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May 8, 2025

44th Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2025-May-08 (PDF)

L011 - Thu 8 May 2025 / Jeu 8 mai 2025

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Thursday 8 May 2025 Jeudi 8 mai 2025

Orders of the Day

More Convenient Care Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 pour plus de soins commodes

Members’ Statements

Kevin Mills

Elevator maintenance

Education Week

Barb Collins

Food insecurity

Cambridge Food Bank

Conflict in Middle East

Youth and public service

Trenton Golden Hawks hockey team

Appointment of Information and Privacy Commissioner

House sittings

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Housing / Infrastructure funding

Public health

Education funding

Subventions destinées à l’éducation / Education funding

Automotive industry

Public transit

Skills development

School boards

Public transit

Ontario film and television industry

Ontario film and television industry

Public transit

Mental health and addiction services

University and college funding

Business of the House

Visitors

Member’s birthday

Mother’s Day

Introduction of Visitors

Introduction of Government Bills

Support for Seniors and Caregivers Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 sur le soutien aux personnes âgées et aux fournisseurs de soins

Introduction of Bills

Kids’ Online Safety and Privacy Month Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 sur le Mois de la sécurité et de la protection de la vie privée des enfants en ligne

Sacred Spaces, Safe Places Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 pour des lieux sacrés sécuritaires

Petitions

Ontario Science Centre

Social assistance

Youth mental health

Herbicides

Indigenous affairs

Visitor parking fees

Health care

Soins de la vue

Gasoline prices

Emergency services

Orders of the Day

Throne speech debate

Protect Ontario Through Safer Streets and Stronger Communities Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 pour protéger l’Ontario en rendant les rues plus sûres et les collectivités plus fortes

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Good morning, everyone.

Prayers / Prières.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): You may be seated.

Orders of the Day

More Convenient Care Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 pour plus de soins commodes

Ms. Jones moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 11,

An Act to enact or amend various Acts related to health care / Projet de loi 11, Loi visant à édicter ou à modifier diverses lois en ce qui concerne les soins de santé.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the minister.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: It’s a pleasure for me to be able to rise for the introduction of the More Convenient Care Act. I will be sharing my time with the Honourable Vijay Thanigasalam, our Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, who has taken on this new role and will be a passionate advocate to support Ontarians seeking mental health support; and our parliamentary assistant MPP Anthony Leardi, the member for Essex, who is a tremendous advocate for his community and for strengthening our health care system.

The proposed legislation builds on the progress of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, which our government established in 2023, as well as our important work to strengthen public health and the province’s Digital First for Health Strategy. Your Health is a comprehensive plan for Ontario’s health care system that is connecting people to high-quality care and more effectively meeting the needs of patients and their families across Ontario.

The proposed legislation, if passed, will support our government’s ongoing efforts to build a stronger health care system in Ontario, now and for the longer term, by strengthening governance and transparency, improving service delivery and enhancing patient care throughout the health care system.

Before I discuss some of the key components of the More Convenient Care Act and its related initiatives, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the progress that has occurred in our health care system over the last few years under the leadership of Premier Ford.

Since 2018, our government has made record investments to provide the people of Ontario with more connected and convenient health care services. Connected and convenient care means providing patients and their families with a better health care experience during every stage of life, helping them to stay healthier and have better health outcomes. Our government has made record investments in our publicly funded health care system to connect more people to the care they need when they need it.

Since 2018, we have increased the health care budget by over 31%, investing more than $85 billion into the system alone last year. Our government continues to bring forward bold, creative and innovative solutions to ensure that the people of Ontario have access to more convenient and connected care.

We are making historic investments to design a health care system that can connect Ontarians to the right care in the right place within their communities, whether it is through primary care, mental health and addictions services, home and community care, Ontario health teams, and virtual care. We are helping people get faster access to timely and more convenient care in hospitals, emergency care, pediatric care, community surgical and diagnostic centres, long-term care and, of course, people’s homes.

To meet the needs of our growing communities, our government has added over 3,500 beds to hospitals across Ontario, and we are getting shovels in the ground for over 50 hospital developments, which will add an additional 3,000 more beds.

Here in Ontario, we have achieved some of the best health care metrics in Canada, such as the best rate of access to consistent health care providers, including family doctors and primary health care teams, and the shortest wait times for surgeries.

One of the significant steps we are taking to provide patients with the right care in the right place is by taking action to increase access to primary care. Timely access to primary care helps people stay healthier longer, with faster diagnosis and treatment, as well as more consistent support managing their day-to-day health, while also relieving pressures on emergency departments and hospitals. We lead the country, with nearly 90% of people connected to a primary care provider.

And with our recent $1.8-billion investment in primary care, we will connect two million more people to a family physician or primary care team in the next four years. Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team, led by Dr. Jane Philpott, will use this historic investment to implement its plan to build a primary care system that draws on best-in-class models from across Ontario and connects everyone to a family doctor or primary care team. In every community, Ontarians will have primary care teams as their front door to care, with teams of clinicians providing care they can access in a timely way, close to home.

This April, we launched a call for proposals to create and expand up to 80 new primary care teams across Ontario, supported by a $213-million investment. This call will target communities that have the highest number of unattached people and will connect 300,000 more people to a family doctor or a primary care team.

Our government is also making historic investments in our health care workforce and expanded medical education and training programs, as well as breaking down barriers so internationally trained health care providers who want to work in our province can do so faster. We continue to increase the number of health care workers in Ontario by recruiting, retaining and optimizing the health workforce to meet the growing demands on our health care system. Since 2018, we have hired and licensed more than 15,000 new physicians, and nearly 100,000 new nurses have registered and are licensed to work in Ontario.

Last year alone, we added a record of more than 18,000 new nurses to the workforce, and we are currently having another 30,000 nursing students studying at one of Ontario’s colleges or universities. We are adding thousands of new medical school, nurse practitioner, and undergrad nursing education seats across the province.

Our government also continues to expand health care professions’ scopes of practice, building on health care professionals’ skills and competencies. These changes are an impactful way to make our health system more efficient. They can save time, improve convenience and access to health care services, improve the patient and caregiver experience, get people healthier quicker, and help to ease pressures on hospitals and other practice settings.

The More Convenient Care Act is another way we are building on our progress to create more bold solutions to support delivering on connected care for all Ontarians. This proposed legislation and the related regulatory and policy initiatives are focused on three pillars to address system gaps and build a stronger, more connected health care system.

First, we are strengthening governance and transparency by addressing the use of temporary health workplace agency staffing, strengthening hospital governance and accountability, and strengthening board of health governance, specifically in the city of Hamilton.

Second, we are improving service delivery by making enhancements to the oversight of local public health agencies and improving hospital service continuity.

And finally, third, we are enhancing patient care by expanding the scope of practice for Ontario’s nurse practitioners, improving patient access to their health information, supporting improvements in the emergency health service sector, and consulting on the addictions services counselling workforce.

One of the ways we will improve transparency is by proposing new legislation to create a regulatory framework that would require temporary health staff agencies to report administrative, billing, or pay rate information. This would also allow the government to publish this information to help ensure transparency and cost certainty for hospitals and long-term-care homes.

We are proposing to enhance governance by making amendments to the City of Hamilton Act, to enable the city of Hamilton to appoint its own board of health, and where city council members and community representatives could be board of health representatives. This would ensure a governance structure with more inclusive representation and expertise, which could benefit public health decision-making and help to include diverse perspectives.

The proposed legislation would amend the Connecting Care Act to affirm that Ontario Health atHome is subject to the French Language Services Act. Ontario Health atHome is a provincial crown organization, operating under Ontario Health, that provides and coordinates local in-home and community-based care for more than 400,000 patients across our province. Ontario Health atHome assesses patient care needs and delivers in-home and community-based services to support people’s health and well-being.

It also provides information and referrals to other community services and manages Ontario’s long-term-care-home placement process. This proposal is to affirm Ontario Health atHome’s status under the French Language Services Act to stakeholders by enshrining it in legislation.

Another component of the proposed legislation that would improve service delivery is amendments to

section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which would improve the Chief Medical Officer of Health’s oversight functions of class orders issued by a local medical officer of health. This change is expected to support greater alignment, consistency and proportionality in

section 22 class orders issued by local medical officers of health in response to a local communicable disease risk, while also providing greater opportunities to identify provincial supports to help mitigate such risks.

The proposed legislation would enhance patient care by amending the Mandatory Blood Testing Act to allow nurse practitioners to complete and sign mandatory blood testing forms. Enabling nurse practitioners to complete and sign mandatory blood testing forms will assist in providing applicants, such as victims of crime, correctional officers or paramedics, with expanded access to this health care service. And while that is a minor part of the proposed legislation, I am particularly proud of it because it is something that I advocated strongly for in opposition.

This proposed change is one of several ways we are looking to further expand the scopes of practice regulating health professionals, allowing them to use their training, skills and education more effectively, and maximizing the services they can provide.

Patient care would be further enhanced by changes to digital health initiatives. Proposed amendments to the Personal Health Information Protection Act would help empower Ontarians to have more control over their own health, including by providing them with a general right of access to certain records, including their personal health information in the electronic health record, subject to any exceptions specified by regulation.

Now I’d like to provide further details related to creating a transparency framework for temporary health staffing agencies to report billing, administrative costs, and pay rates to the government. The transparency framework would be designed so that the rates agencies charge hospitals and long-term-care homes are transparent, granting increased cost certainty for employers, and stabilization of agency rates.

Currently, there is a lack of transparency regarding the rates agencies charge health service providers, including the overall fees and agency markups. Rates for agency staff can vary significantly. They may often be higher in rural, remote or northern communities in the province, and employers may also be charged travel and accommodation premiums. Hospitals and long-term-care homes can be limited in their ability to negotiate rates due to this lack of transparency and the agency costs they incur.

Our government has made significant investments to increase the number of workers in the health care system. But with a growing and aging population, and with more hospital bed capacity being added by our province, there remains a demand for staffing in some hospitals and long-term-care homes.

Agencies may also be responding to changing workforce expectations, with some segments of the workforce prioritizing higher compensation, flexibility and autonomy over the total rewards packages associated with full-time employment in hospitals and long-term-care homes.

Should the proposed legislation be passed, we would continue to engage front-line partners on how to bring agency fee stability to hospitals, long-term-care homes and emergency departments while protecting quality of care, prior to drafting any regulations. Key stakeholders to be consulted will include health care employers such as hospital and long-term-care employers and their respective associations, health sector unions and professional associations, and temporary staffing agencies operating in the health care sector, and the Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services representing them.

This work aims to support stabilization of agency rates, providing increased cost certainty for employers, and leading to better care for patients and long-term-care residents.

