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December 3, 2025

44th Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2025-Dec-03 (PDF)

L046 - Wed 3 Dec 2025 / Mer 3 déc 2025

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 3 December 2025 Mercredi 3 décembre 2025

Orders of the Day

Peel Transition Implementation Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 sur la mise en oeuvre de la transition de Peel

Members’ Statements

Markville mall Christmas meet-and-greet

Health care

Insécurité alimentaire / Food insecurity

Small business

Cost of living

Government investments

Health care

Holiday events in Mississauga East–Cooksville

Health care

Introduction of Visitors

House sittings

Pearl Mamakwa

Question Period

Government advertising

Government accountability

Government accountability

Government advertising

Academic testing

Health care

Transportation infrastructure

Health care

Health care

Nuclear energy

Environmental protection

Health care

Public transit

Health care

Deferred Votes

Supporting Mobility, Affordability and Reliable Transportation in Ontario Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 pour une mobilité accrue, des prix plus abordables et des transports plus fiables en Ontario

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Introduction of Visitors

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on the Interior

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

International Day of Persons with Disabilities / Journée internationale des personnes handicapées

Petitions

University funding

University funding

Orders of the Day

Allan Kenneth McLean

Mike Liam Farnan

Michael A. Brown

Jan Dukszta

William C. Davis

James J. Bradley

Allan Furlong

Bernard C. Grandmaître

Timothy Escott Reid

John Hastings

Sharon Margaret Murdock

Private Members’ Public Business

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

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Let us pray.

Prayers.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Now a moment of silence for inner thought and personal reflection.

Orders of the Day

Peel Transition Implementation Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 sur la mise en oeuvre de la transition de Peel

Resuming the debate adjourned on December 2, 2025, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 45,

An Act to make statutory amendments respecting the transfer of jurisdiction within The Regional Municipality of Peel and the appointment of Deputy Provincial Land and Development Facilitators / Projet de loi 45, Loi apportant des modifications législatives en ce qui concerne le transfert de compétences dans la municipalité régionale de Peel et la nomination de facilitateurs provinciaux de l’aménagement adjoints.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Further debate?

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: We must begin by recognizing the essential hard work that underpinned this legislation. It required a comprehensive and highly technical approach, and I want to acknowledge the dedication of the Peel Transition Board, whose expert recommendations were integral in shaping Bill 45. Their work, alongside the efforts of municipal representatives, countless stakeholders and subject-matter experts, involved a significant investment of time and diligence.

The results of that hard work—recommendations centred on efficiency and local empowerment—are clearly and substantially reflected in the bill now before us. Bill 45 is a testament to our government’s unwavering commitment to making our municipal structures work better for the people they serve. It is a commitment to local control, local accountability and, ultimately, local success in delivering housing and infrastructure.

Madam Speaker, before I begin, it is important to recognize the work that our government is already taking to support residents in Peel and invest in local infrastructure. In recent years, the province has made significant investments in infrastructure and municipal services in Mississauga, including:

—$19.9 million to widen Ninth Line road between Eglinton and Derry;

—$45 million for the South Common Community Centre;

—$21.9 million for a new elementary school near Tenth Line and Thomas Street;

—$23 million to support 4,200 people in Mississauga to find good-paying jobs in the skilled trades;

—more than $14 billion for the new 23-storey Mississauga hospital;

—developing 2,424 long-term-care beds in Mississauga; and

—investing in and prioritizing transportation projects, including the Hazel McCallion LRT, the Highway 413 and two-way, all-day GO train service for the Milton line.

This is what we have invested in Mississauga, and we are continuing to strengthen Mississauga and building infrastructure. We are investing in what matters, and we are giving municipalities the tools they need to grow and support residents.

The philosophy guiding the Peel region transition is simple and profound: Services should be delivered by the level of government closest to the people they impact. Peel region is home to over 1.5 million people, a population larger than many provinces. This immense population demands hyper-efficient service delivery and rapid infrastructure development. These communities are distinct, dynamic and have unique service needs: Mississauga is a fully mature urban centre, Brampton is a growing city and Caledon is a beautiful, thriving blend of rural and developing communities.

To govern such a diverse, large-scale region under a one-size-fits-all model is inherently inefficient and dilutes local autonomy. This legislation hands the reins back to the mayors and councils of the lower-tier municipalities, those who know their streets, their needs and their residents best. It aligns responsibilities with urgent authorities required for immediate action on growth.

The transition process enshrined in Bill 45 is not about dismantling; it is about re-engineering for optimal performance. It is about removing bureaucratic layers that impede progress and slow down the vital decisions necessary for housing and infrastructure planning. The time for indecision and institutional ambiguity is over. The time for decisive, accountable and locally driven action is now.

Let’s now turn to the two cornerstone areas of service transfer that will reshape the landscape of Peel region.

Waste collection services: To dive into the complexities that were so thoroughly considered during the formation of this bill, let’s first focus on the responsibility for waste collection services, a foundational service that touches every single household every single week and which must be managed efficiently to support massive residential expansion. Bill 45, if enacted, fully supports and enables the transfer of the responsibility for waste collection from the upper-tier municipality—the regional municipality of Peel—to its three lower-tier municipalities: the city of Mississauga, the city of Brampton and the town of Caledon.

I must emphasize clearly that this bill serves to underpin and support an agreement that the four municipalities of Peel have already successfully reached locally. This is a consensus-driven change, developed by local leaders for local benefit, and we, as a provincial government, are providing the essential legislative framework to make it a reality.

Specifically, the provisions outlined in our bill would grant the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the necessary authority to enact a regulation that would formally align with the locally developed agreements negotiated between Peel, Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon for this transfer. This regulation would also formalize their mutually agreed-upon effective date.

We recognize that the four municipalities initially came to a locally agreed-upon solution on March 20, 2025, with an initial consensus date of January 2026. That initial decision was formally supported through by-laws passed in each of the three lower-tier municipalities and was approved by resolution at Peel regional council.

The process that led to this local agreement was driven by a transition committee which worked diligently on the transfer process. They thoroughly examined the many complex elements involved. This scope of work included defining future operation and service delivery models, meticulous financial planning and addressing cost-sharing considerations. This is

an act of responsible operational planning, ensuring a smooth transition for the public during the period of intense municipal growth.

One significant operational development arising from this work was the establishment of a formal partnership between Brampton and Caledon for the joint delivery of waste collection services, a perfect example of local innovation and collaborative efficiency enabled by this process.

Another key element of Bill 45 I wish to emphasize is the stipulation that the waste collection services transfer cannot be revoked for 10 years. Once the services have been transferred to the lower-tier municipalities, they are prohibited from being uploaded back to Peel region for a decade. The fundamental purpose of this restriction is to provide the certainty and sufficient time required for the service transfer to successfully take hold. This operational stability is critical for long-term municipal capital planning, which is currently dominated by growth demands.

Moreover, the proposed 10-year prohibition serves to ensure continuity across successive municipal elections. Waste management is too vital to be subject to political Ping-Pong. This provision ensures the new service delivery model has the time needed to succeed and fully support the goals of the transfer, particularly as lower-tier municipalities negotiate new long-term waste collection contracts with third parties, which typically last for eight to 10 years.

Understanding the current situation is vital to appreciate the scale of this undertaking. The region of Peel presently operates the second-largest waste management program in the entire province of Ontario. Peel provides collection services to approximately 347,000 curbside households and 107,000 units within 834 multi-residential buildings. Annually, the region handles some 555,000 metric tonnes of waste generated by the 1.5 million residents of Peel. As the population expands, the service must scale rapidly, and local control provides the flexibility to achieve this.

A significant detail is that 70% of Peel’s waste services are currently delivered by third-party contractors. This demonstrates the scale and inherent complexity of this service transfer, which requires meticulous planning. And crucially, we would ensure that these vital waste collection services remain under public ownership.

Now let’s turn to the second major pillar of service proposed for transfer from Peel region to the lower-tier municipalities: the transfer of jurisdiction over regional roads, including all related stormwater infrastructure. This is the critical step needed to unlock and accelerate infrastructure approvals for new housing development.

If the proposed Peel Transition Implementation Act is passed, the legislation, as currently written, stipulates that the effective date of the regional roads’ transfer would be July 1, 2026. I would highlight that unlike the waste collection transfer, which was locally negotiated, the transfer of regional roads and associated stormwater infrastructure will be facilitated by the non-partisan, expert Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator.

Speaker, to understand the context of this transfer, we must look at where we are and how the proposal aligns with recent transformative government action. Our government has already moved to transfer land use planning responsibilities from upper-tier to lower-tier municipalities across Ontario. This crucial transfer of planning powers began in Peel on July 1, 2024.

It is only logical and efficient that since the planning of regional roads and related stormwater infrastructure is now the sole responsibility of the lower-tier municipalities in Peel, the construction and maintenance of these same regional roads and related stormwater infrastructure should also be transferred to them. You cannot be responsible for the house without controlling the driveway.

This streamlined and clarified chain of responsibilities is essential in Peel to make better, faster decisions around how their housing supply is planned, reducing red tape and accelerating the building of homes. It grants local communities more direct, end-to-end influence over infrastructure, from the planning stage right through to final asphalt. This is how we tackle the housing crisis head on.

For the benefit of this assembly, I will define what we mean by “regional roads.” These are roads that are characterized by a high volume of uninterrupted traffic and a higher speed limit than local roads. They are the arteries of the economy and the foundation upon which our future homes must be built.

Peel region maintains an extensive 1,682-kilometre network of regional roads. This includes local roads in Erin Mills such as Erin Mills Parkway and Britannia Road. This network is not just pavement; it is critical infrastructure that underpins the provincial economy. These roads carry $1.8-billion worth of goods every single day. Furthermore, 36% of truck trips in Ontario either start or end on Peel region’s roads. Goods moving on Peel region roads represent an impressive 21% of Ontario’s gross domestic product.

To put it plainly, the ability to maintain, improve and strategically expand this network cannot be held up by jurisdictional ambiguity. Local control means faster permitting, better coordination with developer timelines and, ultimately, an accelerated base of construction to match our explosive population growth.

These vital services are offered to municipalities to help efficiently resolve issues concerning growth management, land use and infrastructure planning, and municipal boundaries. All considerations, including provincial land use policy and financial interests, are integral to the issue resolution process.

In the case of the regional roads transfer, the PLDF will serve as a guiding hand, ensuring a fair, equitable and technically sound division of assets, liabilities and resources between municipalities. Their crucial function removes the friction, allowing local leaders to focus on their mandate: accommodating and supporting growth. This is needed for local growth.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Questions?

Ms. Sandy Shaw: When this government meddles in rezoning, land use, municipal planning, everyone has the right to be concerned because we have seen what this government has done when they put their thumb on the scale.

It’s not clear who asked for this. It’s not clear what problem this is trying to resolve. But what is clear is this is going to cost taxpayers billions.

We know that the dissolution—Ford had a plan to dissolve the region of Peel. That was going to cost $1.3 billion. He seems to have backed off from that. I know in Hamilton that forced amalgamation under Conservative Premier Mike Harris cost taxpayers. It cost them six times what the projected cost was going to be, and it has cost them in continued lack of services for areas such as Ancaster and Dundas.

