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March 8, 2022

42nd Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2022-Mar-08 vol. A (PDF)

L041A - Tue 8 Mar 2022 / Mar 8 mar 2022

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 8 March 2022 Mardi 8 mars 2022

Orders of the Day

Legislative reform

Members’ Statements

Susanne “Susie” Boyle

Grand Watershed Trails Network

Gasoline prices

Marcel Lapierre

Invasion of Ukraine

International Women’s Day

Grey Jay Sales and Distribution

City of Brampton

West Lincoln Memorial Hospital

Highway safety

Visitors

Walter Elliot

Question Period

Health care funding

Home care

Workplace health and safety

Affaires francophones

Child care

Social assistance

Public transit

Pay equity

Government accountability

Protection of privacy

Small business

Assistance to businesses / Government appointments

Mental health and addiction services

Economic reopening and recovery

Affordable housing

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Government Agencies

Standing Committee on Estimates

Introduction of Bills

Supply Act, 2022 / Loi de crédits de 2022

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

International Women’s Day

Petitions

Optometry services

Affordable housing

Front-line workers

Curriculum

Arts and cultural funding

Employment standards

Optometry services

Abortion images

Child care

Optometry services

Orders of the Day

Legislative reform

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Legislative reform

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 3, 2022, on the amendment to the amendment to the motion regarding amendments to the standing orders.

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

Mr. Mike Harris: Good morning, colleagues. My wife is actually tuning in on TV right now, if you can believe it, Mr. Speaker, so hi, Kim, as well.

Hon. Todd Smith: Good morning, Kim.

Mr. Mike Harris: Good morning; yes, absolutely.

It’s a pleasure to be here today to speak to the amendments to the standing orders changes that we have before us. While a few—and I’m going to try to keep everybody awake here, I promise, Speaker. But while a few—maybe more than a few, to be honest—may consider this subject to be a little bit of a dry one and these orders merely an administrative change, they, importantly, enable legislation to be passed and debated in an efficient and transparent manner here in the Ontario Legislature. Above all, they allow the opinions and the will of our constituents to be communicated in public and acted upon.

Looking back to the last few years, I am proud that our government has been one of action, voting in this chamber to deliver on the promises made to the great people of this province since 2018. These include:

—reducing taxes for small businesses, individuals and families;

—eliminating red tape and regulations to create a pro-growth environment once again here in the province of Ontario;

—thanks to the great Minister of Energy sitting in front of me here, stabilizing energy prices in this province; and

—increasing funding for health care, education and, of course, infrastructure.

I was happy last week to debate the Fewer Fees, Better Services Act, which will not only remove road tolls on the 412 and 418 but will also remove the need for validation stickers on licence plates, saving an Ontario driver $120 a year per vehicle. Adding on top of that, you have 300,000 main street businesses receiving WSIB rebates, and thousands and thousands of families that will receive a 20% boost to their Ontario Child Care Tax Credit. I could stand here all day listing off the measures that we have taken on this side of the House to put money back in people’s pockets while spending money wisely on programs we all need.

I’m also happy to announce, in the last year, two new long-term-care homes in New Hamburg and St. Jacobs and two new recreation centres: one in Kitchener and the other in the township of Wellesley. Speaker, I could go on and on talking all day about the investments in my riding in Waterloo region. I know nobody here really wants to hear that—

Interjection.

Mr. Mike Harris: —but the member from Oxford is pretty excited about it.

But Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, this is all possible because the government has remained flexible on standing orders and other measures to ensure our collective, positive response to a global pandemic—

Interjection.

Mr. Mike Harris: Apologies, Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): I apologize to the member from Kitchener–Conestoga and his wife who is viewing at home. 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. This debate will therefore be deemed adjourned, unless the government House leader directs the debate to continue. I recognize the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: We’ll have debate continue, Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The debate will continue. I’ll return to the member from Kitchener–Conestoga.

Mr. Mike Harris: Just to kind of recap, the collective response that we’ve had with the support of the people of Ontario has allowed this province to thankfully move forward with lifting vaccine certificate requirements and removing capacity limits for most public venues—all of this because we’ve been able to be nimble and flexible here in this House to move pandemic issues forward at an expedient rate.

I was very pleased at how my colleagues returned to the chamber this week in a more fulsome manner, and it really is a sign of things returning to normal here in the province. But we must not let up our guard, Mr. Speaker. Therefore, it is more important than ever to have an efficient and transparent legislative chamber that empowers members to represent their constituents.

On this goal and other priorities, all of us have always had the full support of our amazing government House leader and my Minister of Legislative Affairs and his remarkable staff that work just down the hall.

Before we move into specific changes before us, I would like to take a few minutes to review the government’s track record on strengthening the procedures of this chamber, Mr. Speaker. The original motion that was before us proceeds a series of changes that we have made since 2019 to enhance debate, improve democratic oversight and strengthen the institution of Ontario’s Parliament.

In 2019, a modification to the daily order of business was made to increase the profile of members’ statements by moving them from the afternoon session to the morning before question period, when more people are watching at home. In that year, we explicitly permitted the use of laptops, tablets and smartphones in a non-disruptive manner in the chamber, reflecting the realities of the 21st century.

We also eliminated the need for a minister to verbally refer a question to a colleague during question period, while waiving the requirement for written authorization for a parliamentary assistant to answer a question during question period when their minister is absent. Lastly, 2019 saw the allowance of electronic distribution of background materials to reports and sessional papers tabled in the Legislature, Mr. Speaker—and again, a common-sense 21st-century solution that really mirrors our government’s push to digitalize services across all ministries and provide convenient access to Ontarians.

In the fall of 2020, further changes to the standing orders strengthened private members’ business by allowing one item per day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to be considered, while temporarily adding a fourth private member’s bill each week on Monday morning. That year we gave more latitude to members again, by requiring all recorded divisions on PMBs to be deferred to the following day after question period so more members could have an opportunity to vote on those bills.

We also made debate time more equitable by adjusting the length of questions and answers to five minutes for any speeches shorter than 10 minutes. But we shall refer back to that position a little bit later, Mr. Speaker.

Next, we created a provision for take-note debates that will allow for longer discussions on issues of substantial importance. I know that we will all remember the great debate led by the member from Sarnia–Lambton on line 5, Mr. Speaker. I know that’s of major importance to you and your region.

We also allowed the deferral of closure votes so the

schedule of the House can be more predictable and so more members can have the opportunity to vote on those bills and motions as well, Mr. Speaker. Also, I should note that we have enhanced the role of the opposition to hold government to account by providing additional question period questions to independent members, and strengthening the role of independent members by making permanent the temporary provisions allowing independent members to substitute for each other on committee.

In spring 2021, we gave the ability for committees to recall themselves when the House stands adjourned, Mr. Speaker, and instituted bipartisan leadership on committees by requiring that Vice-Chairs of committees be elected from a party other than the party which forms the Chair of the said committee.

I look forward to highlighting the motion’s new changes to enhance committee work a little later on in this debate, Mr. Speaker, but I think it was important to review our government’s positive track record on making this Legislature more efficient and transparent and that it has produced real benefits for people all across this province. It has allowed this government to vigorously accomplish its legislative agenda to build a stronger Ontario and to continue with a plan that says yes to building, yes to investing, yes to workers and, most importantly, yes to jobs.

Speaker, let’s go over how the changes that were proposed in the original motion here will strengthen this chamber and help it bring greater value to Ontarians across the province. The changes proposed will mean more efficient oversight of government spending, enhance the ability for members to consider and act upon private members’ bills and allow for more robust and focused committee work.

First, let’s talk a little bit about private members’ bills. We all know they are such an important opportunity for individual members to deliver change for their local constituents and have a meaningful impact on significant issues across the province. I have been privileged to introduce three separate bills to this chamber in the last three years, the first being Bill 50, enabling digital dealer registration of plates and tags, which I am glad to see has been adopted into government legislation, is actively being developed and, I believe, is rolling out as we speak to car dealerships across the province.

Second, which I think we’ll all remember, is Bill 246, the Safer School Buses Act, which received royal assent and of course will introduce an eight-lamp amber-red warning system on school buses all across Ontario starting this September.

And, just this month, Bill 78, the Police Services Amendment Act, which received unanimous support for second reading and, if passed, will extend the Queen’s Commission to municipal and First Nations police officers for their exceptional service.

Our government’s motion will further expand the ability of colleagues to study and respond to a bill by insisting that a member table their ballot item at least two weeks prior to their ballot date, and they must designate their ballot item to appear on the order paper two weeks prior to that time. Now, as we all know, this is just a minor adjustment, as members are already required to introduce a private member’s public bill at least two weeks before it’s debated, but this motion includes a very practical change that will ensure members have proper time to introduce and debate private members’ bills.

At the start of every new Parliament or session, the first several PMB debate slots can never be used; there is simply not enough time for a member to give notice before their actual debate occurs. The proposed change codifies what already occurs in practice, which is a deferral of the start of private members’ public business by way of a unanimous consent motion. This change ensures our standing orders function properly by default.

In my relatively short time in this chamber, I have been honoured to serve on the Legislative Assembly committee, the general government committee, the private bills and regulations committee and the social policy committee, all doing important work with dedicated members who often work together and sometimes in a little bit less partisan spirit than we see sometimes here in the chamber.

I believe the changes introduced in this motion to come into force at the start of the 43rd Parliament will strengthen committees and allow members more opportunity to become experts in a particular policy field or area of government.

Let me provide two examples. First, in addition to the general government committee—to be renamed the heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy committee—social policy, justice policy and the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs would of course then become a policy field committee and a new Standing Committee on the Interior would be created. This new standing committee is a new policy field committee intended to study matters relating to agriculture, natural resource, Indigenous affairs, the environment and energy.

The Legislative Assembly committee would be renamed the procedure and House affairs committee. With committees focused on a particular policy area, members will be able to better study and respond to specific pieces of government and private members’ legislation. This could only strengthen Ontario’s parliamentary democracy.

The next example is the proposed change on how government estimates are read. Currently there is a single estimates committee that meets in a narrow window and usually subs members in and out based on the specific ministry or policy area that is presenting that day. Our change would move the consideration of estimates from a single estimates committee to the various policy field committees. For example, justice policy would study estimates for the Ministry of the Attorney General, and so on. I think it stands to reason that a government minister could expect a more detailed interrogation, if you will, Mr.

Speaker, from committee members who are knowledgeable on the specific policy matters that are before them.

The government motion before us also gives more latitude to committees on when and for how long to hear estimates and allows, in theory, more ministries the opportunity to present, as members of each committee would make their selections in rotations.

