role="main" class="main-container container js-quickedit-main-content" id="main-content">

October 20, 2021

42nd Parliament, 2nd Session

< Previous sitting day

Next sitting day >

Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Oct-20 (PDF)

L007 - Wed 20 Oct 2021 / Mer 20 oct 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 20 October 2021 Mercredi 20 octobre 2021

Orders of the Day

Throne speech debate / Débat sur le discours du trône

Members’ Statements

Ministry of the Environment

Anti-racism activities

Ontario Mine Rescue

Hospital funding

Heart Lake Baptist Church

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Small business

Local Government Week

Events in Dunnville

Community funding

Visitors

Question Period

Health care workers

Premier’s comments

Government accountability

Access to menstrual products

Small business

COVID-19 immunization

Health care

COVID-19 immunization

Economic reopening and recovery

Access to menstrual products

COVID-19 response

Driver examination centres

Premier’s comments

Notice of dissatisfaction

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly

Introduction of Bills

Highway Memorials for Fallen Police Officers Amendment Act (In Memory of Officers Impacted by Traumatic Events), 2021 / Loi de 2021 modifiant la

Loi sur les constructions situées sur la voie publique et nommées à la mémoire des agents de police décédés (à la mémoire des agents touchés par des événements traumatisants)

Motions

Committee membership

Private members’ public business

Petitions

Optometry services

Optometry services

Optometry services

Optometry services

Highway safety

Optometry services

Fitness facilities

Optometry services

Places of religious worship

Optometry services

Optometry services

Gasoline prices

Orders of the Day

Report on Ontario’s provincial emergency

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Report on Ontario’s provincial emergency

Private Members’ Public Business

Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations in the Education and Healthcare Sectors Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la vaccination obligatoire contre la COVID-19 dans le secteur de l’éducation et celui des soins de santé

Adjournment Debate

Access to menstrual products

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Throne speech debate / Débat sur le discours du trône

Resuming the debate adjourned on October 19, 2021, on the motion for an address in reply to the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: Speaker, I believe if you request it, you will find we have unanimous consent to revert to a full hour for the opening lead for the official opposition.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Timiskaming–Cochrane is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to allow the official opposition a full hour to respond to the speech from the throne. Agreed? Agreed.

I recognize the member for Timiskaming–Cochrane.

Mr. John Vanthof: Thank you to the House for that unanimous consent.

It’s good to be back. I’ve been an MPP now for a little bit over 10 years, and especially when you’re gone for a while, I’m awed to be back, because I often still wonder what I’m doing here. I don’t say that facetiously. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a lawyer. I quit school to take over the family farm and I can honestly say I never regretted that for one minute. I am so proud of what we’ve done on the farm. The kids grew up on the farm, but my kids didn’t want to farm. One of my kids—I’m proud of all of them, but one of my daughters is a lawyer. And I’m here, but I’m still a farmer at heart and incredibly proud of it. It’s funny how life works.

There are a few things I want to do in my response to the throne speech. One I was planning on doing later, but I see there’s a gentleman in the House. I would like to thank the former Minister of Agriculture, who happens to be my Uncle Ernie. He was Minister of Agriculture twice. He has served, and continues to serve, the people of Oxford county. I wasn’t that interested in politics, but I always was proud of my Uncle Ernie. I’m still proud. Having said that, people just assume that because Ernie is my uncle I would follow in his political footsteps as well.

They wonder, “John, why are you NDP?” and my response is, “Have you ever met my Uncle Ernie?” I know that the member from Oxford can take that. But I want to take this opportunity: I’ve always looked up to him and continue to do so. Thank you for everything you’ve done for the people of Ontario and done for me.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Is that your end to niceties?

Mr. John Vanthof: Well, yes. I’ve got to switch back to the real John now. Actually, no, I’m going to take this opportunity to do something that I think we have all—sometimes we have to do tough things, and I would like to take this opportunity.

Congratulations on your appointment, Speaker. Having him as Speaker, we’ll have to listen to less words, because he’s a very quick speaker, that Speaker.

I would like to take this moment to talk about something that happened recently in my riding.

J’aimerais saisir l’occasion afin de reconnaître Nicole Guertin, lauréate du Prix d’excellence collective individuel parrainé de Desjardins et du Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario. Ce prix annuel vise à souligner l’engagement des coopératives et entreprises sociales ainsi qu’à tout entrepreneur contribuant à l’essor du moment coopératif de la collectivité.

Nicole et son partenaire Jocelyn Blais étaient peut-être mieux connus dû au fait qu’ils ont fondé, exploité, développé et approprié les Presidents’ Suites. Ils ont acheté plusieurs maisons patrimoniales à Haileybury, les ont restaurées, et maintenant offrent de très beaux logements aux visiteurs de notre région.

Elle était véritablement une entrepreneure sociale.

C’est avec grand regret que j’ai appris que Nicole est décédée lundi de cette semaine. Pourtant, elle nous a laissé un héritage. Au moment de son diagnostic, elle et Jocelyn ont ouvert un fonds en son nom à la Fondation du Temiskaming. Ce fonds est appelé NISKA Leadership and Entrepreneurship Fund. Les fonds prélevés serviront à soutenir l’élaboration d’idées et de projets novateurs de la part d’entrepreneurs et d’entreprises sociales afin d’aider au développement et au renforcement des collectivités du Nord.

There are a few people who, when you meet them—and when I first met Nicole Guertin, her energy was boundless, and when she came to our area she saw things that we’d looked at our whole lives and never truly appreciated how beautiful they were. She saw that, she helped other people see that, and she changed our area and she changed our lives. On behalf of the people of Timiskaming–Cochrane, and I believe on behalf of everyone in this Legislature, I would like to offer my condolences to her family for someone so great taken so soon.

Now actually to the topic of the day: the throne speech and the response to the throne speech. I can remember from the first time that I was elected, the first thing you see is the throne speech. Regardless of government or party, the throne speech puts out what their intentions are, what their plans are. If you have a throne speech right after an election, what you ran on, right? And when a government prorogues, as this government just has, and you reintroduce a throne speech, basically you’re—I’m not that eloquent at this, but you’re shifting gears. That’s what the government is doing.

So, to really look at a throne speech, you have to look back at what the government promised to do initially when they got elected, what they’ve done and now what they’re promising to do going forward. That’s basically it in a nutshell. I listened to the government House leader describe it yesterday and he was much more eloquent at it than I am, but that’s basically what it is. What a throne speech is about, what every debate here is about, is people. We are all elected, we all got into public service, I believe, because we care about people, regardless of our political views.

On that, I would like to start my debate talking about one particular person I met fairly randomly. Everyone around here notices when I get a haircut too, because I get my hair cut three or four times a year, and even if I’m not here for six months, the Sergeant-at-Arms notices I had a haircut. So I would like to talk, just for a moment, about the barber, the person who gave me that haircut, because I think her story is something the House would appreciate.

Actually, it’s my wife’s hairdresser, and we saw on Facebook that they had an opening. I had to come back to work, or to legislative work. We all work at home; we all do that. I had to look a bit more presentable. Her name is Lindsay. We got there and the first thing that Lindsay said to me, she goes, “I know who you are. I’m an apprentice. You’re on TV sometimes.” I said, “You’re fine. I know you don’t have much to work with, but you’re fine.”

I thought I recognized Lindsay. I saw Lindsay the week before. She was a server at one of our local restaurants. We started talking. She had worked as a server for 11 years, and when I spoke to her it was going to be her last week. She’d worked at the same place for 11 years as a server. She wanted to become a hairstylist, and because of COVID she couldn’t go to hairstyling school. She has a child at home. Lynn, the owner of E-Clips Hair Studio, offered her an apprenticeship and so Lindsay was cutting my hair.

You could tell that she felt bad that she was leaving a server job, because she liked the job, but she was trying to better her life. I just thought she’s really emblematic of the people who are Ontarians who are all working really hard to make themselves better, their families better and Ontario better. As we spoke, it turned out that Lindsay had been at my farm, because her dad used to drive a milk truck and she had gone with him. I thought that was kind of cute.

My last thing about Lindsay: The last week of the federal election, I went to the restaurant where she was working. I had nothing to do with the federal election, but I do volunteer. If the campaigns call me, I knock on doors; I volunteer. I have nothing to do with the federal party, but I do knock on doors. Lindsay was serving, and the federal Liberal candidate was there, too. I went over to talk to him. Then he told Lindsay that I was going to pay his bill.

Lindsay came over to tell me, and I would like to do that as my intro to congratulate the federal candidates, all of them who ran and the successful ones, especially in my riding, obviously. I have three MPs in my riding. It takes three federal guys to do the work of one MPP.

In the south part of my riding, I share my MP, Anthony Rota, with the member for Nipissing; farther west, I share my riding with Marc Serré, another incumbent Liberal; and the north part of my riding I share with Charlie Angus, a fellow New Democrat. There’s one thing that I would like to say, and I believe this of—I hope—most parts of the province, but I’m sure of northern Ontario: We don’t always agree philosophically, but because our numbers are small, we work together very well. And we will continue to do that. I truly do congratulate them for their hard work, and we will continue to work together.

Having said all that, we all know that for the last 18 months the world has gone through unparalleled times, and Ontario is no different. Ontarians have gone through incredible, incredible hardship. Now, the cause of this hardship—the government can blame lots of things on us and we can blame lots of things on the government, but the government did not cause COVID-19. The government was not planning on COVID-19; no one, obviously, was planning. And some of the past governments around the world—but we’ll stick to Ontario—had dropped the ball on some planning for pandemics. Because we all know we had SARS and we learned some things from SARS, but we forgot them, collectively.

I think that’s something I’m going to come back to a few times, Speaker, that it’s one thing to make a mistake, it’s one thing to encounter something you’ve never encountered before. You make a call based on the best information you have, and sometimes it’s the wrong call or sometimes you could have made a better one. We’ve done that personally; governments have done that, right? People who are in positions where they have to make decisions—nobody’s batting average is 100%, right? Where it gets problematic is when you know we learned and yet we make the wrong call again.

This is not a slight on this government; it’s probably more a slight on the past government, on the Liberal government. We learned things from SARS and we collectively—perhaps mostly the Liberal government—ignored them. As a result, the governments in Ontario were caught flatfooted. That is not on this government.

At the start of the pandemic—I give credit where credit is due—the Premier stood up and led the province. I remember the issue of the day when the pandemic broke—I don’t know if anyone will remember this—was the licence plates that you couldn’t see in the dark. That was a sign of a young government really busy with things they shouldn’t have bothered with. Blue licence plates to advertise the blue PCs was just—but that was the issue of the day.

Then COVID broke and, initially, the government stepped up, but by what I’ve seen in the throne speech and what I’ve heard from the government, we fear that they haven’t learned. They haven’t learned the lessons that we should have learned over the last 18 months. They’re talking a good game. They’ve made some good decisions. I’m not saying everything is bad, but they’re letting some big ones—some big ones—fall through the cracks, and the cracks are becoming canyons.