My question is, why is the cost to taxpayers remaining a secret in this bill? How much is this going to cost taxpayers?

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: The bill is transferring authority and transferring responsibility—accountability—to lower-tier municipalities. I don’t see where the change of cost would be if this is just transferring the decision-making point from upper-tier to lower-tier municipalities with the same population, same geographical borders, same services. It just changes the authorities to accelerate their ability to take decisions to meet growth needs.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Question?

Ms. Laura Smith: I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills for his statements. He talked a bit about how this was important for the community, how jobs were going to be something available as a result of this. I was interested in talking about how these changes, how these modernizations will actually create a plan for growth. I was wondering if the member could speak on how this legislation will help these communities and also manage growth, support economic development and strengthen their long-term fiscal health.

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Thank you very much, colleague, for the question. I would just like to give an example of this, how this conflict between the authorities of the regional and local municipalities could affect the growth in the area.

In my riding of Mississauga–Erin Mills, we had a developer who tried to build a building. This building, according to the code approved by the regional authorities, allowed, I think, above 40 floors on high-density roads like Dundas, but the local municipality said it’s a maximum of 26 floors. That stalled the project for about four years now, because there is a conflict in the—

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Response?

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: So dividing the authorities will allow the local municipality to have control and accelerate those processes.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Question?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: The member will know that this is actually the fourth time that this matter has come before the Legislature. We saw legislation that was passed by this government two and a half years ago, rushed through the legislative process, no opportunity for public input, no committee hearings. Six months later, that bill to dissolve Peel region was repealed, perhaps because the government didn’t get the input in the first place.

Another bill was tabled just before this election, and now we have Bill 45 before us. My question is, has the government learned a lesson about the consequences of rushing legislation through the process without getting public input in advance of the decision?

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: I think, as I stated in my speech earlier, this has already been in agreement between the two levels of government. They already have agreed on bylaws. We are just trying to enact it to make it the standard of this legislation. But this has been running and agreed upon between the two authorities. So if they already came in negotiation and through the transformation committee they managed to get to an agreement accepted by all the stakeholders, I don’t see why we should not be able to make that official and give everybody authority—and accountability as well—to these changes.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Question? I recognize the member from Don Valley North.

Mr. Jonathan Tsao: Well, thank you, Speaker—

Interjections.

Mr. Jonathan Tsao: I appreciate the enthusiasm of my colleagues for me standing up. I really appreciate it; it’s a nice wake-up in the morning.

Speaker, Brampton and Caledon mayors have both warned that Bill 45 could drive up property taxes, so I’m wondering, has the government committed to backstopping municipalities that can’t absorb these new costs?

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Again, we talked about that bill to address the scalability of growth. So if there are projects or expansions that have been pending for years, waiting for some agreement between the two levels of government, they know now that the ball is in their court and they should take decisions and they should do things about the projects they actually need for their growth. So this is putting accountability with authority. I don’t see that there’s a conflict here; it’s just putting the things in the right context of it.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Question?

Mr. Matthew Rae: It’s a pleasure to rise this morning to ask my colleague an important question on his debate this morning. I know he is a member from Mississauga—a great member from that great city—and I was wondering if you could tell this place about the importance of Bill 45 and some of the initiatives around ensuring that we get waste water capacity built, ensuring that we’re there to support our regional governance but our municipalities as well in that endeavour.

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Waste management is very important. It’s a critical service. We can’t jeopardize—any interruption in that. We need to make sure that—there’s no “one solution fits all.” The nature of the city of Mississauga is different than the city of Brampton, different than the city of Caledon, and having “one solution fits all” doesn’t work for all the three cities. So giving the ability for cities, councillors and mayors to have decisions which affect their cities and are more aligned with their residents’ needs and residents’ demands I think is very important, and it is demanded by the mayors.

We are not bringing that from the top of our heads. These are the requirements of local municipalities saying, “Please give us some authority to take decisions in our cities. They’re our cities, and we can’t take decisions. We need some authority.” So that’s exactly what this bill does.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Question?

Ms. Sandy Shaw: The government side has not answered why the cost of this is being kept a secret—because I know when this government meddles behind closed doors, like in the greenbelt, it costs $8.4 billion; like Ontario Place, where it’s going to cost taxpayers $2.4 billion for a private Therme company to operate in Ontario. I’ve told this House a number of times: Hamilton, Ancaster and Dundas were a forced amalgamation under this government’s previous Conservative Premier, Mike Harris. We know this costs taxpayers; it’s always going to cost taxpayers with this government.

So why, for heaven’s sake, is the cost being kept secret not just from taxpayers but from municipal councillors as well? Nobody trusts this government when they start mucking around in land and property in this province.

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: Thank you very much to the colleague opposite in expressing that they don’t trust this government. But as you mentioned multiple times about the different bills, we have been trying to tackle this problem in Peel region on the demands of mayors, councillors, regional councillors about how can we get to a solution which balances between the authorities they have and the accountability they are demanding to give us back on—accountability on what they do in their cities.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Further debate?

MPP Wayne Gates: It’s always a pleasure to rise in the House. Bill 45—I know you’re not supposed to hold this up—is three pages. And one page, the whole thing is talking about how they can’t be sued. It’s such a good bill, one page is just talking about making sure they can’t be sued, which is very interesting to me.

But I will start my speech; I just wanted get that out. One member was saying how they’ve got to get it right. Peel is one of the best-run areas in all of Canada. Speaker, I want to be very clear from the beginning: This bill, Bill 45, is another example of a government that governs by chaos and secrecy rather than by evidence, consultation or any real respect for people, the workers who keep our municipalities and services running.

For two and a half years, the government has put the region of Peel through total upheaval. They announced plans to dissolve Peel, walked it back, made new promises, cancelled these promises and then dumped the consequences on municipal governments and front-line workers. The result has been confusion, instability and fear for thousands of workers delivering essential public services that they may lose their jobs.

Let’s be clear: When we are already dealing with hundreds of jobs being cut in hospitals across the province due to this government, including in many government members’ ridings, and thousands of layoffs in the private sector due to Trump’s tariffs, the absolute last thing we need is to lose good public services in the province of Ontario and in Peel or Niagara. This government has created two and a half years of chaos, and Bill 45 only deepens that uncertainty.

Let’s remember how we got here. I think it’s always important to do that. In June 2023, the government passed Bill 112, the Hazel McCallion Act. I will tell you something about Hazel. I met her in Mississauga, going back to the year I got elected as city councillor. Some of the members over there may remember a team called the Mississauga Steelheads. She was sitting in a box—I wasn’t sitting in a box, but she was. But I was sitting in the back row, right up to the box, and I turned back to her because I just got elected as a councillor. I turned to her and I asked her what advice would be coming.

I introduced myself, “I’m Wayne Gates, a new city councillor for Niagara Falls. I’m really excited.” You know when you first get elected, you’re excited. Seeing I lost seven times before I got elected, I was really excited. I turned to her and I said, “What advice would you give me?” And Hazel said to me, very clearly, “Make sure development pays for development. That’s what made Mississauga so great.” Boy, have we ever lost that theory from her, but that was her advice.

Then, when I was leaving the game—the IceDogs beat Mississauga that night, so it was a nice drive home—who was driving out? At that time she was in her late nineties. The mayor was driving her own car and right on the back it had “MAYOR 1.” That was my story about Hazel. Anyway, off track a little there, but seeing as I mentioned her name I thought I’d tell that story, because I’ve always respected that.

It was time-allocated, that bill, just like the government has done with Bill 60, Bill 33 and so many other bills. There were no committee hearings, no public consultation, no chance of amendments. The bill was supposed to dissolve Peel region altogether, but just six months later reports leaked showing dissolution would cost taxpayers over $1 billion. I remember when I was growing up—you ever hear that song, If I Had $1,000,000? You thought you were rich. We don’t talk in millions anymore; we talk in billions. How the world has changed. I still haven’t got my first million yet, but I just thought I’d throw that out.

And now we arrive at Bill 45. This is a bill that claims to bring order after the government caused the problem in the first place. But when you read it closely, it doesn’t solve the fundamental problem created by this government. Instead, it continues the pattern of downloading responsibility, shifting costs, avoiding accountability and refusing to disclose the true financial impact, both to the municipality and the public they serve. That one there really drives me nuts. Think about it: They won’t even tell how much it’s going to cost to do this. They know it, but they won’t say it.

Bill 45—and this is also interesting—transfers regional responsibility for roads, stormwater and waste collection down to the municipalities of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. These are not minor changes—far from it. These are core public services—for roads, for drainage, for garbage collection—that are being handed off without the necessary resources or the transparency to manage them properly.

The bill hands a huge amount of power to the minister: the ability to amend agreements—think about that, “amend agreements;” make financial adjustments; force co-operation from municipal officials—force co-operation. It’s not saying “co-operation;” it’s “force co-operation,” which means duly elected officials are going to be told what to do, when to do it, how to do it and why to do it. “Force co-operation”—that’s a key word here. And even take any action with respect to operations—in other words, a minister could do whatever he wants with this bill. And what is it?

Three pages—and one page talks about how they can’t be sued. When you hear all that I’m going to say over the next whatever number of minutes I talk, you’ll see why they put that they can’t be sued in this bill, because that’s going to happen and people are going to want to sue them.

The government has added more facilitators because even they know that this is a mess they can’t sort out. They know going in that it’s going to be a mess. When you amalgamate, that’s what happens.

On top of all that, like they’ve done with other bills, this bill has broad immunity clauses that shield the government from any lawsuits or damages that result from this decision. I’ll tell you right now, I’m guessing that Conservatives will be supporting this bill, so it will be your responsibility to go and talk to people from Mississauga and Brampton on what you guys have done to their municipalities.

This is it. Speaker, I know you’re listening intently with this bill. Municipalities still don’t have the financial information they need. The public certainly doesn’t, and the government continues to refuse to release the full findings of the Peel Transition Board. Even Caledon council has openly called on the government to release the information. The council is saying, “Give us the information.” The government said, “Oh, we’re not telling you any information.” Does that make sense to anybody?

Duly elected officials—like ourselves, that’s all we are—are going to this government and saying, “Tell us what’s going on.” And the government says, “Oh no, we’re not going to tell you. We’re just going to pass the bill, and the minister will do what the hell he wants.” It’s terrible.

People deserve transparency, and they’re not getting it. Meanwhile—and this is important because I listen to you guys stand up all the time, a lot more in question period now, with the Skills Development Fund with the labour minister—“Working for Workers: We care about workers. That’s all we care about. We care about workers.” Here’s what they’re saying: Front-line workers are raising the alarm bells.

CUPE, which is a union that represents close to—I think it’s 300,000 members. They represent thousands of municipal workers. They have clearly stated that transferring these services out of regional control, as well as pushing water and waste water towards a corporate public utility model—now there’s a private corporation—will lead to higher taxes. Think about this. Every one of you guys should listen to this: higher taxes, worse service and the loss of control of essential public infrastructure.

I’m going to read that again, because I may be going through the same thing in Niagara shortly. Higher taxes—Speaker, do you want to pay higher taxes? I’m just wondering. I know I don’t. I want to pay my fair share of taxes, not necessarily higher—worse service, loss of local control over essential public infrastructure.

