea; his children, Sean and Erin; and his grand-daughter, Kiera: We thank you for sharing him with us and supporting his contributions to his community, to our province and to our country.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I’m honoured today to also rise to pay tribute to Michael James Breaugh, former MPP and MP for Oshawa. Mr. Breaugh’s accomplishments are long, and his family, I’m sure, is proud.

Born in 1942, a farmer and former feed salesman, he later became the first member of his family to attend university and was a proud teacher and union member. I think those earlier experiences shaped his interests and his career and his commitment.

In addition to being involved in politics, I was impressed with Mr. Breaugh’s extensive involvement in his community through the Canadian Legion, the Oshawa food co-op and the Oshawa Community Credit Union, to name a few of his many community involvements.

As stated, he served in the Ontario Legislature starting in 1975 and was by all accounts well-respected for his ability to both be a fierce partisan, even challenging his leader, but also somebody willing to work across party lines and a true gentleman, respectful of his colleagues of all parts of the aisle.

I love doing these tributes, because you get an opportunity to read the comments that people make in the House. One of his statements that stuck out to me was he said, “Politics is about you and I getting together to take care of one another.” I thought, given the last 20 months that we’ve all been through, what a profound statement that was.

Mr. Breaugh’s son, Sean, described him as a person who “wanted to make a difference for those who he felt didn’t have a voice at all, who didn’t have anybody to talk to at that level. His background being a school teacher brought that out in him.”

I’m inspired by his commitment to his constituents. I’m inspired by his commitment to serving his community. I want to thank Mr. Breaugh’s family for sharing him with us, because Ontario is a better place because of his service.

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

Mr. Lorne Coe: What an honour it is to be able to speak to the sterling career of Michael Breaugh, a former member of provincial Parliament from 1975 to 1990 and a member of federal Parliament for Oshawa from 1990 to 1993.

Michael’s legacy of public service started as a city councillor, followed as a regional councillor on Durham regional council for a number of years, where he left his mark in several areas in shaping the region of Durham, planning and development being one. During his time here at Queen’s Park, he was the First Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole and also chaired other standing committees of the Legislature.

Following the election of June 1985, the NDP once again held the balance of power at Queen’s Park, and Michael was appointed by his then leader, Bob Rae, to the three-person negotiating team with the Liberal Party. The result of those negotiations was the accord between the Liberal Party and the NDP, which saw the first democratic change of Ontario’s government in over 42 years and led to the successful implementation of a host of reforms.

Speaker, there was nothing artificial about Michael Breaugh, and that’s why so many people loved and respected him. Michael lived his life and made his career in this place without making any enemies, only friends and friendships that lasted across party lines.

It was no surprise, then, that Michael was a strong contender for Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1985. When asked about this by a reporter at the Oshawa Times, he responded, “They are looking for someone who can go from being fiercely partisan to fiercely neutral.... And I guess they need someone who’s a parliamentary junkie, and that’s what I am.” While another MPP was ultimately elected as Speaker, it was an honour for Michael to be considered for the position by his peers.

Following the retirement of Ed Broadbent, the sitting federal member of Parliament for Oshawa, in 1990, Michael contested and won the by-election. In Ottawa, he distinguished himself once again, both in committee work and in numerous debates in the House of Commons.

As a former educator, Michael was passionate about introducing young people into politics. During his time in public office, he worked successfully to bring young people from Oshawa and adjoining towns and cities throughout the region closer to discussions with the body politic—the discourse and deliberation that shapes all of us here today, and those who serve.

Once he retired, Michael and his wife, Andrea, became members of the Whitby Yacht Club, situated in the south part of my riding. As a new councillor for the town of Whitby, it was my privilege of representing my mayor on the club’s board of directors, which Michael chaired in his capacity as commodore. And during his tenure as commodore, he was highly principled and pragmatic, but engaging and smart, while never assuming that he knew it all. His accomplishments as commodore of the Whitby Yacht Club are numerous and forever etched in its history.