Health care: Over and over at the start of the pandemic, “Health care workers are heroes.” We know that. They took risks, because at the start we didn’t know what we were dealing with. I maintain that in some areas we still don’t know what we’re dealing with. They took risks and worked themselves off their feet, and we commended them. The Premier commends them on a regular basis, but they’re still worked off their feet. They’re crumbling—they’re crumbling. I didn’t see that reflected in the throne speech: “Oh, they’re great people, but they’re crumbling. We need to hire many more and we need to recruit many more.” Have we learned that? I don’t think so. I don’t think so.

I heard the Associate Minister of Transportation say yesterday—and I’m paraphrasing; I listened very closely to the speeches yesterday—that they reacted to COVID-19 and now it’s time to get back to business. He didn’t say it exactly that way, but I don’t think I’m mischaracterizing: “Back to what’s important.” But we’re still in COVID-19, and many of the effects of COVID-19 are going to be with us for years, regardless if the disease is conquered or not, and we’re missing that.

One example, I think: long-term care. Now, we all know that Ontario was one of the worst jurisdictions for deaths in long-term care, directly from COVID-19 and indirectly. We’ve had people in this province during COVID-19 die of dehydration, die by themselves. This issue, the problems in long-term care, were there before the pandemic, to be quite forthright. They were there before the Ford government, when we had a tragic situation in, I believe, Woodstock, where there were murders in a long-term-care home.

Our party asked the then-Liberal government to hold not just an inquiry into the acts themselves but an inquiry into the whole system that let that happen, and we were constantly rebuffed and refused.

Now, we’ve had the first and second waves kill thousands of seniors in long-term care—thousands—some under horrific conditions. The government reacts. The Premier says things like he’s going to create an iron ring around long-term care. The first thing they do legislatively, Speaker, is not put more protections in for the seniors, but they raised the bar for civil litigation against the private companies and the government. So the actual ring of protection is around the companies and the government. Again, that’s their first legislative action.

Now, we hear—I heard yesterday and I’m sure we’ll hear in the further debate—that the issue with long-term care, they’re going to solve it by creating more beds. There is a shortage of beds in Ontario, undoubtedly, but they’re not addressing one of the true issues: that the people who were running the beds that we had were doing a terrible job already, in some cases. There are some for-profit homes that are incredibly well run. I am not painting a brush over everyone.

But there are some that obviously aren’t, and yet this government is saying, “Our plan is to just make the system bigger: more beds, same system”—more beds, same problem. That is an example of ignoring—you’ve seen the warning bells. People have died because of the warning bells, and you’re not changing your direction.

In your first throne speech, you mentioned long-term care. You promised 15,000 beds over five years. In this throne speech, the last one, you’re promising 30,000 beds over 10 years. Basically, that’s the same. And in between those two throne speeches, we have experienced a disaster of horrific size in long-term care—horrific. Thousands of people died who didn’t need to and suffered who didn’t need to. Basically, the only thing you’re doing is more of the same.

It’s not just me who’s saying that, Speaker. The government, in response, put forward a commission; they created a commission. Again, I’m going to be upfront. We wanted a judicial inquiry because an inquiry would be a lot more open and allow more people to participate. The government didn’t go there, but they did create this commission.

To the commission’s credit, they came out with a credible report. The commission identified many of these same issues. One of the issues that the commission identified was that for-profit isn’t a good model for the care of people—it isn’t. Your own commission identified that. The reaction? Not much. Nothing, actually, because millions of dollars to long-term-care companies to create more beds does not fix the part of the system that actually causes the problem.

Speaker, they haven’t learned. If you make the wrong call because you don’t know that you can be—I don’t know if the right word is “forgiven”—but that’s understandable. But when the proof is looking you in the face, the families who lost their loved ones are looking you in the face, and the answer is, “We’re going to do the same, just more,” that tells me that the government hasn’t learned and it is going to go back to business as usual.

Before I switch to another topic, what’s truly tragic about this is, there is a chance—and let’s not hide this fact that we are going to be in an election in a few months; people on all sides are electioneering, and that’s a part of democracy, it’s not something we’re ashamed of—but there is a chance that what we saw happen in long-term care will be forgotten and that more people are going to suffer all over again because it will fall off the front burner which—it’s kind of falling now. I’m spending quite a bit of time on it because it’s important to us.

I am willing to predict the government is going to be spending a lot more time on wanting to build highways than on wanting to fix long-term care. There is a reason for that.

But we know the government knew, and we know, the long-term-care commission knows, and all the families know that the basic model of for-profit care doesn’t work. That’s why, one of the things we put forward is a different model. Can we change the system overnight? No. Can we make sure that going forward that residents in long-term care are protected, and that going forward, new facilities are under a new model that actually puts their care first, and that current facilities have to meet the same standards as at the new facilities?

That’s something that could have been in a throne speech instead of, “We’re just going to put more beds.” That’s not the answer. It’s great that you can announce how many millions of dollars you’ve given—that’s great, but you’re not changing it.

Interjection.

Mr. John Vanthof: Again, the member from Hamilton Mountain mentioned—and I told her to heckle me once in awhile, to give me some fodder.

Miss Monique Taylor: It’s not heckling—

Mr. John Vanthof: Advise me, once in a while. The government heckles sometimes; my side advises.

I will just—in a minute on that one.

We know that one of the ways that for-profit long-term care and home care—they hire part-time so they don’t have to pay benefits, and people have to go from one or two or three jobs to make ends meet. That was a terrible thing during COVID-19, but if you think about it, Speaker, it’s a terrible thing, period, for those people working. That’s a symptom of putting profit first, and when you do it in care, caring for people, it doesn’t work.

With our not-for-profit side, hospitals, we have some of the same issues. People are being run off their feet. I was talking to someone on the administration side of our health care system, I believe, and her biggest fear—she’s my age—is that a lot of people, as soon as they can get out, they’re gone. We are heading into a much bigger shortage than we’ve got now. The government’s response, “Well, they’re heroes, but we’re capping them at 1%. We want more nurses, but we’re not going to pay. Despite all the crap they go through, we’re not going to pay them any more than this”—and then they wonder why we’re going to be short of nurses.

Schools is another one: Pre-pandemic, the government seemed pretty focused on cuts in schools, and not much has changed. It’s not post-pandemic—hopefully, we’re nearing the end of the pandemic, but we could very well be mid-pandemic; we don’t know. Honestly, nobody knows. But now, due to changes in funding, we’re still getting bigger classes and the repair backlog is still growing.

I listened very intently to the member from Flamborough–Glanbrook’s speech. She was talking about all the HEPA filters that the government is so proud of. But where is the plan to actually put long-term ventilation, adequate ventilation, so we’re sure that kids are going to be safe—and not just from COVID-19, but so that they have safe and healthy places to learn? She mentioned that they were so proud of the $600 million. We’ve got a $16-billion backlog, and growing.

Now, to be quite upfront, the current government wasn’t responsible for that whole $16-billion backlog, right? They’re not responsible for the whole $16-billion backlog. The previous government is responsible for a lot of it and probably the government before the previous government, but this government hasn’t touched it—hasn’t touched it. So, again, I’m not sure that the government is learning.

I think, judging by the calls that we get in our office and the discussions I’ve had with my colleagues and people across the way, the group of people who are most surprised and disappointed—quite frankly, shocked—at this government is small business. I get these calls all the time. The previous, Liberal government wasn’t that business-friendly, I don’t think anybody is going to deny that. But because Conservatives are really good at advertising—“We understand business. We are your friends in business”—they truly thought that they would have a government that understood their issues.

In the pandemic they suffered more economically. Small business, small restaurants, tourism operators were slammed—were slammed—and this government didn’t really react. Yes, I give credit where credit is due. There were a couple of programs with lots of problems and no appeal process. I’ve been here 10 years, and it’s the first time I’ve ever dealt with a program that didn’t have a legitimate appeal process.

But a bigger issue with small business—and this was with all Ontarians. Everyone realized we’re in a pandemic, and the vast, vast majority of people knew that they had to make sacrifices and knew that everything wasn’t the same, but they also wanted it to be transparent, upfront and fair. And when Walmart and Costco were fully open and the local businesses that basically sold the same thing weren’t, and there was no real scientific justification for that, it started to get real tough and they started to wonder.

Again, you can come back to, “Okay, so at the start they made a mistake,” right? The Premier talked to Walmart, Walmart said, “It’s too much trouble to sell essential or non-essential, so just leave us open,” and the Premier made a mistake and listened to the wrong people. I don’t agree with that, but that could maybe explain it. There’s the campaign, the Premier and his buddies; maybe he listened to the wrong buddy that day.

But now it’s the same thing again: You can go to a stadium and take your mask off and eat with thousands of people, but the small restaurant that is still—we went to a restaurant last night. I have my vaccine passport, and they did the thing and they asked the questions, but they couldn’t have as many people. Again, fool them once, but twice, no.

Mr. Robert Bailey: Better ventilation.

Mr. John Vanthof: The member from Sarnia–Lambton said there’s better ventilation in a stadium with thousands of people than there is in a—

Mr. Robert Bailey: There is.

Mr. John Vanthof: No, no. And, if that is the case, then lay that out clearly to the restaurant industry, because that hasn’t been done. That hasn’t been done. That hasn’t been done, from what we understand. The restaurant industry wanted to talk and was rebuffed.

Again, this is also indicative of what the government does. Instead of actually doing what’s right and taking the heat for it—because there are no popular decisions in this—they try to take the easy way and then bend when the pressure gets too hard. Small business has been beaten up by this over and over and over. It’s the same as announcements. The Premier announces everything is going to—“We’re going to go full bore.” Restaurants order stuff, and then, a week later, “Oh, sorry. Everything is shut down.”

They’re supposed to understand business. That’s the shocking part. People actually believe that they—they aren’t listening to small business. They’re listening to somebody, but it sure wasn’t small business. That is the hardest thing. If you make a mistake, you learn from the mistake and you try not to do it again. They make a mistake with the big box stores. Whether it was a mistake or whether it was—it’s what they did. It was their decision. It turned out it wasn’t a great one, and yet they turn around and do the same thing again. That is a much bigger problem.

I’m going to switch a little bit to something that’s more—not local—more along with my critic portfolio. I’m the critic for agriculture and rural affairs. Now, I wasn’t surprised that agriculture isn’t mentioned in the throne speech, but the one thing that wasn’t mentioned at all in the throne speech, and that agriculture has a lot to do with and I don’t think is given enough credit, is climate change.

Climate change was kind of mentioned in the first throne speech, because, in the first throne speech, the only part that was mentioned about climate change was cancelling the cap-and-trade carbon tax. They ended up trying to take the federal government to court, and losing. There was nothing regarding climate change at all in the second throne speech.

If the throne speech is what you’re putting in the window eight months out—I believe we’re eight months out. Nothing else has changed in this government either; they’re still not really focused on climate change, and climate change is going to impact our lives. Whether you agree or don’t, it is going to impact our lives, and yet this government is very opposed to things that other jurisdictions or other levels of government are doing, and it has no real response for what it plans to do.

