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November 16, 2020

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2020-Nov-16 vol. A (PDF)

L207A - Mon 16 Nov 2020 / Lun 16 nov 2020

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 16 November 2020 Lundi 16 novembre 2020

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Private Members’ Public Business

Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à protéger les locataires contre les expulsions illégales

Members’ Statements

Housing

Diwali

Indigenous affairs

Long-term care

Hospital funding

Hospital funding

Brantford Blessing Centre

Climate change

Indigenous affairs

Mental health

Alex Trebek

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Long-term care

COVID-19 response

Automotive industry

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Small business

Small business

Long-term care

Veterans

Anti-racism activities

COVID-19 response

Long-term care

School facilities

Education funding

Deferred Votes

Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à protéger les locataires contre les expulsions illégales

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Justice Policy

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Introduction of Bills

Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance du personnel des services de première ligne et des services essentiels

Protecting Ontarians by Enhancing Gas Station Safety to Prevent Gas and Dash Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à protéger les Ontariens et Ontariennes en renforçant la sécurité dans les stations-service pour empêcher le vol d’essence à la pompe

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Anti-bullying initiatives / Prévention de l’intimidation

Motions

House sittings

Petitions

Education funding

Community planning

Optometry services

Education funding

Community planning

Addiction services

Long-term care

Long-term care

Community planning

Orders of the Day

Supporting Ontario’s Recovery and Municipal Elections Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à soutenir la relance en Ontario et sur les élections municipales

Moving Ontario Family Law Forward Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 faisant avancer le droit de la famille en Ontario

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Royal assent / Sanction royale

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that, in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, the Administrator has been pleased to assent to a certain bill in her office.

The Clerk-at-the-Table (Mr. Peter Sibenik): The following is the title of the bill to which Her Honour did assent:

An Act to continue the Soldiers’ Aid Commission / Loi prorogeant la Commission d’aide aux anciens combattants.

Private Members’ Public Business

Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à protéger les locataires contre les expulsions illégales

Ms. Bell moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 205,

An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and other Acts with respect to certain categories of evictions and the provision of legal representation with respect to such evictions / Projet de loi 205, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2006 sur la location à usage d’habitation et d’autres lois en ce qui concerne certaines catégories d’expulsions et la représentation juridique en cas d’expulsions de ce genre.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 101, the member has 12 minutes to make her presentation.

Ms. Jessica Bell: I rise today to speak to Bill 205, the Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act, 2020, a bill I introduced to make housing more affordable in our great city of Toronto and beyond in the province.

I do want to recognize the many people who inspired this bill in the first place. One includes my former executive assistant, Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy, who played a lead role in writing the bill.

I also want to recognize many of the residents in my riding who are affected by the threat of illegal eviction. They include Kwame, a tenant in Kensington whose new landlord illegally and forcibly evicted him and his roommates, forcing him to move into a shelter. Even though the landlord was charged by the police, Kwame has still not returned to his home.

I want to recognize Leonard, a senior who lives at 103 Avenue Road. Leonard can’t afford the rent, so he’s down to one meal a day. He told me it’s hard, but I know those words meant a lot more than that. His landlord is pushing through the cost of superficial renovictions to justify rent hikes, and once those rent hikes come in, he doesn’t know where he’s going to go.

This bill is also for the people who live in parks, from Trinity Bellwoods to Dufferin Grove and beyond, because they can’t afford anything right now, not a basement apartment, not a rooming house—nothing—because our city is too expensive.

This bill is for all the people who have been illegally evicted, or who are currently threatened with illegal eviction, and that includes the residents at 10 Walmer, at 15 Walmer, at 50 Walmer, the ghost hotel in Kensington, 666 Spadina, 83 Elm, 35 Castle Frank and all the Akelius residents within my riding and beyond. There are many people who are affected by illegal evictions in our city.

The vast majority of these people pay their rent on time and they contribute to our city, but they are harassed and threatened with illegal eviction because their landlord wants to maximize their profit, illegally kick them out of their rent-controlled apartment and find a new tenant who will pay a much higher market rent, because that’s how it works. And when that happens, it drives up the prices for everyone.

I want to explain to you how pernicious and large this problem of illegal eviction is. Since 2015, the number of official requests from landlords to evict so that they can move in a family member or themselves has gone up by 150%. The number of official requests from landlords to evict in order to renovate has gone up by 77%. I bring up those two examples because they are the two ways that landlords—often corporate landlords—illegally evict: They say they’re going to have someone move in, or they say they’re going to renovate, but as time passes and the tenant has moved out, neither of those things happen.

What is also important to know is that these official eviction rates that are tracked by the Landlord and Tenant Board are really only the tip of the iceberg. They’re the tip of the iceberg because, in most cases, the stress and fear of an eviction results in the tenant giving up and moving out long before—long before—this case or this issue ever reaches the Landlord and Tenant Board. The reason why this happens is because many of these landlords—a lot of them—are corporate landlords. We’re talking about landlords who are acting in bad faith, the bad actors.

They represent capital: the pension funds, the real estate investment trusts, the foreign investment capital, the private equity. There are a lot of names, but the purpose is very clear: Their sole job is to maximize profits for their shareholders, and that profit comes from us: from you and I and the people who rent in our ridings.

These corporate landlords know that the laws in Ontario are by and large stacked up against renters and for them. They know that. That’s why they’re moving here and investing here. These unfair laws were made by the previous government, until the last minute before the election where there was a sudden change. Now this government, sadly, is doubling down on that and passing laws that make it even harder for renters to find a good place and a good home in this good city.

That includes the decision this government made to exempt new builds from rent control and the decision this government made to move forward with Bill 184, which makes it easier for landlords to evict—in the middle of a pandemic.

I don’t believe renters should be viewed first and foremost as an investment opportunity for people who are already wealthy. We are people and this is our city, and if we are truly committed—truly committed—to build a fair and affordable and kind thriving world-class Toronto that has a place for all of us, then we need to change the laws to make housing more affordable, make housing a human right and treat renters with respect.

That is exactly what this bill, Bill 205, intends to do. I want to explain how it intends to do it. If this bill passes, it means that tenants who are legally and illegally evicted will receive more compensation once that happens. The reason is because right now, tenants receive very little compensation: not enough to cover their moving costs. The reality is that most tenants when they move have to pay double the rent, or up to double the rent, for that final month, because they have to pay the previous home and then they have to pay their future home so that they can guarantee that they’re not homeless in between. It’s common practice.

If this bill passes, it would make it so that landlords who illegally evict face higher fines, because right now the fines are not enough to disincentivize bad actors. We know this, because it is still happening. The Landlord and Tenant Board eviction rates are telling us very clearly that it is still happening.

If passed, this bill would bring in proper enforcement of the rules. Right now, if a tenant is evicted by a landlord who says they’re going to move in or have a family member move in, there’s no follow-up or enforcement to ensure that that is actually what’s happening. On the books it says there is enforcement, but in practice there isn’t.

One of the main reasons why there is no enforcement is because the responsibility is on the renter to do the investigation, and it’s very hard for a renter to do that, because they don’t have access to all the information that they need, and because the compensation they get or the likelihood they’re going to move into their former home is essentially zero. So why bother? They don’t.

Enforcement, quite frankly, is broken. This bill aims to address that. If passed, this bill would create a public eviction registry by address so prospective renters can see which addresses frequently evict, and so repeat offenders can be identified. Because it is often those repeat offenders who evict again and again and again, and that shouldn’t be happening anymore, because we do know where those addresses are and who those people are, and this would create an eviction registry by address.

This bill would also guarantee legal representation for tenants facing a no-fault eviction. This is important, because right now 80% of landlords have legal representation when they go to the Landlord and Tenant Board, yet only 3% of tenants do. This discrepancy unfairly impacts the outcome of Landlord and Tenant Board hearings in favour of the landlord. This wouldn’t apply to everyone; it would apply to tenants who are facing a no-fault eviction—so they’re paying the rent on time and they’re good, paying tenants.

I believe these measures in this “stop illegal evictions” bill will crack down on the bad actors who are deliberately breaking the rules in order to maximize profit. When we do this, these measures will ensure that tenants are able to keep their home and continue to live in this city.

It is also important to recognize that this bill, Bill 205, is part of our overall plan to provide homes for people and make housing more affordable for all. Our broader plan includes measures to end vacancy de-control so renters can have more stability. Montreal has done it. Other cities can do it. We can do it here as well. Our broader plan includes a commitment to build thousands of affordable housing and supportive housing units so that more people can have a home.

This government, in contrast, likes to talk a good talk about all the homes they need to build and that if we just increase supply, then the issue of affordability will magically go away. We have seen that rhetoric be played out by the previous government and this government for decades now, and quite frankly, it doesn’t happen. It doesn’t work. Government needs to get involved.

Our broader plan includes measures to increase speculation taxes so that people who live here can afford to have a better chance of affording a home here, because right now the playing field is unfair. And our broader housing plan includes the idea of a transparency registry, so no longer can anonymous numbered corporations come into our city and invest—and potentially launder—money, because what this registry would do is make ownership of all property public. Right now, only ownership of homes owned by individuals, you and I, is public. But if you’re a numbered corporation, it’s all secret. What that means is that the housing market becomes unfair.

I’m proud of our plan and I’m proud of this bill, Bill 205, because it will help stop illegal evictions in my riding and many of the ridings across Ontario, and it will provide the renters from Spadina Road to Walmer Road, to Leonard, to Kwame, to the people in 103 Avenue Road a little bit more protection so that they can live good lives here and afford to pay their rent. Thank you.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

Mr. Jim McDonell: It’s a pleasure to rise today in the House to discuss Bill 205, Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act. This is an important topic, and it’s something our government has taken a lot of decisive action to combat.

Speaker, I want to begin by acknowledging that many Ontarians continue to face financial hardship as a result of COVID-19. Because of these uncertain times, we believe it is essential to help provide more stability and predictability around the costs to rent Ontario homes. That is why our government has frozen rent increases for the vast majority of Ontarian renters to 2021. This change is in effect starting January 1, 2021, until December 31, 2021. Ontario is the only province to freeze rent for the entirety of 2021, and we are proud of that. This is an unprecedented move, but this is also an unprecedented year.

We are the first province to sign a joint investment agreement with the federal government to provide funding directly to people to help them afford their housing costs. The Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit provides $1.4 billion available in a portable benefit directly to those who need it most. This year, we expect 5,200 Ontarians to receive payments, with that number growing every year.