Colleagues, Michael wasn’t in this, as is the stereotype, for money or for power. Michael was driven by conviction, of loyalty to his constituents and duty to our great province and country. He was who he was—nothing more, nothing less. A man who loved his family, loved his community and always worked to strengthen it.

In closing, I would like to share a quote from former American president, John F. Kennedy, another yachtsman, like Commodore Michael Breaugh, the captain of the B and B. “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it, we are going back from whence we came.”

Sail well, my friend. Sail well.

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

Ms. Jennifer K. French: It is always an honour to stand in this proud Legislature, and today it is my honour to stand to share, on behalf of Ontario’s New Democrats, and pay tribute to Mike Breaugh.

I am please to acknowledge Mike’s family and friends on behalf of the Legislature. Mike is survived by his wife of 55 years, Andrea; his two children, Sean Breaugh and Erin Breaugh; as well as his beloved granddaughter, Kiera Breaugh. I know that Mike’s cherished friends and extended family will have wished they could join us in person today.

When we pay tribute to former MPPs, it is a chance to remember them, recognize their work and celebrate their lasting impact. It is my honour to share a few words today on behalf of my home community of Oshawa, the community that Mike Breaugh loved and served for more than 20 years.

Michael James Breaugh started his journey on September 13, 1942, in Napanee, Ontario. Napanee was a small town with heart, where everybody was connected. I’ve been told that the thing to do in Napanee was to spend all day at the hockey rink, which Mike loved to do. Years later, his wife told me that if you came to their home, it was always either politics on the TV or hockey.

But Mike’s father sold agricultural feed, was active in the local church and was connected to every facet of the community, and it was from these small-town roots that Mike would have drawn many of his community values—values about a shared journey, where every person was a friend waiting to be met and someone to learn from and laugh with.

Mike grew up and became a teacher and later a principal. It was at a grade 7 teaching job in Toronto where he met Andrea Todkill, a grade 5 teacher across the hall. They were married in 1963 and then moved to Oshawa, where Mike started his journey as a principal. Andrea told me that they hadn’t lived quite a year in Oshawa when Mike ran for mayor. He had found out there wasn’t anyone else running at that time and thought that was awful, and so he ran.

They didn’t know anyone at that time and he did not win, but, Speaker, Mike soon was elected to serve the city of Oshawa as an alderman and later as a councillor for the region of Durham, and was clearly committed to Oshawa and his many constituents.

It was in 1975 that Mike first ran for and was elected to provincial office as a New Democrat in the 30th Parliament. Across the years and successful elections in 1977, 1981, 1985, 1987 and 1990, NDP campaign volunteers and supporters became friends and family.

Mike’s children, Sean and Erin, remember growing up in politics—in committee rooms and scrutineering. “It was just normal to have your name on lawn signs every once in a while,” recalls Sean, who also shared that it was “just normal” to have Ed Broadbent over playing cards in the basement, and Nester, Bob, Sharon and the Oshawa NDP folks were “the family that they had for years.”

Sean also remembers when Tommy Douglas and Stephen Lewis came to town to lend their support to Mike. Mike was well liked, well respected and well connected in the truest sense of the word. His way of making small-town sincere connections was a big part of who he was. There was “no political hierarchy, no job hierarchy—everybody was just part of it,” or so I’ve been told.

His humour, too, was something everyone remembers fondly. He liked to have a good laugh, and as Ed Broadbent shared, he had an “incorrigible sense of humour which was infectious to be around. His characteristic wisecracks and self-deprecating humour would shine through. Mike could bring people down to a level with a wisecrack about something—which was always welcome.”

Sean remembers when the Legislature cameras were new, and he just couldn’t believe the way his father could stand and speak wonderfully and without notes. He said, “Dad would talk and talk and talk and talk—he was an excellent orator and a very organized mind.” His assistant, Lorna, would have to convince people visiting that he was really in his office, because he would keep his desk completely clean. He would get something and read it, deal with it and get on with it.