In the first throne speech, the government also promised, again, to lower gas prices. Now, how can you be talking about gas prices and climate change in basically the same breath? There are parts of this province we’re never going to have an alternative to roads to, and right now, because of inflation, people are having to make big choices. The government promised to address gas prices. It hasn’t. There are a lot of things in gas prices that are beyond this government’s control, granted. The government, in their first throne speech, also promised to lower hydro prices—didn’t see that either, and that is a lot more in the government’s control.

They spent a lot of time in the last election, the Liberal government—remember—what was that called? The fair hydro—I don’t know. It was a bit of a—

Mr. Mike Harris: The hydro scam.

Mr. John Vanthof: Yes, it was a bit of a shell game, that one was. But this government hasn’t done anything to lower consumer hydro rates either, despite the promise, and I don’t see it in the second throne speech, so that’s a promise that’s kind of gone.

Before I run out of time—which is amazing, because I thought an hour—Speaker, you could put a lot more words in an hour than I can, and I mean that as a compliment. I believe you have some auctioneering in your past, and it shows.

Coming from northern Ontario, a few things that are really ultra real for us—doctor shortages. I heard that the government is now telling doctors, “You know what? You’re safe now to do in-person visits instead of virtual.” Well, in my part of the world, there’s no one to visit in person, and many of us don’t have virtual. Those ads are just insulting, because it’s a huge, huge issue. I get calls all the time: “No doctor. What do we do?” That’s not just northern Ontario, but it’s especially in our area.

One issue that is a crisis across the country, across the province: the combination of addiction, mental health, homelessness—it’s a huge issue. And I’m not trying to minimize it anywhere else, but it’s not just an urban issue; it’s not just a fairly densely populated southern Ontario issue. It’s a sparsely populated northern Ontario issue as well, where you have towns that are spread out an hour apart, and if there are services in one town but that town is two hours away from the next one and there’s no way to get back and forth—we’re losing people; it’s harder to see, perhaps.

Everything is harder to see, because we’re farther away, but we’re losing people at an incredible rate. I’ve spoken to the government about it, and I know why it’s happening: There are limited resources and you want to put your resources where there’s the most people. But what about where there’s not a lot of people, where the people are separated by an hour? If you need to go to treatment, RAAM centres are great, but if you’re an hour away from one or even if you’re a half an hour away from one and you have no vehicle and there’s no public transportation, it might as well be on the other side of the world.

I didn’t see anything to address that.

Another issue that isn’t specific to northern Ontario but that is an issue that is mentioned in my riding a lot and I think anywhere people live along the Trans-Canada Highway is road safety; specifically, accidents and people not feeling safe anymore on the Trans-Canada Highway. I’ve spoken to the Ministry of Transportation about this several times. I’ve listened to the associate minister, hoping that he would bring something up about it. If you will recall, I have stood here for years, talking about how the way that winter road maintenance is managed for profit leads to problems on the highways. I’ve had many back-and-forths in question period on that issue.

But now, we’re having as many accidents in the summertime as we have in the winter. Again, it’s not just me saying this. Let’s see if I’ve got it in my notes. The OPP announced that deaths in commercial vehicle accidents are up 40% on our roadways, and just anecdotally, there are a lot of transport accidents. We need to address that.

I think it’s multi-faceted. In areas where we have long stretches, we need more places to park. People are too tired. We need better training. We have a shortage of transport drivers, and we have drivers on our roads who, through no fault of their own, have probably never seen the two-lane, small-shoulder highway that we call the Trans-Canada—Highway 11 in northern Ontario. They come over Thibeault Hill, and they think, “What is this?”

Yet we are responsible, the government is responsible, for making sure that people are adequately trained. If you listen to the W5 article, their exposé on driving, the government is not doing a great job of inspecting driving schools. They just don’t have the manpower to do it. They know that. They’ve known that for a few years. We’re losing people because of it. I didn’t hear anything, and I’m going to keep bringing this issue up, because we get calls about it all the time.

I can give you anecdote after anecdote. We have all had our experiences on Highway 11 where you have the white-knuckle one, where you pull off to the side and you think, “By the grace of God, I survived.” But there are those who don’t. And again, when you know something is wrong, you have to try and fix it. If it’s a problem that comes out of nowhere, okay, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but the government knows something is wrong. I’ve had the discussions with the Minister of Transportation. When they brought forward the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act, I brought it up in debate.

We need to do something about training, about licensing of commercial vehicles. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great drivers out there, and a lot of others who want to be great drivers. No commercial driver wants to be a bad driver or wants to take risks. But they need to be trained, and by the same token, people who drive passenger vehicles also have to understand that when you’re driving a vehicle that weighs 50 tons—you just can’t cut in front of it, especially on a two-lane highway. There’s no place to go. But you need the person driving that 50-ton vehicle also to have the training to be able to do that.

In my last couple minutes, I would like to return to something that we keep talking about in the north and the northeast, that we promised in the last campaign—the government promised in the last campaign—and that is the return of passenger rail in northeastern Ontario. To their credit, the government put $5 million towards a study. I give credit where credit is due—didn’t see any long-term funding in the budget for it, so the jury is still out on whether that was actually a real promise or along the same lines as lowering hydro prices. The ONTC has got the skill set to do it, has got the will, the determination.

It doesn’t lie with the ONTC; they need the political will to do it. It will be an election issue again, and they will say that they’ve nearly completed it—but they funded a study.

We need that train back. Do you know why we need that train back? We have a lot of people moving to our area and some of them without drivers’ licences. They want to know, “Okay, so how do we get back and forth to Toronto?” Well, we have a bus. But we need a train. We don’t need the Ontario Line subway, but we need equivalent service.

With that, Speaker, I thank you very much for granting me the opportunity to stand, and I’m glad this hour is over. Thank you.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bill Walker): I would like to inform the House that pursuant to standing order 101(c), changes have been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members’ public business, such that Ms. Kusendova assumes ballot item number 10 and Mr. Harris assumes ballot item number 24.

Further debate?

Mr. Mike Harris: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know I’ve had an opportunity a little bit earlier to congratulate you, but you’re looking the part today, so an official congratulations again, being able to recognize me to stand here in the House.

Of course, it is an honour to rise in response to the motion, motion 1 of our second session of the 42nd Parliament. In preparing for today, I thought back to the first time I rose in this chamber back in 2018. That was to speak to the first throne speech that Her Excellency our Lieutenant Governor delivered to the members of this Legislature. But nearly everything has changed since then.

Even though the past 18 months have posed the greatest challenge Ontario has faced in generations, there is one thing that the people of the province have been able to count on, and that is their Premier and this provincial government. This side of the House will stop at nothing to protect their health, safety and livelihoods. That commitment predates the pandemic, and it’s something our government has always stood by. We will not compromise the health of your family, we will not jeopardize the environment, but we will fire up Ontario’s economic engines to fuel historic levels of job creation and growth.

Earlier this month, our Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade shared some incredible news: Employment levels in Ontario are now back to their pre-pandemic levels. I think that’s very, very exciting, and I’m happy to share that with the people watching at home today. Since February 2020, 1.1 million jobs have been recovered. That is 1.1 million people who are once again able to work and support their households.

Let’s take a step back and remember what our government was able to accomplish before March 2020. But before we do, I want to remind the members of this House what we inherited: 300,000 manufacturing jobs gone, manufacturing sales three times slower than the national average, skyrocketing hydro rates and the most overregulated jurisdiction in the country, which cost businesses $33,000 a year, every year, off their bottom line, just in regulation.

We wasted no time getting to work to make Ontario the premier destination in Canada to do business and invest, and we are putting that mentality into action to pull us all out of the pandemic. That way of governing created 300,000 new jobs in Ontario between June 2018 and February 2020, before the pandemic. It saved Ontario businesses, non-profits and the MUSH sector over $370 million in regulatory compliance. There are now 6.5% fewer regulations in the province of Ontario.

Now, as I said, protecting health and safety is our number one priority. Just look at the billions of dollars we spent to create over 3,100 new hospital beds, and the 30,000 new long-term-care beds and 27,000 new front-line workers in our long-term-care homes. As the Premier has said time and time again, we will not put a price on protecting people’s health, but we do understand that there needs to be money to pay for these investments.

One thing I can absolutely guarantee is that there will not be reductions to public service and tax hikes like we’ve seen under the previous government. There will be no painful cuts or additional money coming out of your pocket. Just like we did between June 2018 and February 2020, this government will light a fire under the economy.

With the right mentality, the right policies, the right balance, Ontario is becoming competitive once again and attracting investment from all around the world. There are now more people working in manufacturing than there were pre-pandemic, and yes, in the same sector that was absolutely gutted by the previous government—and I will add that we lost 12,000 manufacturing jobs in Waterloo region alone under the previous government.

But let’s talk about skilled trades for a second, Mr. Speaker. Employers in the trades have been crying for people for years. Those are good-paying jobs that are going unfilled because there simply aren’t enough workers out there. There are 209,000 unfilled skilled and unskilled positions across the province, and while I won’t hone in on any one particular reason for this, I don’t think the 15 years of the Liberals pushing students away from shop floors did us any favours.

Thankfully, Mr. Speaker, times have changed. There is now a Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development who is passionate about encouraging youth to get into and explore the skilled trades. He is committed to doing what it takes to help our businesses close the skilled trades gap. Programs like the Skills Development Fund are seeing tremendous success. That funding has gotten 150 projects on the ground, training 260,000 workers.

But along with the skill gap, there are also succession-planning challenges. In 2016, five years ago, one in three journeypersons were over the age of 55. That’s a third of the workforce, and those numbers are from only half a decade ago. It takes three to five years for an apprentice to get their certifications. I don’t want to go too far down the rabbit hole of the College of Trades here, but that is one of the biggest things that held people back from getting into the trades to begin with.

One of the first things that we did was to commit to dismantling and making that system easier for both apprentices and the journeypeople who are taking them on. It’s now called Skilled Trades Ontario, a one-stop shop for the 150,000 apprentices that we have here in the province. But we still need to get rid of the mindset the previous government spent 15 years promoting. You do not need a university degree to be successful, Mr. Speaker. Success can be found on the job site, the shop floor or in a workshop, not just in an office in a high-rise tower.

We’ve increased investments for pre-apprenticeships and made skilled trades a focus in our schools. Along with promoting the trades to youth, we’ve also made reaching out to under-represented groups a priority. Ontario is a place for everyone to find prosperity, Speaker. If you want to work, there is a job here for you. Building roads, bridges and transit is a key part to Ontario’s long-term recovery, and we need the people to make that happen. We need newcomers in construction. We need female truck drivers.

Over $21 million has been invested to promote the trades to women, new immigrants, at-risk youth and Indigenous people. This funding has broken down some of the historic barriers that prevented these individuals from getting the training they need, and making it easier for them to see a viable path forward.

