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October 28, 2020

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2020-Oct-28 (PDF)

L201 - Wed 28 Oct 2020 / Mer 28 oct 2020

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 28 October 2020 Mercredi 28 octobre 2020

Orders of the Day

Main Street Recovery Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à redonner vie aux rues commerçantes

Members’ Statements

Addiction services

Anti-Semitism

Long-term care

Social services

Long-term care

Non-profit organizations

Long-term care

Remembrance Day

Beatrice Moreira-Laidlow

International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Long-term care

Long-term care

School facilities

Water quality

Long-term care

Women’s issues

Post-secondary education

Long-term care

Hydro rates

Education funding

Small business

Long-term care

Post-secondary education

Education funding

Deferred Votes

Time allocation

Motions

Private members’ public business

Petitions

Long-term care

Anti-vaping initiatives for youth

Soins de longue durée

Small business

Long-term care

Fish and wildlife management

Long-term care

Family law

Long-term care

Infrastructure funding

Gasoline prices

Anti-vaping initiatives for youth

Public transit

Orders of the Day

Main Street Recovery Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à redonner vie aux rues commerçantes

Private Members’ Public Business

Time to Care Act (Long-Term Care Homes Amendment, Minimum Standard of Daily Care), 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur le temps alloué aux soins (modifiant la

Loi sur les foyers de soins de longue durée et prévoyant une norme minimale en matière de soins quotidiens)

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Main Street Recovery Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à redonner vie aux rues commerçantes

Resuming the debate adjourned on October 20, 2020, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 215,

An Act to amend various statutes with respect to the economic recovery of Ontario and to make other amendments / Projet de loi 215, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne la reprise économique de l’Ontario et apportant d’autres modifications.

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

Hon. Victor Fedeli: It is indeed an honour today to rise to speak about Bill 215. Speaker, there are some absolutely wonderful things happening in Ontario amidst this terrible pandemic, so today I want to talk to you about the things that are assisting our main street businesses. Everything we’re doing is delivering on our commitment because we know that small businesses are—you’ve heard the expression a million times—the backbone of our economy and our communities.

Our efforts towards small business didn’t just start at the pandemic; they started the day we were elected into office. We began very quickly with a complete turnaround of the business sector, the business community, this backbone that we talk about. We began by doing things like reforming and lowering WSIB payments. This is not a simple sentence. This is $2.2 billion in relief that it has brought to the Ontario business community. It’s a reduction of 47%, $2.2 billion.

That’s part of our first-year changes, where we saw a reduction in the cost of doing business in Ontario of $5 billion—$5 billion that is now saved by the business community and reinvested in their business. We know it was reinvested in their business because in their first 18 months after we took office, they hired 307,000 new employees in the province of Ontario.

We know that all of these things that we’ve done to reduce the cost of doing business, things like reducing by 8.7% the corporate income tax for small businesses, things like reducing small business heating and fuel and energy costs—we allowed small businesses to write off their new equipment in year, in their first year. That’s an almost $800-million savings to businesses that they took and put into their businesses. Again, we know they put it into their businesses because they hired 307,000 new employees.

We did not go ahead with the previous government’s tax increases, supported by the NDP, that were scheduled to come in on January 1, 2019. We did not go ahead with those. We did not ago ahead, although the federal government did, with the tax on the passive income of small businesses. This is the small business person’s retirement fund, and the federal government went ahead with the taxing of it. The previous government had initiated the go-ahead to tax on January 1—supported by the NDP, I might add. We did not go ahead with that.

Those savings that the business community had were put right back into their businesses. Some other items in the north, specifically: The northern aviation fuel costs were reduced to spur travel and to help our First Nations in the north.

This whole package did not just happen with COVID. And remember, just in February, pre-COVID, not only were 307,000 jobs created, but there were 250,000 unfilled jobs in the province of Ontario. So all of those business fundamentals that saw Ontario be returned as the economic engine of our country are all still in place. That’s why we learned only a couple of weeks ago from Stats Canada that in the September job numbers, not only did we see 168,000 jobs be recovered—that brings us to 840,000 recovered jobs since the pandemic—but in the month of September alone, 50,000 of those jobs were in manufacturing.

A lot of small businesses throughout all of our communities in Ontario are small businesses who manufacture; 50,000 of those were brought back in the month of September. In fact, that makes it now 17,000 more men and women working in manufacturing today than worked in manufacturing pre-COVID. That is because all of those fundamentals that I went through at the beginning are still in place, but now we’ve got additional supports for small businesses and our main street businesses.

The main street recovery plan was designed in virtual meetings that were held with about 100 round tables and discussions with owners, with workers and with economists. This would with be on top of the hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of Zoom calls and team calls that we held worldwide, understanding what it would take for you to come into Ontario and open a small business, a medium-sized business, what it would take for your business to survive here in Ontario, what it takes for your business to grow.

With that information, we added to the $10 billion in urgent economic relief that was provided through the COVID-19 action plan. In the Main Street Recovery Act—this is the proposed legislation, and it is going to modernize some is rules to help businesses, but it’s also going to put things like $1,000 into the main street recovery grant to fund PPE. This will be for about 60,000 businesses up and down your vital main streets and other streets in your communities right across, from one end of the province to the other. This is a vital tool.

I want to add something, Speaker, because I want the people of Sudbury to know: I was in the Legislature last week listening to the member from Sudbury talk about the fact that there is nothing in the plan for northern Ontario, but I want his community to know there is a whole lot, specifically. Maybe the member is not aware of something called the Northern Ontario Recovery Program; we’ll call it NORP for short. This is up to $25,000 for each and every business in northern Ontario.

Yes, maybe he didn’t want to mention it because it was funded by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and, of course, he voted against the budget that funded the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t want to let his businesses in his community know that $25,000 is available to each and every business, each and every store, each and every small manufacturer. Every single business in Sudbury can apply for up to that amount. In fact, every business in northern Ontario can apply for up to that amount.

I’m not quite certain why the member would suggest that there are no incentives to help northern Ontario businesses when this is a $20-million program that started almost a month ago. I know in my own community last week I was aware of 50 businesses who have applied. Some have applied for the maximum. There are a couple of restaurants in North Bay that have applied for the maximum because they’ve put huge tents outside; they’ve leased these huge tents. They’re being repaid for those, up to $25,000 for monies that they spent on COVID-19, including PPE.

During that same discussion, I also heard the member from Scarborough–Guildwood talk about the fact that there is nothing being done in this recovery for the film sector. I’m thinking, “Wow, that’s a really, really awkward sentence,” because only the week before in North Bay I announced over $5 million for film in the riding of Nipissing alone, never mind the films in Sudbury that are being funded, like Letterkenny and other popular films. There are tens of millions of dollars in just northern films.

But, again, I can imagine that the Liberal member from Scarborough–Guildwood didn’t want to acknowledge the support in the film sector because she voted against the budget that funded the tax credits. Those tax credits are employing tens of thousands of people in Toronto, Ottawa, and small communities all across Ontario that are involved in the film sector. Mississauga: I know the mayor of Mississauga and I were cutting the ribbon at a Star Trek filming function where the province of Ontario was supporting them through the tax credit.

Perhaps the member from Scarborough–Guildwood did not want to acknowledge that the film sector is being helped because she voted against that very funding that today is now helping the film sector right across Ontario.

So, for my friends in northern Ontario, where I was born and raised and lived all my life, there are plenty of opportunities, through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp., in film, manufacturing, small business, so please continue to look for the new intake in the new year. But right now, get into that Northern Ontario Recovery Program. It’s not time-limited, but it’s first come, first served. There is $20 million, and you’re entitled to $25,000 apiece. I’m really hoping that this message gets through to the people of Sudbury, whose own member, obviously, has not been telling them about it because he voted against that funding.

The main street plan, as I said, puts in $1,000 for up to 60,000 businesses. There is also something called the small business COVID-19 recovery network and this offers, basically, direct support that’s tailored to the business.

And there is a small business recovery website. Now, some people would say, “Ugh, that’s it? You built a website? This is what you are doing?” Let me tell you: On the other side of the page, the Ontario Together Fund website that we built very quickly, within days, has had 28,000 people—not visitors who are clicking and looking at it; 28,000 people who have asked us for assistance, and we’ve helped them. Some 19,000 of those people who went on the website brought us leads so that we bought over $800 million worth of PPE.

So when we say, “Yes, we built a website,” you better get on the website. Get on the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund website and look for your $25,000. Get on the small business recovery web page and learn about the things that you can receive, including the $1,000 main street recovery grant. Go on the Ontario Together Fund website and see how you can get involved in the production or the supply of personal protective equipment to the province of Ontario; 28,000 other people have, and 19,000 have helped us with those contracts for $800 million. So there is a tremendous amount.

But when you’re looking at Bill 215, the main street bill, don’t just look at it in isolation. This is a cumulative effort that you need to see. We’ve put it together with other programs and we worked with the federal government. We worked with them to make sure of two things: that there are no gaps in the services and that there is no duplication. We continue to talk. My ministry and other ministries are dealing with our federal counterparts to make sure that everybody is covered, and whoever is best positioned to offer that service is the one who is offering that service.

From our side of it, we continue with the programs that we’re presenting today, such as the $1,000 main street recovery grant.

I would have to suggest to you, as well, that you should be talking to your small business enterprise centres all throughout Ontario. There are 47 of these. We call them SBECs: small business enterprise centres. It’s all an important and integral part of the small business recovery network. These 47 centres have business experts who will help your company, particularly for support for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. That’s the focus of the SBECs. They collaborate with the municipalities and they collaborate with the regional partners.

But also, there are a dozen and a half regional innovation centres, the RICs, all over Ontario as well. These are the types of organizations that we want you to be working with, as well. Access these centres.

If you’re a small business and affected by the pandemic, you can go on ontario.ca/smallbusiness and you can learn about all of the various things. There’s advisory, there are consultation services and there’s skills training. There’s a whole networking program that is so important, the mentorship program that we have. There’s a summer company, and there’s starter tech. Think of all of these things that can be helping your small business.

There’s another important program—again, I don’t believe you should be looking at the small business bill, Bill 215, in isolation. It’s part of a bigger package. Another part of that bigger package is the Digital Main Street Program. This is an opportunity for your business, especially those affected by the pandemic, to go online, to have professionals get your business put online.

No matter if you’re a small business on a main street that is selling games or books or puzzles or soaps—anything that you are selling, even whether you’re making it or not—you can have trained professionals come into your business and guide you to getting your business up and online, so not only can you compete locally; you can compete globally. You can be selling your products worldwide, instead of just down your main street. This is a very important program, the $2,500 Digital Main Street grant.

