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May 12, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-May-12 (PDF)

L262 - Wed 12 May 2021 / Mer 12 mai 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 12 May 2021 Mercredi 12 mai 2021

Orders of the Day

Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 ouvrant des perspectives dans les métiers spécialisés

Members’ Statements

National Nursing Week / Public health

Fire services

Réponse à la COVID-19

Douglas Millikin / Kimberly-Clark

Myalgic encephalomyelitis

Child care

School bus safety

Automobile insurance

Skilled trades

Attacks in Israel

Special report, Auditor General

Greg Didiano

Question Period

Long-term care

Long-term care

COVID-19 response

Public transit

Health care funding

Long-term care

Public transit

Long-term care

COVID-19 immunization

Public transit

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Affordable housing

Nurses

Deferred Votes

Tenant protection

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Introduction of Bills

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

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

Private members’ public business

Petitions

Trucking industry

Orders of the Day

Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 ouvrant des perspectives dans les métiers spécialisés

Private Members’ Public Business

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Amendment Act (Advanced Glucose Monitoring Devices), 2021 / Loi de 2021 modifiant la

Loi sur le ministère de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée (appareils et accessoires avancés de surveillance de la glycémie)

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. We’re going to begin this morning with a moment of silence for inner thought and personal reflection.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 ouvrant des perspectives dans les métiers spécialisés

Resuming the debate adjourned on May 11, 2021, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 288,

An Act to enact the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021 / Projet de loi 288, Loi édictant la Loi de 2021 ouvrant des perspectives dans les métiers spécialisés.

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

Hon. John Yakabuski: It is indeed an honour and a pleasure to join the debate on Bill 288,

An Act to enact Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021. I want to seriously thank Minister McNaughton. This is indeed a game-changer. It completely changes the environment around apprenticeships and skilled trades in the province of Ontario and creates opportunities for so many young people that were not possible under the old regime. So thank you very much.

I also want to thank his parliamentary assistant, the member for Burlington, for her work on this bill as well, and all the people who have worked so hard to bring this—and so quickly, quite frankly. Once becoming the minister, this is something that you were committed to.

Speaker, when I got here in 2003, one of the first people I bonded with was Garfield Dunlop. Garfield and I lived in the same apartment building. We would meet in the lobby at a quarter to six in the morning and go for a walk. That’s where I found out how passionate but also impatient Garfield was, because if I wasn’t in the lobby at a quarter to six, he went without me. If I was in the lobby before him and he wasn’t there at a quarter to six, I waited, because I was the rookie. So I waited for Garfield. I learned a lot from Garfield on those walks. What I learned a lot about was the passion with which he attacked issues.

One of the things that he became passionate about was the Liberals’ decision to bring in the Ontario College of Trades and what a disaster that was going to be for apprenticeships and trades in the province of Ontario. It was created by the Liberals for the benefit of the Liberals. This is what it was all about, sir. And Garfield saw that. Why he understood it better than I might have understood it at the time was because he was a tradesman himself. That was his life before politics. So, he absolutely attacked with unbelievable fervour. You’ve seen Garfield in action in the House here, going after the College of Trades.

And you know what, Speaker? He was 100% right, because what we saw happen—and the minister articulated that the other day. The average age of journeypersons in the province of Ontario is 55-plus. Where was the future if your average age is 55-plus? People were not getting into the trades. The system was strangling them, preventing them from doing that.

I remember when Garfield came up to Renfrew and we had a meeting of stakeholders, of people who were concerned about the impact of this Liberal boondoggle, of what it was. It was created, as I say, by the Liberals to benefit the Liberals, indirectly through their friends. But it had nothing to do with what was good for tradespeople, young people, apprentices; in fact, it caused the opposite. It caused them harm.

I remember we had this meeting in Renfrew, and Garfield was Garfield, and it was just wild. What it showed too was the small businesses that were there, that were not going to be able to participate in the apprenticeship program at all because of the ratios that had been established and everything else—it made it impossible for them to create the next generation of journeypersons.