We can’t fill the labour gap in our skilled trades if over 50% of the population doesn’t see the trades as an actual option. We need to do a better job so that the impending succession bubble does not burst and wreak havoc on what really is the backbone sector of our economy. It will take time to address these challenges, Speaker, just as it is taking time to undo 15 years of damage left behind by the previous government. But maintaining the status quo like the opposition have time and time again, by propping up the Liberals, is not an option for us here on the government benches.

Economic growth will move us forward. It is what is going to build a future for my kids and everyone’s children across this province.

Now, I want to touch, Mr. Speaker, a little bit on the local landscape in Waterloo region. We are one of the fastest-growing communities in all of Canada, and in fact we’re the second-fastest growing here in Ontario. I’m sure everyone is probably a little sick of hearing that, but here is a new statistic for you: Since 2014, Waterloo region has seen its millennial population grow by over 25%. I am one of those people who have moved into the region, almost 10 years ago now. Millennials are the largest demographic in the job market, and they make up 30% of the population in Waterloo region. That is the horsepower that is going to drive forward Waterloo region’s and Ontario’s economic recovery.

We have a great team over at the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce and the Waterloo Economic Development Corp. who do incredible work supporting local businesses, attracting new ones and leveraging our current workforce. But we also have a champion in our Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. One of the last trade missions that he did back in 2019 was to India, where he inked a deal to bring over 300 jobs to Waterloo region. I can’t wait to get him down to the region again soon, and I hope that I’ll have some more great news to share about the growth that we’re bringing to this important corridor.

Over the past 18 months, even during the darkest days of the pandemic, the minister has been working hard to unleash economic potential in every part of the province. Unleashing Ontario, Mr. Speaker: That’s what we need to do to drive forward real growth for the next generation. This also happens to be the same name of a new tool he just launched to spread the word about the benefits of doing business right here in Ontario, because unlike the province that was bogged down by failed Liberal policies and governments unwilling to change, we are now an Ontario of innovation and growth.

We are bringing back industries that left our province, and opening doors to new sectors, like fintech, artificial intelligence and research.

Unleashing Ontario—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bill Walker): I apologize for interrupting the member. It is now time for members’ statements.

Debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Ministry of the Environment

Mr. Faisal Hassan: It is with pleasure I rise today on behalf of the decent, hard-working community of York South–Weston. Our community has been having to deal for far too long with a series of unresolved environmental incidents. I have written letters to the environment ministry, and residents are frequently unsuccessful in getting the Ministry of the Environment hotline to respond and to investigate thoroughly the sites of the complaints.

Despite these attempts to get the attention deserved, our community continues to suffer with an asphalt plant that has reports of bad odours through emissions, along with dust complaints. We have a meat processing plant in the Stockyards neighbourhood that has complaints of odour, spills and heavy truck traffic. I have no issue with businesses operating in our community, but there is a clear onus on them that they are responsible, good neighbours.

The folks I hear from express great frustration with what they see as a government ministry unresponsive to their concerns. The Ministry of the Environment needs to be responsive to complaints of citizens and do their part to ensure these businesses operate like good neighbours.

Anti-racism activities

This grant also aligns with CCCGT’s two-year program, Stronger Together, whereby they work in collaboration with 15 community organizations to tackle anti-Asian hate crimes through education and awareness.

As a long-time associate of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council and secretary of the organization, for years I have advocated against racism and hate. Furthermore, I lectured on the devastating effect of racism and hate on our—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bill Walker): Thank you.

Ontario Mine Rescue

Mr. Jamie West: Sudbury has some of the best mine rescue workers in the world, and this September they proved it again. On September 29, a scoop bucket was being transported underground at Vale’s Totten mine. During transport, it detached from the cage and blocked the mine shaft. In layman’s terms, the elevator to get underground was damaged, and there were 39 workers that were trapped at least 1,800 feet underground. Speaker, 1,800 feet is the height of the CN Tower, and some workers were more than double that distance.

Today, I want to bring recognition to the heroic work done by mine rescue teams at Totten mine. Ontario Mine Rescue was founded in 1929. They’ve spent countless hours preparing mine rescue volunteers for any situation that may arise, and prepared they were for the blockage at Totten mine.

Over 72 intense hours, rescue teams helped the miners climb the long secondary-egress ladder system. While some miners were able to climb the ladders, workers who were older or those who were exhausted from their ordeal were pulled up using ropes. Mine rescue volunteers spent between 12 and 15 hours underground, with some rescue officers upwards of 48 hours in the mine. After three days of concentrated efforts, all 39 miners were safely brought to the surface.

Speaker, Sudburians always come together to help those facing danger and this was no different. On behalf of the Legislative Assembly, I want to thank Ontario Mine Rescue and their volunteers at Totten mine. The families and loved ones of the 39 miners owe a great deal to their courage.

Hospital funding

Mr. Robert Bailey: I am pleased to rise today to announce another critical investment in Sarnia–Lambton by the government of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to supporting hospitals so that they can provide the care that Ontarians need close to home. As part of that commitment, I am pleased to announce an increase in funding to Sarnia–Lambton’s Bluewater Health of over $4 million in the 2021-22 budget year.

This new investment includes a 2.7% increase to annualized funding and one-time funding of nearly $150,000. This is a very important investment in Sarnia–Lambton, Mr. Speaker. Every day, the team at Bluewater Health goes above and beyond to provide exceptional care to the people of Sarnia–Lambton. While this has been especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that their compassion and commitment to care in our region will continue once the pandemic ends.

As part of the 2021 budget, our government announced a total of $1.8 billion in additional investments for hospitals to ensure patients can access high-quality care across the province when they need it. Mr. Speaker, investing in Ontario’s hospitals like Bluewater Health is part of our plan to end hallway health care and ensure that Ontarians receive exceptional care when they need it, and close to home.

Heart Lake Baptist Church

Mr. Kevin Yarde: I rise to recognize the incredible work done by the Heart Lake Baptist Church in my community of Brampton North. Heart Lake Baptist Church was formed in 1977 and has been a great service to the community since. They have some important initiatives like their Food Pantry and Heartbeat Bikes.

In response to the increased needs of our community as a result of COVID-19, Heart Lake Baptist Church started a food pantry on April 30, 2020. The first night, they served four families, and have steadily grown since. Now, on average, they serve between 26 and 39 families per week. Each week, they provide milk, eggs, butter, cheese, fresh fruits, vegetables, a variety of pantry items and toilet paper. They also provide diapers, wipes and baby food to our families with babies, and feminine hygiene products as well. The church also provides toiletries and clean laundry supplies monthly, as needed.

Heart Lake Baptist Church also partnered with Youth Unlimited to start Heartbeat Bikes, a platform to engage and employ youth to help them overcome employment barriers. Through this venture, they assist with intentional life skills development, on-the-job training and paid employment at bike repair store settings. Volunteers and mentors support and motivate youth through coaching, training, conflict resolution and advocacy.

I want to thank Pastor Wayne and the rest of the staff at Heart Lake Baptist Church for their contributions to the community. In challenging times like these, we need more positive influences like Heart Lake Baptist Church in our communities.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Mrs. Robin Martin: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, a month during which employers are encouraged to highlight the accomplishments and contributions that people with disabilities make in Canadian workplaces.

Unfortunately, often those with disabilities or who might require some accommodation have trouble finding work. Studies that I have read report, for example, that many of those on the autism spectrum, perhaps as high as 70%, never work.

I believe that we need to do better and ensure that as many people with disabilities who want to work and are able to work can find places to work that work for them. I cannot help but think, given the need right now in Ontario for 290,000 workers to fill existing jobs, that we have an unprecedented opportunity to find work—meaningful work—for people with disabilities.

I’m happy to recognize today the contributions that Ontarians with disabilities already make in the workplace, and to pledge to work together to ensure a future where more people with disabilities find meaningful employment.

Small business

Miss Monique Taylor: Today I want to talk about small businesses in my riding of Hamilton Mountain that are on the brink of permanent closure. Their owners were strung along by the government’s promise of grant supports, promises that never came.

In my riding, Paul, of Paul’s Paralegal, was told he qualified for multiple grant instalments. When he received the first grant, he poured it into his mounting operating costs. When it came time for the second grant, nothing happened—no funds, no communication.

After jumping through hoops on his own and then reaching out to my office, Paul finally received correspondence. Was it a notice of direct deposit? No. It was something that left him feeling, in his own words, devastated. They said he was ineligible for the second grant and that, upon audit of the program, he didn’t qualify for any funds at all. He has had to lay off his staff and is growing increasingly worried about the future of his business. And he’s not alone.

We also heard from Ben of Paramount Safety Consulting. He received the first grant in April and then received an email confirming that he qualified for the second grant. By June, nothing. Every 10 days he was told to call back if he hadn’t received notice. Every 10 days he was left in the dark. Then Ben too received that dreaded email saying he didn’t qualify.

Just to add insult to injury, the small business support grant department is no longer responding to the inquiries of MPPs’ offices. Since August, that department has been closed down for review and escalation. This means no communication with our offices and the ministry. This has left small businesses in the dark and is absolutely unacceptable.

Local Government Week

M me Lucille Collard: This week is Local Government Week. The week is meant to educate students on the importance and operation of municipal government, but one is never too old to learn. In fact, I didn’t know about this campaign and I have been a school board trustee for 10 years.

The campaign is intended to highlight the key role that Ontario municipal governments play in our communities. The campaign is also intended to create more engaged citizenship and encourage people of all walks of life to run in municipal elections.

We often forget that school boards also form part of local government with their school trustees duly elected at the same time as city councillors. Their work also deserves to be recognized. School board trustees are important local representatives as they bring the voice of parents and students to the board’s table. They set the vision, develop policies, allocate resources and set the goals of the board. They influence decision-making on policy matters, shaping the learning experience of our children.

I fully recognize the passion and dedication it takes to step up as a trustee. A large part of the role is done on a voluntary basis outside of professional and personal occupations.

My regards and thanks to my past and present colleagues who are part of our local government. Happy Local Government Week.

Events in Dunnville

Mr. Toby Barrett: You’ve got to love Dunnville. Haldimand–Norfolk is home to so many great small towns across our rich rural riding, and recently, the town of Dunnville has taken centre stage with two very significant accomplishments.

On September 11, 128 flags went up on the main street of town to honour the 128,000 Canadian veterans who lost their lives serving our country. These flags and poles will stay up until November 12, under the watchful eyes of area people.

It was truly an honour for me to address the crowd at Wingfield Park at this Veterans Voices of Canada Flags of Remembrance ceremony, only one of six ceremonies to be held that day across Canada. It was a great tribute to our fallen veterans. Thanks to the great people of Dunnville, the Royal Canadian Legion 142 and those who organized the event.

There’s a second significant accomplishment, Speaker. Dunnville never ceases to amaze. For the fourth year in a row, the Dunnville Tim Hortons sold 48,000 smile cookies. That’s the most cookies sold in Canada—again, four years running. Smile cookies are sold through September. Proceeds go to local charities; in our case, to the well-respected Dunnville hospital foundation.

Dunnville is an amazing small town.

Community funding

Mr. Lorne Coe: Our government is providing more than $46 million to support 648 non-profit tourism, culture, sport and recreation organizations through the Community Building Fund’s operating stream.