Mike also served the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as the First Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House—or, in plain language, was a Deputy Speaker. He commented in 1985, “They are looking for someone who can go from being fiercely partisan to fiercely neutral.... And I guess they need someone who’s a parliamentary junkie, and that’s what I am.”

Mike served for 15 years as an NDP MPP here at Queen’s Park, from the 30th through the 34th Parliaments. He made the move to Ottawa in 1990, succeeding Ed Broadbent. Ed Broadbent remembers that Mike was a gifted orator: “He was a no-nonsense kind of guy. When he spoke on party matters, he spoke in plain, unpretentious language—straight language—that was quite clear to anyone who was listening, which was a great quality for a politician.”

After 22 years in office in Oshawa, when Ed Broadbent resigned his federal Oshawa seat, it was Mike who won it in August 1990. He commented, “The trust of this city in the NDP is justified and still there.” He stepped into Ottawa with his small-town roots, brilliant humour and clear sense of community values.

From an

article in 1991, Mike was asked about the differences between Ottawa and Queen’s Park. As he remarked, “I find it different, which is the polite word, but frustrating is the accurate word.... The animosity levels are high all the time in Ottawa. At Queen’s Park you basically had to get along because you had to work together.”

In 1993, Mike Breaugh, along with many great MPs, had to make the adjustment from public servant to public. Mike continued to keep his eye on politics and was a frequent pundit on election nights. He stayed connected to the community, and any club he was in, he was involved in completely.

But his real joy in his retirement was his granddaughter, Kiera. They were, as her mom, Erin, put it, partners in crime. They did everything together. Mike would go everywhere with Kiera: out to lunch, around town and to the boat. As the only grandbaby, she was the sparkle in his eye, and I am sure that Kiera has wonderful memories and will carry his love with her into her bright future.

Mike and Andrea spent time boating through the years, and their last boat, the B and B, was a 39-foot power boat that Mike loved. He loved boating. In his retirement, he was the commodore of the Whitby Yacht Club. His son remarked, “He was always just sailing the boat forward, calmly and coolly, which was quite amazing.”

Michael Breaugh was 78 when he passed on November 22, 2019. We offer our sincere condolences to his loved ones and sincere appreciation to Andrea, Sean, Erin, Kiera and to Mike’s extended family and many friends for sharing him with this House and the province. As Mike’s daughter told me, “He was a good one. He did the job right—the way it was supposed to be done. He was in it for the right reasons, did it the right way and cared about the people.”

In Mike’s own words, “It all comes down to a simple process: politics is about you and I getting together to take care of one another. That’s mostly what drives me. I’m enthralled by it.”

Mike Breaugh took his family and so many wonderful friends on a remarkable voyage with him. He made some waves, but always sailed forward confidently through 20 years of politics with purpose, humour and resonance. May the wind be always at your back, Mike, and may the sun shine warm upon your face.

Oshawa and Ontario are ever grateful to Mike Breaugh for his life of service, invested heart and commitment to the people he loved.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We give thanks for the life and public service of Mike Breaugh. I want to thank the members for their tributes this morning.

It is now time for oral questions.

Question Period

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Catherine Fife: Good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Parents are relieved that they can finally book appointments in this province for their young children’s vaccines, but they found out this morning that the province’s booking system doesn’t have appointments for families with more than one child. Parents have to book separate appointments for each child, and they are not being offered at the same time, much less the same day.

Speaker, I don’t know if it’s news to this government, but there are many families with more than one child. Why did the government not get this plan right again when they designed the vaccine portal at the very start of this process? Why do they keep messing up vaccines in the province of Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply on behalf of the government, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. In fact, we have had an incredible vaccination program for adults. We currently have 89% of people 12 years old and older having had the first dose of the vaccine, 86% with a second dose. I’m sure that the vaccinations for children will go equally well.