In addition, the introduction of a second Vice-Chair will allow the leadership of committees to be non-partisan and bipartisan, as is the case today with the Speaker and as you sit in the chair as a Deputy Speaker, Mr. Speaker. While the current requirement that committee Vice-Chairs be elected from the opposite party as the Chair is elected has already introduced more bipartisanship to these groups—I think it has worked out very well.

There is one more change to committees I wish to highlight because of its importance to this chamber here and Queen’s Park itself. We are proposing that a new Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which is currently the Legislative Assembly committee, would be permanently chaired by an opposition member. In time, we expect this committee would be responsible for oversight of the project to rehabilitate and renovate the Legislative Assembly and precinct. We all know that Queen’s Park is in dire need of repair and action is needed to be taken sooner rather than later.

This project has been my focus as the new parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Legislative Affairs, and it is very important to me that the rehabbing of this provincial monument to democracy, pushing over a century and a quarter years, will receive all-party support.

Now, for those who are watching this debate—and hopefully Kim is still tuned in. I don’t know, Speaker, but I don’t blame her if she’s left. I want to just quickly move over to talk a little bit about private bills. Private bills are not to be confused with private members’ public business, and are often simple and non-contentious bills seeking to revive corporations to resolve outstanding tax and property matters.

The consideration of these bills is effectively a quasi-administrative and non-contentious process for 80% to 90% of those bills. As we all know in this chamber, it has become practice for all private bills to be passed after an extremely brief, usually less than six-minute pro forma committee study and then with an expedited unanimous consent motion here in the chamber. The current motion will simply formalize this practice for the next Parliament—being the 43rd Parliament—making it less time-consuming and burdensome for both members of the public, assembly staff and us MPPs.

Therefore, after the introduction of a private bill, it will no longer be deferred to committee automatically. They will remain on the order paper for four weeks. At that time, they can be called for second and third reading votes without debate or amendment, or, if necessary, they could then be referred to committee for further study, if circumstances allow. This change allows committee resources to be refocused and be more effectively used for substantive work and allows non-contentious bills to be passed more effectively, reducing waiting time for members of the public who need them, while still allowing fulsome oversight for more complex legislation.

To conclude, I believe the standing order changes introduced in this motion demonstrate that our government is continuing to improve the function of the Legislative Assembly here in Ontario. These measures will include changes to continue our previous efforts to allow more substantive debate on private members’ business and within committees to empower members, while ensuring efficient operations and transparency remain in this House.

It is my sincere hope that these standing order changes will receive the full support of the New Democrats and the independent members, who will, again, benefit from this government’s effort to empower members in this chamber. As this government continues to build a stronger province for all Ontarians, we need to ensure that their Legislative Assembly is up to the task and ready to act on this purpose.

Mr. Speaker, that’s going to conclude my formal remarks for today, and I’m very much looking forward to hearing from, hopefully, some more members of the opposition. I know that I’m really looking forward to hearing from my colleague the member for Brantford–Brant, who always speaks so eloquently in this chamber—

Interjections.

Mr. Mike Harris: He really does; he really does.

With that, thank you very much, Speaker. That will conclude my debate.

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

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I am glad to be able to rise in this fine Legislature this morning and add my remarks to this standing orders amendment motion before us. Last week, I had the privilege of sitting where you sit today, in the Speaker’s chair, and I had the chance to listen to much debate on it and much discussion. Hopefully I retained some of that and I’m going to maybe add something new, although we have been discussing standing orders a lot since this Parliament began, since this government took the reins.

In fact, this is the seventh permanent change to the standing orders since this government took office in 2018. That’s kind of a rapid pace for legislative changes to the rule book.

The government House leader has accused us of being stick-in-the-muds and maybe being afraid of change, but I do think that it is important that when we make changes to, in effect, the rule books, to the rules of this place, they should be thoughtful and careful and really made with an eye to the future. I think that this government—and it’s probably not untrue of governments before them. The changes laid out often are self-serving, often serve the government of the day. We have seen that many changes seek to move things through more quickly, government initiatives through more rapidly, perhaps viewing the legislative process as an encumbrance. I think that’s too bad, frankly.

This is a remarkable institution. It has interesting histories, but the parliamentary tradition in this place of debate and discourse, thoughtful research and thoughtful time in committees I think is being lost with great haste. As I said, there have been seven permanent changes. The proposed changes in front of us, the actual standing order changes, the amendments that the government has put forward, follow this government pattern of no consultation and putting forward amendments that do strengthen cabinet’s control over process, at the expense of the opposition.

There are folks on those benches—and some of you know who you are—who have been on these benches. We have all lamented the fact that the government of the day was running roughshod over the, I’ll say, rights of the opposition members, or making it harder and harder for opposition members to not only bring voice but bring thoughtful comments to issues to, hopefully, make government bills the best versions they can be, to make laws strong and appropriate for the province. But anyway, here we are.

Why don’t I get into the nitty-gritty, Speaker? There are some specifics that the government is proposing that, again, serve the interests only of the government. One of the specific pieces, the Monday morning sittings—this is about that Monday morning block: When I was first elected back in 2014, we didn’t start first thing in the morning. There was that time to travel in. There was a later start on Mondays, which I think has been long-standing, to allow folks from Kiiwetinoong, to allow folks from Algoma–Manitoulin, St. Catharines or from anywhere—and on the government benches too—to be able to travel in safely and be able to get here and do their job at this Legislature.

We’ve had exceptions to that. We’ve had private members’ bills that we had to make an allowance for to clear some of those when we had been away from this place during the pandemic. I understand that. It’s appropriate for this building to be flexible. But it’s just something of a travel challenge. I do remind the government that, while they only have a handful of members who are in the north, we have a lot more—and just from further areas—who appreciate being able to get here safely, especially with bad weather.

Introduction of bills: I thought this one was personally interesting. This new standing order change changes the bill introduction process. It adds a process that prioritizes the tabling of government bills or introduction of government bills in its own time before proceeding to the introduction of bills where both government and private members’ bills can be introduced. Okay, it doesn’t really matter, but I was a little bit amused because I realized that what that would do—as it stands now, we have a time for introduction of bills.

Maybe parliamentary tradition is that we recognize the government first, but if they don’t stand up first, then other members stand up and we allow folks to introduce private members’ bills, government bills, and we have a time for that. Well, this is outlining a change for the government side to just have its own time.

Speaker, you will remember, was it just—it wasn’t last week. Two weeks ago, I tabled Bill 83, which is a reintroduction of Bill 43. That was to remove the tolls from the 412 and 418, and then the government introduced their bill, Bill 84. I got the jump on them; I got it first, because we have the old process, which is where anyone can introduce bills. Anyway, I don’t remember when the standing order changes hit the table, but I was amused. I wondered if it was just sour grapes that I got it in first. Under these changes, that couldn’t have happened. It’s neither here nor there, but I just thought it was fun to share.

Mr. Jamie West: It’s Dr. Seuss.

Ms. Jennifer K. French: Yes, I didn’t mean to make that rhyme. That’s the grade 7/8 teacher in me leaking out, sorry. The member from Sudbury caught that. He’s name-calling, Speaker. He called me “Dr. Seuss.”

Moving on to committees, I sat for four years, actually—I was looking at the member for Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound. He and I both sat on the committee on regulations and private bills. Four years of that is a long time. I know that there are members who have been serving on that committee—I have joined it, I think, once or twice, by Zoom, and saw some things that I thought, “Wow, maybe it’s time for a revamp,” no disrespect to some of the members on the committee.

This standing order change would merge the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills and the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly, and then they’re going to basically revamp it and call it the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

There are some other things about the private bills. And understand my words, for the folks at home who are following along: Private bills are not private members’ bills. Private bills are from maybe a company—I’m blanking right now—that closed down and then needed to reopen because there was a finance matter. They’re really behind-the-scenes things that have to happen in the business world or in the non-profit world or just special permissions from the government that have gone through one heck of a process. The people engaged in that process—man, is that a long process. This outlines changes there.

Speaker, do you remember—was it before our time, before your time? Well, anyway, you and I have heard tell of committees that used to travel—while we’re talking about committees—if there was a big government initiative, a big government bill, and they wanted folks across the province to weigh in. They wanted to make sure that that legislation was all that it needed to be, that there wasn’t going to be some wonky mistake that tripped up either the government or the citizens of the province. They would travel that bill and have folks weigh in during the committee process.

There was a time when committees were allowed to make their own decisions, prioritize their own things. And then I remember the last government majority that I sat across from in our committee would try to prioritize bills or do things, and then the strong arm of the Premier’s office or the government would come in and whomp away our plans, because, of course, committees are controlled by the government majority. It isn’t this magical, everybody-gets-along committee process that is the stand-alone deciding body. Maybe it was back in the day.

They used to travel. They used to get input from communities across the province—probably a relatively costly process. But guess what, Speaker? There’s this new thing that we’ve been using called Zoom. We have been able to invite folks from across the province, provided they have decent Internet—that’s a whole other topic we’ll get into later this week. We were able to actually hear from folks and invite them into the Legislature, so to speak.

While we’re talking about committees, I would invite this government to reconsider how they utilize those committees, that government bills—rather than it being this unbelievable race to the finish, why shouldn’t it be a process to have the best legislation that would stand the test of the time? In my mind, that should be the goal of government: good governance rather than hastily cobbled together nonsense on a napkin. But, whatever, call me old-fashioned.

The estimates process: I do want to ask the government a question, because I listened to the government House leader the other day, and he was really dismissive of one of our amendments, the point that we were trying to make about the estimates process. The government is taking the estimates committees and basically divvying it up across different policy committees. I don’t have a problem with that in concept. If different committees can handle the work of estimates, to break down different ministries and really look thoughtfully at the numbers and do that deep dive for public accountability, that’s great.

But we’re talking about ensuring that there are at least a minimum number of hours that these things can be considered, right? Our concern is, the government House leader—and I am paraphrasing; you can go back to Hansard and direct-quote him if you want to. I don’t want to. He had talked about, “It’s up to the committees. Why would the NDP want to impose these time limits or whatever when the committees can decide?”

Let me go back to what I said about how there’s a majority that controls the committee. A majority government controls committee. If there were estimates, for example, for the Ministry of Infrastructure, and we wanted to actually delve into what is or isn’t being spent on broadband, that committee is always controlled by the government—always, always, always, always. They have a majority right now. In a different Parliament, maybe there is some more give and take, but right now that’s not what we have. They can decide how long. Sitting on that committee, I could vote, “No, I don’t want it to only take 35 minutes.

I want to give it three or five or 10 or 12 hours,” or whatever, and the committee is like, “I’m going to stare at my phone and not make eye contact because we’ve got marching orders and we’re just going to vote the way we were told and not think about it and then not give this some real thought about what is actually at stake in terms of public accountability.” Past behaviour is a good predictor of future behaviour, so that’s what I would anticipate. That was our concern.