In Whitby, four organizations received funding: Lynde House Museum, $46,100; the Whitby Minor Baseball Association, $43,500; WindReach Farm, $213,000; and Art with a Heart, $49,000.

The impact of this money: Ross Ste-Croix, the executive director of WindReach Farm, said, “The funding from the OTF building communities fund will be pivotal for us as we rebuild our therapeutic riding program back to where it was prior to COVID. WindReach Farm’s therapeutic riding program is the only one of its kind in Durham region and provides much-needed therapeutic recreation and fitness opportunities for individuals of all abilities in a tranquil and nurturing environment.”

“Art with a Heart is ecstatic to receive this funding. We are looking forward to continuing to support” Whitby residents “through arts-based mental health and wellness programs while building sustainability for our charity. This past year, working with so many amazing participants, we have seen and heard the need in our community for ongoing arts-based mental wellness programming for kids, teens, adults and seniors.”

Taken together, this is our government lifting up people in the town of Whitby through this investment of almost $350,000.

Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Joining us at Queen’s Park today is Mona Dokainish, mother, and Ahmad Elbayoumi, brother, of today’s page captain, Lamees Elbayoumi, from the riding of Mississauga–Malton.

In addition, we welcome Nezar Dahdal, father of page captain Yamama Dahdal, from the riding of Toronto Centre. It’s great to have you here with us at Queen’s Park. Welcome.

Question Period

Health care workers

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is to the Premier. Ontarians have praised the hard work of nurses on the front lines of our health care system. They’ve been some of the heroes of the pandemic, but they are overworked and burnt out all across the province, including in the north and rural areas. We are in a nursing shortage. It’s simple, Speaker: We need more nurses to help Ontarians. Why has the government failed to recruit and retain nurses in Ontario?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member opposite for the question. We recognize and value greatly the work that nurses have done since the beginning of this pandemic and have continued to do for the past 18 months, but we do realize that many of them are exhausted. They need a break. That is why we have invested over $52 million already to recruit, retain and support over 3,700 more front-line health care workers through our COVID-19 fall preparedness plan.

We do have further plans to recruit and retain more workers because we know, especially with the increase in care hours in long-term care, that we will need more support. We will need more workers in our health care system, and that’s in home and community care and in long-term care, as well as in our hospitals.

We’re continuing to build on that and we are going to graduate more nurses because we know that we need more registered nurses, RPNs, personal support workers and everyone on the front line.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: The Ontario Nurses’ Association says some nurses are so burnt out they are quitting, creating even more gaps.

The Premier’s science table said yesterday, “There is already significant fatigue and burnout among hospital health care workers. They will be further strained and at risk for burnout if their unvaccinated colleagues are unable to work due to COVID-19 infection.”

When will this government mandate vaccines for health care workers and ensure that the risk of disruptions drops, instead of getting worse?

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

Hon. Doug Ford: I find it ironic the NDP are saying one thing: “Fire 20,000 nurses,” but we need more.

I will tell you what we’re doing, Mr. Speaker. We’re investing over $1 billion to make sure the temporary wage enhancement takes place. We’re investing $4.9 billion over four years to create more than 27,000 new positions for nurses and PSWs. This includes the most recent announcement of $270 million to hire 4,050 new long-term-care staff across the province, partnering with publicly funded colleges with investment—by the way, the colleges are doing an incredible job in training the nurses and the PSWs.

We’re investing $121 million to accelerate the training of 9,000 PSWs and investing $86 million to train up to 8,600 PSWs.

We are getting some of the greatest front-line health care workers anywhere in the world right here in the province because of our investments.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: Despite the Premier’s statement, the government has made it clear that they do not appreciate nurses. Bill 124 strips nurses and other front-line workers of their rights to bargain their wages. They need to rip up that bill.

We need a new plan to train and retain nurses, with a government that is willing to invest in this training, recruitment and retention. We need a government to say yes to more nurses instead of always saying no.

When will this government withdraw Bill 124 and ensure that every Ontario community has the nurses they need?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: As I’ve indicated before, we greatly value the work that nurses have always done, especially during a pandemic.

We are recruiting more people. We are recruiting more nurses, registered practical nurses, personal support workers and others. We’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars in order to be able to do that.

We also recognize that many nurses are feeling burnt out. That’s why we have made mental health supports available to them. We need to make sure that our providers are well to be able to continue to provide care. So we are providing those supports to nurses. We will continue to do that because we want to make sure, as we finally exit this road map, that we will make sure that our front-line workers are well and safe and able to carry on their work in the future.

Premier’s comments

Mr. Gurratan Singh: My question is to the Premier. On Monday, when the Premier should have been talking about growing our province with new Canadian immigrants, he instead made comments that play into racist stereotypes about new Canadians. Those comments were hurtful, divisive and wrong.

Immigrants and new Canadians struggle and work day and night to survive in Canada, working to build this province and this country.

Yesterday, the Premier was given an opportunity to apologize, and he refused. So I’m going to ask the Premier again: Will he apologize for his hurtful and divisive comments towards new Canadians that are just plain wrong?

Hon. Doug Ford: To the member from Brampton: I was inundated with people from Brampton, from your community, from the Sikh community, who said, “You were bang on.” They told me the story of how they came here and worked their back off, and they said, “They’re just playing politics with you.”

Our base, my base, our family’s base is made up of great, hard-working immigrants. I’ve been calling on the federal government for three and a half years to have more immigrants. This province was built on hard-working immigrants. I will support them. I ask them to come here and work and contribute like everyone else does. That is the backbone of this province—our great, hard-working immigrants.

So stop playing politics, and let’s speak the truth.

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

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Premier: I don’t think the Conservative government and the Premier understand how problematic the Premier’s comments were, so let me break it down. Immigrants often come to Canada with nothing. Some work in gruelling jobs with low wages, struggling to get their education recognized, struggling to find housing and more. And yes, they face racism and racist stereotypes. Instead of recognizing this struggle, the Premier of Ontario made comments that feed into division and into these racist stereotypes—a dog whistle that is hurtful and wrong.

So I’m going to ask the Conservative government and the Premier of Ontario to do the right thing: Show leadership and apologize for the Premier’s reckless and hurtful and just plain wrong comments.

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, I asked the member to stop playing politics.

It’s very simple. My phone has blown up all night, all day, the day before, from immigrants telling me their story of how they have come here with absolutely nothing and how they’ve started at low-level jobs, they’ve worked up, they’ve built companies, they’ve started restaurants. That’s the type of Ontario we need.

I find it very ironic: I’ve been the one asking for 294,000 immigrants to come here and build the GDP. But guess what? Under the NDP and the Liberals, they never had to worry about that for 15 years. They lost 300,000 jobs. They had more people than jobs. Since we’ve taken government, we have more jobs than we have people.

I welcome everyone around the world, no matter where they come from. Come here, start a family, start a business and get back to the greatest jurisdiction anywhere in the world, and that’s Ontario.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members will please take their seats. Stop the clock.

Restart the clock. Final supplementary?

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Premier: Harrmandeep Buttar is a new Canadian, living in Brampton. He is an essential worker. He worked throughout the pandemic. He drives a truck. He works six days a week, 12 hours a day, and in the evenings and on weekends, he delivers food. He easily works 16 hours a day, six days a week. He lives in a basement apartment where he provides for his wife and his daughter. His is a story of so many other new Canadians who are struggling to make a life here in Canada. Do they sound like immigrants who are here only to collect the dole?

What possible excuse could the Premier of Ontario have for saying his reckless and irresponsible comments? Why would he say that immigrants are only coming to Canada to collect benefits, and why won’t he apologize?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: First, Mr. Speaker, I didn’t say that. Again, they’re playing politics. I’m the biggest pro-immigrant Premier we’ve ever seen here—ever.

Our family has been the same way. Again, I go back to our base. This is how we were created. That’s the reason I’m down here: Because hard-working immigrants couldn’t pick up the phone and call any of their MPPs; they wouldn’t return their phone calls. They can call the Premier, and I’ll return their phone call. They called the mayor of the largest city in Toronto, and they returned the phone calls and went to their door.

I challenge my friend Mr. Singh. I will go to his community. I’ll door-knock and I’ll see the response from the Sikh community. The Sikh community that came down to visit me and said, “You’re bang on, Doug. Just keep going and stay focused.” That’s what we’re going to do.

We’re going to continue to create jobs. We’re going to make sure that when people come here, they have affordable housing that the NDP and the Liberals voted against. We’re going to have highways for people to drive on that the NDP voted against. We’re going to increase health care that the NDP voted against. It’s no, no, no from these people across the aisle—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Members will please take their seats.

Start the clock. The next question.

Government accountability

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Speaker, yesterday afternoon, the Premier revealed that he would be bumping up his House leader to this brand new, never-before-heard title as Minister of Legislative Affairs. We know this isn’t just a title bump; it comes with a $27,000-a-year pay raise.

The Premier talks a big game about looking out for workers, but he’s the one who passed Bill 124 that targets front-line workers: our nurses, the angels in our community who have seen trauma and tragedy and continue to see it every day. It freezes their salaries for the very people who have continued to keep us safe during this pandemic.

Speaker, can the Premier explain why his House leader, his right-hand man, deserves this generous promotion, but our hard-working front-line workers do not?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: I do appreciate the opportunity to answer the question. As I informed the opposition House leader yesterday, in fact the new responsibilities come with a mandate to ensure that the Legislative Assembly, which is in dire need of repair, which is in need of a decanting—the function of that is returned to parliamentarians and away from the public service. I think all members would agree to that. As I said, I informed both the Liberal House leader yesterday and the opposition House leader of that.

Having said that, Mr. Speaker, the member is quite correct on one thing. When it comes to investing in health care, a massive investment in his community with respect to a brand new hospital that, of course, was not a priority for them when they shared a coalition government with the Liberals. He never advocated for that. He never advocated for health care workers. He never advocated for long-term care. He never advocated for the twinning of his highways which we’re getting done—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. The member will take his seat.

Supplementary question.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Speaker, what’s quite clear is that when it comes to taking care of his friends and his buddies, the Premier is all ready to say yes, yes, yes to a pay raise for the government House leader, but when it’s time to pay front-line workers, those nurses, it’s no, no, no and he has entrenched it in law in this building.

Speaker, all we know so far is that the House leader will be topped up with close to about $30,000. That’s about six months’ worth of a hard-working nurse’s salary, or an entire year of a minimum wage worker’s salary. But it might not stop there. Can the Premier tell us what other perks or promotions come with this new title? Will the minister have access to private transportation, limousine service, according to this new title that he now holds?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Of course, Mr. Speaker, I understand what the member is doing: He’s embarrassed by the fact that he has sat in this House since what—2011—and has been unable to get a brand new hospital for his region, and we were able to get it in our first term of government. The member is embarrassed—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Essex, come to order. The member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order.

The government House leader has the floor.

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member is embarrassed that, although he has sat there and accomplished very little for his community, in our first term of government, we were able to twin highways in his area, so that we could get people and the economy in his area moving better and people moving around.