They saw the future, and it not only looked bleak for young people, but it looked bleak for them as small businessmen as well, because if they didn’t have apprentices coming in, they were facing the very same problem that we’re facing in Ontario, where their journeypersons were reaching an age where they would be leaving the trade. So, if you’re a businessperson and you hire tradespeople and you have tradespeople and they’re all getting older, reaching retirement, soon you’re going to be out of business.

What Minister McNaughton has done is sent out a flare: “Folks, we’re not done. Tradespeople in the province of Ontario, you have a future under this government. You have a future in this province of opportunity.” When I was a kid, this was called the province of opportunity. With what Minister McNaughton has done, it’s the province of opportunity again. With what Premier Ford has done with our open-for-business policies, this is the province of opportunity once again. There are great opportunities.

Full disclosure—it’s not really full disclosure because I’ve disclosed it before—my son is a journeyman. He’s a Red Seal carpenter. I will be forever grateful to Michael Butt, the founder of Buttcon construction, who has a summer place up in my area. I’ve known Michael for decades. He used to come into the hardware store and we’d chat. One of the greatest things that happened to my son was Michael called me one summer and said, “John, do you think Lucas would like to come and help me put an addition on my place up back of Combermere?” I said, “I can’t answer that for you, Michael, but I’ll ask him.”

Lucas said yes, and as he worked with Michael that summer—and Michael was in his eighties, but he was doing this himself. This was probably eight years ago or so. Michael took a shine to Lucas, but not just because he liked him, because obviously Lucas was nothing like me—just kidding—but he caught on so fast and he understood this. Now, he had worked a summer with Darcy Panke in carpentry once, a couple of summers before that, but Lucas picked up on it so fast that before the end of the summer, he was reading plans and doing things on his own.

Michael said, “I’d like you to come to work for my company—our company—Buttcon, a 100% employee-owned company, as an apprentice.” Well, Lucas took him up on that, and Minister McNaughton would know because he sent him a lovely certificate probably a year and a half ago, or maybe two—about a year and a half ago—when Lucas became a Red Seal carpenter. That’s the top designation for a carpenter.

I’ll say proudly about Lucas, when he passed his Red Seal, which is not an easy test to pass—because you’ll all know people out there who have been challenged by it; it’s supposed to be tough—he had a higher score on his Red Seal test than the instructor who gave it to him when he did his Red Seal test. So now you know he’s nothing like his father, right?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: He takes after Vicky.

Hon. John Yakabuski: Yeah, he takes after his mother, Vicky.

Lucas is going to be 30 in a couple of months, July 9, and so he’s that age there where now he’s an apprentice—he’s not an apprentice; he’s a journeyperson. He’s a Red Seal. He’s top of the trade. But he looks forward too, because he sees in that company the age of many of his counterparts who are fifty-ish—one just retired last year who he worked closely with. I think he was in his late fifties, maybe even his early sixties.

So, now we have an opportunity here in the province of Ontario to really change the game. We have so much need for these tradespeople, skilled trades. We are dying for them because there are so many things—the infrastructure programs that we’ve embarked on here in Ontario are just unbelievable.

I’m looking at the clock. You didn’t give me enough time today, Speaker.

The challenge facing us is to be able to build Ontario up after the 15 years of being in the wilderness. Now we have so much of this opportunity and so much of a challenge to get these jobs done, but we can’t do them without the skilled trades—can’t do them, not possible.

By having this legislation—I’ve looked at it closely and the amount of consultation that has gone into this. That’s why I’m so proud of what Minister McNaughton has done. We didn’t do this by sitting in a backroom and coming up with a plan that we liked. The minister did this by sitting down with the people in the industry, whether they’re the presidents of companies, the foremen, the superintendents or the workers.