We want actual standards and minimums, because the role of the opposition, the responsibility that we have to investigate and involve not just the committee but all members in looking at things—I’m proud of the work we do on the opposition benches. This government makes us fly by the seat of our pants half the time. They drop a bill; 30 seconds later you’re up on your feet debating it. Okay, fine, that was maybe hyperbole. But they can introduce a bill and the next day we’re up debating it. That isn’t a chance for us to communicate with communities. They certainly haven’t done it, especially the last couple of bills.

We don’t just think on our feet; we are ready to go because we do have those relationships in our communities. We can call someone in the middle of the night and say, “Guess what they’re pulling now. Can you weigh in on broadband? Can you weigh in on Laurentian?” That was last week, right? So they’ve turned us into really organized, effective, efficient speakers and researchers. That will come back to bite them, I think, when we’re government and they’re not, and many of them haven’t actually had to do that kind of work. It will be fun to watch.

Moving on into the private members’ public business—I see that I am somehow almost out of time, but that surprises, again, no one. The ballot date and designation deadline for private members’ bills and private members’ public business—this is getting a bit, I’ll say, into the weeds. This is kind of technical, but I would like to raise some things that fit with these standing order changes.

When I first got to this House, I was actually told that private members’ public business, or private members’ bills, as we call them affectionately—there are private members’ motions and private members’ bills, but they’re kind of sacrosanct, right? The members have parliamentary privilege, and that means that we get to vote and you can’t stop us and no one can stop us and don’t block us. We have that as a right. I would have thought that we also had a protected right to debate our own private members’ bills—choose them, debate them.

I will say that I’ve always been glad in this party that we discuss in caucus our ideas to make sure that if we have an idea in our community, it’s not going to catch another member unawares who might have different regional opinions on these things. We make our bills better and stronger, and we have lots of different ideas. We table different ones.

We all know that sometimes we table a private member’s bill—“table” meaning introduce it to the House—that we aren’t going to be calling for debate right away, because it might be an issue that is an important one for a group but there’s another issue that we have to debate. And we don’t get to debate them all, right, Speaker? You’ve got to pick a favourite—well, that’s the wrong way of putting it, but we have different pushes and pulls in our community, both political and personal. The families who we’re working with, we want to bring their voices here, but also there may be an important issue that comes up.

A major employer may pull out of a city and you’ve got to talk about workers’ rights. Things come up—so allowing that flexibility.

Why I’m telling that story is because here we have these eight days that we have to give notice for private members’ bills—eight sessional days, which in effect is two weeks, to let the government know what it is we’re going to be debating and let each other know. Okay, fine. But Speaker, when we ask the government to give us any kind of heads-up on the bills, like to give eight sessional days for government legislation, they’re like, “They want to hold up the world” and “They hate change” and all of the bluster and stomping and whatever.

Speaker, government bills involve money. They involve folks. They actually make a big difference in the province. Lord knows, eight sessional days’ worth of notice so that we can talk to community members, so the government can do its homework, I don’t think is too much to ask. Eight days, arguably, are not enough, depending on the bill—but rush, rush, rush.

It is interesting, though, that they give themselves the ability to start debate on complicated and involved omnibus legislation less than 24 hours after a bill is tabled. Last week, we had Bill—

Interjections: Eighty-eight?

Ms. Jennifer K. French: That wasn’t the one I was going to say. They’re saying Bill 88, which was also problematic—highly.

Interjections: Eighty-four?

Ms. Jennifer K. French: Eighty-four—oh right, the one that involved my bill, where I beat them to the punch.

Bill 84 was introduced on a Tuesday afternoon, and then the Legislature has to print it, so most members can’t even see it, can’t lay eyes on it until the next day. But they sent around the compendium to the critics and our opposition House leader, so we got it late in the day. They offered a briefing while all of the cohort folks were actually in their seats debating things in the Legislature and so, oops, couldn’t attend. Then our critic had to be up on her feet the next morning—without a paper copy of the bill, folks—to give a thoughtful and appropriate response to an 11-schedule piece of omnibus legislation.

I was up the next day. She and I were emailing and sharing articles and thoughts, and the member from Sudbury and I were on the phone, because there was a thing about Laurentian. We were pulling the pieces together. We came at it and we did well. That bill was passed in a matter of days, because rush, rush, rush. How is that thoughtful legislation, Speaker?

My colleague from York South–Weston had a private member’s bill, the London families act, which was done in concert with the families in his community and the other members from London, a very important piece of legislation. The government pulled this weird—I call shenanigans. They brought it forward and sort of skipped the debate step and went and said, “Let’s go to committee.” I think they were trying to wedge us so we would have to vote against the bill or something like that. I think the broader community understands that it wasn’t what was in the best interests of the community.

We would like to bring those voices to this House. That member lost his ability to debate his own private member’s bill. When I chatted with folks, apparently that’s because it was the will of the House. Well, “the will of the House” is a fancy term for “the most people.” The will of the House on this side? We didn’t vote for that. We don’t want that. But might makes right: The government majority decided, and that constitutes the will of the House. So he lost his spot.

Then yesterday they pulled another sort of shenanigans to say, “Well, okay, since he lost that, let’s put something else on the table, and we’re going to tell him what he can debate.” Then when we asked questions about it and were challenging them, they took their bat and ball and went home and withdrew that. It’s a bit of a tangle.

The point is, this government is outlining in here about private members’ public business, and it’s a dangerous precedent, I think, in here, to be able to say what members can and can’t debate, what they can and can’t bring forward. To the members over there who were defending it yesterday, look into what I just said and decide if you’re okay with that as members of this Legislature.

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

M me Lucille Collard: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to rise in this House—I’ll say, this morning; I’d written “this afternoon,” but I didn’t know when I was going to come up. So here I am. I would like to add my comments to the standing order changes that the government introduced last Tuesday, March 1, and the proposed changes by the opposition.

Rules are very important, as I’m sure you can appreciate, Mr. Speaker, since an important part of your role is to enforce these rules. Rules provide clarity, predictability and order. I like to think that I am a very organized person and I like to provide well-thought-out comments and contribution. Now, I understand that in our world, prompt and spontaneous response may be required, but, when possible, I’d much prefer having time to prepare adequately, and my staff welcome that.

I think that updating, modernizing and improving the functions of this House to the benefit of all members is a good exercise and worth the time and consideration that I am sure the government House leader has put into it.

I also like a clear and fair process. Clear and fair rules about how this Legislature operates should be welcomed, as they are supposed to help us do our job in the best possible way. In fact, it was a real surprise to me that we wouldn’t get advance notice of a bill being tabled but yet be expected to be able to debate on this bill at a drop of a dime—or a drop of a hat; I don’t know which is the best-suited formula.

With that in mind, I need to raise some of the challenges I have faced as a more recent member of this Legislature, trying to find my footing around all the rules that one needs to know to be adequately prepared to speak on behalf of my community in the various settings, whether it be for debates on government or private members’ bills or motions, or during committee.

I want to speak a little bit about the study of bills. Bills that are adopted in this House with a majority of support inevitably affect the lives of Ontarians and therefore need proper consideration. And I want to talk about the consultation with stakeholders when we talk about proper consideration. Good democracy requires that a bill pass through the legislative process, and this should be done in a meaningful way, meaning no cutting corners; meaning starting with real and extensive enough consultation to validate the proposed policy changes and their impact on stakeholders.

Too often, however, I’ve been hearing from important stakeholders that were not consulted and who would have appreciated an opportunity to provide some feedback before the legislation is changed. The most recent example is the deregulation of Chinese medicine in Bill 88, where the government is now having to backtrack following strong expression of opposition with that

schedule of the bill, hence the importance of doing your homework right in the first place.

The other part of insufficient consultation comes from the insufficient time being provided to members of this House to study a bill introduced by the government and be able to provide helpful comments during debate. When a bill is introduced with expected debate to follow hours after, it really gives the impression that the government is simply not interested in getting our feedback, even if it could result in good recommendations for improving the proposed legislation. The changes to the standing orders do not address this deficiency.

Of course, the fact that amendment packages are submitted very shortly before the meeting of the committee for study of clause-by-clause is proof enough that there is no intent to consider them seriously. It doesn’t matter how I felt after the study of my first bill in the committee, but I can tell you that it changed my perception of how we work in this House. The truth of the matter is that the process in the standing orders is not for the benefit of all members of this House, as indicated by the House leader.

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

Mr. Jim McDonell: It’s always a privilege to rise in this Legislature as a representative of the great riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry in beautiful eastern Ontario. With this privilege, it is also a pleasure to support our great Minister of Legislative Affairs and Minister of Long-Term Care, Minister Calandra. He’s been a very busy man these days, and we are all in good hands.

As we are aware, the business of the House is conducted according to the standing orders. The proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and in all committees of the assembly shall be conducted according to these same orders.

The purpose of the standing orders is to ensure that proceedings are conducted in a manner that respects the democratic rights of members to submit motions, resolutions and bills for the consideration of the assembly and its committees, and to have them determined by democratic vote; to debate, speak to, and vote on motions, resolutions and bills; to hold the government accountable for its policies; and to collectively decide matters submitted to the assembly or a committee.

The Ontario Legislature is the principal democratic institution in Ontario, and as such the standing orders—the rules that govern the Legislature—ought to exist in such a way that allows the Legislature to function as efficiently but also as democratically as possible. As stated by political theorist David Docherty, “Legislatures, and the men and women who serve in them, are at the very heart of Canadian democracy.”

Speaker, as we can all agree, there are historically three main functions of Parliament: representation, legislation and scrutiny. I would be so bold to add a fourth function, and that is what we are doing here today: debate.

Referring to Robert’s Rules on debate, there is an expectation of decorum in debate. In debate, a member must confine himself to the question before the assembly and avoid personalities. Speaker, I know sometimes, depending on the subject matter before this House, members can get quite animated, and on occasion need to be graciously reminded by yourself of this key feature of parliamentary debate. It is not allowable to arraign the motives of other members, but the nature or consequences of a measure may be condemned in strong terms. It is not the legislator, but the measure, that is the subject of debate.

Dr. Graham White, a noted political scientist, echoes this sentiment in The Government and Politics of Ontario in which he states that: “The legislature—Queen’s Park—is perhaps Ontario’s most central political symbol. It stands as the embodiment of the province’s democratic values—the people’s representatives making laws in accordance with democratically expressed public opinion”—or an election.

Accountability as well as transparency are key components of our government, and it’s why I am always proud to stand in support of, to explain and defend the policies of our government. In doing so, I am able to represent, as well, the views of my constituents that I have had the privilege to represent and serve in Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. Those are the people we all in this House must be accountable to, with respect to the decisions made here in this Legislature.