The member is probably embarrassed by the fact that, whilst he was in a coalition with the Liberals, the only thing he asked for was a stretch goal on auto insurance, not new long-term-care beds, not hospitals, not transit, not transportation. He sat there and approved the closing of rural schools to the tune of some 600. On every measure he has not delivered for his community, and that’s why, on June 2, 2022, a new Conservative member of provincial Parliament—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. The government House leader and the member for Essex will come to order.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Perhaps you didn’t hear. The government House leader and the member for Essex will come to order, and we’ll move to warnings if need be.

Interjections.

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

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): It was your facial expression.

Mr. John Fraser: I probably deserve it because of past transgressions. I’ll take it. I’m not complaining.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Start the clock.

The next question.

Access to menstrual products

Ms. Christine Hogarth: We want to turn this back to things that are really important to Ontario, which is about the pandemic. The pandemic has caused a lot of economic distress for people in various ways, and during these unprecedented times it has meant that some women have faced the reality that many others well know, about the worry of affording the necessary period products they need each month. It’s not a subject that we often talk about. Some of us never talk about it, but that’s because many of us just take it for granted. But more women and girls are having increased difficulty affording the appropriate menstrual hygiene products, including while in school.

The inability to afford these necessary products is often referred to as period poverty. We see this especially with young women and girls, who may miss out on a day of school and other activities because of the challenges to access the necessary menstrual products. Can the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues tell us how this government is planning to address period poverty in Ontario?

Hon. Jane McKenna: Thank you to the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore for the question. As the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues, I am always trying to ensure that women and girls have the support they need to succeed and reach their full potential.

I was surprised to learn, according to a survey by Plan International Canada, that 63% of women and girls have regularly or occasionally missed an activity because of their period and concerns of not having access to menstrual hygiene products, and one in seven young people aged 13 to 21 struggled to afford period products.

Mr. Speaker, because of our government’s continued efforts to end period poverty, we have partnered with Shoppers Drug Mart to provide these essential menstrual products for free to students across Ontario. Our government is committed to ending period poverty, and this partnership is the first step towards progress.

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

Ms. Christine Hogarth: I want to thank the minister for that answer. Once again, this is something we don’t normally talk about, but I’m really glad to see that our government is working with the private sector, hand in hand, to provide these free products to our schools.

Mr. Speaker, I know that 12 months ago, Minister Lecce embarked on the negotiations to help end period poverty. And it is clear now more than ever that young women and girls need access to these products. I think it’s critical that we come together, women and men, to support all students, especially those who are facing hardship, poverty or mental health struggles.

Can the Minister of Education tell this House why this negotiation was important to him and to our government, and most importantly, how it will improve the lives of young girls, women and other students across Ontario?

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

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I want to thank the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore for her leadership, standing up for young students and women and girls in our province.

We agreed that in 2021, in this country, it is unacceptable that so many young students are unable to attend school due to a lack of access to menstrual products. We’ve been guided and informed and inspired by the voices of students who called on the government to take action to help end period poverty, and that is why we worked in partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart, under the leadership of the Premier, to help ensure, from an equity perspective, from a health perspective and from an academic perspective, that every child could be in school every day.

That is why we’re proud to have announced a commitment over three years for 18 million menstrual products and for 1,200 dispensers, supporting schools in this province so that we can improve the mental health of students, and more importantly, we can ensure that all kids have access to the menstrual products that they deserve.

Small business

Mr. Ian Arthur: Yesterday, I was part of a devastating meeting. It was a meeting that the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries should have had with the restaurant industry. The industry represents 450,000 workers. It generators billions of dollars in tax revenue. And it operates on a knife’s edge of profitability.

A healthy restaurant operates with 3% to 5% profit. But during the pandemic, eight out of 10 restaurants operated at a loss or barely scraped by. Some of the sales have come back, but not enough. Sales are down 30%, and seating capacity is still capped. Winters are hard in the best of years for restaurants, and this is the worst of years. The situation is untenable.

Restaurants have several asks, and I would respectfully, through you, Speaker, request that the Premier address each one: Will the Premier lobby the federal government to continue the wage subsidies throughout the winter? Will the government stop insurance companies from imposing 30% to 200% increases on premiums? Will they commit to no penalties on unpaid deferred payments?

This industry is about family and community. I know; I worked in it for years, Speaker. Will this Premier support the restaurant industry and get them through the coming winter?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I appreciate the member opposite’s question. Of course, I know he has worked in the restaurant sector and hospitality sector himself, and we wish him great success.

That said, I want to be perfectly clear: The Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, including myself as the minister, have met on multiple occasions with our restaurant working group, which we established in our own way. We have met with them similarly—myself—over four times. My colleague the Attorney General, my colleague the Treasury Board president, my colleague the Minister of Labour all sat down in order to support the restaurant industry, and we look forward to their actual recommendations.

I will say that our government has invested over $600 million to 18,000 restaurants to allow them to survive during this period of time, and we’ve been working. If the member opposite wants to talk about meetings, the restaurant working group did have representatives that were allowed to be part of a meeting that I had on Monday morning—to which Restaurants Canada did not show up, although the Culinary Tourism Alliance did, in addition to, of course, ORHMA. They also were well aware that I was meeting at the Ottawa Hospital to look at a new civic campus.

That said, I did have the opportunity yesterday to meet with Ottawa Public Health—

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

The supplementary.

Mr. Ian Arthur: For the record, restaurants in Toronto faced the longest lockdowns and the lowest amount of support across all of Canada.

People ask me if I miss the kitchen and cooking, and what I tell them is that I miss the people I worked with. They were my chosen family, and they were incredible. That’s how it is in restaurants. The Premier likes to speak of his family, about all the people who show up at Ford Fest. These are those people, Premier. I don’t think they’re going to show up anymore.

One owner told us of crushing debt he had taken on during the pandemic. He told us that he is once again forced to lay off employees because patios are closing and capacity is still limited. He talked about how, throughout the pandemic, he has been covering the cost of rent for employees who were losing their homes, covering their medical bills and their child care costs, buying groceries for his employees.

Through you, Speaker, to the Premier—

Interjections.

Mr. Ian Arthur: —and I hope that the minister from North Bay and the minister from Nepean are listening closely—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member will take his seat.

The member for Essex is warned.

I apologize to the member for Kingston and the Islands. Please conclude.

Mr. Ian Arthur: Thank you, Speaker. I was looking down; I didn’t see you rise there. I apologize.

Again, through you to the Premier—and I do hope that the ministers from North Bay and Nepean are listening very closely. Your ridings are filled with independent, family-owned restaurants. Please find it in yourselves—have the economic wherewithal, have the compassion, whatever it takes to get there—to bring back a third round of small business funding and help these restaurants get through the winter.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: As I did mention, over $600 million was invested directly to 18,000 restaurants throughout the pandemic. We also provided a great deal of support through rent relief, energy relief. In addition, my ministry has just announced another $100-million fund for tourism and economic development recovery.

We continue to work with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as well as Treasury Board and finance in order to support our sectors.

I will say this: In order for us to get back to full capacity, in order for us to continue to get back to normal, we need to download that QR code. I’m pleased to say that over 800,000 have been verified in the last couple of weeks. But I did receive troubling information yesterday from Ottawa Public Health—as the member opposite knows, I’m a proud member from the city of Ottawa—who indicated to me that right now 30% of our restaurants are failing to comply with the ability to verify the vaccination certification.

I will continue to work with the sector, not only to provide them with funding in order for them to stabilize, but also in order for them to adhere to public health protocols, because that is the key for us to get back to economic and social recovery and success.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Before I recognize the member for Ottawa South, I will apologize to him for mistakenly calling him to order earlier this morning.

Mr. John Fraser: I probably deserved it for past indiscretions.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We move on. Don’t worry.

The member for Ottawa South.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Premier, and I hope that he is listening very closely. Ontario families have been through so much in the last 19 months: lost income, lost time at school, lost time with loved ones, and so many other things.

Vaccines have arrived, and they’ve brought hope. So it’s perfectly reasonable for families to expect that the person caring for a loved one in hospital or in their own home or at school or in a child care centre has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

We know that vaccines reduce transmission, disease, hospitalization and death. We know that seniors, those who are immunocompromised and children under 12, who can’t be vaccinated, are very vulnerable to the Delta variant.

So, Speaker, through you: Why is the Premier refusing to make vaccinations mandatory for front-line health care and education workers?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. This is a very important issue, and it’s one that we’re analyzing on a daily basis within the hospital sector.

As you know, we have one of the most successful vaccination rates in the world, with over 87% of Ontarians aged 12 and older having received their first dose and over 84% being fully vaccinated.

Since we announced our last mile strategy, we’ve had a big increase in vaccination rates. That largely will include health care workers. We’ve had approximately 365,700 first doses and approximately 525,900 second doses. We do recommend that every Ontarian be vaccinated. We do recommend that particularly health care workers be vaccinated, because they are dealing with the public and dealing with their ill patients, and the vast majority of people already have in front-line health care situations.

We are reviewing this on a daily basis, and I’ll have more to say on this in my supplementary.

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

Mr. John Fraser: Very clearly, the Minister of Long-Term Care understands breakthrough infections and infections in the unvaccinated, because he made vaccines mandatory in long-term care. When he said that, he said that although staffing might be impacted by this policy, “The priority has to be protecting the safety of residents and the safety of other staff.” The minister said that while they might lose some staff who are unwilling to get vaccinated, home operators are much more concerned about the implications of an outbreak and what that would mean to staffing.

The same principle applies in hospitals, in schools, in child care centres, in home care, in all other settings where that kind of care is delivered. It’s really hard to understand why you’re incrementally parsing this all out. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not logical.

Speaker, through you: Will the government be supporting Bill 12 this afternoon and make vaccinations mandatory for front-line health care and education workers, and protect the most vulnerable among us?

Hon. Christine Elliott: First, the situation with long-term-care homes and the staff in those homes is different than in other locations, because long-term-care homes have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. However, that said, the Premier has sent a letter to hospitals in Ontario and other front-line health care providers to understand what the impact would be for a mandatory vaccine requirement, because it’s not a simple stand-alone issue.

We understand that there will be some people who will not be vaccinated, and we already have health human resources concerns. We want to make sure that our hospitals can continue to provide excellent, quality care, so we have to weigh the benefits of mandatory vaccination versus the job losses that might happen for people who chose not to be vaccinated.

We have received those responses, pursuant to the letter that the Premier sent out. We are reviewing those answers now and will make a determination very shortly with respect to this issue of mandatory vaccination.

Can the minister please share with the House what the government is doing to ensure that all of Ontario is accessible, so that every Ontarian can live the Ontario dream?

Hon. Raymond Sung Joon Cho: I thank the member for Kitchener–Conestoga for raising this important question. I’d like to answer that question by sharing a real example. The town of Elmira is showing leadership on what small businesses in that town are doing to make their community more accessible to everyone. These small businesses are echoing the Ontario spirit that is being shown across the province during National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

I saw this first-hand at the Onward Manufacturing facility when I toured this small business with my good friend the member for Kitchener–Conestoga. They showed us first-hand the value of employing people with disabilities and how they make their workplace accessible for everyone. Onward Manufacturing is a real example of how small business—

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

The supplementary question.

