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March 30, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Mar-30 vol. A (PDF)

L241A - Tue 30 Mar 2021 / Mar 30 mar 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 30 March 2021 Mardi 30 mars 2021

Orders of the Day

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

Correction of record

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

Members’ Statements

Immunisation contre la COVID-19 / COVID-19 immunization

Earth Hour

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Jewish community in Thessaloniki

Addiction services

COVID-19 response

Long-term care

Easter

House sittings

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Education funding

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 immunization / Immunisation contre la COVID-19

Mental health and addiction services

COVID-19 immunization

Climate change

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 response

Notice of dissatisfaction

Memorials for former members of provincial Parliament

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Government Agencies

Introduction of Bills

Wemax Real Estate Inc. Act, 2021

Senior Volunteer Appreciation Week Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance des aînés bénévoles

Persian Heritage Month Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur le Mois du patrimoine perse

Motions

Private members’ public business

Petitions

Documents gouvernementaux

Driver examination centres

Optometry services

Optometry services

Addiction services

Long-term care

Long-term care

Addiction services

Anti-smoking initiatives for youth

Addiction services

Addiction services

Services de santé dans le Nord

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 29, 2021, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 269,

An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Projet de loi 269, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois.

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

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Good morning, Speaker and everyone in the House. I’m honoured to speak this morning about Ontario’s 2021 budget, introduced by the finance minister last Wednesday. This bill and our budget build on commitments that our government has made to the people of Ontario: our commitment to do whatever it takes to get them through this pandemic and our commitment to be transparent and accountable whilst doing so.

When the pandemic began last March, just one week after we decided to declare a state of emergency, our government was the first in Canada to unveil a comprehensive economic outlook and a plan to support the people and businesses of this province. Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID‑19 laid the foundation for immediate economic and health care support. This plan included $7 billion in additional resources for the health care system and direct support for people and jobs, as well as $10 billion in support for people and businesses through tax and other deferrals to improve cash flow, protecting jobs and families’ household budgets.

In November, we built on this plan through the release of our 2020 budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover. The 2020 budget allocated unprecedented resources to our pandemic response. It provided what we needed to strengthen front-line health care, support people and employers and lay the groundwork for Ontario’s economic recovery.

The pandemic’s landscape is different today than it was in November, five months ago. Five months ago, we knew vaccines were in development, but we didn’t know when they would be available. The Ontario spirit of supporting each other through these difficult times is still alive and well, but we now have hope in the form of vaccines. Yesterday, Ontario administered its two-millionth dose of COVID-19 vaccine. It isn’t us in this chamber administering these vaccines—except for the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, who, as we know, is a pharmacist—it’s our dedicated health care workers at hospitals, doctors’ offices, pharmacies and community centres across this province.

Vaccinations are the key to ending this pandemic once and for all, which is why getting vaccines into the arms of those who want them is our number one priority. Ontario and our public health partners have been working hard to administer as many vaccines as our supply from the federal government allows. These efforts will ramp up as soon as we have the stable, steady supply of vaccines to do so.

Announced in this budget, Ontario is investing more than $1 billion to support the administration, distribution and rollout of our vaccination campaign. Our three-phase plan will involve our entire health care system, including public health units, hospitals, pharmacies and doctors’ offices. We will also rely extensively on new infrastructure, including mobile clinics and mass vaccination sites. In many public health units, anyone 70 or older is now eligible to book a vaccine, and in areas with a pharmacy or primary care provider pilot, those aged 60 to 69 can also get the vaccine.

Over the past several months, my staff and I have been speaking to many people in our community, including our senior population. What we’ve heard is that while many have been vaccinated, others lack the transportation to be able to do so. That’s why our government is removing this barrier to getting vaccinated by allocating $3.7 million to provide safe, accessible transportation for persons with disabilities and older adults with limited mobility to get to their COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

We know that the vaccination campaign will not be completed overnight. While these efforts are under way, we will not waver from our commitment to protect the people of Ontario. We are supporting our ongoing response with $3.7 billion over two years for our testing strategy—one of the most comprehensive in the country—to ensure timely access to testing, ensure that it is available to vulnerable communities and to expand the capacity to process these tests effectively.

The COVID-19 virus has had a devastating impact on families across this province, none more so than those in long-term care. The pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities in our long-term-care homes, which have been underfunded and neglected for decades. This is not acceptable. Our government is making unprecedented investments into the long-term-care system to ensure that we have the capacity needed to provide care to those in need and to ensure that those in our LTC facilities are receiving the care they deserve in the conditions they deserve.

We are investing $246 million over the next four years to upgrade long-term-care facilities across this province and fast-track upgrades for health and safety, including renovations to support infection prevention and control, improve ventilation and provide residents with air conditioning.

One of the most common problems constituents contact my office with is finding space in a long-term-care facility for their loved ones. Sometimes they’ll be offered a space in other parts of the province, but they will be too far away from their families and other support systems they have in their own communities. The LHINs are doing their best to try and place these residents in their communities based on priority, but there simply are not enough beds available.

Between 2011 and 2018, only 611 LTC beds were built across the province. In 2018, our government made a promise to the people of Ontario that we will build 30,000 new beds within 10 years. Sites are under construction right across the province, but I’m most excited about what’s under way in Mississauga. Mississauga is home to one of four developments occurring through our Accelerated Build Pilot Program. The Trillium Health Partners’s Speakman site development will build 420 new beds and upgrade 220 existing ones within months, not years.

Our 30,000-bed promise is supported by an additional $933 million over four years, for a total of $2.6 billion. As outlined in the budget, “These most recent allocations will result in a development pipeline of 20,161 new spaces—representing more than two thirds of the government’s commitment to build 30,000 new beds by 2028—as well as 15,918 upgraded spaces.”

We’ve made another commitment as well, one that I’ve been asked about since the day I arrived at Queen’s Park for the very first time. Ontario will provide the best quality care in Canada and will increase the average direct daily care per resident to four hours a day through an investment of $4.9 billion over four years.

This won’t be possible without the health care heroes who support our residents: the staff, nurses and PSWs. We’ll be hiring 27,000 more positions across the province to support these efforts. We will accelerate and expand education and training pathways in order to prepare and train the tens of thousands of new staff that will be required; support continued professional development and growth of long-term-care staff to improve retention; and improve working conditions for staff by coordinating with long-term-care employers to increase full-time employment and promote innovative approaches to work and technology.

Our seniors have worked so hard to build this province up. I believe many members on both sides of this House have heard various concerns from their communities about long-term care in Ontario. I’m proud that our government is taking concrete steps to create meaningful change in this sector.

Long-term care is by no means the only part of our health care system in need of support. Ontario has made landmark investments in mental health supports throughout the pandemic, and this continues under this budget. We are providing $175 million in mental health supports over 10 years as part of our $3.8-billion 10-year plan.

We also know that, in particular, post-secondary students require extra support during this time. To assist, we are adding an additional $7 million to our $19.25-million commitment of mental health and addiction support for campuses and those studying virtually.

To preserve capacity and allow our health care system to adequately treat COVID patients of varying severity, certain elective and non-urgent surgeries and medical procedures have been postponed over the past year. We know today that this is not sustainable. We need surgeries and diagnostics to continue. We’re investing in an additional $5.1 billion to support hospitals since the pandemic began, creating more than 3,100 additional beds to ensure that those who need our health care system can access it when they need it.

Over $610 million, including $300 million in 2021-22, is allocated to address the surgical backlog from delayed or cancelled surgeries and procedures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will help hospitals keep operating rooms open late in the evening to complete up to 52,000 surgical hours of elective surgeries and address the MRI and CT scan backlog.

Throughout my time in office, I’ve been approached many times with concerns about the way surgeries are scheduled. Patients are stuck waiting months or even years for a procedure with a certain specialist or at a certain hospital when other options are available. This investment will also address that concern by creating a centralized provincial surgical wait-list program to help reduce delays in scheduling and to match patients to surgeons with shorter wait times.

A capital plan investment of $30.2 billion over 10 years will be used to build and renew hospital infrastructure, including an additional $3 billion since the 2020 budget. Hospitals across the province, from Collingwood to London to Bowmanville to Windsor, will be redeveloped. Closer to home—for me, anyway—this funding will support the Trillium Health Partners’ broader redevelopment project. Queensway Health Centre will be augmented by a brand new patient care tower and the Mississauga Hospital, which is over 60 years old and opened in 1958 as South Peel Hospital, will be completely rebuilt—not renovated; rebuilt.

These projects will increase capacity and address Mississauga’s current and projected growth. We will also benefit from our government’s commitment to the second hospital in Brampton, which I know the member from Brampton West and the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction have been tirelessly advocating for.

We are not just supporting the health care system for today, we’re investing in the health care system for the future. These investments will ensure that Ontario’s public health care system remains accessible and available for decades to come.

We cannot have a healthy economy without healthy people. As I’ve explained so far, we have made a myriad of investments into health care, but this budget also directly supports the people of Ontario and the businesses that employ them. We’re continuing two of the very popular transfer payment programs that were introduced this year, one of which supports parents of children, and another which supports businesses.

In January, Ontario introduced the small business support grant to provide relief to businesses that were required to close or significantly restrict services as a result of the province-wide shutdown that took effect in December. I have heard from countless businesses, both in my role as MPP for Mississauga–Streetsville and as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, that this program was a lifeline for them and provided the cash flow support needed to make it through the winter. More than $1.4 billion has been paid to nearly 100,000 small businesses for them to use in whichever way works for them, from paying wages to maintaining inventory.

We all want our businesses to be open, but the pandemic is not over. We must continue to follow the advice of our public health and medical experts, and do what we can to stop the spread of these variants and protect our communities. To further support these small businesses, the province is doubling this grant and is automatically providing a second, equal payment to them. Together, the two rounds of this program are expected to provide $3.4 billion in total direct support.

The other program we are continuing is the Support for Learners grant, now called the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit. The government has provided two rounds of direct funding to parents right across the province: $200 per child up to grade 12 and $250 per child with special needs up to the age of 21. As part of the 2021 budget, we are providing a third round of payments, and we’re doubling it. Parents will now receive $400 per child aged zero to grade 12 and $500 per child with special needs up to the age of 21.

A family with three children, one of which has special needs, will receive $1,300 through this round of payments. Over the duration of the program, this family would have received $2,600 to support their children’s education. In all, this will total $1.8 billion in direct support through this program alone.

We’re also proposing an increase to the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses, or CARE, a refundable tax credit introduced in 2019 to support parents with the cost of child care, something that continues to be an unaffordable expense for many families. The proposed 20% increase to the CARE credit will increase support from $1,250 to $1,500, on average, providing about $75 million in additional support for the child care expenses for over 300,000 families.