They’ve got a right to be concerned, CUPE, their workers and their representatives. When you download services without a real plan, workers suffer, community suffer and services get worse. They get worse.

Municipal workers still don’t know whether they’ll have jobs after the transition. Imagine that: going to work every day not knowing if you’re going to have a job. We just saw 100,000 people lose their jobs, and they blamed it on Trump. And that’s fair; what Trump is doing to Canada is disgraceful and we should all be mad about that. But I can tell you, what you’re doing here to these workers is no different. They will be going to work every day not knowing if they’re going to have a job after you pass Bill 45. Is that the way you want to treat workers? I don’t believe you should.

Municipalities—and this is important too—are struggling right now to hire and retain staff, because no one knows what this government structure will look like a year from now. Think about that. They’re all scared. Workers are scared of Trump. Some days, I’m kind of scared of Trump because I don’t know what he’s going to do to my municipality. Who’s going to lose their job next? I’ve got an auto plant in St. Catharines, which covers Niagara. I’m scared about their jobs with Trump. I shouldn’t have to be scared about losing my job because of a government decision on amalgamation.

That’s not how you build strong public services. It’s not how you maintain quality, and it certainly doesn’t save money. Amalgamation proved one thing: Amalgamation doesn’t save money. Going back, when you took care of Walkerton, when you got rid of amalgamated services there—and what happened in Walkerton? People dying—

Interjection: A tragedy—it was tragic.

MPP Wayne Gates: Caledon has said plainly that downloading roads and waste management will leave them with enormous costs they can’t absorb. The Mississauga mayor has said the bill leaves them acting as “the financial cash cow” for Brampton and Caledon, just as has been the same thing that’s happened for decades. When municipalities are pitted against one another, you know this government has created a situation that is fundamentally broken.

This bill fits into a broader pattern, which leaves this government downloading responsibility, underfunding them, creating a crisis and then using the crisis to justify privatization. And that’s exactly what’s going on in health care today: You’re trying to create a crisis in a publicly funded, publicly delivered health care system. You did it in long-term care—

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Pursuant to standing order 50(c), I am now required to interrupt the proceedings and announce that there have been six and a half hours of debate on the motion for second reading of this bill. This debate will therefore be deemed adjourned unless the government House leader directs the debate to continue.

I recognize the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness.

Hon. Trevor Jones: Good morning, Speaker. Thank you. No further debate.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Orders of the day?

Hon. Trevor Jones: No further business.

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): This House now stands in recess until 10:15.

The House recessed from 0942 to 1015.

Members’ Statements

Markville mall Christmas meet-and-greet

Mr. Billy Pang: Each year, as the Christmas season approaches, my team and I continue a long-standing tradition of ours in Markham–Unionville: hosting our annual Christmas meet-and-greet booth at Markville mall. While shoppers are hustling and bustling, looking for the ideal gifts for their loved ones, my booth invites them to pause and take a moment for themselves.

Connecting with residents and sharing in the festive spirit of the coming holidays during one of the busiest and most joyful shopping seasons is always very rewarding. It is a heartwarming opportunity to speak with families, seniors, students, workers, and new residents who stop by to say hello.

Events like this remind us of the importance of staying grounded and closely connected with the people we represent, not just in meetings or at formal events, but in the everyday places where community life naturally happens.

I want to offer my sincere thanks to CF Markville, our superb community partner, for once again providing us the space to host this annual tradition.

Speaker, this Saturday, at 2 p.m. I look forward to meeting many residents again at this year’s booth, as we celebrate the joy, warmth, and generosity of the Christmas and holiday season together.

Health care

Ms. Jessica Bell: The Auditor General released its annual report yesterday. It is important for you to know what the Conservative government is doing and not doing for health care.

Patients are paying for medically necessary care even though it is illegal.

Sylvia Jones, our Minister of Health, back in 2024, said, “Ontarians will always access the health care they need with their OHIP card, never their credit card.”

Well, Sylvia Jones, the Auditor General has told us some truths yesterday and has discovered that patients are regularly being upsold services and are not being told they have a right to choose free OHIP-covered services. This is most prevalent in eye care.

The family doctor shortage is getting worse. The goal is to get every Ontarian access to a primary care doctor or nurse by 2029. What we found out yesterday is that this government is throwing a whole lot of money at the problem, but they have no good plan to achieve this goal. They don’t know how many practitioners there are in each region. This system of connecting patients with doctors is so bad that the medical community is refusing to use it.

They’re not creating enough medical spots for family doctors because they did a crappy job of assessing the need and underestimated how many people don’t have a doctor—it’s two million.

And finally, the government has no effective plan to oversee physician billing, even though the Auditor General has found that some doctors are billing for more than 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We can do better than this. Public health care—

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Members’ statements?

Insécurité alimentaire / Food insecurity

M me Lucille Collard: Ce vendredi, le CSC Vanier nous convie à son 20 e Déjeuner Flocons de neige au profit de la Banque alimentaire Partage Vanier. C’est une tradition qui rassemble notre communauté au début du temps des Fêtes et qui connaît toujours un immense succès.

Mais derrière cet esprit festif se cache une réalité préoccupante. L’insécurité alimentaire augmente partout en Ontario, et Ottawa–Vanier ne fait pas exception. Partage Vanier voit une hausse de 30 % des visites, et ses équipes sonnent l’alarme. Elles constatent chaque jour l’impact du coût de la vie, de la crise du logement et du manque de revenus suffisants. C’est pourquoi cette année ils se fixent un objectif ambitieux de ramasser 45 000 $ pour subvenir aux besoins de la communauté.

Food insecurity is rising at an alarming rate across Ontario. According to Feed Ontario, over one million Ontarians relied on a food bank this past year—the highest number ever recorded. Food banks saw 8.7 million visits—a 13% increase in just one year—and nearly one in four users is employed but still can’t afford groceries. This is not sustainable.

As we enter the holiday season, I urge this government to confront this crisis with the seriousness it deserves and to ensure that every Ontarian in every community has the dignity of access to healthy, affordable food.

Small business

Mr. John Jordan: I want to talk about some success stories in Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston. The Associate Minister of Small Business travelled to my riding over the summer, and we visited the Small Business Advisory Centre in Smiths Falls, which runs programs funded by this government, including Summer Company and Starter Company Plus program.

Ranelle Larocque is the owner of Queen Bee Millinery, in Perth. Hats and fascinators hand-made by Ranelle have been worn at the Queen’s birthday garden party in London, UK, the Royal Ascot, the Kentucky Derby and countless Canadian and international military ceremonial events around the world.

Montague township fudge-maker Gillian Manton registered with the Starter Company Plus program in June, 2024. Taking

part in the program was a process she found helpful in building a strong foundation for her business. Moose Munchies Candy Co. began to grow, and Gillian is now selling her fudge in a large selection of retail locations across Canada, including over 30 in Ontario.

Cost of living

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, as we all know, this is the time of year when people are getting ready for the holidays, and it’s the time of the year when people also feel the crunch. I’ve been going door to door in my riding, talking to people—to tenants, to homeowners—and people consistently feel squeezed—tenants who say to me that with one or two more rent increases, they won’t be able to live in their home because they won’t also be able to buy food.

I’ve been talking to people who are paying now for what’s called remote care monitoring because of a cut on the part of the government. That remote care monitoring allowed seniors to live independent lives.

People are getting sticker shock at the grocery store, at the checkout or, increasingly, seeing onerous heating bills.

At Pape and Cosburn, Bethany Baptist Church runs a food bank. The lineups are getting longer, and the pastor tells me he’s seeing more and more new faces.

This government has abandoned people or actively made life more difficult through cuts or a failure to prevent rent or food gouging. People are suffering; they’re not going to forget. The government needs to change course and protect them.

Government investments

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): I recognize the member from Sarnia–Lambton.

Mr. Robert Bailey: Madam Speaker, it’s a pleasure to be here and speak to you this morning.

In my writing of Sarnia–Lambton, I was able to announce $7,939,000 for my six rural communities.

Rural Ontario is the backbone of Ontario’s economy, and this fall, we have continued our work to protect rural Ontario under the leadership of my minister. Just last month, the Ministry of Rural Affairs teamed up with the Ministry of Finance to announce that the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund is investing $600 million for 338 rural municipalities across this great province. This is an increase of over $100 million over the past two years.

It was wonderful to see all of the positive media coverage of the additional Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund across the province as well.

I’m also proud to share there’s been a tremendous response to the modernization of the Rural Ontario Development Program. We are seeing hundreds and hundreds of applications for this program.

I look forward to seeing all the positive news and new investments in rural Ontario announced earlier in the new year.

Speaker, thanks to the leadership of Premier Ford and our entire government, we will always invest in rural communities so they can become the best place to live, work, raise a family and call home as we continue to protect Ontario.

Health care

MPP Robin Lennox: Just this past week, we heard from Hamilton hospitals that they were having to cut jobs because of the budget cuts imposed by the Conservative government. When I walk into a hospital in Hamilton, I’m not standing to cut a ribbon or to stand beside a ceremonial shovel; I’m there to work—to go in and stand shoulder to shoulder with other doctors and nurses, doing the everyday work of holding up our health care system despite being failed by this government again and again.

And I would welcome the Minister of Health to join me, to go beyond the entrance to a hospital, to really immerse herself in the realities of an in-patient ward where patients are lining the hallways, where emergency departments are packed and full, and yet health care workers are run off their feet trying to plug all the holes left by the system.

I believe the Minister of Health would agree, if she truly saw that the way forward is not budget cuts; it’s making smart investments in a health care system that upholds and uplifts our communities. That means right-sizing our in-patient units to actually match demand. It means giving safe nurse-to-patient ratios. It means investing in our community spaces so we actually have safe places to discharge people to.

This is what I hope will be the way forward, and I welcome a conversation with the Minister of Health about how to bring that into reality.

Holiday events in Mississauga East–Cooksville

MPP Silvia Gualtieri: This holiday season has been filled with meaningful moments across my community, and I’m truly grateful for every opportunity to connect with the people who make Mississauga East–Cooksville so special.

From joining Heart Comonos and Joshua Creek Church at their magical holiday celebration where we recognized the transformative impact of $150,000 of the OTF capital grant supporting their new community hub, to welcoming families at the Mississauga Santa Claus parade, the spirit of joy and togetherness has been unmistakable.

I was honoured to visit the St. Patrick’s CWL Christmas Bazaar, meeting dedicated parishioners and neighbours who keep the cherished holiday traditions alive year after year.

I also had the pleasure of celebrating with the Canadian Christian Association, a vibrant group that continues to uplift so many, particularly in the Pakistani Canadian Christian community.

I joined the Christmas gala hosted by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an evening that showcased the remarkable support for families and ministries in the Holy Land.

And as we continue through this festive season, I wish everyone a merry Christmas and a joyful, healthy and hope-filled new year. May the season bring light, warmth—

The Acting Speaker (MPP Andrea Hazell): Members’ statements?

Health care

Mr. Steve Pinsonneault: I rise today to share a great development for families across my riding of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex.

Earlier this year, the Middlesex Hospital Alliance welcomed our community’s very first MRI machine to Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital. After years of planning, hard work and local determination, the state-of-the-art MRI machine marks a major step forward for rural health care in our region.