Our government understands a modern, connected and efficient health care system is a digital one, and we are working to provide better and more connected digital services for front-line providers and patients. We have made ongoing investments in Health811 to create a modern, digital front door. Every month, Health811 receives over 63,000 requests by phone and digitally to get health advice from registered nurses and receive support to navigate health services.

People have growing expectations about easier access to their personal health records, and we know that people expect that they can access their information digitally. Through the More Convenient Care Act, we are taking steps to enable people to conveniently access their own personal health information held within the provincial electronic health record and certain other types of records.

The province has made significant investments to create the provincial electronic health record, which is a secure record of a patient’s health history that is managed by Ontario Health. This digital record has become a vital tool used by health care providers to understand a person’s medical history, make clinical decisions and support integrated care across our health care sector.

The personal health information in the electronic health record includes personal health information concerning lab test orders and results from hospitals, community labs and public health labs; publicly funded drugs, dispensed monitored drugs, and pharmacy services; reports and images submitted by hospitals and integrated community health service centres; and clinical information from hospitals and home and community care organizations.

This personal information is currently available for health care provider access through provincial clinical viewers, and some patients can view their lab data via select patient portals. However, direct patient access to personal health information that is held in the electronic health record is not currently available.

If passed, the proposed legislation would enable Ontarians to access their own personal health information conveniently, including through a general right of access to their personal health information in the electronic health record and certain other records, subject to any exceptions specified by regulation.

The proposed legislation would amend the Personal Health Information Protection Act to enable Ontario Health to collect, use and disclose personal health information, to provide a unique and secure means of validating and verifying a person’s identity. If the proposed legislative changes and associated regulations are passed, this would allow Ontario Health to issue a unique digital health identifier.

If the amendments related to individual access are approved and proclaimed and the necessary supporting regulations are made, with a digital health identifier, eligible Ontarians would be able to confidently and securely access their own health records in the electronic health record, subject to any exceptions specified by regulation.

And we plan to keep adding additional digital health-related services to keep increasing the value and convenience for Ontarians. This approach will allow Ontarians to avoid the inconvenience of accessing numerous, multiple portals while juggling multiple usernames and passwords. We are committed to ensuring people can access a wide range of information in any way Ontarians find convenient.

The proposed legislation builds the framework for digital access to personal health information, and it also supports a general right of access to information in the electronic health record and in repositories through non-digital means.

Consultations with the Minister’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, jurisdictional scans from across Canada, and surveys from the pan-Canadian digital health organization, Canada Health Infoway, have indicated that there is a demand for people to access their health information, to support making more informed decisions as part of their individual health care journey.

Surveys indicate that individuals who have access to their health information generally have a positive experience, feel more informed about their health status and treatment, are more able to set and make progress on their health goals, and feel more empowered to manage their health.

Other studies indicate that patient access to health records can empower patients by improving trust and knowledge, and can help facilitate patients to work with their doctors or clinicians. Other impacts may be that patients feel reassured, and patient access to medical records improves communication between clinicians and their patients.

The proposed legislative amendments would help to address these demands, enabling Ontario Health to provide a secure log-on mechanism, which can be used for certain purposes, including to enable eligible Ontarians to access records held in the electronic health record, subject to any exceptions specified by regulation.

The Ministry of Health will continue to work collaboratively with Ontario Health, the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, and other stakeholders to ensure that the proposed legislation and any supporting regulations, if approved, would provide the framework for Ontario Health to deliver a digital portal so that Ontarians can view their records in a single place.

Our government will ensure rigorous privacy protections. We will ensure that any digital solution is tested and meets the highest standards.

We took steps to modernize privacy protections by introducing an administrative monetary penalty framework that the Information and Privacy Commissioner can use to levy fines to individuals and organizations that contravene PHIPA or its regulations.

Ontarians can rest assured that we have made significant investments in privacy and cyber protections to ensure personal data remains secure and safe.

This proposed legislation is part of our broader efforts to create a modern and convenient digital system where Ontarians, over time, will be able to easily access a wide range of health information through Ontario Health, subject to any exceptions made in specified regulation. This will empower people to take a more active role in their health.

The proposed legislation would also make amendments to the Health Protection and Promotion Act, to increase oversight by the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health of class orders issued by local medical officers of health in respect of a communicable disease. A medical officer of health may currently issue an order under

section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act directed to a class of persons who reside or are present in the health unit served by the medical officer of health if the medical officer of health is of the opinion, upon reasonable and probable grounds, that in their health unit:

—a communicable disease exists or may exist, or there is an immediate risk of an outbreak of a communicable disease;

—the communicable disease presents a risk to the health of persons; and

—the requirements specified in the order are necessary to decrease or eliminate the risk to health presented by such communicable disease.

The change being proposed would require local medical officers of health to provide notice to and receive written approval from the provincial Chief Medical Officer of Health before issuing a

section 22 class order. A key role of the provincial Chief Medical Officer of Health is to monitor the health status of the population and advise the provincial government on public health issues. If passed, this change is intended to support greater alignment, consistency and proportionality in

section 22 class orders issued by local medical officers of health in respect to a communicable disease. It will also allow for an assessment of appropriate use of the

section 22 class order authority and what provincial supports may be available to help address local communicable disease risks.

Supporting more alignment and consistency in the use of

section 22 class orders is another part of the ongoing work to modernize and strengthen public health processes in Ontario. The proposed amendment to the Health Protection and Promotion Act would be implemented by the provincial Chief Medical Officer of Health through the development of operational guidance, which would be developed in collaboration with local medical officers of health. The Ministry of Health will work with local public health agencies to support clear and transparent communication and involvement of stakeholders in the implementation process.

Now it is my honour and pleasure to share my time with our associate minister Vijay Thanigasalam, who will provide more details on how our government is providing patients and families across Ontario with more connected and convenient health care, which is supported by the More Convenient Care Act and related regulatory and policy initiatives.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): I recognize the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Hon. Vijay Thanigasalam: Good morning, Speaker. Good morning, honourable members of this Legislature. Let me begin by thanking the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health for her leadership in strengthening our health care system and guiding the development of this important piece of legislation.

This legislation, if passed, will accomplish a number of important goals, such as strengthening governance and transparency, improving service delivery, and enhancing patient care.

I would also like to acknowledge the incredible health care workers in our province and all our health care sector partners for everything they do to provide exceptional care to people and families, and for their tremendous contributions to building a stronger, connected and patient-focused health care system.

I’m honoured to stand here today in my new role as Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, in which I am laser-focused on building a more connected and comprehensive mental health and addictions system in this province. I have enjoyed meeting and working with stakeholders to better understand the complexities of this portfolio and, of course, working very closely with our Deputy Premier and Minister of Health to strengthen Ontario’s mental health and addictions services, advocating for those who need support.

I had the opportunity just last week to meet with a remarkable gentleman from Oakville named Nick Davis, who’s just one example of the kinds of people I’m listening to and hearing from when it comes to this portfolio. He suffered from addictions himself, but he’s now a successful entrepreneur, author and coach helping people recover from addictions. His story is a testament to the fact that recovery is real.

We understand the pain and suffering that too many people go through because of these addictions. These individuals who are suffering are our brothers, sisters, parents, children, and we will always stand up for them. We’ll do that by building a people-first, recovery-oriented model of care for those struggling with addiction.

I want to highlight some of the incredible work our government has done thus far on this file and then speak to the aspects of this bill which I think are significant to mental health and addictions but generally, overall, to the health care system altogether.

Our government has already undertaken major steps to build a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions care system in Ontario. This legislation, if passed, will help strengthen our mental health and addictions system and support those seeking care.

Since 2019-20, our government has invested more than $800 million in new base funding that has flowed to key areas of mental health and addictions care. These include community mental health, child and youth mental health, mental health and addictions in the justice sector, and eating disorders services. It includes more than $152 million for addiction treatment services and supports, plus more than an additional $9 million for youth wellness hubs that are delivering appropriate care to youth who experience substance use issues.

Our government is adding 10 new youth wellness hubs to the network of 22 hubs already opened since 2020, bringing the total number of youth wellness hubs to 32 across the province.

I had an opportunity to visit the Thorncliffe Park Youth Wellness Hub just last week and to see the incredible work they are doing to support young people in the community, providing mental health and substance use support, primary health care, community and social support, and much more.

In 2022, we established the Addictions Recovery Fund, a $90-million, three-year investment to boost capacity in addiction services in both day treatment and bed-based systems. In 2024, we continued to invest in this fund, with an additional $124 million over three years to maintain addictions treatment beds for adults who need intensive support, which is helping to stabilize and provide care for about 7,000 clients each year.

This funding is also supporting mobile mental health clinics to provide services to individuals living in remote, rural and underserved communities, and continuing three health-led mobile crisis response teams to support individuals in a mental health or addictions crisis.

This past August, our government announced that we are investing $550 million to support the creation of 28 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment—we call them HART hubs. These hubs will connect people to a holistic approach to treatment that could include mental health and addictions services and support, as well as provide social services, employment support and supportive housing. These sites are a place for those in need to receive genuine support, addressing complex needs to simple things like a warm meal.

My team has heard countless stories of people receiving this kind of care, and it’s truly a testament to what a recovery-oriented model of mental health and addictions care can look like in communities across the province.

HART hubs are a critical step to filling gaps in care in vulnerable populations so that they can connect to high-quality care where and when they need it, including supportive housing, which is critical to recovery and a service proven to improve health and social outcomes. And these new hubs are in addition to the $700 million for supportive housing through the Homelessness Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program each year.

These are just a number of the incredible projects our government has undertaken since 2018, but we are determined to continue moving forward and better understand the mental health and addictions space.

This legislation is yet another step in the right direction as we aim to examine the addictions counselling workforce, which involves establishing a consultation process for Ontario’s addictions counselling providers to determine whether any future action may be required to enhance oversight within the field.

I am incredibly grateful for the work that addictions counsellors do, and of course I want to recognize that they are a vital part of the mental health and addictions system, saving lives each and every day.

We are providing more connected addictions and mental health care to people and families in Ontario. Establishing a consultation process with Ontario’s addictions counselling providers to determine if oversight within the field should be enhanced is another step to ensure we are providing the best possible service and supports.

I am committed to being a true partner with mental health and addictions service providers across the province, many of whom I have already had an opportunity—either to speak with them, meet with them, and others I am looking forward to seeing soon. We are all so determined to maximize results and improve outcomes for those in need. To do that, we need comprehensive work, where all those service providers come together to work along with our government.

As much as I am focused on mental health and addictions, there are other aspects of this bill which I would like to highlight today, as they have incredible importance for the overall health care system more broadly, especially as it relates to nurses and nurse practitioners.

