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March 10, 2020

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2020-Mar-10 (PDF)

L154 - Tue 10 Mar 2020 / Mar 10 mar 2020

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 10 March 2020 Mardi 10 mars 2020

Orders of the Day

Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 pour connecter la population aux services de soins à domicile et en milieu communautaire

Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à rétablir la confiance chez les consommateurs

Members’ Statements

Women’s issues

Skilled trades

Manufacturing jobs

Indigenous affairs

Workplace safety

Human trafficking

Homelessness

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

COVID-19

Hospital funding

Public health

Public health

Licence plates

Health care funding

Human trafficking

Education

Energy policies

Mental health and addiction services

Hydro rates

Mining industry

Flooding

Forest industry

Children’s mental health services

Correction of record

Deferred Votes

Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 pour connecter la population aux services de soins à domicile et en milieu communautaire

Introduction of Visitors

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Government Agencies

Introduction of Bills

Somali Heritage Week Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur la Semaine du patrimoine somalien

Supply Act, 2020 / Loi de crédits de 2020

Franco-Ontarian Emblem Amendment Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 modifiant la

Loi sur l’emblème franco-ontarien

Petitions

Long-term care

Fish and wildlife management

Municipal restructuring

Government’s record

Telecommunications in correctional facilities

Automated external defibrillators

Adoption disclosure

Public transit

Education funding

Agri-food industry

Post-stroke treatment

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Defibrillator Registration and Public Access Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur l’accès public aux défibrillateurs et leur enregistrement

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. We’ll begin this morning with a moment of silence for inner thought and personal reflection.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 pour connecter la population aux services de soins à domicile et en milieu communautaire

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 9, 2020, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 175,

An Act to amend and repeal various Acts respecting home care and community services / Projet de loi 175, Loi modifiant et abrogeant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les services de soins à domicile et en milieu communautaire.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): When we last debated this bill, the member for Timmins had made a presentation. Now we’re going to do questions and responses related to his speech. Questions to the member for Timmins?

Mrs. Robin Martin: I recall we were partway through the questions and answers for the member for Timmins. I think we were discussing the important role of PSWs and our view that this legislation will actually help change the framework for PSWs so that they could have a better situation and better scheduling etc., and things that make the jobs where they can earn a decent living.

I wanted to ask the member opposite if he wouldn’t support these changes as a way to make our health system more integrated, a way to make sure that PSWs are part of an integrated health team so that they can input into the care of a patient across the team and have feedback from other members of the team, and thereby make their contribution more valued. Because from what I hear from PSWs, that is something that they are very concerned about.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: First of all, PSWs are already integrated into the system. It happens to be with the LHINs at this point. They always have been. The issue is what we pay them. I look at this legislation, and I don’t see anything earmarked in it that is going to make sure that we pay these PSWs what they’re worth.

So unless the government is prepared to do something when it comes to compensation, no matter what we do to try to reorganize them, it’s going to be hard to keep the ones that we have and to attract the new ones that come into the field, because it is really a very tough job that they get paid very little to do and it’s becoming harder and harder to retain people within the field.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Questions?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: This is a very, very crucial moment, I think, in health care. It truly is something that’s going to set the tone for what home care and community care is going to look like. We know that this government is opening the doors more so to privatization and for-profit companies, so I just wondered if the member can speak to how that’s going to effect the community and quality care and workers that deliver that care in this great province?

Mr. Gilles Bisson: This is a large part of the problem of where the government is going. The former Liberal government made the mistake of privatizing much of what’s inside the home care sector. And what that has meant is that the money that used to be there, that we, the taxpayers, pay, that went to providing services to the residents in our community, now goes to the bottom line of some corporation that’s trying to make a buck.

Now, I don’t have anything against somebody trying to make a buck, but go and do it in another field. Health care is one of those things where we, the taxpayers, have so little money to give our governments when it comes to being able to run our health care system. Every penny, every dollar that we divert to the bottom line of some business or corporation is a dollar that is not going directly to the services of the people that are needed across this province. So I think it’s a bad mistake on the part of the Liberals, and that you guys want to repeat the mistake of the Liberals is, to me, a little bit shocking.

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: I appreciate the opportunity to rise briefly and speak to this topic. As we discussed yesterday in questions and answers on this, I think the bill makes a lot of progress in a number of areas, particularly in connecting people in the community to their health care services.

I’ve said on a number of occasions—and it’s not anecdotally, it’s from people within the community and experiences of my own—once people are in the system and have the care, everybody usually is universally happy with the quality of care that they get from our health care professionals. The big problem that people have been experiencing is actually getting the care that they need, and managing their way around the system. This bill helps, of course, to untangle that so that it’s easier for people to get connected to services.

I know one of the members raised concerns with respect to First Nations. I think this bill finally helps to address some problems by bringing First Nations into the process as well.

With that, I’m certainly anxious to see this bill move forward and get to committee, so I move that the question be now put.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Mr. Calandra has moved that the question be now put. We’ve had 10 hours and 25 minutes or more—starting today we had 10 hours and 25 minutes with 27 speakers—I’m satisfied there has been sufficient debate to allow this question to be put to the House.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: Boo.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Why do I feel I’m at a Raptors game?

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I believe I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion that the question be now put, please say “aye.”

All those opposed, please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, this vote will be deferred until after question period today.

Vote deferred.

Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à rétablir la confiance chez les consommateurs

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 5, 2020, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 159,

An Act to amend various statutes in respect of consumer protection / Projet de loi 159, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne la protection du consommateur.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): I believe when the debate had ended on this the last time, the member for Mississauga East–Cooksville had the floor.

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and good morning to you.

Last time when I was debating this bill, I was talking about the great work our minister and the parliamentary assistant, who actually just sits right in front of me, have done in preparing this bill.

This bill is about protecting Ontarians and building confidence in Ontarians about what we as a government are doing for them. Our government is listening to the needs and concerns of consumers to help better protect them.

Throughout 2019, the government consulted on three main pillars:

(1) protecting the privacy of Ontarians, which I believe is extremely important, because privacy is something that we all deserve, and our government is listening and making sure that Ontarians have the privacy that each individual deserves in this province;

(2) enabling businesses to compete digitally; and

(3) enabling better, smarter, more efficient government to help inform the creation of Ontario’s digital and data action plan.

While going through the bill, there are many ways that it will help Ontarians. One of those ways is to improve transparency while buying tickets for events. Bill 159 will change the game to the Ticket Sales Act. This change would require all amounts in ticket offers to be listed and charged in Canadian currency for Ontario events. This bill will help with the regulation of ticket sales within the Ticket Sales Act. Bill 159 will help ensure all ticketing events in Ontario are priced in Canadian dollars—not US dollars, but our actual national currency or, as I say, the mighty Canadian dollar.

Mr. Speaker, let me share with you an experience of one of my friends. We were having this conversation, and it was really an eye-opening conversation about his experience of buying a ticket online for a Blue Jays game—and absolutely, I would love to wish our Blue Jays the very best in the upcoming season. Go, Jays, go.

At the time I remember the Blue Jays were on a hot streak, playoff-bound, and to purchase any tickets directly was a challenge. However, during our conversation, my friend mentioned to me—he is a diehard Blue Jays fan—he was anxiously looking to buy tickets at any cost. He found an alternate source and purchased four tickets for approximately—I think the value was roughly about $350, which actually, unfortunately, turned out to be $350 US dollars.

I’m sure I do not need to remind everyone here that the Canadian dollar, give or take right now, is about $1.35 to $1 USD, so I’m sure you can see how much he paid for those four tickets, just because there was confusion. The increased price took a toll, I’m sure, on his wallet. I know, being a diehard fan, it didn’t really matter, but there was confusion at the end of the day. But, Mr. Speaker, those days are gone now, and people can buy tickets for events with confidence and assurance that they are paying in Canadian funds.

This change is one of the many that will help Ontario consumers buy with confidence and be protected. Bill 159 is needed in our day and age, especially, as I say, we live in a digital world, and we need the protection.

Our government is always at the forefront of positive change to creating a better Ontario for all Ontarians. This legislation will fix a broken warranty and protection system. It will restore consumer trust by curbing the influence of home builders and protecting consumers during what may likely be their biggest purchase. The proposed legislation also responds to recommendations from the Auditor General’s 2019 special report on the Tarion Warranty Corp.

Our government understands and acknowledges that the current system of governance and transparency requirements for administrative authorities is not meeting the expectations of Ontarians. Through Bill 159, we are proposing changes that meet the needs of today’s consumers. It will help reform Tarion and overhaul the Ontario new home warranty and protection program.

By amending and changing the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017, if passed, the bill would overhaul Ontario’s new home warranty and protection program by providing Tarion with a stronger consumer protection mandate and by requiring Tarion to enter into a binding agreement with the Minister of Government and Consumer Services to strengthen oversight and Tarion’s accountability.

This will also enhance the warranties and protections dispute resolution and claims process by establishing a mandate for Tarion to promote the resolution of claims as soon as reasonably possible and by providing Tarion with the ability to use a range of processes to resolve disputes between homeowners and home builders or vendors.

This bill will definitely promote the construction of better-built homes by requiring Tarion to increase the scrutiny of applications to build or sell a new home to better prevent bad actors from operating and by establishing a mandate for Tarion to promote the construction of properly built homes.

The proposed amendments would also support the anticipated proclamation of NHCLA and the designation of a not-for-profit corporation as the new home builder and vendor regulator under the act.

This bill will also enhance the current administrative authority model for outdated consumer-related acts. The proposed changes would update, harmonize and strengthen certain key accountability, governance and transparency requirements.

Our government is continuing to move forward with its plan to work smarter by putting consumers first. Our government recognizes that the people of Ontario need stronger protections and confidence when buying. If Bill 159 is passed, the proposed updates will provide consumers with confidence and trust. They will know that there are strong protections actually in place or that they are being developed to protect them and their families when they buy a new home.

I remember after graduating from university, I started my career in the financial services industry. Being part of financial services, you help families and individuals to buy their biggest investment that they may make in their life. It’s all about buying homes. I remember when I used to have families and individuals sitting in front of me and we were going through that experience of mortgages. Each time I had a customer in front of me, to me, it was like I was buying a new home. I remember that it was a very stressful time for these families, because they were about to make the biggest purchase of their life.

We used to go through the documentation, line by line, and then they used to ask some great questions, because for them, it was like, “This is my life’s earnings. I want to make sure that tomorrow I don’t end up making a mistake that is going to cost me or my family.”