And they’ve come up with a plan that addresses the needs of Ontario, not for today, not just for tomorrow, but for decades into the future, because that’s how you bring legislation to this House—not because you have a political agenda for today, which was the reason for the Ontario College of Trades under the previous government; not because they had an agenda for today, which is always just the next election. But because we have a plan to make Ontario the best place in the world to live, work and raise a family, I thank Minister McNaughton for bringing in this legislation.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): You will have a little more time—since you accused me of not giving you enough time—in questions and response.

It is now time for questions, and I will turn to the member from Waterloo for a question.

Ms. Catherine Fife: I always enjoy listening to the Minister of Natural Resources. It is a shame that you only had 10 minutes today. But we also have to do our due diligence, and I’m speaking as a proud mother of an electrical apprentice who has almost done his five years. Our due diligence is to make sure that the same mistakes that happened with the Liberals don’t happen again with this piece of legislation.

Bill 288 does not name the construction trades in the compulsory trades or the non-compulsory trades. I’m asking, is this by design? And what guarantee does the government offer to not walk back the legitimacy and qualifications of construction trades and the apprenticeship system and go back to skill sets, which you know the previous PC Premier did back in the 1990s?

Hon. John Yakabuski: I appreciate not only the question from the member for Waterloo but also the fact that she also has a son in the trades. We’re kindred spirits in that regard.

I want to say that I can’t speak for the minister, but you have seen this man in action. What we’re going to be doing when it comes to skilled trades and how he deals with labour issues and building those opportunities for people in the province of Ontario is going to be using the same modus operandi that he did in drafting this piece of legislation. We’re going to sit down and talk to the folks who walk the walk. We’re going to have the kinds of consultations when we bring in those—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Response.

Hon. John Yakabuski: That’s time? Oh, sorry, 10 minutes, 10 seconds: I’m living on tens. Anyway. I may address that more in the next one. Who knows what the next question will be? But I appreciate the question.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Next question.

Ms. Jane McKenna: I listened intently to you, Minister. As we know here on this side, we have a responsibility to do what’s best for the people of Ontario and our constituents, obviously, to succeed, and we’ve done that with this Bill 288. But I did drive home last night after quickly thinking about the minister talking about the boondoggle and all the things that happened across the way with over 700 schools closed, only 611 beds in long-term care.

But I want him just to elaborate a bit on the one-stop shop. Don’t you think it’s about time that we had a one-stop shop so all the people in the skilled trades can actually benefit and grow?

Hon. John Yakabuski: I thank the member for Burlington for that question. I also want to thank her for her work and input into this piece of legislation.

I heard the minister talk the other day, in his address to the chamber here, about the one-stop shop, about how it was so confusing under the old regime. One minute you’re dealing with the College of Trades; the next time, you’re dealing with the ministry. You’re dealing with one; you’re dealing with the other. My son would have gone through all that, so he would have understood the confusion.

The point of some of the changes, in bringing this legislation in, is to avoid that, to make the process simpler, because our job here is to get the best-qualified people into the trades and get them certified so that they can do the kind of work that this province needs to grow into the future.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Miss Monique Taylor: It is a pleasure to be able to hear the minister speak. It’s been quite some time since I’ve heard him stand up and fly in this House, as he used to do from this spot right here. I remember quite clearly. So, it’s nice to hear him just have the opportunity to speak on a bill.

But I do have some questions, because I also consulted with some folks, and there are questions. We’ve heard several times all of the praise that they have quoted from the building trades. But there are concerns from the building trades that we have not heard the government speak to, one of them being the trade boards. The purpose of the trade boards was to be able to come together to ensure that there was education, that there were boots on the ground speaking about today’s issues and how we move forward.

Does the minister not see the concern of taking those boards of trade and not giving them that proper regulation and that standard to be able to continue to move our communities forward safely?

Hon. John Yakabuski: I thank the member for Hamilton Mountain for the question. I appreciate the support that we’re receiving from the opposition on this bill, because they understand what a game-changer and how positive this is.