The Residential Tenancies Act sets out the rights and the responsibilities of residential landlords and tenants in Ontario. These rules affect both tenants and landlords, and they need updating every once in a while. That is why we consulted on changes to the Residential Tenancies Act as part of our historic housing supply action plan. We received over 2,000 submissions, 85% of which were from the public. These consultations were crucial in developing Bill 184, the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, where we introduced measures to further discourage the practice of renovictions.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak began, the ministry was already hearing increasing complaints about renovictions. To be clear, repairing and renovating units is not against the law. In fact, maintaining and modernizing units, like ensuring they meet property standards and fire code requirements, makes them better and safer places to live. Repairing and renovating these units is an important step in ensuring that Ontario maintains a healthy housing stock, but if a landlord needs to evict a tenant to do some repairs, they must give the tenant the opportunity to move back in at the same rent before offering it to others.

Bill 184 sought to discourage landlords from breaking the law, and not following the rules, to take advantage of vulnerable tenants. That’s why the bill—which is now law, despite opposition from the members opposite—increased the maximum fines for landlords who break the law. Our legislation doubled the maximum fines upon conviction to $50,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a corporation.

But that’s not all we have done to combat illegal evictions. We have increased compensation to tenants. If a tenant is evicted in bad faith, like for a renoviction, the Landlord and Tenant Board will be able to order an additional 12 months’ rent in compensation. That’s on top of the compensation they could already order. It will also require landlords to disclose to the board if they have previously filed for an eviction to move into or renovate a unit before this. This will help adjudicators look for patterns and identify landlords who may be breaking the law.

We are also providing tenants with two years, instead of one, to apply for a remedy if the landlord does not give them the opportunity to move back in, and we are requiring landlords of small buildings to give their tenants one month’s compensation for evictions for repairs or renovations, where previously there was no compensation. These are concrete changes that we have made to discourage renovictions, to increase compensation and to continue to protect tenants and landlords.

Mr. Speaker, I would now like to spend some time on discussing the bill that is in front of us today. Discouraging illegal evictions is extremely important to this government. That’s why we have taken all the actions I have already discussed. Bill 205 proposes a number of measures that either duplicate what the government has already introduced through Bill 184, as well as measures that would just not work. For example, the bill proposes a measure that would have the Landlord and Tenant Board order compensation that is equal to or greater than $35,000 in certain cases.

However, the board’s monetary jurisdiction is capped at no higher than $35,000, making this measure inconsistent with the board’s jurisdiction. In this circumstance, the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act already increased compensation available to a tenant by 12 months’ rent.

This bill also proposes extending the period during which a board can make an order in the case of a bad-faith eviction to two years. Again, however, the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act already made changes to provide tenants with up to two years instead of one year to file an application if a landlord fails to provide first right of refusal after repairs or renovations.

This bill also proposes requiring landlords to provide copies of the necessary approvals for major repairs to tenants alongside the notice to vacate. But in situations of repair, the Landlord and Tenant Board already reviews documentation to decide whether the unit needs to be vacated in order to conduct these repairs. In addition, in the case of urgent repairs, it’s possible that waiting for a building permit to be issued before giving termination notice would unduly delay urgent repairs and further damage the unit.

Some parts of the bill just don’t make sense. How will new owners of a rental unit provide six months’ advance notice that they would like to live in their new home when the current landlord may not even have considered selling it yet? Likewise, it doesn’t make sense to require the Landlord and Tenant Board to restore a tenancy when the former tenant may already have moved into another rental unit.

Following a no-fault eviction for renovations, Bill 205 also proposes to require a landlord to offer the next available rental unit to a former tenant. This is not practical, as the next available unit could be several months later or even in another building. It is unclear how this could help a tenant find housing in the meantime, while disrupting the housing market unnecessarily.

In addition to ensuring that tenants are protected in the homes they already have, our government is committed to enabling the construction of more rental housing. We introduced More Homes, More Choice to help solve Ontario’s housing crisis, and part of that meant encouraging more purpose-built rentals. Purpose-built rentals are a crucial part of Ontario’s housing supply, and unfortunately, the construction of these units was at one of the lowest levels when we formed government. Since the introduction of More Homes, More Choice, Ontario has seen record levels of new rental starts. Last year we had the most since 1992, and this year we are on pace for even more.

Given the crucial role these homes play in the province’s housing stock, I was alarmed to see that the opposition, who have apparently launched their own 2022 campaign, have proposed to undo this progress. The opposition’s housing plan proposes measures that are at complete odds with stimulating new purpose-built rentals and would only serve to discourage the construction of this crucial housing stock. But, Speaker, it is not only in rental starts that we are seeing quarter-century highs; it’s also in new rental applications and completions. This year, the new housing starts are even up 15% compared to last year.

While this bill is well intentioned, when compared with the measures undertaken by the government in the Protecting Tenants and Strengthening Community Housing Act, it duplicates changes to respond to issues that were already addressed with the Residential Tenancies Act and procedures of the Landlord and Tenant Board. Proceeding with Bill 205 would bring in measures that do not reflect the actual workings of the Landlord and Tenant Board, dissuade investment in the rental market and fail to serve its primary goal of further protecting tenants.

Our government is committed to continuing to protect tenants from bad faith and illegal evictions, and we are proud of the legislation we have passed to do just that.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: I want to thank the member for University–Rosedale for bringing forward Bill 205, which is an absolutely essential part to fixing the housing crisis and the related homelessness catastrophe we are facing across Ontario.

Vacancy decontrol is the loophole that unethical landlords vault through when they want a jump in profit, regardless of the human cost. The stories are heart-wrenching, and I hear them all the time in my riding: older residents who have lived in their units for decades, whose community in Beaches–East York is rock-solid and made up of a lifetime of building relationships with neighbours and store owners, suddenly threatened and torn apart because a new landlord decides they want to make a greater profit.

Vacancy decontrol is their ticket. It leads to illegal evictions, renovictions or a mythical need for the landlord’s family to move in, which never materializes in unethical cases. It means that people, often older citizens on fixed incomes or low-income Ontarians, are frequently forced out of their communities or onto the street and into homelessness.

When reasonably priced housing is in terribly short supply, people need to hang onto their homes and they need to be able to afford to stay in them. The current Ford government and the Liberal government that preceded it are both responsible for this mess. Illegal evictions contribute to the human misery we see every day on the streets of Toronto and across the province, especially during a pandemic. This needs to get fixed.

Housing is a human right, not the ticket to profit for corporate investors. It needs to be fixed now. Please help to make Bill 205 the law in Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

Mr. Chris Glover: Yesterday, I was out delivering meals to people in the homeless camps in my riding. Those camps just keep growing, and the city can’t keep up. The number of homeless in the city has doubled in the last five years, and during the pandemic, it’s become all the more visible.

This crisis that we’re facing in the middle of this pandemic has been two decades in the making. Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives have built affordable housing in the last two decades. There have been almost no co-ops built, there has been almost no social housing built; in fact, those were downloaded onto the city, which can’t actually afford to even maintain them. So this homelessness crisis continues to grow in the middle of this pandemic, and yet this government isn’t taking the action.

I just heard the government say that they’re not going to be supporting Bill 205, which has been brought forward by my colleague from University–Rosedale to ban renovictions and take other measures to keep people housed. I think it’s unconscionable that this government is not going to support that bill that will keep some people housed and prevent the homelessness camps from growing in my riding and across the city and across the province.

We need to address homelessness. Bill 205 is one way of doing it. I hope the government will change its mind and support the member from University–Rosedale’s bill.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

Mr. Faisal Hassan: I’m proud to rise on behalf of the decent and hard-working people of York South–Weston and to express my full support of my colleague from University–Rosedale’s Bill 205 calling for protecting renters from illegal evictions.

COVID-19 has put financial strain on many Ontarians, and this government’s recent legislation has made it easier for landlords to evict tenants. In my riding of York South–Weston, our office regularly hears disturbing stories from tenants facing evictions and having few tools available to fight for themselves. The deck is stacked against them.

One such resident has lived in the same apartment for 17 years and always paid their rent on time, even when COVID meant they were unable to work for many months. Her building was sold and residents were told to move by September 31 so renovations could take place—this in the middle of a devastating pandemic.

The stress and constant fear of renters being displaced from their homes through the practice of renovictions must end. The Liberals had 15 years to fix the threat of renovictions and failed to act. This government has made tenant protection and the housing crisis worse. This bill puts tenant protection in place by increasing government enforcement of eviction laws, granting tenants more compensation if evicted due to no fault of their own and offers protection for illegal evictions by bringing in real fines for landlords who illegally evict them.

The tenant protections this bill provides are needed now more than ever. I fully support this bill and will be proudly voting in favour of my colleague from University–Rosedale’s bill.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Every day, my office hears from residents who are being harassed by their landlords, living in units that are falling apart, or being threatened with illegal evictions. In my riding and across the province, corporate and bad-apple landlords are taking advantage of rising market rents to force out long-term tenants and then turning around those same units and renting them out for much higher rents.

For decades, Conservative and Liberal governments have allowed landlords to exploit loopholes in the Residential Tenancies Act and force tenants out of their homes, driving up the cost of housing. We know that these practices are making it impossible for people to find affordable housing and are pushing tenants out of their neighbourhoods that they have lived in for years, losing ties to schools, neighbours and cultural communities.

We need urgent action to prevent more people from being forced out of their homes, especially now during a pandemic. The Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act would raise fines on landlords who illegally evict tenants, would increase government enforcement of the eviction laws and would grant tenants more compensation if they are evicted. It gives tenants more protection. It gives them more rights and more peace of mind.

Meaningful action like this is so long overdue. I want to thank my colleague the member for University–Rosedale for bringing forward this really important bill. I urge all members of the House to vote in favour of this bill, and again, thank you to my colleague for tabling it.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

Ms. Sara Singh: It’s an honour to rise here and contribute to the debate in favour of my colleague from University–Rosedale’s bill to help stop what we know is an illegal practice taking place here in the province of Ontario and across communities like mine in Brampton. You know, Speaker, throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen the impacts of homelessness increasing in communities which simply just don’t have the available housing supply.

What we’ve seen in many communities is that landlords—bad-faith landlords, if I can just clarify—are using loopholes to evict those tenants under the guise of renovating those units, only to turn around and triple, in some instances, those rents, making them unaffordable for those residents.

This is not going to help the underlying crisis that we have in the province with homelessness. In fact, this is exacerbating the problem. This bill seeks to get at the heart of that issue and address that, and make it illegal for landlords to evict those tenants and claim that they’re doing those renovations and turn around and jack up the rents, essentially.