We are, of course, providing direct supports to the education system as well, aside from the investments made for the safe reopening of our schools in the 2020 budget: $14 billion in capital grants over 10 years have been allocated to build more schools and upgrade existing facilities, including $1.4 billion in school renewal for the 2021-22 school year.

Our economy will recover from this pandemic, but we also know that the employment landscape will look different than it did pre-pandemic. Some sectors will take longer to recover than others, and some have been disproportionately affected.

The right kind of training is crucial for workers to find the jobs they want or advance in the fields they are currently in. I’ve heard from many people, of all ages, who want to change careers or retrain for a more secure future, but some have difficulty with the cost. We also have sectors with labour shortages and positions we can’t fill. Our government is bridging the gap and helping workers get the training that they need. The Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit would be a temporary refundable personal income tax credit that would provide up to $2,000 in relief, for up to 50% of eligible expenses in 2021.

We’re also introducing other job-specific training benefits. For example, we’re investing $2 million over two years to attract new PSWs and nurses to work in retirement homes. I had the opportunity prior to the pandemic to shadow a personal support worker at one of the long-term-care homes in my riding. I believe I’ve spoken to this before, but it’s incredible work that they do each and every day to support our seniors and vulnerable populations. As I mentioned before, we have shortages in this field.

The Ontario government will provide PSWs a financial grant of $5,000 for a six-month commitment to work in a retirement home and nurses a $10,000 grant for a one-year commitment, in addition to providing financial assistance to those looking to be trained.

A sector that has been hard hit by the pandemic in all areas of the province is the hospitality and tourism sector. Our government, under the direction of the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, is investing more than $400 million over the next three years in these new initiatives. As part of our strategy, we’re also increasing funding up to $50 million for Ontario’s 13 regional tourism organizations to attract domestic and international visitors when it’s safe to do so.

There are so many things that I can talk about, but I see time is running short. We understand there’s a significant amount of spending in this budget, but the Premier has been clear from the very beginning of the pandemic that we will do whatever it takes to support the people of Ontario throughout this difficult time. Our government will foster an environment for the creation of jobs, and the minister explained this last week, “While we create the conditions, it will be the people and employers who create the actual growth ... until we reach those shores, we will maintain our relentless focus on protecting people’s health and our economy.”

Correction of record

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): We have time for questions, but before we do that, the member from Sudbury has indicated he would like to rise on a point of order.

Mr. Jamie West: I’d like to rise on a point of order to correct my record. Yesterday afternoon during House duty, I was informed that I used a word that I thought meant “fool” but could be taken as unparliamentary. I want to thank the member for Eglinton–Lawrence who talked to me after House duty and made me aware of this error. I’m going to provide a note to Hansard to correct my record to have the word adjusted, if that’s possible. I want to apologize to anybody who was offended by the word.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): It is always appropriate for a member to stand and correct his or her record.

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The first question to the member from Mississauga–Streetsville goes to the member from Sudbury.

Mr. Jamie West: Thank you to the member from Mississauga–Streetsville. During her debate, she talked about the 27,000 new hires for long-term care. Christyna Cox had contacted my office. She talked about trying to keep new employees. She says, “We hired many new employees who were hired, completed orientation, report for two of their shifts and never return again. And why? It’s because the workload is intense and extremely exhausting.” Another PSW said that they quit their role to work in laundry, because they work for 30 cents less by doing much less work.

I’m just wondering if the government will support my bill, Bill 266, which will be debated this afternoon, the Support Workers Pay Act, so that we can hire, retain and provide a wage for these PSW workers so we can retain them.

Mrs. Nina Tangri: I want to thank the member opposite, not just for the question but for the proposal that he brought forward in his private member’s bill. I think we can all agree that the work that our personal support workers did is absolutely incredible. I spent just a few hours one day shadowing one in the dementia and Alzheimer’s wing of a long-term-care home. I have to say, I could not do that job. It was extremely difficult. They were being shouted at. They were trying to make sure that they were toileted and fed at the right time, that they kept them clean. It is a very, very difficult job. I know it’s something that our Premier takes very, very seriously.

I’m certainly looking forward to looking at ways that we can all work together to make sure that we can not only hire more but retain more PSWs, at long-term-care homes and retirement homes, that we so desperately need. One of the ways that we’re doing that is to make sure that we get more people trained much faster.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The next question.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Thanks to the member for her local remarks and the folks that she’s been talking to and the experiences that she’s shared with us.

I just want to ask her, because she’s been doing a lot of work trying to get a lot more investment into Ontario from all different sectors and she’s been working really, really hard with our Minister of Economic Development—she’s on countless Zooms—I just wanted to ask her what the impact of this kind of budget is going to mean for the future of the province and, really, getting more investment and more job creation here?

Mrs. Nina Tangri: I’d like to thank the member from Barrie–Innisfil for the question, because it is critical. While the health and safety of all Ontarians is what is of paramount importance, we have to look to the future on how our economy can recover. Together with the Premier and the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, we’ve continued, throughout the pandemic, meeting foreign direct investment. We’ve talked to many, many businesses.

Just this past Friday, the Premier, the minister and I, together with the member from Mississauga–Malton, were at HCL Technologies—a company that just happens to be in my riding. They’re going to be hiring—anything from 800 to 1,200 jobs just at that one location—2,000 people across this country.

So the work continues. The work on attracting foreign investment is still going to continue, and to ask companies to be here in Ontario and to grow. And we are creating the environment to do that.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for York South–Weston.

Mr. Faisal Hassan: The member from Mississauga–Streetsville talked about investment in this budget, but there is no investment, Mr. Speaker, in communities like my community of York South–Weston. We need investments. We need investments in housing. We need paid sick days, child care, culture, art, long-term care and education. This budget does nothing to provide support in those key areas.

The member from Mississauga–Streetsville talked about how there is investment for long-term care. We know that, Mr. Speaker, investment for four hours of daily care support will be implemented not now, but five years from now. That’s not investment for today. Will the member for Mississauga–Streetsville tell us, are they going to put the PSWs—10,000 PSWs—because we need them now. Rather than providing grants, are you going to hire them now? Because it’s needed in long-term care.

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Thank you to the member opposite for the question, because it is critical. It is absolutely critical that we can get the PSWs in our long-term-care homes and in our retirement and nursing homes as well, but they’re not trained overnight.

We have put incentives out there to attract more people to come into this sector. It’s something that this government does, because the previous government let it fall by the wayside for 15 years. We recognize the desperate need in our long-term-care homes. Each patient deserves at least four hours of care, we absolutely recognize that, which is why we asked the members opposite to join us in making sure that we have policies put in place to attract more PSWs. Because it’s a great job, it really is, for those who are doing it. I’ve talked to them. They love the work that they do.

They love the seniors that they work with. And I think we need more of them to help us attract others to come into this industry.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member from Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill.

Mr. Michael Parsa: Thank you very much, Speaker. Great to see you in that chair, always.

Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her presentation. She did a great job, as always.

Not a single member in this House that I can recall has not talked about support for our small businesses. Every single one of us knows and understands the value they bring not just to our overall economy, but to our local communities as well.

Through this budget, a second round of the Ontario Small Business Support Grant will be offered to approximately 120,000 small businesses who will be eligible for a second round. That’s an additional $1.7 billion. I know what it means to small businesses in my community, because I spoke to them, Speaker. I’m wondering if my colleague can elaborate on what that means, having a role in the Ministry of Economic Development—what is this going to mean to small businesses who have been affected so much during this pandemic?

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Thank you to the member for the question, because it is critical. Throughout the pandemic, our small businesses especially have suffered severely. We wanted to make sure that we have supports put in place. When we came out with the small business grant, we made the system quite simple for them to be able to apply. I’ve assisted many people myself with the online system. Not only are they getting the small business grant, but they’re also getting help with their energy costs as well, and we gave $1,000 for PPE, if they chose to utilize that.

But what was great about our announcement in the budget last week is not only are we doubling the program, it’s going to be automatic. They don’t have to reapply. They don’t have to go back on their computer. They need to be working on trying to recover from this pandemic, so we made it easy for them. If they received $20,000 the last time around, they will get $20,000 this time. I think that was what was critical for our businesses.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for Hamilton Mountain.

Miss Monique Taylor: I would like to tie into the same line of questioning when it comes to the Ontario business support grant because, in my riding of Hamilton Mountain, I have heard from many business owners who weren’t able to qualify and found it very tedious and a lot of work to be able to get through that program to apply, and then to find out that they were denied for several reasons.

To see that the same business owners will be able to access the money and the same business owners will not be able to access the money—one of my business owners from the Stage Diner, he’s ready to close his doors. He feels like it’s a slap in the face to say that the same people will get the same money and he will still not qualify.

What does she say to people who do not qualify and should qualify? Will she go back to her government and try to make a plan that actually expands the program and makes it so that others will qualify also?

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. I think what was critical, especially in areas that were in full lockdown, is that we got the supports to them, because they were fully closed down. What happened, especially with those in the restaurant sector, is we ensured that they were included in this. For those who had—sometimes they entered the wrong information, or slightly different, and they worked with us, they worked with my office—I know a lot of them—and we were able to get answers why, throughout the system, if it didn’t work, and we were able to get them those grants.

I have numerous, numerous emails of thank yous for that little bit of help that they needed because they accidentally twisted a figure around, or sometimes it’s just something they don’t understand. We made sure that we were available. My office has been phenomenal doing that—I’m talking about my constituency office. They can always go through their MPP, any MPP in this chamber, and then come to the ministry and we will try and help them.

We want to make sure everybody who qualifies for this grant does qualify for it.

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

Ms. Peggy Sattler: It is always a pleasure to rise to participate in debates in this assembly. Today, we are debating Bill 269. This is the bill that is intended to assist with the implementation of the government’s budget that was tabled last week.

Before I begin my remarks on the contents of the bill, I just wanted to provide some context for the discussion that we are having here this morning. Yesterday evening, a report was released by the COVID-19 science advisory table. I want to acknowledge the health care experts who participate on that table. It is an independent table that brings together some of the best minds in the province to advise the government on COVID-19.

They released a report that indicates that variants of concern now account for two thirds—67%—of all Ontario COVID infections, and these variants are associated with a 63% increased risk of hospitalization, a doubling of the risk of intensive care unit admission and a 56% increased risk of death due to COVID-19. They also note that on March 28, just a couple of days ago, the daily number of new COVID infections in Ontario reached the daily number of cases that was observed near the height of the second wave, which, of course, at that time, prompted the start of a province-wide lockdown on December 26.