I can’t speak exactly to the issue, but I’m sure the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development will be able to speak to those. We also understand that when we bring in a piece of legislation, we don’t expect perfection. That’s why we debate it in this House, and that’s why we’ll have continuous conversations about the piece of legislation. But this legislation, it’s a new way, a new world here in the province of Ontario. This is one of the most positive steps forward in skilled trades that I have witnessed in my almost 18 years in this chamber.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mr. Robert Bailey: Thank you to the Minister of Natural Resources for his remarks this morning. I had a lot of experience through my office, and before I even got elected, with the College of Trades as well, because it was a real roadblock for industry and the construction sector in my community. The College of Trades—I called them the haircut police because they were policing barbers and hairdressers as well. But anyway, they’d show up on the job site, ask to see your certification. If you didn’t have it, they’d pull that guy off—it was usually a man—that tradesperson off the job and shut the whole job down.

The industry as a whole, Imperial Oil, Nova, they were just frantic about this, complained continually about the—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Question?

Mr. Robert Bailey: Could the minister speak to how much of an improvement it is? I heard concerns yesterday about the involvement of the industry. We have so many people, and I won’t name them, who are supporting this. Could you speak to that, please?

Hon. John Yakabuski: I want to thank the member for Sarnia–Lambton for that question. Here’s another member of this House who has been a—he spent his life in the trades. He spent his life in labour before politics. He understands how the system works, he understands how it fails, and he also understands how it should work.

I know that he looks at this legislation—and when I look at the endorsements on this piece of legislation, this is not from one side of the ledger or another side of the ledger, or a little bit off the top—the barber reference. This is sector-wide. Management, employees, unions, they’re all supporting this legislation. We must be getting it right.

I can say to you, Speaker, as I’ve said repeatedly, this is the biggest step forward in labour and skilled trades in the history of this province, and I’m proud to be a member of a government that brought it forward.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: I hope the minister will let me get my question out without interrupting me today. I want to thank the minister for his presentation today. I believe we can all agree, with all individuals of this House, that we are going to lose a lot of experience within the skilled trades in Ontario. They’re going to walk out the door because of retirement.

However, I’ve heard in this House everybody is so proud of their sons. I’m very proud of my son in his trade, but my daughter is training skilled trades. She is the number one trainer in her department. I want to know, is the government going to include women within this trade? Because I haven’t seen it. There’s no document saying that we are going to support women in skilled trades.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Back to the minister for a final response.

Hon. John Yakabuski: I want to thank the member for St. Catharines, and I want to congratulate her and her daughter on recognizing what a tremendous opportunity and what a tremendous career choice the trades can be. We want to see more and more. That’s part of what we’ve been doing as a government to try to encourage more women to embark on a life in the trades. And the trades themselves, the sectors themselves are recognizing that they have to change the way that they embrace—the welcoming arms they have towards women to the trades as well. The need for tradespeople is so vast, we’re going to see that women recognize the need to—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. It’s time for further debate.

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: It’s a real honour to be able to get up and talk to this legislation this morning. I want to begin by telling a little bit more of a story I started to tell yesterday. I couldn’t agree more with the importance of having the trades be a welcoming place that actually works for people.

I have four incredible kids. They’re all grown. They’re all doing marvelous things in their fields. One of them came to us and very sincerely said, “There’s no way I want to do anything academic. I want to know how to make the trucks that go on the bottom of skateboards. I want to learn how that works.” So he went off to do that, and he now co-owns and co-manages Longboard Haven, which is a small business in Toronto Centre that actually has done really well throughout the pandemic, one of the small businesses that has thrived as people look for alternate ways of getting around the city. I’m really proud of him for having been able to adapt.

But one of the things I want to mention here today is how important it is, as we’re seeking to take the stigma out, that we have to make sure that women and Black and Indigenous and other people of colour feel comfortable in the trades.