Now, being part of this amazing government here, I can confidently say that we are making sure that the people of this province are going to be well protected. We are making life easier for the people of this province—and affordable as well, Mr. Speaker. We want to make sure that they have peace of mind when they’re going out there, whether they are buying tickets online, or the example of my friend buying his Blue Jays tickets and thinking it was in Canadian dollars when it was in US dollars, or someone who is buying his first home or his first house. We just want to make sure that they get peace of mind and they know that their government is working for them.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario consumers would also know that many administrative authorities that were created to carry out important regulatory, public safety or other functions are subject to more consistent accountability, governance and transparency requirements. Through Bill 159, consumers will feel confident about their new home warranties and protections, and that administrative authorities operate under a consistent and robust oversight and governance framework.

Mr. Speaker, I truly hope that we get the support from all parties and my colleagues from the other side to make sure that together we protect Ontarians. I hope to see this great bill passed as soon as possible. Once again, congratulations to the minister and my colleague for bringing such a great bill forward.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): And now, for the next 10 minutes or so, colleagues on both sides of the House will have an opportunity to pose questions on what you just heard. Questions?

Mr. Michael Mantha: To the member for Mississauga East–Cooksville: I’m just wondering. Bill 159 fails to make delegated authorities subject to the oversight of the Ontario Ombudsman. He might have an answer for that because the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry had proposed that in a previous bill that he had brought in front of this House in 2018 as Bill 56. Why?

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. What we are trying to do here with this bill, as I mentioned in my speech as well, is to protect Ontarians by making sure that whether it’s a purchase of an online ticket or the purchase of a home, we just want to make sure that they are well protected and that they are aware of what they are getting into.

As I said, our main goal is to make life easier for the people of this province. I think that this bill shows great intentions as a government. We want to make sure that we are taking care of the people of this province.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Questions?

Ms. Donna Skelly: To the member: One of the biggest purchases anyone makes in their life is the purchase of a new home. But often things don’t go according to plan. We may be, as an owner of a new home, dealing with unscrupulous, if you will, builders or contractors who leave homeowners with a mess. But this bill is really offering protection for people who are entering into this massive purchase, this massive move in their life. Can the member please share with us how this bill will offer certain protections through changes to Tarion, to ensure that young people and anyone who is entering into such a large contract will be given some more reassurance in terms of what they are heading into?

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Thank you to the member.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will allow individuals who are buying homes for the very first time that peace of mind, because now the home builders are going to be working together with Tarion to make sure that these purchases are well protected.

A good friend of mine was mentioning to me that not too long ago he and his family decided to go for the purchase and they had some issues. He said that this bill is going to help families moving forward, to give that peace—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you.

Questions?

Mr. Joel Harden: I have a question for my friend MPP Rasheed.

A lot of what I’ve heard in this House about Tarion gives me hope that there could be action. Your colleagues on that side of the House have talked about Tarion as being broken. Some of your colleagues have been working on this for a very long time. The previous minister has talked about that. Her predecessor did a press conference with the spouse of a man who had fought Tarion for 27 years and took his own life.

Back home right now, Bill Hillier from Orléans is watching this. He lives in the Cardinal Creek development. Mr. Hillier has been fighting Tarion since 2017.

We have not seen anything happening at Tarion except a bunch of executives enriching themselves. We’re talking about $4 million in compensation for Tarion executives that they have lavished themselves with.

So my question for you, MPP Rasheed, is this: Why would you subscribe to a plan in this bill that would leave parts of the management team that’s at Tarion right now, which has shown itself to be corrupt, intact? Why leave them in charge?

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

The previous government, for the last 15 years, did nothing. People were just talking. There were issues, one after the other, but they never did anything.

What this government is doing is making sure, as the member opposite just mentioned, we fix that broken system so that individuals—the member opposite mentioned his constituent who’s watching—can have the peace of mind that this government is going to make sure that the people of this province can confidently make those purchases without—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you.

Questions?

Mr. Jim McDonell: I enjoyed listening to this debate.

Our government has been fighting long and hard to protect consumers from bad actors. I know the minister has been talking to the previous minister, and it has been top of mind.

How can our government ensure that the administrative authorities act is the best way to protect Ontarians?

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Thank you to the member for the question.

What we, as a government, are doing here is to protect Ontarians—bottom line—through this bill. We want to make sure that the members of the boards, especially at Tarion and any other, understand that they have to work with the government to make sure that we are protecting the people of this province. This bill—I keep going back to the protection part—is all about making life as easy and as comfortable as possible for the people of this province and giving them the peace of mind of having that protection, or the warranty, that any purchase—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you.

Questions?

Mr. Joel Harden: MPP Rasheed, I’m thankful for the response, but I have to tell you, it’s not going to console Bill Hillier, living in Cardinal Creek right now—a senior who is currently battling cancer and since 2017 has had to put up with a ridiculous administrative bureaucracy standing in the way of a new home having mould and ice in its walls.

Your government needs to do better. Rule number one of consumer protection ought to be: Don’t let the fox guard the henhouse. We’ve had Tarion fleecing consumers for decades in this province, with a culture of management that rewards its executives through bonus programs, we found out the through the Auditor General’s report, rewarding people who prevent claims from being met.

So MPP Rasheed, I beg you, as the critic for seniors, as someone whose job it is to look after their seniors: What can Bill Hillier count on in amendments to your bill to make sure your government looks after him?

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. What I can say here to Bill is that this government is working for you, and we want to make sure that the people of this province are well protected. As the minister had said previously as well, we are working to make sure that we find ways to protect the people of this province. This bill is about protection of consumers.

I can definitely say that the minister and the parliamentary assistant have listened to consultation. There has been an extensive consultation that has taken place. Part of the outcome of this consultation is this bill here, and making sure that the board understands that what the previous government didn’t do was take action. Here, the minister and the PA are taking action.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): There being no further time for a quick question or a quick response, we’ll move on to further debate.

Ms. Sara Singh: It’s a pleasure to rise to contribute to the debate on Bill 159,

An Act to amend various statutes in respect of consumer protection. I think it’s very interesting that this is the title of the bill and yet it does very little to actually further consumer protection here in the province of Ontario.

I had the pleasure of travelling through the province to Windsor, to my own city of Brampton and as far as Ottawa in order to hear from people on this bill through the justice committee process. It was very clear at committee that stakeholder after stakeholder and community member after community member in those three regions said that the government was failing to actually do anything meaningful here to protect consumers. In fact, many used the language that they were just simply “tinkering around the edges.”

Many of the issues that this bill seeks to address are not new issues; they’re issues that have been around for decades. This piece of legislation has 10 different schedules which seek to amend various acts with respect to consumer protections, the major one being protections around Tarion and home warranty programs here in Ontario.

Tarion is supposed to ensure that builders honour their warranties on new homes. The service is mandatory for new home buyers, and the cost is typically built into the price of their new home. So one would assume, in purchasing this warranty, that there would be some protections in place for the consumer because here is something that’s mandated for every homebuyer. And yet what we’ve heard, for decades now, is that this protection service has failed consumers at the very core.

People are literally dying in this province because of the failures of the previous Liberal administration, and now the failures of this Conservative government, to adequately address the real concerns.

The government is promising here a complete overhaul of the Tarion home warranty system. In fact, what it did was very little in terms of overhauling how the system would work.

Speaker, we heard from stakeholders like Canadians for Properly Built Homes, who said that Bill 159’s changes to Tarion comprise more tinkering about the edges of a mandatory monopoly which is beyond repair. This is a mandatory monopoly, and I think that’s very aptly put, because this is mandatory for consumers in this province, and yet there is a monopoly with very little protections for those actual consumers.

We heard from people at committee about what Tarion has put consumers through in this province—shocking, shocking testimony. I couldn’t believe some of the stories that we heard about people fighting for years—one for 27 years, on their death bed, having to fight with an agency that was set up, in fact, to protect them.

I’m just going to read some of that testimony from Krista Shuman, the widow of Dr. Earl Shuman, who unfortunately took his life in 2016, after fighting Tarion for 27 years. Can you imagine purchasing a new home—what is, in fact, the biggest investment for most people in their lifetime—to find out that that home, your dream home that you saved your entire life for, is rife with mould, rife with construction problems, and that brand new windows are letting in cold air because Tarion failed to do its job? As Krista Shuman points out:

“Numerous, serious issues for consumers with the Tarion warranty program have been ongoing for decades. For 25 years, my husband and other advocates worked to correct the unfair treatment related to construction deficiencies in their newly built homes. My family was hopeful for long overdue change when the 2017 report by Justice Douglas Cunningham and, more recently, by the Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk only a few months ago were released.

These reports clearly indicate the dysfunction of Tarion because of its monopoly and its preferential treatment of the home building industry over Ontario homeowners, with thousands of legitimate claims ignored and dismissed. The impact of the Ontario government’s inaction and its lack of oversight has been devastating for many families. It is extremely disappointing one year after MPP Walker’s announcement of their promise to correct Ontario’s hew home warranty program, and not enough has been done.

“Through Bill 159, the Ontario Conservative government had an opportunity and also a duty to protect Ontario families in the most important purchase that homeowners make. Our government has failed to protect us from building code violations and the impacts on the financial, physical and mental health of Ontario families, including my own.”

Speaker, it’s disappointing when people like Ms. Shuman, who has struggled for decades to see reform in the system that would protect people and ensure that they were given what they were owed—that this government chose not to properly overhaul the system and, in fact, not make the changes that were actually needed to put consumers at the heart of the decisions that were being made.

Our Auditor General released a report regarding Tarion: She “found the agency, which also regulates the industry, has until recently operated with very little oversight and was allowed to write its own rules. She found that “most of the public complaints about Tarion’s dispute resolution process were justified.”

So the public was justified in making these claims. Because as we heard time and time again, newly built homes were filled with black mould, causing all sorts of health conditions: respiratory illnesses, and potentially cancer for some people. So they were right to be making these claims to Tarion, yet Tarion failed to actually address those claims in a timely, effective and efficient manner.

Oftentimes, consumers were out hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to fight Tarion when they were actually owed that money because of the failure of the building inspections and the failures of Tarion to do what it was set up to do, which was protect those consumers when they made the biggest purchase of their life.

The Auditor General also found that the Ontario Home Builders’ Association actually had disproportionate influence over Tarion’s decisions and operations. How is it that the very agency that is constructing these homes, that is responsible for the delivery of that supply, is also in charge of making sure that folks’ claims aren’t going any further? This doesn’t sound like a just system to anyone. It’s sort of like having a fox guard the henhouse: I don’t think we’re going to see very many hens leaving. In this case, what we see is that claim after claim after claim after claim, for decades, was being denied.