They report that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is now 21% higher than it was at the start of the last province-wide lockdown, ICU occupancy is 28% higher, and most alarmingly, the percentage of COVID patients in ICU who are younger than 60 years of age is now about 50% higher than it was before the province-wide lockdown. They warn that the impact of the transmission of the variants will be most pronounced in two to four weeks. So there will be significant—significant—impacts in terms of our health care system.

We know, according to the Globe and Mail, that hospitals have had to pull out the triage protocol and consider what is unthinkable for health care professionals: who deserves treatment when hospital systems are overwhelmed, when ICU beds are fully occupied and when our health care system is not able to manage the caseload of people who are ill with COVID-19.

This is the crisis that we are living through in Ontario. We have in front of us a budget that is basically silent on the reality of the third wave that is upon us in this province.

I also want to acknowledge my own community in London. This morning, just past midnight, the Middlesex-London Health Unit was moved from the orange zone to the red zone. London saw an 87% increase in cases just over the last week. The number of cases in terms of the population meant that the government made the decision to move London into the red zone. Once again, London is like every other place in the province: There is very much increased evidence of variants of concern.

Dr. Peter Jüni, who is the scientific director of the science table, says—and this is a quote; he said this yesterday: “Right now in Ontario, the pandemic is completely out of control.” He noted that for Ontario, there is now “no way out” of the dire scenario that’s set to unfold over the next few weeks without a widespread lockdown coupled with other measures, including the province providing paid sick leave to essential workers, encouraging Ontarians to avoid movement between regions and ensuring residents have access to lower-risk outdoor activities.

Speaker, this budget would have been the opportunity for this government to implement those measures that we have known about for months—for months—in this province, that would have helped to mitigate some of the horrors of this third wave that is going to soon be upon us. Unfortunately, the government chose not to take that opportunity. They chose not to implement measures like paid sick days that are going to be so critical in the weeks ahead.

I did want to now turn to some of the contents of the budget and the budget bill that we are debating this morning. I want to recognize the government for including in its budget an acknowledgement that Ontario is in a she-cession. The impact of the pandemic has been acutely felt by women in this province who work in occupations that were affected almost immediately by the pandemic. They experienced significant job loss, women who work in retail, in hospitality, those kinds of jobs. Those women workers have been the last to re-enter the labour market.

Still, we see a significant gap between the men who are re-entering the labour market and women’s access to labour market opportunities because, let’s face it, women carry the burden of caregiving. They carry the burden of caring for their children. They often are responsible for the care of aging parents as well.

Women have talked about the extraordinary pressure of the pandemic on their mental health and well-being, the stress that they experienced as they tried to juggle these caregiving responsibilities with continuing to make a living, earn an income. It’s been challenging, Speaker. We know that women’s jobs are concentrated in what they call the five Cs: caring, cleaning, catering, cashiering and clerical. As I mentioned, many of those jobs were the ones that were—businesses were closed; those jobs were lost at the beginning of the pandemic.

But others of those jobs are essential workers. These are jobs that can’t be done at home. Caring: PSWs, child care workers—you can’t do that work from home. Cashiering: grocery store clerks—you can’t do that work from home. So women who were the first hit by the pandemic were also in occupations that were at much higher risk: PSWs, for example; nurses, for example; early childhood educators, for example. We have to recognize the disproportionate burden that the pandemic created for women in this province.

It’s interesting, Speaker: The finance minister acknowledged the she-cession. This really is a reflection of what we have seen throughout the pandemic. Unlike other economic downturns where it is the male jobs that are affected, in this pandemic it was the women’s jobs that were affected. There’s an acknowledgment that there is a she-cession. There are rosy projections about economic recovery, but there is nothing in the budget document or this budget bill that talks about a she-covery. On the one hand, they’re acknowledging the disproportionate burden that women have faced.

But on the other hand, they’re doing nothing to ensure that there is a she-covery for all of those women in Ontario who have been negatively affected by COVID-19.

What is key to a she-covery? We all know. We all know it’s child care. Women have to have access to child care if they are going to be able to re-enter the labour market. What do we see in this government? Do we see the stabilization funding that the child care sector has been crying for? No, we do not. We see an increase in the CARE tax credit, which we know is money that is paid to parents—we heard the Minister of Education—so they can use it for things like summer camps. That is not a sustainable, stable, coherent child care system that is being supported by the CARE tax credit.

The other reality, Speaker, is that a tax credit provides relief for families who pay those fees up front and then they get money back on their tax return. However, it does nothing for families who can’t afford the prohibitive costs of child care. We know that Ontario has some of the highest rates of child care in the province.

What else was missing, from this government, that would have enabled that she-covery that we need to see? There should have been a focus on making caring jobs good jobs; a focus on ensuring that PSWs have a sustainable, long-term, permanent wage increase; a focus on moving those caring jobs from being part-time jobs with no benefits, no job security, into full-time jobs. Value those jobs. Value the care that the people who are employed in those jobs—largely women—value the care that they provide.

I have to say, in the context of the Supreme Court decision on the carbon backstop, climate change is real. Climate change demands that we look at investing in low-carbon sectors of our economy. The care sector is a low-carbon sector. These are green jobs, when we talk about caring jobs. So let’s invest in making those jobs good jobs, not just a wage supplement for PSWs that’s going to expire in June. Let’s acknowledge and value the work that care workers do.

The other thing that’s missing, from this government, that would have been important to a she-covery is an acknowledgment of the income insecurity that so many women workers in Ontario face. I have to say, it was shocking to me and to many advocates, to everybody on this side of the House, to see the lack of acknowledgment in this budget for the burdens or the barriers that people with disabilities have faced throughout this pandemic. They have faced higher costs with having to get food delivered. They have faced higher costs because the cellphone is their only means of communication with the outside world.

They have faced a number of additional expenses, a financial burden that has meant that even the meagre, below-poverty income levels that they’re trying to subsist on right now have been inadequate.

And it’s galling in the face of the federal government’s decision that $2,000 a month is a reasonable income replacement for people who have lost their jobs. That’s what people have been getting through the CERB. Meanwhile, here in Ontario, people on ODSP have been struggling with the indignity of trying to get by on about $1,200 a month. This would have been an opportunity for the government to address that income inequality, which is so pronounced in the province.

It would also have been an opportunity to look at getting women back into the labour market with targeted supports that recognize the intersectional challenges that racialized, Indigenous, low-income, women with disabilities—that many different women face in trying to re-enter the labour market.

The training tax credit that is set out in this legislation—once again, like the CARE tax credit—requires people to be able to pay upfront for those post-secondary programs that are going to get them retrained, and that’s a big assumption. That’s a big assumption to make, that people would be able to pay those fees upfront, when they’re only going to get a partial—up to 50%—of that investment back. There are many women who would not be able to benefit from such a tax credit because they simply can’t afford that initial upfront investment.

There was no new money for housing in this budget. I want to say, in my community in London—in every community, actually, Speaker—we are facing a housing crisis. A report came out just last month: London is second only to Toronto in terms of the total amount of rent arrears that are owed by tenants who’ve been struggling throughout COVID-19. We have a third of renters in our city who are living in substandard housing, but can’t afford to move. There would have been an opportunity for the government to invest in permanent housing, to provide a rent supplement, to implement a moratorium on rental evictions—all of these would have responded to the actual needs of people in this province.

There is an investment in violence against women. We know that the reality that women face in terms of gender-based violence is a barrier to their full economic participation, and so we need to ensure that the supports are there, but this government did not even replace the funding that they had cut from violence against women services, and their pledge to invest funding over three years to improve victim and sexual assault services calls into question how much of that funding will actually be directed to violence against women.

In my community in London, crisis calls to violence against women services are up almost 50%. We’re hearing that when women finally get to a shelter, they are now in much more acute stages of crisis than they were before the pandemic. The pandemic has really seen a dramatic increase in violence against women.

Finally, I want to talk about support for the not-for-profit sector. The government talks about the small business grant being available, being doubled for the same businesses that were eligible before. The not-for-profit sector is not able to access the small business grant. The not-for-profit sector employs—75% of the employees are women; they provide incredibly valuable services. This would have been a great opportunity for the government to look at the eligibility for that small business grant, to look to include the not-for-profit sector, to look to include more businesses. The government chose not to do that.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Time for questions. I turn to the member from Whitby.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I want to thank the member for his question. We’re not going to be supporting this budget. We’re not supporting this bill. This is a time, Speaker, when people in the province are looking to the government for the critical help that they need to make it through the pandemic and the hope that, once they’re through, they’ll be able to thrive on the other side.

This government fails to do that. It doesn’t address these long-standing issues that we’ve seen in our long-term-care sector. It doesn’t address the stability of our child care sector and non-profit sector. It doesn’t deal with the significant challenges that our education system is going to be facing for years as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning. We can’t support it.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for Spadina–Fort York.

Mr. Chris Glover: Thank you to the member for the comments today on this bill. In my riding, one of the big concerns is that daycares are closing. You mentioned that women have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic and that what we need is to plan for a she-covery. You said that daycare is one of the key components in order for women to be able to return to the workplace, and yet there’s a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that shows that both fees are going up. They’ve gone up by up to 20% in some areas of Ontario.

Many daycares, because of the dire financial straits they’re in, are closing. What should the government be doing in order to support women and to have a she-covery?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: Thank you very much to my colleague for his question. Certainly, he points out that Ontario parents are paying the highest child care fees in the country. It costs more to send a child to child care than it does to send a child to university. This is a major investment for families. Yet we are seeing here in Ontario, for the first time in a decade—there were 58 child care centres that closed last year, which means more centres closed than opened. We need to ensure that we have access to quality, affordable, non-profit, accessible child care. That takes a plan.

It takes more than putting an extra $250 a month in the pocket of parents. That is what we need to address the child care crisis.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The next question.

Mr. Billy Pang: Talking about helping families, our new budget is helping families who have faced new pressures and expenses during the pandemic keep more money in their pockets. The government is providing a third round of payment to support parents, through the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit, totalling $1.8 billion since last March. The payment will be doubled to $400 per child for this round and $500 for each child with special needs. Will the member opposite be supporting families with young children as they carry the financial burden of COVID-19?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I think every parent with children in this province wants to be able to send their children to school and know that the programs and services and resources and education workers will be there to support them whether their child has special learning needs or not. This government makes no investment in education. It’s actually shocking, the lack of focus in both this bill and in the budget document about education. Basically, the education funding that is provided barely keeps pace with inflation, which, as you know, Speaker, represents a cut.