I want to talk a little bit about something that happened last summer in Beaches–East York, and then across the city. There’s a hospital, Michael Garron Hospital, which I have to shout out, because they have done an extraordinary job taking care of all of the community, just absolutely phenomenal. They’re building a badly needed extension, and in the construction site, there were two nooses that were placed very strategically on equipment used by Black workers. And this was after the George Floyd murder and all of the protests that ensued. These nooses were absolutely chilling.

I hope the government members are all listening, because it’s really important that we understand the reverberation and the horror felt by Black workers after these nooses were placed.

And it wasn’t only on this construction site. My colleague the member for Toronto–Danforth and I held community consultation, along with the hospital and the construction company, and the worker who found the nooses actually came on the call and was very clear that, in his experience, this happens, in his words, “all the time.” It is an ongoing, constant concern that Black and Indigenous construction workers face. But, particularly for him as a Black worker, to find a noose sent a message that he was not welcome.

It sent a message, from people who wanted to remain anonymous, that white supremacist power was very much in place and was going to remain in place. It sent a message that other Black people were not welcome on construction sites. And it sent a message that he was in danger, not only psychologically in danger—and I have to pause for a moment here and make clear that everybody understands that nooses are not a prank, that they send a very chilling message of white supremacy and power and potential murder, because that is their history.

He was also afraid—Black people in construction are also afraid when this happens for their physical safety. Construction sites are dangerous, and we need to be aware that people cannot work there and cannot thrive there unless they feel safe.

Over the course of the summer, of course, we know that nooses began to pop up at various sites. In some cases, people who investigated them felt that they were somewhat random, but in this case, particularly, they were very targeted. The worker who found them is struggling with his mental health to this day. He had to take time away from work and he’s struggling to come back. Eventually, the worker who placed the nooses was found and he was charged by Toronto police.

There was a community group that came together, Community Solidarity Against Racism in Construction, to work with the unions, with the construction companies and with people working in the trades to figure out how to get rid of racism in construction. The person who was eventually charged has since passed away in a single-car crash, so there won’t be consequences for him, although he has lost his life and we don’t know, in fact, what the repercussions of that incident was in terms of why the crash happened.

There was a push from this group, Community Solidarity Against Racism in Construction, to have him charged not just with harassment but with a hate crime, because it’s really important that we understand that nooses constitute a hate crime.

The reason that I’m raising all of this here today is because I want you to understand, by dint of actually having heard the story and the repercussions that it has for individual human beings, that this is not a joke or a prank. As much as the stigma that exists, it is a factor that is preventing people from feeling that this is a safe place for them, that this is a place where they can thrive.

I’m mentioning this today because it is my hope that as the government amends the bill in committee, that it takes the opportunity to name anti-Black racism in construction as a health and safety hazard and that it takes real action with the trades, with unions and with construction companies and developers to make sure that it doesn’t continue, that there is real action in place to make sure that people do not commit these acts of hatred, which are making it very difficult for people to feel comfortable on construction sites.

Frankly, in a different way, it’s important that misogyny and sexism be tackled as well. In the course of doing that work to support community through the last year, I have had the opportunity to speak to many, many women who work on construction sites as engineers, architects, electricians or other tradespeople. All of them have spoken about the regular harassment that they experience. I feel like this is an opportunity to really tackle some of those difficult-to-tackle but critical-to-tackle issues that will make working in the trades truly welcoming to everybody who wants to take this up. I think it’s absolutely crucial, because tackling the question of stigma is so important.

I think I have an understanding of why that stigma might be there for many, many families. Having kids go to university and become professionals is a huge deal. It just makes a big difference. For many people, they have not had that opportunity in the past. It’s been denied to them. My grandfather, for instance, was a peddler. He couldn’t go to university. My grandmothers grew up on farms. One of them very much wanted to go to university but that wasn’t possible for her. And there was racism involved, there was discrimination involved and there was poverty involved—all sorts of things like that. So, when people have an opportunity to get their kids to university, they want them there.