Speaker, I’ll admit that while the standing orders of the Ontario Legislature occupy a less prominent role for the average Ontarian, it is the standing orders that are essential to the functioning of this hallowed Legislature.

Referring back to Dr. Graham White, “Standing orders are the set of rules which dictate how and when business is conducted at the Legislature. They are ... referred to as the ‘statute law of the legislature’.... As explained by White, ‘Of the greatest practical importance for most House activities are the standing orders.... These are the House rules that set out, often in some detail, the basic procedures which govern consideration of bills, rules of debate, times of sitting, order of business, question period and a host of other matters.’”

The standing orders must allow the Legislature to function efficiently, and that too has been a signature role of our government, which has been cutting red tape, reducing burdens on taxpayers and job creators, and streamlining processes and procedures to bring greater efficiency to government.

As we continue on this theme, the new standing orders are to help speed the passage of legislation. All members, I would say, generally should be in favour of getting more bills passed in this legislative session. It is simply good governance, and the people deserve a government that is efficient, accountable and able to provide for the needs of those they represent.

I can recall it was over a dozen years or so ago that my friend and colleague the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries was a freshman MPP in this House. As an opposition member and the mother of a young family, now-minister MPP Lisa MacLeod introduced a resolution to make the Legislature more family-friendly. As the youngest MPP in the Legislature, and with a newly born daughter, MacLeod found the

schedule and general organization of the Legislature to be unaccommodating towards the needs of parents. At the time, the Legislature regularly would sit in debate until 9:30 p.m.

When speaking to her resolution in the House on December 6, 2007, she argued, “No one in this place, regardless of gender or political affiliation, should have to choose between being an effective representative in this place and being a good parent.” This push for reform initiated by the MPP from Ottawa–Nepean won broad support within the Legislature and led to the establishment of an all-party committee to examine options to make family life easier for politicians with young children and perhaps lure more young parents into the field.

This example of leadership and change shows how important the standing orders are as it shines as an example of their effect on those of us who are elected officials and how they are applied to every member equally, regardless of their sitting in government or in opposition. With the changes made in the standing orders then, regular late-into-the-evening sittings were no more and it had the most likely outcome of attracting more individuals to seek public office. We can see the proof of that today in this Legislature.

We have elected legislators on all sides of the House who are a younger generation, of whom many had or are starting a family, yet saw the ability to stand up for public office.

We are all people who are trying to manage our family life alongside our legislative life, including constituency demands. Some members, like myself, travel significant distances to have the privilege to serve in this Legislature, so that is one more demand that is worthy of consideration here. Making the Legislature operate more efficiently has the novel effect of enhancing democracy by providing us with a greater number of candidates for public office who bring with them a diversity of interests and perspectives to this Legislature, which better represents the diversity of this great province.

As I stand before you, Speaker, while the standing orders may not find themselves front and centre or prominent in the minds of the public, they are an integral part of our democratic and legislative process. I’ll add that they can achieve great things for many when you reflect on this example that I have just brought forward.

Our government remains focused on facilitating swift, flexible and efficient functioning of this assembly. Since 2019, our government has made a series of amendments to the standing orders to enhance debate, improve democratic oversight and strengthen the institution of this Parliament. These policies we are debating here today will help further these objectives, allowing for the efficient oversight of government spending, robust and focused committee work, and enhanced provisions for the MPPs to participate in the consideration and passing of private bills.

We have been consistent in our attempts on this side of the House to streamline government, increase access to government services and eliminate stifling and cumbersome red tape.

Another example of the initiatives we have undertaken is presented here today with the reform of the committee system. With the current standing order changes proposed to the operations of committees, we intended to create policy-specific committees that will help to develop more functional and productive legislative committees at Queen’s Park. This includes new committee names being proposed as an effort for clarity of purpose. In these changes to the standing orders, committee names also better reflect the focused policy fields for which each committee is responsible.

Parliamentary procedure has an extensive history in the development of democratic institutions as well as revisions and updates to suit the times they operate within. Two thousand years after the Greeks and Romans instituted the concept of parliamentary law and democratic processes, parliamentary procedure was developed as a science in the British Parliament in the 13th century.

In 1920, author A.F. Pollard published his book named The Evolution of Parliament. I would like to share his thoughts from the second edition:

“For political institutions that stand the test of time are organisms subsisting upon their adaptability to their environment and ever changing with the conditions of their existence. Parliament is not bound up with any political theory or any transient constitution; it has been the tool of monarchs, of oligarchs, and of democrats; it has been the means of opposition as well as the instrument of government, the preventive of revolution as well as the promoter of reform.

It has been, and is still to some extent, a court of law, a council, and a legislature; and its forms, which were used by medieval kings, have been found still more effective by modern ministers. Its elasticity has known no bounds in the past, and we have yet to learn that it has no value for the forces of the future. The faith of men in what can be done by act of parliament is assuredly not on the wane; and the mother of parliaments has seen her progeny spread into every civilized quarter of the globe.

When the Minister of Legislative Affairs introduced this package of changes to the standing orders, he reflected on the need to do so when he shared in this House, “This series of standing order amendments, of course, is the conclusion of what has been a four-year process of updating, modernizing and, I would suggest, improving the functions of this House to the benefit of the members. I think that is always our primary responsibility as members. What we want to do is ensure that the jobs that we do represent the new realities of the work that we are elected to do, and I think the final package of standing orders, as presented today, really helps us do that.”

Since 2019, it has been our intention on this side of the House to embrace Pollard’s analysis as an institution that stands the test of time and showcases its adaptability to the environment, and ever changing with the current conditions of its existence.

The minister would go on to share that these proposed changes to the standing orders—and I quote the minister: “Every generation or two, you have to take a look and see what makes sense, what doesn’t make sense and then make the changes to reflect the Parliament of this generation and the ones going forward.” And that’s what the Minister of Legislative Affairs has done with this package of proposed changes.

In 2019, for instance, what seemed like a minimal change for some was really a change in the history of how we as elected officials can serve in this chamber. We made a standing order change that reflected our ever-changing times. That change was explicitly permitting the use of laptops, tablets and smartphones in a non-disruptive manner in the chamber. That may seem a bit trivial, but it really was a significant change to the conduct and behaviour of all members. It allows each of us an opportunity to remain connected to those we serve and represent.

Speaker, I want to take a moment; I’m not sure how many of these opportunities remain for me in the House. I’ve had the privilege over the last 10 years to serve and represent the people of south Ontario, Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. Prior to that, I served three times as a municipal councillor in Charlottenburgh and South Glengarry townships, and then was elected mayor of South Glengarry in 2003, 2006 and 2010.

As my time of public service is coming to a close, I will miss many parts of this

chapter of political life. I have made many great new friends, and have even earned a few nicknames over my years in this Legislature, mainly from my seatmate beside me. Some have made a similar decision as I have to pass the torch on to another. I know that they, too, will miss their time here. It truly has been a pleasure meeting the people of this grand institution, the people who keep it running and who keep it secure, and the members of the public service who aid in the work that we have done here.

As I look back, it has been quite a different format here than over my years of municipal government, but we really have made a significant impact on the people of Ontario as I look back on our record of government.

I was a bit shocked by the stat that of the 14 automobile plants that were built before 2018, 10 were built in the US and four in Mexico. That’s quite a startling stat when you look back, because around 2005, Ontario was the number-one auto maker in North America. Over the years, through different policies, it just got more expensive to work here. Electricity got too expensive to attract new industry. Red tape ballooned.

We saw report after report talking about Ontario being the most expensive place in North America to manufacture cars. As a result, companies went elsewhere. We hear a lot of rhetoric around this House about the importance of—whenever GM shut down in Oshawa, it was, “How could that happen?” It was like a shock, but the warning signs have been there for 10 years, and this House ignored them.

I know that in my time here, we talked about red tape. We talked about the need to make changes that would reverse that. Since coming to power, this government has made those changes. Now, we’ve seen the Oshawa plant moved up. We’ve seen investments in Windsor with Chrysler and we’ve seen battery plants taking investments in Ontario that we wouldn’t have seen before.

Unfortunately, the price of electricity is subsidized by the taxpayer. It’s not the way we would like to see it, but if we want to attract these jobs or keep the jobs we have, that’s a necessary decision we took. It could have been the decision of the government and the opposition across here that made the decisions over the time I was here to keep going raising taxes, raising carbon taxes. And really, the carbon tax is a huge question for me, because I hear these days how important it is to keep the price of fuel down, but on the other hand, I hear how important it is to raise carbon taxes.

I don’t think people in my riding really care what is the composition of the price of fuel. It’s the total fuel they pay for. If nothing else, as the price of fuel goes up, should we not be reducing carbon taxes?

Anyway, thank you for the time today, and I look forward to further debate.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you, sir, for your many years of public service and for your approach to politics, setting an example for us all.

Further debate?

Miss Monique Taylor: It always fills me with pride to be able to stand in my seat on behalf of the people of Hamilton Mountain and to have the opportunity to debate different things that come before this House. Today, as a deputy whip, it puts another realm of pride to be able to talk about the standing orders and how important they are to the House team, to be able to put our perspective on the way that the Legislature moves throughout its daily business.

As you know, Speaker, it is the government that creates the agenda that happens on the Legislature floor. They create the standards, and now they have decided to create the rules on top of that. We have seen more standing order changes under this government—I have actual, real numbers. This is the seventh permanent change to the standing orders since this government took place in 2018, compared to five permanent amendments to the rules for governments between 1992 and 2018. That’s quite a few. I believe—I’ve done a quick count, and I think we’re around 30 changes to the standing orders to help the government push their agenda through quicker.

I know the government House leader likes to talk about, “It’s for the greater good of the Legislature,” but when we look at it as the opposition, as we’ve heard from members even as near as this morning, they are rules that do not give the opposition the ability or the time to prepare or to do our due diligence, as the people of Ontario expect us to. We have seen government bills rushed through very quickly, and with the standing order changes that this government has done, it has made it even quicker.

The member from Oshawa spoke this morning about a bill that was tabled last week. In that afternoon, by that evening, the staff already had to be out getting a briefing on that particular bill that had 11 schedules, with some big changes for the people of Ontario. By 9 a.m. the next morning, we had to be on our feet, talking about what that bill means to the people of Ontario. It doesn’t give time to talk to stakeholders.

It doesn’t give time to truly digest the changes that are happening, and that doesn’t do anybody any justice for any bill that could come before this House or give us the opportunity to truly do our jobs as the official opposition, to ensure that we’re keeping the government to account.

The government House leader was given a new title, Minister of Legislative Affairs, as he has been changing many things within this Legislature. I guess it seemed fitting for the Premier to give him that title, along with the pay raise to go with that, and just really, truly give him all of the space to change the Ontario Legislature to the rules that he wanted to see fit.