There are going to be long-term impacts on children’s learning as a result of this pandemic. We should have been investing in more education workers in our schools rather than cutting $1.6 billion.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for York South–Weston.

Mr. Faisal Hassan: I would like to thank my colleague from London West for her eloquent presentation this morning with regard to the disparities and inequities that exist and also brought by the pandemic. I know that it’s required for a she-recovery.

I know that the member from London West has put forward a bill: the Stay Home If You Are Sick Act. This budget doesn’t have paid sick days. I would like to ask about the importance of having paid sick days. I know that 60% of front-line workers and workers in general don’t have paid sick days, and we need a she-recovery. My question to the member from London West: Why is it important to have that?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I really appreciate that question, because I didn’t get to paid sick days in my remarks. But, certainly, I did talk about the kinds of jobs that women are concentrated in, the kinds of front-line jobs that can’t be done at home, the essential work that we rely on to keep our society, our economy going. Without access to paid sick days, workers are not going to want go get a COVID test. If they don’t test negative, they’ll have to stay home. They’ll have to apply for the federal benefit and hope they qualify.

Of course, they’ll take a cut in pay, because $450 a week after taxes is below the minimum wage, and so it is a huge barrier not to have a provincial program of paid sick days that ensures seamless pay that is not reduced.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The next question?

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: I wanted to say to the member that the points you raised are really important. As I was listening to your debate, when you spoke about some of the measures that the government has put forward in this budget—people who need it the most can’t actually afford to take advantage of it. For instance, with the training credit, you have to actually have money to register, pay your tuition and wait until a year later to receive that back in your taxes. That’s just out of reach for many individuals, certainly in my community in Scarborough–Guildwood.

I just wondered if you could speak more to who that really disadvantages and who that leaves behind, when the government does not consider that people cannot pay upfront for the help and support they need.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I appreciate the question. The member is absolutely right: When you design programs around a tax credit, it requires a significant upfront investment in order to be able to access that credit. It ignores the reality that people who have struggled the most during this pandemic are often those who are the lowest income.

Talking about paid sick days: 60% of workers don’t have access to paid sick days, but it goes up to about 90% for some of the lowest waged workers, racialized workers and immigrant workers. So we have to recognize that those low wage workers who want to access training programs will likely be unable to, because they simply don’t have the money to access those programs upfront.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): We don’t have time for further questions in this round.

It is time, though, for further debate.

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Of course, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House, to speak on behalf of my constituents in Scarborough–Guildwood and to debate this very important bill, Bill 269. I would note that it is a thin and meagre bill, not very in keeping with the times that we are in. We are in a generational crisis when it comes to COVID-19 and when it comes to the recovery needed for our economy to recover and thrive, so I would have expected that the government would have really met this moment. I was looking forward to seeing what was in this budget because I know the issues that are faced, and I know that this government has heard from people on all sides about what is needed.

Speaker, this bill falls short. The measures contained in Bill 269 have not addressed the most pressing needs, such as paid sick leave, transformation of long-term care or a green recovery. Despite the fact that women in this province have been the most impacted in terms of job losses, as well as the increase in workload at home, this budget has nothing meaningful for this she-cession. This budget does not solve the challenges we face. It does not clear the backlog in surgeries that are piling up. It does not close the learning gap for students, given the rough year they have had in school.

And it does not transform long-term care, despite the government’s promise. It is disappointing, and it leaves many people behind.

People feel abandoned: people with disabilities; children with autism and their families; non-profits that are struggling to provide service with fewer resources; those who care about the environment; and small businesses in need of liquidity and cash flow. Those on the front line of care and essential workers have not had paid sick leave to rely on, but despite that they are the heroes of the pandemic.

This government had an opportunity to implement bold changes in this budget, but missed it. The government could have set a vision for a green recovery, making investments that would substantially improve the environment and protect what we all share: our planet. The government could have made clear that it was going to achieve its climate targets, which the government clearly is not on a path to do. This PC government’s record on the environment is failure after failure:

—cancelling Ontario’s successful cap-and-trade program, which was a market-driven program, wiping out billions in revenue earmarked for innovation for a green, carbon-neutral economy;

—spending millions of dollars to fight a federal carbon tax in court that the Supreme Court of Canada has just said that it’s not valid;

—spending $231 million to cancel green energy projects and jobs;

—ripping out electric vehicle charging stations;

—committing billions of dollars to Highway 413 when local councils right across the Golden Horseshoe oppose it—as Liberals, we would cancel this project and instead invest in public education, something that we need in this province; and, of course

—repeatedly bypassing environmental protections through the abuse of MZOs, including, really, putting at risk environmentally protected lands in Duffins Creek in Durham.

My riding of Scarborough–Guildwood is on the shores of Lake Ontario. It’s an environmentally sensitive area. We know that what flows downstream affects us, so whatever you do upstream, you’ve got to be mindful of that. The budget allots a mere $12 million to detect COVID in waste water. Does this even go far enough? Does this meet the need and the risk that that poses to our population?

Where there’s been major oversight in this budget is that the government shamefully neglects Ontario’s students, parents and education workers across the board. When you look at the funding for public education, it is just a 1% increase in funding, not enough to keep up with inflation and natural growth. It is, therefore, a cut to public education.

Before the pandemic, there were substantial educational gaps between marginalized and non-marginalized communities. These gaps will continue to widen and be exacerbated unless there is a plan in place to address it. I have yet to hear the government speak about how they will close the learning gap post-pandemic.

Speaker, we’ve talked a lot in this House—I’ve raised this time after time—about the issue of the she-cession. At the beginning of the month, Stats Canada’s labour force survey was released. To no surprise, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, as well as women and youth, are the most impacted by job losses in this country. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on women, with women’s labour force participation rates falling to rates not seen in decades and well below the pre-pandemic levels.

Shutdowns have most severely affected sectors like the service sector and those that are dominated by women. Restrictions on school and paid child care facilities have shifted additional hours of unpaid family care onto parents but especially mothers.

The pandemic has been especially challenging for already vulnerable female groups, including racialized, Indigenous, low-income and single women. The province needs to focus on this problem, because Ontario cannot recover and thrive economically after the pandemic unless we ensure that women have the necessary supports to thrive. Here are a few recommendations for the government:

—having women at the decision-making table and making sure policies for recovery are applied in a gendered way, and a diverse way as well;

—enacting the pay transparency legislation that is on the books and just needs to be enacted;

—making schools and classrooms safe for students and teachers to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 outbreaks; and

—ensuring that families have access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning.

Child care is quickly being seen by most progressive governments as a part of the economy. This budget offers nothing for child care despite the huge and overwhelming needs. What has been put in place is temporary and does not go far enough.

I want to also address the concerns of youth in this province, because we know that, last summer, youth unemployment was very high. They lost the opportunity for internships and summer employment. And now, under this government, we are seeing that financial aid that has been assigned to programs is not even reaching those students who are in need.

The FAO cites that $473 million remains unspent in the student financial aid program under this government. I am calling on the Ford government to immediately invest this grant and this amount into grants and summer programs for youth so that they can start companies and so that they can save money for their post-secondary education. Speaker, it’s marginalized students who will be the most impacted and the least able to foot the bill. This could lead to a long-term, scarring effect post-pandemic.

We’ve already spoken so much about paid sick leave in this House. I just want to reiterate that the medical officer of health in Toronto, Dr. Eileen de Villa, along with the board of health and municipal mayors across the GTA have called on the government to implement paid sick leave, because they know that it will save lives. Why are you not heeding this call?

Health care is our largest budget item and under this government, it is increasing by just 1%. It does not keep up with the rate of inflation, nor the natural growth of our aging population. Neither does it cover those backlogs of surgeries and areas that we did not get to during the pandemic. So, really, this government is reducing the quality of life of the people in Ontario by not spending adequately on health care.

We’re in a third wave. You knew that a third wave was coming due to the variants of concern, yet here we all are, Speaker. What about the investments in public health? The FAO cites in its third-quarter report that you have underspent the public health budget. How is this possible, given the fact that you have downloaded responsibility for vaccinations, as well as testing, to the 34 public health units across the province?

If you had not cut public health when you first had your mandate in government a couple of years ago, we would have been further ahead today. But you did cut that public health budget. I am calling on you—and I’m joined by a number of groups in this province—to ask you to reinstate all of the funding that you have cut to public health in this province. We all share in the need and the value of public health to all of our health.

Speaker, long-term care is really the tragedy of this pandemic. We have just seen reports today that of all the wealthy countries in the world, we are the worst when it comes to our record on long-term care, and that’s shameful. In this budget, the government had an opportunity to protect our most vulnerable, and once again they missed it: no four hours of dedicated care, no meaningful increase in personnel into long-term care and our most vulnerable seniors are kept waiting.

As we look forward to a recovery, there are areas that we must continue to invest in, like our small businesses. Today I join with the CFIB and small businesses in my riding of Scarborough–Guildwood to call for the extension of the small business grant so that businesses that need it—and we should expand the criteria as well—can receive that grant. I will be sharing my thoughts with the minister responsible for this grant.

Speaker, when it comes to building our province and preparing Ontarians for the future, nothing is more important than investing in the health and in the well-being of the people of this province—including in affordable housing, by the way, which your budget is completely silent on. Bill 269 does not reflect a bold vision and it does not propel us to the generational change that we need.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): While normally we’d have time for 10 minutes of questions, unfortunately the clock is such that it is now time to move to members’ statements.

Members’ Statements

Immunisation contre la COVID-19 / COVID-19 immunization

M. Guy Bourgouin: Alors que le gouvernement conservateur traîne les pieds avec la distribution du vaccin contre la COVID-19, les communautés du nord de l’Ontario font preuve de leur résilience et de leur esprit de solidarité.

The Porcupine Health Unit has been working around the clock to create a vaccination system that accommodates our scattered communities in Ontario’s far northeast and juggles with a limited vaccine supply.

Étant donné la grandeur de notre région de santé, le manque historique d’Internet haute vitesse et le fait que plusieurs aînés n’utilisent pas des nouvelles technologies, on a fait appel à la communauté de contacter les résidents et de les aider afin qu’ils puissent se faire vacciner. Mon bureau a aussi pris la relève en créant un système pour les aînés qui ont besoin de l’aide avec une réservation et pour leur faire savoir quand les cliniques de vaccination seront disponibles.

Thankfully, the people of the far northeast are resourceful and capable of standing together in a situation where they are left on their own in the middle of a global pandemic. I want to thank and remind those of Mushkegowuk–James Bay that the Porcupine Health Unit is asking caregivers of seniors to help them access the booking system for their age range.