What we also found with Tarion was significant issues in customer service. People were being given incorrect information when they would call in; they were being told that they didn’t have valid claims when, in fact, they did. And so, given that we know all of this and that we’ve known this, again, for decades, if I can quote from a Hansard transcript from earlier, when the member, who is now the member from I believe it’s Haldimand–Norfolk, was an MPP and the former critic to the minister.

He said, “It was incumbent upon this government,” back then referring to the Liberals who were in power, “to give consumers a dispute resolution process that they could trust”—Speaker, that they could trust.

And yet, here is this government now in power. Many of those former critics are now ministers in charge of this file, and they had an opportunity to provide consumers with a real dispute resolution mechanism. And what did they do now that they were in government with a majority that could ram through any piece of legislation they’d like? What did they do, Speaker? They failed to actually address the problem; they failed.

Even though in committee we heard time and time again from every single one of those stakeholders that walked in across the province, again, that they wanted to ensure that Tarion was reformed to the point that consumers were actually protected, and when they made complaints, that those complaints were taken seriously.

What did this government do? Well, they cleaned house—but they didn’t actually do anything meaningful. Just because they replaced the players at a table didn’t actually change the way that the system functions. That’s going to mean that while there were changes to the board composition, they actually didn’t go far enough. Because we can’t ensure consumers are going to be sitting at those tables, that people who were impacted by the decisions of Tarion are going to be at those tables.

We have no real assurance here that there’s not going to be a conflict of interest again with, potentially, people from the Ontario Home Builders’ Association overruling some of the decisions that are being made at those tables.

So when they had an opportunity to make meaningful change happen, this government chose to side again—as they’ve demonstrated through numerous bills in this House—with developers and their friends and insiders. It wasn’t consumers that were put first, in fact, it was those builders—to ensure again that perhaps homeowners are not at the heart of the decisions that are being made. Really and truly, it is the profits of those home builders and developers that are at the forefront of the decisions that this government has made.

I mean, I sat there. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars travelling this province. It’s astonishing to me that we would spend all that time, three days, going to all these cities—in fact, a week out of members’ time; three days out of the public’s time; we still don’t know how many thousands of dollars the cost of that consultation the committee hearings across the province are going to cost taxpayers—and yet, to do that and not take into consideration what those people shared with us, and actually put meaningful amendments forward to address those concerns, is shocking to me.

Why would we waste the taxpayers’ money going around having a sham of a committee hearing process and then not actually put into effect any of those changes we heard and the real concerns that consumers brought up? It’s just baffling to me that this is how this government chooses to operate when it has the opportunity to create change here. Justice Cunningham laid out a very, very well-thought-out framework and called for specific changes, many of which haven’t even been taken into consideration here.

We heard from the Canadians for Properly Built Homes, who said, “After careful study and consultation, and more than $750,000 of taxpayers’ dollars spent on the Tarion review”—$750,000 spent on a review—“in 2016 Justice Cunningham recommended that a multi-warranty provider model be adopted in Ontario. In 2018, before the ... election,” the Premier “said that he does not support monopolies. As a party, before the June 2018 election,” the Conservatives “committed to ending Tarion’s monopoly.” And yet they “decided that that monopoly will remain.

“Despite repeated requests, Minister Thompson has not provided her ‘extensive’ research that she said convinced her that Tarion’s monopoly needs to stay. Nor has Minister Thompson been willing to meet with us or respond in a meaningful way to the many emails that we have sent to her since she became minister.”

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: That’s not true. Withdraw.

Ms. Sara Singh: Sorry, Minister. These are not my words; these are the words of the Canadians for Properly Built Homes. So I appreciate that—

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I’ll meet with you this afternoon.

Ms. Sara Singh: You can meet with me this afternoon, but they would really like you to meet with them. The point is that these stakeholders have valid concerns that they would really like the minister to take into consideration. Unfortunately, what stakeholders are telling us is that the concerns that they’ve raised have not been adequately addressed by this government. And what I’m sharing is that, through the committee process, those concerns were raised, and yet none of those concerns were adequately addressed.

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Government members, come to order.

Ms. Sara Singh: The minister can continue to heckle. We will definitely have a conversation later, but what I’m trying to do is raise the voices of those stakeholders, people in our communities who have been exploited by the previous government, Tarion and now this current Conservative government, which is failing to do its job to adequately protect those consumers.

I’ll read some quotes from Dave Roberts, a former Tarion enforcement official. Sure, maybe we don’t want to listen to the homebuyers and the consumers, but maybe we should listen to people who were actually responsible for going in and enforcing what Tarion was supposed to be doing, because these people have perhaps a lived experience that the government will be willing to listen to.

At committee, it was very interesting, because Mr. Roberts really put the consumer at the heart of the conversation. He indicated that in addition to some of the changes that were needed to the board composition, what was also needed were proactive measures. This piece of legislation fails to even take into consideration proactive inspections that could be done, which could help prevent potential claims even going to Tarion, because those problems were addressed right at the forefront. But instead, consumers have to wait.

Mr. Roberts says, “A proactive inspection process is one that would work collaboratively with industry members to mitigate claims. One that would work towards building claims free homes.” Think about that. Wow. If we could get the inspections done from the outset, then perhaps whatever construction-related concern that has arisen in the process could be mitigated, sight unseen.

But without those types of mechanisms being put in place in the dispute resolution process or the inspection process, unfortunately, consumers have to wait, and they have to wait until the problem gets really bad in order to have it addressed or even be able to put forward a claim to Tarion. But this type of model not only would save the associations money, it would save the consumers money. So I just don’t understand why, when we heard, time and time again that mechanisms like this would actually protect consumers, save taxpayers money and make the system more efficient, that this government chooses not to implement these types of strategies. It boggles my mind.

In addition, what we heard was that there were a number of issues with Tarion, but, again, as I said, this bill goes through a number of different acts, one of those being the Condominium Act. I’m just going to pull a Hansard record and quote a little bit from Mr. Armand Conant, who shared with us some concerns that he had around the changes that the government was making. Again, here is an opportunity to ensure that we protect consumers, that we clarify language, some of the technical language in the acts, to ensure that—if, again, our goal is to respect consumers and protect them, then we would ensure that the language would be reflective of that.

What Mr. Conant shared with us is that words in the act, the words “annoyance” and “disturbance,” were not clearly defined within the act. He brought this up at committee. The changes that the government has proposed would actually make things more difficult for consumers, potentially create more complaints, and would perhaps create confusion amongst the condo board and its owners.

“So,” he asked, “the words ‘annoyance’ and ‘disturbance’ should be defined; maybe changing it from ‘unreasonable’ to ‘reasonable.’ Then look at the individual words,” for example, “‘light,’ ‘odour’ and ‘infestation.’”

They need more clarity on this. This is what Mr. Conant was saying. Yet, when the opportunity arose at committee to clarify that language to ensure that there weren’t going to be future legal battles that the condo board was going to have to engage in with owners and tenants, this government chose not to address those concerns in a meaningful way.

What I asked Mr. Conant was, do you think this is going to result in, potentially, more claims coming forward or concerns or complaints from the condo board and tenants? He said absolutely, because there was no real clarity to protect either the condo board or the homeowner.

Someone could say, “Well, you know, this is annoying; this is a nuisance,” but there was no clarity. How do we define that? Is my loud music a nuisance? At what decibel does it become a nuisance? These are the things that they were saying. Smells, for example, odours, are listed in here. Well, what if what I’m cooking for dinner is offensive to my neighbour? Does that warrant some sort of complaint being filed against me because the odours coming from my apartment are a nuisance?

Thank you.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you. And now colleagues on both sides of the House will have an opportunity to pose questions to the member from Brampton Centre. The Minister of Government and Consumer Services would like to pose a question.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: To the member opposite: I just have a straightforward question. I’m wondering if you’ll correct your record because I’ve never refused a meeting and I certainly am available, and/or any member of my team, to meet and clarify.

Ms. Sara Singh: I’m not sure if another member can request that a member corrects their record, but I will just clarify for the minister that what I was reading were letters that were sent to us on behalf of Canadians for Properly Built Homes, and they, in fact, have indicated that they have requested meetings and have not been able to gain your time in order to discuss their concerns. Perhaps what we can do later on today is we can connect. I’m happy to share that information with you, and I’m sure that those organizations would really love to meet with you in order to discuss their concerns.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I have spoken with them.

Ms. Sara Singh: Again, I’m just reading what I have, so we can clarify any confusion that might be there.

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

Mr. Kevin Yarde: I want to thank the member for Brampton Centre for her eloquent speech. Of course, all of the, I guess you could say craziness that has been going on with Tarion lately—I want to talk about the claims aspect of Tarion and see if you can maybe give some answers to this. The same agency protecting consumers is also responsible for addressing claims, which seems a little bit, like you said, like the fox guarding the hen. Claims are often dismissed by Tarion; difficult timelines—giving 30-day windows to file a claim. My question to the member from Brampton Centre is, do you feel that there is anything wrong with that type of structure, and how would you go about fixing it?

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you very much to my colleague from Brampton North for the question. I think it’s an excellent one. What we heard, time and time again through the committee process, was that consumers felt that the way that Tarion was structured, its board, was unfair and was not really putting the needs of consumers first.

One of the recommendations that we made was to ensure that the board was well-composed and that there were conflict-of-interest mechanisms put in place to protect the consumer. Unfortunately, at committee, government members did not support those NDP amendments to ensure that there weren’t any folks being appointed to those boards who would present a conflict of interest—a potential builder, a potential developer. We really felt that the board should focus on the consumer.

Again, I think we need to look at how much those executives are being paid, but we need to ensure that consumers are reflected in the board composition.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for Parry Sound–Muskoka.

Mr. Norman Miller: Thank you to the member from Brampton Centre for her speech. Certainly, a home purchase is the biggest purchase most of us make. On this bill, I’m just a little curious about her comments with regard—she seems to not like the fact that the bill was travelled. I understand that it travelled to Windsor, Brampton and Ottawa, and it was an agreement of all the parties. I’m a little surprised that the member doesn’t want to get outside of the Queen’s Park bubble and actually listen to people on this important bill.

It should be pointed out that there was the unusual step of having first reading without any debate and then travelling the bill. It has been to committee. I believe there have been over 20 amendments made to the bill, including having more balanced representation in terms of the board of directors of Tarion, and that there will be further committee after second reading.

What changes would the member like to see to the bill, as it is a work in progress; the way it should work—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for Brampton Centre.