The More Convenient Care Act includes proposed amendments to the Mandatory Blood Testing Act to expand nurse practitioners’ scope of practice to allow them to complete and sign mandatory blood testing forms. Mandatory blood testing forms are required for an applicant to apply to have the blood of another person tested for specific infectious diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, if they have come into contact with another person’s bodily fluids.

If approved, this change in nurse practitioners’ practice could reduce the burden faced by physicians, who are currently the only clinicians able to complete and sign the form, so that they may attend to the care of others. By enabling nurse practitioners to provide a broader scope of services, it may also reduce barriers in Ontario’s rural and northern areas, as well as for Ontario’s Indigenous peoples.

The ministry will also continue to consult with stakeholders and internal ministry partners and will provide training to local public health agencies’ staff to ensure readiness for this July 2025 deadline.

As nurse practitioners already provide primary care in many settings, including community safety and correctional services, they may be called upon to complete and sign these forms, independently or in the absence of a physician. The Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario has advocated for scope of practice expansions and is supportive of these specific proposed changes, which will enable nurse practitioners to leverage existing expertise, knowledge, skills and judgment to improve access to services.

Nurse practitioners play an important role in our health care system. We have also continued to make progress in increasing the number of nurse practitioners. The primary health care nurse practitioner education program funds universities to provide advanced education and clinical experience for nurse practitioner students in preparation for the Canadian Nurse Practitioner Examination and registration as a nurse practitioner, primary health care with the College of Nurses of Ontario. The program ensures a continued supply of nurse practitioners, which facilitates faster access to family health care.

On February 2, 2023, it was announced that our government would be adding an additional 150 training positions for nurse practitioners, bringing the total number of government-funded positions from 200 to up to 350. As of 2024-25, all additional 150 nurse practitioner seats have been operationalized.

Our government is also building on the important care being delivered by Ontario’s nurse practitioner-led clinics, which the province supports through $46 million in funding each year, through our historic investments in interprofessional primary care teams. Through these investments, we are establishing two new nurse practitioner-led clinics and expanding four existing nurse practitioner-led clinics.

Nurse practitioner-led clinics provide comprehensive, accessible and coordinated family health care services. With these investments, we expect that a total number of more than 100,000 Ontarians will be served by these clinics, providing care to many people who had no previous primary care provider or who might otherwise face challenges accessing primary care.

Madam Speaker, we have further expanded the scope of practice for nurse practitioners and registered nurses in other areas, which will provide more choice and convenience for people in how they access care, while enabling registered nurses and nurse practitioners to work to the full extent of their training and expertise to better meet patients’ needs. These changes, which will start on July 1, 2025, have been made in consultation with the College of Nurses of Ontario and other health care partners.

These scope-of-practice changes will enable nurse practitioners to order and apply electricity to treat heart conditions using defibrillation, transcutaneous cardiac pacing and cardiac pacemaker therapy—they will also be able to order and apply electricity using electrocoagulation, which can be used to control bleeding and treat skin conditions; and enable nurse practitioners to certify deaths in all circumstances while allowing registered nurses to certify deaths under limited circumstances. These changes will help improve the end-of-life experience for families after the death of a loved one.

These changes will improve access to care for Ontarians, including Indigenous peoples and those in rural, northern and remote areas of the province.

The changes will also ease stressors for other primary care providers and support capacity and efficiency in the health care system.

We are continuing to build Ontario’s current and future health care workforce, adding thousands of new nurses across the province and bolstering the nursing workforce. These actions are strengthening health system capacity and ensuring Ontarians continue to have access to timely, high-quality care where and when they need it.

On a personal note, for years, I’ve seen the incredible work that nurses do in our community. I think of the countless nurses here in the GTA, in Scarborough, where I’m from, who work tirelessly in our local hospitals or in other settings to deliver the best possible care to our residents. They do this because they care about people and their families. This is true in communities across the province. And this legislation ensures that we not only maximize their skill and expertise, but that we continue to add thousands of new nurses to strengthen our entire health care system.

Our government continues to work on innovative solutions to strengthen our health care system.

I encourage all members to support the More Convenient Care Act and support more connected and convenient care. Let’s remain committed to make additional steps not only to improve the mental health and addiction systems in Ontario but improve the system more broadly by taking bold and innovative action with this legislation. We’re saving patients time, shortening wait-lists, while protecting our health care system for the future.

I will now pass it to our parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, the member from Essex, who will speak to the impacts of this legislation on public health and hospitals.

An emergency alarm sounded.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): I recognize that it is distracting right now with the alarms, but I encourage all members to continue. We’re fine until it is resolved.

I recognize the member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: I thought that was an alarm that was alarming.

I want to start simply by recognizing some of my colleagues for the work that they’re doing here at the Ontario Legislature.

First, I’d like to recognize the Minister of Health. Since I have been working with the minister, I have noticed that she has a great dedication to the matter of health care. It means a lot to her. I appreciate everything that she’s doing. I certainly respect her talent and her mastery of the subject matter. I wanted to say that.

I also want to thank the associate minister for his comments today. The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions has an incredible personal story, which he shared with me. It is a story that I think everybody in this Legislature should learn, and I hope that one day he has time to give us a brief, one-hour speech setting out his personal story because I would love to hear it again.

I’d also like to recognize my colleague the other parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health. That’s the member from Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston. He has a very calm demeanour—and I always think of a poem by Rudyard Kipling; it reminds me of the member from Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston. The line from the poem goes like this: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs ... you’ll be a man”—and that’s the member from Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston.

Those are just a couple of remarks I wanted to make before I started talking about the substance of this bill.

The substance of the bill before us today makes some regulatory changes—well, the bill doesn’t make the regulatory changes, but it announces regulatory changes and makes some other changes to some basic health care legislation in the province of Ontario. The first is some enhancements to nurse practitioners’ scope of practice.

I wanted to say some things about nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners are something that some people in Ontario might find new. Certainly, the profession is not as old as the profession of doctors, but it is, in my mind at least, a delivery method for health care which is becoming more and more sophisticated.

I will share some statistics with the Legislature from the College of Nurses of Ontario. In the province of Ontario, we have a total number of 5,453 registered nurse practitioners. Of those registered nurse practitioners, 4,332 are registered for primary health care only, 803 are registered for adults only, 286 are registered for pediatrics only, and 32 are registered for multiple specialties.

I wanted to talk about nurse practitioners because this legislation speaks about nurse practitioners and expanding their scope of practice, which is a fancy way of saying that they’re authorized to do more and more. Nurse practitioners are a specialty-trained profession in the province of Ontario, and what this legislation does is it expands their scope of practice, authorizing them to do more in the province of Ontario.

We have something called the Mandatory Blood Testing Act. That act is perhaps as serious as it sounds. It’s about mandatory blood testing, which is a very intrusive method of testing blood. You don’t want to make too many things in this world mandatory, and certainly blood testing is one of those things that you want to be very careful about if you’re going to make it mandatory. There’s a certain very, very narrow, narrow, narrow set of circumstances in this country where you can require mandatory blood testing. Typically, you need to fill in a form, and it has to be authorized by a medical professional.

Typically, that medical professional is a physician, but under certain narrow circumstances now, this legislation will authorize nurse practitioners to fill in that form and sign it. That’s a good thing. The reason why that’s a good thing is because we need more and more medical services, and we need more professionals to deliver those services. That’s why we want to expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners so they can do some of these services, which, of course, they have the expertise to do.

One of those services will be to certify death. That is a very useful thing, and it’s especially important to have nurse practitioners be able to do services such as that in areas where we don’t have a lot of physicians. I’m thinking about areas such as northern Ontario and certain specific rural areas which need more medical services. And of course, these medical services can definitely be delivered by the expert nurse practitioners we have in Ontario, so we’re expanding their scope of practice so they can deliver services like that one.

I want to share, again from the College of Nurses of Ontario, their view on the expansion of scope of practice. Here is a quote from Silvie Crawford, a registered nurse and the executive director and CEO of the College of Nurses of Ontario: “These changes to scope of practice can increase access to quality care. We look forward to supporting these changes by sharing educational resources with Ontario nurses to inform safe practice.”

Some of the changes that are being introduced are outlined in this as well: authorizing nurse practitioners to order and perform more procedures, such as defibrillation and electrocoagulation; removing certain conditions that currently limit nurse practitioners, giving them more authority—as I said, the authority to sign a medical certificate of death; and also authorizing RNs to complete and sign a medical certificate of death in specified circumstances. So that’s a little bit about that, and that’s contained in this proposed legislation.

Nurse practitioners are also playing a very important role in connecting people to primary care. Ontario was one of the very first jurisdictions in the world to launch nurse practitioners in a serious way into the delivery of primary care. This government has undertaken a very large investment to provide more and more nurse practitioners across Ontario to deliver primary care in Ontario.

I can tell you that I receive regular feedback from my constituents in the county of Essex, who tell me—I specifically go out and ask them, “How is your care being delivered? Do you have a nurse practitioner? Do you like your nurse practitioner? Did you used to have a doctor before? What was the difference?” I ask them these questions to get feedback about nurse practitioners. I’m very happy to be able to tell the Legislature that the feedback I get from my constituents is overwhelmingly positive when it comes to the service that they’re receiving from their nurse practitioners.

I am routinely informed by my constituents that nurse practitioners give them the time they feel they need when they are expressing their concerns with regard to medical issues; that nurse practitioners seem to have the, let’s say, overall view of the patient in mind, or some people might say patient-centred attitude towards the delivery of health care. In a world where a fee-for-service delivery model might cause some people to be rushed, nurse practitioners—at least, based on the feedback that I get from my constituents—are consistently non-rushed when they’re giving their care to their patients.

I think that’s a great thing, and I definitely wanted to mention that during this discussion that we’re having today over this piece of legislation.

This piece of legislation also proposes some changes that will benefit the city of Hamilton. The city of Hamilton currently has no citizen representatives on its board of health, and so this legislation will change that. It will establish a board of representatives which will now allow the city of Hamilton to place citizen representatives on that board. The proposal from the city is that the new board will consist of six council members, six community representatives and one educational representative.

That type of representation is more along the lines of what is enjoyed by the city of Toronto and the city of Ottawa. So the city of Hamilton will now have a board that will look similar to that of the city of Toronto and the city of Ottawa. I think that was something that was specifically requested by the city of Hamilton, and they’ll be able to get that under this legislation.

This legislation also deals with patient information. When I was practising law, from time to time it became necessary for one of my clients to access their medical information, and that was done by a somewhat clunky method, by today’s standards. You would have to go to whatever source you were seeking the medical information from, whether it was a hospital or your family doctor or whatever, and you’d fill in a form—perhaps there would be some information involved—and then they would release the records to you. Typically, the records would be in a big stack of paper, or, as time went on, sometimes you could get those records in a digital format. But it was always a clunky method.