Earth Hour

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Today I would like to talk about a very important event that took place on Saturday night: Earth Hour. Earth Hour is one of the world’s biggest environmental movements. Each year, millions of people in more than 180 countries turn off their lights, showing their commitment to protecting the planet we call home.

Here in Ontario, in addition to our homes and businesses, landmarks like the CN Tower and Niagara Falls also went dark to recognize this occasion. Participating in Earth Hour is just one small step we can all take to protect our environment.

I’m proud that this government recognizes the importance of protecting our environment and is taking action to do so. We are investing $20 million over four years in the Greenlands Conservation Partnership and $12 million over the next three years to support the Greenbelt Foundation’s ongoing work to protect, promote and improve the greenbelt in the Golden Horseshoe region, alongside the implementation of our Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan. In addition, we are leading consultations for the biggest expansion of the greenbelt since it was created.

Thank you to all of Ontario’s businesses and families who took part. I look forward to continuing this important work.

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Jennifer K. French: Katharine Ross was born on March 26, 1921, and she just celebrated her 100th birthday. She has wonderful memories and stories of summers at the cottage, special friendships with great neighbours and family moments that have kept her heart beating for a century. Katharine, or Kay, or Mrs. Ross, or Aunt Kay goes by “grandma” to me. She is my person and I am hers.

She now lives in a retirement home just around the corner from me. For years, I have been a help and usually decent company, but now I am her registered essential caregiver. During the pandemic, I have gotten a COVID test every week or every other so I can visit and help her, following COVID protocols.

For her birthday, we set up a Zoom call. A hundred years ago, it would have been impossible to imagine a virtual party with loved ones on a computer screen, or the Internet. It was special and I am grateful to everyone who shared their best wishes with grandma through letters, videos and messages. In her birthday message to family, she wanted everyone to know she is happy, has been fully vaccinated and is so fortunate.

My 100-year-old grandma is protected and I am relieved, but we want all of our neighbours and their families to be protected too. My office is flooded with worried and anxious people wanting their loved ones to be protected. So many people are waiting for vaccines. Durham region public health unit now has the fifth highest number of cases per capita. Numbers are climbing. The variants are spreading. Durham needs to be included in the government plans for expanding vaccine access, and Durham region pharmacies should be added to the government’s pilot project.

Durham region is in need of more vaccines and more access to them, and they are needed immediately. Please support us.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam: During the pandemic, we have seen Ontario come together as a community and as a family. We have relied on each other, our neighbours, our friends and our families for sources of comfort, hope and support during these times. We have seen the best in us, and I would like to highlight in this House another example of Ontario spirit in my riding of Scarborough–Rouge Park. I want to send a huge shout-out to Bill Yarn and David Adamson from Highland Creek Community Association for being true leaders in our community.

Highland Creek Community Association and Italpasta have made generous donations of over 100,000 pounds of food to the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank. This is an incredible example of the Ontario spirit.

Thank you, Bill, David and the entire Highland Creek Community Association for all that you’re doing for our community during these exceptional times. You two truly embody the Ontario spirit, and I am proud to represent a riding such as Scarborough–Rouge Park that has residents who are ready and willing to lead by example.

COVID-19 response

M me France Gélinas: Today I rise to say thank you to everyone who is working so hard in Sudbury and Nickel Belt through this difficult time. First, I want to say thank you to Dr. Sutcliffe and our public health unit for their hard work in the last year. Thank you to the hospital workers for all they continue to do. Thank you to long-term-care home and retirement home workers for their courageous work throughout the pandemic and for their help to get their residents vaccinated. Thank you to the teams at Shkagamik-Kwe and N’Swakamok for their great work getting First Nations and Métis people vaccinated.

Thank you to our homeless and shelter workers, paid and volunteer. A special thank-you to the YMCA and the Samaritan Centre. The same goes for our home and community care sector workers. I thank you.

Thank you to the city of Greater Sudbury that has stepped up in an incredible way, offering their arenas for vaccination sites and their workers, including paramedics, to help out. Thank you to our mental health and addiction workers, dealing with an overwhelming number of cries for help, of overdoses and families left behind.

I want to thank our teachers, who are flipping back and forth between online and in-person teaching. Let’s face it: There is nothing easy about teaching a four-year-old child over Zoom.

There are many more essential workers and businesses big and small that have worked hard, from Alban to Foleyet, Gogama and everywhere in between. As northerners, we came together to help each other today, and I want to say thank you. Let’s remember, Speaker: Let’s be calm, let’s be kind and let’s be safe. This too will end.

Jewish community in Thessaloniki

Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos: During Hellenic Heritage Month and this week of Passover, we must remember one of the saddest chapters in the history of Greece. In March 1943, the Nazis rounded up and deported the Jews of the city of Thessaloniki, sending them to the concentration camps.

Before the war, the city had more than 50,000 Jewish citizens, of whom 46,000 were deported and killed. The city was home to most of Greece’s Jewish population, with most families having arrived after their expulsion from Spain in 1492, mostly Sephardic Jews speaking Ladino, a variant of Spanish. Up to the 19th century, Jews were a majority in the city, with 33 synagogues, thriving schools and businesses. Outside Thessaloniki, the ancient Romaniotes were Jewish families in Greece since the time of Alexander.

Across Greece, about 70,000 Jews died. Some were saved. Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens saved 1,200 people, and Bishop Chrysostomos of Zakynthos saved all 275 of his Jewish citizens. Today, only about 1,300 Jews live in Thessaloniki—6,000 in all of Greece. Some descendants of survivors live here in Canada.

The Jewish community of Greece is working to build a Holocaust museum in Thessaloniki to honour those who were killed, to remember their lives and ensure their contributions to Greece are never forgotten. May their memories be eternal.

Addiction services

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: Despite all of the work of community agencies, according to this month’s coroner’s report, Niagara had the second-highest opioid-related death rate in the province. This situation is really serious. St. Catharines has many volunteers and community agencies that are doing their

part in the opioid crisis. I stand today to celebrate their strengths and their contributions.

St. Catharines is fortunate to have activists, recovering addicts with lived experience and volunteers who continue to support our city during the opioid crisis. One of the more visible contributions is the needle pickup, which helps keep our streets safe. There is the tireless work of actionist Fred Bowering. There is Karen Orlandi and her volunteers at Silver Spire. There is Andrew, Lilly and their volunteers from the StreetWorks department at Positive Living Niagara. St. Catharines also has an amazing group of city employees, a local disc golf group and many other volunteers who are active with needle cleanup. It takes a community to do this great work.

While St. Catharines has the heart, the provincial government holds the purse strings. It is essential we provide more provincial support, connect folks at the margins of society and provide them with education, naloxone and community support.

The pandemic has exacerbated overdose deaths and a provincial funding plan is needed today: one that uploads cost in outreach, needle pickup and safety supplies.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Roman Baber: The deadly effect of the lockdown is real, but the public health modelling, the fear on the basis of which the government makes these decisions is not. By now, most MPPs privately realize that the lockdown is deadlier than COVID-19.

Despite a quarter million surgeries postponed, a million cancer screenings that didn’t happen, overdoses skyrocketing, suicidal ideations that have at least quadrupled and a complete paralysis of our health care system, the Premier is not alarmed.

But the modelling and fear that our ICUs may be overwhelmed is always off by two to five times. On September 30, Dr. Brown convinced the government to place the GTA in red. He said that if Ontario keeps Michigan’s case trajectory, we’ll have over 250 ICU patients by the end of October. Ontario indeed met Michigan’s case trajectory, but the number of ICU patients was only 73—more than three times less than predicted.

On January 12, Brown said by the end of the first week of February, even with a reproductive rate of 1%, Ontario will have over 700 ICU patients. The R rate was indeed 1%, so we met the trajectory, but the number of patients was 325—or less than half than predicted.

A year later, public health refuses to admit a basic error that ICU admission is not proportional to cases. They’re not a function of each other, because it’s not about how many get COVID, it’s who gets COVID-19. But the deaths, disease, depression, bankruptcy and divorce are a function of the lockdown. Please look at the numbers.

The government knows it’s doing harm. They’re afraid to admit a mistake. I’m telling the government: You do not have the consent of the people to lock us down. Do not impose a third lockdown—we never left the second. Please show leadership and save lives by ending this deadly lockdown.

Long-term care

Mrs. Daisy Wai: Today, I rise in the House to speak about an exciting new centre for seniors, the Carefirst campus of care right in my riding of Richmond Hill. Carefirst has been caring for seniors since 1976, providing many services, from transportation to delivered meals, assisted living, home care and more.

I’m so proud of our government and the Ministry of Long-Term Care, who have allocated 2,983 safe, modern long-term-care spaces to be built through the 29 projects across the province: 1,968 new spaces and 1,015 upgraded spaces. Of the 29 projects, 23 involved the construction of brand new buildings and 19 involve campuses of care that are to be built as well—and it’s to be provided at the same site as well at Carefirst.

COVID-19 caused unprecedented challenges for many non-profit organizations and thousands of seniors who rely on community services to maintain their well-being. In fact, this past Sunday they hosted a special Young at Heart fundraising campaign to fundraise for this. So working together with the government, we are building support for seniors.

Easter

Miss Christina Maria Mitas: I’m very “hoppy” to share with the House what an “egg-cellent” time I had during my Easter crafting event with some of the kids of Scarborough Centre.

We did two crafts: a bunny pompom plate and a wooden bunny ornament. I must say I was pretty impressed by the creative chops of the little budding artists who joined me. We shared fun stories and the kids told me about how happy they are to be in class where they get to learn and see their friends. I delivered top-notch jokes as we crafted: Gems such as “What is a bunny’s favourite type of music? Hip hop,” and, “What do you get when you cross an insect and a rabbit? Bugs Bunny.” I scored some laughs and some eye rolls which, to be honest, reminded me of my time as a teacher, and a good time was had by all.

As Easter nears, it was nice to virtually gather and connect with the community. It reminded me what joy children find in life and reminded me to do the same. While we are all going through a difficult time, I look forward to Easter and commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ soon. I am thankful for the sacrifice that he made for all of us and will share a quick quote by Floyd Tomkins: “Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness.” I certainly saw strength and happiness in the young people that I joined this past weekend, and they and their resilience fill me with hope for the future.

One more joke to end on a high note: How do you know carrots are good for your eyesight? Have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses? On that note, eat your vegetables, and I wish you all a very happy Easter, and Kalo Pascha.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): That concludes our members’ statements this morning.