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you for the question. I just want to clarify: I did not have a problem with us travelling this bill. In fact, NDP members requested that we travel to other cities so that we could hear from people in the province, including cities like Peterborough. What I had an issue with was that we spent thousands of taxpayer dollars going around this province and yet failed to actually make meaningful change happen based on what we heard at those committees. That was what I was saying was an issue.

If we’re going to spend taxpayer money on travelling a bill, regardless of what bill that is, and we are looking to elicit conversation and elicit recommendations, then we should be taking those recommendations into consideration. Unfortunately, this government failed to listen to consumers and to people at committee. That was my issue.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

Mr. Daryl Kramp: To the member opposite: I have been very, very fortunate over the years to spend a lot of time on public accounts, addressing the concerns of the Auditor General, an independent officer of Parliament. As we all know, they have a significant number of resources and time and expertise. On this particular bill, I know the Auditor General made 29 recommendations to be able to move forward to address this bill. These recommendations, for the most part, are basically adopted in this bill.

I’m wondering why the member opposite would not have confidence in the Auditor General’s suggestions as to the improvement of this bill—and obviously enacted in the bill.

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you very much to the member for the question. I would just respectfully say that while there were many recommendations made and adopted, there were also several that were not, and I think that’s what we’re taking issue with.

The concerns that were brought forward around Tarion, as consumers made clear, required a complete overhaul of how that system was structured. Simply changing a few things here and there was not really going to build consumer confidence the way that consumers in this province truly needed. A multi-provider model was one of the recommendations that was made and not adopted here. At the end of the day, what we’re saying is that it’s consumers who were looking for real protections, and this government truly failed to actually make that meaningful change happen.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Questions?

Mr. Kevin Yarde: It appears that the government was not listening to what the member from Brampton Centre was saying. Let me actually give you a question, because I don’t think we’ve even had a question from the other side.

Homeowners, obviously, through Tarion, have not been protected, and you’ve so eloquently showed us that with some of the messages from disgruntled homeowners.

The member from Humber River–Black Creek also tabled the Home Warranties to Protect Families Act. He’s not in the room today, but he did mention that.

He wanted a new crown agency to end Tarion. Where in this would you see is the benefit to have a new crown agency taking over where Tarion has left off?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): I will remind the member from Brampton North that he is not to say who is not in the room today, especially if it’s one of his own members.

The member for Brampton Centre.

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member for the question. I think that what people were really looking for was some real, significant change. That would have come with replacing and completely restructuring the way that Tarion operates and the way that consumers can access what is a mandatory home warranty program. They should have choice.

Here is a government that’s supposed to be open for business and yet it seems to want to allow a monopoly that is harming people in this province to continue.

I think what we could have done was replace Tarion completely. While we replaced executives, we still don’t know if those executives are going to be earning the same levels of compensation that the previous members did. So I think what we needed was a completely independent, completely separate entity. This government had the opportunity to do that, and did not.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): We have time for one more quick question and quick response.

Ms. Sara Singh: Thank you to the member for the question. I think there are definitely some aspects of this bill that we support, as we demonstrated in committee. But I think as a whole, the point that we’re trying to make is that we had the opportunity to actually put consumers at the heart of some of the decisions that are being made.

I know that the minister has said that this is a work in progress and we understand that. That’s why we put forward amendments in committee at second reading to ensure that some of those changes were reflected while we supported some of the amendments that the government put forward. So it isn’t to say that there aren’t aspects of the bill that we support, but wholeheartedly and fulsomely this bill does nothing to really, truly protect consumers.

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

Ms. Donna Skelly: I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill 159, the Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act. Few bills that pass before us will have such a profound and lasting effect on the lives of everyday Ontarians, from enhancing the safety of products and services that we rely on to improving our ability to expand our use of the digital world, to conduct transactions quickly and safely, to improving and streamlining protections for people who find themselves victims of unscrupulous business practices or shoddy workmanship.

Though Bill 159 may not have the splashy appeal of some bills that capture media coverage or public attention, I can assure you that its impact will be felt in the dozens of ways it will make life simpler for consumers and for business by improving efficiency, effectiveness and clarity.

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes that the people of Ontario need stronger protections. We want them to feel confident that they are well informed and well protected when they shop online or enter into a contract, and we want them to know they have a voice in helping us create stronger rules to protect them and to protect their families.

The work that Minister Thompson and her ministry are doing is part of our plan to build a smarter government that works better for people. It’s about updating outdated legislation and adopting digital practices to strengthen protection and promote trust and confidence for the people of this province. We are building the foundation for a modern and equitable system that truly puts people at the centre of everything that we do, both now and for future generations.

An example of this, one of the most exciting and significant purchases a family will make, is that of a new home, but unfortunately not everything always goes as planned. Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, consumers are victimized by unprincipled builders or substandard workmanship and have then been left to navigate through the maze of regulations and policies to try and obtain compensation.

We have heard from home buyers and homeowners loud and clear, and we have listened. We are also responding to recommendations made in the Auditor General’s Special Audit of Tarion Warranty Corp. by taking steps to make significant improvements that would make the new Ontario home warranty and home protection program more responsive to the needs of consumers.

In relation to the new home warranties, the changes proposed in this bill would overhaul the new Ontario home warranty and protection program to make it consumer-focused by enhancing the current single-administrator model for the administration of warranties and protections. A new and improved warranty and protection program is anticipated, if this bill passes, to be in place in the fall of this year.

In addition, it would support new consumer protection priorities that the government committed to last spring as part of the overhauled program. This includes enhancing the dispute resolution process and delivering new measures to promote better-built new homes. With regard to the dispute resolution process this bill also includes proposed changes to the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act. If passed, these changes would:

—establish a new mandate for Tarion to promote the resolution of claims as soon as reasonably possible;

—provide Tarion with the ability to use a range of processes to resolve disputes between homeowners and builders or vendors;

—restore balance for consumers by removing builders and vendors as parties at the Licence Appeal Tribunal and disputes between homeowners and Tarion over warranties and protection claims unless regulations specify otherwise; and

—enable the government to prescribe adjudicative bodies other than the Licence Appeal Tribunal to resolve disputes between homeowners and Tarion over warranties and protection claims.

I think that these steps, if passed by the Legislature and by committee at the review, would go a very long way to solving a lot of the concerns and disputes that came forward.

Further, if the Legislature passes the Rebuilding Consumer Confidence Act, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services plans to publicly consult on regulatory proposals that would be required to bring many of these changes into effect. This would include further measures to enhance dispute resolution.

Mr. Speaker, we know how important it is to have an effective and consumer-focused new home warranty and protection program here in Ontario. That is why last spring the government conducted focused consultations with key stakeholders, including the insurance industry, consumers, home builders and vendors, other professionals and subject matter experts, other Canadian jurisdictions, and lastly, Tarion.

We recognize that the administration of new home warranties and protections in this province is deeply flawed and that Tarion has not done nearly enough to fulfill its responsibilities to protect new home buyers. We have already taken action to ensure that Tarion is more transparent and that protections for consumers are improved.

So far, we have taken steps to support the establishment of a separate regulator for new home builders and vendors, known as the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, which we anticipate will be designated as the regulator in the fall of 2020.

Additionally, in October of last year, Tarion Warranty Corp. announced that new measures are being put in place to help educate and inform prospective new home buyers, measures that our government requested be implemented to especially help consumers buying a residential unit in certain pre-construction condominium projects.

These measures include the addition of new search tools on Tarion’s Ontario Builder Directory and a new detailed information sheet that highlights potential risks of purchasing certain types of residential units in a pre-construction condominium project. Buyers of these units will benefit from these new rules requiring purchase agreements to be accompanied by an information sheet highlighting risks and considerations that come with the purchase, including the expected date when a purchaser can take occupancy and early termination conditions that would allow a developer to cancel a project.

These mandatory disclosures in purchase agreements and additional information on new home builders and vendors will help improve transparency and consumer protection for new home buyers.

As anyone who has bought or sold a house in the past 20 years knows, the real estate market in Ontario and across Canada has seen enormous changes. The total value of all residential properties more than doubled in Ontario, and housing values are sky-high.

To help ensure that people who are buying and selling homes continue to benefit from strong consumer protection, our government has proposed enhancements to the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act.

These changes will improve consumer protection and choice in the market, providing more transparency in the purchase and sale process, and clearer information for consumers about what a real estate brokerage and professional must do for them. These changes would also improve professionalism, and put more teeth in place to support industry compliance.

In addition, they would create a stronger business environment for registered real estate brokerages, brokers and salespersons by allowing real estate professionals to incorporate and to be paid through the corporation, bringing regulations up to date and reducing regulatory burden.

These proposals have come about as a result of extensive consultation with those in the industry and with homeowners, so that we could effect changes that streamline, strengthen and improve the entire process for all involved.

People across the globe have become used to 24-hour access, accessing the goods and services that they want when they want them, where they want them. They are used to buying goods online and having their purchases delivered to their door, sometimes even on the same day. They expect convenience and services that work for them, on their own terms. Ontarians are no exception.

That’s why we made frequently used condo forms more easily accessible online, as of January 1 of this year, on the Condominium Authority of Ontario’s website, which already houses other condo-related forms.

As a first-time condo buyer, there is a lot to learn, and the more you know about buying your first condo, the better your decisions will be. The Condominium Act lacks clear, plain-language information to help first-time homebuyers and condo residents understand condo life when buying and living in a condo.

We are consulting on regulatory changes under the act, to help improve condo living and protect consumers’ financial investment—changes that could come into effect starting this summer. This could include requiring the Condominium Authority of Ontario to develop a condo guide for buyers, and requiring developers to provide it at the point of purchase.

We will also be consulting on providing condo corporations with clearer guidelines or standards for the procurement of services and goods, and strengthening the financial management of reserve funds.

We will be addressing these issues under the Technical Standards and Safety Act by consulting in the spring of this year on the use of administrative penalties as an enforcement tool, to improve compliance with elevator laws. This proposal is aimed at promoting more efficient maintenance, making life safer for everyone who uses elevators.

We need to ensure that people are able to access their homes and their businesses, and that first responders are always able to access peoples’ homes in the case of an emergency, regardless of where they live.

Another area of modern life that can be among the most frustrating, and vulnerable to unscrupulous actors and confusing purchase directions, is that of event ticket sales. Currently, under the Ticket Sales Act of 2017, a business is required to display if the purchase price is in Canadian currency or not. But unfortunately, many do not adhere to this until late in the transaction.

Most tickets listed on online platforms are purchased with a credit card. If tickets are offered in non-Canadian currency—for example, in US dollars—credit card companies may charge a foreign currency conversion fee, which adds to the cost for consumers.