We heard from the member from Beaches–East York about the impact this has on an aging population who have lived in a community for their entire lives. To be forced out onto the streets because there are no affordable housing options for them is a travesty, that we would allow that to happen. Rather than put in place protections for those seniors or vulnerable tenants, this government is actually making it easier for those landlords to evict those tenants and put them out on the street.

You know what, Speaker? New Democrats believe that housing is a human right, and we’re going to continue to fight for that at every chance we can. So I’ll be voting in favour of this bill and I hope that others will as well.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Further debate?

M me France Gélinas: J’aimerais donner deux exemples de Sudbury. Le premier, c’est un de mes amis. Je vais l’appeler Michel; ce n’est pas son vrai nom. Il a demeuré dans le même appartement pendant 23 ans de temps, un bloc appartements à huit logements, avec une belle cour en arrière—il y avait un barbecue, une table de pique-nique etc.—dans un des beaux vieux quartiers de Sudbury, avec des arbres quasi-centenaires. Il était près du centre-ville, lui qui ne conduit pas. C’était bien. Il pouvait se rendre à pied à son café préféré du centre-ville.

Puis son propriétaire lui a dit que son fils voulait déménager dans son appartement et qu’il devait laisser son appartement. Par contre, il y avait un appartement vide juste au-dessus de lui, mais non, non, le propriétaire voulait son appartement à lui. Il a été chassé de son appartement et a dû se trouver un autre appartement ailleurs, beaucoup plus cher et pas dans un quartier aussi beau qu’où il était avant.

This is just one example, of a friend of mine. After 23 years in the same apartment—nice neighbourhood, great big hundred-year-old trees, nice backyard—his landlord came in and said that his son was wanting to move into his apartment. Although there was another vacant apartment in the eight-apartment block, no, no, he wanted his, because he had been there for 23 years under rent control and was paying very reasonable rent. He was evicted and now lives in a very different neighbourhood from where he used to be.

There are also many, many speculators coming to Sudbury right now. You can get a pretty decent apartment in Sudbury for about $1,000, $1,100 a month. That gets you a nice apartment in a nice neighbourhood in Sudbury. Well, those speculators are coming in and then doing renovations to the eight-plex or six-plex or four-plex or whatever it is. In some of the cases, the renovation is, he puts mirrors in the hallways and in the stairways—that was it—and the rent is now 2,300 bucks. This is not the kind of rent that people in Sudbury or anywhere else can afford.

Those were apartment buildings where students used to live, where single mothers used to live. It was a nice neighbourhood. They knew one another. They’re now all looking for a place to live that they can afford. The same thing is happening on Lasalle Boulevard in Sudbury. There are a number of eight-plexes, one after the other. They all belong to Sudbury families. They all have reasonable rent. They are all being bought up and the people kicked out, and then the rent goes from 1,000 bucks to over 2,000 bucks a month. This is wrong.

The bill from the University–Rosedale MPP would change this. It would protect landlords who are good landlords, and it would protect tenants who have done nothing wrong from speculators, from people who just want to make money. We on the NDP side believe that housing is a human right. Everybody needs food and shelter, and this bill goes along those values.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): Back to the member for University–Rosedale for her right of reply.

Ms. Jessica Bell: Thank you very much to my colleagues, including the members for Spadina–Fort York, Beaches–East York, Brampton Centre, Toronto Centre, York South–Weston, Nickel Belt and Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. I appreciate your comments, and I appreciate many of the concerns you raised about how the issue of illegal evictions is affecting the people in your riding—the people who are homeless in your riding and people up north who are losing their homes through no fault of their own.

The member opposite mentioned some concerns around how the government has already addressed this issue. We are opening the same pieces of law, but we’re not duplicating what this government is doing; we’re seeking to improve it, because the fines are not enough to stop the problem and the enforcement is non-existent. What good is a fine if there’s no enforcement? What good is a rule if a bad-actor landlord can come in and evict someone on the grounds of doing some superficial renovation or that their sister is going to move in, and then they move someone else in and there’s no enforcement?

What the government is doing with the laws that are currently on the books and the laws that it is enacting is not addressing the problem that we continue to see in our ridings across the province of Ontario. People continue to be illegally evicted. They should not be illegally evicted. Housing is a human right. People in our city and across Ontario, including renters, deserve to live in good, safe, affordable homes.

I urge you to pass Bill 205 to make the rules of this province a little bit more fair.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): The time provided for private members’ public business has expired.

Ms. Bell has moved second reading of Bill 205,

An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and other Acts with respect to certain categories of evictions and the provision of legal representation with respect to such evictions.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion will please say aye.

All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

In my opinion, the nays have it.

Pursuant to standing order 101(d), the recorded division on this item of private members’ public business will be deferred to the proceeding of deferred votes.

Second reading vote deferred.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): All matters relating to private members’ public business having been completed, orders of the day. The government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: No further business this morning.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Lisa Gretzky): There being no further business, this House stands adjourned until 1015.

The House recessed from 0940 to 1015.

Members’ Statements

Housing

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: In two apartment complexes in Beaches–East York alone, the people in 50 households are in imminent danger of eviction because they got sick or lost jobs or income during COVID and have had trouble paying their rent.

The Crescent Town complexes are among the communities that have been the hardest hit by COVID—mostly BIPOC and newcomer folks who are front-line workers in low-paid jobs they can’t afford to lose and that don’t have benefits, so there’s no sick leave if you get COVID or have to miss work for a test, or whose jobs have disappeared outright, whose income has been slashed. These are the folks who heeded the Premier’s advice to hold their rent if they didn’t have enough money to both eat and pay rent. He promised he would spare no expense to take care of them. Now, at the end of November, on the cusp of winter, people in 50 households are on the verge of homelessness.

Speaker, there are already 1,000 more people on the streets of Toronto than there are beds and shelters, respite centres, drop-ins and shelter hotels. Front-line workers tell me there is nowhere, literally nowhere, for people to go. This situation is playing out across the city and across the province.

We are in desperate need of a moratorium on residential evictions and rent relief for people whose income has been lost to COVID so that we don’t see a tsunami of evictions and thousands more unhoused people. We need it now. We need zero COVID evictions in Ontario.

Diwali

Mr. Deepak Anand: Diwali is a festival of light celebrated with excitement across the globe. Last year—I still remember—I celebrated Diwali with family and friends, gathering for large meals and grand festivities. In contrast, this year, with the rising COVID cases, I celebrated Diwali only with my immediate family at home. We virtually connected and prayed with Ram Mandir, and along with that, with family and friends. Truth be told, Mr. Speaker, it wasn’t the same. I was missing the excitement and the personal touch, the laughs and the emotions.

However, our experience wasn’t unique. Thousands of families across Ontario did the same thing, and it is the right thing to do. Self-discipline and sacrifice are our best friends in this challenging time. With the festival season fast approaching, I urge all Ontarians to stay in and stop the spread.

At the same time, I want to press that COVID cannot take away our spirit to celebrate. I encourage every Ontarian to support our local small businesses by buying and ordering food online to celebrate the festivals and by buying and exchanging gifts. To help, our government has created the $57-million Digital Main Street platform so that over 22,000 Ontarian businesses can create and enhance their online presence while generating 1,400 jobs.

Mr. Speaker, let’s keep our celebrations virtual to stop the spread of COVID-19 so that we can go back to celebrating our festivals in person as soon as possible.

Indigenous affairs

Ms. Laura Mae Lindo: I rise as the anti-racism critic for the official opposition, because I find it astounding that government after government has heard from Indigenous communities asking for something as basic as clean drinking water or houses free of mould and has done nothing.

It’s astounding that a land back camp in my riding of Kitchener Centre set up camp in Victoria Park on June 20, where they remained for 122 days before moving to Waterloo Park, where they’ve been for 26 days, and the provincial government remains silent on the plight of urban Indigenous communities.

Today, when land defenders at 1492 Land Back Lane in Caledonia are fighting against colonial powers that think the forcible removal of Haudenosaunee people from their own lands is a viable option to support developers, despite the rights of the Haudenosaunee people to that very land which are enshrined in the Haldimand treaty of 1784, I am astounded that this government can even speak about reconciliation and sleep well at night.

To the constituents emailing my office and to the advocates, both federally and provincially, who consistently speak truth to power: I see you and, like you, I will not stop speaking out—not today, not ever.

And to the land defenders at 1492 Land Back Lane, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council and the Six Nations Elected Council: I stand with you in your demand for a moratorium on all development to allow for a respectful nation-to-nation negotiation.

Long-term care

Mr. Aris Babikian: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. We all want the best for our loved ones, and we especially want to be sure they are in a safe, modern space where they can receive the best quality of care. COVID-19 has emphasized the need for long-term care to be repaired, rebuilt and modernized. That’s why our government has been taking historic steps to add capacity and upgrade Ontario’s long-term-care homes.

When we began our work, many projects were being delayed due to an outdated funding model. That’s why in July, Premier Ford and Minister Fullerton announced a modernized funding model, one designated to support both new developments and the upgrading of older homes to higher and more modern standards.

Through the new funding model, our government is investing an additional $761 million to accelerate 74 development projects across the province. This will help create closer to 11,000 safe, modern spaces sooner for residents to call home.

Last Thursday, I was proud to join my Scarborough colleagues at Yee Hong Centre in Scarborough’s Finch campus to announce additional investment to build 224 beds. In addition, the Hellenic Home will receive more funding to build 128 beds. So far, our government has committed to build 352 beds in Scarborough.

Hospital funding

Ms. Sara Singh: Good morning, Speaker. I would like to start off by thanking all of our front-line workers, especially in the Peel region. We’re home to many manufacturing and logistics hubs, and those folks have been working in our warehouses, in retail, and in our trucking industry to make sure that folks across the province continue to receive goods.

But, Speaker, what’s concerning is that Brampton is becoming—and is—a hot spot in the province of Ontario. Our COVID-19 numbers are increasing daily. However, the bigger concern here is that we just simply don’t have the health care capacity to manage the surge in cases that is happening.

As is no surprise to anyone in this chamber, Brampton has been underfunded and neglected by previous governments and this government, and we’re still waiting for another hospital. We’ve been in code gridlock since the day that we opened and this is continuing throughout the pandemic.

The provincial average provides 2.19 beds per 1,000 residents across the province. Brampton only has 0.96 beds per 1,000 residents. That means for a population of well over 675,000 people, we simply do not have the capacity to serve those patients. Why is that still happening when we know that for decades Peel hasn’t received its fair share in mental health services, in our health care services? Why is this government not committing to invest in our hospital?

We’ve heard it from the mayor, and we’ve heard it from council. So I’m going to ask this government: When is Brampton going to finally see the investments we need in our health care system?