I think sometimes that we need to move things along and adopt better practices. That’s one of the things that this bill is going to do. It’s going to create a method by which you can access medical records through something called the provincial patient viewer. That’s a way that you’ll be able to get records, such as lab records, from the Ontario laboratories information system, or from the digital health drug repository, and that’s regardless of the payer.

What that means is, it doesn’t matter whether you had your prescription filled and paid for by an insurance company or whether your prescription was paid for and filled by some other method—it doesn’t matter who paid for it; you’re going to have access to that information. That’s very practical. Primarily, it’s practical for the specific patient, because when you go to get treatment, you’re often asked, of course, what medications you have taken, what medications you are currently taking, and it’s important to have access to that, and, ideally, access as quickly as possible.

That’s one of the things that this legislation talks about.

There’s also another important, I’ll say, oversight function in this legislation. This legislation also makes a slight change to what a medical officer of health can do with regard to a

section 22 order.

For those of us who aren’t familiar with what a

section 22 order is, here’s what a

section 22 order is—many of us learned this during the pandemic. A

section 22 order, which can be issued by a local medical officer of health—and there are several of those in the province of Ontario. Here is what the content of a

section 22 order can contain: It can contain all sorts of mandatory requirements that are imposed upon you as a citizen, which can limit what you can and can’t do. There’s a trigger, and the trigger is in the act itself, and you have to meet these criteria before the local medical officer of health can issue the

section 22 order. Here’s the criteria: The medical officer of health has to be of the opinion, on reasonable and probable grounds—all of the lawyers in this Legislature will know what that means—in their jurisdiction that (1) a communicable disease exists or may exist and that there is an immediate risk of an outbreak of a communicable disease; (2) that a communicable disease presents a risk to the health of persons; and (3) that the requirements specified in the order are necessary to decrease or eliminate the risk to health presented by the communicable disease. If those three criteria exist, the local medical officer of health can issue an order—that’s under

section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act—and then that order has the force of law, and people have to comply with that order, which means a local medical officer of health can have the same type of power as a judge of the Superior Court of Justice, ordering an order and forcing people to do things or refrain from doing certain things. That’s a very serious power.

What this legislation does is it inserts an oversight function and says that before the local medical officer of health can issue that type of order, a very powerful order, the Chief Medical Officer of Health has to authorize it first. So that has to go first to the chief officer, and the chief officer has to sign off on it, and then the local officer can issue that order.

Those are some of the highlights of the legislation that’s before us today.

Again, I’d like to thank the minister for her dedication and the associate minister for his dedication.

With that, Madam Speaker, I thank you for the time that I’ve used today.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Questions?

M me France Gélinas: Thank you to the three parliamentarians for their comments this morning.

My first questions will be about

schedule 5. We all know that today is viral hepatitis elimination day, certainly in line with what

schedule 5 talks about. I was wondering if Ontario is interested in setting annual viral hepatitis testing and treatment targets to ensure that drug use equipment distribution matches the needs in the different communities. Are they interested in implementing HBV vaccination at birth for all babies and renewal of the HBV screening catch-up vaccinations for adults? Are they interested in developing and implementing broader screening guidelines to capture new cases and link them to care? That’s just a little bit about hepatitis day and the intention of the government to help people prevent and care for hepatitis.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: While our government has been investing in public health and vaccines in particular, we have no plans to make those vaccines, in particular, mandatory. We’ll continue to ensure that our public health units have sufficient investment and budgets to make sure that they are protecting their local communities, but mandatory vaccines at birth are not what we are planning on at this point.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Question? I recognize the member for Sarnia–Lambton.

Mr. Robert Bailey: Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s good to see you in the chair.

It’s a great bill. I’m very interested in the debate this morning.

Something that’s very important to me and, I know, a number of people in this room, in the province, is the health hubs that are going to be instituted or are already under operation. I have one in Sarnia–Lambton. I’m very thankful for that. I would hope the minister could elaborate a bit about the importance of them and their operations so far.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you to the member from Sarnia–Lambton for his advocacy.

The treatment hubs really are our newest intervention to make sure that people who are suffering from mental health and addictions issues have those pathways back to community, back to work, back to living and volunteering with their families.

The HART hub model, the treatment model, is really an all-of-government model focusing on the individual, making sure that today, if you need primary care, you’ll get it at a treatment centre. You may get supportive housing. You may decide that you would like treatment, support for work. It’s all about making sure that whatever that individual needs at that moment in time, they get it through these treatment hubs.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Question?

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: ᒥᓄᑭᔐᐸᔭ. Good morning. Sioux Lookout Regional Physicians’ Services Inc., also known as SLRPSI, provides physician services in my riding for hospital services, but they’re also in the community to provide physician services. When I left, when I came here to get into politics—I used to be part of that board. At that time, they had 18 FTEs out of the 55 FTEs they were funded for.

Physician services are very hard to recruit—and to retain, as well. Also, at the community level, we don’t have any hospitals. We have one hospital in Sioux Lookout, and it’s really hard to provide that service, so we have these federal nursing station models. There is a lot of unnecessary suffering and needless deaths that happen because of the use of jurisdiction for providing services.

Fort Severn is the most northerly community in Ontario. How will this bill help the people of Fort Severn so they get proper access where it’s more convenient, where they get access to more convenient care? Meegwetch.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Of course, this piece of proposed legislation, if passed, is one of the many pieces that we are working on.

The member opposite rightly highlights the need to encourage and actually provide opportunities for young people who want to train and practise in the province of Ontario. We’ve done that through a very clear directive with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to say, “Quickly assess, review and ultimately license, when appropriate, internationally trained.” We have seen, as my remarks mentioned, a substantial, historic third-year-in-a-row increase in the number of internationally trained who want to practise in the province of Ontario.

Of course, we have also done expansions domestically, internally with our medical schools, and that includes additional seats, almost 50% of which in NOSM are actually for family physicians who are training in the north. We know and we have the data that shows if you train in northern Ontario, you are far more likely to stay and continue to practise, because it’s a beautiful place to be.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Questions?

MPP Tyler Watt: My question is in regard to

schedule 3, regarding the staffing agency reporting.

It’s great that we’ll be more transparent when it comes to our usage of nursing staff agencies. It will go to show actually how much money the province is spending on it. But at the end of the day, this doesn’t really do anything to address the nursing shortage that we’re seeing across the province.

I know there have been some plans to get more people into the nursing profession. That’s great. But what I would like to know from this government is, what are we actually going to do to retain the current staff and nurses who are already working there so we don’t have to depend on these expensive nursing agencies?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: As I mentioned in my remarks, we’ve actually seen, for a third year in a row, a historic high of individual nurses who have requested and are now licensed to practise in the province of Ontario—100,000—and we have 30,000 who are training in our post-secondary institutions.

I’m particularly proud of the work that the Minister of Colleges and Universities and I have been able to do with the Learn and Stay program to make sure that individuals who, perhaps for financial reasons, were not choosing to go into the nursing profession now have an opportunity to get that training and have the provincial government taxpayers cover not only their tuition but also their books.

These programs are truly making a difference. At the end of the day, as we see the number of nurses, nurse practitioners, RPNs, physicians wanting to be in Ontario, we will close that gap with that last 10% who don’t have a primary care physician, and we will get there in the next four years.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Question?

Mrs. Daisy Wai: I thank the Minister of Health for introducing the More Convenient Care Act. It is definitely a great thing for people to be able to access the health care system, making it easier for them to know their records and medical information.

I do have two questions here. With digital access becoming so easy and accessible, how are we going to protect health data from unauthorized access, breaches and cyber threats? And the next question is, how can we encourage some family doctors who used to just write down the information about the patients instead of having digital records?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Those are two really important points raised by the member.

First of all, we have been working very closely with the Information and Privacy Commissioner to ensure that the protection is there. As much as we are keen to push forward on this very quickly, we also need to be very careful to make sure that we have the protections in place, because I think most of us will agree that our personal health information is probably the thing that is most needed to be secure. So we have been working with the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s office all through the preparing of this legislation and, ultimately, regulation.

In terms of ensuring that family physicians embrace the digital space, we’re doing that with a model with the Ontario Medical Association, and I’m very excited to see those results come forward.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Seeing the time on the clock, I’m going to make the decision to begin members’ statements.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Kevin Mills

M me Dawn Gallagher Murphy: It is with a heavy heart that I rise today in this House to honour the life of Kevin Mills, a remarkable resident of Newmarket, a former paramedic, and a national symbol of perseverance and strength. Kevin passed away suddenly on April 29, at the age of 44, due to medical complications. But in his time with us, he made an unforgettable impact.

After sustaining a spinal cord injury in 2009, Kevin refused to let his diagnosis define his limits. Instead, he chose to redefine what was possible.

He also co-founded the Walk It Off spinal cord wellness centre with his wife, Heather, and created Pedaling Possibilities, a non-profit dedicated to supporting others on their recovery journey.

To his wife, Heather, to his family and to the entire Newmarket community: I share in your grief. Kevin’s legacy will continue to inspire generations to come. May he rest in peace.

Elevator maintenance

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Seniors are contacting my office because they’re upset. They have been confined to their apartments for over four months, not because they want to be, but because the only elevator in their building has been down for repairs since January. This is a six-storey seniors’ apartment building in London–Fanshawe. Seniors have been trapped in their apartments because they have mobility limitations. They use walkers and scooters and can’t climb up and down six flights of stairs. The property management company provides limited services, but tenants must mostly fend for themselves.

This means extra costs for grocery delivery and hoping their family and friends will run their errands for them.

One senior temporarily moved in with a friend because the repairs were taking so long that they could not handle the isolation, and they could no longer be independent.

This is not a minor inconvenience but a matter of dignity, safety and fundamental human rights.

In May 2018, Ontario passed the Access to Consumer Credit Reports and Elevator Availability Act, but regulations were not immediately implemented. The Auditor General reported in 2022 that regulatory changes required elevator owners to report certain outages to the TSSA only after the elevator returned to service. The legislation’s intent does not appear to be working when the only elevator in a seniors’ building can take over four months to repair.

I urge the government to return to the drawing board and ensure the bill includes measures to take action to prevent another seniors’ building from going through what the good people in London–Fanshawe are facing today.

Education Week

M me Lucille Collard: It’s Education Week here in Ontario. I’d like to begin by thanking everyone who works in schools: the teachers and EAs, who instruct and help our kids every day; principals and vice-principals, for making sure their school is a great place to learn; office administrators, who not only keep the trains running on time but are also a hub of support for so many students and families; custodial staff, who keep the place clean and safe; school bus drivers, who get students to school safely; parent volunteers and other volunteers, who fundraise and contribute greatly to the school community.