For a consumer, this could mean that a ticket they purchased in Ontario, for an event being hosted in Ontario, could cost them the exchange on the US dollar and their credit card’s commission fee, all for an event that is right here at home—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I apologize for interrupting the member, but I have to announce that it is 10:15 and we are now moving to members’ statements.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Women’s issues

Miss Monique Taylor: Sunday was International Women’s Day, a day when we honour the trailblazing women who came before us and inspired the next generation of women leaders. It’s especially important now as we have a government at Queen’s Park that is making the lives of women harder.

Right now, teachers, EAs and social workers are out on the picket lines because of cuts. These are jobs usually performed by women, and Ford is signalling that their work isn’t valued. Midwives across Ontario are currently fighting for pay equity. Child care workers and PSWs are fighting to keep their wages above the poverty line. Marginalized women are feeling the brunt of this government’s policies. Last week, the Ford government cancelled funding for sexual assault crisis centres and then quickly backtracked once the news of their cruelty got out. We’ve seen mothers with precarious jobs get penalized because our labour laws don’t give them a sick day.

On International Women’s Day, we need to remember that many of these systemic barriers still remain. This government could easily remove them if it valued the work that women do.

I also want to congratulate all the winners at Hamilton’s Women of Distinction Awards this weekend. They are: Selbina Mwendwa, Diana Weir, Emily O’Brien, Monique Lavallee, Linda Plourde, Dr. Audrey Hicks, Dr. Heather Sheardown, Chyler Sewell, Kayonne Christy; and in particular I would like to mention Lena Sutton, who won a lifetime achievement award for her years of relentless advocacy on behalf of women.

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

I’m going to remind the members that when we’re referring to each other in the House, we refer to each other by our ministerial title, if applicable, or our riding name.

Skilled trades

Mr. Parm Gill: As the MPP for Milton, I was proud that my team organized an inspiring women in skilled trades panel discussion and networking session last Friday. I am fortunate to have a great team in my office that worked hard to put this panel together. It included female business owners, skilled trades professionals and the minister responsible for children and women’s issues.

I also want to recognize Conestoga College for being part of the event in celebration of International Women’s Day and to highlight the opportunities for women in the skilled trade sector.

In Ontario, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman makes $0.74. That is a gap of 26%. I am proud to stand alongside the women and men who are working hard to close this gap each and every day.

The resources we have locally in Milton that can help women transition into a career in the trades include the Halton Industry Education Council, Habitat for Humanity Halton, as well as the Centre for Skills Development, and the many businesses who are working to hire more women into the skilled trades and other professions.

I want to thank everyone again for attending and all those who are working every day to close the gap.

Manufacturing jobs

Mr. Kevin Yarde: At the recent Canada 360° Economic Summit the Premier said, “Buy-American policies are hurting Ontario businesses and workers.” D&R Electronics, a proud Ontario business with headquarters in Bolton, Ontario, has written twice to the Premier to express their concerns that the Ontario Provincial Police continue to purchase and equip OPP enforcement vehicles with US-manufactured vehicle equipment.

D&R manufactures similar vehicle equipment to that purchased by the OPP in the United States. They already sell this equipment to other police forces in Ontario, like Durham, Waterloo and York region to name a few. They employ local people throughout Peel region. A contract of this type can create 75 to 100 good-paying jobs, so it’s unusual why the Premier won’t answer the concerns of an Ontario manufacturer. This shows there is a lack of interest in Ontario companies on the part of this government.

The business economy wants to see a stronger Canadian economy. Losing business to American companies is very unfortunate. We have to ask ourselves: Why is this happening? There is a call to action on the part of this government to get it right. We need to get in front of these Canadian companies and work with them at all levels to make sure we change this narrative. We can’t afford to continue to let this happen. It puts at stake the very fabric of our country. Take advantage of our skills and take advantage of our dynamic workers so that we can build a stronger workforce that would have tangible impacts on the lives of Canadians. This government should invest in Canadian companies like D&R—

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

The next statement?

Indigenous affairs

Mr. Toby Barrett: Ladies and gentlemen and my fellow members of Parliament from all political parties, I rise today yet again to restate my position: The illegal blockade of Highway 6 at Caledonia must come down. I’m calling on the federal government yet again to step up and take responsibility for the group of activists blocking our highway.

The blockade on Highway 6 is part of a national effort to block roads and rail lines in a show of solidarity with hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs opposed to the construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline in British Columbia.

Caledonia’s illegal blockade is very dangerous. Traffic is now being routed over a 1927 bridge that should have been replaced 18 years ago. The blockade seriously hinders the movement of goods, services and people.

Our area’s economy, on both sides of Highway 6, is struggling. Stores are closing. It’s disheartening that the Canadian government continues to remain silent.

We need a coordinated plan to see these illegal blockades dismantled immediately. We respect the right of a peaceful protest, but enough is enough. Tear down this blockade. Caledonia has been helpless for 14 years and 10 days now.

If you want to help, contact me at toby.barrett@pc.ola.org.

Workplace safety

Mr. Jamie West: In 2018, 230 Ontarians died from workplace-related incidents or occupational disease. In my riding of Sudbury, when a life is lost to a preventable workplace injury or disease, our entire community mourns together. Speaker, I’ve been to the funerals of dozens of workers who have been killed in the workplace. No family should ever lose a loved one this way.

For years, the Liberal and Conservative governments have turned their backs on the life-and-death issues of workplace health and safety. For example, the Auditor General’s report last year revealed that the Minister of Labour repeatedly let unsafe employers off the hook for the same dangerous problems.

Instead of investing in more inspections and more enforcement, this fall the government created a program that will give corporate giveaways to employers who go just three years without a reported injury. This is another harebrained idea that they stole from the Liberals. For years, the Liberal government ran a similarly flawed cash incentive program. As a result, unscrupulous companies worked the system. They pressured workers to hide injuries. They rushed the wounded back to work.

Handing out “excellence” rewards for only three years without a recorded injury is shameful. The government is wasting money on a program that we already know doesn’t work and will put lives at risk. It’s unacceptable. Instead of encouraging people to hide their injuries, we should be working towards zero injuries, zero fatalities and zero occupational diseases.

Human trafficking

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Ontario currently is facing a human trafficking crisis that targets young women and girls.

I would like to commend the great work that the Minister of Infrastructure has done in the past on this particular issue. I’d also like to thank the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues for taking action on this file.

Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing crimes worldwide. It includes sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced marriages and even extraction of organs. Globally and locally, the overwhelmingly targeted victims are young women and children. Nearly two thirds of police-reported cases in Canada are taking place here in Ontario, and over 70% of human trafficking victims are identified as being under the age of 25.

Speaker, nobody is excluded from being a potential victim. Take the region of Halton, where, for example, several months ago, 12 women were rescued from human trafficking that resulted in 72 charges being laid.

We must be thankful to our local police enforcement and community organizations that help victims escape human trafficking. I’d like to thank the great organizations in Oakville and Halton, including Radius Child and Youth, the Women’s Centre of Halton, Halton’s Women’s Place, and SAVIS of Halton, for their great work helping victims.

Our government is taking swift and decisive action to combat this horrific crime. Our new five-year, $307-million strategy reflects the valuable input we have heard from survivors of human trafficking, Indigenous communities and organizations, as well as law enforcement and front-line service providers. I’m proud to be part of a government that is putting an end to these heinous crimes.

Homelessness

Mr. Jeff Burch: Gaston Tremblay was first homeless at 14. For over a decade, on and off, he lived in shelters across Canada or on the street. He was suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness and unable to keep stable employment. Decades later, Gaston is an active member of my community in Welland and a fierce advocate.

Gaston is one person of thousands in Niagara who have experienced homelessness. Niagara is facing a crisis that has become critical. Thousands of our residents are in shelters or emergency hotel accommodations, unable to find affordable housing. We have heard stories of people in our community forced to sleep under bridges.

Niagara shelters continue to operate at over 100% capacity, with a 160% increase in hotel use from 2017 to 2018. On any given night, 625 people are homeless in the Niagara region; 144 of those people are children.

Niagara has fallen behind in funding for homelessness prevention since 2012. Each year that this problem persists, the region is unable to meet the growing demand to assist those with housing shortages adequately. What is needed is a funding model that matches local demand for homelessness services and ensures equitable allocation.

It is vital that this government declare a homelessness emergency. Housing is a human right. No one should have to live on the streets, especially not in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Clearview township in my riding has seven community small halls. These halls serve as gathering places for community events where people can socialize and play cards or mark important occasions, like birthdays, weddings and family reunions. Clearview’s small halls are the heart of their communities and form the foundation of the township’s agricultural heritage. Clearview township founded the Small Halls Festival in 2014, which is held every year in October and features a number of community concerts and events.

While the township values these facilities and wants to do the right thing to keep them open, the cost may be too prohibitive. These buildings are important to the communities they serve. They are the lifeblood of rural Ontario in the areas they serve, and they’re significant to my riding. As such, I look forward to the government’s response to this important issue.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We have with us in the Speaker’s gallery today Mr. Thomas Seshie, the consul general of the Republic of Ghana in Toronto. He is accompanied by his wife and by Mr. Alexander Ben-Acquaah, consul at the consulate of the Republic of Ghana. They are here today for the flag-raising ceremony in celebration of Ghana’s 63rd Independence Day. Please join me in warmly welcoming our guests to the Legislature.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Also in the Speaker’s gallery this morning are members of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians job shadow program: Kyuyeon Sung, Ahmad Fahiez Azizian, Lily Dina Frimpong, Roxana Comsa and Bryan Liceralde. They’re joined by the chair of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians and former Speaker of the Legislature, David Warner. They’re going to be here later on today and this is the time that we can acknowledge that they’re going to be here.

Miss Monique Taylor: From the Ontario Autism Coalition, I would like to welcome Faith Munoz, Amanda Mooyer and Michau van Speyk. Welcome back to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Todd Smith: I also have some guests in the Speaker’s gallery this morning. I would like to welcome Kristen, Manal, Maurissa, Ricardo, Claudius, Kristy, Brandt, Marissa and Evan. They’re all from March of Dimes Canada’s LIFE program, and they’re joined by their wonderful program instructors, as well as Leonard Baker, who is the president and CEO of March of Dimes Canada. Welcome to Queen’s Park, everyone.

Mr. Jamie West: On behalf of the member from Nickel Belt and me, I would like to welcome Jo-Anne Palkovits, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Sudbury, to the Legislature. Jo-Anne is here for Catholic Health Association of Ontario awareness day. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: It’s my honour to welcome Raechelle Devereaux, the executive director of the Guelph Community Health Centre and one of the leaders in our local Ontario health team, to Queen’s Park. Welcome, Raechelle.