There’s the ShopHERE program, powered by Google, and that will help you hire skilled students to guide you through this. There’s Future Proof Main Street; as the name suggests, we’re trying to make sure that you’re still there. All of that is done by offering online services. There’s the Recovery Activation Program. Again, all of those four programs are designed to help you digitize so that you don’t just have to open your door and hope a customer comes in on your main street, that you’ve the whole world in front of you. Speaker, those are some of the things that directly affect our small and medium-sized businesses. Those are some of the things that affect the main street.

But again, don’t look at these in isolation; think of the bigger picture: $5 billion in costs to business have been reduced in the first year of our government, and $5.5 billion last year. It will be even larger this year because of some of the great red tape and regulation reductions that are being made. That will reduce it by even further.

Those savings are being put back into the economy by these businesses. We saw that with 168,000 new employees who were hired just in the month of September alone.

And those fundamentals I said earlier, they are still in in place, the fundamentals that saw Ontario have 250,000 unfilled jobs in February. Those fundamentals are in place.

That’s why Ford—one of the country’s most storied companies; it has been here for almost 120 years—chose Ontario. When you talk to them, they tell you about why they are here.

Roche pharmaceutical: a $500-million corporate investment by Roche, with 500 new employees, almost all scientists, all six-figure earners. Why did they come here? The president stood at the microphone on national television and said, “We’re here because Premier Ford and this government reduced the cost of doing business. They have all of the programs in place to excite companies.” There are no incentives there. All of those are just the business fundamentals. He said we absolutely shifted the fundamentals towards a business-friendly environment that allowed a company like Roche to invest $500 million.

It’s those fundamentals that are in place that allowed Greenfield in Johnstown to spend $75 million they invested in a brand new ethanol plant, for it to make hand sanitizer. They will sell the medical-grade alcohol across Ontario, in fact, across Canada, and quite probably across the world.

It’s the business climate that we created. That’s why those companies have made those billions of dollars of investments, just in the last couple of months. They know that all the fundamentals that we’ve put in place are still there.

That’s why, on this main street bill, the main street businesses know that this is the place to be. They know that Ontario is open for business. They know that they have a government standing behind them that is assisting where we can, and where they need. Those hundred consultations that we had with them—they told us what they need. Through this bill, we’re delivering.

And through all of the other things that we’ve done cumulatively, they know that they’re in the right place at the right time to be able to get through this pandemic and lead their company and provide for their families.

Thank you, Speaker, for this opportunity to speak for those 20 minutes.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): It’s now time for questions.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I would like to thank the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade for his remarks. I know that he participated in those 800 hours of input that was provided to the finance committee in the summer, those 500 deputants who came to the committee.

I expect that during that time he heard concerns raised about insurance gouging. Many small businesses who spoke to the committee talked about the skyrocketing insurance rates, that if nothing else related to COVID was putting them out of business, the insurance costs were putting them out of business.

My question to the minister is, why did this government not use this opportunity of a Main Street Recovery Act to do something about skyrocketing insurance premiums?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Part of what I talked about in the last 20 minutes is not to look at the main street bill on its own, but to look at all of the pieces put together, all of the various supports, not only for business, but for their families.

Think about day 1: Just after the pandemic hit, a $10-billion package was put together. Every family with a child 12 and under got a cheque for $300 per child. Every senior citizen had their Guaranteed Annual Income Supplement doubled automatically. Think of all of the funding that was out there to be able to help these businesses. Think of the NORP program, think of this main street recovery plan, think of $1,000. Think of all the other pieces. Think of all the tax deferrals. Cumulatively, there’s a massive package that’s there to support our business community.

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

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: Good morning, and thank you, Minister, for those wonderful remarks.

I know, Mr. Speaker, when the main street recovery plan was first announced, the first municipality in Ontario to call was the city of Markham. The commissioner from the department of economic development called me: “MPP, can we participate? Can you organize and launch with your businesses from your riding?” It was an exciting program.

My question to the minister: You talk passionately about so many things you are trying to do that are best for small businesses and reducing the costs of businesses. Tell me, why are you targeting these sectors and numbers of employees?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: The plan that we’ve put in place draws all across government. It builds on the more than $10 billion in urgent economic relief that was provided through the COVID-19 action plan. Again, the Main Street Recovery Act, when passed, modernizes the rules to help small business. In this particular package, there is the $1,000 program.

We urge your constituents, your small businesses to go in the Ontario Together Fund and look at how they can participate. There was one business just outside of your riding that, in April, had 10 employees; today, they have 310 employees because they got involved in the Ontario Together Fund.

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

Ms. Suze Morrison: The minister has certainly painted a rosy picture of investments that have been made in various sectors, but the reality is that 97% of all COVID-19-related spending has come from the federal government, not from this provincial government.

Instead, the minister and his government, while they promised to support our communities and to support our small businesses, have left everyone hanging without the supports that they need and sat on $9.3 billion of unspent, unallocated money like a dragon hoarding over a pile of treasure, all while the people of Ontario go without the supports that they need.

My question to the minister is, will he commit today in this House to support the NDP plan to save main street businesses, including commercial rent subsidies, utility payment freezes, paid sick days and safe, not-profit child care spots, so that the people of Ontario can get back to work?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you very much to the member from Toronto Centre. Again, we need you to look at everything on a cumulative basis. As I said earlier, we meet constantly with the federal government to determine, making sure there are no gaps, making sure there are no duplications, and we work collectively and collaboratively as to who is best positioned to pay for that program and who is best positioned to implement that program.

Speaker, the fact of the matter is we have seen all of the gaps filled. We jump in and work to fill those gaps. We look at our share, as required by the federal government, whether it’s in the rent relief program or any of the other programs. Yes, there are many national programs that we would fully expect a federal government to pay for, but in our case, we are right down on main street, where the rubber meets the road, supplementing the business community.

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

Ms. Goldie Ghamari: I wanted to thank the minister for his very informative speech this morning. I was really interested when he spoke about how they have invested so much in filming in northern Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, through you, I know that there’s actually a lot of film developments happening in my riding of Carleton as well. A lot of Hallmark films are being filmed there. So I was wondering if the minister could maybe expand a little bit more about how much we’ve invested in filming, not just in northern Ontario but across the province, because we’re definitely feeling the positive benefits of this in my riding of Carleton.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you for the question. It’s fascinating to see the film sector. I recall, when I sat in opposition, my horror one day when the Liberals came out with their budget and were trashing the film tax credits. Myself and two other of our now-cabinet ministers rallied together different parts of Ontario and fought so hard to reverse that. We learned so much about the film sector in that period when the previous Liberal government was about to decimate the sector.

Not only have we put these film tax credits in place, we’ve expanded the types of tax credits. There are now approximately five different styles of tax credits that help modernize it to digital—all of those areas. I would encourage anybody looking to make a film that they really need to consider anywhere in Ontario because of those particularly large tax-credit incentives.

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

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you to the minister for his comments. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women. In Thunder Bay, we have a vibrant women’s entrepreneurial community, many with small businesses. I’ve had calls to the office where they are saying the lack of planning around any kind of child care support or the botched education start-up have made some of these entrepreneurs have to stay home, because our testing results take about eight to 14 days to get, and they’re saying that this has a huge impact on small business. What is this government planning to do about that situation?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you very much, to the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan. We do know and acknowledge your points. We announced earlier funding of $147 million through the one-year Canada-Ontario Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the ELCC, to help license child care providers and EarlyON Child and Family Centres. But we do acknowledge and recognize the significant toll that COVID-19 has had on women right across Canada.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. Unfortunately, I don’t believe there’s enough time for further questions. Therefore, we’re going to go over to further debate.

Further debate?

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: I rise today to speak to G215, the Main Street Recovery Act. What I first want to say is that I’ve heard the government side say this is “part of our plan.” But I don’t know how many times you can plan or have such a flimsy response to what’s going on. We’ve heard from small business across the province and we heard from larger business across the province all summer. I was part of listening to the problems that small businesses are facing, and nothing in this bill addresses that.

I heard the minister also speak about their former plans or things to support business in Ontario. One struck me as especially problematic, and that was they’re heralding the cut to WSIB premiums. I meet weekly with injured workers who are victims of deeming and thrown into poverty because WSIB is saying that they have these phantom jobs that are out there that these folks can have. During the pandemic, that’s even more insulting, because when there were no jobs and we were locked down, there was no recognition for those workers and no recognition by WSIB that those jobs don’t exist. That was problematic.

We heard several things from small businesses across our region. I know the minister is from the north and has heard from many resorts, resort owners and the tourist industry. They were not looking for funds to build Plexiglas shields or those types of things; they were looking for direct help with their mortgages, direct help with their operations, because in many cases they had nothing. They had no business whatsoever. The borders were closed, and they told us that 98% of their business came from the US.

Now, some of them advertised in Ontario and some Ontarian families came up and enjoyed northern Ontario, but they all report that their revenues have been impacted. Many of those businesses were very mom-and-pop kinds of operations that have been in operation for 20 years. We heard those stories. They were desperate for help. They spoke about something that hasn’t been addressed by this government: a relief from the fees and regulatory regime of the government on those small resort owners. That has never been addressed, and it’s not addressed in this bill.

The other small business piece is something that I alluded to in my question: the “she-recovery,” that women were disproportionately affected. We haven’t seen from this government a response about that. There are specific occupations that are female-dominated that have been impacted by this pandemic, and the small businesses owned by women often have been things like hairdressers, who had to close for two or three months and now some of them are looking at closing again. Many of them have a small profit margin, and their workers work on commission. They were devastated.

CERB was there for them for a while, but now that their businesses are open, they are forced to go to work. But then those same small businesses, women-owned businesses, told me some of their workers couldn’t come back to work because there was no child care for them. The child care seats in Thunder Bay alone were cut by 65 because of the pandemic. One of the major child care centres, a Montessori child care centre with 65 spots, had to close. We’re talking about a situation where, in Thunder Bay, we have a huge wait-list—a huge wait-list—for up to two years for child care spots, and so that is a large barrier.

With the announcement of child care funding, I talked to child care owners, child care operators, and they said they were promised money in March from this government in that fund and hadn’t seen it at the end of September. So they had to incur the costs of all of those things, and had no help from this government.

What we want to see is more help. We need to consider that jobs that are impacted by this pandemic often affect women, and because women often bear the brunt of the child care responsibilities, they also are affected by the schools.