As every rural community knows, when we come together, we do remarkable things. This MRI will give our residents world-class imaging close to home, producing detailed 3D scans which will support earlier diagnoses, better treatment planning and save lives.

Madam Speaker, as the fall session in this Legislature slowly wraps up, I would also like to take this time to wish everybody in my riding of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex happy holidays and a happy new year.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Billy Pang: I’m pleased to welcome delegates from YMCA to the Legislature today. I invite all members to join them in committee room 230 for their lunch reception. We are glad to have you here. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Robert Bailey: It’s a great pleasure today to introduce from Sarnia–Lambton our page’s parents, Doug and Karen Hatch, in the west members’ gallery, here to see their daughter Anna, who is a page here today. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Steve Clark: I want to introduce Rob Adams, the CEO of the YMCA of Eastern Ontario; and Jill MacDonald, the senior director, association and child care services, attending with fellow CEOs today. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It gives me great pleasure to welcome Lesley Davidson, the president of YMCA Ontario, as well as Andrew Lockie, the CEO from YMCA of Southwestern Ontario. I look forward to meeting you at noon.

Ms. Chandra Pasma: It’s my pleasure to introduce, from Canadian Parents for French, Ahdi Visweswaran, Betty Gormley, Mary Cruden, Myron Karpiuk, Sandhya Mylabathula, Susan Lee and Dee Williams, who is also the duly elected trustee for the TDSB. Welcome.

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: I’d like to welcome, from the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition, Edward Andria, +OSB; Richard Linley, CBA; Karen Pollard-Josling, Pollard Windows Inc., and Pratik Bhalerao, CME. Also, from YMCA of Niagara, the CEO, Christian Wulff, and chief operations officer Deanna D’Elia, welcome to your House, and thank you for—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Beaches–East York.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Good morning, everyone. I had a great meeting this morning with Ontario manufacturers, who are fantastic. We need to shop local; we know that.

I’d also like to introduce my good friend bubbly Bruce Pausey, and my husband, Jim McMahon, over here. He never goes public with me but they are here today. Welcome to your House.

Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady: I’d like to welcome to Queen’s Park West Lynn Public School choir, which is here not only today but twice, leading up to the Christmas holidays as part of the holiday concert series. Please come see them on the grand staircase after question period. Thank you.

MPP Chris Scott: It’s my honour to rise and welcome Dr. James Chan. He’s a CEO of the YMCA in Sault Ste. Marie. Thanks for making the trip down. I’m looking forward to sitting down and having a good meeting later this afternoon.

Hon. Stephen Crawford: In the House today we have a good friend from Montreal: Breno Lima.

Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos: I recognize today’s page captain, Julian Duan, who is from my riding of Oakville North–Burlington, and to welcome Julian’s family in the members’ gallery: his father, Xu Duan; his mother, Sandy Lu; his sister Evelyn; and his grandparents.

Mr. Stéphane Sarrazin: I would like to welcome members from the Canadian Parents for French organization. I’m looking forward to meeting with them this afternoon. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

MPP Robin Lennox: I would like to welcome two colleagues from Canadian Doctors for Medicare: Dr. Zareef Ahmad, Canadian Doctors for Medicare’s national director; and Dr. Danyaal Raza, board director for Canadian Doctors for Medicare.

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: It’s a great honour this morning to introduce Deborah Williams, the TDSB trustee for my riding, as well as the remarkable team at the YMCA of Greater Toronto and a big shout-out to the downtown YMCA. Thank you for all that you do.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I’d like to welcome members from the YMCA of Three Rivers, which includes the Y in Guelph: Lisa Hood, vice-president of philanthropy, marketing and communications; and Mike Ennis, CEO. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. David Piccini: It’s my great pleasure to welcome Eunice Kirkpatrick and Kathryn from the YMCA—I don’t see them but I know they’re here in the House today—and everyone who’s here from the incredible YMCA organization. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

House sittings

Hon. Steve Clark: I’d like to announce that the night sitting scheduled for this evening has been cancelled.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Order. Order.

Pearl Mamakwa

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Kiiwetinoong on a point of order.

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: This past summer was a very tough summer—ᑭᑭᐦᒋᐊᓂᒪᐣ

On June 21, 2025, my wife, Pearl, passed away very suddenly in Sioux Lookout. I thought it was just a quick visit to the emergency room.

But I wanted to take some time today to acknowledge and say meegwetch to everyone who reached out to my family over the past few months to check in and share their condolences. It means a lot.

But also, to all my fellow MPPs: Thank you for your texts. Thank you for your calls, your emails, the words of comfort, the words of love, the flowers. They were very helpful during my family’s time of great sorrow. We are all human. From what I saw—who reached out—is that divisions between us do not matter. It doesn’t matter which party you belong to, where you are from or the colour of your skin. We are all people, all the same. No one escapes life’s tragedies.

Speaker, one of the things I learned during the ordeal is that it’s okay not to be okay. I’m not sharing this to be a sad moment, but it is for Pearl to live on. We need to remember: Every day that we are here with our health is a gift. We should spend more time less divided—spend more time less divided, more time accepting. Life is too short. We need to see each other. We need to hear each other. We need to love each other.

Most importantly, she cared about family. She cared about her identity, her language and her ways of life. This is how we will live on. That is the message of Pearl.

On behalf of my daughters, my son, the grandkids, her parents, her siblings, her friends and her co-workers: We love you. We miss you.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Sol, we love you too. We do.

It’s now time for question period.

Question Period

Government advertising

Ms. Marit Stiles: My question is to the Premier: $111.7 million—that is how much money this Premier spent polishing his image last year. Ontarians are putting groceries back on the shelves, and parents are figuring out how to tell their kids that they can’t get that toy for Christmas. Young people are lining up at the food banks in this province. And this Premier spent over $100 million of the people’s money to gaslight them before an election.

Why is the government spending so much money on looking good rather than doing good?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the President of the Treasury Board.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. Government advertising is a very important medium for governments to let the people of Ontario know about the vital programs and services that we deliver on their behalf. Throughout the pandemic, we were letting Ontarians know about new programs and new supports that we were putting in place. But just the routine business of government needs to be communicated—things like breast cancer screenings, winter driving safety awareness and post-secondary grant programs.

Speaker, all of our government advertising is reviewed by the Auditor General under rules that were brought in by the previous Liberal government. We’re going to continue to let Ontarians know about valuable programs and services. During this critical time when we’re in an unjust tariff war with the United States, we’re telling the story of Ontario, both domestically and abroad. It’s our responsibility to do that, Speaker, and we’re going to continue to keep on doing that.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Marit Stiles: A disappointing response, Speaker—the auditor was clear that, by any measure, really, this government’s advertising in that period was partisan. That kind of gaslighting is unfortunately what we have come to expect from this government.

The Premier promised to stop governments from spending taxpayer dollars on partisan ads when it was the Liberal government in power doing the same thing, and we remember. Now here they are spending more than any government in history on these ads.

Why does the Premier always have one set of rules for himself and a different set of rules for everybody else?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: As I said, the Auditor General reviews all government advertising. We’ve received eight clean audit opinions from the Auditor General, which was something the previous Liberal government didn’t do.

But I think, Speaker, we all agree in this House that we’re at a critical juncture in our country’s history. Our greatest friend has unleashed an unjust tariff war on our country, and we have to do everything we can to stand up for Ontarians, to stand up for Ontario businesses, to stand up for Ontario jobs. That is what our Premier is doing. That’s what our Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade is doing by letting people, both across Canada but also internationally, know that this is the best place to live, to work and to have a job.

We’re going to continue to tell the story of Ontario; it’s more critical now than ever. I am proud that I am part of a government that is telling that message broadly to make sure that we’re attracting investment here, but we’re also letting the people down south know that we have been their closest friend and ally and we need to get back to that place.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: This Premier used to be a fierce opponent of the government gravy train. Remember that? Now he’s conducting it: “Toot toot, all aboard!” MPPs, strip club owners, big time CEOs, campaign managers for the Conservative party—all aboard, right? But it’s regular Ontarians who are getting left behind: people in Algoma and Sault Ste. Marie and Brampton. It is the workers who are lining up at the food banks that are getting left behind in this province.

The government is wasting public dollars on self-promotion, wasting billions of dollars on PPE supplies that are unusable—they’re incinerating them, Speaker—and wasting dollars on a friends-and-family fund while workers are getting the rug absolutely pulled out from under them. How can Ontarians trust this government with their hard-earned tax dollars?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Speaker, let me just highlight some of the things that the Leader of the Opposition thinks that we are wasting Ontarians’ taxpayer dollars on. We are:

—investing in campaigns that highlight critical initiatives, including improving learning and health outcomes through new cellphone and vaping rules in schools;

—creating awareness of major infrastructure projects, such as building roads, highways and transit that will benefit Ontarians and create jobs;

—informing people about measures to keep costs down and make life more affordable;

—promoting Ontario as a premier investment destination, including showcasing our abundant supply of critical minerals and leadership in the future of nuclear energy; and

—demonstrating how Ontario is developing an economy powered by affordable, reliable and clean energy.

Madam Speaker, that’s not all. We’re also increasing awareness of programs and services like financial assistance available to Ontario veterans and the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant program for post-secondary students. Speaker, I could go on and on and on. The government of Ontario delivers valuable, important programs. The people of Ontario need to know about them, and we will not stop.

Government accountability

Ms. Marit Stiles: That is not what the Auditor General says, actually.

Back to the Premier: I will say, I didn’t know where to start this morning, because there’s a new headline every day. There’s the ongoing SDF scandal. There is the health minister who can’t connect Ontarians to a family doctor. There are billions of dollars of PPE supplies being literally incinerated. And while this government is running up a tab like you wouldn’t believe on the people’s credit card, they are leaving a path of destruction in their wake. It is one incriminating report after another.

Not too long ago, we got a report from the Auditor General about the Skills Development Fund and how this government has a continued pattern of preferential treatment from this Minister of Labour for their insiders, their friends.

After six weeks of embarrassing headlines, an OPP anti-racketeering investigation, what lessons, if any, did this Premier learn about how they handled the Skills Development Fund?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Labour.

Hon. David Piccini: Speaker, let’s be clear about what the government is investing in.

The government looks at its priorities, like the $200-billion-plus commitment to infrastructure. Over successive rounds, we’ve added additional priorities like Indigenous youth, like people with disabilities in rounds four and five, and additional priorities like skilled trades in the most recent round. We’re doing it because we know we’re going to need over 18,000 workers at the SMR project—another 100,000 workers when you factor in new nuclear, small modular reactor and Pickering refurbishment.

What do all of these things have in common? It has in common that the member of the opposition would have given pink slips to all those members. That’s not a jobs strategy.

A jobs strategy is to build a stronger Ontario; a more prosperous, energy-efficient Ontario. And that’s exactly what this Premier and this government are doing.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Leader of the Opposition.

Ms. Marit Stiles: There you go, Speaker. Nothing, nada—apparently, they have learned absolutely nothing.