Ms. Lindsey Park: I would like to welcome to the Legislature, from the Public Affairs Association of Canada, Cristina Onosé and Harvey Cooper.

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: I’m proud to welcome home warranty advocate Barbara Captijn from the riding of Toronto–St. Paul’s.

Mr. John Fraser: I would like to welcome the Catholic Health Association of Ontario here this morning to Queen’s Park. I had a great meeting this morning at breakfast.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: I have the pleasure of introducing some folks from Shaw Communications and Freedom Mobile who are here today. I also want to remind my colleagues that they will be having a lobby day down in the dining room in the late afternoon today.

I would like to welcome Mai Nguyen, Chima Nkemdirim, Colin Lavery, Ian Phillips and Hardave Birk to Queen’s Park. Thank you for coming here today.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I am delighted to welcome Catherine Dunne, vice-president of Western University Students’ Council and also the president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, who is here today with 24 amazing young women student leaders for the USC’s Women in House program. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: I would like to welcome the parents of a legislative page from Brampton West, Aditri Janapatla, who’s also a page captain today: her father, Jagadeesh Kumar, and her mother, Haritha Janapatla. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: First, I’d like to welcome someone with a great name, Dr. Gillian Kernaghan, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, who’s here with the Catholic Health Association of Ontario—and no, Speaker, we are not related.

I would also like to introduce guests today from the Western University Students’ Council Women in House initiative, including Catherine Dunne, Nick Soave, Cecilia Liu, Camilla Wong, Fatima Amir, Olivia Keenan, Micah Ton, Si Zhe (Lily) Yuan, Tamsen Long, Mattie Cliche, Claire Adams, Megan Rauser, Hannah Diebold, Erin McAdam, Rushil Malik, Rebecca Oeyangen and Fatima Amir. Welcome, everyone, to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Michael Parsa: I would like to welcome Jennifer Han from the Ontario Legislature Internship Programme. Welcome to our team and welcome to Queen’s Park, Jennifer.

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: It’s my pleasure to welcome Janice Kaffer and Bill Marra, both from Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in Windsor. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Rick Nicholls: I would like to welcome Ron Noble, CEO of the Catholic Health Association of Ontario; Bill Marra, vice-president of external affairs and executive director of the Changing Lives Together Foundation, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare; Janice Kaffer, president and CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare; Brian Payne, board chair, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare; and Glen Wood, trustee, Catholic Health Corp. of Ontario. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Joel Harden: Just a quick word of welcome to our friends from March of Dimes: Thank you so much for being here today. It’s great to see you up there.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I’m also pleased to welcome Mona Khan, a political science student from Ryerson University, who is doing a placement in my office. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Question Period

COVID-19

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question this morning is to the Premier. Families are watching the global developments around the spread of COVID-19 with growing concern. They’re wondering how a health system already struggling with the challenge of hallway medicine will cope with the spread of this disease. They’re wondering what the impact on their jobs and savings will be as they watch volatile stock markets. More than ever, people need to know their government is prepared to act and has a plan.

Can the Premier provide that assurance today and, more importantly, start informing Ontarians of the contingency plans to deal with the economic and health system impacts of the COVID-19 virus?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, I can say to the leader of the official opposition that we certainly do have a plan. We have had a plan in place since this coronavirus, COVID-19, came forward. It was developed after the experience that Ontario had with SARS 17 years ago. There have been protocols developed. We have a public health agency in Ontario now. We have had a plan that has been ready to be set in motion, and it has been set in motion.

We are already doing the screening of people coming forward who are travelling from other countries. We’re ready to enhance that if we need to. We are looking at this day by day. We have a command table that has been set up that is operated by the Deputy Minister of Health and Dr. David Williams, our Chief Medical Officer of Health.

We are taking the steps that we need to take as the situation develops, so you can be assured, and the people of Ontario can be assured, that the plan is working and that the risk to Ontarians still remains very low.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, the COVID-19 virus is creating unique challenges here in Ontario and all over the world. Businesses are wondering how they will deal with supply chain disruptions and volatile markets. Working women and men, particularly in precarious work in industries like entertainment and tourism, are wondering if they’ll be able to take time away from work if and when they’ll need to, and how their industries are going to survive. Many are wondering what the impact of more government cuts will have on a softening economy.

I wrote the Premier yesterday asking him to meet with me to discuss how the Legislature can move quickly to address these concerns as they develop. When will the Premier meet with me for this important discussion?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Finance to reply.

Hon. Rod Phillips: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. On the health front, as the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health has pointed out, we have a plan, and that plan is working. We should all be very pleased with the work of our public health professionals and the rest of the health care sector, including our front-line workers.

When it comes to the economic impacts, as I said yesterday in this Legislature, we are monitoring those impacts. The steps that our government has already taken to make sure that Ontario has a robust economy, that the private sector is strong and that we are supporting the working people of Ontario are now going to come home in a very positive way.

We are coming into this from a strong position in terms of job growth, but we are monitoring this on a day-to-day basis, and we’ll make sure that the supports are necessary, both for our health workers and for our economy to keep Ontario strong and to keep Ontario healthy.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, I was at the chamber of commerce event last night and I spoke with folks yesterday afternoon as well, and people are wondering where is the plan? It’s not good enough to monitor. You need a plan, and you need to communicate that plan so people have an understanding of what’s going on.

Sadly, when people look at this government for a plan, they see a Premier that’s moving in the wrong direction; moving ahead with cuts and forced amalgamation of public health units in the midst of a public health crisis, taking away legislative protection of sick days at exactly the moment when health experts are urging people to stay away from work when they’re ill and plowing ahead with an agenda of cuts that will put a drag on the economy at a time when we need to boost it.

Is the Premier prepared to work with all parties in this Legislature to ensure their government can respond swiftly and practically to all aspects of COVID-19?

Hon. Rod Phillips: To the Leader of the Opposition: Of course we will continue to work co-operatively with all members of this Legislature.

But quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, this kind of alarmism that the Leader of the Opposition is raising is not helpful. The thought that the boards of trade and chambers of commerce of this province are leaning on the NDP, after their anti-business, anti-investment agenda—are leaning on them for advice or support at this time is, quite frankly, ludicrous.

Mr. Speaker, I have been in touch with senior business leaders. I have been in touch with the chambers of commerce. I met this morning with the president of the CFIB. They appreciate the work and the confidence of this government, both when it comes to the health issues we are facing and the way they’re being addressed, and the strength that we are putting behind the growth in the Ontario economy.

We will continue to work with everyone, including the Leader of the Opposition and the members of this Legislature, the business community and our health professionals, to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

I want to say that I’m looking forward to the meeting that I’ve asked for, to get updated on what this government’s plan is. Hearing just this moment that a whole floor of an RBC building in Mississauga—the whole floor of workers—is now under self-quarantine because of COVID-19, I think, should give a wake-up call to this government that they need to be more proactive in terms of how we help businesses weather this storm.

Hospital funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is to the Premier. As the Premier knows, or should know, hospitals in Ontario have been routinely operating beyond capacity for years and years and years now—and this was before the challenges that are posed now by COVID-19.

What resources is the government allocating to deal with increased pressures that hospitals may be facing?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you very much for the question. It is a very important one. We want the people of Ontario to know that we do have a plan that includes our hospitals and includes all of our health workers, who are doing a fantastic job, as well as our public health workers right now.

We have a plan in place that’s going to deal with that. We have an enhanced pandemic response that formally brings together a wide range of partners to strengthen and implement the plan, and we have tables to deal with each of those issues. We have the command table, as I’ve indicated before, to act as a single point of oversight and direction. We also have five regional planning and implementation tables that are going to review the regional plans and bring together the providers, should the circumstances change. We are ready for any change in circumstance.

We have a collaboration table, where we receive, with members from key health sector organizations, to advise the command table, and other important health sector partners, all of whom are engaged in making sure that the health and safety of all Ontarians remains our number one—

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

The supplementary question.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, yesterday the Ford government confidently predicted that in the event that a hospital had to go into lockdown because of being overwhelmed from people coming to get tested, other hospitals could step up and take over primary responsibilities. It is astounding that that’s the response of the Minister of Health when she knows that our hospitals are operating over capacity.

We have been in a crisis for years because of what the Liberal government left us with. Hospitals in greater Toronto as well as Hamilton, London, Sudbury, Peterborough and Niagara Falls are all routinely operating over capacity. So unless—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry must come to order.

These are important issues that are being discussed in the Legislature this morning. The people of Ontario would expect us to treat the issue with the importance—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. The Speaker is giving a speech.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry will come to order.

I have to be able to hear the question and the answer. These are important issues.

I apologize to the Leader of the Opposition. She had the floor. Start the clock. Please continue.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Thank you, Speaker. I’ll just repeat that hospitals in the greater Toronto area as well as Hamilton, London, Sudbury, Peterborough and Niagara Falls are all routinely operating over capacity. We have raised this issue time and time again. The former government did nothing about it. This government is not on track. But unless they’re adding new resources to these overcrowded hospitals, I don’t see how anything is going to change. What is the government prepared to do?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I can certainly agree with the leader of the official opposition that the situation with Ontario’s hospitals being overcrowded was something that took 15 years in the making. It was not created by this government. However, we are duly working on that and trying to reduce the numbers.

That said, I think it’s really important, Mr. Speaker—and I’ll say through you to the leader of the official opposition—it is very important that we remain calm and rational about this situation, and look at the resources we have and how we can use them most appropriately. That is what we are doing. That is what our plan contemplates. That is what we will do, should the situation escalate. There is a detailed plan in place in order to deal with that.

Our comprehensive response planning includes: effective surveillance, prompt laboratory testing—and we are increasing our laboratory testing resources—appropriate care and treatment, evidence-based public health measures—and our public health partners are doing a terrific job here—and transparent communications. That is very important. The people of Ontario deserve to know what’s going on. We have been open—

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

The final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Despite the government’s promises of ending hallway medicine, the Ford government has continued the Liberal policy of freezing hospital budgets. This year, hospitals indicated that increased investment is crucial if they’re going to tackle hallway medicine, much less deal with increased demand. Is the government going to make these investments?

Look, the budget is coming. We know it’s printed. We know it was delivered to the Premier. What we want to see in that budget is evidence that this government is prepared to fund hospitals, not only to the amount that they request just to keep a broken system afloat, but so that they can actually respond to the issues that we’re now facing with the outbreak of COVID-19 here in Ontario that appears to be picking up speed.