I think it’s really important that we do position trades as wonderful jobs with huge prestige and great paycheques, but we can’t do that if there is also racism and sexism at work. I hope that the government will take the opportunity with this bill to take some crucial action to make sure that isn’t true going forward.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions?

Ms. Jane McKenna: I listened to you intently, the member from Beaches–East York, and hate has no place anywhere. As the minister has said, the reason that we bring bills forward is that we debate them in the House and then they do go to committee with other concerns as well.

But I want to ask you a question. The member from Niagara Falls once said in the Legislature, “Young people need to be given the support and encouragement to go on to become apprentices.” Does the member from Beaches–East York support legislation that outright addresses her own colleague’s concerns?

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: I think it’s absolutely important that legislation be put forward that enables people to go and feel completely enabled to do the work that they want to do. I know that we all want that to be the very best legislation possible, and so it’s important that we be willing to create that very best legislation possible and make whatever shifts, tweaks and changes that are needed to make sure that’s the case.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mr. Faisal Hassan: Thank you to my colleague from Beaches–East York for her comments and a great presentation.

My question is: I know that the skilled trades are well-paid professions. I know there are so many barriers for young people, especially, as we know, in the middle of the pandemic. We have the impact of women, minorities, racialized, Blacks and Indigenous, and we need to make sure that there is a set of targets for those groups. I want your thoughts about the importance of recruiting and also retention in this profession.

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: Thank you so much to my colleague for the question. I want to say something that I also think is really important. Before I got asked to run for politics, I was teaching diaspora studies at the University of Toronto. I taught a great many racialized and Black kids who were encouraged by their teachers to not go on to university. They were told they couldn’t. They were told they didn’t have the capacity to do that. Many of them went on to study at Ivy League universities and proved their teachers wrong.

I think it’s really important that nobody have their own ideas of what young people should do, just as it would have been wrong for us to force our child to go to university and study medicine when he wanted to study the trucks on the bottom of skateboards. It’s wrong to push people into the trades. I think everybody needs to have the right to choose their own future, and the trades need to be a good choice among those.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Hon. John Yakabuski: Thank you to the member for Beaches–East York for her address to the Legislature this morning. I appreciate the passion with which she attacks issues as well. We certainly understand her feelings on many of those subjects.

She did speak at the end about the stigmatization. Anybody who is my age has seen the stigmatization of the trades from so many different angles over the years. This legislation is precisely designed to address that. This legislation speaks to the failure of the trades to attract skilled people from diverse backgrounds and the stigmatization from an education point of view as well. What we’re learning today and we know—I know from my son—is that it’s good-paying money. They’re wonderfully paying jobs too; six figures in his trade.

What I’m going to ask the member—because what I see in this legislation is something that encourages broadening of the skill sets in the trades and the diversification. What is in this legislation that she feels prohibits that? And if this is encouraging, what we’re trying to get at, hopefully we can expect the member’s support on this issue.

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: Thank you so much for the question. Anything that moves to removing stigma is absolutely going in the right direction, for sure. The question is, how can you take a piece of legislation whose intention is right and make it such that it actually does what it wants to do? If you’re going to remove stigma, you need to actually go so far as to put in place something like ensuring that people understand that anti-Black racism is, in fact, a health and safety hazard on a job site, and then making sure that you make the job site safe for everybody, including Black workers.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: I appreciate that my colleague from Beaches–East York talked about how it can be difficult for Black people to enter the trades, to be on construction sites. It can be difficult for women, and if you are a racialized woman, it becomes even more difficult. Speaker, I remember—it still happens, not as frequently—a time when women walked past construction sites and there were catcalls and other things that happened. To this day, women are still not comfortable in many of these jobs.