Hospital funding

Mr. Jim Wilson: Speaker, next week I will be introducing a private member’s resolution asking the government to continue to support planning work for the redevelopment and construction of both the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital and Stevenson Memorial Hospital in the town of New Tecumseth. As I’ve said many times in this House, these are old, outdated buildings that have seen virtually no upgrades since they were built more than half a century ago.

Modern, state-of-the-art hospital facilities in Collingwood and Alliston are vital to the sustainability of health care in one of the fastest-growing regions of our province. These projects are essential to meeting the government’s goal of modernizing Ontario’s health system, and they will help end hallway medicine.

While the current facilities have served my riding well for the last 60 years, both are housed in overcrowded buildings with outdated systems. In Collingwood, the General and Marine building is beyond reuse. Its deficiencies are innumerable. It needs to be rebuilt on a new greenfield site.

The emergency department at Stevenson was designed to serve 7,000 patients annually. It now sees close to 40,000 every year. The population of its service area will grow by almost 35% over the next decade.

I would also like to point out that during my 30 years as an MPP, all of the hospitals surrounding my riding have either been extensively redeveloped or had new builds. To date, Stevenson Memorial has received stage 1 approval and has been given the green light to move to stage 2. The Collingwood hospital is still waiting to hear on their stage 1 submission.

Mr. Speaker, next week I hope all members will see fit to support my private member’s resolution in support of the hospitals in my riding.

Brantford Blessing Centre

Mr. Will Bouma: I rise today to recognize the truly amazing work and people from the Brantford Blessing Centre in my riding of Brantford–Brant. During COVID-19, we have seen many exemplify the Ontario spirit, and when I think about my riding, the Brantford Blessing Centre is just another example of this. Since 1982, through a partnership and collaboration between 14 local churches and many volunteers, the Brantford Blessing Centre has not only acted as a food charity serving the poor and those in need with food for their bellies, but with food for their souls as well.

The Brantford Blessing Centre is an effective, long-standing and necessary program in our community under the umbrella of Operation Blessing, an outreach program that provides aid to the poor and marginalized in various cities, including in Brantford. The Blessing Centre has become a well-known and safe place in Brantford for anyone to enjoy a hot meal, warmth and fellowship. Six days each week, groups of dedicated volunteers prepare, cook and serve food to those in need. When anyone walks into the Blessing Centre, they are greeted with friendly warmth, a hot meal and the love of Jesus Christ.

Pre-COVID-19, the Brantford Blessing Centre would serve roughly 1,700 people a month, and now, during the pandemic, that number has climbed to 2,400 people. For those who wish to donate, fundraise, volunteer or get involved with the Blessing Centre, please visit www.brantfordblessingcentre.org/get-involved or call 519-753-8030.

Climate change

Ms. Marit Stiles: Mr. Speaker, while we collectively deal with the challenge of COVID-19, the climate crisis is looming. In my riding of Davenport, the impacts of a changing climate are increasingly felt year after year, with flash flooding and damage to homes. But instead of fighting climate change and taking action to protect our communities, this government is taking things from bad to worse, shamefully using the cover of a public health emergency to hand over vast tracts of sensitive wetlands to developers.

The recently tabled budget bill includes measures that weaken our conservation authorities, hindering their ability to fulfill their mandate to protect watersheds and communities, an issue my constituents are deeply concerned with.

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has said that what is proposed in Bill 229 “would serve to diminish the effective integration of the legislative tools and undermine the ability of conservation authorities to meaningfully contribute to our collective responsibility for public safety and natural resource management.” They also note that the amendments run counter to the very recommendations of the government’s own flood adviser.

The work of the conservation authority directly impacts residents in my community, protecting them from the ravages of climate change and extreme weather. By continually putting the interests of developers and insiders ahead of the interests of ordinary people, this government is putting my community at risk. On behalf of the people of Davenport, and the majority of Ontarians who want to see action on climate change, withdraw these harmful changes and work with us to protect our vital watersheds and our local communities.

Indigenous affairs

Mr. Toby Barrett: On February 28, 2006, the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision was occupied by force. Over the past 14 years, area people and their institutions of policing, justice and government have done everything in their power to right this wrong, without success.

The use of force is not rewarded in a democratic society. Although occupied, ownership of Douglas Creek Estates lies with the people of Ontario, a fact guaranteed by the rule of law in accordance with all three levels of government. Regrettably, defending the rightful ownership of this subdivision has subjected my constituents, on all sides of the issue, to 14 years of violence, intimidation, lost economic activity and social disruption.

In light of further blockades and this year’s occupation of the McKenzie Meadows subdivision, injunctions have now been granted—in this case, with the support of the Ontario government—and dozens of arrests made, which have resulted in court appearances.

In Cayuga court proceedings, Justice John Harper noted there are several ways Indigenous people can address their concerns: through land claims tribunals, direct negotiations and getting involved in court cases.

The federal government, through crown-Indigenous relations minister Carolyn Bennett, has indicated its commitment to continuing to work collaboratively to address Six Nations historical claims and federal issues. By addressing these issues, the federal government can bring resolve and clarity not only to the members of Six Nations but also to my constituents.

Mental health

Mr. Rick Nicholls: For over 25 years, I travelled across Canada and the United States doing motivational speaking for many different business sectors, hoping to inspire them to lead better lives at work as well as at home. I developed a reputation of being known as the “entertrainer.”

But who would have ever thought that a worldwide pandemic would hit us? This pandemic has created stress, anger, frustration, loneliness, fear, anxiety—I could go on. But instead, I want to offer hope to those who need it. As bad as we may believe that our situations in life may seem, understand it could be worse. It’s important to stay positive, especially during uncertain times. Don’t focus on yourself; rather, focus on the needs of others.

You see, hope is the belief that things will get better, especially when it seems otherwise. Hope helps people stay calm and peaceful when something less desirable emerges. Hope believes you will get through it. Hope remembers the times you made it through. Hope teams with faith and believes in the impossible. Here is an acrostic that I developed for hope:

The H stands for “help others.” That actually helps you, as well.

The O: Develop an optimistic heart. Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude of success.

The P stands for “patience and perseverance.” Never give up.

And the E stands for “expect the best, prepare for the worst and capitalize on whatever results.”

Remember, you have been designed for accomplishment, engineered for success. You’ve been endowed with the seeds of greatness. You’ve been born to win.

So friends, all I ask is that you think on these things. I believe it will make your life easier to cope with. Hope will give you that belief.

Oh, by the way, while you’re at it, keep looking up.

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

Alex Trebek

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I understand the member for Sudbury has a point of order.

Mr. Jamie West: I believe we have unanimous consent for the House to observe a moment of silence to acknowledge the passing of Sudbury’s Alex Trebek.

I want to say, Speaker, that Alex was one of Sudbury’s favourite sons. Like Sudbury, Alex was bilingual, humble about his success and was best known for being friendly and polite.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Sudbury is seeking unanimous consent of the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of a great Canadian, Alex Trebek. Agreed? Agreed.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

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

The member for London West has informed me that she has a point of order.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I seek unanimous consent of the House for the official opposition to stand down our leads in question period.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for London West is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to stand down the official opposition lead questions. Agreed? I heard some noes.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question is to the Premier.

This weekend, 49 more people lost their lives to COVID-19, and all projections show that things are going to get worse. Just over a week ago, the Premier told Ontarians that his new COVID-19 framework was good enough, that it had the right balance. We now know his own experts disagreed.

Who was the Premier listening to when he ignored public health advice and gambled with people’s lives?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, advice was taken from many public health experts: our Chief Medical Officer of Health, the public health measures table, Public Health Ontario—and there are dozens and dozens of public health specialists behind all of those groups also offering advice. We also looked at data and evidence from other jurisdictions.

But as one of the doctors from Public Health Ontario indicated, she was only required to take a look at disease indicators,

whereas in making decisions with respect to how to deal with COVID-19, as government, we also have to look at indicators such as social isolation, mental health and depression issues, and issues related to health other than just COVID-19.

So we’re very clear. We have been clear from the beginning. We have been taking public health advice, but we also have other health indicators that we have to take a look at in making decisions with respect to the framework.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The framework that this government released was not the one the experts recommended. In fact, experts went ballistic when they saw the framework that this government released. Instead of listening to doctors and scientists and health experts, the Premier ignored them and watered down their recommendations, and then pretended that he had their backing—shameful. He caved to political pressure from people who think that businesses should be open at all costs because he doesn’t want to spend the money to support businesses and workers in this province.

So will the Premier admit that if public health officials had not come forward and blown the whistle on him, his original reckless and dangerous framework would still be in place?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Speaker, I would say to the leader of the official opposition, through you, that I strongly disagree with all of her assertions.

First of all, we have, from the beginning of this pandemic, taken the advice, taken the recommendations of the public health officials, and we continue to do that. Is every single recommendation by every single physician something that we’re going to take into consideration? Yes, we take all of it into consideration, but then we have to come up with a framework. We have to come up with a framework that’s going to make sense, both in terms of dealing with COVID-19 but also dealing with the mental health effects, with the suicides that are being brought forward by people who are losing their businesses or by virtue of social isolation.

That is what we have been listening to, and we will continue to listen to that public health advice going forward because this is a rapidly changing situation with COVID, and we have to be adept and nimble to be able to change as well. If we stuck with the same framework from the beginning, we wouldn’t be dealing with the situation that we’re dealing with now. We have to keep moving forward with it in order to be able to get ahead of COVID-19 as much as—

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: On November 3, the Premier himself said, “This framework was developed in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the public health measures table, local medical officers of health, and other health system experts.” On November 4: “Everyone had their input on it. I think they did an extremely good job.” On November 5: “We have well over 100 docs giving us all this information. You know, it’s not just Dr. Williams.”

But Public Health Ontario and the Niagara chief medical officer have both disputed all of that. No one knows who the Premier is really listening to, but it’s about time he starts listening to the experts. Why won’t this government, this Premier, come clean about how—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: —he watered down the recommendations made by doctors and scientists to contain the second wave, and will he take responsibility for the mess that we’re in because of his decisions?

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry will come to order.

The response? Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, I’m not quite sure what the leader of the official opposition is alluding to with respect to whom the Premier is consulting with, but I can assure her—through you, Speaker—that we are listening to the public officers of health. We are listening to Dr. Williams. We are listening to Public Health Ontario, the chief public health measures table and the local medical officers of health.