It is wonderful news that Health Canada has approved vaccinations for children aged five to 11. They’ve been received in Toronto. They’re being shipped now to places where they can be delivered into little ones’ arms. We expect that will happen as of this Thursday.

We recognize that people can book their appointments on the central booking portal, but there are also parts of Ontario where some of the 34 public health units already have their own system that will allow for multiple vaccinations. We are hoping that some parents will be going with their children to receive the vaccines where other members of the family can receive them, as well as the parents themselves.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: Speaker, it is not going well. A mum named Katherine wrote this morning that she was relieved to finally have appointments for her young children, but she writes that she can’t book multiple kids at the same time, so they’ll have to be vaccinated on different days. Another mum, Beyhan, said, “Booked both my kids for their vaccine on different days, in different regions.”

In BC, 75,000 kids were pre-registered last week. In both Alberta and Manitoba, somehow, those two Conservative Premiers were able to design a system that worked for families. Why are parents having to take multiple appointments on different days in different regions, just to get their kids vaccinated in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Christine Elliott: First, with respect to what’s happened in other provinces, that was not done in Ontario because we did not know when we would be receiving the approval from Health Canada. There’s no point in booking appointments when you don’t know when you will actually have the vaccine.

Secondly, this is a problem that can be easily remedied by calling the line that one has always been able to call and making appointments for all two, three children, however many children you have. It’s not necessary to book them online for separate days. This could be done with a simple phone call, to make sure that all children can receive their vaccine at the same time, and perhaps the parents as well, if they haven’t received their vaccine.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: Speaker, this chaos could have been avoided. There shouldn’t be more roadblocks for families. They’ve already been through enough. Parents have done their part. They kept their kids home from visiting their friends or going to birthday parties. In the spring, the Premier even told kids that they couldn’t play on playgrounds and get some exercise. Some parents today, right now, are being locked out from their kid’s health card. Others are reporting that the government portal won’t let their Internet browser through.

After all of the problems with these vaccine portals, how could the government not foresee that families need to book multiple appointments for their kids? Will the health minister commit today to correcting this design flaw that they apparently never saw coming? Families in this province deserve so much better, and we must get this right for children in Ontario.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Our vaccine portal has been very, very successful with respect to adults. This has been planned for months, for the vaccination of children. It’s a problem that is easily remedied if the parent makes the phone call to ask to make sure that the appointments can be booked for all three children. This is not a serious concern.

Of course we anticipated that people might have more than one child, and this is a situation that can be dealt with very, very easily by simply making the phone call, as adults did in the previous situation for their vaccinations.

Employment standards

Mr. Gurratan Singh: My question is to the Premier. Workers in Brampton faced some of the greatest hardships during this pandemic. Not only are they essential workers who have to go to work so others can work from home, but a year into this pandemic, they didn’t even have paid sick days because the Premier ripped up the two paid sick days that they actually had. That put workers at risk—their lives at risk and their families at risk.

In Brampton, workers and their families lost their lives because they didn’t have paid sick days. But instead of fixing this problem, the Premier is making it worse by ripping up the temporary paid sick days that workers finally did get at the end of this year.

Why doesn’t the Premier care about workers, and why won’t he bring in permanent paid sick days so workers can stay home if they’re not well?

Hon. Doug Ford: From the start of this pandemic, our government has said yes to protecting workers. We were the first to introduce unlimited job-protected leave so that nobody had to choose between their job and their health. This includes those who need to take time off, get vaccinated, mums and dads who need to take care of their children. The COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act passed unanimously for flexible paid sick days—no sick notes needed.

We’ve led the way with legislating COVID-19 paid sick days, offering double payments for the federal sick days program. More than 200,000 workers took us up on this offer, Mr. Speaker. Our worker income protection benefit does not require a doctor’s note and includes time off staying home if you’re not feeling well, getting a COVID test, awaiting COVID test results, going to get vaccinated or recovering from side effects.