The Leader of the Opposition, I understand, has a point of order.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I seek unanimous consent to move a motion without notice to establish March 30 of each year as a day of mourning for the victims of COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term-care homes.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Leader of the Opposition is seeking unanimous consent to move a motion without notice to establish March 30 of each year as a day of mourning for the victims of COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term-care homes. Agreed? I heard a no.

House sittings

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader has informed me he has a point of order he’d like to raise.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Pursuant to standing order 9(g), I rise to give notice that a temporary change in the weekly meeting

schedule of the House is required and that tomorrow the afternoon routine shall commence at 1 p.m.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question this morning is for the Premier. Yesterday—last night, in fact—the science table released a report that basically says the pandemic is now “completely out of control.” “Completely out of control” is what the science table is saying is happening here in Ontario. The government’s response seems to be, “Well, we’ll put up a few more field hospitals and just watch as more people get sick.”

The Premier has ignored all of the warnings and has walked us directly into a third wave. The question I have is, why does the Premier continue to ignore all of the warnings from hospitals, from his own experts, from nurses, from doctors? Why does he continue to ignore the warnings and refuse to act to stop the spread of the third wave?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you for the question. Since the beginning of this pandemic, our government has taken focused, prudent action to protect the health and well-being of all Ontarians, and we’ve taken many steps in order to do this. We’ve also been following the guidance and research that’s been done by our public health experts, Dr. Williams, the measures of the public health table, the science advisory table and many others.

We have taken steps to reduce the variants coming into Ontario. We developed a six-point plan to do that, including—before the federal government did it—the testing of all incoming arrivals from other countries coming into Canada to prevent this UK variant from coming in. It is here now, and we’re taking steps to expand our capacity in our hospitals, to make sure we do the testing that we need and to do the vaccinations that we need as well in order to protect Ontarians.

It’s important to note that we have delivered over 2,102,000 vaccines in the last very short while. We’re going to continue to do more as we race against time to prevent these variants from overcoming our system, but we have built in all the capacity that we need in order to make sure that everyone who needs to be in hospital will be treated appropriately.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, the science table was pretty clear that the vaccines are not going to win here, that the variants are winning in Ontario. That’s why they’re pleading for this government and this Premier to take action.

I would have to say I agree that there are things that could have been done. There are actions that could have taken place, but this Premier refused to put in things like paid sick days, things like paid vacation time, things like smaller class sizes to keep kids in school safe, things like a vaccine rollout that actually works and things like public health precautions that actually protect people from COVID-19.

But this is what Dr. Warner says in describing the lack of willingness of this government to get out ahead of this virus. We “will have people dying because of deferred & delayed non-COVID care.” Health care workers “feel they are screaming at” a government that “doesn’t care.”

The government has allowed the third wave to spiral out of control. When is this Premier going to act and get ahead of the crisis that we are in?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I have to say to the leader of the official opposition, through you, Mr. Speaker, that it’s very disappointing when asked yesterday about what she would do in this situation, the only thing that she could come up with was paid sick days—paid sick days—when what have we done?

We have made sure that we have delivered the vaccines. We’ve delivered the booking system, the patient care portal. We’ve made sure that we’ve put over $5 billion into our hospital system since this began, including $1.8 billion in the budget in order to support the over 3,100 new beds that we’ve put in since the pandemic began to support the backlog of surgeries that have had to be postponed because of this, and to make sure the hospitals have an over 3.4% increase in funding to be able to provide the support that they need in all of our facilities. That’s what we’ve done.

All the leader of the official opposition can come up with is paid sick days which, by the way, we already have.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, I think it’s pretty clear that back in February, experts were giving this Premier and this minister advice as to what needed to happen to stop the spread of COVID-19. I’ve just listed out in my last question a number of those things that this Premier and this government refused to do.

Paid sick days, absolutely, are a part of it, as is paid time off for vaccinations, making sure that our schools are safe for our kids, having a vaccine rollout that actually works and prioritizes the people who need the vaccine the most, and making sure that public health precautions are put into place to keep people safe.

Why has the government refused the advice of these experts since February past? Why have they not listened to the experts, and dragged us into a crisis that we are in now, a third wave that is completely out of control?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Premier to respond.

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I know the Leader of the Opposition always wants to quote Dr. Warner. He’s a great doctor; he messages me as well.

I’ll quote some other folks here. The Ontario Hospital Association CEO: “The Ontario Hospital Association appreciates the historic financial support for hospitals in the 2021 Ontario budget. These investments will be vital to stabilizing the hospital sector for the duration of the pandemic and preparing for COVID-19 recovery.”

Another, the Ontario Long Term Care Association: Commitments in Ontario’s budget 2021 are “the most significant investments in decades”—in decades; because it was ignored by the Liberals and NDP—“in Ontario’s long-term-care sector,” and they will make meaningful differences in the lives of Ontario seniors.

Why don’t we go to Smokey Thomas at OPSEU? Smokey Thomas is calling the budget a “positive step toward health and economic recovery saying that support for job creation and public services is the way to go....”

Another quote from AdvantAge Ontario—

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

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for York Centre will come to order.

Next question.

Education funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Premier, but I have to say it’s pretty galling that the Premier, on the very day—the one-year anniversary of the claim that there was going to be an iron ring put around long-term care—that he had the nerve to actually talk about long-term care today is pretty frightening.

But my next question is actually about schools, Speaker. Students, parents and teachers are frustrated. They’re frustrated, they’re confused and they’re concerned about what’s happening with COVID-19.

The latest confusion, of course, came yesterday around the April break. On February 11, the Premier said that March break is going to be pushed into April. Yesterday, within hours of each other, the Premier and his education minister contradicted each other about what might be happening for April.

The question is, why can’t the government ever provide certainty and answers for parents and kids and teachers when it comes to what’s happening to their education system?

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

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Mr. Speaker, our government believes in following the best public health and science that comes to the cabinet. Obviously we are responding to a changing risk profile in the province. We have committed ourselves to delay, not cancel, the March break moving it into April. We are committed to respecting that.

We’ve continued to follow the Chief Medical Officer of Health’s advice. We’re building out a plan, and we will be announcing it in the coming days, to further strengthen the safety of children and staff upon their re-entrance following the April break. We’re committed to expanding testing, as well as stronger screening protocols before students and a potential case enters a school.

We appreciate the challenge that this pandemic has imposed on working parents. We know this is not easy. Their patience, their flexibility, their commitments to work with government and their public health agencies, I think, have been at the core of our success in Ontario.

We now deal with the variants of concern; we have to respond to this risk. I think parents expect us to make the tough decisions, when appropriate. But when it comes to April break, we plan to proceed. We’ll continue to follow the best advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and if anything changes, given the day-to-day change and fluctuation in these numbers of the province of Ontario, we’ll make sure all families know that well in advance.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, that sounds like a rerun of the promises that the minister was making last time and never did come to pass. Those extra measures never did come to pass.

But, look, all parents and teachers and kids want is a safe classroom and a stable working environment. That’s what they want: safe classrooms and stable learning environments. Instead, we saw massive cuts in last week’s budget—massive cuts. We’ve seen a government that would prefer to pull resources from classrooms instead of investing in the stability of our kids.

The ongoing uncertainty around our education system is problematic. It’s not what kids and students and teachers and parents need right now.

So my question is, why is it about cuts and confusion instead of stability for kids, instead of support for young people who need it the most right now?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Mr. Speaker, in the budget that was unveiled by the Minister of Finance last week, we allocated an additional 700 million net new dollars year over year for September. We also acknowledge that in the coming Grants for Student Needs, the principal vehicle of funding for school boards, more investments will be there for areas of reading and mathematics supports, for STEM education, for special education and mental health, recognizing globally that this pandemic has disproportionately impacted our young people. We will be there for our students, as we have been over the past two years.

Every single year under our government, funding has increased to the highest levels ever recorded in Ontario history, by design, because we believe in public education, because we believe in our young people. We recognize the challenge they face, which is why we enhanced supports for remote learning. It’s why we enhanced funding in class. We’re going to deliver education to families that meets their needs, to make sure they have excellence within their schools. And, of course, our priority continues to be keeping kids safe in the province of Ontario.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Parents don’t believe any of that, and students certainly are not feeling that way.

But I have to say, the confusion and the instability that this government has created for students, for parents, for teachers is completely unacceptable. It’s been a year of massive confusion. Instead of spending money on making those classrooms safe and stabilizing our education system, the government just didn’t want to do that. Instead, kids have suffered the consequences. The government never, ever got ahead of this virus and they just scramble at the last minute to react instead of planning ahead. Parents, students and teachers have been left behind by this government over this last year.

The question is: When will the government start actually providing the stability, the supports, the reliability that kids and parents and teachers need to get through the rest of the school year?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: We certainly agree that students and parents are the government’s priority. It’s why, when you look, the budget allocated last week an additional $700 million more; the largest summer learning program in Ontario history—over $105 million specifically focused on mitigating learning loss. We have increased mental health supports to more than 200% higher than what the peak of Liberal spending was when the former Premier was in power.

We are fully committed to the safety of schools. The fact is, today, as we deal with these variants of concern and rising numbers in the community, roughly 99% of schools are open, 99% of students have no active cases and 75% of schools don’t have one case at all.

I recognize that this is a challenge. Ontario is not an island in and of itself. We are dealing with a global pandemic. But the strength we derive is from the resilience of our students, from the hard work of our educators and from the sacrifice of parents, who every step of the way are doing their very best in an impossible circumstance to deliver quality education and safety to Ontario’s youth.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is to the Premier. The Premier suggested yesterday that he doesn’t want to “roll the dice” when it comes to vaccinating people. Now, over the last year, the one thing the Premier is really good at is the folksy saying to try to convey a message to people. We all remember the iron ring. Who can forget the 800-pound gorilla? Then there’s the one about how he’d go get the vaccines himself in his F-150 and cross the border himself.

But we’re facing a crisis right now that’s going to take more than a folksy saying. The stakes literally couldn’t be higher. Regardless of the amount of vaccine, the province had months to come up with a plan that people should be able to understand, and to know when they can access it.

Why does the government at this point still seem to be scrambling? It’s going to take more than a folksy saying.

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind my colleague across the aisle there that we have vaccinated over 2.2 million people. There’s one thing that we’re falling short on that I’ve never heard the opposition ever say at all: We’re constantly short of vaccines. We’re putting these mass vaccination centres up—a ton of effort, a ton of resources, a ton of people going there—and, all of a sudden, bang, now we have to close it down again up at Wonderland.

You hear the same story over and over and over again: When can we count on a consistent volume of vaccines from the federal government? That’s what it comes down to. We have built an infrastructure the likes of which this province has never seen. We’re ready. We’re ready to do nine million a month if we have as many vaccines as possible, but we need the vaccines. We’ll get it done.