We know that the government House leader came from the House of Commons, as he was a federal MP. The rules there were different on many things, and he has been changing many of our rules to mirror them. I want to point out—and I spent a lot of time in this House as a deputy whip, so it gave me the opportunity to be here while our House leader, the official opposition House leader, the member from London West, spoke in her debate time. She talked about the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that they have in the House of Commons and some of the changes that are happening in the Ontario Legislature to reflect that.

The business that’s put before this committee in the federal House includes the review and report of the standing orders, procedure and practice in the House and its committees. That committee has the ability to create and to change the rules and to bring recommendations forward to the floor of the Legislature—or in that case, the House of Commons—to change those rules. That means that all parties come together to discuss rules that need to be changed to ensure that we are moving forward in the future—like bringing electronics to the Legislature floor. It’s really important. It’s moving us with the times.

Nobody disagrees with that. But it’s a committee decision that worked to get them to that point. Here, it’s just the lay of the land of Calandra in how we move any standing orders here in the Ontario Legislature, and that’s just wrong. It is just wrong when one person working with his little group of folks is creating the changes that govern us.

I only have a few minutes left. I was reading over Hansard, and as I said, I was here with our House leader, the member from London West. I really want to quote her. I’m going to read some of her stuff, because it really just puts the actual element on what we’re talking about:

“In a democratic system, there are ... four key elements that have to be kept in mind. We need fair and free elections. We need the active participation of people and citizens in civic and public life. We need protection for the human rights of all citizens. And we need a rule of law in which the laws and the procedures that are passed apply equally to all citizens.

“This is what we do in this chamber. We are charged with ensuring that the laws that we make, the laws that we pass, address the real issues and priorities that are facing the people in this province. The standing orders are the scaffolding that allows us to engage in that very vital obligation to make those laws and pass those laws and bring the concerns of the people that we represent to the floor of the Legislative Assembly.

“The standing orders are essential to the functioning of the Legislature. They dictate how the business is conducted at Queen’s Park, how we consider bills, what are the rules of debate, how we elect the Speaker, when we are going to sit, what business we’re going to be dealing with, how we conduct question period. The standing orders have to reflect a balance between the government’s right to implement its agenda and the opposition’s responsibility to criticize what the government is doing, to scrutinize what the government is doing and to hold the government to account.”

Speaker, honestly, that is the perfect example of how this Legislature should be run. If the government wants to change the rules according to how the federal Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs does, then they should have implemented the entire rule and ensured that the standing orders are charged to that committee so that as a whole we could make these critical decisions.

You know, Speaker, I shouldn’t be that surprised, because—is it that time already?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): It is that time already. I’m sorry to interrupt the member from Hamilton Mountain.

Miss Monique Taylor: Thank you, Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity, and I look forward to returning to this debate this afternoon.

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

Debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The rules dictate that it is now time for members’ statements.

Members’ Statements

Susanne “Susie” Boyle

Ms. Jennifer K. French: Our community has just lost a long-time friend, activist, New Democrat and force of nature. Susie Boyle passed away recently, unexpectedly, at just 61 years old. Many folks in New Democrat circles will know her and will miss her energy, her passion, her excellent laugh and fiery spirit.

Susie had been a long-time New Democrat, and she was one of our local originals. She was active with the party locally and provincially, but also was a relentless voice with the retirees in Oshawa on local and environmental issues. She was active in her church, local Legion and community in many ways. She had been a loving and tireless caregiver to her mother, and she is survived by her sister Teri Boyle and her sons.

I have shared Susie’s voice in this room many times, as she wanted the government to hear what it was like for folks living with disabilities and wanted to be a voice for making things better.

Speaker, as we’re headed into an election, many of us are connecting with our friends and supporters and are rallying volunteers to get campaigns set up. I met Susie right at the beginning of my political journey, and she amazed me with her loyalty and commitment to a young woman trying to get into this arena. Just about everyone with a phone would have talked to Susie around election time, as she was a giant on the phones. She knew every member and their story and history, and she had worked on every campaign long before my time.

Susie was fiercely loyal and passionate and, sometimes, just fierce. She was a small woman with a huge heart, filled with fight and fury and love and loyalty. She had personal stories of Jack Layton, Andrea Horwath and Jagmeet Singh, and had a million memories of our local campaigns and candidates. I know that Sharon and Nester and Sid and Larry and Andrew and Julia and Willy and Peggy and Gord and all the folks who have been in the thick of it in Oshawa and in the NDP would be able to share a lifetime of Susie stories, too.

This International Women’s Day, I’m thinking of Susie Boyle, who was a tiny ball of light, who took my hand to invite me into politics, was a true and loyal friend; who never missed a women’s day breakfast at the union hall, who was a bundle of spirit and who believed in better for people and our community, and she was committed to doing the work to make it happen.

Susie was small, but mighty, and our community will miss her in a big way.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Speaker’s prerogative: She came from Oshawa to Windsor during my by-election and helped me. Thank you so much.

The next member’s statement.

Grand Watershed Trails Network

Mr. Will Bouma: This past Friday, March 4, I had the distinct pleasure of joining my colleague the MPP for Mississauga–Erin Mills and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries and other MPPs, local mayors and dignitaries to celebrate the Grand Watershed Trails Network launch of a new website and video.

This initiative will help them reach a wider audience, increase awareness of the trails system and encourage tourism and exploration of the Grand River trail areas.

The Grand Watershed Trails Network’s mission is to develop the Grand River watershed as a living storybook of adventure and reconnect communities with the Grand River and with each other by partnering with all stakeholders.

We are raising our family in Brant county and often enjoy the trails system and the unique natural beauty that it protects. This video and website will not only promote the Grand Watershed Trails Network, but Brantford–Brant as a whole, showcasing the amazing community we all call home.

This is a project that I was involved in from the early stages about eight years ago, when I was president of the Brant Waterways Foundation. It is so wonderful to see this trails network coming along from the headwaters to the mouth of the Grand River. I encourage you to take a look at www.grandtrails.ca. Thank you.

Gasoline prices

Mr. Wayne Gates: We’ve heard this government say that they care about seniors, yet seniors are finding it harder and harder to keep up with rising costs. They say that they’re addressing the housing crisis, yet prices have skyrocketed. Young people have given up the dream of home ownership.

I ask the Premier, have you looked at the price of gas lately? You have nothing to celebrate. Ontario residents are breaking under the cost of gasoline right now. I’m saying to the Premier that his government can and must play a role in offering relief at the pumps for Ontario residents.

We offered solutions, recommended using the Ontario Energy Board to try to shine a light on this industry and ban gouging where it occurs. The Premier rejected that plan. I ask this government: What is your plan? How can you sit back and do nothing? How is this not a crisis worth resolving?

Oil companies are making billions in profit. Today, the price of gas in Niagara Falls is $1.83 a litre. In Niagara, many people can’t get to work, to school or to hospitals without a car.

We know gouging occurs when prices go up 14 cents overnight or just before a long weekend. We know there’s a lack of transparency when it comes to refineries. All this leaves consumers open to price gouging.

This government claims to care about people’s pocketbooks. If that’s the case, why are they refusing to even debate legislation that might help at the pumps? Right now, we need this government to step in and use every tool available to them to bring down gas prices and give residents a break. We need a provincial government response to gas prices and we need it now.

Marcel Lapierre

Mr. Jim McDonell: I rise today to mark the passing of Marcel Lapierre, a friend, a municipal colleague and, recently, a valued member of my constituency staff.

Marcel was born and raised on the family farm just outside of Martintown. He graduated from Char-Lan high school in Williamstown and sought employment at the local Cornwall Scotiabank branch, where he met his wife of almost 50 years, Suzanne. Marcel moved over to the municipal government side, serving as clerk and CAO of the former township of Charlottenburgh, and was chosen as CAO for the newly amalgamated township of South Glengarry.

After 30 years of municipal service, Marcel retired in 2006 to a life of golf, curling and volunteering with the local Cornwall Lions Club. Nine years ago, Marcel joined my constituency staff to continue in the role he excelled in, serving the public. Marcel’s many friends would stop by our office to catch up on the latest political news or just have a good laugh. He had a way of putting things into perspective, and he was invaluable during my time as mayor and MPP.

Marcel leaves behind him his wife and best friend, Suzanne; his son, Rick, and his daughter, Julie; son-in-law Nathan and daughter-in-law Jennifer; and his granddaughters, Kari and Addison. He will also be missed by his co-workers Marilyn, Allan and Greg.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Invasion of Ukraine

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Speaker, I’m heartbroken. Like so many Canadians of Ukrainian descent, my grandparents immigrated to Canada in the early part of the last century, settling in the prairies to tame the land and to feed our nation as farmers. In the early part of this century, my brother and my father travelled to Moscow several times to initiate the adoption of our dear Misha, a young boy in the town of Tula. My brother, a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, now living in Toledo, Ohio, and married to an American, adopted a Russian who now serves in the US military, stationed at Fort Bragg.

I am heartbroken. The illegal invasion and subsequent war against Ukraine by the Putin regime has shown the world that democracy is under attack. The atrocities shown by Russian forces against civilians already constitute war crimes. We have been inspired by the resolve of the Ukrainian people to defend their homeland and their right to sovereignty, to self-governance and identity. They fight not only for themselves but for all of us who believe in democracy, peace and human rights.

But resolve alone will not win this war. The global community has shown incredible solidarity with the people of Ukraine. As Canadians, we must commit to supporting defensive and humanitarian resources for Ukrainians who remain on the front lines to defend their country, and for those fleeing for safe harbour in neighbouring countries and abroad. We see that the Ukrainian fight for self-determination has become a fight for self-preservation, and we need to help. I urge the Ontario government to increase their financial support and to develop mechanisms for matching donations from Ontarians.

Let no one be mistaken that this war against democracy will be contained within the borders of Ukraine; this is an attack on the values and freedoms that many of us—many Canadians—have fought to defend and continue to defend to this day.

I stand in solidarity with Ukrainian Canadians in condemning the criminal actions of the Putin regime. And to the Ukrainian people, I say: Slava Ukraini.

International Women’s Day

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Today I am delighted to speak on International Women’s Day, a day where I, and many others, embrace and reflect on the differences between men and women and the beauty that lies within them.

Women come in many different shapes, colours and sizes, and are each beautiful in their own ways: the stay-at-home mom who struggles to stay awake while nursing her baby for the third time in a night; the businesswoman taking charge of her own company; the woman who juggles both worlds of working inside and outside the home. And some of us do it while wearing four-inch heels, too.