I think we did a pretty good job with 23 paid sick days. No one in the country—

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

The supplementary question?

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Premier: The temporary sick days that this Conservative government introduced were never enough to cover the self-isolation period of COVID-19, which is 14 days. Our NDP bill on sick days will guarantee workers the respect they deserve with 10 permanent paid sick days. It also makes sure that the government helps businesses during the pandemic with the cost of up to 14 paid days.

For workers in Brampton, paid sick days would allow them to take care of themselves, their families and their co-workers. Why is the Premier so opposed to helping workers get the paid time off they need when they’re sick?

Hon. Doug Ford: Make no mistake, Ontario workers, including foreign temporary workers, have access to the most generous sick pay program coast to coast. No one even comes close to us. No province across the country comes close to what we offered—again, Mr. Speaker, 23 paid sick days.

We believe in taking care of people. We believe in taking care of the companies, unlike the opposition. They don’t worry about the companies. They may talk a good game, but they do absolutely nothing to help small businesses and the workers.

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

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Premier—I don’t think the Premier understands who’s impacted by paid sick days, so let me spell it out for him: 60% of workers in Ontario don’t have paid sick days. This number shoots up when you talk about front-line workers in food services, in hospitality and in retail. Those front-line workers who we applaud every single day in this House are often racialized and new Canadians.

Speaker, these front-line workers deserve decent wages, they deserve workplace rights and they deserve workplaces that respect their health, including the right to stay home when they’re sick. Will the Premier do the right thing today and support the NDP bill for paid sick days?

Hon. Doug Ford: Again, Mr. Speaker, I’m not too sure if the opposition heard what I was saying. We have the best program in the entire country: 23 paid sick days. We also made sure that we boosted up the minimum wage to $15, which they agreed with until we did it, and then they switched their mind, like they usually do.

We are the party of the hard-working folks. They’re the party of the backroom deals and—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The House will come to order. The member for Ottawa South will come to order. The member for Hamilton Mountain will come to order.

The next question.

Highway safety

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is to the Premier. We’ve had our first snow event of the year in northern Ontario, and as a result portions of Highway 11 and Highway 17—the Trans-Canada Highway—were closed for over 24 hours. You have to understand, in many places in northern Ontario there are no places to park, no places to stop and you’ve already been on the road for several hours when you find out the road is closed.

In the last session we put forward legislation—the NDP did—to make Highways 11 and 17 class 1 highways for winter maintenance, like the 400 series, because they’re the Trans-Canada Highway. Your government, Premier, voted solidly against it. The minister said it wasn’t necessary because, “You know, the 11 and 17 are often the same standard as the 400 highways.” That wasn’t accurate when she said it and it certainly wasn’t accurate a few days ago. Northerners need to know, will you make Highway 11 and 17, the Trans-Canada Highway, a class 1 highway for winter maintenance once and for all?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I will remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The government House leader to reply.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I appreciate the opportunity to answer the question. The member knows full well that the government has been making significant investments in improving on road maintenance, not only in northern Ontario but across the province of Ontario. I was pleased yesterday to see the return of the Ontario Northland as well, Mr. Speaker. That’s good news for northern communities.

But as the member knows, it’s not just about road maintenance. We’ve increased road maintenance in the north because we understand how important it is to get people moving across the north. It’s part of the work that we are doing to unleash economic activity in the north.

There have been significant other investments in the north. I know in Sault Ste. Marie the member there has been working very hard to ensure that the steel industry there remains secure with significant investments. And there are a whole host of other investments that have been made in northern Ontario to bring prosperity back to the north, to make it safer for people to travel in the north.

The one thing that remains constant is the NDP vote against every single one of those investments.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: That’s cold comfort when you’re stranded on a highway with your kids.