Well, here’s where you went wrong; let me help you out here: You hand-picked winners and losers. Millions of dollars were funnelled to companies with connections to this government and this Premier. Millions of taxpayer dollars were handed out with no jobs to show for it—$2.5 billion.

But the minister has been clear that he is making no changes to how the fund operates. They’re just digging in.

Why is the government ignoring the Auditor General’s recommendations? And when is this minister going to resign?

Hon. David Piccini: Speaker, I respect the member opposite, and I will set the record straight. She’s incorrect. We are accepting all of the Auditor General’s recommendations and are actually in the process of implementing them—had she listened to officials at public accounts.

We’re also going to keep investing, making changes to the program to make sure it’s reflective of the priorities of this government. And let me be clear on what that is.

I talked about new nuclear.

Let’s talk about the Ring of Fire, the two agreements the Premier recently signed—Marten Falls and Webequie—that’s going to bring in critical infrastructure. That’s also going to bring in important social service supports, health care supports to underserviced communities in the north, ensuring geographical distribution of our Skills Development Fund projects in every corner of Ontario.

When I was recently up in Thunder Bay, I saw a brand new ironworker training program that has been expanded, thanks to the investments of this government.

Speaker, support for Indigenous youth entering pathways into the trades—and as I’ve often reflected in this House, what has that meant? It has meant a historic number of youth registering for apprenticeships.

We’re going to keep—

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, this is not his personal piggy bank. Billions—billions—of taxpayer dollars were handed out without any real checks or balances.

Every single dollar that went to your friends, to your favourite nightclub owner, to your family dentist, to your campaign managers was a dollar that did not go toward training the very workers we need to build in this province.

Protect Ontario? Give me a break. We need to protect Ontario from your backroom deals.

Back to the Premier: When are you going to fire this minister and get Ontario back on track?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Labour.

Hon. David Piccini: Let’s talk about what actually happens with the program: monthly reporting, visits by officials to see the training that’s happening, organizational capacity review and an assessment of the partnerships, reputation and public presence review, financial budget requirements, a holdback on funding to make sure the project is doing exactly what it says it does.

By the way, the Auditor General spoke to the strength of the KPIs of this program—100,000 people employed within 60 days or less in this program.

Risk and compliance checks, risk assessment process checks—we’ll continue making improvements. We welcome the recommendations of the Auditor General, and we’re going to keep working to ensure that the underemployed and unemployed have pathways to meaningful employment.

Government accountability

Mr. John Fraser: Yesterday’s AG report—if I wanted to describe it in one word, I’d say “waste.”

At the top of that list is Supply Ontario. They literally took $1.4 billion, put it in a pile and set it on fire—literally set it on fire. That $1.4 billion is a lot of money, folks. Maybe it isn’t to you, but our hospitals are asking for a billion dollars because they don’t have enough money; they’re being starved.

So my question to the Premier is, why did he light $1.4 billion on fire instead of spending that money in our hospitals?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement.

Hon. Stephen Crawford: First, let me thank the Auditor General for the report that she brought out. As the President of the Treasury Board just mentioned, it was our eighth clean audit by this government—every single audit, clean bill of health. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for when we took office from the previous Liberal government with the Auditor General’s reports on their particular audits.

Having said that, Ontarians deserve a supply chain that is resilient, strong and domestic. When we took office in 2018, the former Liberal government had left Ontario with expiring PPE that was foreign-purchased from China, of all places. We acted swiftly to fix this mess and start building a domestic supply chain where we save jobs and are protecting the people of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the leader of the third party.

Mr. John Fraser: You can still smell those $20 bills burning right now. I’ll try to put this in language that the Premier would understand: This would be like taking 135 football fields—135 American; 89 Canadian—lining them with $20 bills and lighting them on fire. It would be the CN Tower 14 times. That’s how much money you burned.

Think of what $1.4 billion could have done for our schools. It could have made class sizes smaller, which the minister doesn’t think is important. It could have helped kids with special education needs who aren’t getting the help that they need. It could have helped the mental health crisis in our schools.

So I guess the question I have for the Premier is, why did he choose to burn $1.4 billion instead of investing in our kids and our schools?

Hon. Stephen Crawford: There was an election this February, and the overarching theme of this election was Protect Ontario. That’s exactly what this government is doing: protecting the businesses and the people of Ontario.

Actually, you speak to the Auditor General. We have great respect for the Auditor General, as I think you do as well. If I can quote from the Auditor General on her question about the PPE supply—this is a direct quote from the Auditor General of Ontario when asked about the oversupply of PPE: “I was not surprised. It was like The Hunger Games. I do not blame the government.”

Speaker, when we inherited office in 2018, we inherited outdated Chinese and foreign supplies of PPE. We acted quick during the COVID pandemic to make sure the people of Ontario had the supplies they need.

My question to the opposition is, would you prefer that we give this PPE to your children?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the leader of the third party.

Mr. John Fraser: Judging by the response to the Auditor General’s news conference by the government yesterday, I’m not sure how much they actually respect the Auditor General.

But here’s what I know they don’t respect: taxpayers’ money. The CEO of Supply Ontario—guess who he is? The Premier’s former chief of staff. All roads lead to the Premier’s office.

Here’s the thing: If you know the Premier, you can burn 1.4 billion taxpayer dollars and everything is okay. Nobody says anything.

I don’t understand why this government doesn’t understand that $1.4 billion could have helped everyday Ontarians with the things that matter most to them: their schools, their classrooms, their hospitals, their primary care. I don’t understand why nobody is paying the price for spending—or burning—this $1.4 billion.

Hon. Stephen Crawford: Let’s go back in time: During the COVID pandemic, that member was accusing our government of not acting swiftly enough to get PPE to the people of Ontario to protect them. That’s what we did. The only reason Ontario had to fight tooth and nail during this time period to get the PPE—and it was like The Hunger Games—was because the Liberals left us with a warehouse full of expired, foreign-bought PPE junk that would not pass basic safety checks, sitting in facilities that were literally falling apart. We will not take lectures from the very people who created this disaster.

When the crisis hit, we didn’t hesitate. We cleaned up their mess, secured Ontario-made supplies and protected front-line workers and families.

Let me be absolutely clear: We will not apologize for putting Ontario businesses and families first. We will not apologize for following Health Canada guidelines and destroying medical waste. Speaker, the people on this side of the House stand for protecting the people of Ontario.

Government advertising

Mr. John Fraser: My question is back to the Premier. You burned $1.4 billion of taxpayers’ money, and it went to nothing. I don’t care what you say; you haven’t given an answer.

But speaking of money that was wasted, the Auditor General told us that $112 million was spent on government advertising last year. That’s a new record. Congratulations, Premier: millions of dollars wasted on self-promoting advertising.

For more context, Canadian Tire spent less than $100 million across Canada; RBC, $73 million across Canada; Tim Hortons—maybe you can relate to that—$58 million. And the Premier spent $112 million here in Ontario on himself.

So instead of spending $112 million on shameless, self-promoting ads, why didn’t the Premier invest in things that matter most to people, like our hospitals and our schools?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of Economic Development.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, tariffs from south of the border have fundamentally changed the global landscape. That’s why our advertising dollars are being spent around the world educating companies, showing them the advantages of Ontario. You open any international magazine, any business magazine, and you see stories about Ontario, you see advertising from Ontario. Go to any international airport, you’ll see advertising from Ontario.

That investment has landed 409 international companies here in Ontario last year. They invested $40 billion in Ontario last year and hired 24,711 people. Our advertising around the world is working.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Leader of the third party.

Mr. John Fraser: I want to add that the Premier was asked not to do it. It didn’t work; it ended the negotiations south of the border, and people are paying for that with their jobs. So I wouldn’t be crowing the way that this minister is crowing.

So $112 million on shameless self-promoting ads, 700,000 people out of work, kids can’t get the help they need in schools, people can’t find a family doctor, the cost of living is going through the roof, people are struggling just to get by—and this government thinks it’s just okay to waste a ton of money on stuff to try to make them look good.

Some $112 million—think about what that could have done. There’s no excuse. How does the Premier explain spending $112 million on himself instead of investing in the things that matter most to Ontarians?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, I’m going to let you in on a secret, and I’m sure I’m going to catch heck for it after. But this is a billion-dollar week in Ontario.

On Monday, we were in Ottawa announcing a several-hundred-million-dollar investment from a US firm. Yesterday, along with the Minister of Colleges and Universities, we were in Morrisburg announcing the successful trip to Japan where they invested $24 million in Morrisburg on a new plant. Today, the Minister of Energy and Mines and I will be in Hamilton to announce an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. Thursday, the Premier and I will be in another city announcing yet another multi-hundred million. And we’ll end up announcing, on Friday, a company from Sweden that we attracted here.

Speaker, 409 international companies landed here, invested $40 billion and put 24,711 people to work.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Leader of the third party.

Mr. John Fraser: Well, that’s a pretty cold answer to the 1,000 people in Sault Ste. Marie who don’t have a job now.

So $112 million last year—a new record. I guess the question is, this year—I think they’re going to set another record. Just take a look at those Ring of Fire ads—you know, those ads that are supposed to protect Ontarians but don’t protect one job? They don’t protect anything, other than maybe the Premier’s job. That’s the only thing I think that they’re protecting.

It is unbelievable. Look at those ads. Who do they help? If you live in the north, you’ve got to be going, “What are they talking about? Those pictures aren’t even of us.”

How can the Premier justify spending so much money—$112 million—on shameless self-promotion, ads that only benefit him, instead of investing in those things that matter most to Ontarians?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): President of the Treasury Board.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Well, it’s surprising to hear the member opposite speak the way he is. He knows that our ad campaign, as I’ve said, focuses on promoting Ontario abroad, on telling the story of the great opportunity here, but also of all the programs and services that we offer to the people of Ontario.

Only a few years ago, the member opposite was saying that we weren’t doing enough on TV. He said, “I don’t see anything on TV. I don’t hear anything on radio. I do know that when I watch football games south of the border, in the state of Massachusetts—at least the last game I watched—the state was pounding the airways about vaccinations. There were really great commercials, really good, solid commercials that said, ‘You know what, vaccinations are safe and effective....’ Sometimes they’d go two, three times in a row. That’s the way advertising works.

I think the government side would know that, especially with sporting events, because I did watch their advertising during the campaign on hockey and baseball games, where their political ads appeared”—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The leader of the third party will come to order.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Speaker, what the member opposite is saying today is that now he’s decided that he doesn’t think there’s anything worth advertising for in Ontario. Well, we know we have a great story to tell and we’re going to continue—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question. I recognize the member for Ottawa West–Nepean.

Academic testing

Ms. Chandra Pasma: The Minister of Education finally released the EQAO scores, and it’s clear why the minister was hiding them. The impact of the government’s $6.8 billion in funding cuts is clear: Two in five grade 9 students aren’t meeting the provincial standard for math; half of grade 6 students are failing to meet the standard. Our kids don’t need an advisory body that pays more unqualified Conservative insiders lucrative salaries: They need smaller class sizes and more caring, qualified teachers.

Will the minister quit finding ways to give Conservatives high-paying jobs and fund our schools?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Well, clearly, I obviously disagree with the member opposite because we know the NDP would rather see our students failing. That is quite clear, because it is NDP trustees, in part, who have brought our system to almost complete collapse.