And so when we didn’t go to small cohorts and we did get outbreaks in schools, small business owners were saying, “I can’t go to work, because my child had to be tested, I needed to be tested and now I’m waiting for testing for eight to 14 days.” Meanwhile, they can’t go to work, so their employees can’t go to work and they are calling my office and saying, “What is the government going to do about this?”, because they don’t qualify for any kind of wage subsidy. There is no program covering that. Because we don’t have sufficient testing, it causes delays.

Small businesses across my region have said that it is unconscionable that this government is not doing something about that, so that they can continue being in business.

The $1,000 grant that the government has given to small business to retrofit or for PPE is a drop in the bucket. I mean, every drop in the bucket I guess is good, and any small business will tell you that $1,000 is better than nothing, but I know in my office it took over $1,000—and I have two employees—to retrofit my office and provide the PPE to make it a safe environment for them or for any member of the public to come in. So I don’t think that’s sufficient, and I think it’s too late for a lot of people because they’ve already gone out of business.

In northern Ontario, the money that the member said about getting tents together—North Bay is not really northern Ontario, in my estimation, but there is no real recognition that small businesses, like restaurants, in northern Ontario are struggling, and they have no patio option after Thanksgiving. No amount of blankets and heaters and tents are going to be sufficient to have them run their businesses, so they need a different type of help. They need help that is not structural. They need help that is direct funding to keep them alive to maybe ensure that they can look at takeout, and maybe a wage subsidy.

We heard that in the submissions over the summer, that maybe you can assist with just the deficit: “Just give me—I’m losing 40%; I need maybe 20% of that returned to me from the government in some form.” Not a loan, because most of them have enough debt, and we heard that time and again. There is nothing in this bill that addresses this.

So when we call things the Main Street Recovery Act, and people in my community say, “Well, what are with the kinds of pieces of legislation that are coming forward to help small business,” I tell them the things that are coming forward, and it has nothing to do with northern Ontario, or very little. They say, “That’s it? That’s the best they can do? We came there and told you what we needed, and we’re not seeing it in the government.” So that is extremely disturbing to our small business in northern Ontario, and probably in other parts of rural Ontario.

It’s disturbing that this government also is taking credit—I know during the election campaign they were busy dumping on the federal government, but now are very happy to be taking that money from the federal government, which we all need in Ontario. We’re not saying that that isn’t necessary and such an important part of why we are doing probably as well as we are, but we’re heading into the second wave and there is more uncertainty, and we need the provincial government—the provincial government takes care of those everyday types of things.

They take care of our health, they take care of our education, and we need them to recognize that it’s not all sunshine and roses out there, that main street businesses are going under, and we need to support them in an individual sort of fashion. We need to be looking at people’s problems and not just, “Here’s some money,” and, “You can apply for it,” and, “It’s first come, first served.”

We heard from the aviation industry. The aviation industry is a very expensive operation. The aviation industry has received some money from the federal government as well to assist them, but we’re heading into winter, and what a lot of people don’t understand about the small businesses that are aviation companies in northern Ontario—and they’re part of our fabric—is that they are essential. They’re essential to providing health care and services to northern Ontario. They are saying, “In the wintertime we have increased costs.

We have de-icing costs, we have increased costs for fuel, because when it’s colder, it takes—and we have a requirement that we get some kind of subsidy so we can keep running.” Because their passenger traffic has gone way down, and a large part of their profit margin is passenger traffic. The freight traffic is still going for the most part, and that’s what’s keeping them afloat, but the passenger traffic is down and so their revenue is way down, and nothing seems to be in—definitely not in this bill—to help those small businesses, those small aviation businesses in northern Ontario.

COVID-19 has affected each region of this province a bit differently, and I think that that is something that needs to be recognized. We need to recognize that we need an approach that listens to our small businesses and actually comes forward with some of the things that they need, like direct payroll assistance.

The Digital Main Street program is a great initiative. We hear a lot from this government about providing digital services, modernizing our services, and that we’ll have direct access to government records or plans or interfaces with different agencies. That’s all fine and good, but in many of our small towns in northern Ontario, our broadband is non-existent in some places. We don’t see a significant investment from this government in broadband services—not something that we’re going to put off for five years. We need it now. Kids can’t go to school; they’re sitting in parking lots.

Actually, teachers are driving papers 60 kilometres to get some information out to children. They are doing their best, but we don’t have the broadband.

So when we have this investment, it’s like putting the cart—every time the government announces this, it means that we have less in-person services in our communities and we have a digital world that people can’t access. It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to seniors. They say, “I want to talk to someone.” I don’t know if any of you have had the joy of trying to get hold of any kind of government agency during this pandemic.

People are phoning our offices and screaming, small businesses included. Recently, a small business had an issue with the Ministry of Transportation, a ministry that was gutted under this government, in northern Ontario. They could not get service. They were on hold for six hours. Then they were told, after they finally got a hold of someone, “Oh, well, that’s the wrong number; here’s another number,” and then that started again. The person was a small business owner and needed something handled so that they could put two people to work. They couldn’t do it because they couldn’t access government services.

There is nothing digital. He tried everything, he said. He said he spent a week. He said, “I’m a small business. A week of my time is worth money.” He’s a very driven small business owner.

I went over to the government side and asked the associate minister to please help this person, because I feared that this person was at the end of their rope by just their tone. They did assist, and I want to recognize that, that there was assistance. But that’s not it. The thing is that we don’t have a system in place. When we talk about a digitalized system, and people can’t access that system, it doesn’t help us. It doesn’t help small business.

Some of this bill has no relevance to northern Ontario—it has relevance to southern Ontario—and so I find it a bit difficult to speak to the bill. But I will speak to more assistance for small businesses because I think that main street recovery is so important. It’s disheartening when you go—and what I have been doing is going to every small business in my riding and visiting, or virtually visiting. The minister’s suggestion that we talk to entrepreneurial centres and to small business initiative centres: We’ve reached out. I’ve reached out to those folks and have had ongoing conversations.

I really want to do a shout-out to the small business community. They are so resilient, because they face challenges every day. Many of them have profit margins that are very small, and many of them do their work from a passion.

I spoke to a small business owner, a brave soul opening a new business during the pandemic. They had been working on it, obviously, for a year, him and his wife. They’re new Canadians, and they are bringing their spices and food to Thunder Bay, because we have an increased international student community and professionals coming in. So I went into this lovely shop, and they had everything lined up on the shelves so neatly and were so proud of this initiative.

My heart broke for them a bit, because I said, “How do you think you’re going to do?” He says, “We’ve put in a large investment.” And I said, “Well, let’s keep in touch, and if there are any kinds of programs or services”—but it’s him and his wife who run this small business.

And there are others on this main street. Others are doing quite well. They’re actually holding their own, and I’m really happy for them, because that makes me less depressed about this situation, because they’re on a main street and they’ve been there for 20 years selling hockey jerseys or hockey trophies. There’s one business—the computer repair people are doing really well, because everybody’s breaking their computers and people are trying to refurbish equipment. But I think that we need to do more. We need to be mindful and we need to ensure that those businesses are there in six months’ time.

We have some great family businesses, and I am very fearful that we are going to lose them through this pandemic. They need direct support. They need help with their mortgages. They need help with rent. They need assurances that they’re not going to be evicted. They need us to recognize that they are the job creators in our province, and I’ve heard that from the other side, but now is a crisis. They need very, very specific assistance, and it’s not contained in this bill.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): It’s time for questions.

Mr. Lorne Coe: I’ll just get my mask off, here. Speaker, you will know that what we are discussing this morning, the Main Street Recovery Act and the associated strategies complementary to it—the Ontario Small Business Success Strategy—have a number of elements, and those elements have been informed by a robust consultation process all across the province, including northern Ontario.

I listened with interest to the presentation from the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan. Turning back to the elements of the two strategies I discussed, the focus is on lowering costs, increasing exports, strengthening supply chains. I would have thought that those particular elements would be of interest, and we could have the support of the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan. Can we hear this morning from that member whether she supports lowering costs, increasing exports, developing talent—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. Back to the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan for her response.

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you to the whip. I always enjoy listening to his comments.

The answer to that, obviously, is we’re looking at a crisis, and this bill is to deal with that crisis. Generally, we can agree, but we need to ensure, similar to the assistance with WSIB that I mentioned in my comments, that no one is thrown into poverty with those initiatives, no citizen of Ontario.

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

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I really want to thank the member for Thunder Bay–Atikokan for her comments on the she-covery and the need for measures that will support women re-entering the labour market and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

I wondered if she could elaborate a little bit more about what kinds of supports would directly assist women, and whether this government has made any effort to address the reality of the she-cession and the need for measures to support a she-covery.

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you to my colleague for the question. This is an area near and dear to my heart, because I used to work in women in trades and technology. I was an advisory person on a committee for our local college. I believe that there are many barriers to women to participating fully in the economy, and I’ve heard the other side speak to that, but we need supports that are concrete—supports like affordable child care. We need specific training for women and promotion for women in trades and technology, not just a statement that we believe in it. We need to ensure that they are able to engage in those jobs that will be there during and post this pandemic.

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

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I talk to Ms. McKenna in my riding quite often. She’s president of our downtown BIA. For her, in terms of empowering local small businesses, be they run by a male or a female or someone from the LGBTQ community, they’re all in this together. All these supports, from what she’s telling me from canvassing her various businesses—and some of them are allies—it’s either the red tape that they have to overcome or it’s bringing those downtown businesses back to digital. We saw that the curbside pickup, yes, helped them with cash flow a little bit, but it’s retooling their business model—going to the bricks and mortars and putting them online—that was very helpful.

So my question to the member opposite: Do you think that Digital Main Street actually helps all businesses, no matter their background, succeed and have a business model that allows them to do not only the bricks and mortar but also online sales?

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you for that question. Making a business online obviously was part of the strategy going forward. People needed to move their business that was a front-line store to online. Many of them did that very successfully or already had that in place but just put more resources in it. And so, I have to agree with you that that is part of a strategy, moving forward, because it was necessary. I look forward to seeing what the concrete plans are to assist businesses with doing that.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Good morning, Speaker. Meegwetch to the member from Thunder Bay for the comments on Bill 215, Main Street Recovery Act.

Being from the Far North of Ontario and representing an area that has a way where we try to do business over very long distances, I’m wondering if there’s—I’ve got a question about racialized people, Indigenous people, lower-income communities in our area: What’s the response been for this plan? Does it address our communities in the Far North?

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you to the member from Kiiwetinoong for that question. I know he knows that I’ve had experience with Far North communities and the challenges they face, having represented the police officers who work up north in NAN territory. The challenges that they face are so different, and there is nothing in this bill that assists them, because they can’t access Internet. Often, it’s satellite or non-existent. Also, the types of small business, like trapping, those kinds of things, have been impacted by this pandemic but are unable to access any real assistance.