The government House leader said winter maintenance isn’t the only challenge. There are other challenges on northern roads. Transport trucks: The majority of transport drivers are excellent, but not all. Recently in Latchford the driver of a 40-ton tractor trailer, fully loaded, was charged with stunt driving, going over 100 in a 60. OPP stats: Deaths involving commercial vehicles on those highways are up 40% in the summertime and now we’re going into the wintertime.

I urge the folks on the other side to look at the videos on Facebook. There’s one from Beardmore that will send chills—chills—through you. Where is the MTO? What are you doing to make sure that all drivers are adequately trained for the unique conditions on northern roads? Where is the MTO?

Hon. Paul Calandra: It’s obviously a priority of the government that we ensure that our roads are safe. That includes driver testing for those individuals that transport our goods and services along our highways, Mr. Speaker.

But let’s be clear that it is the opposition that has voted against every single one of those initiatives. Whether it’s initiatives to increase policing and additional resources for the OPP, they vote against it. Whether it’s increased legislation to protect against stunt driving, they vote against it.

We understand how important it is to keep the economy going, not just in the north but across Ontario. In order to do that, there have to be significant investments in health care. There have to be significant investments in roads. We have to make sure that our roads are safe, that people can get their driver testing done. Unlike the member opposite, who would seek to put scorn across all of those people who do the hard work of transporting our goods and services to market, we are doing the opposite. We’re supporting them.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Once again, the member for Waterloo will come to order.

The next question.

Green power generation

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam: My question is to the Minister of Energy. My constituents often write to my office with questions about how Ontario is generating the energy that they are using on a daily basis. They want to know that their homes and businesses are powered by clean and sustainable power. At the same time, they also want to be sure that their government is fighting for them to ensure their bills remain affordable.

Ontarians can count on access to affordable electricity to get by and they know this province can’t go back to the skyrocketing hydro rates we had under the previous Liberal government. Speaker, through you to the minister: What is our government doing to ensure Ontarians continue to have access to electricity that is affordable, reliable and emissions-free?

Hon. Todd Smith: I want to thank the member from Scarborough for the great question this morning. Ontario has one of the cleanest electricity grids in North America—in the world—94% of our electricity is being generated with zero emissions. It’s all made possible by the foundation—the backbone—of our electricity system and our diverse power supply: nuclear power. Nuclear currently supplies 60% of the power used by Ontarians every single day. It is emissions-free, it’s reliable and it’s low-cost. It’s also helping to drive economic growth here in Ontario.

Most of the 76,000 Canadian jobs in the nuclear industry are right here in our province. The planned refurbishments and the refurbishments that are under way at Darlington and Bruce are creating $100 billion to our GDP over the next number of years, Mr. Speaker.

Earlier this month I was with the MPP from Peterborough–Kawartha and there was a $50-million—

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

The supplementary question.

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam: Thank you to the minister for his answer. It’s great to hear more in this House about the many benefits that nuclear power has for all Ontarians. I am glad that our government have been strong supporters of this source of energy that offers clean, reliable and low-cost power while driving economic growth in our province. Ontario and Canada have a storied history of being at the forefront of technological development in this exciting field that we should all be proud of.

Speaker, through you to the minister: Can the minister tell us more about some of the opportunities presented by the technological developments in the nuclear sector and how the province will position itself to ensure all Ontarians can benefit from them?

Hon. Todd Smith: Very good question. Thanks to the member from Scarborough again. The member is correct: Ontario has a tremendous opportunity in front of us. I recently met with my colleagues from Saskatchewan and from New Brunswick and Alberta to talk about the further development of SMR technology—small modular reactor technology—here in Canada. They can be a game-changer, Mr. Speaker, generating clean, low-cost reliable energy while continuing to drive economic growth and export opportunities around the world.

I also recently discussed exciting new possibilities in the field of life-saving medical isotopes—

Mr. Bill Walker: Hey, hey.