The strength and softness of women, this unique balance, should be embraced and celebrated. Why do we women feel the need to measure ourselves and our achievements to men? Use yourself as your own measuring stick. In the immortal words of Margaret Thatcher, “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”

So today, I want to say thank you to all women, all the mama bears who get up every day and do the hard things, who deal with the pushback, who stand apart from the crowd, who don’t shy away from confrontation, who stand up for our kids. This day is for you. Thank you.

Grey Jay Sales and Distribution

Mr. Norman Miller: I rise this morning to congratulate Grey Jay Sales and Distribution for winning the Merchandising Excellence Award at the inaugural Ontario Made Awards. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters established these awards to celebrate outstanding manufacturers and retailers that help consumers make informed choices by increasing the awareness of Ontario-made products.

Grey Jay Sales and Distribution is headquartered in Huntsville, Parry Sound–Muskoka, and focuses on bringing Ontario-made products to stores across the province and around the world. This includes products from local businesses like Lake of Bays Brewing in Baysville, Muskoka Brand Gourmet based in Huntsville, and Muskoka Springs Craft Beverages in Gravenhurst. Since 2016, Grey Jay Sales has distributed the high-quality products of these local businesses and others so consumers across Ontario can get a taste of what Parry Sound–Muskoka is all about.

As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused hardship for many small businesses, I encourage all Ontarians to make an effort to buy Ontario-made products. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and they provide our friends and neighbours with valuable jobs and livelihoods.

I congratulate Grey Jay Sales and Distribution on this award and all the local businesses in Parry Sound–Muskoka that Grey Jay Sales partners with on their success.

City of Brampton

Mr. Gurratan Singh: I live in Brampton, one of the largest and fastest-growing cities in Canada. But it’s a city right now where people are struggling. They’re struggling because for 15 years, our city was left behind and neglected by the Liberal government.

Now, when the Conservatives got elected, they made a lot of promises to make things better. But I’ve asked the people of Brampton, “Have things gotten better? Have your car insurance rates dropped? Does your city have an additional hospital? Can you or your children afford a home?” And the answer, time and again, is no.

The Conservative government had four years. They had a full mandate to help our city, and they chose not to because they don’t care about Brampton and they don’t care about you. And the people of Brampton, they’re fed up. They know that we deserve better. We deserve to live in a city where going to the hospital doesn’t mean being treated in a hallway. They deserve to live in a city where paying car insurance doesn’t cost more than your household mortgage. They deserve to live in a city where owning a home isn’t a dream.

That’s what we in the NDP are fighting for. We are fighting for a better Brampton, with three hospitals and three emergency rooms, where people pay fair car insurance, where people can afford a home. And mark my words, we are not going to stop fighting until it happens.

West Lincoln Memorial Hospital

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: The rebuild of the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital has been a top priority since becoming MPP for Niagara West. I was born in the hospital, I campaigned for the hospital and I’m very excited to share with you, Speaker, that in a few short weeks, construction will begin on this new hospital.

Yesterday, Hamilton Health Sciences and Infrastructure Ontario announced the selection of EllisDon infrastructure as the preferred proponent to build our new hospital. This team was selected after going through an RFP process including more than 5,500 technical requirements set out by Hamilton Health Sciences, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Infrastructure Ontario. It was a challenging task to select one of the three successful applicants from these high-quality and unique submissions.

But once complete, the builders will build a new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital that will provide patients and families with:

—a modern, up-to-date facility with a capacity for more beds;

—a larger, 24/7 emergency department that will provide more space for staff and patients;

—maternal and newborn services to provide high-quality care during labour and birth; and

—a modern surgical suite to deliver care with the best technology available.

I also want to thank our local community leaders, supporters, volunteers, doctors and nurses and front-line health care workers for their tireless dedication to this very important regional project in Niagara West.

I also want to pay tribute to the Honourable Christine Elliott, the Deputy Premier and the Minister of Health, a champion for better patient care in Ontario and a strong advocate for our new hospital.

Together, with the support of many ministers and the entire government, as well as Premier Ford, we will build the new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital.

Highway safety

Mr. John Vanthof: Today, I would like to make the House aware of a near tragedy. On BayToday, it was reported what happened Friday. Temiskaming OPP say they got multiple calls Friday afternoon after a school bus was almost hit by a carelessly driven transport truck on Highway 11 in Harley township. The township is just north of New Liskeard. I would like to quote:

“‘Investigation revealed that a commercial motor vehicle was passing unsafely causing a school bus to take evasive action to prevent a collision,’ says Constable Jennifer Smith.

“A short time later, the transport was stopped by police on Highway 11, in Temiskaming Shores,” and the driver was charged.

“It’s not known if there were children on the bus at the time.”

This is not an isolated incident. I have one constituent on Highway 11—twice transports have passed a bus as the lights were flashing. He calls and he follows them into Latchford, where the police stop him. This happens constantly.

The vast majority of commercial vehicle drivers are professional and are good at their job. But there are those that seem to be so focused on getting where they’re going that they don’t really care about the rules. We need to make sure that they’re enforced, that they’re properly trained, because at some point, lives are going to be lost if we don’t.

Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m very pleased to inform the House that one of our page captains today is Elya Keren-Sagiv, from the riding of York Centre. We have with us today at Queen’s Park her mother, Tammy Keren, and her sister, Eden Keren.

Also, we’re joined today by a parent of the other page captain today, Leah Elder, from the riding of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound: her father, Wayne Elder.

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

Walter Elliot

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

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

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

I recognize the member for Milton.

Hon. Parm Gill: Just before I begin, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy International Women’s Day.

Mr. Speaker, I’m of course honoured to rise today to pay tribute to former member of provincial Parliament Walt Elliot. He was elected in 1987 and served until 1990 in the newly formed riding of North Halton under the Honourable David Peterson government.

He was born in 1933 in a small community in Bruce county, and everyone knew him as Walt.

Before his time in public office, he was a dedicated educator, helping to shape the minds of young people. Walt received an undergraduate degree from McMaster University and received his master’s of education from Brock University.

He worked for 28 years as a high school math teacher, principal and a department head. Walt was committed to leading and supporting the next generation and was a valued mentor and role model for many students who came through his classroom.

In addition to his exceptional career in education, Walt also worked as a financial adviser, a small business owner and a farm manager. And yet, on top of all this, Mr. Speaker, Walt always still always found the time and energy to volunteer within his community. He was devoted to public service and was a consistent and well-known presence in Milton. He was actively involved in many community organizations, including the United Way, the children’s aid society, Halton Recovery House, the Ontario Agricultural Museum, the Halton Region Museum and the Milton Historical Society.

He valued volunteerism and always knew, when needed, that members of the community would step up to help, no matter what the project was. Walt once said, “I believe that a spirited group of volunteers from the Milton area could go a long way to assuring the continued life of the museum.” He knew then what we all know now: that the Milton and Ontario spirit is strong and resilient. Walt always encouraged civic engagement in young people, which he demonstrated himself as an organizer and a fundraiser.

He first ran for the Ontario Legislature in 1977 against an incumbent, the honourable James Snow. But it was in 1987 that Walt won his seat in a newly redistributed riding of North Halton to sit in the 34th Parliament. In his time in public office, Walt sat on several important committees and served as the Chair to the Standing Committee on General Government. In 1989, Walt was appointed by the Premier of Ontario as the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Housing, a role that I too served as here in this provincial government.

Walt always spoke passionately in the Legislature about his community and the people of Milton. He was committed to representing and fighting for the interests of his riding and understood the difference between the community from the urban to rural areas.

Walt received many recognitions over the course of his life, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Milton Chamber of Commerce in 2005, a medal for his community service for the 125th anniversary of Confederation, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Governor General of Canada.

Walt was married to his wife, Anne, for 60 years and had two children. In his retirement, he enjoyed spending time with his granddaughters.

Mr. Speaker, Walter Elliot was a pillar of our community, a selfless volunteer, a public servant, and I thank him for everything he did to make our town of Milton and the region of Halton the amazing place that it is today.

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

The member for London West.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: It is a privilege to rise on behalf of the official opposition to pay tribute to Robert Walter Elliot, MPP for Halton North from 1987 to 1990.

Speaker, I rise not only as NDP House leader, but as a member of the unofficial cross-party education caucus that brought so many of us to Queen’s Park. Walt’s passion for public education—as a high school math teacher, a principal, a department head and a mentor to a generation of students—as well as his lifelong commitment to the Liberal Party were the animating forces that drew Walter to provincial politics in the first place.

Walter first ran for the Ontario Legislature in the 1977 provincial election in the riding of Oakville, but lost to PC incumbent Jim Snow. Never one to give up a fight, he ran again in the 1981 election, losing again by an even greater margin. Walter sat out the next election but couldn’t be held back in 1987, running successfully in the redistributed riding of Halton North, serving as MPP and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Housing from 1989 to 1990.

Walter’s motivations were not only to improve the lives of the young people he worked with, but most of all, to improve his community. His Hansard record shows that Walter was ahead of his time in many of the issues he championed, including transit, arts and culture, occupational health and safety, and more. One of my favourite quotes is from 1989 when he said, “In my opinion, the golden rule for industry from now on should be, if your product has to be landfilled, do not make it. I am talking about cars, refrigerators, tires, batteries and so on. The theme for the 1990s should be, ‘No more landfill.’”

While his retirement from politics in 1990 may not have been planned, Walter enthusiastically took up participation in community life, becoming actively involved in fundraising and other activities for a range of community organizations, including the United Way, children’s aid society, Ontario Agricultural Museum, Halton Region Museum, Milton Historical Society, Halton Recovery House, Canadian region of the Scottish Elliot Clan Society, McMaster University, Oakville Art Society and Grace Lutheran Church in Oakville.

Upon his death in June 2020 in his 87th year, Walter was fondly remembered by those whose lives he touched. Memorial posts provide insights into the quality of his character and the man he was:

“His energy and commitment to the United Way and so many other community endeavours was tremendous. Milton is a much better place for his presence and contribution.”

“Walt always showed us what were the important things in life and encouraged us to look after those things to the best of our ability.”

“He was a dedicated community supporter and a charming, informed man.”

“We were impressed with his devotion to public service and constant optimism. The world needs more Walt!”

And: “He was Milton’s greatest citizen.”

Of Walter’s term in the Ontario Legislature, former Speaker David Warner said, “Walter was deeply respected on both sides of the aisle. During his time at Queen’s Park he served in quite a few positions of responsibility, always serving with honour and distinction.”

To his beloved wife, Anne, with whom he celebrated 60 years of marriage before his passing, to his dear children, Paul and Tina and their spouses, Evelyn and Joe, and to his cherished granddaughters, Emily, Violet and Katie: Thank you for sharing your husband, your father and your grandfather with us, with the people of Halton North and with the province of Ontario.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: It’s an honour today to rise and pay tribute to Walter Elliot, the former Liberal MPP for Halton North, for his distinguished public and community service.