Mr. Mike Harris: It’s encouraging to see the work that the ministry is doing. We got to see it first-hand while we were out touring around some of these local small businesses.

As we continue to combat the fourth wave, seniors need to know that their government is there for them. Could the minister tell us a little bit more about the work that his ministry is doing to protect seniors as the fight against COVID-19 continues?

Hon. Raymond Sung Joon Cho: Thank you to the member for Kitchener–Conestoga. Thank you for your continued support and excellent work for Ontarians in your riding.

Our government is protecting seniors in the riding of Kitchener–Conestoga and the rest of Ontario by investing in infection prevention and control measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in retirement homes.

Mr. Speaker, it’s my honour to share with the House that the riding of Kitchener–Conestoga received over $215,000 in IPAC funding. That’s over $215,000 more to spend on staff, PPE, training, and other measures to stop the spread of the virus.

Health care

Mr. Wayne Gates: My question is to the Premier, and I hope he’ll answer it for the people of Niagara. Today in Niagara, only 6% of residents have received their MRI within the provincial benchmark of 28 days, compared to 46% of other Ontario residents who have their scan in that time.

The current wait time for an MRI in Niagara—listen to this—is 255 days, well above the provincial average of 141.

In Niagara, thanks to the help of Mr. Tom Rankin, we have fundraised enough money to install an MRI unit. We have requested from this government $1.52 million to run the new MRI machine seven days a week to clear up the backlog.

Will you provide the funding in that request and ensure the residents of Niagara Falls have fair access to MRI scans? Yes or no?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Certainly, our goal is to make sure that everyone in Ontario, including in Niagara region, can have fair access, timely access to both surgeries and diagnostic procedures that have been delayed as a result of COVID-19. That’s why, as part of our $1.8-billion investment into the hospital sector, we’re also dedicating $300 million to reduce surgical backlogs and to increase diagnostic procedures from delayed or cancelled surgeries and procedures because of the pandemic. This is in addition to the $200 million that we introduced last fall.

We know that people have been waiting long periods of time. We want to make sure that we can get caught up, which we are doing very quickly, on both surgeries and diagnostic procedures. That applies to everyone across the entire province. We are mindful of that, and we are working very hard to make sure that we can limit the times that people have to wait to receive these procedures and surgeries.

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

Mr. Wayne Gates: Minister, you’re aware of the request from Niagara Health. You’re also aware of the fact that we need operating funds in Niagara.

There are 5,000 residents today waiting for an MRI—5,000. These scans could be the difference between life or death, and people are sitting at home, stressed out, waiting 255 days for the scan they need. It’s disgraceful in this province.

We did our part. We fundraised enough money to buy the machine. That’s our obligation. Now the Premier has to do his part and provide the funding to clear the backlog and get these people the access to medical services they need.

In 2017, the Conservatives supported my motion to end these backlogs by funding MRI scans in Niagara. The people of Niagara now need them to live up to that commitment.

Will the Premier say today to the residents of Niagara that he will be delivering the money needed to clear the backlog and ensure that no resident in Niagara has to wait 255 days for a scan that they medically need?

Hon. Christine Elliott: While I can’t speak specifically to the issue that the member is mentioning, I can indicate that we are working very hard to catch up on the surgeries and diagnostic procedures that had to be cancelled or delayed because of COVID-19.

But I’m also pleased to say that in 2020-21, the average Ontario hospital completed 88% of their targeted surgical and diagnostic allocation. This is something we are working very hard on. We’ve invested over $500 million in order to be able to do that. We know that people have been waiting a long time. We are grateful for the fundraising efforts that have already happened, but we are doing our part to catch up and to make sure that people do not have to wait undue periods of time to have these procedures done or surgeries done. That applies across the province, including in Niagara.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Rick Nicholls: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. Sunnycrest Nursing Home, located in Whitby, recently had four deaths and seven hospitalizations within the first week since the COVID boosters were administered. Sadly, these deaths were covered up and not reported to the mainstream media for reasons that are suspect.

An inquest was not called. Autopsies seeking the cause of death were not performed. Coroner findings were not released. If I were a family member, I would demand answers and I wouldn’t accept, “Well, they died from other comorbidities.”

Minister, to you: What is the government doing to protect our elderly from dying when the purpose of the boosters is supposed to save lives?

Hon. Rod Phillips: I do thank the member for the question. Mr. Speaker, our focus has been on protecting the residents of our seniors homes. Of course, every death is a tragedy and we mourn them with the family.

But, Mr. Speaker, that is why the province of Ontario, with the support of the chief medical officer, moved, as the first jurisdiction in North America, to have third doses. I am pleased to report to the Legislature today that 88% of eligible residents have those boosters.

Now, Mr. Speaker, and to the member, as we know, there is no perfect protection against this disease. That is why we continue to make sure that other protections are in place, including now requiring randomized testing of both immunized and non-immunized staff. We want to take every step we can to make sure that we’re protecting people in our long-term-care homes.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, on October 1, I indicated that a vaccine mandate would be in place so that by November 15 all staff will need to be vaccinated. We’ll take the steps we need to take to protect our elders.

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

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Thank you for that response, Minister. Initially, these experimental drugs, aka vaccines, were coined as the “saving grace” to eliminate COVID. Now people must get up to six booster shots. Is that because the experimental drugs aren’t as great as expected?

Where’s the clinical data and the research proving boosters are safe and effective? I’d like to suggest that our seniors are not human guinea pigs, yet surprisingly there has been no animal testing on these drugs. It appears that corners have been cut in order to rush to get the vaccines and boosters out.

Just to be clear, Minister, I’m not pointing fingers at you regarding the determination of the safety or the efficacy. But now it has been reported that a lawyer at Sunnycrest has threatened staff with dismissals and lawsuits should they talk to anyone about the deaths following the administering of the first round of boosters. That sounds like a cover-up.

So, Minister, will you commit to investigating these allegations of threats and the hiding of any wrongdoings at Sunnycrest and to seek justice for the families affected?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I need to caution the member on his language.

The Minister of Long-Term Care to reply.

Hon. Rod Phillips: Again, each and every death inside or outside our long-term-care homes is a tragedy, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the member not pointing to me as a medical expert, nor would he. But from my perspective, the perspective of our government, the perspective of the science table and the perspective of our medical professionals, the potential for serious illness and disease is reduced by 11 times for those taking the vaccine. We encourage and continue to encourage everyone to get vaccinated.

We will, under the leadership of the Minister of Health, continue to look at the science with regard to further booster shots and where those are necessary. Mr. Speaker, I think the vast majority in this Legislature and the vast majority in our province understand that vaccines are an important part of the solution to ending COVID-19’s challenges on our economy and our health, and we’ll continue to follow the science.

Economic reopening and recovery

Mr. Toby Barrett: To the Minister of Finance: I’ve met with many constituents in my riding and I’ve heard over and over again how critical the measures we took to protect people’s health and the economy were in their communities.

As the rollout of our last mile vaccine plan continues, and there is light at the end of the tunnel, the people of Ontario want to ensure that we do not lose any of the hard-fought gains we’ve made against this pandemic. But they’re also looking to tomorrow. They would like to know how this government plans to deliver prosperity to Ontario workers, their families and for the future.

Speaker, would the Minister of Finance please share how he’s planning to ensure we remain steadfast in our resolve against the pandemic while creating the right conditions for future economic growth?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance, the member for Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill.

Mr. Michael Parsa: I want to thank the great member for Haldimand–Norfolk, not just for the great leadership he provides here in the Legislature, but certainly for what he does for his constituents every single day.

Speaker, just like my colleague said, I’ve seen how important these supports have been to many, many Ontarians. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our government has been steadfast in our commitment to make every necessary resource available to protect the people and to protect jobs. We’ve invested $19.1 billion alone in response to COVID-19.

And while we’ve made important progress, our job is not done. We cannot let our guard down against COVID-19, and our government will continue to make sure that we are there for our front-line heroes, Mr. Speaker.

But as we all know, we inherited a province from the previous government where real investment in infrastructure never materialized while Liberal insiders all got rich. The previous government said no. We’re going to say yes: yes to investing in our health care capacity and $703 million—

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

The supplementary question?

Mr. Toby Barrett: Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for that response. It’s really great to hear that our government is laying the foundations not only for Ontario’s recovery but also for long-term prosperity, as the parliamentary assistant made mention, after so many years of neglect by the previous Liberal government.

Now as we all know, it’s the workers on the ground. They’re the front line in this fight against COVID-19 and with respect to our economic recovery. Speaker, my question: Will the parliamentary assistant provide a bit more detail on how our government’s plan will support Ontario workers?

Mr. Michael Parsa: Thanks again for the great question. Speaker, my colleague couldn’t be more right. That’s why our government is going to fight for all workers and their families in our 2020-21 economic outlook and fiscal review. Our focus is both on essential workers who worked tirelessly on the front lines of this pandemic and our hard-working Ontarians who have been set back in their new work and careers by COVID-19. We’ll fight for those looking for new opportunities for themselves and their families here in Ontario, the economic engine of Canada.

Our government will build on the range of training and employment supports we have already put in place to give workers the skills they need to fill our labour shortage and support our economic recovery.

Speaker, our priority since the beginning of the pandemic has been protecting the people and protecting the jobs, and we’re going to continue to do just that. A lack of resources will never stand in our way. We will continue fighting for the people of Ontario and the jobs every single day.

Access to menstrual products

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Good morning, Mr. Speaker.

Remarks in Oji-Cree.

My question is to the Minister of Education. For those of us that live in the north, we often pay double for the same products found down here. This gap is even wider when you go into fly-in First Nations. Get this, Mr. Speaker: A regular box of tampons can range from $16 to $45, leaving people to choose between menstrual products or food security.

Norma Kejick of Northern Nishnawbe Education Council—they run three high schools—was disappointed to see jurisdictional issues once again creating division between the provincial and First Nations schools and students. These products being offered for free to all school boards in Ontario are not available to First Nations school boards. Why is this government discriminating against First Nations schools?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: We’re proud to have unveiled a plan to help end period poverty in this province for all publicly funded schools in the province of Ontario. This is a very positive step forward that should be celebrated as we end a challenge that has kept many young students from going to school every day. This government was resolved to fix it,

whereas the former government and the New Democrats did nothing for 15 years. We took action. That just is the case. Nothing was done, and many students were staying home as a consequence. We’ve negotiated an agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart to set aside 18 million pads for students over the next three years. This is a positive step forward.

When it comes it Indigenous education, I’m proud to confirm that funding for Indigenous education within our provincial schools is up to the highest levels ever recorded in Ontario history. We have strengthened the curriculum, particularly from grades 1 to 3 in the social studies curriculum, to enhance Indigenous education. We’ll continue to be there to support First Nation, Inuit and Métis students in this province.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Young people attending First Nations schools have high needs for these products, but they are being excluded. The press release announcing this program says, “This supply of free menstrual products will be provided to all school boards,” but that’s not the case. It is unfortunate that the public-private sector agreement did not see the need to address the issue for all students in Ontario, but only for those who attend provincial schools.