Look, these EQAO results were not what we expected. You know why? Because Conservatives believe that our students should have the best opportunity to succeed, and we are going to find out why that is not happening in a ministry that spends over $43 billion. I think students, parents and teachers should expect that their kids get the best opportunity to succeed. So we’re going to double down on making sure that our students can succeed by making sure that our teachers have the resources that they need and that parents also have the tools that they need to help their children.

Am I going to stop working hard to give our students every opportunity to succeed? No. Is the NDP going to continue to try and frustrate our mission to give our students the best opportunity to succeed? Yes. But you know what? We’ll get the job done for our students.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Ottawa West–Nepean.

Ms. Chandra Pasma: No parent and no teacher in the province is asking for jobs for Conservatives; they are asking for funding.

The results show just how badly the government is failing kids with disabilities and learning exceptionalities. School boards are spending $850 million more on special education than what they’re getting from this government, but less than one third of students are meeting the provincial standard for math, and the scores for reading and writing aren’t much better.

Will the Premier stop failing our most vulnerable kids and properly fund special education?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Look, as I said this morning at the news conference, for 50, 60 years, the Minister of Education has come before people and said, “We’re spending more than we ever have before in education.” The unions and the NDP have said, “You’re not spending enough.”

I think that parents just simply don’t care about that messaging. What they care about is—“How are my kids doing? Are they getting the tools that they need to succeed?”

So what I’m going to do and continue to do is build on the work that was done by the previous ministers—a back-to-basics approach, which has seen some very good results with respect to standardized testing in literacy, frankly. We’ve seen some good results. We need some more help on math.

Just a couple of days ago, I took over another school board, the Near North District School Board, using the tools under Bill 33. The opposition voted against Bill 33. They said it would end democracy across the province of Ontario. But do you know who supported me taking over the near North District School Board? It was the Leader of the Opposition, who said it was the right thing to do. That explains to me why, when it was time to stand up, as opposed to doing what the rest of her party did—voting against it—she got kicked out of this place fictitiously and took her time to get out of here. She didn’t want to be on the record as voting against what parents—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

Health care

Ms. Lee Fairclough: The government has proven its commitment to funnelling taxpayer dollars to its friends. And yet, the Auditor General reported that the government has failed to show that same commitment to managing our health care system for the people of Ontario.

She found that physician over-billers are costing up to $600 million per year because of little oversight and a completely outdated billing system—something we’ve known for years; there are two million Ontarians without a doctor, forcing municipalities into a Hunger Games-style competition to recruit physicians, unlike anywhere else in Canada; this government has delivered less than half of the new medical school spots; and, at the same time, hospitals face a $1-billion deficit, and four hospitals have announced cuts to jobs and care this week.

To the Minister of Health, through the Speaker: When are you going to get serious about fraudulent billing and properly funding care?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Let’s be absolutely clear about this: We have zero tolerance for any misuse of the medical billing system in the province of Ontario, and anybody found guilty or attempting to misuse the medical billing system in the province of Ontario will be held accountable.

The specific claims cited by the Auditor General are under active ministry review, and they will be addressed. If any wrongdoing is found, the ministry can and will pursue recovery and hold people accountable.

The medical claims payment system has been successful in processing the vast majority of claims.

We will make sure that patients get uninterrupted care.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

Ms. Lee Fairclough: It’s an interesting response today, because yesterday, in response to the $600-million potential overbilling, the parliamentary assistant implied that it’s just complicated, it’s lots of billing codes, and it’s pretty hard to figure out.

But here’s the thing: It is your job to figure it out, to fix it, to invest in our public health care system.

Recovering that $600 million could go a long way today. Think about the care that could provide. It would help us stop caring for people in hallways.

Through the Speaker, to the Minister of Health: When will you clean this up so we can invest in better care for people?

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Once again, we will have zero tolerance for any misuse of the medical billing system in the province of Ontario, and we will hold accountable anybody found to be misusing that medical billing system.

The Auditor General did identify ways to strengthen the oversight. And it’s important to note that the recommendations relate to a very small fraction of the overall claims.

That being said, the specific claims that were identified by the Auditor General are under active ministry review and will be addressed. And in the event that any of those claims which are being reviewed are found to have been misusing the medical billing system in Ontario, steps will be taken, we will pursue recovery and people will be held accountable in the event that there is any misuse of that system.

Transportation infrastructure

Ms. Natalie Pierre: My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Speaker, every day, families and businesses across Burlington depend on reliable connections into Toronto and the wider GTA. Whether it’s for commuting, transporting goods or supporting local employers, efficient travel along our major corridors, including the Gardiner Expressway, is essential. But Speaker, for years, the Liberals ignored these realities. They watched congestion get worse while key infrastructure aged. Instead of proposing solutions, the NDP went so far as to push for tearing the Gardiner down, or even burdening drivers with new tolls.

Under our Premier’s leadership, our government made a clear commitment to deliver long-overdue project upgrades and get the Gardiner project done as quickly as possible. Speaker, can the minister explain how the accelerated completion of the Gardiner Expressway is helping commuters and how this improvement supports economic activity across the—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

Mr. Ric Bresee: Thank you to the member from Burlington for the question.

Speaker, the people in Burlington rely on strong, efficient transportation routes, and the Gardiner is a major part of that network. Whether residents are driving into downtown Toronto for work or business or businesses are moving freight across the region, that connection matters.

That’s why we stepped up and stepped in with $73 million in provincial support to ensure the city could keep work going 24/7, seven days a week. This level of constant activity is what allows major infrastructure projects to move faster and more efficiently, instead of dragging on for years and years, the way they did under the previous governments.

Because of these measures, Speaker, what was supposed to take three years has now been delivered in just 18 months—a level of efficiency that simply did not exist under the previous government. This is what a government focused on getting results actually delivers: practical solutions, faster construction and a transportation network that supports Ontario’s—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Burlington.

Ms. Natalie Pierre: As communities like Burlington, Oakville and the rest of the GTHA continue to grow, the pressure on our transportation network is only increasing. Families rely on highways more than ever to get to work, to get to school and to support local businesses. But Speaker, under the former Liberal government, critical infrastructure was neglected. Projects were pushed off, over budget and outright abandoned, leaving drivers to deal with longer commutes, more congestion and billions lost in productivity.

Speaker, Ontarians need a government that builds, not delays. They want a government that works with municipalities and industry partners to move projects forward faster. Can the minister explain how our investments in major corridors, like the Gardiner and QEW, are strengthening our region, reducing gridlock and protecting Ontario’s economic—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

Mr. Ric Bresee: As the GTHA grows, our economy depends on the ability of people and goods to move efficiently across the region. That’s why our government is making strategic, targeted investments in the transportation corridors that matter the most.

Speaker, our partnership with the city of Toronto on the Gardiner is a clear example. By providing that $73 million from the province and enabling 24-hour-a-day construction, we’re accelerating one of the busiest highway sections in all of Ontario—a route used by more than 140,000 vehicles every weekday. And we’re taking the same approach on the QEW, where widening and rehabilitation work will improve capacity, reduce bottlenecks and keep traffic flowing between Burlington, Toronto and Niagara.

Ontarians overwhelmingly support this plan: The Toronto region board found that 73% support 24-hour construction. Speaker, by reducing gridlock—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Question?

Health care

MPP Robin Lennox: Speaker, two million people in Ontario lack a family doctor. Successive Conservative and Liberal governments have left us with the second-lowest number of family doctors per capita in all of Canada, and according to the Auditor General, we are nowhere near where we should be to ensure that every person in Ontario has access to primary care. We’re not talking about a luxury; we’re talking about essential health care.

Will the Minister of Health please explain how the government has had eight years to address the primary care crisis and still can’t put together a plan that meets the needs of all Ontarians?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: This government has instituted a $2.1-billion plan to connect people to primary care. It is called the primary care action plan.

Let me give the House a few examples of the progress that we are making in connecting thousands of people to primary care in the province of Ontario. For example, the Vaughan Community Health Centre received $2.6 million to connect approximately 6,000 people to primary care, and the Mississauga Integrated Care Centre has received approximately $5 million to connect over 12,000 people to primary care.

That is part of our plan, Madam Speaker. We are connecting people to primary care across the province of Ontario through our interprofessional primary care team expansion.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Member for Hamilton Centre.

MPP Robin Lennox: When asked about the number of people who have been connected to primary care, it seems the Minister of Health has caught a case of bad math. She said that 60% of people who need a family doctor had been connected, but she added an extra zero, because “60% of people” refers to the number of people on the Health Care Connect wait-list who have been connected, but that’s only 10% of people who actually need a family doctor. The correct number is actually 6%. Only 6% in need of a family doctor have even been referred to one in the past year.

And each day, we hear of more and more family doctors retiring or leaving the profession because this government hasn’t invested in recruitment and retention.

To the minister: A 6% success rate isn’t a reassuring number. Why should the people of Ontario believe you when you say you’re going to attach someone to a family doctor by 2029, when you’re already falling way too short?

Mr. Anthony Leardi: To correct the member: It was actually the previous Liberal government that reduced the number of doctors being trained in Ontario, and it was this government that increased the number of doctors being trained in Ontario. Since taking office in 2018, the number of family doctors in the province of Ontario has actually increased by over 14%. That’s a 14% increase of family doctors in the province of Ontario since 2018.

In addition to that, we’ve increased the number of nurse practitioners practising in the province of Ontario. The nurse practitioners are always forgotten by the opposition, but we don’t forget the nurse practitioners, who have increased by 50% since this government took office in 2018.

Health care

Mr. Adil Shamji: Yesterday, the Auditor General delivered a scathing condemnation of this government. She said the Premier is more focused on himself than on Ontarians. She pulled back the cover on the empty promises that the Premier has been trumpeting, amplified by self-promotional ads to the tune of $112 million. She told us that at least two million people don’t have a family doctor; that a third of people who have a doctor can’t get to theirs; that health teams are getting a third of the funding that they’re asking for, if they get anything at all; and that the government is promising med schools but delivering disappointment.

Madam Speaker, the government could be advertising Health Care Connect. They could be advertising how to find a family doctor or how to get vaccinated. Instead, they’re advertising themselves. Will the Premier explain why he’s so busy boosting his image, instead of actually boosting our access to health care?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Let me continue outlining the great progress that we are making connecting people to health care in the province of Ontario. The Health Care Connect wait-list, since only January 1, 2025, has already been reduced by 65%. That’s a 65% reduction just since January 1, 2025.

Connecting people to primary care is part of our overall plan. Let me give you yet another example: The Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities has received approximately $4 million to connect over 9,000 people to primary care here in the province of Ontario. We are expanding our primary care to connect people more and more, every single day, to give people health care where and when they need it.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Don Valley East.

Mr. Adil Shamji: I wish the PA for health actually read the Auditor General’s report instead of saying that he did, because she actually highlighted the fact that nobody uses Health Care Connect and it captures only 11% of the people who actually need a family doctor.

I’m going to remind you again that the Auditor General officially graded the government’s performance on primary care—not the announcements, their performance on primary care—and gave you guys a grade of F. She said the government has failed to deliver a primary care action strategy with real timelines or targets, failed to fix Health Care Connect, failed to properly fund health teams, failed to actually expand medical schools and failed to crack down on medical overcharging—fail after fail after fail after fail.