We’ve set up this framework to be flexible so that it can account for conditions across the province, but also to respond to individual conditions in individual regions. That’s why we have to set it up that way, because, as the leader of the official opposition well knows, the situation in Peel right now is very different than the situation in northwestern Ontario. We have to be flexible, we have to be responsive, and we were responsive last week when we changed—not the entire framework; we changed some of the thresholds because that was what was requested by the local medical officers of health, who we listen to on a daily basis.

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Premier, but I can tell the Minister of Health that those experts blew the whistle on this government, and that’s why they had to can their initial thresholds.

But this question is about something else, Speaker. For families with loved ones in long-term care, the second wave is not merely an inconvenience, it’s devastating: 229 seniors have lost their lives already in the second wave, and outbreaks are spreading rapidly, especially through for-profit facilities.

On Friday, the government claimed once again that they are building an iron ring around long-term care. This is the same empty promise that the Premier made back in the spring before the devastating loss and chaos that we saw then. So my question is, how can the Premier expect anyone to believe him this time?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. In terms of the outbreaks in wave 2, I think it’s important for all of us to understand the anguish that families are going through, and residents and staff. My heart goes out to everyone. The world is reeling under the impact of COVID-19, and we see across Canada similar situations in other provinces. We are continuing to learn about COVID.

Ninety-two per cent of our long-term-care homes in Ontario have not a single resident case. I want to give my appreciation to all of the front-line staff, all of the people who are working so hard, round the clock, seven days a week for many, many months. I appreciate that dedication and perseverance and everyone knowing that they have a role to play in making our province resilient to COVID-19. My heart goes out to everyone. We will continue to put every measure, every tool in place and take the medical advice and scientific advice as we move forward.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: What people want, Speaker, is for the government to step up and fix long-term care, and not have more people die day after day because of their inaction. That’s what people want. It’s crystal clear to families of residents that are devastated by the failures of our long-term-care system that this Premier will not act to save their loved ones. He is not acting to save them.

Throughout the first wave, the Premier made empty promise after empty promise, but he left seniors in our long-term-care homes extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. Instead, he rewrote the laws so that private operators couldn’t be sued for the failure to take care of residents and to protect them. Instead, he protected for-profit long-term-care chains and not the seniors that actually live in them.

Today, families of long-term-care residents have come to Queen’s Park to protest the Ford government’s plans. What does the Premier have to say to them?

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

Ms. Lindsey Park: Let me be absolutely clear: Individuals and organizations that ignore public health guidance and act with gross negligence or intentional misconduct will not be protected by this legislation. To be clear, the narrow, targeted civil liability protection in this legislation has only to do with the inadvertent transmission of COVID-19 and nothing else.

This legislation does not protect any other type of negligence that we heard from the opposition previously in the House, we’re hearing about today and we heard about at committee, like a resident that’s not given proper medication or if a long-term-care provider fails to provide the necessities of life. They also won’t be protected if they fail to communicate adequately with families. Ontarians will continue to be able to file claims and seek justice in the courts for all of these matters, Speaker.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, let me be perfectly clear: Everybody knows what this government is doing, that they are taking away justice for those families, that they are making it harder for people to get the justice and the accountability they deserve. Let me be very clear about that.

The first wave exposed the need to change our long-term-care system. We needed urgent investment to hire front-line staff and to boost infection control, and take vulnerable homes away from for-profit operators who have failed to protect residents. Residents in for-profit homes are three times more likely to catch COVID-19 than those in non-profit facilities. Instead of acting, the Premier’s response was to make it impossible for residents to sue them.

Will the Premier take any action whatsoever to remove for-profit chains from long-term care and take the urgent action necessary to save people’s lives?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Once again, the Minister of Long-Term Care to reply.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. I know there are assertions being made about inaction, and I find it ironic that it’s the previous government, supported by the opposition, who failed to act for many, many, many years.

Our government is taking action and has been taking action since day one. That is made clear by all the staffing efforts that have been put forward, not only to deal with the long-standing crisis that was neglected for so many years, but now to deal with the COVID-19 issue. The return of service, the fast-tracking, the resident support aids: All of this has been ongoing work by many, many people. That is why we have taken the IPAC expertise and made sure that our staff has training in IPAC, supporting our homes in terms of IPAC funding as well.

That’s why we put $243 million early to provide staffing, support to provide infection control. That’s why we added more than half a billion dollars to support our homes in long-term care with additional measures. That’s why we continue to take every measure possible. Our action is—

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

The next question.

COVID-19 response

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

With record-high COVID case counts almost daily, Ontario hospitals are in crisis. Many of them are full, at overcapacity, facing a 140,000-people surgical backlog and flu season right around the corner. Our hospitals have been left scrambling because the government has refused to listen to their advice.

Speaker, when the Ford government rushed to reopen, they claimed that they had the backing of health experts. Hospitals were really clear: They did not agree.

Why did the government ignore the advice of Ontario’s hospitals?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, we have been in constant communication with Ontario’s hospitals. I have had numerous conversations with Mr. Dale, the head of the Ontario Hospital Association. I would just like to read a quote from the OHA with respect to the changes that were made to the framework last Friday: “The OHA thanks the provincial government for listening to the concerns of the hospital sector and its system partners, and for its leadership in responding rapidly to the alarming COVID-19 modelling data presented yesterday.” That says it all, I believe, Mr. Speaker.

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

M me France Gélinas: We are at a critical time in this province’s battle against COVID-19. I would say our hospitals have never been more important, but because of this government’s underfunding and dragging their feet on adopting recommendations, our hospitals are vulnerable to being overrun with COVID-19 patients or influenza patients. They were sounding the alarm the whole time, but the Ford government caved to political pressure from people who think that businesses should be open at all costs.

Why are Ontario hospitals, along with physicians, nurses and many other front-line health care workers, routinely ignored by this government and reduced to having to plead publicly to get the government to do the right thing?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I would say that from the beginning of this pandemic, the health and well-being of Ontarians has been our government’s primary and most important consideration and always will be. We will take whatever steps we need to take to protect people, and we have already done that.

We have injected hundreds of millions of dollars into our health sector. Our budget that was presented several weeks ago—spending has increased by $9.2 billion on health, a 14.4% increase. We’ve recently spent over $116 million to create another 724 spaces. Since March, we have increased the number of hospital spaces by over 3,000 spaces, and that is in areas across the province but particularly in the hot-spot areas. We know that they need additional resources, and we are supplying hospitals with the personal pandemic equipment, with additional capacity, with additional resources to make sure that they can help, in some cases, in our long-term-care homes.

We are going to support our hospital sector, because they are the front lines in this pandemic, and we will do whatever we need to do to help them.

Automotive industry

Ms. Lindsey Park: Traits of the Ontario spirit, like innovation and entrepreneurship, have always been strong in Oshawa and in my constituency of Durham. For decades, our region has been home to good-quality, Ontario-made jobs. We have a world-class auto manufacturing sector with world-class auto workers.

Speaker, will the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade outline to this House what the recent GM announcement means for Oshawa, Durham region and Ontario?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: In the last month, we’ve seen nearly $5 billion in proposed auto investments in Ontario’s world-class auto sector, from Ford, Fiat Chrysler and now General Motors. Speaker, when is the last time we’ve ever seen any investment like that?

GM’s announcement of $1.4 billion represents a significant investment in the region of Durham and is an important sign of confidence in Ontario’s world-class auto sector. They’ve also announced an investment of $109 million in their engine plant in St. Catharines and $500,000 in their Woodstock parts distribution centre. GM has said it will create up to 1,700 new high-quality, Ontario-made jobs.

Our government welcomes this tremendous news, and we congratulate GM, their workers, Unifor, the people of Oshawa and Durham region and all of Ontario’s world-class auto sector workers in this achievement.

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

Ms. Lindsey Park: I want to thank the minister for the work he has done on this file over the last two years to support our manufacturers in Ontario. There’s really a buzz in Durham region with this announcement. There is an excitement and energy that this deal has brought to Oshawa and to the whole Durham region.

It’s really great to see, also, that Ford and Fiat Chrysler, along with GM, continue to recognize the important role Ontario has played in the auto sector. It’s also so very important for our parts producers, our mould makers and the entire supply chain.

Would the minister outline to this House some of that work that he’s done over the past two years to support Ontario’s world-class auto manufacturing sector in creating jobs and attracting investment?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: From day one, our government has worked to reduce the cost of doing business in Ontario, and this has influenced the auto sector in making their decisions. Businesses now save $7 billion every single year through lower WSIB premiums, an accelerated capital cost allowance, less red tape and, of course, lower taxes. New measures in budget 2020, such as significant business property tax and electricity reductions, enhance the conditions for economic growth and new investment.

Ontario’s automotive manufacturing sector has provided jobs, opportunities and economic growth to our province for decades and will now again be key to our economic growth and recovery. We’ll always continue to work with our federal colleagues, auto workers and the entire sector to ensure the right conditions are in place to protect and grow good-quality, Ontario-made jobs and ensure the auto sector remains sustainable and competitive for decades to come.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Marit Stiles: This question is for the Premier. Last week, Ontarians were shocked to learn that the government ignored the advice of public health experts when developing its latest COVID-19 framework. But for parents, teachers and education workers, it was less surprising, because when it comes to schools, this government has ignored expert advice for months. Those experts said that to prevent outbreaks, classes should be kept at 15 students or fewer. Rather than put forward the funding to make that happen, this government has let classes grow larger—along with the risk to our kids and school staff.

With the pandemic surging out of control, will the Premier finally listen to the experts and stop collapsing smaller classes into bigger ones?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I appreciate the question from the member opposite. I will note that our plan, brought forth and supported by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, has helped ensure we have reduced the risk within our schools. I will note, for colleagues, amongst the 1.5 million children within our schools today, there are roughly 664 active cases.

When you compare and contrast Ontario’s approach to reopening, following the advice and ensuring the resources and financing is in place with Quebec, an equal comparator, they have roughly 1 million fewer students—we have 50% more students; we have 30% more schools—and yet they have almost two times the rate of COVID transmission within their schools.

We have put in place every layer of prevention to mitigate the spread and to make sure that schools remain safe places. That’s why in Toronto and in regions right across this province, in every school board, funding is up. And as you know, within the budget, there is additional funding put aside to ensure that our kids remain safe through the worst of this pandemic.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: The minister has stood here and assured us for months that everything is running smoothly, but it’s cold comfort for the anxious parents who are looking at exponential case increases. It feels more like this government is asleep at the switch, offering zero—zero—new dollars in the budget to protect our schools. I am thinking today of the parents, students and staff at Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton, who got word on Friday that there was an outbreak at the school with five confirmed cases—five closed classrooms—or the families at 683 other schools across the province with reported cases right now.