Mr. Elliot’s accomplishments were very impressive. He was a teacher, principal, businessman, community leader, volunteer, proud supporter and mentor to so many students and young people, as well as an MPP in this Legislature. He was a dedicated husband of 60 years to his wife, Anne, and a proud father and grandfather.

Mr. Elliot first ran for office in 1977, and again in 1981, and I can relate to the fact that it took him 10 years to finally get elected in 1987. Walter made the most of his time here at Queen’s Park, chairing the general government committee and serving as the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Housing.

I’ve just got to say, reading about Walter’s love of the Niagara Escarpment, I can relate to that. From his home community in Milton, the escarpment is spectacular and beautiful, and he fought to protect it.

Speaker, one of his colleagues described Walter as an “elder statesman at the heart of positive, progressive politics.” When his time was done at Queen’s Park, he continued to serve his community in so many ways, receiving lifetime achievement and community service awards.

I want to say to Walter’s family, thank you so much for sharing Walter with his community, our province and our country. Ontario is a better place because of his service.

Mr. John Fraser: Today, we honour the life of Walter Elliot, member of provincial Parliament for Halton North from 1987 to 1990. He also served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Housing in the Peterson government and other duties inside this Legislature.

Most importantly, Walter was a passionate educator. He was a high school math teacher, the head of the math department in several Ontario schools, vice-principal, principal and, most importantly, a mentor to students.

After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from McMaster University, Walter also went on to complete a master’s in educational administration from Brock University. His love of education carried on into his career in politics. He was also active in his community, including things like the United Way, the children’s aid society, the Ontario Agricultural Museum, the Halton Region Museum and his alma mater McMaster University, among many things.

Walter worked hard to earn the opportunity to represent the people of Halton North. He worked really hard. It took him a few runs to get here to Queen’s Park but, as they say, persistence pays off.

What I like to do, when we have the opportunity to do these tributes, is to go through Hansard and read people’s Hansard. It’s interesting how much the words that we use define us, and we can tell years later what kind of person was standing up and speaking. It’s clear he had a passion for education and health care but, most importantly, he had a passion for the environment. More specifically, he cared very deeply about protecting the Niagara Escarpment.

I also found that he had a sense of humour. His first words in the Legislature reflected that: “Since I have been about 16 years in hard work to assume a place in this House, I really would like to invoke something I always promised myself. That was that the first time I rose in this House, I would pay someone a compliment. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to pay a compliment to the member for Durham East on the length of his speech.”

Another in response, I guess, to a heckle from the other side of the House: “To the member for Scarborough West, I recognize that I am superannuated, but I have never thought of myself as old, even as a math teacher.”

His first speech in the Legislature was a response to the budget of the day. While it was clear that education, health care and infrastructure were important to him, it was evident that he cared very deeply about his own riding of Halton North. He remembered that thing, or he lived by that thing we all need to live by here, which is that he never forgot where he came from, who sent him or what they sent him to do.

Walter had humility and could be self-deprecating. In response to his first speech which I just mentioned, he said, “I would just like to indicate that my first main speech in the Legislature was not nearly the traumatic experience I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed it very much.”

I understand that Speaker Warner talked about how he was respected. It was because of the words that he chose. I want to say that most importantly, above all the words and all the things that we do here, most of all Walter was a devoted father, husband, grandfather and brother, and I want to say his wife, Anne; his children, Paul and Tina; his granddaughters, Emily, Violet and Katie; and brother and sister, Brian and Audrey: Thank you very much for sharing him with us.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I want to thank the members for their eloquent tributes as we give thanks for the life and public service of Walt Elliot.

Question Period

Health care funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I would just like to acknowledge that it’s International Women’s Day today. It’s a day that we talk about breaking the bias and also remembering our she-roes who continue to persist on the front lines of our health care system, and that’s what I want to talk about today, Speaker.

My question is to the Premier. We know that women are bearing the brunt of the backlogged surgeries and procedures here in Ontario. Women are working in our health care system, trying to deal with those backlogs; women are patients who are waiting in pain and anxiety; and women are also caregivers and supporters of family members who are having procedures delayed, who are not getting the fertility treatments they deserve and need, who are waiting for knee surgeries, who are waiting for procedures like MRIs. What we need to clear the backlog, Speaker, is a government that’s prepared to invest the dollars and have a plan. Unfortunately, we’re just not in that spot.

The minister and this Premier know that things are very bad. Tens of millions of surgical waits and procedures are backlogged. So the question to the Premier is, why is he failing? Why is he failing to get rid of the surgical and procedural backlog that folks say, that experts say, is going to take a long time to fix under their pace?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Our government’s top priority has always been the health and well-being of all Ontarians, whether they’ve been suffering from COVID or, now, whether they need to have diagnostic procedures done or surgeries done. That’s why, since the fall of 2020, we’ve invested over $500 million in upgrading our system to make sure that we have the proper number of beds—over 3,100 more beds that we created because nothing much was done by the previous government in that respect.

We’ve also spent over $500 million in allowing surgeries to be performed evenings and weekends so that people can get the relief they need. We know they’ve been waiting, and we are creating, with the investments that we’ve made, the spaces for them, as well as the health human resources we need to operate those beds.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, you can’t fix the system without the staff to run it. I think that’s become very, very clear. Beds are great, but if there aren’t any staff to run those beds, to provide the bedside care, then we’re not going to get very far. In fact, health care workers represented by ONA, SEIU, CUPE and Unifor said this yesterday: “Temporary fixes haven’t worked to stabilize the PSW workforce and a one-time $5,000 payment won’t work to retain and recruit nurses who are asking (for) long-term predictability and support.”

My question is, when is the Premier going to quit with the gimmicks, do the right thing, provide the respect and dignity that these health care workers and nurses are asking for and scrap Bill 124?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The President of the Treasury Board to respond.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Our government is incredibly grateful for the contributions of Ontario’s health care workers and the critical role they have played throughout this pandemic.

Our government has also reaffirmed and invested over $342 million, beginning in 2021-22, to add over 5,000 new and upskilled registered nurses and registered practical nurses, as well as an additional 8,000 personal support workers. For long-term-care homes, our government is investing an additional $57.6 million to hire 225 nurse practitioners in the long-term-care sector.

As our public accounts showed, last year we invested over $19 billion to support health care workers and the people of this province in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, empty words do not retain health care workers. They do not recruit health care workers. They do not return health care workers. They’re calling out this Premier on his latest gimmick. That’s what they are doing because they know it is not going to clear the backlogs that we have in this province. It’s not part of an overall staffing plan to properly run health care. In fact, the ONA president, Cathryn Hoy, calls it “an exclusionary and insufficient band-aid measure that doesn’t begin to address the issues driving nurses away and hurting patient care. I know that nurses across the province are irate at once again being thrown crumbs.”

How quickly does the Premier forget the heroes on the front line of our health care system? They have had one major ask. They’ve had it for a long time. He still refuses to listen to what those workers need and what they deserve, and that is to scrap Bill 124. Will he make that commitment to them today, on International—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I would ask members to please take their seats.

The President of the Treasury Board.

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: These are the facts: Our government has made the most significant investments into the health care system of any government in this province’s history. The members opposite have voted no to supporting 56 major hospital projects across this province. They voted no to supporting over $5.1 billion last year to support hospitals, creating more than 3,100 additional beds, the equivalent of six large hospitals.

Our government will continue to support front-line health care workers. We will continue to support the people of this province and ensure that they get the support they need and, most importantly, that our front-line health care workers get the support they need to get through this pandemic.

Home care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Premier, but I can tell you what we’ve proudly voted against, and that’s Bill 124. New Democrats voted against Bill 124.

But look, we also have a crisis in our home care system here in Ontario. Of course, women are the majority of clients in our home care system. We are also the home care staff that support those clients, and those staff are run off their feet. They’re exhausted, they’re burnt out and they are not getting the support they need from their government.

In fact, Home Care Ontario said this before the pandemic: Half of PSWs do not stay in the job for a full year. The scheduling and the pay are the major issues that prevent these women from actually building a good career in home care.

The pandemic pay bump that this government provided is in fact expiring in a few short weeks, at the end of March. Why hasn’t the Premier made the PSW pandemic pay bump permanent?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Our government has taken steps time and time again to increase pay for personal support workers. We recognize the important role that they play in all parts of our health care system.

The member opposite mentioned home and community care. We recognize the important role that home care plays in our health care system, with all of the health professionals involved in it. That’s why we passed the Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, which will modernize the delivery of home and community services by bringing an outdated system that was designed in the 1990s into the 21st century. That includes personal support workers, registered practical nurses, registered nurses, nurse practitioners and all of the other people involved in the home care system.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, home care and long-term care have been neglected under this government, just like the Liberals before them. Deborah Simon from the Ontario Community Support Association said, “We’ve seen that this crisis has been quietly building as one arm of the system gets funding while the other, which is designed to keep people safe at home and alleviate the burden, is in dire straits. There is no longer any runway” with the past Liberal government and now this government’s underfunding.

The sector has been pleading for government help to retain staff. They cannot provide the services that people need and deserve in their homes. Why has this Premier refused to pay the wages that retain staff and fix our home care system instead of sitting back and allowing this major crisis in home care to continue to grow?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Our government is taking the steps necessary to build healthier communities, strengthen our public health care system and end hallway health care. That is why we’re taking action to modernize home and community care, with Ontario health teams poised to take on its delivery over the coming years.

The health system’s response to COVID-19 has reinforced how important it is for health care providers to work together as one team. Home and community care should be an integral part of our home care system, not a stand-alone system. It’s important for all systems to work together to provide the integrated care that patients and families across Ontario need and to provide true patient-centred care.

We are investing accordingly. We have invested an additional $548.5 million over the next three years in home and community care, which will add significantly to the hours that are available for people to receive care and to add more workers into the health care system.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The sad thing is we all know that it doesn’t have to be this way. We all know that we can actually fix our home care system. We can alleviate the pressure on hospitals and on long-term care. All it takes is the political will and a belief in the public health care system, which unfortunately this government doesn’t have. A Canadian Medical Association report just last spring, March 2021, said that the health care system could save billions of dollars if we were properly funding and operating a home care system that people could rely on, and that would free up, of course, more funding for long-term care and for our overcrowded hospitals.