In particular, I want to give a shout-out to my sister Stephanie, who has been working in schools for a decade. It’s her second career, and she’s an educational assistant. I’m very proud of her work with children with exceptional needs, and the love and care she shows them daily.

There’s a lot of work left to be done to make our schools a better place to learn. All our kids deserve the best schools, where they will get an opportunity to thrive and succeed.

Barb Collins

MPP Mohamed Firin: It’s an honour to stand before you today to share the story of a remarkable institution and an even more remarkable leader, who, together, are transforming the future of health care in my riding of York South–Weston and beyond. At the helm of this transformation is Barb Collins, who has just been recognized by Newsweek as a top CEO for 2024-25, on top of also leading Humber to ranking as one of the world’s best hospitals and among Newsweek’s world’s best hospitals in 2023-24.

The Newsweek CEO Circle brings together top CEOs and executives from across the globe to share insights and drive meaningful change in their industries. Barb’s invitation to this group is a reflection not only of her accomplishments, but also of the groundbreaking work happening every day at Humber.

Barb is a champion for equity and inclusion as a co-chair of North Western Toronto Ontario Health Team, where she actively pursues partnerships to advance equitable and inclusive community care.

Under her leadership, Humber has no hallway health care, with a financial surplus.

Barb Collins is not just lighting new ways in health care; she’s building the blueprint, and in doing so, she’s ensuring that compassionate, innovative and equitable care is not just a promise but a lived reality for the hundreds of thousands who rely on it every day.

Barb is in the gallery today. I would appreciate it if all of the members could rise and just applaud her for the great work she has been doing. Thank you.

Applause.

Food insecurity

Ms. Jessica Bell: Today, I’m going to read a message written by Kimberly Wu from Harbord Collegiate secondary school. Kimberly wrote a powerful statement about an issue that is important to her for me to read out in the Legislature. It’s called “Tackling Youth Food Insecurity.”

“I bring attention to an invisible crisis affecting many youth in Ontario—food insecurity.

“In our schools and communities, too many students skip meals, not by choice, but because they cannot afford them.

“Hunger doesn’t just hurt the stomach—it steals focus, hinders learning, and dims potential.

“Programs like student nutrition initiatives and community food banks are vital, but they are band-aid solutions.

“To truly address this issue, we need systemic change.

“Let’s increase funding for school meal programs, strengthen partnerships with local farms, and expand affordable grocery options in underserved neighbourhoods.

“Youth are our future, but they cannot thrive on empty stomachs.

“By addressing food insecurity, we nourish not just bodies, but the potential for every young person to succeed.

“It’s time to ensure that no child goes hungry in Ontario.”

Thank you, Kimberly, for your thoughtful and important message. I am proud to share your voice in the Legislature today.

Cambridge Food Bank

Mr. Brian Riddell: The Cambridge Food Bank is an outstanding organization in my community. They work tirelessly to ensure that those in need have access to food, and it’s no small task. To do this, they rely on donations, which are not always the easiest to get.

That’s why I’m so pleased to learn that the Cambridge Food Bank received a $171,800 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. This funding allowed them to purchase a much-needed, new refrigerated truck. The previous vehicle was nearly 20 years old and had many mechanical issues that made it very difficult to collect donations efficiently. Now, thanks to the new purchase of this truck, they no longer have to load and unload thousands of pounds of food by hand. It’s a major improvement, helping them to collect donations more easily and get food on the shelves faster for those who rely on it.

In March, I had the pleasure of seeing both the old truck and the new one. The difference is night and day.

To close, I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Cambridge Food Bank team. Your dedication means so much to our community.

Conflict in Middle East

Ms. Doly Begum: Hind Rajab would have turned seven this week, but her life was taken cruelly: shot at 335 times as she pleaded for help—335 bullets, to murder a six-year-old.

For the past 18 months, we watched in horror the genocide unfolding in Gaza, killing more than 50,000 Palestinians, which include over 20,000 children. Some reports indicate that the actual numbers may be much higher.

The bombardment continues, almost normalized now, as if Palestinian children are less human, as if it’s normal to cut off essential services like health care and aid, as if starvation being used as a weapon of war—all of which are war crimes—is normal.

For those 18 months, only a few voices have told us what’s happening in Gaza—the stories of fathers collecting their children’s body parts; the erasure of entire neighbourhoods; and the complete destruction of health and education systems for millions of people.

And these truths were brought to the world also at an enormous cost. More than 232 Palestinian journalists have been killed over the last year, the deadliest number we have seen in any wars or genocides in history—the targeted killings of journalists to not just silence them, but to suppress the truth.

Speaker, in the short time that I have today, this is all I can say, in hopes that maybe, just maybe, in our hearts, we will find the courage to speak up for the thousands of children. Just maybe, our hearts would tremble seeing the images of children like six-year-old Hind Rajab.

Youth and public service

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Today, I rise to recognize and give thanks to many exceptional youths in my riding of Richmond Hill. They all showed keen interest in Ontario’s democratic process.

Olivia Fang requested an interview with me to learn about the role of an MPP. She wants to understand what it is like to be a politician, why and how I get to be an MPP. I was asked to share the achievements and the satisfaction I have being an MPP.

I also spent time with my legislative page from Richmond Hill, Leah Wong. Leah enjoys her time as a page and is interested to find out more and wants to serve the community as a volunteer in my office.

The day before, I welcomed students from Christ the King Catholic Elementary School to Queen’s Park. They also showed a keen interest in public service.

Investing in our youth is our responsibility, to ensure that the next generation is given mentorship, education and opportunity. By investing in our youth, we’re investing in a strong democracy and future for all of Ontario.

Trenton Golden Hawks hockey team

Mr. Tyler Allsopp: A week ago Wednesday night, Taeo Artichuk sparked a great celebration in my Bay of Quinte riding as he knocked home an overtime goal in Milton to give the Trenton Golden Hawks their second Buckland Cup title as Ontario Junior Hockey League champions. The win came during the sixth game of their playoff series. The top-seeded Golden Hawks also beat Pickering, Stouffville and Haliburton on this spring’s playoff run.

It’s impressive to see a group of young people from different backgrounds come together over the course of a season and do something special for themselves and for their community. They sacrificed so much for this game that they love.

Congratulations to them, to coach Derek Smith and staff, owner Shawn Hicks, and the many billets and volunteers working behind the scenes to ensure success on and off the ice.

Named after the historic RCAF Golden Hawks, who were stationed at CFB Trenton, Canada’s largest air force base and the pride of our region, these Hawks will keep flying on to Calgary to represent Ontario in the Centennial Cup championship from May 8 to 18. We will also see teams from Kam River, Sudbury and Rockland battle on behalf of other districts across the province.

Please join me in wishing them well as they chase this championship.

Appointment of Information and Privacy Commissioner

Mr. Steve Clark: Speaker, I seek unanimous consent that, in accordance with subsection 4(2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31, Patricia Kosseim be reappointed Information and Privacy Commissioner for a term of five years, as set out in subsection 5(1) of the act, commencing on July 1, 2025.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Agreed? Agreed.

House sittings

Mr. Steve Clark: Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of the House to move a motion without notice respecting evening sittings.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Steve Clark: I move that, pursuant to standing order 7(c), the House shall continue to meet past the ordinary hour of adjournment until midnight on the following dates: May 12, May 13, May 14, May 15, May 26, May 27, May 28, May 29, June 2, June 3, and June 4, 2025.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

Introduction of Visitors

Hon. Michael Parsa: I’d like to welcome to the House Rob Partipilo, Mark Baldassarra, Luigi Inglese, Daniela Inserra and Daniel Rubino, who helped raise an impressive $13,500 for My MS Family, supporting individuals living with multiple sclerosis.

Welcome to Queen’s Park. I look forward to seeing you after question period.

Mr. John Vanthof: I’d like to congratulate one of our page captains for today, Isabelle Ducharme, and welcome her mom, Melanie—she’s in the members’ gallery—who is happy to be at Queen’s Park today with us, all the way from Timiskaming–Cochrane.

Hon. Nolan Quinn: I am pleased to welcome Johannah Thumb from the Vector Institute, Joyce Ayoson from York University, Joshua Goldman from the University of Toronto, and Dumebi Onyeagwu from Queen’s University—three of the 120 students receiving Vector Scholarships in Artificial Intelligence this year. Over 800 students have received this scholarship since 2018, helping bright students make innovative discoveries that build a more dynamic and resilient economy for Ontario. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Jessica Bell: I’d like to thank Michelle Teixeira from OSSTF, Jennifer Huang from the labour council, and Sandra Huh from the Ontario Autism Coalition for being here today, as well as Kimberly Wu from Harbord Collegiate, who’s the winner of our members’ statement competition, and her sister Judy Wu.

Mr. Ted Hsu: I’d like to recognize Cole Zelmanovits, who is a page from my riding of Kingston and the Islands. He is serving as the page captain today. I’d also like to welcome his mother, Gemma; his brother Milo; his father, Scott; his grandma Judith and grandpa George, who are in the gallery watching today. I look forward to having lunch with Cole and his family after question period.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Stan Cho: I want to welcome back to the Legislature, from my riding of Willowdale, Ellen Schoenberger, who worked in the Legislature in the 1980s and 1990s as director of human resources and is the great-aunt of our page captain Cole Zelmanovits, who has eight other members of his family here, including his mother, Gemma.

Welcome back to Queen’s Park, Ellen. And thank you, Cole, for your hard work.

MPP Alexa Gilmour: Cole is clearly much loved.

I’d like to recognize the Zelmanovits-DeBoni family who are present from my riding, also to support Cole in his duties as captain. This wonderful family actually has a tradition of participating in the Ontario Legislature as pages—including Jill Zelmanovits, Helen DeBoni, Luke DeBoni, and Ross is also here.

Welcome to the Legislature.

Hon. Nina Tangri: I would like to welcome the staff and students of Rotherglen Meadowvale school here at Queen’s Park today.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: I’m delighted to welcome an innovator and a leader and one of our finest CEOs anywhere in Ontario: our CEO of the Humber hospital, Barb Collins. Welcome to the Ontario Legislature.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Today I’m very pleased to introduce in the chamber some of the recipients of the King Charles III medal in Davenport and their families, who will be joining me this afternoon: Celina de Melo and her daughter Paula; Corporal Frank D’Amico and his wife, Relina, kids Antonio and Caterina, and their friend Vikram; and two of our country’s greatest advocates and experts in long-term care, Hugh and Pat Armstrong.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: I want to introduce, from ArcelorMittal Dofasco, their CEO, Ron Bedard.

Mr. Stephen Blais: I’d like to welcome Jason Burggraaf, the executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association; my friend Pierre Dufresne from the home builders. We’re going to have a meeting this afternoon, and we look forward to continuing to work to build homes in Ottawa.