Unsurprisingly, their performance is down, but their ad budget is up: $112 million in self-promotional advertising.

Madam Speaker, can the Premier explain why he is more preoccupied with self-serving ads when he should be preoccupied with delivering primary care for everyone?

Mr. Anthony Leardi: I think the doctor member from the Liberal Party forgot that it was the Liberal Party of Ontario that reduced the number of doctors being trained in Ontario. By contrast, it is this government that has increased the number of doctors being trained in Ontario.

In addition to that, we have introduced as-of-right recognition for medical professionals across the country, meaning that more medical professionals can get into Ontario and practise sooner and faster. We’ve reduced that Health Care Connect wait-list by 65%, only since January of this year.

We are adding thousands of people to primary care in Ontario. Let me give you yet another example: another 6,000 people added to the Niagara Falls Community Health Centre for a $2.6-million investment.

Nuclear energy

Mr. Billy Pang: My question is for the Minister of Energy and Mines.

Ontario is growing at an unprecedented pace. People and businesses are choosing our province because we provide stability, opportunity and a strong economic foundation. Major investments in advanced manufacturing, clean steel, electric vehicle production and transit electrification are driving even more growth. These projects require clean, reliable and affordable electricity.

Speaker, nuclear energy has long been the backbone of Ontario’s power system. It keeps our grid clean and reliable, and it supports thousands of good-paying jobs across our province. As our population increases and new industries expand, the need for additional nuclear capacity becomes even more important. Can the minister explain the role that new nuclear will play as Ontario continues to reduce emissions and pursue a clean energy future?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member from Markham–Unionville for that question.

I want to take us on a brief trip down memory lane, because it is important to remember how we got here. In 2013, the Toronto Star headline read “Ontario Liberals Scrap Plan for New Nuclear Reactors.” At that time, the Liberal Minister of Energy, Bob Chiarelli, stated, “New nuclear will not be part of the long-term energy plan,” and “We’re in a comfortable (electricity ...) surplus position.” Fast-forward to 2016: The Liberals announced their intention to shut down the Pickering nuclear station.

Now, just last week, under the leadership of the Premier, our government made a truly historic announcement: We’re moving forward with the refurbishing of the Pickering nuclear generation station, securing power for 2.2 million homes; over 30,000 high-quality, skilled jobs; and 50 more years of clean, reliable, affordable energy.

When it comes to powering Ontario’s future, nuclear energy isn’t just part of our plan; it is the plan.

Mr. Billy Pang: Thank you the to parliamentary assistant for the important update.

Speaker, the refurbishment of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is not just an energy project; it is a major economic engine for Ontario. This project creates thousands of good-paying jobs. It supports local businesses and strengthens communities.

Speaker, Ontario is not waiting; we are leading. Countries around the globe are looking to our province for our expertise, our workforce and our technology. The decisions we make today will ensure we remain a global leader in clean energy tomorrow.

Speaker, can the parliamentary assistant explain how our investments in nuclear power are helping Ontario assert leadership at home and on the global stage?

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I want to thank the member again for that question. The world is watching Ontario and they want to partner with us. We already have nuclear partnerships in Poland, Romania and Estonia, and earlier this week, the minister secured a major new partnership with Bulgaria. Demand is growing and more countries are in line. Ontario is participating on the world stage and we’re leading there.

We’re delivering the first grid-scale small modular reactor in the G7 at Darlington, adding up to 1,200 megawatts of clean power to the grid, $38.5 billion to Canada’s GDP and supporting 18,000 high-skilled jobs across the country.

We’re refurbishing our entire nuclear fleet including 4,800 megawatts at Bruce Power, 3,500 megawatts at Darlington and 2,200 megawatts at Pickering. And Speaker, we’re taking steps towards the largest nuclear build in the world at Wesleyville, adding up to a 10,000 megawatts of new, clean baseload power—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Toronto–Danforth.

Environmental protection

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, to the Premier: The Auditor General made it clear in her report yesterday that the government doesn’t follow or respect the law regarding environmental consultation, the Environmental Bill of Rights. The government made it clear, through steps to undermine climate action, that it doesn’t respect the environment. Why doesn’t the government respect the law or the environment?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Minister of the Environment.

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: I’m glad the member opposite asked that question, Madam Speaker. I want to quote directly from the Auditor General.

The Auditor General acknowledges that the Environmental Bill of Rights “continued in 2024-25 to enable the public to participate in the province’s environmental decision-making. Ministries notified and consulted the public about hundreds of environmentally significant proposals, and the public submitted thousands of comments. In many cases, ministries made changes to their final decisions as a result of the public’s comments.”

And so our ministry and our government, through dedicated outreach, focused consultation sessions and specialized working groups, consults and listens and acts in accordance with the will of the people.

Speaking of the will of the people, the biggest consultation of all this year was the 2025 election. We heard the people loud and clear: We have a third majority mandate under Premier Ford.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Member for Toronto–Danforth.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Again to the Premier: Jobs, homes and our health depend on a clean and stable environment. When the government doesn’t respect Ontario’s environmental laws, it puts all those at risk.

Why don’t jobs, homes or our health matter to the government?

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: We do not have to make a choice, I would say to the member opposite. We can build the Ontario of tomorrow while protecting our shared environment.

Our government is proud to lead our country when it comes to protecting our environment. Ontario alone has achieved more greenhouse gas emissions reductions than all other provinces combined, leading Canada with 67% of total emissions reductions. We’re proud of that record.

And why are we doing that? Because we’re making the smart investments: $10.9 billion in clean nuclear energy, half a billion dollars in green steel, $70 billion in public transit. It’s these investments that achieve results. Results matter. We’re getting it done for the people.

Health care

MPP Tyler Watt: My question is for the Minister of Health. Last week, the Minister of Health told this House that Ontario’s health care workers are cheering them on. She also said it was appropriate for a hospital to lay off nurses to balance their budget.

Then, yesterday, the Premier stood up in front of cameras and said that he saved our health care system and that we should call any CEO of any hospital and ask them if it’s better now.

Well, Speaker, the Premier doesn’t need to go very far. He has a former hospital CEO, and she is sitting right here. He has an emergency room doctor sitting right there. And he has a nurse right here who ran because I couldn’t stand seeing what this government was doing to our health care system.

Will the minister explain why her vision of health care—full of applause, praise and imaginary cheering—looks nothing like what patients and health care workers are experiencing in our hospitals?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: I thank the nurse practitioner or the nurse from the Liberal Party for that question. I go back to the facts, which are that nurse practitioners in the province of Ontario have actually increased by 50% since this government took office. And the reason why we’ve increased the number of practising nurse practitioners in the province of Ontario is because we didn’t do what the Liberal Party did: We didn’t balance the budget on the backs of people who needed health care.

What we did is we increased the health care budget from $62 billion in 2018 to over $90 billion today, which is a 50% increase that allowed us to put those nurse practitioners to work, bringing health care to the people of the province of Ontario, where and when they need it.

We are expanding access to primary care because we know people value primary care through our publicly funded health care system, and that is what we are dedicated to.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Nepean.

MPP Tyler Watt: I encourage that member to take his time sitting down because after all that spinning, you can get very dizzy.

This holiday season, I will be working shifts as a nurse, and I invite the health minister to join me for a few hours so she can finally see the reality of what is going on in hospitals. I’m talking about hospitals. I’ll be honest, though, I wouldn’t expect much cheering there because ER wait times are at historic highs, if they’re even open. Family doctors are closing their doors, urgent care walk-in clinics are closed by 10 a.m., and nurses and health care workers are leaving faster than hospitals can hire them.

Madam Speaker, instead of telling us that people are cheering for her, will the Minister of Health touch grass and commit today to the Ontario Liberal Party plan to provide an additional $1 billion to our hospitals to make them whole?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): The member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Madam Speaker, I note that the MPP first made light of this government’s financial investments in the health care system and then ended his question by asking for more money.

We’ve increased the budget for the health care system in Ontario by 50% since this government took office. The number of family doctors practising in Ontario has increased by 14% since this government took office. The number of nurse practitioners in Ontario has increased by 50% since this government took office because we, unlike the Liberal Party of Ontario, made the investments necessary for family doctors to practise in Ontario, for nurse practitioners to practise in Ontario—the nurse practitioners that are routinely ignored by both the Liberal Party and the NDP.

We believe in delivering primary care, and we will continue to do so.

Public transit

Mr. Deepak Anand: My question is to the Minister of Transportation. For our seniors, our parents—the people who cared for us—it is time for us to care for them. Seniors like Piara Pannu, Paramjit Kahlon and many more in my riding rely on public transit for their day-to-day activities. Whether they’re going to visit family or on their way to a health care appointment, many seniors rely on MiWay and the TTC to get where they need to go.

Can the minister tell us about the One Fare program and the positive impact it has made on their lives? Instead of paying double fares, now they only pay one fare.

The question again: Minister, please outline what steps our government is taking to keep costs down for people who care for us and making it easier for them—

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

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Thank you to the member for that question. Whether it’s seniors, students or others who use public transit across the province, it’s all been about making life more affordable. That’s why, two years ago, we launched the One Fare program. This program saves commuters $1,600 every single year.

That senior that will then get onto a MiWay bus trying to get to downtown Toronto, who might need to use the GO train or the TTC, will only pay one fare. Especially for those on fixed incomes, this makes a huge difference. As I said: $1,600 a year. That is what this program focuses on.

This program makes transit more accessible for people across the province, especially for those seniors in Mississauga and across the province. We’re going to continue to deliver this world-class public transit system that we’re investing $70 billion in over the next 10 years.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Back to the member for Mississauga–Malton.

Mr. Deepak Anand: Thank you to the minister for that response.

I heard the word “students.” As a father of two children—and my daughter is actually in university. She regularly uses public transit whenever she’s here in Mississauga, and she tells me all the time that the One Fare program helps them save money. That’s why it is frustrating to see the NDP and the Liberals—while we hear them talk about the students, these are the same people who voted against this program.

Our government will continue to make transit more affordable and convenient so that hard-working Ontarians can keep more money in their pockets.

Speaker, can the minister please explain to the House the benefits of One Fare and how this extension will make it even easier for our students?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Madam Speaker, 62 million free transfers: That is what the One Fare program has enabled to date. That’s over $200 million of savings for those transit riders across the network.

Think of a student who’s going to jump on to a MiWay bus, get on a GO train and then they use their TTC card to get on the TTC to get up to TMU. That is the power of One Fare: students saving money, families across this province saving money, putting more money back into their pockets. This two-year extension that we announced just on Monday—$3,200 back into the pockets of hard-working families.

Madam Speaker, this builds on our progress. Whether it’s removing tolls off the 412, the 418 or the 407 east, or whether it’s the 5.7-cent reduction in our gas tax, we’re committed to making life more—

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Nickel Belt.

Health care

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

The Auditor General yesterday told us that six different people filed complaints about being billed illegally by a physician, but that didn’t trigger anything. She told us that 59 physicians billed for more than 24 hours in a single day, some billing for over 100 patients per day. More than 100 physicians billed for working every single day of the year, and some even billed for more days than there are in a year.