But this Premier, like the Liberals before him, has really done nothing; sat on his hands and done nothing to deal with the crisis in home care. With so many reasons, including the quality care of our loved ones in the comfort of their own home, why has this Premier refused to fix home care? Why is he ignoring the crisis in home and community care in our province?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Home and community care is an important part of the health care that people receive in our province. With respect to the $548.5 million that we have invested into home care, that would support up to an estimated 28,000 post-surgical patients and up to an estimated 21,000 patients with chronic health conditions every year, by providing 739,000 nursing visits, 157,000 nursing shift hours, 117,000 therapy visits, 2,118,000 hours of personal support services and 236,000 other types of home care visits.

This is a significant investment that’s going to add greatly to our home and community care services so that people can receive the home care that they need in their own homes and not having to go to hospital.

Workplace health and safety

Ms. Jill Andrew: My question is to the Premier. Women serve our communities on the front lines. As workers, especially in health care during this pandemic, they far too often experience violence and harassment on the job. The Canadian Medical Association Journal noted that “nurses and personal support workers, especially women and racialized” women, “typically experience the brunt of workplace abuse in health care.”

This is only made worse by Bill 124. This government must repeal Bill 124. My colleague from Nickel Belt introduced Bill 68, the Speaking Out About Workplace Violence and Workplace Harassment Act, to protect workers speaking out on this unacceptable reality.

My question to the Premier is: Will this Conservative government commit to passing this bill to protect whistle-blowers and protect front-line health care workers like those hard-working Black nurses from the Black Nurses Task Force who are speaking out against violence and anti-Black racism in the workplace? Will the Premier protect our front-line health care workers on International Women’s Day and all the other days of the year?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Our government will not tolerate any kind of racial overtones or sexist overtones to our front-line health care workers. We are very strongly in favour of protecting them. Many steps have been taken in order to protect their rights and to make sure that they are safeguarded. This happens within every hospital, and this is certainly happening at the level of the Ministry of Health. There is no place for this. We recognize the wonderful work that all of our health care workers provide and we want to make sure that everyone is protected in the workplace.

There is no place for any of those activities. We want to make sure that the people who are performing our front-line health care duties, and any health care duties in any aspects—our hospitals, long-term care or home care—are protected to do the job that they are hired to do.

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

Ms. Jill Andrew: Racism and sexism, just so everyone knows, are not overtones. This is systemic violence that our front-line health care workers are dealing with.

My question is to the Premier. The violence in the workplace is in addition to all the other stresses that were placed upon women during the pandemic, and before. One of the focuses this week is Black Mental Health Week, and we want to tackle mental health in our Black communities.

Today, we’re working, we’re coming together, reflecting on the unprecedented strength and resilience of women and so many roles they play as workers, caregivers, family and community members. That resilience, though, must be met with concrete steps by this government to support women, especially our mental health, especially Black women, Indigenous women, racialized women, LGBTQ+ women, women and gender non-conforming folks with disabilities, among many other intersections. Too often, the lack of affordable services creates barriers for women to fully live their lives.

Mental health care must be brought into our OHIP coverage so that all women have access to the health care they need to thrive at work and in their communities. My question is back to the Premier: Why hasn’t this government taken action to make mental health care a part of our public health care system?

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

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Thank you for that very important question. As you know, from the very beginning, this government has been extremely focused on ensuring that there is a plan to look after the mental health of everyone in the province of Ontario. I can tell you that as part of that plan, when we talk about culturally sensitive services and the need to support women, those in racialized communities, those are all things that are included and are part of our plan.

As you know, we have a $3.9-billion investment that’s being made, and now, $525 million in annualized spend-ing is being spent to look after those very things. So we have invested in services with respect to addictions for women—specifically for women—something the past government never looked at and something that we believe is extremely important, to ensure that mothers have the ability to look after their children and that they are also able to get their lives back.

We have made significant investments and will continue looking after the women, all women, in the province of Ontario.

Affaires francophones

M me Robin Martin: Nous savons que la prospérité est la meilleure alliée de nos concitoyens. C’est une tâche qui n’est pas prise à la légère par notre gouvernement. La francophonie est une richesse économique essentielle. Alors, cette question est pour la ministre des Affaires francophones. De quelle façon ce gouvernement va-t-il soutenir la main-d’oeuvre et bâtir l’Ontario? Que fait ce gouvernement pour soutenir le développement économique francophone et les entreprises franco-ontariennes?

L’hon. Caroline Mulroney: Je remercie la députée d’Eglinton–Lawrence pour cette question.

Je suis très heureuse d’informer cette Chambre et la communauté francophone que le ministère des Affaires francophones, en collaboration avec plusieurs autres ministères partenaires, continue à travailler fort pour appuyer la Stratégie de développement économique francophone qui a été élaborée en 2020. Depuis, dans le cadre de l’énoncé économique de l’automne 2021, nous investissons dans cette stratégie 1,5 million de dollars supplémentaires sur trois ans.

Les entrepreneurs francophones de l’Ontario représentent environ 50 % des entreprises francophones à l’extérieur du Québec. Nous sommes ici pour soutenir les entreprises franco-ontariennes. C’est pourquoi, le 3 février 2022, nous avons annoncé un autre investissement de 380 000 $ à la Fédération des gens d’affaires francophones de l’Ontario, la FGA, pour élargir ses services de soutien aux entreprises francophones en démarrage et en croissance.

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

M me Robin Martin: Merci, monsieur le Président. Je remercie également la ministre pour sa réponse très intéressante et instructive.

La ministre peut-elle faire la lumière sur l’excellent travail fait pour soutenir la création d’emplois dans les entreprises francophones et bilingues? Pour ceux d’entre nous qui ne sont pas actifs au sein de la communauté francophone, qu’est-ce que la fédération des gens d’affaires, et comment la fédération soutient-elle les entreprises franco-ontariennes?

L’hon. Caroline Mulroney: Je remercie la députée pour cette très bonne question. L’initiative de la FGA vise à développer un écosystème d’affaires francophones ici en Ontario pour permettre aux entrepreneurs d’établir des liens avec des organismes francophones qui les appuieront dans leur entrepreneuriat.

La FGA offrira bientôt un portail en ligne novateur permettant le partage et l’intégration de programmes et de projets d’incubation visant à porter notre innovation collective vers de nouveaux sommets. La FGA offrira de nouveaux espaces de collaboration durables—physiques et virtuels—ainsi que des solutions d’incubation qui faciliteront le développement de nos entreprises francophones. Et la FGA permettra le développement de programmation spécifique pour les femmes et pour les personnes de couleur.

Le tout mis en oeuvre, la FGA sera en collaboration avec plus de 20 partenaires communautaires.

Je remercie la FGA pour leur travail acharné.

Child care

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My question is to the Premier. Universal child care is key to gender equity. Women tend to take on the bulk of child care responsibilities and make the biggest sacrifices in their work and personal lives when there are gaps in child care. An affordable child care program helps not just women and children but the economy as a whole. Yet, Ontario is the only jurisdiction in Canada that hasn’t signed on to the $10-a-day child care deal.

On International Women’s Day, I ask the Premier, will he finally stop the delay and sign the deal?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Look, I think not only on International Women’s Day but on every day we want to make sure that we have supports in place to allow families to ensure that they have the opportunities to re-enter the workforce, in some cases, and to provide even more for their family.

We are working very closely to get a deal that is in the best interests of the people of the province of Ontario. We want to get to $10-a-day child care, Mr. Speaker. That is the goal of the federal program. We are helping the federal government understand how it is that we can get to that $10 a day for the people of the province of Ontario. I am confident that the opposition would not want us to sign a deal that disadvantages the people of the province of Ontario in comparison to every other jurisdiction in the country.

We will continue to work hard to ensure that we can deliver $10-a-day child care for the people of the province of Ontario and a deal that doesn’t disadvantage future generations of Ontarians so that we can cut a deal today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: Back to the Premier: It isn’t just at home that women are making sacrifices. The majority of child care workers are women too, and they have been underpaid and overworked for decades. This government has an opportunity now to ensure child care workers are properly paid for the important work they do caring for our children.

Will the Premier finally agree to lift childcare workers out of poverty and out of precarity, stop the stalling and sign the $10-a-day child care deal now?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: I’ve said day after day that we are very, very close to getting a deal, and we are very, very close to getting a deal, but we’re going to make a deal with the federal government that makes sense to all Ontario families.

The reality is the federal government only contributes 2.5%—only 2.5%, which is staggering. Our government invests over $2 billion in child care every single year. We also put in a tax credit of $1,500 to help families with child care.

We’re going to get this deal. Just stay tuned, Mr. Speaker. Hopefully it will be sooner than later.

Social assistance

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Premier. Yesterday, I asked his government if they would commit to doubling ODSP rates, and the minister for children and social services used a lot of words to essentially say no. The minister said that the government had increased rates in 2018 when in fact the 3% planned increase was cut in half to 1.5%. The minister said that the government’s goal was to get people on disability back to work. But what the government doesn’t realize is that many people with disabilities face significant barriers to accessing employment.

I want to quote Kim, an ODSP advocate, who described living on ODSP during COVID like this: “It’s like I’m being punished for being born disabled, like I committed some kind of crime.”

Speaker, will the Premier start treating people with disabilities with respect and double ODSP rates in the spring budget?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you for the opportunity to clarify what I actually did say yesterday, which is that our government did raise the ODSP and OW rates when we came in in our first year, and that was after the Liberals had a chance to raise rates. The fact is that they waited until before an election that they knew they would lose to do it.

Our government is very, very clear about this: We are understanding the commitment that it is critical to provide supports to individuals who are looking for a job, who may have lost their job or who are unable to work. That is what I said yesterday.

Knowing the challenges posed by the pandemic, we invested more than $1 billion in the social services relief fund, put out temporary emergency assistance, allowed the discretionary benefit to be used.

On top of this, understanding how critical this is to the vulnerable people of Ontario, we have asked the federal government to come to the table with its campaign promise for a Canada disability benefit, and we will—

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: With all due respect to the minister, the government can’t pass the buck on this one. Yes, let’s let every party in this Legislature work together to press the federal government to deliver on their promise for a Canadian disability benefit. But let’s be clear: ODSP is a provincial responsibility. One-time funds during COVID-19 might help a little bit, but the reality is that you cannot survive in this province on $1,100 a month. We are forcing people with disabilities to live in crushing poverty, and we as Ontarians are better than this.

I’m calling on the government to raise people out of poverty. Doubled ODSP rates would bring them above the low-income cut-off level in the spring budget. Will they do it?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Our government will continue to be committed to making sure that we get the support to our most vulnerable, as we have been doing during a very challenging time, with the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone understands what the challenge has been on this.

We are making sure that we are meeting with our federal counterpart. In fact, I met with Karina Gould not so long ago and we discussed the topics that are absolutely critical to supporting people in need. I took the moment to stress the importance of the federal government’s immediate delivery of their campaign promise to support individuals with a disability in Ontario through the establishment of