After last week’s colour-coded framework fail, the Premier reversed course. Will he do so again and fill the gaps in his school plan before any more families have to go through the stress and anxiety of an outbreak?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I think we should be informed by the medical experts who have opined on the plan. In the words of Dr. Michael Silverman, the medical director of infectious diseases at St. Joseph’s hospital in London, “For the vast majority of children and the vast majority of teachers, this has been a safe and effective intervention that has led to children restarting their education, which has led to long-term ... benefits for all of us.”

Mr. Speaker, in this province, while we see transmissions rise, there is one school closed in Ontario, and 85% of schools have no reported active cases at all. Some 664 students have active cases of COVID amongst 1.5 million children.

I do not take for a moment the great levels of angst that all of us face as numbers rise—but within our schools, given the incredible work of public health and our school boards and our teachers, we are seeing rates of transmission remain low, and that is a good thing. That’s why we invested $1.3 billion, fully supported with a protocol endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health. And we should have confidence within our front-line staff—teachers, doctors and nurses—to do everything they continue to do to keep COVID out of our schools.

COVID-19 response

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Good morning. My question is for the Premier.

Late last week, the Premier imposed customer limits of 10 on businesses in Hamilton, Halton and York, making it impossible for many to operate. The Premier threatened, “We are staring down the barrel of another lockdown.” But for the 7,658 Canadians who filed for bankruptcy in September, they have already seen enough, and bankruptcies are expected to continue to rise.

Shutting down businesses in regions has not reduced case numbers as promised. The only thing it has done is hit low-income Ontarians the hardest. They are most likely to lose their jobs and the last to recover. My question, then: When will the Premier let people get back to work?

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

Hon. Rod Phillips: I thank the member for her question. This government’s approach has been very clear from the outset. We are focused on the right health outcomes, and that is also the right economic outcome.

As we have had to adapt through this crisis, through the global crisis, we have made sure that our response has been to support business. I am pleased to say that today the portal to be able to accept applications for the $300-million program to support those businesses is now open, and that will be part of the support that we’re providing. But Mr. Speaker, we understand that the health concerns of individuals and the health concerns of business need to be at the forefront to make sure we have a functioning economy.

So we will continue to make our judgments based on the best health advice, and we will continue to balance that with the needs of our economy and the needs of our small businesses.

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

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: COVID-19 is a tragedy, and the Premier’s measures in response are a travesty. But not everyone sees it that way. On September 29, the Premier’s good friend, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, appeared on a United Nations video conference to state that he saw COVID-19 as an opportunity. I couldn’t believe it. Prime Minister Trudeau said COVID-19 was an opportunity for a reset, to reimagine our economic system, and to meet the UN’s 2030 agenda goals.

Since the Premier is following the Prime Minister in all policy areas, I’d like to know: Does the Premier agree with Prime Minister Trudeau and view COVID-19 as an opportunity for government to reset our economy? Yes or no?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 is clearly the challenge of our generation, both from an economic and from a health perspective, and we’re very much treating it that way.

I’ll take the opportunity to again inform the Legislature that the portal for the vital supports that we have talked about for businesses that are affected in the red and control areas is open now and that applications can begin to be accepted. This is to make sure that we’re paying the property tax and the electricity bills. I’ll just quote the website, if you don’t mind, Mr. Speaker: ontario.ca/covidsupport.

This is part of a coordinated effort with the federal government, who have committed to providing both relief from a rent perspective—and I would again encourage all members, it’s now in the Senate at the federal Parliament, to move that forward quickly. Our businesses do need the support of both the federal and the provincial governments. That support is coming, starting today with the opening of this portal.

We’ll continue to support our small businesses and continue to support the health care of Ontarians.

Small business

Mr. Will Bouma: My question is for the minister responsible for small business and red tape reduction.

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Finance just said, Ontario has never faced a challenge like the one we’ve experienced over the last few months. COVID-19 has made one thing abundantly clear: Small businesses are counting on all levels of government to take strong action to cut red tape and respond to their needs through this crisis so they can focus on what’s critically important.

Minister, can you please tell me how our government is supporting businesses as they respond to the challenges of COVID-19?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Thank you to the member for Brantford–Brant, who has been incredible in helping and facilitating conversations with small business owners not only in his riding but across the province.

As a government, we understand how important and essential small businesses are to our province’s economy. Small business owners and entrepreneurs have overcome significant challenges and made sacrifices to continue contributing to our communities through these unprecedented times. We have to do our part to support them on their way to recovery.

In addition to putting forward billions of dollars of support, one part of that plan is the Ontario Main Street Recovery Act. This legislation introduced will support small businesses by modernizing rules to help them innovate and meet the challenges of today.

One major change that we’ll be permanently implementing is off-peak delivery of goods across Ontario. This will help ensure our supply chains are healthy and strong as we go into the future.

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

Mr. Will Bouma: Speaker, through you, I’d like to say thank you very much for that answer, Minister. As you know, COVID-19 has resulted in new expenses for many different types of small businesses. Many businesses in my riding have seen their expenses increase due to the pandemic.

One of the biggest expenses is the cost of personal protective equipment, or, as we call it, PPE. PPE is essential as it protects staff and customers. Can the minister please explain how the government is helping businesses offset the costs of PPE?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Our government has been exploring ways to alleviate cost pressures on businesses as they recover from the impacts of COVID-19. That is why, in the main street recovery plan, we introduced a wide range of changes that will help small businesses with their costs. One of them is a $1,000 PPE grant for eligible main street businesses in retail, food and other service sectors. This grant will be directed at the smallest businesses.

Ontario has never faced a challenge like the one we are facing. Businesses need PPE to protect their staff and customers. We will continue to take strong action and help our businesses respond to the challenges of the pandemic. As a government, we know small businesses face unique challenges. We’re determined to hear directly from them, so they can focus on what’s most important: rebuilding, rehiring and re-emerging stronger than ever before.

Small business

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Over the weekend, the Premier told Ontarians to only leave the house for essential trips. Meanwhile, thousands of non-essential businesses are allowed to remain open even in the red “control” framework.

The Premier can’t have it both ways: He can’t ask Ontarians to stay home and expect businesses who rely on in-person services to make money. Businesses have been waiting for five weeks for provincial support and more—months, actually—for the new rent relief program. With the Premier telling people to stay home, it’s clear that businesses are going to need more than the $300 million the government has currently offered them.

Is this government willing to spend more to save small businesses and also to keep people safe?

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

Hon. Rod Phillips: Of course, the answer is yes, as the member would have seen in the recent budget. Historic changes by this government to make fair the property tax system in this province, to make sure that businesses across the province benefit from lower education property tax, making permanent the employer health tax reduction—that alone is going to have 30,000 businesses paying less taxes. I’m sure that the member will reflect on that as she considers voting on the budget.

Additional supports, which the Associate Minister of Small Business has already spoken about, through the Digital Main Street program are helping businesses go online, making sure that they’re able to support their customers, not just as storefronts but as digital businesses as well.

So Mr. Speaker, yes, there are many new supports. I have more to speak about in the supplementary, but we appreciate the opportunity from the member to speak about these.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: I’d like to say the businesses in Ontario have been waiting too long for that money.

Speaker, this government is actually sitting on $9.3 billion in unused funds. The Financial Accountability Officer recently confirmed this. We believe the Financial Accountability Officer. This is $9.3 billion not going to schools, not going to long-term care and certainly not going to businesses. That money should be used to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep businesses viable for our economic recovery. The house is on fire, and instead of using the tools at his disposal, this Premier is hoarding the money.

Speaker, to the Premier: Keeping people safe is actually good for the economy. How many more businesses have to close before this government steps up to support them through this challenging time?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, I know that the member would never wilfully misrepresent things, so I can only assume she has not read the budget, where it’s indicated that $2.6 billion is the amount of contingencies left. But that’s at the back of the budget, so I’m sure she’ll get to it.

Let me talk about what people in her own region have talked about in terms of support. This is Karen Redman, the regional chair of Waterloo region: “I’d like to”—

Interjection.

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

The Minister of Finance has the floor.

Hon. Rod Phillips: “I’d like to join MPPs Mike Harris and Amy Fee outside Waterloo headquarters in announcing the tax relief for businesses” that they’re receiving in the region of Waterloo.

The mayor of Waterloo—the member just talked about mental health—on the topic of mental health and small business investments: “COVID-19’s impacts” have been “wide-ranging. I am very thankful that the government has made additional investments in mental health, our arts sector, and small business supports. Every bit helps as we all try to” get our way “through the pandemic.”

Mr. Speaker, PPE—

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

The next question.

Long-term care

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: My question is to the Premier. People are dying from COVID-19 in Ontario, and it seems like we’re breaking records in positive cases nearly every day. With testing numbers down at an alarmingly high rate, the positivity rate is at 4.5% across Ontario. In pockets of my riding of Scarborough–Guildwood, the rate is above 11%. As a result, COVID-19 is re-entering our long-term-care system with devastating effects.

Scarborough is facing two of the worst outbreaks. At Rockcliffe Care Community, where over two thirds of the residents have come down with COVID, seven have died. At Kennedy Lodge nursing home, just around the corner from where I grew up, 30 residents have died since the second wave took hold. Many staff are also infected.

Speaker, through you to the Premier, why has he downloaded the responsibility of fighting this pandemic to the local public health units, but in his budget he has not provided them with any new investments? Why is the Premier stiffing the public—

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

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government’s number one commitment is to the safety and well-being of Ontarians, and our top priority is long-term care as we fight a virus—very similar to other countries that are struggling with long-term care.

Our integrated approach is really designed to make sure that we assess and access the expertise of so many groups, whether it’s Ontario Health, the medical officers of health, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Toronto Public Health or the Scarborough Health Network, which is assisting with the Rockcliffe home. And the others are integrated with hospitals to provide the IPAC expertise, to provide the support. This is an integrated process, and it’s actually multi-government as well. It’s taking everybody to be responsible, to do what they can to resolve this threat that is happening around the world. We will continue to take every measure and advance long-term care.

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

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: I really want this minister to hear that what you’re doing in hot spots is not working, because people are dying. You have to change and you have to do more.

The second wave is taking hold across this province. It’s not just in Ottawa or the GTA. Last week, Waterloo region asked to move to a higher tier of restrictions. Kingston saw 10 new cases in one day in a region that only reports 26 active cases. Hospitals are on track to exceed their ICU thresholds for cancelling elective surgeries in a matter of weeks.