I am asking, Speaker, for clarification, as First Nations schools in the riding have reached out and asked if they can participate. Is the minister telling me the program is not for First Nations schools?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I appreciate the question from the member opposite. I believe that for many years in this province, many young students were staying home as a consequence of not having equitable access to menstrual products. There was inaction by governments to date, and it was our government who made a decision to help end period poverty in this province, on the advice of many student leaders, including the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association, who counseled us to find a fix to this problem.

Over the last year, we negotiated with Shoppers Drug Mart to deliver 18 million pads over three years from 1,200 dispensaries to publicly funded schools in the province of Ontario, to support all students, including Indigenous students within those schools and other young children in the province of Ontario. We want all kids to succeed. We want them to go to school each and every day. This investment, partnering with the private sector, will help support better-quality and equitable education for Ontario’s students.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Stephen Blais: About a year ago, the government issued a news release heralding the use of rapid COVID-19 tests. In this news release, the Premier said, “These new rapid tests are game-changers in the fight against COVID-19”—game-changers, Mr. Speaker. Despite being a game-changer, the Premier ignored all the public health warnings and sent our children back to school, without making investments to keep them safe and without there being a rapid testing program put in place.

In fact, at the end of September, the Premier said no to rapid testing and ordered that agencies stop supplying rapid tests to parents, so we had parents seeing the Premier sitting on the sidelines and, in an effort to keep themselves safe, stepping up to do the work that the Premier had said no to.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier has said that rapid tests are a game-changer. When is he going to get into the game?

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

Hon. Stephen Lecce: We are proud in this province to have one of the highest vaccine rates for young people in Canada, as well as one of the lowest case rates for young people in the country. That’s because we followed the best advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and consulted with CHEO in the member’s region of Ottawa and SickKids in Toronto. The guiding light of that advice has been to bring forth a layered approach to our schools’ safety.

We’re proud that 99.9% of our schools are open and two million children are learning, supported by safe schools with significant improvements in ventilation in every single school. We have expanded testing options—the take-home PCR testing option for high school asymptomatic students—and yes, to the member’s question, we have added in an additional tool with the deployment of rapid antigen screening, which public health units in the province can deploy wherever they see fit, based on risk—not political decisions but that of the medical officers of health.

We have trust in our medical leaders, we have confidence in the front-line staff in our schools, and we are grateful for their partnership in keeping schools safe in this province.

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

Mr. Stephen Blais: The supplemental is also for the Premier. Throughout the pandemic the government has taken a reactive approach. They are routinely a day late and a dollar short—or rather, often weeks late and billions of dollars short—in keeping Ontarians safe.

At the end of September, school-aged children accounted for the highest share of COVID-19 cases of any demographic in Toronto. The Premier has said no to reducing class sizes. The Premier has been said no to ensuring vaccinated educational staff. The Premier has said no to rapid testing surveillance.

There are serious questions as to whether the government is doing all it can to keep our classrooms and schools as safe as possible. In fact, this week the Premier said it wasn’t safe for him to take personalized executive tutoring in French one on one, but he is asking our kids to sit in packed classrooms without rapid testing surveillance and without knowing whether their teacher or the child beside them is vaccinated.

Does the Premier believe that the classroom environment he is asking teachers and students to endure is safe, when receiving one-on-one executive tutoring in a controlled environment is not?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I think the fundamental question from the member opposite is, do we agree with the advice of the Children’s Health Coalition, who provided a public statement just days ago. They said, “Data from Public Health Ontario suggests that the overall efforts to limit virus transmission, such as masking, distancing and vaccinations, have been successful with less than 0.25% of Ontario’s two million student population testing positive....”

The coalition also noted that among the total number of cases in children and youth between September 19 and October 2, 79.5% were not linked to school outbreaks.

We have in this province one school closed, of nearly 5,000. We have two million children learning. We have an overwhelming consensus that the ventilation improvements, the masking indoors, the enhancement of testing and screening and better cleaning are making these places safe for kids and safe for staff.

But we take nothing for granted. Working with the Deputy Premier, we’ve added another layer by the deployment of the rapid antigen screening program, which was deployed at the school in Toronto that has now reopened following the deployment of PCR take-home tests as well. We’re doing everything we can, working with public health, to help keep schools safe.

Driver examination centres

Mr. Jamie West: The question is to the Premier. As of the end of July there was a backlog of more than 700,000 driving tests. Since August, the Minister of Transportation has announced additional temporary road test centres in nine locations. Those locations are Guelph, Oshawa, Burlington, Markham, East Gwillimbury, Mississauga, southwestern Ontario, the Niagara region and the Ottawa area.

You may have noticed that zero of those nine locations are located in northern Ontario. The backlog of driving tests is a huge issue in northern Ontario, Speaker. Leaving out northerners from taking their driving test means they can’t go to work. That means lost wages, lost appointments, lost opportunities.

The Premier needs to take action now to allow northerners to get on the road and get on with their lives. Will the Premier commit to opening additional temporary road test centres across northern Ontario, including one in my riding of Sudbury?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Associate Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Stan Cho: I appreciate the member asking that question because it’s important to address the backlog of drive tests. Obviously, this pandemic has affected everyone, and that includes those trying to get those drive tests done. That is why in June our ministry introduced a plan, a committed investment of more than $16 million to tackle that very backlog the member is referencing when it comes to in-vehicle passenger road tests. As part of this plan we are opening more temporary road test facilities, hiring an additional 251 examiners and offering road tests with extended hours on weekdays and holidays.

In fact, just recently we opened three additional temporary road test—throughout the province.

I know there is more work to be done, but we’re going to clear that backlog and make sure that people are getting those drive tests in a timely manner.

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

Mr. Jamie West: Back to the Premier: Let’s talk about Rick. Rick is a constituent of mine. His daughter has been driving for five years, and like many Sudburians she relies on driving to get to university and to get to work. However, Rick told me she can’t make an appointment for her G test—get this, Speaker—until December 31, 2022.

The Conservative government brought in nine additional temporary road test centres, and all the ones he was talking about are in southern Ontario. This disregards the needs of people in northern Ontario who lack the robust public transportation systems of their southern neighbours. The north is where we use highways to get to work, not subways, so wait times for drive tests are especially devastating in northern Ontario. People in the north don’t have the choice of a train, subway or bus to take them to work.

When will the Premier open additional temporary road test centres in northern Ontario, including in my riding of Sudbury?

Hon. Stan Cho: The member highlights a very important point. He’s right: The north is very unique compared to the rest of Ontario. They have unique challenges, and we need to address those challenges. That’s why we have been making sure that we address unique situations like Rick’s, and help open year-round DriveTest centres in northern Ontario in Dryden, Espanola, Fort Frances, Huntsville, Kapuskasing, Kenora, Kirkland Lake, New Liskeard, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. These DriveTest centres will operate year-round and, as I said, there have been additional resources allocated to make sure we address the backlog.

There are more testers, we’re going to get through that backlog and, when life returns to normal, we’re going to be on that road to prosperity here and in the north as well.

Premier’s comments

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: My question is for the Premier. The other day, the Premier gave us his glib tough-guy act, saying that he only wanted new Canadians who were willing to work hard rather than sit around all day—a comical choice of words coming from a Premier whose political career wasn’t built on hard work but rather on the reputation of his father and his late brother. It’s even funnier considering that, since getting elected, the Premier often goes missing from the public eye for long stretches, as he did for the most of the summer. Perhaps the Premier was projecting and referring to his own lack of hard work when making these comments.

Will the Premier admit that his crude comments about working hard were simply a diversion to distract from the fact that his government’s policies have resulted in thousands of Ontarians losing their jobs over the last year and a half?

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

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Oh, supplemental?

The government defence of the Premier’s statements were equally comical. First, the Premier said he is pro-immigrant, as evidenced by the crowds of people that would attend Ford Fest and receive calls from the late mayor of Toronto. Well, I have news for you: People didn’t go to Ford Fest to see the Premier; they went to see his late brother, Rob. And the Premier isn’t the one who built the reputation on hard work and calling people back, that was also his late brother, Rob. Maybe the Premier hasn’t realized yet what my family and all of Ontario now know: He’s not Rob Ford.

Second, the Deputy Premier said the government is in favour of even more immigration, more than the 450,000 a year their friend Justin Trudeau has set, which is about double the number under the previous Harper government.

Can the Premier tell us how much higher he wants immigration to increase, considering that, at the same time he wants more immigrants, his government has been putting Ontarians out of work continuously, on a daily basis, for the last three years?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply on behalf of the government, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I certainly won’t dignify the first part of that question with an answer in any way, shape or form. It’s certainly not why the people of the province of Ontario elected us here.

When it comes to immigration, I think this government has been very clear, and the Premier has been very clear, that we need more people to come to the province of Ontario. We have a significant amount of jobs that need to be filled so that we can continue economic growth and prosperity across the province of Ontario, and we can only do that if more people were to come to the province of Ontario, as they have for generations.

I am a minister in a government. My parents came in the late 1950s, 1960s. The Minister of Education is the same way. We have a parliamentary assistant who fled the Soviet Union. We have the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance, the digital government minister and the minister responsible for seniors. When you look at our side of the House, we are very diverse, and we’re very proud of that.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): That concludes our question period for this morning.

This House stands in recess until 3 p.m.

The House recessed from 1134 to 1500.

Notice of dissatisfaction

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 36(a), the member for Kiiwetinoong has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the Minister of Education concerning access to menstrual products at school. This matter will be debated today following private members’ public business.

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly

Mr. Jim McDonell: I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly, pursuant to standing order 114(b).

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Mr. McDonell presents the committee’s report. Does the member wish to make a brief statement?

Mr. Jim McDonell: No.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 114(b), the report is deemed to be adopted by the House.

Report deemed adopted.

Introduction of Bills

Highway Memorials for Fallen Police Officers Amendment Act (In Memory of Officers Impacted by Traumatic Events), 2021 / Loi de 2021 modifiant la

Loi sur les constructions situées sur la voie publique et nommées à la mémoire des agents de police décédés (à la mémoire des agents touchés par des événements traumatisants)

Madame Gélinas moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 24,

An Act to amend the Highway Memorials for Fallen Police Officers Act, 2002 in respect of police officers who have taken their own lives as a consequence of being in the line of duty / Projet de loi 24, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2002 sur les constructions situées sur la voie publique et nommées à la mémoire des agents de police décédés en ce qui concerne les agents de police qui ont mis fin à leurs jours en raison de leur travail.

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

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Would the member for Nickel Belt care to briefly explain her bill?

M me France Gélinas: Last week, the Ontario Provincial Police unveiled a suicide memorial for officers whose death was related to the line of duty, at their headquarters in Orillia, for police officers who worked for the mu