I just want to know: What has the opposition done from day one? Nothing.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: Regardless of how much vaccine we have, there is not enough vaccine, and we know the targets, the people who need it most—and what breaks my heart most is when I get seniors calling my office and we have to try and help them, direct them through the call centres, through the website, through the—we had months. They had months to figure out that seniors aren’t all email literate. I’m not email literate sometimes.

But why? One thing the government has not done a good job at: They talk about overall number of vaccines that they’ve delivered, but there are vulnerable people who should have that vaccine who, because of the way the system is put up, can’t access it. Why hasn’t that been addressed?

Hon. Doug Ford: Well, I find that ironic, Speaker: 2.2 million people have found a way. You don’t have to go online. We have a 1-888 number that they can call, and maybe the member across the aisle here might give out the 1-888 number. Maybe he might be able to help out.

I’m so proud of the rollout. When you see other provinces—around the world, systems crashed. Our system never crashed. We had a bump in the road. They had it fixed in an hour. It was amazing. We were being flooded by calls; now when you call, within a minute, two minutes at the latest, you get an answer, they book your vaccine.

We have hundreds of thousands—as a matter of fact, Shoppers Drug Mart alone has over 190,000 appointments booked that they can’t fulfill because the federal government has not given us the vaccine and has not given us the date of when we’re going to get these vaccines. It’s as simple as that, my friend.

COVID-19 immunization

Mrs. Nina Tangri: My question is for the Minister of Health. Many constituents in my riding are anxious to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and they’re eager to help the province battle this virus in whatever way possible. I know the minister feels the same way because, yesterday, she received her first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine and encouraged all Ontarians who qualify to roll up their sleeves and get the shot too.

But our province has had to face many uncertainties when it comes to the vaccines, like the ever-changing supply chain and pushed back timelines from the federal government. Would the minister please provide this House an update on the rollout of these critical supplies in the face of so much uncertainty?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member for Mississauga–Streetsville for the question and for your advocacy on this issue. It’s much appreciated.

Since day one, our government has been committed to vaccinating Ontarians as quickly and as safely as possible. By working with our partners across the province, we have put in place an integrated, robust network of locations capable of administering over 150,000 doses per day at over 250 vaccine sites, which are being led by local public health units, and include hospitals, mass immunization clinics, mobile clinics, pharmacies and primary care offices.

Through the implementation of this network of locations and in collaboration with our partners across the province, we have been able to administer over two million doses of the vaccine. But we aren’t going to stop there. Our goal is to make sure that everyone in Ontario who wants a vaccine will get one as soon as possible.

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

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Thank you, Minister, and thank you to all of those on the front lines that help us administer these crucial vaccines. I would have to say, our government’s vaccine rollout has been quite an incredible thing to watch. In the face of so many obstacles, our government has been dedicated to ensuring we roll out those vaccines as quickly as possible to those who need them the most. We all know that as more supply becomes available, we can give more doses to more Ontarians. Would the minister please provide this House with an update on how the government plans to continue to ensure every person who wants a vaccine can get one?

Hon. Christine Elliott: As we’ve said many times before, nothing will stop us from delivering the most effective and equitable vaccine campaign in the country, and we are well on our way to achieving that goal by continually setting daily records for doses administered in one day and continuing to ensure that our most vulnerable are protected by having over 90% of citizens—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for York Centre is warned.

Minister of Health to reply.

Hon. Christine Elliott: We have over 90% of long-term-care residents fully immunized against COVID-19.

Building from these successes, we’ve also put in place a provincial booking system and call centre, allowing Ontarians a convenient way to

schedule their vaccine appointment or be redirected to their local public health unit who can help them get a vaccine appointment in their area.

But let me be clear: Our government is ready to administer more COVID-19 vaccines and expand eligibility to many more Ontarians as soon as we receive sufficient supplies of vaccines from the federal government.

COVID-19 immunization

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: Yesterday, Mr. Premier, as you were taking a victory lap inside one of Niagara’s vaccinations clinics, my office was busy answering dozens of questions from seniors over 70, wondering why they were not able to receive an appointment and why the provincial vaccine program had a glitch—once again. Niagara public health added 8,500 appointments on Friday, guessing that St. Catharines and Niagara might be in line for vaccination expansion for the 70-plus age group. Here’s the problem: Niagara had to guess, which led to not having enough appointments available. This is because the official notice was only given the day before the expansion, at the eleventh hour.

Premier, you were at a photo op inside one of our vaccination centres, while outside the centre, there was still work to be done. Will you commit to a smoother vaccination rollout so seniors in Niagara and St. Catharines over the age of 70 do not have to struggle to get an appointment at a vaccination centre?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, when I went down there, they were very grateful. Actually, one of the quotes a few of the nurses told me is, “Thank God you came down here. You boosted everyone’s spirits. You didn’t sit there in the hideout at Queen’s Park like the opposition does.”

We went down there; we saw first-hand what an incredible job the mass vaccination centre is doing down there. When I had an opportunity, I went by and talked to quite a few folks, and they said, “This was seamless. We never thought in a million years how quickly we’d be able to get in there, get the vaccinations.” And now we can ramp it up.

To the member across the aisle there, read my lips, as they say: We need the federal government to get more vaccines, plain and simple. We don’t have enough vaccines. Do you understand that? It’s simple.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The official opposition must come to order. I’ll start calling you out by name.

Mr. John Fraser: Mansplaining.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa South, come to order.

The supplementary question? The member for Niagara Falls.

Mr. Wayne Gates: Back to the Premier: Premier, I’ll be very clear with you: I do not hide out at Queen’s Park. I’m in my riding all the time, and the constituents in my riding know it.

Yesterday the Premier was in Niagara and said anyone over 70 could simply call and get a vaccination appointment. If he actually spoke to the residents like I have, he would have known that they were struggling for days to get appointments.

In Fort Erie, seniors who had their vaccination booked for weeks in advance had their appointments cancelled at 9 o’clock the night before because of overbooking issues caused by the government’s booking system. The Conservative government was told about these issues 11 days ago, yet they did nothing to fix it.

Pharmacies are still waiting for doses so they can begin saving lives in Niagara. The people of Niagara have already dealt with Moderna vaccines being diverted. Despite written evidence this government was given, the Premier is claiming that was a myth, which is a new word for me. When will the Premier stop pretending the vaccine rollout is going smoothly in Niagara and take actions to protect our residents and save lives in Niagara?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: There are several issues that need to be addressed here. One is the issue in Fort Erie. That was an issue yesterday. That has been resolved, and people are now able to book their appointments.

Secondly, there is the continuing myth that Niagara was shortchanged in terms of vaccines. That is not the case. While they did not receive one type of vaccine, the Moderna, they did receive the Pfizer, so they did receive the proper allocation of vaccines.

But, third, it really is important for everyone to realize that we want to be able to ramp up. We want to be able to do 150,000 doses per day. We have the system in place to do that, but we do not have the vaccines. We are receiving 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca from the federal government. It’s coming to the federal government today, but we still don’t know when it’s going to be coming to Ontario. It’s about 583,000 doses. We still don’t know when that’s coming. With respect to a large Moderna shipment, we expected that last week. We only received 30% of it. The remaining 70% of it has been extended to April 7. There’s constant—

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

The next question.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: My question is to the Minister of Health. Scarborough is the hardest-hit community in Ontario when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. The positivity rates are still in the double digits in Scarborough. In fact, if you talk to people, they say we’ve just had one big wave all year long.

The vaccine distribution is supposed to be prioritized by age, and the provincial science table says neighbourhoods as well need to be prioritized. Yet, when other areas in the province started vaccinating over-80 residents, Scarborough lagged behind, waiting to get their supply of vaccine. When Scarborough finally got enough vaccines to start their mobile clinics and to reach the most vulnerable in our community, now Scarborough is being told to wait again.

Next week, 77% of Toronto’s vaccine share will go to the mass clinics. That will leave hospitals short, resulting in a scale back of their vaccination program, like the mobile clinics that they are just starting to ramp up.

To the minister: Will you ensure that the Scarborough Health Network will not have to scale back their vaccination program next week and ensure they have enough supply to meet the—

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member for the question. As I indicated earlier, a lot of the problem right now is because we don’t have the vaccine supplies coming in in the quantities that we need in order to fill the mass vaccination centres, the mobile units, the pharmacies—which we want to expand in all 34 public health regions—and in primary care offices. We are waiting for a large supply of Moderna. We are waiting for 583,000 doses of AstraZeneca. So the problems in Scarborough are in large part no different than the problems that we’re experiencing across the province. We need those big supplies coming in from the federal government.

However, we are targeting the vaccination campaign based on age and based on risk. There are a number of communities that have been identified as being at higher risk. Scarborough is certainly one of them. And what have we done? We have launched and implemented our high-priority community strategy, providing $12.5 million to help local agencies deal with this. So we are paying attention to Scarborough and other areas at risk, as well as to our older community.

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

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Minister, I have seen the allocations for this week and for next week. Next week’s allocation gives 77% to one location, UHN, and not to the other hospitals. So it creates an imbalance in terms of the continuous vaccination and it confuses the public when they try to get appointments and they cannot. So it needs to be addressed.

My question in the follow-up to you is about the hospital. I’ve spoken to you many times about the state of the hospital and the fact that it has been in the queue for many, many years now and needs to be advanced. We know that the ICU pressure on Scarborough is enormous. They are redirecting to Peterborough and Kingston because of the number of COVID patients. They have well over 10% of the entire load in the province in this one hospital that needs to be renewed. So why is it that in this budget, there was no mention of funding and advancement of a new hospital for the people of Scarborough, given the need and the state of the hospital?

Hon. Christine Elliott: As I’m sure the member will realize, there is a long plan that has to be established for a hospital redevelopment. There has been some money that has been established to redo the emergency department at one of the Scarborough hospitals; that is something that is absolutely urgent. But it’s something that we are paying attention to. We know that there are concerns there. We know that the population is growing. We know that the infrastructure in some places is outdated. It is on the list of projects to be completed.

It is something that we know Scarborough is dealing with, in terms of the number of COVID patients in the hospital right now. That is why we have developed 3,100 new beds since the beginning of the pandemic, and the government recently allocated another $125 million to create 500 more spaces. In some cases, people do need to be moved from one location to another, but we have built up the capacity so that anyone who needs to be in a hospital to receive COVID treatment or other treatment will be able to receive treatment in their area.