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

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: Thank you to the opposite member from Thunder Bay. I know Ontario’s small businesses are struggling the most with their cash flow generally and thus are least able to handle increased costs due to the pandemic. I mentioned before, in my riding, it’s not hundreds—I find out during this pandemic—but thousands of small businesses in my riding alone, Markham–Thornhill. I spoke about the main street recovery plan.

My question to the member: Don’t you agree with and recognize all the small things that we are trying to do to help stimulate the small businesses, not to try—to survive in the marketplace and in Ontario, and other things we are doing? Don’t you recognize all these small, small things are going to help the small businesses and your small business owners? Could you elaborate on that, please?

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: Thank you for that a question. It is very important to understand that, yes, as you have in your riding, many small businesses are looking for assistance. I would question if you brought them this piece of legislation, that they would say that it was sufficient for their most pressing need right now. That’s what we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with this crisis. We’re here. We’re very privileged to be here in this great place, trying to address the crisis that’s happening right now.

This sort of piecemeal approach is interesting. We’d like to see more concrete rent relief. We’d like to see assurances that they won’t be evicted and that we can work towards assisting them in paying their rent so that people are protected. We’d like to see a more robust response for small business rather than this piecemeal approach.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): There isn’t enough time for further questions and responses; therefore, further debate?

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Good morning, Speaker. I rise to speak on Bill 215, the Main Street Recovery Act. When this bill was first introduced and I heard the title, I got pretty excited. I thought, “Finally we’re going to have a rent relief program that works for small businesses. Maybe we’re going to see a program that helps small businesses with the increased costs and challenges they are facing, or maybe to address insurance issues.” Then I opened the bill and I started reading through it, and while there is nothing maybe highly objectionable in the bill, all the things that small businesses have been asking for to save main street, I didn’t see in the bill.

It made me think: We’ve been meeting all summer at the finance committee, hearing from thousands and thousands of small businesses, telling us what they need to stay alive during this pandemic. I thought maybe some of that would be reflected in the bill, but I was really disappointed. It really wasn’t in the bill.

I want to talk about a few things I feel government needs to do. The first one is that the commercial evictions ban expires on Friday. I can’t tell you how many small businesses are reaching out to us right now saying they are worried they’re going to be evicted starting on Saturday. Talk about a scary Halloween for small businesses, to receive that eviction notice on October 31.

We know the federal government is finally coming forward with a rent relief program that tenants can apply for. That’s something we have all been advocating for. But do you know what? Until that program is in place, we need to extend the commercial eviction ban, and I’m willing to work with the government and every party in this House to do it before Friday. We have, what, today and tomorrow to get ’er done, Speaker. Let’s do it.

Secondly, I thought there would be some details about a program to support small businesses in hot spots, who have been forced to go back to a modified stage 2, in this bill. I know the government has allocated, or they said they’ve allocated, $300 million for it. We don’t know what the details are. Small businesses don’t even know how to apply for it. I thought maybe in this bill there would be something there for those small businesses. Quebec is offering grants of $15,000 to businesses that have had to shut down again. Let’s see that in a bill.

The next one is insurance. I can’t tell you how many small businesses have said, “Hey, can we have the government come in?” I know that the province doesn’t regulate commercial insurance, but can we at least bring in some temporary regulations to make sure that business interruption insurance is honoured to ensure that small businesses can apply for insurance?

Finally, I want to say I was hoping we would see a program targeted to women-owned businesses, Black-owned businesses, and Indigenous- and people-of-colour-owned businesses that have been especially hard hit by this pandemic and need direct support right now.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Time for questions.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member for your comments today. I’ve been involved with the small business association in Port Credit and the Clarkson BIA as well through this pandemic, and it has been difficult for them; I understand that. But our government, with the federal government, is investing $900 million in urgent relief. That’s for landlords and tenants. As well, we’ve put in a corporate tax rate of 8.7% reduction. What do you think of that tax relief that we’re doing for businesses?

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I appreciate the question. First of all, on the rent relief program, this rent program has pretty much been a disaster from day one. So many small businesses have not been able to apply for it. Finally—finally—the province and the federal government are changing the program to make it tenant-driven, but that program is not in place yet, and so that’s exactly why I’m asking the members opposite to work with us to extend the commercial eviction ban until the new program can be put in place.

In terms of taxes, I know the government has put in a lot of tax deferrals, but those tax deferrals have come to an end, and small businesses are saying, “We can’t pay the bill yet.” We need to extend those deferrals, and in some cases, convert those deferrals to just outright tax forgiveness to keep them alive.

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

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I’d like to thank the member for Guelph for his comments. He had a very interesting observation about what he heard during the hearings of the finance committee over the summer, what he heard from small businesses about the kinds of supports that they needed from this government to help them survive the pandemic and remain in operation as we move forward through the recovery, and what is missing from this government’s response.

I wondered if he would care to elaborate a little bit more about what other ideas, suggestions, recommendations were brought forward by small and medium-sized businesses about the kinds of supports that really would have been meaningful for them to recover from COVID-19.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I appreciate the member’s question. I should have brought the report in. It’s a pretty heavy report—a lot of recommendations. I can’t go through all of them in the few minutes I have.

First of all, rent relief was the number one ask, over and over again, and at the very least, let’s extend the commercial eviction ban until the end of year. Businesses said, “We just need some time.”

The second ask was PPE support. I recognize the government has offered $1,000 to businesses with nine or fewer employees. I can tell you, as a long-time small business owner, I think we had 12 or 15 employees. A small business like that wouldn’t even qualify, and I can guarantee that’s a small business. And I think most small businesses will tell you $1,000 isn’t going to be enough to meet the needs they have.

The third one that came up over and over again is insurance. Even if it’s temporary regulations of insurance to help small businesses get through this pandemic, especially when it comes to business interruption insurance, insurance companies should honour their obligations to small businesses.

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

Ms. Goldie Ghamari: I wanted to thank the member from Guelph for his debate today. It was very informative. My question for the member is, you spoke a lot about, I guess, your concerns with some of the things in the legislation, but I’m sure that you heard from your constituents about a lot of the positive things as well that we’re doing here.

I was wondering if maybe you had any stories to share about some of the positive things that your constituents have said about what our government is doing to protect them during this pandemic.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I appreciate the member’s question, but I think if the member was listening intently to my comments, the member would know that I actually wasn’t that critical of the actual content of the bill. What I was critical of is what’s not in the bill, because when I heard “main street recovery,” I thought, “A rent program that works.

An extension of the commercial eviction ban.” I thought, “Let’s finally just stop talking tough on insurance companies and actually deliver some real action.” I thought maybe there would be some details about this $300 million that businesses are waiting for, for the government to send them a lifeline. Those are what I want to hear in the bill, Speaker.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): We’ve run out of time for questions and responses. Therefore, we’re now back to further debate.

Miss Monique Taylor: It’s always a pleasure to have the ability to rise here in the House on behalf of the people of Hamilton Mountain and to be able to talk about small businesses and the legislation that’s been put forward by this government in comparison to the legislation that we would have put forward as New Democrats.

We’ve heard very clearly, in 900 hours of submissions to the finance committee, from small businesses about the need in their business, in their community. We’ve heard from the Canadian national business institutions. We’ve heard from all sorts of business communities within the province. We’ve heard from businesses across Canada about the need that they need, and we heard regionally from businesses in different parts of Ontario and how the need differs compared to where you are. We have heard very clearly from the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan this morning the differences of the needs in her community compared to the differences in the need in my community in southern Ontario.

What we have found is that the government’s measures that they have put forward are not meeting those needs. We’re seeing businesses close day after day. We know that the eviction program is ending at the end of this month, and that will put many small businesses in jeopardy. If the government had seen to ensuring that rent deferrals and rent subsidies went directly to the business owner, I think we could have seen a different story than what we’re seeing today. By putting that program in the hands of landlords, we allowed them to decide whether businesses were going to decide or not.

These are small businesses that have put their lives into these businesses. They have put their hearts, their souls, given up their family time to put all of that effort into a small business. Nobody expected COVID to come upon us, so many were not prepared to be able to wait out months of closed doors or to have to supply PPE or to have to create new measures within their business to ensure that staff was safe. And so the measures that have come before them are just not near enough.

Now, we will be supporting this bill because the measures are necessary, but we know that—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Excuse me. I have to interrupt you. I have a very important announcement to make right now.

Pursuant to standing order 50(c), I am now required to interrupt the proceedings and announce that there have been six and a half hours of debate on the motion for second reading of this bill.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Looking at the time, it is now time for members’ statements. Therefore, I will look to the Legislature and recognize the member for Timmins.

Members’ Statements

Addiction services

Mr. Gilles Bisson: There’s still time on the clock to ask the government if they want to continue debate, but that’s for another day.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to report to the House, the city of Timmins, like municipalities across Ontario and the rest of Canada, is struggling with an opioid crisis. We have far too many of our citizens, young people and old alike, who are dying as a result of the use of opioids. In one week alone, we had four people in the city of Timmins die. We’re only a municipality of 44,000. Imagine what that means in relation to other cities of larger size.

I want you to know that there is hope, though.

All of the agencies in the city of Timmins, under the leadership of the city of Timmins, with the support of myself and our federal member, Charlie Angus, have brought together all of the service providers that are in the addiction field and the medical field and have started to put together how we can better coordinate and wrap services around individuals, so those individuals who are in crisis, be it at their home or on the street, are able to be properly dealt with when it comes to providing the support they need, first of all to deal with their medical condition, which is what’s going on with the opioids, and then to support them towards the path of recovery.

I know it’s a lot of tough work—we’ve had a number of meetings—but I want this House to know and I want the people of Timmins to know that people are working at this. We have an assurance by the minister that he will allow us to design our own local system so that it is a made-in-Timmins solution for the people of Timmins. I think that’s a good way to go.

Anti-Semitism

Mr. Roman Baber: Ontario is home to almost 230,000 people of the Jewish faith, and while we’re blessed to live in the most welcoming and racially diverse country in the world, we know that anti-Semitism is on the rise.

The fact is, the Jewish community remains the most targeted community for hate crimes by almost any measure. In the last few years, we have witnessed an alarming increase in the number and viciousness of the evil that is anti-Semitism.

Make no mistake, this is not an academic debate. I often say that anti-Semitism is not limited to Twitter or graffiti; it grows through apathy. It grows through a chill in governments—but friends, not this government.