There could be some very valid reason why this is happening, but there are $600 million in limbo. How come none of that ever triggered any need for action from this government and none of that ever triggered any need for a review?

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I recognize the member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: The Auditor General did in fact identify ways to strengthen oversight, but it’s important to note that the recommendations are related to a very small fraction of the overall OHIP billing claims. We know there’s more to do, and that is why we launched a claims modernization plan. That was to strengthen the oversight in physician billing, and that’s why we are accepting the auditor’s recommendations.

We’re working closely with the Ontario Medical Association to implement targeted solutions that prevent errors and strengthen accountability, and we want to maintain public confidence in Ontario’s health care system. Our priority will always be to protect taxpayer dollars, at the same time ensuring that physicians are paid on time and also making sure that care is not disrupted.

Deferred Votes

Supporting Mobility, Affordability and Reliable Transportation in Ontario Act, 2025 / Loi de 2025 pour une mobilité accrue, des prix plus abordables et des transports plus fiables en Ontario

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 70,

An Act to amend the Metrolinx Act, 2006 and the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act with respect to transportation / Projet de loi 70, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2006 sur Metrolinx et la

Loi sur l’aménagement des voies publiques et des transports en commun en ce qui concerne les transports.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1140 to 1145.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Members, please take your seats.

On December 2, 2025, MPP Hazell moved second reading of Bill 70,

An Act to amend the Metrolinx Act, 2006 and the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act with respect to transportation.

All those in favour, please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Begum, Doly

Bell, Jessica

Blais, Stephen

Bourgouin, Guy

Bowman, Stephanie

Brady, Bobbi Ann

Cerjanec, Rob

Clancy, Aislinn

Collard, Lucille

Fairclough, Lee

Fife, Catherine

Fraser, John

French, Jennifer K.

Gates, Wayne

Gélinas, France

Gilmour, Alexa

Glover, Chris

Gretzky, Lisa

Hazell, Andrea

Hsu, Ted

Kernaghan, Terence

Lennox, Robin

Mamakwa, Sol

McCrimmon, Karen

McKenney, Catherine

McMahon, Mary-Margaret

Pasma, Chandra

Sattler, Peggy

Schreiner, Mike

Shamji, Adil

Shaw, Sandy

Smyth, Stephanie

Stevens, Jennifer (Jennie)

Tabuns, Peter

Tsao, Jonathan

Vanthof, John

Vaugeois, Lise

Watt, Tyler

West, Jamie

Wong-Tam, Kristyn

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): All those opposed, please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Nays

Anand, Deepak

Babikian, Aris

Bailey, Robert

Bethlenfalvy, Peter

Bouma, Will

Bresee, Ric

Calandra, Paul

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Cho, Stan

Ciriello, Monica

Clark, Steve

Cooper, Michelle

Crawford, Stephen

Cuzzetto, Rudy

Darouze, George

Denault, Billy

Dixon, Jess

Dowie, Andrew

Downey, Doug

Dunlop, Jill

Fedeli, Victor

Firin, Mohamed

Flack, Rob

Ford, Doug

Gallagher Murphy, Dawn

Grewal, Hardeep Singh

Gualtieri, Silvia

Hamid, Zee

Hardeman, Ernie

Jones, Trevor

Jordan, John

Kanapathi, Logan

Kerzner, Michael S.

Khanjin, Andrea

Leardi, Anthony

Lecce, Stephen

Lumsden, Neil

McCarthy, Todd J.

McGregor, Graham

Mulroney, Caroline

Oosterhoff, Sam

Pang, Billy

Parsa, Michael

Pierre, Natalie

Pinsonneault, Steve

Quinn, Nolan

Racinsky, Joseph

Rae, Matthew

Riddell, Brian

Rosenberg, Bill

Sabawy, Sheref

Sandhu, Amarjot

Sarkaria, Prabmeet Singh

Sarrazin, Stéphane

Saunderson, Brian

Scott, Chris

Scott, Laurie

Smith, David

Smith, Laura

Tangri, Nina

Thanigasalam, Vijay

Thompson, Lisa M.

Tibollo, Michael A.

Triantafilopoulos, Effie J.

Vickers, Paul

Wai, Daisy

Williams, Charmaine A.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day): The ayes are 41; the nays are 67.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I declare the motion lost.

Second reading negatived.

There being no further business, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1149 to 1300.

Royal assent / Sanction royale

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): I beg to inform the House that in the name of His Majesty the King, Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased to assent to certain bills in her office.

The Clerk-at-the-Table (Mr. Christopher Tyrell): The following are the titles to the bills to which Her Honour did assent:

An Act to make statutory amendments respecting emergency management and authorizing enforceable directives to specified entities providing publicly-funded community social services / Loi visant à apporter des modifications législatives concernant la gestion des situations d’urgence et autorisant la formulation de directives exécutoires aux entités publiques désignées qui fournissent des services communautaires et sociaux financés par les fonds publics.

An Act to enact the Geologic Carbon Storage Act, 2025 and to amend various Acts with respect to wildfires, resource safety and surveyors / Loi édictant la Loi de 2025 sur le stockage géologique de carbone et modifiant diverses lois concernant les incendies de végétation, la sécurité des ressources et les arpenteurs-géomètres.

Introduction of Visitors

Ms. Chandra Pasma: I would like to welcome Cameron MacLeod from Ottawa, previously of the Carlington Community Health Centre—which is shared between my riding and the riding of the member for Ottawa Centre—and currently of TryCycle. Welcome, Cameron.

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on the Interior

Mr. Aris Babikian: Madam Speaker, I beg leave to present the report from the Standing Committee on the Interior and move its adoption.

The Clerk-at-the-Table (Mr. Christopher Tyrell): Your committee begs to report the following bill, as amended:

Bill 40,

An Act to amend various statutes, with respect to energy, the electrical sector and public utilities.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Shall the report be received and adopted? Agreed? Agreed.

Report adopted.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Pursuant to the order of the House dated November 6, 2025, the bill is ordered for third reading.

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

International Day of Persons with Disabilities / Journée internationale des personnes handicapées

Hon. Raymond Sung Joon Cho: Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This day holds profound significance for Ontario and for communities around the world. Its purpose is clear and compelling: to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support with the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also increases awareness of the benefits that come from integrating people with disabilities into every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

We are continuing to help people with disabilities enter the workplace and fully participate in our economy, while also making strategic investments to support innovative programs by partner organizations across Ontario.

I want to take a moment to thank my many colleagues who, under the leadership of Premier Ford, are delivering truly transformational change in Ontario. We are ensuring that the voice of people with disabilities is always included in the development of our government services. We examine all programs and initiatives through an accessible lens, to ensure that our investment programs are producing concrete results from the outset.

We have achieved so much and I’m excited to see all that is still to come.

The Speaker (Hon. Donna Skelly): Responses?

MPP Lise Vaugeois: It’s an honour to speak in the House about the conditions for people living with disabilities in Ontario. Malheureusement, la réalité vécue par beaucoup trop de personnes handicapées en Ontario demeure dure et semée de barrières.

The government asserts that supports for people on the Ontario Disability Support Program are generous, but let’s be clear: No one can live on $1,400 a month. And if you live in a household with other people—your parents, a partner or a housemate—your support will be clawed back.

We also know that those trying to survive on Ontario Works—a mere $733 a month—are often waiting to have their disability acknowledged so that they can move slightly up to ODSP.

To paraphrase the recent Feed Ontario report: The rules governing benefits can leave people worse off for making what most would consider to be reasonable financial choices, such as working more hours, saving money to bridge gaps between contracts, or moving in with a partner to reduce costs. The rules are designed to keep people on the edge of desperation, where living a dignified life is an impossibility. This is legislated poverty. On constate également une grave pénurie de logements abordables et accessibles.

The latest update of the Ontario building code was a missed opportunity. Instead of consulting with disability advocates when updating the code, building standards were reduced to the lowest common denominator while public consultation was eliminated.

Right now, rules governing the private sector don’t even require doctors and dentists to have accessible offices and washrooms. Et il n’y a personne à qui se plaindre, personne à appeler.

We also know that workers made ill or injured on the job, particularly those with critical and permanent injuries or disabilities, are pushed into poverty by a compensation system so distorted from its intended purpose that the government actually brags about taking money away from injured workers to give back to employers. Les règles en matière de sécurité au travail sont tellement laxistes que Fiera Foods, où cinq travailleurs sont morts au travail, bénéficie toujours de remboursements.

We heard from the Ontario Ombudsman this week that adults with developmental disabilities are medically and/or physically tied down in hospitals or even jails, because there are no community homes and supports available to them. This was already known in 2016, but nothing has changed.

The government also shows its disdain for people with disabilities by paying critical front-line workers so little that they can be working full-time and still be forced to use food banks to survive.

We continue to see the forced isolation of seniors in long-term care through the abuse of the Trespass to Property Act—an abuse that is still being actively promoted by the Ministry of Long-Term Care and, shockingly, by the Ontario Patient Ombudsman. According to the former Minister of Long-Term Care, this practice was ended in 2021. So why is this government allowing this abuse to continue? It needs to stop.

Finally, I want to make clear that between the government’s failure to control the cost of housing and impossibly low levels of financial support, living with a disability is incredibly precarious and exhausting. Mais c’est la réalité pour trop de personnes handicapées en Ontario.

The challenges of the disability itself are one thing, but as Dr. Ramona Coelho, who sits on the chief coroner’s Medical Assistance in Dying Death Review Committee, says, “The same government that is failing to offer social systems is the same government that is offering quick and easy MAID. There’s a perverse disincentive to improve care.”

We know that MAID is federal and that the federal government cannot be left off the hook for their failures, but the conditions of desperation for people with disabilities in Ontario lie squarely with the province. The AODA standards are the law, and these standards were supposed to be in place by 2025, but clearly, this is not going to happen. Worse, though, are the political decisions that keep people living lives of endless struggle and precarity that lead people to give up and suicide—alone, or using MAID.

People with disabilities are our friends, our neighbours, our family members, ourselves. When profits come first, people are cast aside. We can and must do better.

MPP Stephanie Smyth: I’m honoured to speak today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I want to start by thanking the minister for his remarks and for the work he does in this portfolio. I know he cares about this file and his team does too. But caring isn’t the same as doing enough.

I’ve spoken with people who can’t access basic services like transportation—people in wheelchairs still not able to get elevator service at many TTC stations; websites aren’t screen-reader-compatible; parents who spend years fighting for accommodations for their children that they should have had on day one; workers blocked from good jobs because their workplace hasn’t bothered to meet even the minimum standards; seniors who feel like the world is shrinking around them because transit, public spaces, health services, things everyone else takes for granted, still aren’t accessible. Every one of these stories represents a barrier that could have been removed already but has not been.

Speaker, what we keep hearing from experts, from stakeholders, from constituents, reviewer after reviewer is the same message over and over. We don’t need more reports. We don’t need more round tables. We know what needs to be done. What is missing is urgency, the follow-through, the political commitment to actually enforce the laws that we already have.

Technology has changed dramatically since 2005, but our standards haven’t kept pace. The world moved forward; the AODA didn’t. We owe it to people with disabilities to modernize the act so t