Hon. Todd Smith: And I want to thank the member over there from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound for his great motion that he brought forward, a motion to make medical isotopes production a key, strategic priority for Ontario going forward.

We know that the global isotope market is expected to double by 2023. That’s just around the corner. We can see all kinds of opportunities when it comes to isotopes here in Ontario in jobs and making sure that we are providing this life-saving treatment—

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

The next question.

Child care

Ms. Jill Andrew: My question is to the Premier. Ontario has yet to sign the $10-a-day child care deal, a delay not only hurting families but our economy. In Toronto–St. Paul’s, I heard from a constituent, Sandy, who quit her job, as the cost of child care in Toronto outweighed her monthly income. It was less expensive for her not to work than to afford child care.

Their family’s case is by no means isolated. As child care costs continue to rise, more families will be forced to make this same decision. The result? A labour exodus, mostly being experienced by women. Meanwhile, it’s confirmed: Low-cost, universal child care is an economic multiplier. Tax credits—a patchwork solution—simply don’t have the same impact.

Speaker, how does the Premier explain his delay to sign this deal aiding the economic recovery—especially and particularly a she-covery—in our province of Ontario?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: I appreciate the question from the member opposite. Look, we understand how important it is to make child care affordable across the province of Ontario. Obviously it’s important to the economic recovery of the province. That is why we set out, right from the beginning, to reverse the trend that we saw under the previous Liberal government that saw rates for child care increase to the highest levels in the country.

We are working very closely with the federal government to bring forward a deal that would see Ontario families have access to far more affordable child care, $10-a-day child care. We’re working on that closely right now with the federal government, and I am confident that we’ll get there.

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

Ms. Jill Andrew: Well, Sandy needs them to get on it yesterday.

My question is to the Premier. Just last week the Minister of Education excused this delay, saying they were waiting on a deal with “minimal strings attached,” instead of the federal deal that emphasizes non-profit or public spaces. Speaker, we have seen what this government does with no-strings-attached funding: It pads the pockets of rich, for-profit investors and lets whatever pennies are left trickle into a failing care system.

When will the needs of struggling families, faced with costs many times upwards of $2,000 for “child care” per child come before the needs of this government’s Conservative buddies? When will the government get to the table to sign the affordable child care deal, following in the footsteps of provinces, even those led by Conservatives, across Canada. Even Kenney said yes. When is Ford going to get on the ball?

Interjection: Say “Premier.”

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. If I require the assistance of the government members in the discharge of my responsibilities as the Speaker, I will request it. And I will remind all members to refer to each other either by their riding name or ministerial title.

Please start the clock. To reply, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, the question is somewhat perplexing. What we have here is a federal government that is willing to work with the province of Ontario to better understand the needs of getting to the stated goal of $10-a-day child care for the people of the province of Ontario. The circumstances are a little bit different in Ontario than they are in other provinces. We are working with the federal government to achieve that goal for the people of Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, what the NDP and the Liberals are saying is, “Don’t worry about it. Just sign any deal that comes forward.” But what we have here is a federal government working with us to get to that goal, Mr. Speaker.

I can give the member confidence that, like it was a Progressive Conservative government that brought in public health care, it will be a Progressive Conservative government that delivers $10-a-day child care for the people of Ontario—like it was a Conservative government that brought in the college system and like it was a Conservative government that brought the first subways to Ontario. We’ll get the job done while they talk.

Post-secondary education

Mr. Roman Baber: My question is to the Minister of Colleges and Universities. Post-secondary students have suffered a catastrophe over the last two years. Even though, thankfully, late teens and early twenties are statistically at no risk of the virus, they missed many milestones like graduations, proms, frosh weeks and pub nights, but now many post-secondary schools are exacerbating the catastrophe and de-enrolling students who made a different medical choice.