The time for talk is over. The only way to keep this evil in check is to call it out and fight against it. So I’m so very proud that this week, our government took decisive action. On Monday, October 26, 2020, our government adopted the working definition of anti-Semitism as adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the IHRA plenary, on May 26, 2016. Our government drew a line in the sand. We took a big step against anti-Semitism by calling it what it is. We defined it. We made it explicit so no one can miss it. Why? Because we refuse to accept it.

On behalf of Ontario’s Jewish community, I thank you, colleagues, for standing up for me, for standing up for our friends and constituents, for standing up for everyday Canadians—for standing up for all of us. Thank you.

Long-term care

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Today, we begin debate on the Time to Care Act. This is a bill that we put forward to ensure our loved ones receive a legislated minimum of four hours of hands-on care in long-term care. This is an important bill that will ensure that our seniors get the dignity they deserve, and it also respects the workers who care for them.

I’ve spoken with hundreds of families across Hamilton, Ancaster and Dundas, and many of them have been beside themselves with worry and with grief. To those of you who lost loved ones, I know that it seems like your grief has no place to go. I know that because of COVID restrictions you were unable to host proper funerals, and many of you have expressed rage at being shut out of an inquiry that would have given you a chance to tell the story of your loved ones. I want to say to you, your pain matters; your loved ones matter.

To Laura, who says this about her aunt Kathy: “She was fierce, clever and practical. She died proud of what her son, Innis Ingram, did to protect her”; to Leslie—thank you for our wonderful conversation. Leslie shared that she lost her father recently, and because of COVID restrictions, her mother is alone for the first time in 77 years; to Susan—your fierce advocacy for your brother is remarkable; and to Margaret Wylie—you struggled valiantly to get your husband out of care, only to lose him—I am so sorry.

I, too, lost my father during this time. I know that our loved ones matter. They did, and they still do. We will continue to stand up for our seniors because it is way, way past time to act and it is way, way past time to care.

Social services

Mr. Lorne Coe: More good news for the region of Durham: The government is providing the region with $3.634 million as part of phase 2 of the Social Services Relief Fund. This funding will help the region of Durham’s most vulnerable by helping them to isolate and recover from COVID-19.

Speaker, the region of Durham, including the town of Whitby, has been facing significant challenges. This extraordinary investment is critically important, as it will help protect our most vulnerable from COVID-19, including those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Speaker, the provincial funding is part of the government’s $510-million investment to help protect the health and safety of the province’s most vulnerable people. The funding will be delivered through the Social Services Relief Fund and go towards protecting and supporting homeless shelter staff and residents, creating or renovating over 1,500 housing units, expanding rent support programs and creating longer-term housing solutions throughout the region of Durham.

Again, Speaker, it’s good news for the 700,000 residents in the region of Durham.

Long-term care

Mr. Michael Mantha: I would like to share the powerful words of Arla Luepkes and her experience about her mother who is in a long-term-care facility in Sault Ste. Marie. She says, “The workers are overworked, They cannot give enough one-on-one time to residents. They are struggling to get everyone dressed, bathed and fed ... let alone any fun time or stimulating time with the residents.

“I lost my mum during the last six months in her isolation. She no longer recognizes me or recognizes the way I make her feel.

“Long-term care needs more staff, staff to provide care such as PSWs and staff to provide activities.... Until you have experienced a loved one living in a long-term-care home, you have no idea how broken the system is. I am not criticizing the existing staff; they are wonderful and they are doing what they can, but there is just not enough of them.

“We need a standard of care and quality of homes to be set, and audits to be done, to ensure each and every one of them are meeting the standards. And if they are not, there needs to be repercussions.

“Make all the homes government-run, no outsourcing or leasing from private companies. These should be run as not-for profit. We need to protect our most vulnerable citizens and give them the dignity and enjoyment for what time they have left....”

This is the experience of her mom, Judy. Let’s show Arla and her mom, Judy, that we in the Legislature have the courage, and let’s pass Time to Care today.

Non-profit organizations

Mr. Stephen Crawford: As always, I’m honoured to rise here today to discuss the contributions of some organizations that have been helping individuals within my community of Oakville and the significant milestones that they have achieved.

A few weeks ago, I attended the 85th anniversary of Goodwill, the Amity Group. For many decades, the Oakville location has provided employment services, skill development and training for job seekers. Last year alone, they placed 853 people in employment, supported a further 3,000 in their independent job searches and kept 3.1 million pounds of goods out of landfills through their retail and recycling operations.

I would also like to highlight another outstanding organization in my riding, which is Oakville Meals on Wheels. For over 40 years, Oakville’s Meals on Wheels has been delivering food to seniors, making around 2,100 meal deliveries per month. Their service has only grown, unfortunately, as a result of the pandemic. On October 13, through their dedicated work, they have hit an incredible milestone, which was delivering their one-millionth meal. I was moved when I discussed this service with Steve Kelly, a local businessman, who also sits on the board and makes deliveries to clients.

I want to congratulate both of these organizations for their amazing accomplishments. Goodwill and Meals on Wheels have exemplified the Ontario spirit by continuing to support the residents of Oakville. As we endure these unprecedented times, it is vital to come together as a community to support those in need.

Long-term care

Mr. Chris Glover: I’m rising today to ask the government to not only vote for the Time to Care Act, but actually to enact it, to make sure that all seniors in Ontario get four hours of hands-on care in long-term-care homes.

The care of seniors in long-term-care homes has been a provincial disgrace for decades. In 2003, the former Conservative government eliminated the mandatory 2.25 hours of care, and they used public dollars to build private, for-profit long-term-care homes. After that, Mike Harris, the former Premier, made himself the chair of Chartwell, which is one of the largest private, for-profit long-term-care home corporations. His value is now estimated at $7 million. That’s what he has in long-term care.

The Liberals did no better. In 2014 and 2016, urged by the nurses’ association, the Auditor General and the coroner, they supported—they voted for—a mandatory four hours of care per day, but they never enacted it, which just shows the way that the Liberals worked. They will make these gestures, but they won’t actually do what’s necessary to take care of our seniors.

Today, the Conservative government has an opportunity not just to vote for the Time to Care Act, but actually to make sure that every senior in long-term care in Ontario gets four hours of hands-on care per day.

Remembrance Day

Mr. Randy Hillier: Speaker, we are just a few weeks away from our Remembrance Day commemorations, where we honour the valour, the courage and the sacrifice of those who understood that life without freedom is no life at all, so much so that they travelled from the safety of our country to risk their lives to restore the rights and freedoms of the oppressed overseas. As JFK famously said, what is the point of surviving if our freedoms do not survive with us?

Yet this Remembrance Day, we find our freedoms to gather offend the law, our freedoms to travel are limited, our freedom to dissent stifled and our freedom to be with loved ones unlawful. This Remembrance Day, during that moment of silence or when the Last Post is being played, we must ask ourselves, what have we become?

Accountable, responsible, representative government is what they fought for—government that trusts the good judgment of its citizens and does the utmost to properly inform them of the risks. We owe those who served, who risked it all and paid the ultimate price, much better than this. We must do better, to honour them; we must be like them.

Beatrice Moreira-Laidlow

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I rise this morning with a heavy heart to remember and pay tribute to my friend who passed away earlier this month after a courageous fight against a very aggressive form of cancer. Beatrice Moreira-Laidlow, our Queen Bea, was a dedicated community leader and a true champion for Port Credit. She worked for the Port Credit BIA, most recently as the acting general manager for the past two decades, and she had a major role in almost everything that we hosted, like the Southside Shuffle and the Mississauga Waterfront Festival.

A week before she passed, I was honoured to join the BIA staff and other local members and business owners for a ribbon-cutting ceremony as we renamed the landing of the Port Credit Lighthouse the Queen Bea Lookout. This was a fitting tribute for Beatrice, who had dedicated so much time and so many volunteer hours to better our community, our province, our country. In this, she was an inspiration to me and to so many in Mississauga–Lakeshore. Our lakefront village will never be the same without her voice or community spirit and the incredible energy that she brought wherever she went.

On behalf of all the members, I want to extend my sincere condolences to her family and to the Port Credit BIA. Farewell, my friend. Rest in peace.

International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

Mrs. Gila Martow: I’m very, very excited that Ontario was the first province in Canada to adopt IHRA. It’s the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. It was passed by order in council and signed by the Lieutenant Governor just this week.

IHRA provides a framework that can help guide our government institutions interested in understanding contemporary forms of anti-Semitism such as Holocaust denial. Unfortunately, today’s anti-Semites deny Israel’s right to exist. They, of course, subject Jewish people to demonization, double standards and delegitimization.

So of course this news is welcomed by so many organizations. I’m going to list a few: CIJA, B’nai Brith Canada, Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal, JSpaceCanada, StandWithUs, Hasbara Fellowships, Thornhill residents, all communities, all political stripes, all religions. It’s a product of decades of research, study and deliberation by many experts, and it was adopted by consensus by the governments of more than 30 countries, including the US and the European Union.

I just want to say that Gloria Gaynor had a song, “I Will Survive.” “The nation of Israel lives” is how the Jewish people say it: “Am Yisroel Chai.” The colours of the Israeli flag are blue and white. There must be something subconscious about me. Whenever I talk about Israel and the Jewish community and religious holidays, I end up wearing blue and white.

Congrats to everybody, and thank you for all your support.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question is to the Premier. As the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated families and businesses, Ontarians have by and large done their best to follow the rules set out by health experts. The Premier has been harsh with most people who ignore the rules. In fact, he said, they’re two “fries short of a Happy Meal.”

He has just fined a music teacher for failing to wear a mask, but the Premier has nothing but excuses for the assistant to his Minister of Education. So my question is, why does the Premier think Conservative MPPs can ignore the rules during this pandemic?

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

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I thank the member opposite for the question. The health and safety of every worker in this province is our government’s top priority. My ministry has been inspecting workplaces every single day during this pandemic. In fact, we’ve now done 25,000 investigations related to COVID-19.

Regarding the situation and the example that the Leader of the Opposition mentioned, I want to reiterate that our ministry met with every school board across the province, communicating the health and safety guidelines. We met with local health and safety committees, including worker representatives, at the local level.

Mr. Speaker, our health and safety inspectors visited St. Charles Catholic School on October 23, and I can confirm that a worker was charged with failing to comply with

section 28(1)(

b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. I’ll have more details in the supplemental.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, with all due respect, this isn’t about the teacher being fined; this is about one of the members of the Conservative caucus being given a blessing to break the rules and not having any consequences whatsoever. It’s a double standard, and people need to know why the Premier is protecting his member instead of being fair in terms of the way that this pandemic is being dealt with. It’s just the latest example of the Premier’s confused and chaotic response to COVID-19’s second wave. Working people break the rules and get steep fines, which is okay, but when Conservative MPPs break the rules, the Premier defends their actions.