The second wave could be controlled if the government was willing to reset its approach and to take decisive action, but sadly your budget, tabled in the midst of a second-wave pandemic, is a budget of prudence when Ontarians are looking for action. Speaker, through you, what will it take for this government to act? Is it more deaths in long-term care or a complete collapse of the health care system?

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

Hon. Rod Phillips: Again, and I know it takes time to read, but there’s almost $800 million more invested in our long-term-care sector; $270 million for public health and support for community health services; $2.5 billion more this year for hospitals. We respect and understand what our front-line health care workers are going through. That’s why we’ve provided $1.1 billion of support to purchase PPE, to make sure that that’s available.

It is a severe misreading of that budget to say anything but that it is making historic investments, as we’ve committed to. This government will do what it takes to support Ontarians, to support our health care heroes, to support our long-term-care sector.

Veterans

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: COVID-19 has challenged all of us in many unprecedented ways. Unfortunately, some of the most affected have been our veterans. The pandemic has increased mental health challenges and feelings of isolation, in addition to the dire financial circumstances facing our Legions.

Remembrance Day looked different this year, but our government continues to support those who serve. My question is for the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. Minister, can you tell us how the province is supporting and honouring our brave veterans, who fearlessly and unconditionally sacrificed for our freedom?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: My thanks to the member from Mississauga East–Cooksville for raising this important issue. As you know, on the Friday prior to Remembrance Day, Whole Foods in the nation’s capital and elsewhere across Ontario decided that they were going to ban employees from wearing the poppy. So I think first and foremost, I stand here with, I know, all members of the Legislative Assembly in preserving and protecting the right of Ontario workers to wear the poppy, regardless of where they work.

I was with the Premier at an announcement in Ottawa, the first post-budget, where the Premier amplified his disgust. That’s why our government will be bringing in legislation to open up the Remembrance Week Act to protect the rights of Ontario workers.

But that’s not all, Speaker. Our ministry and our government worked together to launch a media campaign through digital and online video. We’ve also announced supports through the Ontario Trillium Foundation to support our local Legions. We announced a Helmets to Hardhats campaign when I was with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to announce houses for heroes in the city of Kingston so that we can support our homeless veterans.

Speaker, this is a very important issue for us. I’ll have more to say on two other significant—

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

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Thank you to the minister for the answer. While that is great news, another concern I will highlight is the fact that our Canadian service members and veterans face significant challenges when returning from deployment or transitioning back to civilian life.

In the past, and especially during COVID, we have seen first-hand the healing power of sport. Our veterans are some of the most talented and driven in the world. However, there is a need for more opportunity for their talents to be showcased here at home.

Will the minister tell the House what the government is doing to assist our veterans with their rehabilitation and reintegration into community life?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Thank you very much. It was a very important question. Our veterans have fought to liberate nations, they’ve kept the peace a world away and, of course, they fought tyranny in Afghanistan and the Taliban.

I think it’s only fitting that last week, on behalf of the Legislative Assembly, myself and the Premier as well as Her Honour Elizabeth Dowdeswell unveiled the Afghan war memorial, of which you were a part, Speaker. I thank you and your team for being an important part of that.

We also announced a $300-million investment into the Valour Games to support over 500 veterans and participants who fought and lost either limbs or were wounded or are suffering from PTSD to deal with those challenges through the healing power of sport. We were with a former Master Corporal Mike Trauner who lost his legs in Afghanistan. He went on to compete at the Invictus Games, and he is now going to compete for Canada in Tokyo 2021.

This is the type of investment this government is prepared to make in order to support our serving men and women as well as our veterans, who have kept us safe time and time again.

Anti-racism activities

Ms. Laura Mae Lindo: My question is to the Premier. It is becoming increasingly clear that this government’s pandemic response is leaving vulnerable Ontarians behind. A report from the Toronto Foundation has shown that COVID-19 is deepening the divide between the rich and poor along racialized lines, disproportionately impacting the lives of Black, Indigenous and racialized Ontarians.

Years of Liberal neglect and the Conservative government’s failure to invest in these communities have left vulnerable Ontarians alone to navigate the impacts of COVID-19. Racialized communities are in crisis, and there are no targeted supports in sight from this government. We need a provincial strategy to address this deepening divide.

Mr. Speaker, will the Premier commit to creating a provincial strategy to address the root causes of racism that have left racialized communities more vulnerable during this pandemic?

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

Hon. Todd Smith: Thanks to the member opposite for the important question. We’ve been working extremely hard throughout the pandemic to ensure that we’re getting supports to those who need it most, and many come from the area that the individual across the aisle has just mentioned.

My colleague the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and I were very quick to act early on in the pandemic. Around March 22 or 23, we introduced the social services relief fund. That was a lot of money: $200 million that went to support people who were in need during a very, very crucial time in the pandemic. There was so much uncertainty in those opening weeks. People didn’t know if they were going to have a job the next day.

Those from racialized communities were also feeling challenges during that time. Those in our Indigenous communities were also extremely challenged in that time. That’s why we brought forward even more funding, focused on those individuals. We also increased funding in the Black Youth Action Plan, which I think is very, very important, and there was a substantial increase in—

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

Ms. Laura Mae Lindo: Back to the Premier. The connection between structural racism and the pandemic is being recognized across Ontario. In 2011, under the Liberal government, public health planners in Kitchener warned that there were five neighbourhoods at risk of poor health outcomes due to high poverty rates, among other social factors. These neighbourhoods are highly racialized, and these are neighbourhoods where newcomers can afford to settle in Kitchener.

Now, under the Conservatives, residents from these five neighbourhoods, a combined population of 85,000 people, have been hit harder by this pandemic than the people living in more affluent parts of the region. Waterloo Record reporters call this “disturbing.” I call this “structural racism.”

We need a coordinated provincial strategy to invest in, protect and support racialized communities. I will ask again: Will the Premier commit to a provincial strategy to address the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous and racialized Ontarians?

Hon. Todd Smith: Thanks again to the member opposite for the question. That’s exactly what we’re doing, Mr. Speaker, and I think it was evidenced in the budget delivered by the Minister of Finance a couple of weeks ago when we made a substantial investment into the Black Youth Action Plan, doubling the funding to $60 million. We’re very, very proud of that investment.

We’re very proud of the Premier’s Council on Equality of Opportunity, headed up by Jamil Jivani, who is doing an outstanding job at making sure we’re looking into all of those critical circumstances on the ground and ensuring that those individuals, particularly those young people from those communities, have the opportunities that we had, Mr. Speaker. That’s why we’re making the investments that we are—substantial investments.

The budget also included a significant amount of money to support homelessness. We want to make sure that everyone from every community has an equal opportunity in Ontario.

COVID-19 response

M lle Amanda Simard: Ma question s’adresse au premier ministre.

Last week, we learned that the Premier and his government ignored the advice of Ontario’s top doctors, resulting in skyrocketing COVID-19 cases and a new wave of deaths in long-term-care homes.

For months, public health experts, nurses, doctors and concerned Ontarians have been pleading with this government to take action to curb the spread of COVID-19 before it got out of control. Instead, the Premier pledged to loosen public health restrictions in hot zones across the province. The Premier has betrayed the trust of Ontarians, especially our most vulnerable and their families.

How can the Premier justify ignoring the advice of public health officials, taking so long to listen to health care experts and not taking action to curb the spread of COVID-19, bringing us to the alarming situation we are in today?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, we have been taking the advice of public health experts since this pandemic began because the health and safety of all Ontarians is our number one priority; it has been and always will be. We have been listening to public health experts, Dr. Williams and his team, Public Health Ontario, the public health measures table, backed up by a number of experts behind all of them.

We’ve been listening to their advice. That’s how we created the framework. The framework has been set up to allow communities to know where they stand, public health units to know where they stand: to know when they’re in danger, when they are going to be moved from one category to another. People need to know where we’re headed and what precautions they need to take.

But the public health measures that are most important are the ones that are the simplest: Make sure you continue with physical distancing, wear a face covering where you can’t do that, wash your hands thoroughly and carefully, and stay home if you don’t feel well. Everybody has a responsibility here. Everyone has a role to play to keep people—

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

M lle Amanda Simard: Encore au premier ministre: The Premier’s delayed decision-making and confusing contradictory messaging has clearly been contributing to the significant spread of COVID-19. I’ve spoken to hundreds of people in the past week, and every single one of them expressed frustration with this government’s lack of clarity. How can Ontarians follow public health measures when people can’t even understand them?

Mr. Speaker, updated modelling outlined last week showed that we could have upwards of 6,500 COVID-19 cases per day by mid-December if immediate action is not taken to dramatically curb the spread. Health care associations are all saying that this is putting too much strain on our hospital system and could result in cancelling or delaying elective surgeries once again.

How can Ontarians trust that the Premier’s current public health measures announced on Friday are enough to prevent this from happening again when his last actions—or, rather, inactions—were a complete flop?

Hon. Christine Elliott: We have been taking decisive action and quick action since the beginning of this pandemic, but this is an unprecedented time and the pandemic is making its way across the entire world. It’s not just in Ontario.

We have been taking action, listening to what the public health experts have had to say and being transparent with the people of Ontario with what’s going on. We have released the modelling; we’re the first province to release modelling. We have weekly updates for people to understand how many cases there are in their public health unit, what the case count is, how many deaths, unfortunately, the numbers resolved and so on. We have Dr. Williams and his team coming out twice a week to let people know what’s happening.

We have been completely open, transparent and accountable with all of the information regarding COVID-19. But I think it’s also really important to bear this in some sort of context. When you look at the number of cases per 100,000: Ontario, 649, compared to places like Florida, 4,089, or even Quebec—

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

Long-term care

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My question is to the Premier.

Lakeside long-term-care home in my riding of Parkdale–High Park has been in outbreak for a month. There have now been six deaths, 29 resident cases, 13 staff cases, and the situation is only getting worse. Lakeside desperately needs more trained front-line staff and faster testing results.

It’s been a month since I asked the minister to take action. Why hasn’t the minister acted?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member for the question. I can assure the member that Lakeside is improving. There are many eyes on this, and I personally assess and scrutinize all the homes to understand where the issues are and to work as a team across ministries, across government, across public health agencies, working with our medical officers of health, working with Ontario Health, working with our hospital partners to make sure that these homes get the support they need.

There is no home in Ontario right now in critical shortage. Is the situation long-standing in terms of staffing? Yes. But this wave 2 is very different from wave 1, and our homes are holding. That doesn’t mean we stop with our diligence and our relentless efforts to make sure that these homes get every support possible. Lakeside is stabilizing. It is getting the support that it needs. We will continue to take every measure that’s necessary to address the concerns that the member has.