Question Period

Housing / Infrastructure funding

Ms. Marit Stiles: My question is to the Premier.

The Premier recently wrote to the Prime Minister seeking federal support for what the Premier has called “nation-building projects.”

A strong nation, ready for whatever is going to hit us, is built on homes—homes for regular people, with state-of-the-art schools and state-of-the-art hospitals. But your list of nation-building projects didn’t include those things. Instead, it prioritized your $100-billion fantasy tunnel under Highway 401.

So does the Premier not think that housing, hospitals and schools are nation-building projects?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Kinga Surma: The Minister of Finance will be presenting the budget in a number of days, in a number of weeks. But it’s no secret that we’re spending $50 billion to expand and rebuild hospitals right across the province of Ontario—CHEO in Ottawa, for example, was a milestone groundbreaking event just recently.

Madam Speaker, as you know, it is the Minister of Housing’s intention to present a bill next week that will help us make sure that we keep costs down and we help approve projects as quickly as possible so that future generations have the same opportunity that all of us had—the dream of home ownership.

So I stand behind the minister, and we’ll be speaking about housing next week.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: We have put forward, again and again, proposals to get this government actually back in the business of building housing again. But housing starts are down. Housing is not getting built.

The Prime Minister is now talking about this very thing. Direct government investments in housing are a way that we can defend Canada against Trump’s tariffs, we can protect construction jobs, we can address the housing crisis.

Speaker, the Premier, and even the members of the third party, for that matter, have opposed this idea every time we bring it forward.

So, back to the Premier: Will the Premier put this fantasy tunnel aside and make a serious investment into home building in the upcoming budget?

Hon. Kinga Surma: I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize the Minister of Transportation was here. I’m sure he’ll take the next question on transportation.

We know congestion is a huge issue in the province of Ontario—and this government will be helping, easing congestion, because it is something that the public voted for.

Again, the Minister of Housing will be presenting a bill. It is our intention that he will be presenting a bill next week, where we will list out all of the incentives and the new processes so that we can get housing built in the province of Ontario. And then, of course, as the Minister of Infrastructure—we launched $2-billion worth of infrastructure to help our municipalities build close to 700,000 new homes in the province of Ontario. Both are priorities. We will help stop congestion, and we will do everything we can to make sure our young people can have the dream of home ownership.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Final supplementary?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, what they’re doing is not working. People don’t have homes now. They’ve been in power for seven years, and we still don’t have homes that people can afford—regular people.

We’ve got luxury spas down at Ontario Place being built. We’ve got this Premier’s fantasy tunnel—hundreds of billions of dollars are going to be wasted on that.

Where do homes and hospitals and schools fit into this government’s plans for nation building?

Canadian productivity depends on infrastructure 100%. It depends on roads. It depends on bridges. But it also depends on a high-quality health care system, an education system that’s going to meet the needs of students of all abilities, and social supports when people need them. But it seems like health care and education and social supports are not important enough for this Premier.

So, back to the Premier: In the upcoming budget, will the Premier increase funding for important infrastructure like health care, like education, and like the social services Ontarians need?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Perhaps the member opposite forgets the $50 billion that we’re investing in 50 capital builds across Ontario. Those are the investments that we started in 2018, and those are the investments that we will continue to do, because we are investing in people. We are investing to ensure that Ontario residents have access to top-of-the-line health care, to schools that are being built across Ontario. We want to make sure that infrastructure is in place. And absolutely, if the federal government wants to come to the table and help, I’m welcoming and all ears. In the meantime, we will get it done, under the leadership of Premier Ford.

Ms. Marit Stiles: People are actually fleeing our province—skilled workers—in record numbers right now. So I think the minister should go back and check what’s happening right now.

Public health

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, my next question is back to the Premier—because I was so disappointed to hear both the Premier and the Minister of Health yesterday. With over 1,300 confirmed cases of measles in the province, I was absolutely shocked to hear the minister and the Premier defend their absolutely abysmal record on the measles outbreak. They seem to be totally unfazed by the growing number of people who have been infected. They’re even making jokes about chasing kids around with needles, when this is serious. It’s about fighting misinformation with education, and it is about building trust in our public health care system.

Why have the Premier and the Minister of Health thrown in the towel in the fight against measles?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the Minister of Health.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: There is no doubt that immunization is our best control to ensure that our youngest children are protected, which is why we directed—and the Chief Medical Officer of Health sent out a directive to all of the public health units over a year ago, saying, “Refocus your efforts. You need to refocus your efforts on childhood vaccines.” We did that over a year ago. We proactively ordered over a half a million additional—sorry, we’ve ordered a half a million vaccinations and vaccines specifically related to measles, because we knew that this was going to be something that we wanted to ensure that there was sufficient supply. We have done that.

If anyone—a parent, a caregiver—needs to know where these vaccines are and how to access it, call 811, because we have the capacity, we have ensured our public health units have the information that they need, and we’ll continue to provide—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary? I recognize the member for Hamilton Centre.

MPP Robin Lennox: I’m shocked that we’re continuing to hear about memos sent in 2023.

Instead of coming up with a plan to educate and support people to get vaccinated, our Premier blamed them for their vaccine hesitancy. We need to rebuild trust and meet people where they’re at, not just give up.

Hamilton Public Health’s vaccine ambassador program recruited members of the community who spoke 17 different languages and came from different cultural groups, and successfully increased vaccine uptake through dedicated outreach. But this Conservative government cut the funding for that program in 2023. And now, here we are, throwing our hands up.

Will this government implement strategies like these, proven to combat misinformation and connect with hard-to-reach communities?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: For context, the member opposite is referencing a COVID-related program that we had in place during the pandemic.

What we have done is we have increased, by almost 20%, the investments and the programs that we have provided for our local public health units.

The Chief Medical Officer of Health has said that we are not seeing a spread in our public schools. Why? Because we have a high vaccine rate.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Hamilton Centre for supplementary.

MPP Robin Lennox: Just for context, we’ve had 1,300 cases in six months, and if our minister doesn’t know, we usually have 10 cases per year. So if we’re still talking about vaccines sitting in fridges, about usual strategies and about memos sent in 2023, then you have completely lost the plot.

Speaker, anyone trained in emergency response could tell you that if you’re dealing with a crisis in 2025 and the best you’ve got are memos sent two years ago, you’re not combatting an emergency; you’re just counting casualties.

So when will this government move beyond memos and start funding programs, like the ambassador program, which you might not know is now crowd-sourcing external funding because this government won’t fund it. Why won’t you fund programs that have actually been proven to work?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I will remind the member opposite that our public health units have actually seen an increase in their budgets by almost 20%. Innovative programs that they wish to provide in their own communities—they absolutely have the ability to do that.

I want to remind people: This is a vaccine that has been in place in Ontario for over five decades.

We need to ensure that people have all of the information they need to make sure that their children are protected.

The outbreaks, as I hope the member opposite knows, are predominantly within a specific community in southwestern Ontario. We have been working very closely with those impacted public health units. We provide sufficient vaccines—we actually ordered extra.

We’ll continue to have public health and children’s backs when we’re battling the outbreak of measles in Ontario.

Education funding

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Premier.

But first, it’s Education Week here in Ontario. I would just like to say, on behalf of my party—and I’m sure everybody here—thank you to all the educators, everybody who is in our schools, helping our kids, keeping them safe, teaching them. We count on you, and, quite frankly, you need to be able to count on us.

When adjusted for inflation, Ontario is spending about $1,500 less per student than we did in 2018.

So my question to the Premier is, does he really think that spending $1,500 per student less every year is good for their education?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Education.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I appreciate the question.

Obviously, we don’t. That’s why we’ve increased funding each and every year to education well beyond what the previous government was spending on education.

Madam Speaker, I agree with the member opposite on one thing: We have some of the best educators in the world. And we have a system that needs to refocus itself on providing maximum resources for our students in the classroom. It is also a system that needs to refocus itself on restoring the respect that was a hallmark of our education system, basically for generations—respect for teachers by students, respect for parents by the system—and ensuring that our teachers felt supported in the classroom. That is what I am insisting on. That is what our Progressive Conservative government is insisting on.

More importantly, I think that’s what parents and students and educators are insisting on—a system that focuses on students and maximizes results for them.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary?

Mr. John Fraser: With all due respect to the minister across, I’ve heard repeatedly the government—and not the member this time—saying “historic funding” and, “We spend more money this year than we’ve ever spent before.” Well, that’s literally what every government has done on health care and education since I’ve been alive.

Don’t tell me what you’re spending. Tell me what you’re doing.

The results show just that—crumbling schools, crowded classrooms, exceptional needs not being met, violence in schools.

Back to the Premier: Does he really think that spending $1,500 a year less per student is actually going to deliver the results that our families need?

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member opposite knows that figure is absolutely incorrect. But it doesn’t matter to parents. He can get up here and say, “Oh, we’re spending this and that.” Do you know what parents care about? It’s that when their kids go to school, they’re getting the education they deserve; that they’re being prepared for the jobs of tomorrow; that we’re educating students so they can be prepared to meet all of the challenges of tomorrow. They don’t care that you argue with me over $1,500 here and there. What they want to know is that when they go to school, the teacher will have the resources to properly educate the student and they will feel safe in the classroom.

What parents are telling me is, “Make sure that the boards are maximizing those resources in the classroom.” That is what I’m asking the boards to do—work with me, double down on ensuring a line-by-line approach to funding so that we can ensure that maximum resources go to our teachers so that they can maximize the time that they spend with students, and that parents have the confidence that our public education system is giving their kids all of the help they need to succeed in the future.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary?

Mr. John Fraser: You’re giving them less money. That’s the point. You’re making it harder for them to maximize the dollars, because the dollars are fewer.

I know what’s happening in schools because I talk to parents and educators. I’ve got educators in my family. And the reality is, in particular, year over year, students with exceptional needs are getting less and less and less. We all know that’s happening in our boards.

I respect the member, but I don’t respect the premise of what his answer is—really, what you’re saying is, “I’m asking them to do more with less.” And I don’t think that’s what we’ve done in education in Ontario to be successful. So I guess the question is, will you restore that $1,500?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I’ll tell you what I will restore, Madam Speaker: I will restore, in the province of Ontario, a school system that respects our teachers, a school system that respects our students, and a school system that gives our teachers the maximum resources they need in order to give our students the tools to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow.

I am singularly unconcerned with what the member opposite talks about, because what we have right now in our school system is a system where parents don’t have the confidence that the system is listening to them. I have a board in Durham region that built an elementary school where all the kids use one washroom. I have parents calling me, writing me and saying, “That is not what we want for our kids. They’re afraid to go to the washroom.” That is where we lose respect, and that is where people think that the system isn’t listening to them.