The Premier claims shutdowns will be based on science and the best health advice, but he ignores that advice and even encourages his own MPPs to challenge that advice. We are in the midst of a deadly second wave of COVID-19. Why does the Premier seem to be making his responses up as he goes along?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: All of us have a role to play in preventing the spread of COVID-19. That’s why we’ve spared no expense to protect the health and safety of every worker across the province. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I joined the Premier just three weeks ago to announce that we’re hiring 100 more inspectors. It will be the highest number of inspectors that the province of Ontario has ever had.

We expect every employer and every worker to follow the rules that are in place. That’s why we clearly laid out in our 200 guidelines, which are available at ontario.ca, that workers, if they have COVID-19, have to let their employer know. They have to let public health know. Every workplace is to have a pre-screening measure in place. Every employee has to pre-screen before going into work every day.

Mr. Speaker, I’m proud of our inspectors; 25,000 investigations have been taking place during COVID-19 to protect the health and safety of everyone in Ontario.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Families are looking for leadership in the midst of this pandemic. Ontario is facing now record high cases. Hospitals are already operating above capacity and hundreds of millions of dollars in deficit. Classes are overcrowded. Long-term-care homes are understaffed. The Premier has not only failed to prepare for the second wave but seems to change the rules of the pandemic response day by day, depending on who’s lobbying him and when.

What is the Premier going to do to bring confidence back—or bring confidence, period—in the government’s response to the second wave of this pandemic?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: What we’re going to do is to continue protecting the health and safety and the health and well-being of everyone in this province. Like I’ve said, we’ve been doing it every single day at the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. We’ve been out on job sites, in workplaces ensuring that health and safety practices are followed.

Everyone in this province knows, every employer, that they have legal responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. We expect those laws to be followed and we expect employees to also follow those rules.

As I said, our health and safety inspectors visited this local school in question that the member opposite raised. We have issued a fine to that worker. It is before the courts. But we have clear guidelines in place. We want every worker to pre-screen before going into their workplace every day, and if they have COVID-19, they have to let public health know and let their employer know.

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also to the Premier. But I do have to say that it’s quite interesting that working people are being held to task and being fined when they do the wrong thing, but that the MPP for Niagara West gets nothing. In fact, the Premier says, “He’s doing a great job, I stand behind him,” even though he was in an indoor space with more people than should have been, none of them wearing masks. So what is it? Do as we say but not as we do? This is what confuses people about the way that this government is handling this pandemic.

The government’s failed response to the second wave has meant actually life and death consequences, in long-term care particularly. A few weeks ago, the minister of that ministry said that the COVID-19 impact was similar to that of the flu, which is just wild. But since then, the number of residents with active cases in long-term care—in the last 24 hours, 11 dead; today, another five. The province has not seen 11 deaths in a 24-hour period since June.

After the horrors of the first wave, what the heck is going on? Why is the government—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. The Minister of Long-Term Care to respond.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. I wish to reiterate my position that our vulnerable people in long-term care have experienced tragedy in the past, and they are vulnerable. Our government is committed to high-quality care in long-term care, to the safety of residents and staff and caregivers. This is something that our government has demonstrated our commitment to from the very beginning.

Our ministry is a stand-alone ministry to shine the light and make sure that we address the issues that have been long-standing and neglected by the previous government, often times supported by the opposition, including the member opposite. This is something that we are taking active measures on, and I want to reiterate that COVID-19 is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before in the world and the impacts have been devastating. I want to be clear about that.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: History is repeating itself as we speak; history is repeating itself in long-term care. After the Canadian Forces exposed the horrors inside Ontario’s long-term-care homes during the first wave, the Premier promised change. That’s what he promised. And just like the promise of an iron ring back in the spring, that promise has meant nothing. It’s meant nothing. The Premier simply has decided not to act.

Now we learn that the Armed Forces were at the ready for an entire month. For an entire month they were waiting to get the call from the Premier to protect our seniors in long-term care. So the question to the Premier is, how many people actually lost their lives? How many people died in long-term care while the Premier waited a month before calling in the Armed Forces that were at the ready to help us out?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you again to the member opposite for the question. Our government is a compassionate government. Our government understands the needs in long-term care, which is exactly why it has focused its efforts and made long-term care a priority.

COVID-19 was ravaging the world in the first wave. Our long-term-care homes are faring substantially better with all the actions we’ve taken, including actions to address the IPAC, the staffing, the measures we put in place to address caregivers.

I want to thank the Canadian Armed Forces for coming in in our time of need. I have a quote from the brigadier-general, who told the commission that he believes the military arrived at the right time to make a difference. He says, “We didn’t come too early and weren’t applied in incorrect locations, and we didn’t come too late to actually not be of any value to be able to stabilize those homes.... We are quite honestly very proud to have been called to help Ontario and Ontarians in their time of need.”

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I can guarantee the government, the minister and the Premier that those people who can’t get a day in court, who can’t get accountability, who can’t get any kind of justice for their loved ones, do not see this government as a compassionate government. They do not.

The Premier’s failure to plan for the second wave of COVID-19 has put seniors in long-term care in danger once again—shamefully. We’re seeing that across the province today, with outbreaks in 88 homes. Let me just see if that’s increased again today—actually, 87 homes today.

But the Premier’s promise around the iron ring in long-term care—the people to whom he promised that that protection would be in place didn’t get it. Instead, who he’s protecting is the for-profit companies and his own government. If this government was sincere at all, remotely sincere about change, the minister responsible for the tragedy would have resigned by now; the Premier would have moved heaven and earth to shore up long-term care and get them the staff and resources they needed.

The question to the Premier is, why hasn’t he done any of those things?

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

Hon. Doug Downey: I’m pleased to rise to talk about where we are focused. We are focused on the people of Ontario, the people who are struggling through very tough times through COVID, whether it be small businesses or individuals, whether it’s people who are contributing to their community, people who want to contribute to their community but are not feeling comfortable and safe and secure. We’re doing so many things to try and provide a level of comfort so that they will engage in the community and help Ontario recover and come back forward as Ontario recovers together, instead of taking individual speculative pot shots.

I think we should ask the opposition to come join us to help support the people who are supporting the rest of us in Ontario. We only have one direction to go, Mr. Speaker, and we have to move together.

Long-term care

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: My question is to the Premier. Today, my Time to Care Act will be debated in this House and voted on tomorrow. This is now the fourth time the New Democrats have tabled this bill that calls for a minimum standard of four hours of direct, hands-on care. It is a practical, effective and immediate solution that would vastly improve the lives of those who work and live in long-term care, and it has been endorsed by all major unions, prominent long-term-care academics, advocacy groups and families. It has also been called for by the government’s own staffing report and long-term-care commission.

This government, the minister has said, is a compassionate government. Will the government dig deep, find their compassion, and will the Premier fast-track the bill and make a minimum standard of care law today?

Interjections.

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

To reply, the Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member, not only for the question but for the work she has done on this. As has been mentioned, for many years, previous efforts by the governing parties before did not result in any tangible difference, and I think that that really speaks to the neglect of the previous government on this.

The Time to Care Act aligns with the lessons we’ve learned from the experts, the data that we have. We understand the importance of what you’ve described, and I just want to say that proper staffing is absolutely critical to our ability to care for our loved ones, our residents, our most vulnerable people in long-term care, and that is something we’ve been actively working on to make sure we take the advisory panel’s recommendations to heart. It is important that we continue to work across ministries, whether it’s with the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Labour and others.

I will be voting in favour of this bill.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Yesterday, when asked if she would support the Time to Care bill, the Minister of Long-Term Care said she would vote to support in favour, and now she’s saying she’ll vote to support in favour, but I also want to make sure that she votes and pushes her colleagues and the Premier to expedite this bill through the committee process and back into this Legislature for third reading to make it law.

As you know, in committee when we asked that question, of course—I’ll read what the minister had said, as she said today: “You have to understand that in order to provide four hours of care per resident, you need the staff to provide that.” If this government is truly compassionate and serious enough about this issue, implementing this bill, funding needs to be attached.

Will the Premier commit to significant investments in the upcoming budget to hire more staff with full-time hours, a livable wage and benefits, and pass my Time to Care bill to make quality of care happen for all our vulnerable seniors in long-term care?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Once again, thank you for your interest in this area and for the question. We’ve been very clear and, as I said yesterday publicly, I will be supporting this bill. I repeated that again today.

But I’d like to outline the dollars that have already been spent in this. Clearly, we need to understand what has been spent and how we move forward. A $540-million investment just a couple of weeks ago to protect seniors living in long-term care—specifically, $405 million to help homes with operating pressures, including staffing supports. We’re providing another $461 million to give PSWs a $3-an-hour wage increase, another $14 million to the PSW training fund to continue training more PSWs and more staff, which is so badly needed to address increased levels of care, and an additional $10.3 million for a new personal support worker return-of-service program.

We have the responsibility, as the Premier has said, to protect our most vulnerable while ensuring that they continue to have access to the best medical staff and their caregivers, and we will continue to do this.

School facilities

Mr. Roman Baber: My question is to the Minister of Education. After the Liberals’ disastrous record of 600 school closures and an enormous repair backlog, Ontarians expect better from their government. This government, led by Premier Ford, is committed to doing all we can to support students and staff, investing in our students and in learning environments. Last week, I was pleased to see the Premier and Minister of Education announce our government’s historic investment in new schools, additions and child care spaces across the province.

Can the Minister of Education please tell the House why these investments are so important in reversing the disastrous Liberal legacy of cuts and closures and how this funding will help our students?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I want to thank the member from York Centre for his advocacy for public education in the province. Indeed, the Premier announced another investment in the midst of this pandemic. We’ve been dealing with the great consequences of COVID since, really, mid-March, and, since then, we have announced nearly a billion dollars in new investment to flow to rebuild schools, to renovate schools and to expand child care for working parents. In fact, this is part of our broader $12-billion plan over the decade to enhance, improve and modernize public education and public schools in the province.

Last week, the Premier announced that 20 new schools will be funded, that eight major, permanent renovations would be funded, representing nearly 16,000 net new spaces for learning within our schools, as well as an additional 870 licensed child care spaces—affordable child care for working parents.

We know there is much more to do to improve the state of our schools following a decade of closures under the former Liberal government, but this Premier, and this government, is committed to improving our schools, modernizing our learning spaces and ensuring parents get the very best from their government.