COVID-19 response

Mrs. Nina Tangri: In this phase of the pandemic, although it’s critical to continue adhering to public health measures and remaining vigilant, we are encouraged by cautious optimism with the introduction of vaccines for adults that will help reduce the impact of the virus. With over two million vaccines administered, there is hope on the horizon. However, with that in mind, we know that the vaccination of children and youth will be a critical

part in keeping children and staff safe, keeping schools open and ending the pandemic.

Can the Minister of Education please provide us an update on his work with the Minister of Health and the Solicitor General in proactively planning for vaccinating Ontario’s children and youth?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Streetsville for this question. I think it is quite obvious to all members of the Legislature that we must learn lessons, we must plan ahead and, ultimately, help to defeat this pandemic by ensuring that our vaccine rollout could be much more robust and efficient in its delivery. Today, as the Premier mentioned, we have a vaccine clinic in my community of Vaughan that opened at Canada’s Wonderland yesterday, only for them to be closed today because of a lack of supply.

The request of the federal government is to start today, while clinical trials are under way for children under the age of 16, to plan ahead, to procure now and to make sure that there is a credible plan in place to immunize all those children that will want a vaccine—critical in our response to the pandemic and to our recovery as we look forward.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot repeat the mistakes. I asked the federal government yesterday to start the process of procurement and, of course, for Health Canada through their independent review to rigorously review these clinical trials on an expeditious basis. This will be critical to our recovery so that, finally, we can defeat this pandemic.

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

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Speaker, being able to vaccinate children and youth will be a game-changer in our fight against COVID-19. At this point, we’re not out of the woods yet. COVID-19 is, unfortunately, still a major part of our lives and public health measures remain in place.

Though we are still in the second half of the 2020-21 school year, I am already hearing questions from my constituents in my riding about what schools will look like next school year. Can the Minister of Education please share with the Legislature what plans and efforts are being made for the 2021-22 school year?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: It starts with the recognition that this year has been very difficult on young people, particularly through the lens of learning loss and mental health. Yes, the government did invest additional dollars, about $700 million year over year in the budget, committed to quality, safe public education in September.

But we will go further. This summer, the largest summer learning program ever unveiled in the province’s history: a $105-million allocation specifically focused on credit recovery, on Reach Ahead courses, on helping young people get the support, mentorship and access to a teacher that I believe they deserve.

We are also going to be unveiling the Grants for Student Needs, and I can assure the member and all members of this Legislature that that funding vehicle will increase specifically in the areas of mental health, of special education, of supports dealing with reading as well as mathematics, both of which have seen challenges at home and abroad.

We are committed to making sure that the PPE and all the protocols are in place, following the best advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, to ensure schools are safe and that children continue to learn at a high standard in this province.

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Experts advising the government on COVID-19 reveal that the province is at a tipping point. We have over 2,300 cases today in Ontario, and while vaccines won’t get us totally out of this mishandled mess, they are one tool, which is why it’s so crucial to get needles in arms.

But in Waterloo region, we aren’t receiving our fair share. Our medical officer of health said Friday, “Right now, it isn’t equitable.” Waterloo region should have received 89,000 doses, but instead they’ve only received 66,000 to date.

Premier, why are the people of Waterloo region not receiving their fair share?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: The answer is lack of supply. That’s the situation for regions across the province of Ontario. We want to be able to expand into pharmacies. There are about 325 pharmacies offering the AstraZeneca shot now. We want to expand it to 700 so that we can have at least three pharmacies in each region providing the vaccine. But until we receive the AstraZeneca doses that are coming to us from the United States, we aren’t able to do that because we do not have the supply. We don’t even know when we’re getting the supply.

That’s why we’re asking the federal government to please provide us with this information, so that we can ramp up, so that we can do those 150,000 doses per day and make sure that everyone in Ontario who wants to receive a vaccine will be able to get one.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Ms. Catherine Fife: This isn’t an issue of supply from the federal government. This is about the province distributing vaccines equally to all communities. This is about the provincial government following their own rules on distributing vaccines.

Last night, I hosted a telephone town hall with local officials and a public health doctor to answer people’s questions about vaccines. People had thoughtful questions about the efficacy and the vaccine rollout. Many callers, quite honestly, just want to hug their grandkids. Others were frustrated with how the province is handling resources and the vaccine rollout, calling it “flip-flopping directives.”

Our regional government has asked that they be considered a high-priority community to deal with increasing demands of the COVID-19 pandemic on our marginalized communities—and they have a compelling case—just to get their fair share of vaccines.

The government needs to get this right and ensure that resources on the vaccine rollout are actually equitable. To the Premier: Can you guarantee today that Waterloo region will begin to receive its fair share of the vaccines, no more, no less, just what you promised them?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Vaccines are being distributed equitably across the province, based on population and based on risk. We know that there are some neighbourhoods that are particularly at risk; they will be receiving larger amounts. But, again, it all goes back to supply. If we don’t have the supply, we can’t give it to any of the 34 public health unit regions across the province. We are doing what we can based on constantly changing supply issues with the Moderna vaccine and with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

There’s virtually a daily recalibration that has to happen across Ontario when we receive the news with respect to changes in supply, delays and so on. But we are still doing the work that we need to do in order to make sure that every public health region across the province, all 34 of them, receives their equitable allocation of vaccines, based on age and based on risk.

COVID-19 immunization / Immunisation contre la COVID-19

M me Lucille Collard: My question is for the Minister of Health. Last week, the mayor of Ottawa wrote to the minister to request a more equitable vaccine rollout in Ottawa. Given the geographic size of Ottawa, it’s impossible to create equal access to the vaccine for all Ottawa residents. Pharmacies and primary care settings need to assist with the distribution of the vaccine.

Our city has done a tremendous job of getting as many of our neighbours vaccinated as quickly as possible, but for many residents—and certainly in my riding of Ottawa–Vanier—mass vaccination sites are not easily accessible, being too far away, and we have none in our community. So my question is: Will the minister expand pharmacy and primary care settings vaccination to the Ottawa region?

Hon. Christine Elliott: My answer to the member is: Yes, when we receive the supply. We want to be able to expand to more pharmacies, three at least in each public health unit, but we need to get the AstraZeneca supply in order to be able to do that.

We did receive 194,500 first doses that expire as of April 2. We have virtually used all of them now, and I’m sure we will, prior to their expiry. But we need to receive the additional 583,000 doses through the federal government. We need to know when they’re coming so that we can get them to the pharmacies so that they will be able to supply those vaccines to the people in the Ottawa area, as well as to the rest of the province.

We are totally dependent on the federal government supplying us with those vaccines so we can expand. We are ready to go; we just need the vaccines.

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

Hier, le maire d’Ottawa a dénoncé que la ville qui représente 7 % de la population de l’Ontario ne reçoit que 5,7 % des doses de vaccin. Donc, c’est une autre chose qui ne fonctionne pas pour la distribution du vaccin à Ottawa.

Je suis contente de savoir que les pharmacies seront incluses prochainement et pourront permettre à tous les résidents d’avoir un meilleur accès au vaccin. Cependant, je voudrais savoir pourquoi la province communique directement avec les pharmacies pour les aviser sans impliquer l’unité de santé publique d’Ottawa, alors que la ministre a répété à plusieurs reprises qu’elle se fiait sur les unités de santé publique pour la distribution du vaccin. La ministre peut-elle également garantir qu’Ottawa recevra sa part équitable des doses du vaccin pour sa population?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Yes, Ottawa will receive its fair share of vaccines when we receive them. The public health officer, Dr. Etches, is very well aware of what the situation is concerning supply, as are all of the local medical officers of health across all 34 public health unit regions, as are the pharmacies. The pharmacies are aware that it’s a supply issue. They are anxious to be able to provide more vaccines, and we are anxious for people to receive them, but until we get them, we can’t expand. We need the supply, and then we’ll be able to expand immediately.

We’re ready to go; we just need the vaccines. Please, all of you, we would ask you to please exhort the federal government to please send us the vaccines as soon as they receive them so we can get going.

Mental health and addiction services

Mrs. Nina Tangri: My question this morning is for the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Minister, Ontarians across the province are feeling the impacts of COVID-19 on their mental health. I’ve heard from constituents in my riding that increased social and physical isolation, financial uncertainty and having daily routines constantly changing have caused them to experience increased stress, anxiety and depression.

Through this year’s budget, I know that our government is doing whatever it takes to protect the health of every Ontarian, and that includes our mental health. Minister, could you please update the members of this Legislature on what our government will be doing to address the mental health and addictions of Ontarians this year?

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Streetsville for that excellent question.

Mr. Speaker, through this budget, our government is placing a priority on the health of all Ontarians while building on the foundation to create the growth we need for a strong economy. I’m proud to say that this includes making record-breaking investments in mental health and addictions in every corner of this province. Through this budget, we’re proud to be investing an additional $175 million this year, bringing our total spending on mental health and addiction care to an incredible $525 million this year alone.

We’re well on our way to achieving our goal of building a modern, connected and fully integrated mental health and addiction system. This means more supports for Ontarians of all ages, no matter where they are in the province of Ontario.

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

Mrs. Nina Tangri: I thank the minister for his response. I am proud to know that our government is delivering on its commitment to create a mental health and addiction system that fully supports Ontarians of all ages across the province. This budget truly demonstrates how serious we are when it comes to supporting the mental health of every individual and family in this great province.

Speaker, some of my constituents have faced barriers to accessing mental health and addiction care, and we know the COVID-19 pandemic has only placed more stress on our mental health and addiction system. Minister, could you please explain the steps we will be taking to ensure that we are able to support the mental health of all Ontarians?

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Once again, I want to thank the member for that important question. As I’ve said many times here in the Legislature, every Ontarian deserves access to the highest-quality mental health and addiction care that meets their unique needs. That’s why, through this budget, we’re also investing in new and innovative services, a key pillar of our Roadmap to Wellness. This includes funding for four new mobile mental health clinics to serve rural and underserved communities.

Also, through the Solicitor General, funding will see the creation of a new program to embed mental health care workers in police call centres to ensure people in crisis get the right supports.

Mr. Speaker, this year’s funding takes us one more important step towards building a mental health and addiction system that works for all Ontarians, no matter where they are. That means, since getting into government, $1 billion has thus far been invested in the mental health and addiction sector.

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My question is to the Premier. The vaccine rollout is not working for homebound seniors. One of my constituents registered her mother for a home vaccine almost a month ago, but she’s still waiting. Her mother has dementia, and she worries about the risk posed by PSWs who come in to provide support. She also worries about the dental surgery that her mother needs, but that she continues to put off until her mother is safely vaccinated.

These delays are unacceptable. Municipalities need help to deliver thes