So my question is, how exactly do they plan to respond to the increased pressure that is occurring as a result of COVID-19?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Ending hallway health care was a key commitment that we made to the people of Ontario during the last election, and we are delivering on that commitment.

We have increased the funding to hospitals by over $340 million this year, in addition to an extra $68 million for small to medium-sized hospitals that were dealing with a funding pressure that was created by the previous government, not by us.

We are working on ending hallway health care, but at the same time, we are working on our comprehensive plan to deal with COVID-19. We will be able to deal with it, should the situation escalate, but we are doing excellent work to try and contain right now with people who are returning to Canada from other countries. We are continuing to offer incredible surveillance with that and testing so that the people of Ontario can know that there is a plan in place, the plan is in operation, and the risk to Ontarians remains low.

Public health

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Minister of Health. An emergency physician at both Grand River and St. Mary’s hospitals is calling for COVID-19 screening to be taken out of Kitchener-Waterloo emergency departments. Currently, individuals who require testing are taken through acute areas of the emergency room to reach the screening area. To quote the emergency physician:

“We know COVID-19 will kill the eldest and sickest patients in a higher amount than the general population.

“So when your grandmother goes to the emergency room for a fainting spell she is putting herself at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 purely because she’s in the location where patients are forced to be screened.”

I support these doctors and their call to move COVID-19 testing out of our local hospitals. Is the minister working with the public health organizations to make sure this happens as soon as possible in Waterloo region and across the province? Because, as of this morning, this had not happened.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, the short answer to the member’s question is yes. Of course, we are working with all of our hospitals across Ontario to make sure that Ontarians remain safe.

We are working through our regional tables to make sure that the appropriate hospitals are open and that we have appropriate test centres. We are receiving applications from centres that want to continue to do the testing if it’s not appropriate at certain hospitals. Of course we want to make sure that people are kept safe and are not exposed, inadvertently, to the COVID-19 virus.

So, yes, of course, Dr. Williams and the team, and the team at the ministry, are working very hard to make sure that Ontarians remain safe and that appropriate locations are the ones where the testing is going to be done to determine whether people have COVID-19 or not.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: Speaker, another physician at Grand River and St. Mary’s wrote to me desperately calling for out-of-hospital testing for suspected COVID-19 cases. This doctor said that out-of-hospital screening will protect our most vulnerable populations; protect our front-line health care staff, who are desperately needed to fight this pandemic and are holding our already stretched hospitals together and will be under even more pressure if COVID-19 continues to spread; and reduce the need for personal protective equipment in the emergency rooms, which is in short supply worldwide.

These doctors want to know what the minister is doing to ensure that testing will be moved out of hospitals immediately, and that the front-line health care workers are properly equipped to handle the outbreak. This needs your urgent attention today.

Hon. Christine Elliott: I certainly agree that it is an urgent situation and one that we are dealing with through the regional tables and through the command table. We are looking at making sure that the right decisions are made as to where the testing should occur. That is being determined right as we speak.

In terms of personal protective equipment, we have a table that is dealing with that to make sure that we have the right supplies in the right place to protect our front-line health care workers because they’re the ones who did suffer during the SARS epidemic. We know that. We want to make sure that they remain safe because they are doing the work on the front lines.

All of these issues are being dealt with as we speak. We look forward to having the meeting that has been requested by the leader of the official opposition to inform her in greater detail about what is being done. This is open and transparent.

Dr. David Williams, our Chief Medical Officer of Health, has been the lead on this. He is the one who is providing this information. That is something that is very important to us—that the medical and scientific advice come forward—and we are relying upon that, as we should be.

Public health

Mrs. Gila Martow: I have a question to the Minister of Health. According to the World Health Organization, the novel coronavirus has gained a foothold in many countries. In Canada, we have confirmed cases in several provinces. The Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health Ontario and local public health units have been working closely with the Ministry of Health to respond to COVID-19 in our province.

We have had clear communication every step of the way, both on the current status of the outbreak and on the readiness of our health care system to respond. When I see our health care professionals working together, it gives me confidence in Ontario’s ability to handle COVID-19 and future outbreaks.

Can the minister update this House on the steps Ontario has taken so far to manage this situation?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member from Thornhill for her question. I know that this is an issue that is very important to you as well.

Our government appreciates the hard work of our health care workers and of our public health authorities. We will continue to work closely with them and with our provincial and federal partners to ensure readiness.

Our government acted immediately by strengthening Ontario’s ability to detect, monitor and contain this virus by declaring COVID-19 a reportable disease. We created dedicated resources in a variety of languages to help Ontarians learn how to protect themselves. Ontario’s Emergency Medical Assistance Team, supported by the federal government’s repatriation efforts at CFB Trenton and the NAV Centre in Cornwall, is responding to the needs of many Ontarians returning to Canada.

We will continue to communicate clearly about this situation, and I look forward to discussing the enhanced measures in my supplemental.

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

Mrs. Gila Martow: I want to thank the minister, but I also want to especially thank all our health care workers for all their hard work. Ontario can have confidence that the system is working.

As we get reports from China, Italy and the United States, Ontarians have questions about our preparedness for possible scenarios related to COVID-19. I am reassured that our government has already implemented these measures to safeguard Ontarians from this virus.

I know that our team has been working diligently to prepare our province with respect to personal protective equipment for our front-line health care workers, while improving hospital capacity and testing efficiency.

Can the minister update us on what Ontario’s enhanced response to COVID-19 looks like?

Hon. Christine Elliott: We are implementing an enhanced response that formally brings together a wide range of partners to make sure that we are effectively dealing with COVID-19. That includes a new command table to provide a single point of oversight as we continue our efforts to contain this virus. We’ve also established regional planning tables and implementation tables, and a personal protective equipment table. We have a collaboration table with key health sector partners, to receive their ongoing advice. And we have enhanced screening at long-term-care homes.

We are also preparing for escalation, should it occur. For example, we are establishing dedicated assessment centres to ease pressures on hospitals, as we also expand our lab capacity.

As we enter this next phase of preparedness, every Ontarian can have full confidence that these efforts will continue to keep them safe.

Licence plates

Ms. Jennifer K. French: My question is to the Acting Premier. Ontarians can clearly see the personal priorities of this Premier. Right out of the gate, it was buck-a-beer and stickers, then border signs, licence plates—and soon, flashy billboards. All of these endeavours have attracted attention—arguably, not the kind that a responsible, grown-up government would want. It isn’t the stickers, but instead licence plates that will stick with this Premier.

Despite the non-disclosure and the veil of secrecy around these plates, folks learned yesterday that it was the Premier who personally picked out the plates. We’ve had glimpses of the Premier’s true colours. This is just one more brilliant example of it—Q-tip blue on blue.

Today, to media, when answering about plategate, the Premier shared that it “breaks my heart.” So it isn’t women and children turned away from shelters, communities without drinking water, or seniors struggling without quality care that breaks his heart, it is giving up on the dream of PC-blue plates on every Ontario car that touches the core of this Premier.

Speaker, it isn’t clear to Ontario, because the Premier is as hard to read as his plates: What else breaks his heart in this province?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Government and Consumer Services to reply on behalf of the government.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: It’s my pleasure to stand in this House to affirm with all of Ontario that our government is focused on delivering, in a timely, secure and efficient way, licence plates in an enhanced manner. We’ve heard the concerns of Ontarians and I can sincerely say we’ve taken their feedback seriously.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and thank our stakeholders and our teams who have worked so diligently on the enhanced plate.

I can’t say enough that the fact of the matter is, we have taken their feedback very seriously. We’re moving forward, and we look forward to updating this House with our plans in the days and weeks to come.

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

Ms. Jennifer K. French: People are mystified about how a responsible group in charge of a province could end up with such an absurd fiasco as these blue vanity plates. Now that we know that they really and truly were the Premier’s pick and truly reflective of his party-blue branding goals, it seems somehow even more absurd.

People are not happy that this government has found a way to protect their secrets with 3M through a sneaky non-disclosure agreement. This was a deal with public money. It shouldn’t be allowed for them to hide the details. This morning, to media, the Premier declared that 3M will “pay for it.” Well, we will have no way of knowing if they really will pay for it, or who will. Are we just supposed to trust this Premier? That’s not going to happen.

How can this government justify hiding the Premier’s personal party plates, bought with public money, behind a secretive non-disclosure agreement?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Speaker, I want to again reiterate the fact that what is most important here is that we listened to the concerns of Ontarians. We’ve taken decisive action and will be delivering an enhanced plate that reflects the feedback we’ve received. We’ll be updating the House in the days to come as we proceed with our plan on delivering plates that have taken seriously the feedback from Ontarians.

Health care funding

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Minister of Health. In my riding of Guelph, local health care leaders are working hard to build on their existing foundation of integrated service delivery to design a more coordinated health care delivery model as part of the government’s Ontario health team initiative. I must say they’re doing a good job, but between pressure from overcrowded hospitals and now COVID-19, local health care teams will need financial support through the OHT transition.

The government cannot expect health care providers to deal with hallway medicine, COVID-19 and reorganize health care delivery at the same time without additional financial support. Will the minister commit today to provide funding increases for local health teams so that health care reorganization initiatives do not divert resources from front-line services?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you very much to the member for the question. We are very pleased with the way that the local Ontario health teams are developing. This is a way to really integrate care for people and to bring care to local communities.

As opposed to what the local health integration networks were doing, this is making sure that the people who provide the care on the ground are going to be able to continue that care. They know their own geographic area, they know what the most important issues are in that area and they will be able to respond to those needs, as well as fill in the gaps.

We have had a number of discussions with the local Ontario health teams about what additional resources they need. Their needs are actually quite modest. Some of them require help with technology. Some of them require help with administrative assistance. We are certainly responding to those needs and we will provide the financial assistance they need in order for them to be successful.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I agree that the local leaders are doing a great job. As a matter of fact, one of those local leaders is here at question period today. But with the minister’s answer, and to date, the government has not made a clear commitment to support the staffing, leadership and development of Ontario health teams in our communities. I don’t know how the government can say that its signature policy to tackle hallway health care can be successful if we don’t adequately fund the reorganization of local service delivery.

While patients are crammed in hallways and now COVID-19 is putting additional stress on our local health care system, the government is trying to sell a new organization chart. Well, I’m sorry; the Premier’s rebranding efforts have not worked so well in the past.