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

Mr. Roman Baber: Thank you, Minister, for that response. These are great initiatives our government is taking, and I know that parents who reside in my riding take supporting the next generations very seriously.

Can the minister please assure the Legislature that the government will not stop supporting our students with the important repairs and new school buildings as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Obviously, the Premier and the government are fully committed to making sure our schools are modern, they’re accessible and they’re technologically connected. That’s why, Speaker, we have ensured that funding is flowing. Twice now in this pandemic, we have announced capital rounds to rebuild and renovate schools and expand child care.

What we are committed to doing is ensuring that the learning spaces that house our children meet the standards of parents in this province—a high standard. We understand that the schools that we’ve inherited require major improvement. That’s why we made a landmark investment, underscoring our commitment to ensure these spaces are improved.

Water quality

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: My question is to the Premier. Last week, Neskantaga First Nation evacuated. They had to shut down the water plant when an oily sheen was found in the reservoir. Tests show it is hydrocarbon. I was in Neskantaga and saw this myself a couple of days ago.

With no running water, people have to use bottled water and lake water to flush toilets and wash their hands. Speaker, this is so wrong. Complacency and inaction equals apartheid to access clean drinking water. Water is such a basic human right.

Neskantaga is a signatory to Treaty 9. This government needs to provide direct funding and support to Neskantaga through this crisis. What has Ontario done for Neskantaga?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To the parliamentary assistant, the member for Peterborough–Kawartha.

Mr. Dave Smith: Thank you very much to the member for that question. It gives us the opportunity to talk about the great work that Minister Rickford has been doing on this file.

We know that the water treatment plant was built by the federal government and there are some deficiencies with it. But we have been working very closely with the federal government to make sure that they step up and actually do what they need to do to ensure that there is safe drinking water.

The federal government has made a commitment to end boil-water advisories, so Minister Rickford has been working directly with Minister Miller to make sure that they actually complete that.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: To this day, Minister Rickford has not reached out to Chief Moonias.

Playing jurisdictional ambiguity with the lives of the people in Neskantaga is not acceptable. All services are shut down in Neskantaga due to this crisis, due to this public health emergency.

Losing water to the whole community during COVID-19 is a disaster, Mr. Speaker. After 25-plus years without clean drinking water, Neskantaga has no running water at all.

There are 14 other Neskantagas across Kiiwetinoong and they need drinking water as well. This would not be allowed in a riding like Etobicoke North.

When will Ontario invest in infrastructure for clean drinking water for Neskantaga and other First Nations who need it?

Mr. Dave Smith: Again, thank you very much for the question. It gives us the opportunity to talk about what the Ontario government has been doing.

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks’ Indigenous drinking water projects office staff worked directly with Neskantaga with respect to the building of this treatment plant. The Minister of Indigenous Affairs has been working directly with Chief Archibald, the regional chief for the area, to make sure that we’re doing what we need to do to get the federal government to step up and do what they are supposed to do. This is their responsibility, and we are working with the community to make sure that the federal government completes what they have started.

Long-term care

Mr. John Fraser: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. Today, there are 87 homes in outbreak in Ontario. Eleven of those have double-digit cases. In Prescott-Russell, double-digit resident cases; there are 37. At Starwood in Nepean, in the minister’s backyard, there are 41. Twenty-one people have died at Ottawa’s West End Villa.

The minister has failed to protect all residents in long-term care, failed to move residents out of four-bed ward rooms. At Fairview Nursing Home, they are separating COVID-19-positive patients from COVID-19-negative patients in the same room with wall dividers.

Given the minister’s training, does she think that wall dividers are an effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term-care homes?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member for the question. Really, the data is important, but we always have to keep in mind it is the residents, their families and the staff in our long-term-care homes who are the centre of our government’s efforts to prevent and contain COVID-19. This is the thing we’ve been active on since the very beginning.

The long-standing neglect of our long-term-care homes—some built in the 1970s, and very few spaces were built under the tenure of the previous government. The stage, unfortunately, was set by the previous government’s inaction and supported by the opposition we have here today.

But looking at the numbers, our homes—and I reiterate this issue: An outbreak means one resident case or one staff case, and in 52 cases of our outbreaks, there are no resident cases. In the homes where there are outbreaks, there is an integrated response using Public Health Ontario, the public health units in the area, the hospitals, the IPAC teams, the rapid deployment teams. Our homes are faring much—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. And the supplementary question?

Mr. John Fraser: The minister mentioned inaction. The minister’s delayed decision-making and failure to act quickly has caused unnecessary suffering and death. Last March, the minister waited more than a month to raise the wages of PSWs and prevent them from working in more than one home. We found out this morning that they waited a month. The Canadian Armed Forces were ready for a month before they were called in. It took three months to figure out the importance of the role of our central caregivers.

This summer, while BC and Quebec were aggressively hiring PSWs, this minister was doing not enough—not enough. No plans were made to move residents out of four-bed ward rooms or what the minister likes to describe as “decanting” residents—decanting.

Speaker, through you, speaking of inaction, why is the minister taking so long to make decisions that save lives?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. I would like to emphasize to the member opposite that we have three highly respected individuals, eminent in their fields, who have used the terms “decanting” and “decant.” That is a term that is being used, and that is—

Mr. John Fraser: You don’t need to use it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Opposition, come to order.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: It is a term that needs to be understood so that we can understand what the commission is asking for. I think that’s the first thing.

The second thing is, our efforts to address a new virus that the world has never known before, affecting long-term-care homes across the world, were taken as an integrated approach with public health experts across ministries, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Long-Term Care—many, many ministries involved in this—Ontario Health, the public health units, the medical officers of health, the hospitals—an integrated response. All of this had to be measured because in health and the health care system, if you move one area, another area is affected. All of this had to be coordinated, and I’m grateful to all the—

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

The next question?

Women’s issues

Mr. Stephen Crawford: My question is to the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues. On Monday, I heard some deeply troubling allegations concerning women’s issues here in the House. In her statement for Women’s History Month, the member for Toronto–St. Paul’s raised concern over unanswered letters, the lack of support for women across the province and, quite frankly, the allegations were very concerning.

The member said, and I quote, “I wrote to the minister about these women’s plights. I wrote to the minister about more funding for sexual assault centres, more funding for pay equity, and I was told, ‘Try MAG. Try housing....’”

We heard that the minister stands “with a government that didn’t supply enough PPE to essential workers on the front lines” and that she doesn’t support female teachers of the province and has legislated dangerous schools. These are just some of the many things that were alleged.

Can the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues please address these allegations?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for Oakville for that question. I know you’re an advocate for women, not only in your home, as a father of four daughters, but also for the women in your riding.

Unfortunately, the member from Toronto–St. Paul’s is mistaken in her assertions. I have said before and I will say it again: This government and the Premier are committed to ensuring that women and girls across Ontario have access to the opportunities they deserve.

We have provided $405 million to help long-term care with operating pressures related to COVID-19, including additional PPE for front-line workers, who are predominantly female. In my own ministry, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies has been working with us to provide over 10 million pieces of PPE to those in residential settings, including in women’s shelters to protect those fleeing from violence. Thanks to the work of the Minister of Education, we are investing $550 million across the province as part of the 2021 capital priorities project.

I’ll have more to say in my supplemental.

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

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Thank you for clarifying it. The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s also raised the alarm and suggested that this government and the minister have left female small businesses “hanging ... by a thread.” She also stated that this government works in silos and doesn’t know what each other’s ministers are doing.

Finally, the member stated that girls need to see leaders today become leaders tomorrow, and that I certainly agree with. As the father of four daughters, it is important to me to see strong women in many different roles in their lives, be they teachers, be they mothers, be they political leaders, be they business owners.

For the women in my riding and for the generation of girls in the wings, this minister needs to respond. Through you, Speaker, can the minister answer the question: What are you doing to make sure that women are not left behind?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thanks again to the member for raising this question. I am floored by these assertions.

I speak to and work with my ministerial colleagues on a daily basis, whether it is with the Solicitor General and the Attorney General to combat human trafficking and support those fleeing domestic violence; or the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, working to support children and women in Ontario in residential settings; or the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Colleges and Universities, encouraging more and more young girls and women to get into the skilled trades and STEM sectors.

I also work with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction to support all job creators across Ontario, including our women-led and women-owned businesses.

I could go on and on, but I’ll run out of time. What I will say, though, is that I strongly agree with both the member from Oakville and the member from Toronto–St. Paul’s that girls need to see leaders and become leaders of tomorrow. I want to thank all the women in this House for being examples to girls in their ridings and across Ontario.

Post-secondary education

Ms. Laura Mae Lindo: My question is to the Premier. This week, the public found out that the Premier prioritizes backroom deals for his friend Charles McVety over helping people through this pandemic, and that’s what he spent his summer planning. That’s what his focus was on, and now our offices are receiving letters. At least 10 universities and the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations have written to us. They said this Premier is undermining public education and the Ontario Human Rights Code. They said the Ontario government shouldn’t be giving degree-granting privileges to institutions or any school that embeds hate in their “curriculum.”

Why did the Premier make the time to help Charles McVety grow his platform for hate rather than helping the people of this province survive the pandemic?

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

Mrs. Gila Martow: I thank the member opposite for her question. It’s not the first time that we’ve heard the question in this Legislature. As I’ve said before, we respect all communities, all religious communities, all types of communities, whether they be LGBT or anybody else, whatever the community is in our ridings, but we also respect the process. There are political processes; there are government organizations and institutions that have processes. We understand that this is an independent review. We are waiting for the ruling by this independent review, and then the ministry will be able to review the review.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Ms. Laura Mae Lindo: We will keep asking questions until we actually receive answers.

Back to the Premier: We all know that the hate Charles McVety spews—we know all about it. We know what the goals are for his college. It is shameful that while Muslim Ontarians are writing this government, demanding that they address Islamophobia, the Premier delivers a gift to an Islamophobe. It’s shameful that the government let Charles McVety know that they’d be putting together new legislation specifically for him.

The government keeps claiming that this is a process, but it’s clear from Mr. McVety’s application that he knew that this was a done deal. And serious questions remain about why the Canada Christian College application mysteriously disappeared as soon as questions were raised.

So my question to the Premier: Will the Premier admit that this is simply not a transparent process?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Thornhill and parliamentary assistant.

Mrs. Gila Martow: I would like to remind the member opposite that this is the exact same process that OCAD and Algoma went through just last year and that it’s unfortunate as well—since the NDP once supported these very institutions, especially when its own members David Winninger and Rosario Marchese brought forth similar bills for faith-based schools, such as Heritage Baptist College and Heritage Theological Seminary and the Institute for Christian Studies.