So that is what I’m going to do. I’m going to double down and make sure that the school system does what it is charged to do: educate our kids—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

Subventions destinées à l’éducation / Education funding

M me Lucille Collard: Le sous-financement chronique en éducation pousse les conseils scolaires francophones de l’Ontario au bord du gouffre. La taille des classes augmente, le soutien aux élèves ayant des besoins particuliers diminue et les enseignants signalent des milieux de travail dangereux et stressants. Les syndicats comme l’AEFO tirent la sonnette d’alarme concernant la montée de violence et l’épuisement professionnel. Ce ne sont pas des cas isolés mais les symptômes d’un système qui est littéralement à bout de souffle.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Education.

L’hon. Paul Calandra: Madame la Présidente, comme vous le savez, et comme la députée le sait, nous avons fait beaucoup d’investissements dans le secteur d’éducation. En fait, nous avons fait des investissements historiques dans le système d’éducation.

What I want to ensure is that our school system respects teachers, respects students and respects parents. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re in the public system, you’re in the Catholic system or if you’re a parent who has chosen to not put your kid in one of those systems, you should have all of the tools that you need to succeed. We are a rich province, and we will make sure that that happens, not because we say so, but because that’s what our kids and parents need and that’s what they demand.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Quite frankly, I’m actually very proud of our French-language school boards and the public boards and what they’re doing to encourage students to take up the French language.

In York region, our French-language schools are exploding at the seams—and she’s absolutely right—because so many parents want to send their kids there. I was just at école Pape-François on Friday. I was touring that school. It is a wonderful French-language school. The French-language board runs it. They are doing incredible work at that school. I’m going to ensure, working, of course, with the Minister of Francophone Affairs and the other members—the Minister of Labour would be very happy to hear that at that school, the work that they’re doing on the trades was absolutely groundbreaking.

I went and visited the class, and there were young grade 9 women learning how to use the different machines. The coding class was full with both girls and boys. It was an exciting time.

We’re going to double down and make sure that our kids in French-language schools or in any school have the resources they need to succeed, full stop.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Final supplementary.

French immersion isn’t a luxury. It’s a bridge between communities and a tool for building a bilingual workforce.

Will this government address the root causes of this systemic pressure by committing to train more French-language educators and by legislating equitable access to French immersion programs across Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the Minister of Francophone Affairs.

L’hon. Caroline Mulroney: Notre gouvernement et, je pense, tous les députés ici sont très fiers du bilan en matière de francophonie et de l’éducation francophone et bilingue ici en Ontario. Notre gouvernement a fait des efforts soutenus pendant les sept dernières années pour assurer que nous adressons le problème de la pénurie des enseignants francophones, qui malheureusement n’est pas simplement un problème ici en Ontario, mais est un problème à travers le pays.

C’est pourquoi, en tant que ministre des Affaires francophones, je représente la francophonie ontarienne directement au gouvernement fédéral, et je parle constamment du besoin d’adresser, en partenariat avec les autres provinces, les territoires et le gouvernement fédéral, cette pénurie des enseignants francophones. Madame la Présidente, c’est pourquoi je travaille avec le ministère des Collèges et Universités, pour augmenter l’offre de programmation en enseignement francophone pour que nous puissions adresser ce problème directement ici en Ontario.

Automotive industry

MPP Lisa Gretzky: To the Premier: Our auto sector is in crisis, reeling from Trump’s tariffs and the Premier’s wait-and-see attitude of inaction.

Shifts at Windsor Assembly have been cancelled—4,000 workers are laid off. The promised return of the third shift has been delayed until 2026. One shift lost is one shift too many. These cuts hurt the entire community. Workers in local businesses are already feeling the impact.

Windsor workers deserve real action from this government, such as adopting a policy that if you sell here, you must build here.

Will the Premier stand up for workers in my community by joining us in demanding that these jobs remain in Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Response? I recognize the Minister of Economic Development.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: I’ve said it almost every day: We’re at war with the United States; we’re in an economic war. But under the previous Liberal government, Ontario’s auto sector was on the brink of collapse, and good-paying jobs were fleeing to the US. And that was without tariffs. It was a direct result of the Liberal-NDP policies.

Our government worked very hard to revitalize the auto sector. We reshored those jobs lost under the Liberal rule. We’ve seen auto companies invest $46 billion over the last four years. Speaker, 100,000 auto jobs were saved, and 10,000 more auto jobs have been created. Companies from around the world chose Ontario because we have everything here they need to succeed.

We’re not going to slow down. We’re going to do everything in our power to ensure that these companies keep their people here and continue to invest in Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary.

MPP Lisa Gretzky: The government continues to take credit for the work of the union and workers, who actually saved the auto industry in this province.

Under this government, Windsor already had the highest unemployment rate in Canada, at 10.8%. Now, 4,000 workers at Windsor Assembly and 2,000 more at feeder plants are laid off, with nine spinoff jobs at risk for every auto job lost.

Windsor workers put themselves between company trucks and the border to stop equipment from being shipped to the US because they know, once the equipment is moved, it’s never coming back and their jobs are gone. It’s happening while the Premier “waits to see what happens” rather than being proactive.

Will the Premier support workers in my community and across the province by requiring auto companies to build in Ontario if they want to sell in Ontario?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Again, we are facing a once-in-a-generation threat from south of the border. We are in close contact daily with companies that are navigating through this period of uncertainty.

That’s why earlier this week, along with the Premier, we spoke with Stellantis and we visited GM in Oshawa. We spoke directly with the workers there who are proudly building Ontario-made vehicles. We’re going to be there to support these businesses and these workers, which is why our government has already announced $11 billion in immediate relief for Ontario companies.

At the same time, we’re taking the necessary action to ensure that Ontario remains competitive. We just announced the expansion of the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, which will provide an additional $1.3 billion over three years.

Public transit

MPP Stephanie Smyth: Well, there are rumours that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is going to open someday. The people in my riding of Toronto–St. Paul’s have been going through construction, financial and economic hell for years with this $13-billion transit line that is billions of dollars over budget and years and years and years behind schedule.

Madam Speaker, through you to the transportation minister: Can you please tell me how you’re going to compensate the hundreds of small businesses that have been closed or bankrupted by this never-ending crazy train of delays and dollars?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Under the leadership of the Premier, we have launched one of the largest public transit expansions in the history of not only Canada, but North America—$70 billion over the next 10 years.

I know that the Eglinton Crosstown has caused many people frustration and delays, and we are currently working day and night to ensure that the testing continues so we can launch a safe and reliable system.

But we’re in this situation today because the previous Liberal government did absolutely nothing to build public transit in this province.

We have gotten shovels in the ground for over five of our priority transit projects, investing $70 billion over the next 10 years.

We will take no lessons from the members opposite in the Liberal Party on how to build transit and how to get shovels in the ground, because we are preparing for the future of how people get around this city and this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary?

MPP Stephanie Smyth: Well, transportation minister, you certainly have compensated the Metrolinx executives over the years. How many millions of dollars went to Phil Verster, who didn’t get the job done? How many millions of dollars went to consulting companies that never got anything built—and that was seven years, by the way, for Mr. Verster—except for their million-dollar bills; they got those done, the consultants.

It’s time that the businesses along Eglinton in Toronto–St. Paul’s were given some hope and some financial relief.

Again, Speaker, through you to the transportation minister: Businesspeople along Eglinton West in Toronto–St. Paul’s want to know when this compensation will come for them.

And one more thing: When is it going to open, Minister?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: There is no government in the history of this province that has done more for small businesses than that under the leadership of Premier Ford. From fighting the punitive carbon taxes to other policies, and reducing costs for businesses by billions and billions of dollars, which the members opposite have voted against every single time, our government is committed to not only supporting small businesses while we build transit but also building transit and creating thousands and thousands of jobs across the province.

Let’s take, for example, the Ontario Line, which will move 400,000 people every single day, or the Crosstown project that employed thousands and thousands of people across this province.

We will continue to build in this city, in this province, because we know that’s what we need to do.

Unfortunately, for 15 years, nothing was built under the previous Liberal government. We changed that. We got shovels in the ground on the Ontario Line, the Scarborough subway extension, the west extension on Eglinton, and many other LRT projects across the province. And we’ll continue to build.

Skills development

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: My question is to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

Workers in Ontario want to know that their jobs are secure in the face of growing economic threats. They want to know that they have the skills to compete in a changing world. Global pressures, including from the US and other nations, are a real concern.

That is why our government is focused on making sure our workers have the skills they need to succeed. With the Skills Development Fund, we’re closing the gap between the jobs that are open and the people looking to fill them.

Can the minister explain how this fund is helping to protect Ontario workers and secure their futures in a competitive global economy?

Hon. David Piccini: I appreciate the question from the member opposite. I appreciate his leadership in Brampton. He’s always there at every event, advancing the interests of the next generation, giving them opportunity, whether it’s from the medical school, right down to the trades and everything in between. It’s incredible.

The Skills Development Fund that Premier Ford and I announced at the Skills Ontario Competition—it was remarkable to see thousands of students in Canada’s largest skilled trades competition. We announced another billion dollars in the Skills Development Fund.

I want to illustrate a success story that I think we can all get behind. Abdullah from Local 44 was a Hammer Heads youth graduate who won the sprinkler fitter competition—proudly from the GTHA. He was a graduate of Hammer Heads, a program supported by the Skills Development Fund.

We’re changing lives. I’m proud of the craftsmanship exhibited by these remarkable youth.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member from Brampton West.

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: Thank you to the minister for the response.

Ontario’s economy is built on the skills and hard work of our people.

It is clear that the Skills Development Fund is not just about numbers; it’s about real people and real jobs. From training auto workers in Windsor to supporting bilingual trades in Ottawa, to providing opportunities for communities in the north, this fund is making a difference. It’s about helping workers in every corner of our province get the skills they need for good, high-paying jobs.

Can the minister share more about how this approach is helping local workers succeed and support their families while building Ontario’s future?

Hon. David Piccini: Again, I appreciate the question from the member opposite.

Let’s look at what an impact the Skills Development Fund is having. We’ve seen both major parties in the last federal election campaign on similar funds, recognizing the impact the SDF is having. It has trained over half a million workers here in Ontario—better training, better jobs with bigger paycheques.

Let’s do a little trip around the north—I know the finance minister loves to do that in the budget—2,300 workers. In the north, we’re delivering for Indigenous and remote communities with a $17-million investment benefiting over additional 3,600 workers: Agnico Eagle Mines; Kiwetinohk Red Seal project; Northern Centre for Advanced Technology, or NORCAT; Science North—a new facility, $3.2 million; the sheet metal workers’ union; SMART; Local 397—a new facility. I visited the team up there. It’s going to change lives.