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

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: This is not what families, residents and staff at Lakeside are saying. In the words of Christiane, whose mother is at Lakeside and who has written to the minister, “Please don’t insult us with the public relations approach.”

An iron ring was promised around long-term care and the government has had months to prepare for a second wave. Instead, the Premier and the minister are busy protecting private, for-profit long-term-care chains.

The Ford government failed seniors in the first wave and is failing seniors again in the second wave. How much worse does it have to get before the minister acts?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I take exception to those remarks. We need to understand the tragedy that is in long-term-care homes in wave 1, understand the lessons that have been learned. In wave 2, our homes are doing much, much better thanks to the lessons that we have learned and thanks to the collective efforts of thousands of people.

The staffing is being addressed not only on an emergency basis because of COVID, but also the long-standing issues that were neglected for many, many years—for decades, specifically for 10 years, where we could have had the runway to address this. That previous government, supported by your group, did nothing, absolutely nothing, to address it.

We are taking action with the staffing return to service, with the resident support aids, with rapid training, with making sure that they are supported with the proper PPE and IPAC. Our homes are holding, and we will continue to take every measure, putting at the heart of our concerns the residents in long-term care, which overreach absolutely everything. It must be about the residents and the—

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

School facilities

Mr. Jim Wilson: My question today is for the Minister of Education. I want to thank the minister for his recent announcements regarding funding for elementary schools within the Simcoe County District School Board. However, my constituents are disappointed that little progress is being made on the much-needed replacement of Banting Memorial High School in Alliston.

The building is over 70 years old. It’s been at or near the top of the board’s capital priority list for at least five years now, and I’ve been encouraging its replacement for almost a decade. Structurally, the building is beyond repair. It would require major mechanical and electrical upgrades. It’s full of asbestos.

So I ask the minister, will he ensure that Banting Memorial High School is assessed in the coming months, so that its replacement will be properly considered in the spring round of funding announcements for new schools in Ontario?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I thank the member opposite for the question.

I do know that the particular school, in 2011, 2019, received over $2.2 million of funding to at least incrementally improve the state of that facility, recognizing that there’s growth in your community and there’s a need for renewal.

We can certainly work offline to better understand the needs of your community.

Obviously, there are billions of dollars of requests that come before the Ministry of Education for capital. I’m very proud that amid the pandemic, we’ve now unveiled two rounds of investment—roughly a billion dollars of monies flowing to improve schools right across this province, including in rural parts of the province.

But I recognize that there’s plenty more to do, and I look forward to working with the member to ensure schools across our province receive the upgrades that our parents deserve.

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

Mr. Jim Wilson: Thank you for that answer.

Mr. Speaker, to the minister: I am a proud graduate of Banting Memorial. My first elected office—I was Prime Minister in grade 9. The Honourable Pauline McGibbon, the Lieutenant Governor, came and opened our model Parliament that year. That’s how big a deal it was. But a lot has changed in 40 years.

Banting not only serves Alliston; as the minister may know, it draws students from Beeton, Tottenham, Hockley Valley and Adjala township. These are all communities in Simcoe county that are rapidly growing.

I invite the minister to come up and see the school for himself. Take a tour. That would be real offline—that would be out of here and down there. I think you’ll see that the school, which is 50 years old, is long due for replacement.

And while you’re at it, can you bring along the Minister of Health and take a look at the hospital?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I know that all members of the cabinet stand ready to support all members of this House in improving the state of infrastructure—over $100 billion of infrastructure planned by the government.

In the context of schools, we have $12 billion set aside over the next decade to renew schools, given that under the former government we saw too many of them not receive the repair that I think parents, kids and educators deserve. That’s why we’re working to remediate that backlog, putting more monies in place.

In the context of your school board—I know, with respect to COVID-19, we provided them with just shy of $11 million in net new funding for Simcoe board.

Obviously, in the context of this school, I’d be happy to join the Minister of Health and others to visit, to better understand that need and work with you to ensure that that school receives the funding it deserves.

Education funding

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, this morning the kindergarten at Byron Southwood Public School in London is being collapsed. A much-loved ECE is being reassigned online after nine years in the classroom, and eight new students are joining the class.

Parent Andrea Henning wrote, “It is not the year to be enforcing the changing ratios in the classroom. Please prioritize the safety of the children going to school in person.”

Parent Marsi Breemhaar wrote, “How are [the children] supposed to social distance with more kids in the class?”

Parent Tonia Siemon wrote, “Children from age three to five struggle to grasp the significance and concept of social distancing; adding more bodies into the classroom makes this even more of an impossible task.”

Speaker, why is the safety of kindergarten students at Byron Southwood and in collapsed classrooms across the province not a priority for this government?

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

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Speaker, we are fully committed to ensuring that kids remain safe in our schools. That’s why the plan we’ve unveiled in this province stands alone in this country. It’s fully endorsed, fully funded—but endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, which I think in itself should provide confidence to parents that we are following the medical expertise of the leading pediatric doctors in the country, who have informed us to put in place every layer of prevention to reduce the risk.

In the context of classroom sizes, I will note that 2,700 more teachers are working today because of government investment to enable the smallest classroom sizes in the province. It is not a coincidence that there are 2,700 net new teachers, that there are well over 470 ECEs, well over 1,285 more custodians. That is because we have thoughtfully put in place the funding to ensure schools remain safe, to ensure we do everything possible to reduce the risk for our kids.

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

Ms. Peggy Sattler: It’s not just Byron Southwood. An additional 1,000 Thames Valley District School Board students are beginning to learn from home today after making the switch from in-class instruction to virtual learning. With 35 schools in outbreak in the Middlesex-London Health Unit, the decision by parents to keep kids at home is completely understandable, but the collapse of classrooms and the reassignment of staff is causing major disruption, chaos and upset across the system. It is also, as noted by school board director Mark Fisher, not “in the best interest of either staff or students.”

Will the Premier admit that his refusal to follow the advice of experts for the safe re-opening of schools and to fund smaller classrooms has put the well-being of students at risk?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: In the London District Catholic School Board, for example, the class size there, as reported to the ministry, in kindergarten is roughly around 20; in grades 1 to 3, it’s 20.5 students; and in grade 4, it’s 24.5, which, as the member knows, is well below the provincial average.

We have put in place a locking $1.3 billion of investment. We lead Canada with the most significant financial investment in the safe reopening of school. We have put in place a high threshold, a very strong protocol informed by the best medical and scientific minds in this country to ensure our kids remain safe. I think it underscores, as reported by SickKids, the need for all layers of prevention. We accept that premise, which is why we put that in place.

The fact that there are 2,700 more teachers to enable smaller classrooms, which has helped us to reduce the risk of COVID in our school, underscores that we are doing what is absolutely necessary to protect all families and all students in Ontario.

Deferred Votes

Protecting Renters from Illegal Evictions Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à protéger les locataires contre les expulsions illégales

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

Bill 205,

An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and other Acts with respect to certain categories of evictions and the provision of legal representation with respect to such evictions / Projet de loi 205, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2006 sur la location à usage d’habitation et d’autres lois en ce qui concerne certaines catégories d’expulsions et la représentation juridique en cas d’expulsions de ce genre.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We now have a deferred vote on the motion for second reading of Bill 205,

An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and other Acts with respect to certain categories of evictions and the provision of legal representation with respect to such evictions.

The bells will now ring for 30 minutes, during which time members may cast their votes. I’ll ask the Clerks to prepare the lobbies.

The division bells rang from 1137 to 1207.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The vote has been held on the motion for second reading of Bill 205,

An Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and other Acts with respect to certain categories of evictions and the provision of legal representation with respect to such evictions.

The Deputy Clerk (Mr. Trevor Day): The ayes are 31; the nays are 56.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I declare the motion lost.

Second reading negatived.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): There being no further business at this time, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1209 to 1300.

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Justice Policy

Mr. Roman Baber: I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Justice Policy and move its adoption.

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

Bill 218,

An Act to enact the Supporting Ontario’s Recovery Act, 2020 respecting certain proceedings relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19), to amend the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 and to revoke a regulation / Projet de loi 218, Loi édictant la Loi de 2020 visant à soutenir la relance en Ontario concernant certaines instances liées au coronavirus (COVID-19), modifiant la Loi de 1996 sur les municipalités et abrogeant un règlement.

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

Report adopted.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to the order of the House dated October 28, 2020, the bill is ordered for third reading.

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Mr. Deepak Anand: I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills and move its adoption.

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

Bill 118,

An Act to amend the Occupiers’ Liability Act / Projet de loi 118, Loi modifiant la

Loi sur la responsabilité des occupants.

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

Report adopted.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The bill is therefore ordered for third reading.

Introduction of Bills

Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance du personnel des services de première ligne et des services essentiels

Mr. Rasheed moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 230,

An Act to proclaim Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week / Projet de loi 230, Loi proclamant la Semaine de reconnaissance du personnel des services de première ligne et des services essentiels.

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

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Would the member care to briefly explain his bill?

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: The bill proclaims the third full week of March in each year as Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week.

Protecting Ontarians by Enhancing Gas Station Safety to Prevent Gas and Dash Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à protéger les Ontariens et Ontariennes en renforçant la sécurité dans les stations-service pour empêcher le vol d’essence à la pompe

Mr. Anand moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 231,

An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act to provide safety measures in respect of workers at gas stations / Projet de loi 231, Loi modifiant la

Loi sur la santé et la sécurité au travail afin d’établir des mesures de sécurité à l’égard des travailleurs des stations-service.

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

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’d like to invite the member to briefly explain his bill.

Mr. Deepak Anand: This bill amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act to require employers at gas stations to require customers to prepay before giving gasoline. The employer is required to give notice of the requirement to prepay for gasoline. The act is also amended to require employers to provide training to workers involved in the sale of gasoline.

Through this bill, what we’re trying to intend is to change the mindset of the consumers, but we want to add a few things. Number one, there is no additional cost to the gas station owners, and all those with a manual pump will stay as is under the grandfather clause. There is going to be a step-by-step implementation, starting with the GTA first, then the towns and municipalities over 5,000 and finally to the rural in a few years.

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Anti-bullying initiatives / Prévention de l’intimidation

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I’m honoured to stand in the House on behalf of two million students to recognize Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, which is taking place between November 15 and 21 this year. We know that a safe and inclusive school environment is essential to student well-being and achievement, and that every student has an unassailable right to feel safe and protected in school so that they can reach their full potential and achieve lifelong success. That is why we are always clear that bullying is never acceptable.

L’intimidation n’est jamais acceptable.

Yet, Speaker, too many kids face this grim reality. Students who are bullied can often experience socia