Long-term care

Mr. Randy Hillier: My question is for the Premier. In April, the FAO reported that in March over 1,000 sick and elderly patients in our hospitals had been transferred to our overcrowded and understaffed long-term-care facilities. This was at the direction of your government, under the advice and guidance of your unelected public health officials and the COVID command table. Two thirds of all COVID deaths, nearly 2,000 people, died in these overcrowded LTC homes. We are all witnesses to these horrible tragedies that happened in long-term care, but is anyone responsible?

Bill 218 will not only provide immunity for the consequences of these actions but also conceal these actions for all time. What is the Premier afraid of?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply for the government, the Attorney General.

Hon. Doug Downey: What our government is doing is looking out for the people of Ontario in terms of making sure that those who have acted in good faith and those who have made an honest effort and have taken public health advice, that those people have a level of security to contribute to our communities, to engage in our communities. And I’m talking well beyond what the member is referencing. I’m talking about the Cobourg Soccer Club, who didn’t operate this year because their board of directors and their volunteers were too nervous to get on the field and get the kids on the field.

I have dozens and dozens—hundreds of examples, quite frankly, of that, mental health and addictions ramifications. You can touch on almost any area of society, Mr. Speaker, and there was nervousness. That is what our government is protecting and moving forward so that we can reinvigorate our communities and make sure that we come through COVID as a team.

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

Mr. Randy Hillier: Again to the Premier: We know that confinement and isolation is unhealthy and is reserved as a punishment for dangerous criminals, but the elderly in LTC have been subjected to this cruelty for eight months. Every day, we hear more stories from the elderly who would rather die than live anymore alone and in fear. We hear the tragic stories of families not permitted to visit.

The refusal to hold a public inquiry, and now Bill 218, ensures that the full extent of this tragedy will be hidden from public scrutiny. And why? Why did we not provide temporary transfers out of LTC? Why were our elderly denied health care in our hospitals? Why were doctors prevented from helping in LTC?—just to name a few.

Speaker, why is the Premier abdicating responsibility and hiding from accountability? Is he afraid that the truth will be his end?

Hon. Doug Downey: Again, we’re supporting the communities, and we want to make sure that those bad actors are held to account. We are going to make sure that there is room in the system and focus so that some of these tragic situations will be dealt with accordingly.

There seems to be some misunderstanding by the member opposite of what exactly is happening. We’ve been investing. We are the first government to set up a long-term-care minister. We are the first government to invest record numbers in our systems to protect the people of Ontario. There are tragic situations, and those will be dealt with, but we want answers and we want them quick. That’s why we’ve set up the commission: so that we can get answers and we can react to them.

If we put in place an inquiry, which he keeps asking for, it would be years and years, and we don’t have that kind of time, Mr. Speaker.

Hydro rates

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: My question is to the Associate Minister of Energy.

As everyone knows, the previous Liberal government drove up the price of electricity, crippling our economy and imposing unbearable costs on my constituents and on residential customers across our province. Could the minister please tell us how our government is cleaning up the hydro mess the Liberals left behind?

Hon. Bill Walker: Thank you to the member from Markham–Thornhill for the great question and the great work he does on behalf of all of his constituents.

Mr. Speaker, when our government was elected, we found that the previous Liberal government had signed over 1,300 expensive contracts for wind and solar power, with the Auditor General saying that their scheme had cost Ontario ratepayers over $37 billion—absolutely shocking and deplorable.

We promised to clean up the hydro mess, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. You cannot undo 15 years of wild mismanagement overnight, but we have made significant progress. We took immediate action to cancel unnecessary contracts that had been given to Liberal insiders, which saved over $800 million in system costs. We modernized the Ontario Energy Board and we undertook a systematic review to remove unnecessary costs from our energy system.

Mr. Speaker, we are also giving consumers choice in how they pay for their electricity to best suit their needs and save on cost, and there’s more to come. I’ll speak to that in my supplementary.

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

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: Thank you, Minister, for that response. I’m glad that our government is focused on putting ratepayers and the people first and making the electricity system more affordable.

Could the minister please assure my constituents that they can expect long-term stability and productivity in their electricity pricing under our government?

Hon. Bill Walker: Thank you again. Unlike the Liberals, supported most of the time by the NDP, our government will always put the people of Ontario first. I can assure the member and his constituents that we will never stop working for the people of Ontario, as we fix what was a broken, overpriced system under Liberal mismanagement for 15 years.

Mr. Speaker, every month when Ontario businesses and/or homeowners look at their electricity bills, they can thank the previous Liberal government for strapping them with the global adjustment fee, a fee designed by the Liberals to pay for unnecessary green projects. They made decisions about this province’s energy future based on ideology and not what’s in the best interests of Ontario people. Ontario’s energy advantage is our clean, reliable and affordable nuclear and hydro assets.

Ontarians weren’t part of the backroom deals that the Liberals gave to solar and wind generators that guaranteed 20-year contracts at sometimes up to 40% more than fair market price. Ontarians don’t deserve to pay for Liberal mistakes. We will continue to work tirelessly to restore fairness and predictability to our energy system.

Education funding

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is for the Premier. This week, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board announced that it will be eliminating 200 teachers and collapsing classes. As cases of COVID-19 are once again on the rise in the province, class sizes in Hamilton’s public school board are going to increase.

For months, families have been begging this government to take COVID-19 seriously and reduce class sizes. Instead, this government spent the summer declaring victory, while boards were scrambling to make sure that schools were safe. Now, we’re seeing the consequences of the government’s inaction.

Why is this government allowing Hamilton class sizes to increase during the rise in COVID-19 cases?

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

Hon. Stephen Lecce: On the contrary, Speaker, we’ve seen classroom sizes being reduced in Hamilton in the public and Catholic school boards, according to their own directors and the admission of their own school boards.

In fact, in Hamilton district school board, they’ve been provided with—when you look at unlocking the reserve fund, the provincial fund, the federal fund—$21 million more to help them hire more nurses; 23 more nurses were hired in the public health unit to date as a consequence of provincial investment.

More educators were hired—87, as noted, according to the September Pulse survey. Overall in this province, there are 2,700 new educators hired because this Premier has been funding public education to ensure we have the most comprehensive plan to keep kids safe. We will continue to be there for our school boards. We will continue to build upon the national leading investment, the comprehensive guidance we’ve provided, to ensure all students and all staff remain safe in the province of Ontario.

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

Miss Monique Taylor: This government is sitting on $9 billion of COVID-19 support money and $500 million in federal dollars for return-to-school funding. But in Hamilton, our public school board is facing a deficit this year. Teaching positions are being eliminated and class sizes are going up.

This government has the power to ensure that Hamilton students have safer and smaller class sizes, but instead is choosing to save money on the backs of Hamilton students. Why won’t the government support Hamilton’s public education system?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Across the province of Ontario, including in Hamilton, likewise right across the GTHA, school boards have acknowledged that provincial funding, federal funding and reserve funding has enabled them to hire more educators than they had last year and hire more custodians, in both the public and Catholic school boards, than they did last year, according to their director, according to their chair. There is more hiring as a consequence of provincial investment.

Classroom sizes within your respective community, member, have actually been reduced as a consequence of provincial investment. That is the relevant element for a parent observing: Has the classroom size been reduced according to the provincial average? Are there more custodians? Are there more public health nurses? Are there more teachers? In each and every example, the answer is yes. That is because of our $1.3-billion investment, notwithstanding we are spending more than any other province.

Above and beyond the financial investment, it’s about ensuring we have a comprehensive guidance that protects kids, mitigates the risk and ensures that we do our part within our schools to flatten the curve in the province of Ontario.

Small business

M lle Amanda Simard: Ma question s’adresse au ministre des Finances. My question is to the Minister of Finance. Since May, and repeatedly over the summer, I’ve been asking this government to address the price gouging that has been happening with food delivery services, something this government has been slow to address—as in, five months slow. Restaurant owners, small business owners have been pleading with this government for months to cap food delivery commission fees at max 15%.

Now the Premier’s nephew, a Toronto city councillor, is asking the same question. So my question to the finance minister: Now that his boss’s nephew is also asking, will he finally support small business owners by capping food delivery commission fees at 15% in next week’s budget?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I want to thank the honourable member for that question. I followed that question as well. I think this government early on asked every Ontarian to support their small business owners in the restaurant business, as we know they’re hanging on, as the Premier said, by the skin of their teeth.

What we’ve asked and what the Premier has asked is, would the food delivery businesses also put some skin in the game, help these restaurant owners who are trying to employ their employees, pay wages, pay rent and keep viable so that we can get through COVID-19? Whatever city council in Toronto decides, they’ve been told to talk to the mayor and the mayor will talk to the Premier and we’ll see where that ends up.

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

M lle Amanda Simard: Thank you to the member. Again to the finance minister: This government continues with contradictory and confusing messages while we’re in stage 2, and a clear lack of movement on important files. They continue to offer no support to restaurant owners and job creators who have been asking for it for almost six months.

Last week, a Ford family friend contacted the Premier directly to rush through approvals on a plan to extend patio dining. Yet again, we can see that the only way to get any movement on this file is to have someone with a personal relationship with the Premier to give him a call.

When will this government start respecting Ontario’s business owners who don’t have a personal relationship with the Premier and give all business owners the support they need during this time?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant, the member for Willowdale.

Mr. Stan Cho: Speaker, unlike the Liberals opposite, we don’t define success on the government benches by how quickly you spend money. That’s why we’ve put aside the necessary resources, the largest contingency fund in history, the largest reserve fund in history, to be adaptive in an ever-changing environment that is COVID-19.

We recognize that businesses are suffering across every corner of this province, and that was the case in March when we introduced our initial set of supports, that was the case in August when we increased those supports to $30 billion, and that is the case today. That’s why we recently announced $300 million in direct support for those businesses affected by the revised stage 2. That’s going to help these businesses with their fixed costs—like cutting additional taxes, like helping with property tax, and like keeping hydro rates low. We recognize that small businesses are counting on this government, and we will continue to provide those supports to weather the storm.

Long-term care

Ms. Jessica Bell: My question is to the Premier. Vermont Square is a long-term-care home in my riding where 62 residents and 47 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 and eight residents have died, making this the worst outbreak in the province.

I recently held a meeting to hear from staff and family members. I heard about long testing delays making it difficult to stay on top of the outbreak. I heard about the need to hire more staff and concerns about the aging HVAC system. I heard from Toronto Western, which has been tasked with supporting Vermont Square, about the need for more provincial funding to help cover the costs of helping this lo