I’m asking the minister today to ensure that Ontario health team reorganization is more than an underfunded rebrand, by providing local OHTs the funding they need.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you for the question. What I would say to the member, Speaker, through you, is that the status quo was not acceptable. The way that health care was being delivered before, through the local health integration networks, was not working. There were gaps in care. People weren’t receiving the care they needed. They ended up back in hospital with emergencies because they didn’t get the home care they needed. That’s why we knew the situation had to change.

That’s why the local Ontario health teams will be successful, because they will respond to individual needs. They will fill in the gaps in care. They are eager to get started, but we know that they will need some help. We know that they will need resources and we will provide them with those resources, so they will be able to provide the integrated care that the people of Ontario expect and deserve.

Human trafficking

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: My question is for the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues. Those affected by human trafficking often require unique supports in times of crisis and well after they escape trafficking. In the recent announcement of Ontario’s anti-human trafficking strategy, it was emphasized that these victims need support programs that help them escape violence as well as heal from their trauma.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed across ministries and across industries. This is a societal issue, and we all have a role to play, including our partners in hospitality, law enforcement and health care. That is why I am so pleased that many ministers in this government are taking a proactive approach, including our Minister of Education, by introducing human trafficking into our curricula; our Minister of Transportation, by supporting partners such as truckers against trafficking; and our Attorney General, by increasing and modernizing victim supports to better respond to victim needs.

Speaker, can the minister please tell this House what this government is doing to ensure that the services provided to victims are culturally appropriate, trauma-informed and truly support the victims in this difficult journey?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member from Mississauga Centre for the great question, and for your work and passion on this file.

The member is absolutely correct. We know that survivors of human trafficking require specialized, trauma-informed, community-based supports to help them heal and rebuild their lives, and to reduce the risk of re-exploitation. I am proud of the fact that our strategy has been designed with a strong focus on survivor-centred initiatives, including counselling, mental health supports, education and housing assistance.

As Indigenous women and girls are particularly targeted, Indigenous-led, culturally appropriate approaches are crucial to address the needs of First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities. This is why we are increasing community-focused anti-human trafficking services and supports, designed for and by Indigenous people, by investing up to $4 million per year in new funding for the Indigenous-Led Initiatives Fund.

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

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: I thank the minister for her answer, and I also thank her for spending some time in my region of Peel to listen to the front-line workers who help support our victims on a daily basis.

My supplemental question is to the Solicitor General. Human trafficking is a heinous crime, and those who participate and enable it are some of the worst criminals. They often have ties to other organized crime operations. Crime should not pay, especially not at the expense of Ontario’s vulnerable women and girls. As Premier Ford has said, “We must put an end to this disgusting industry and take immediate steps to keep our kids safe.”

Can the Solicitor General share how our new anti-human trafficking strategy will work to protect women and girls by bringing offenders to justice?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Solicitor General to reply.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you to the member from Mississauga Centre. I think it’s important that we understand and appreciate how engaged we are on this file. The member for Mississauga Centre and, of course, my parliamentary assistant, the member for Cambridge, hosted a number of round tables that informed part of our strategy. I never want people to forget the fact that the average age of recruitment of these young women and girls into human trafficking is 13 years old.

What we are doing is giving law enforcement more specialized crown prosecution support for human trafficking cases; strengthening intelligence gathering in the correction system; investing in police services to help coordinate anti-human trafficking investigations; and expanding the Ontario Provincial Police child exploitation unit, which will allow them to work with other municipal forces. Because, as we understand and can appreciate, these people do not respect municipal boundaries.

Education

Mr. Gurratan Singh: We know that for months now, Conservatives have been told by parents, by students, by experts and by educators that e-learning hurts students. They were told this in the consultations that they ignored, and the Conservative government has been told this day in and day out by Ontarians across the board ever since they took the axe to our education system. I’ve heard from parents in Brampton that online learning won’t help our kids, and that increases to our class sizes will leave our kids behind.

My question is to the Acting Premier: Why does this Conservative government continue to punish students instead of listening to what families are telling them?

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

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. The government remains absolutely focused on getting a deal. That’s why we’re before two of our partners today, the Catholic teachers and French teachers: to get a deal that delivers stability for every member of this province, particularly parents and their children.

Our aim is to provide parents with an opt-out to give them that say, put them in the driver’s seat of decision-making. It’s to empower every student to ensure they have classroom sizes frozen: for high school at 23; and elementary school, a provincialized average of 24.5. We’re protecting full-day kindergarten. We’re ensuring that merit guides hiring. That remains our priority. We want a deal, and the time is now.

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

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Acting Premier: Students in Brampton are already facing systemic barriers in school every day, and the Conservatives’ plan to kick kids out of classrooms and onto the Internet is going to make things worse. E-learning disproportionately hurts students who are already struggling to learn. It hurts marginalized and racialized students, and it hurts students with lower financial means, who may not have access to the Internet or a computer at home.

But this government doesn’t seem to care. In fact, yesterday, when the Premier was asked about kids being forced out of classrooms and into online courses, he said it was a good thing because it allows kids to work part-time jobs.

Speaker, students should be in the classroom where they belong, not forced into work like the Premier bragged about yesterday. Why does this government think that kids in Brampton don’t deserve to be in the classroom?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: What parents deserve is a choice, and that’s what we’re codifying by providing an opt-out for online learning. They deserve to be in the driver’s seat—not the opposition, not a union, not a public servant, but a parent in this province in consultation with their children.

We are focused on getting a deal. We’re before two partners today. We’ll be with the elementary teachers’ federation tomorrow, with a singular aim to drive a deal that is good for students, that ends this process of 300 days of negotiating.

We’re going to freeze classroom sizes. We’re going to ensure that special education funding continues to flow to those with the greatest needs. Speaker, we’re going to continue to make the case of merit-based hiring in this province.

Energy policies

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Minister of Energy. Last year, when the minister wasted over $230 million to cancel renewable energy projects, he told Ontarians that we did not need the electricity. He also said that we would not have to burn fossil fuels when nuclear plants came off line in a few years.

But right now, as we speak, an application sits before the Ontario Energy Board to build a natural gas pipeline through Hamilton that would contribute to a 400% increase in climate pollution from natural-gas-fired plants.

Since the energy minister wasted hundreds of millions of dollars cancelling clean energy projects, because he told us we didn’t need the electricity, will the minister make a commitment today that Ontario will not see an increase in gas-fired electricity generation?

Hon. Greg Rickford: Outside of the extraordinary work of my colleague the Associate Minister of Energy in his natural gas expansion, the answer is no, and here is the reason why, to the thoughtful member from Guelph.

A lot of our natural gas goes on standby in this system. You know why, Mr. Speaker? Because when the sun ain’t shining and the wind ain’t blowing, we’ve got to fire up those natural gas plants to pay for the ridiculous scheme of the previous government that created a wind and solar system that generates 9% of our energy and costs 27% of it.

So thank you very much, but I think we’ll stand by natural gas expansion. I think we’ll see families and businesses experience energy savings, especially in rural and remote parts of this province—another option. And as we move ever closer to the decarbonization of natural gas, it’s in play in this province.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: The minister’s ideological support for fossil fuels will cost consumers, ratepayers and taxpayers more money, and it will undermine our efforts to address the climate crisis. According to the OEB filing, Ontario gas consumers will be forced to pay an extra $120 million to subsidize the cost of building this pipeline, and electricity consumers are going to pay more as well.

Alberta recently signed contracts for wind energy at 4.9 cents a kilowatt hour. Energy efficiency and conservation programs can save electricity at a cost of 2.2 cents a kilowatt hour. Natural-gas-fired electricity costs 11.8 cents a kilowatt hour.

Speaker, why is the minister supporting an increase in fossil fuel use that is going to cost taxpayers more money, ratepayers more money and natural gas consumers more money?

Hon. Greg Rickford: We applaud Alberta for that. If only the previous government had signed contracts at 2.2 cents a kilowatt hour for wind and solar, it would be a different story. Instead, they locked us down, all future governments, for decades and decades at contracts that were 14.5 cents to 80 cents. Some say it’s even higher.

This system is so ridiculous and so unreliable that it has made it virtually impossible for a small business or for families, particularly in isolated and remote and rural parts of this province, to put a price on their electricity from one month to the other. That rests squarely with the previous government, Mr. Speaker, when they were in cahoots with the NDP to build one of the most expensive systems in this province—and North America knows about it.

We’re creating opportunities by investing in clean, green renewable energy that comes in the form of nuclear, that supplies great jobs for the Durham four, that creates an opportunity—

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Please take your seats. The next question.

Mental health and addiction services

Mr. Dave Smith: My question is for the Minister of Health. Ontarians have long struggled to find the help they need for mental health and addiction challenges. Under the Del Duca-Wynne Liberals, Ontario spent 15 years without an effective plan for—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Take your seat.

We’re going to refer to other members in the House by their ministerial title, if applicable, or their riding name. And if it persists, I’m going to have to start cutting people off mid-sentence, and that will affect their clip, I guess. If that’s what I have to do, that’s what I’ll do.

Start the clock. I would ask the member for Peterborough–Kawartha to place his question.

Mr. Dave Smith: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our government has a plan. The Roadmap to Wellness will help fix the gaps in care that have left too many on wait-lists, sometimes for months at a time. It will ensure that services are accessible to the people of Ontario, no matter where they live in this province.

Can the minister tell us more about this plan and how this plan lays a path for meaningful improvement in how we access mental health care in Ontario?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member from Peterborough–Kawartha for your question. When we were elected, our government inherited a system where Ontarians facing mental health challenges felt lost. Services were not accessible or tailored to their needs. They were left to navigate a system with no support.

Our government has undertaken the hard work to transform the system and make sure that people get the care they need when they need it. The Roadmap to Wellness will support the expansion of existing mental health and addiction services, and also proposes innovative solutions like Mindability. The Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence will make sure that these services are of high quality and are accessible to all Ontarians regardless of where they live.

After years of inaction, Ontarians will finally see real results in mental health and addiction services.

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

Mr. Dave Smith: Mr. Speaker, through you, I would like to thank the minister for her answer, and thank the associate minister for his work on this file. I’m glad we finally have a government that takes this issue seriously.

The Liberals failed to give Ontarians the mental health and addiction services they needed. In fact, when Steven Del Duca wanted to help with addiction services. He attended an all-male, cash-for-access wine and grappa tasting—a wine tasting, Mr. Speaker—to raise money for addiction services. Ontarians deserve better support for addiction service than an event featuring wine and spirits.

Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell us more about our real plan for mental health and addiction care?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Associate Minister for Mental Health and Addictions.

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Thank you to the member for Peterborough–Kawartha—or as he likes to call it, God’s country—for that question. We are