The International Association of Bridge Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers, Local 759, Adam MacGillivray and the team up in Thunder Bay—I saw the new concrete pad. They’re going to train a next generation of ironworkers.

Speaker, it’s changing lives—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

School boards

Ms. Jessica Bell: My question is to the Minister of Education.

The TDSB is being forced to make major cuts to schools because of chronic underfunding by this government. The board is looking at closing nearly half of its swimming pools, axing music programs, and there are huge funding gaps for special education and mental health.

Can this government address our schools’ funding shortfall so we can see improvements in the classroom in the coming school year?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I appreciate the question.

As I’ve said multiple times, yes, we are sending an investigation team in there to look at how the TDSB spends money, to ensure that maximum resources are being spent in the classrooms. But again, as I said yesterday, I simply will not allow pools to be closed, and I will not allow teachers to be fired.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for University–Rosedale.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Back to the education minister: If this government wants to find the true culprit who’s harming our kids’ education, he doesn’t need to do an investigation; he needs to look in the mirror.

Since the Conservatives came to power, our schools have seen funding cut by $1,500 per student. We have overcrowded classrooms. We have aging schools in urgent need of repair. Schools are losing vice-principals and principals, and kids with special needs are falling behind.

Parents do not want this government to play political blame games with the school board. They want their kids to have a good public school education, and that requires investment.

My question to the minister is, can this government commit to reinvesting the $1,500 more per student into our education system so our kids can see improvements in the classroom?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Madam Speaker, I don’t know why it is that the NDP and the Toronto District School Board are so afraid of an audit happening of where money is being spent in the school board. I don’t understand why they’re so afraid, because, presumably, their numbers are so firm that the investigation will find that what they’ve been talking about is accurate. That could be the result of this.

I suspect what will be found is that money is not being put into the classroom for classroom education as it should be; I will ensure, through this process, that it is—because that is the ultimate goal of an education system: to maximize resources that are going for students and maximize the resources that teachers have, to give our students the ultimate opportunity to succeed.

I don’t understand why the opposition is so supportive of a school board that has run multi-year deficits. But ultimately, if an investigation finds that the TDSB is correct, then they’ll have their answer—if they don’t, then I will ensure that the resources being misplaced are being put back into the classroom where they belong.

Public transit

Mrs. Karen McCrimmon: Earlier this year, the Premier promised to upload the Ottawa LRT and expand it into Kanata and Barrhaven, fast-growing suburbs where families are spending hours commuting each day.

Reliable public transit isn’t a luxury. It’s essential for reducing gridlock, supporting working parents and ensuring that people can get to work, school, events, commitments and medical appointments on time.

With the budget just days away, will the Premier keep his promise, deliver for Ottawa and invest in the LRT expansion our city desperately needs?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Response? The Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: As the members opposite know, we struck a historic new deal with the city of Ottawa, where Premier Ford announced $543 million—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member from Orléans will come to order.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: The member opposite is saying that there was nothing allocated. It shocks me, because it tells me that that member hasn’t even taken the time to look at the agreement, where the Kanata LRT expressway was also put into that as part of the negotiations. In fact, Highway 174 was also included in that as an upload, which that member asked to be tolled—which is unbelievable when you look at what is happening in the city of Ottawa—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I apologize to the minister.

Would the member from Orléans please come to order?

The minister may continue.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, unfortunately, that member was advocating for tolls on Highway 174. But thanks to Premier Ford and thanks to the leadership of this government, we will be uploading that highway and investing significant, historic amounts in the city of Ottawa—whether it be transit or the LRT announcement that we made when we were in that city during the campaign—or have shown our commitment to that city as well.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Kanata–Carleton.

Mrs. Karen McCrimmon: People in Kanata and across Ottawa don’t want any more empty promises. We’ve had enough. We need a timeline, not just talking points.

We’ve seen this government invest billions and move legislative mountains for fantasy projects and luxury spas in Toronto, but Ottawa continues to wait.

When will this government fulfill the promises it has made to Ottawa? It’s a simple question.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Just in that historic new deal that I was talking about, we’re providing over $180 million in transportation supports and infrastructure—including, on top of that, the commitment we made to upload the LRT.

This government is committed to building transit all across the province, including roads, bridges and highways.

A part of that infrastructure—not only the LRT—is also Highway 174, as I had mentioned before. We have just completed five new bridge replacements in the city of Ottawa as well. That shows our commitment to the city and continuous work that we have with not only the mayor, but many of the individuals in the city to ensure that we build and invest in those critical investments to keep the people of Ottawa moving.

Ontario film and television industry

Mr. Brian Riddell: My question is to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming.

Ontario’s film and television industry is a vital part of our economy. It supports tens of thousands of jobs and brings in billions of investment each year.

But threats from outside our borders are real. US President Donald Trump has promised to push for tough trade deals and is threatening our film and television sector. He has said he wants to bring back film jobs to the US and cut back on cross-border productions. That could put Ontario jobs at risk.

Our government believes Ontario should remain a global leader in film and television production. We have the talent, we have the studios, and we have the skilled workers to compete.

Can the minister please explain how our government is standing up for the Ontario film and television industry by protecting these good jobs from outside threats?

I’ll just give you a couple of examples. The Handmaid’s Tale is filmed in Cambridge, along with The Queen’s Gambit, Murdoch Mysteries, Designated Survivor, American Gods. Classic Christmas movies—feel-good ones like A Christmas Duet, The Magical Christmas Shoes, and The Christmas Temp—have all been made in Cambridge, Ontario.

I don’t know why President Trump wants to take a little Christmas joy away from us all—but I know the member from Cambridge and every member of this House know that they are working hard to protect those jobs. We will continue to monitor the situation.

And to that member: Know that our government is here to do whatever it takes to support creative industries.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member from Cambridge.

Mr. Brian Riddell: Thank you to the minister for his continuing leadership and caring.

Right now, we’re also shooting a movie about Muhammad Ali, and downtown Cambridge was dressed up like Louisville, Kentucky.

The Ontario film and TV industry isn’t just about jobs. It’s about telling our stories. It’s about showing the world what makes our province special.

Our government has invested in new sound stages, digital tools, and cutting-edge production facilities. We’re also making it easier for filmmakers to choose Ontario by reducing red tape and supporting local talent. But as the world changes, we need to stay ahead. We can’t let foreign pressure take away or threaten our jobs.

Can the minister explain how our government’s investments in film and TV are helping to protect this vital sector of our economy and keep our jobs right here in Ontario?

Hon. Stan Cho: Another great question.

The member is absolutely right; it’s not just about “wait and see” on those threats online, but it’s also about the investments that we’ve made, as well as ongoing conversations with the industry.

I want to reassure the House that we are continuing to work with the business community. I’ve connected with leaders in labour, production and every stage of the film process. I’ve spoken to FilmOntario, Blue Ant Media, New Metric Media, Cinespace, ACTRA, all in the last 48 hours. Those conversations will continue.

Our government is also expanding accreditation to programs—and to different film and production schools, like Toronto Film School and the College of Makeup Art and Design, along with other programs at colleges to support the next generation of film workers. It’s a lot of work that goes on in front of the camera, but also behind the camera, and we understand that this creates a lot of jobs, including in the fine area of Cambridge, which I know the member works very hard for.

We will continue to protect the creative industry and all the economic prosperity that comes along with it.

Ontario film and television industry

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier.

This week, President Trump announced a 100% tariff on film production from outside the US, and the domestic industry is reeling.

The film, television and digital production industry accounted for $3.2 billion in revenue to the province in 2022. Speaker, 45,000 workers are at risk. We need to stabilize the sector.

In FilmOntario’s 2025 budget submission, they requested a 25% tax credit for their industry, rather than the 21% the Liberals cut it down to in 2015.

To the minister: We learned through COVID that we need to be more self-sufficient and self-reliant. What tangible supports will be in budget 2025 for this sector?

Hon. Stan Cho: Speaker, lots of tangible measures have already been taken to support this industry. That’s why we have a system that’s working.

I talked about the over $1 billion in film and television tax credits, which has led to great success in that member’s own riding.

Shows like Degrassi, The Handmaid’s Tale; movies like Star Trek, BlackBerry; shows like Anne of Green Gables—Detroit Rock City. These are all big, international hits that created jobs not just in front of the camera, like I said, but behind it—think the tailors, think the hairdressers, think the people who take and make the stage productions, all of the sets, the camera people. This is a lot of work that goes on to put on these productions, which have, again, become world-famous.

The NDP wants us to rip this all up and ruin a system that’s already working.

We will take a measured and reasonable approach, unlike the opposition, to make sure that we continue to invest in this industry and respond to these threats as they are put forward in real time.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Supplementary?

Ms. Catherine Fife: Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a handmaid’s tale of sorts around here.

Minister, listen, we all agree to keep these jobs here. We need to work together on this. That’s what Ontario expects us to do.

The sector is looking for strategic investments to stabilize the creative economy. We’ve seen record demand for content, and still, this government has failed to provide consistent funding to grow the industry and the sector.

Through you, Madam Chair, to the minister: Now that Trump’s protectionism is threatening to cripple the film and television sector—that is what they are telling us, Minister—is there a targeted support plan on the table, or will your government tell writers and producers and directors and crews to hang tight while the rest of the world invests in their creative economies?

Hon. Stan Cho: Speaker, I’ll tell you what the writers, directors, crews, union workers, producers are all telling me, because I’ve spoken to them in the last 48 hours. They’re saying, “I appreciate that the government has supported this industry from the beginning.” It’s not what that member has done.

The member asks for those supports—and I’ve talked about the film and television tax credits. I’ve talked about the increased accreditation and all the other measures that we’re doing.

Those conversations that we are having with those leaders are in real time, and they are telling us that we are doing the right thing—to act in a measured way and be responsible in our reactions to these online threats. We are not going to rip up the very fabric of an industry that is thriving—thriving thanks to the investments that this government has put forward.

We are a world leader when it comes to the creative industries, and we have some of the best film and television being produced right here in our backyard. I, for one, am very proud of that. We’re going to continue to invest in them.

We are not going to listen to the doom and gloom and the chaos theories of the NDP and the Liberals.

Let’s keep investing in Ontario and moving forward in a responsible way.

Public transit

MPP Andrea Hazell: Madam Speaker, my question is to the Premier.

Ontarians are suffering due to the ongoing delays in critical transit projects. Over the past seven years, under this government, not one major transit project has been completed. Despite hearing about massive investment dollars flowing into our transit system, the reality is that taxpayers are left with empty promises and no real solutions. These projects are lifelines for Ontarians who depend on public transit to access jobs, education and essential services.

Ontarian