Schools like Brock and Wilfred Laurier won’t even allow students to enroll in online courses unless they’re vaccinated, even though you can’t transmit COVID over Zoom. Many students whose health or religious persuasion precludes them from taking the shot are unable to get an exemption and are forced to choose between their health and their education. I’m getting calls and emails from students who cannot graduate or are forfeiting their tuition.

My question to the minister: I don’t anticipate that she will end this discrimination, but will she at least make sure that students who want to learn remotely can continue to do so, just like they’ve done for the last two years regardless of their medical status?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for his question. I’d like to remind you that universities, colleges and private career colleges are autonomous legal entities that are responsible for making their own academic and administrative decisions. In fact, in August we provided an opening framework, in conjunction with the Chief Medical Officer of Health. This included masking, as well as exempting institutions from certain indoor physical distancing requirements and also a mandatory vaccine policy in place.

In fact, the vaccine rates in universities, colleges and private career colleges is 96% for students and 95% for staff and faculty. So I’d like to congratulate the sector for the high vaccine rate, in fact above the provincial average.

In fact, my own daughters attend post-secondary institutions and are happy to be back in their classrooms. This is so important for the mental health of our students. Thank you for the question.

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

Mr. Roman Baber: Speaker, how about the mental health of students who are getting de-enrolled, who cannot get an exemption like members of the Ontario PC caucus and cannot complete their education? When the minister says that she doesn’t have the ability to regulate what’s happening vis-à-vis the policies, I’m not sure that’s accurate, and I invite the minister to consider that again.

Last week, I received a call from a Don Valley North constituent. He told me about his son who just started at York University and paid full tuition. York didn’t have a policy in place until the first day of school. By then, the students had enrolled in all online courses and paid tuition. Two weeks ago, he learned that all of his courses are moving to in-person. He sought a religious exemption, but was denied. The email that denied him the exemption also advised him that, because of his medical status, he was de-enrolled from every course he was in, effective immediately, without notice. The school won’t let him attend class remotely and won’t refund his tuition.

I ask the minister, what is the harm in making sure that students can learn remotely? They’re not putting any lives at risk. Instead, they are seeking accommodation. Will the minister please ensure that students who made a different medical choice are able to continue to learn remotely, and if not, why not?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for that question. As I mentioned, universities and colleges have had the opportunity to allow students to return safely to in-class. I have my own three daughters who have all returned to their universities for this semester and are happy to be back, with high vaccination rates in place.

The vaccination policy was in place by September 7. Universities, colleges and private career colleges followed that mandate and have returned, in some situations, to full in-class, others to hybrid and some to online as well. But we’re continuing to work with the post-secondary sector to ensure that Ontario is best positioned to deliver high-quality post-secondary learning consistent across the province. It’s important that the updated post-secondary education health measures—the framework for the fall of 2021 was in place at the end of August. Thank you to the Chief Medical Officer of Health for his work in ensuring that students were able to return safely to post-secondary education.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. John Yakabuski: My question is to the Minister of Health. Speaker, we heard yesterday that children ages five to 11 will now be eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccine. I know this announcement is welcome news for many of my constituents. Throughout the pandemic, parents have reached out to my office and the offices of my colleagues to find out how to best protect their children from the COVID-19 virus, which is why we were thrilled with Health Canada’s recent approval.

Because of this, I know many constituents in my riding are anxious to have their children receive the vaccine. Could the minister please tell the House how Ontarians can book their children and when they can expect to receive their vaccination?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke for the question.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of our success with our vaccine rollout, which has resulted in one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with 89% of the population having a first dose and 86% being fully vaccinated. With the announcement yesterday, we are happy that children aged five to 11 will be eligible to book an appointment to receive the vaccine beginning today, and I’ve been advised that 68,000 appointments have already been booked since 8 a.m. this morning.

Ontario is receiving over one million doses of the pediatric vaccine from the federal government, and throughout the week, doses will immediately be shipped to public health units, pharmacies and primary care settings across the province. Appointments across the province ar