I want to recognize Shelley Harding-Smith who passed away in 2019. She was Canada’s first Black female master electrician in 1978. She became a master electrician in 1978. She was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario. At the time, again, she was the first racialized female master electrician and faced a lot of obstacles.

I’d like to know if the member for Beaches–East York, when you’re looking at this bill and you’re looking at the makeup—how they say there will be 11 people on this trade board—do you see anything in this legislation that would ensure an equity lens, making sure that there are women in trades on the board, racialized women in trades on the board?

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: Thank you so much to my colleague from Windsor West for that question. It’s absolutely crucial. You’re not going to get the changes that you need in the industry that will drive to the goal you want to get to unless you ensure that that equity in terms of gender and in terms of—in fact, in every possible way. You want to make sure that there are queer folks on that board. You want to make sure that there are Black, Indigenous or other racialized folks on that board as well.

And you want to make sure that there are enough people who are not white men that you’re going to be able to drive for real change, because this is actually, to be honest, a very knotty situation that needs to be unknotted if we’re going to drive to the place where everybody feels welcome in the trades.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mr. Mike Harris: It’s always a pleasure to hear the member from Beaches–East York take

part in debate here in the Ontario Legislature. She often brings such a very different perspective and a different lens to things, and I just wanted to thank her for that. We’ve had a chance to get to know each other a little bit over the years, doing some committee business, and it’s certainly been nice to have her participate obviously in debate here today.

I wanted to touch a little bit on the one-window approach that we’re looking at building into this legislation, just to get a little bit of her thoughts on, when we talk about diversity and inclusion, how making it easier and breaking down some of those barriers for racialized people here in the province to be able to actually apply for these apprenticeships in a much easier way, to be able to sort out their certifications, any payments or any classes they have to do—just to get her thoughts on what she thinks about that one-window approach that’s being built into this bill.

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: Thank you so much to the member. This is exactly why, at the very beginning of my talk, I asked that everybody listen because I really wanted this member to be hearing what I was saying, and I really do appreciate the question.

The issue about racism is that, yes, you make things easier, but if you don’t untangle the racism that happens on the back end, if there’s only one path in, that can actually make it more complicated. In order to get rid of all the barriers, it’s not just about what makes it easier for somebody who doesn’t have to deal with racism, it’s actually about ensuring that all the barriers, the hidden ones as well as the obvious bureaucratic ones, are tackled and demolished.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): There really isn’t enough time for another question and response. I apologize for that, but we’re just running pretty tight.

Therefore, it’s time for further debate. I recognize the member for Sarnia–Lambton.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I actually wasn’t expecting to speak till this afternoon, but anyway—

Hon. John Yakabuski: You’re a morning person anyway.

Mr. Robert Bailey: Yes, I’m more of a morning person, like a mourning dove. But anyway—

Hon. John Yakabuski: Pretty as a picture.

Mr. Robert Bailey: With that said—yes, you get the picture. I’m presently awaiting remarks, but I’m going to just wing it as we go, as we say back in Sarnia.

I heard a number of people—and I know there are concerns; I won’t say there aren’t. There’s an old quote: Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I’d say that applies with this bill here.

We’ll get to committee. We’ll get all kinds of comments, I’m sure, from the construction sector, from owners, managers and also from the labour community and, of course, from our colleagues across the aisle.

I’m surprised that so far in this debate, I don’t think any of the—maybe it’s more by design than accident that none of the Liberal members have chosen to speak to this, but that’s—

Hon. John Yakabuski: They haven’t spoken?

Mr. Robert Bailey: No, they haven’t spoken yet, to my knowledge.

Hon. John Yakabuski: They’re so ashamed of what they had, I guess.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I guess they’re ashamed of what they replaced, as the minister said.

I would like to read a couple of quotes. I don’t usually use this, but I don’t have my own notes. This here is from the commercial news—it just came out this morning. I only had the chance to read it at about 6, but it says here:

“‘We welcome a new agency that takes a fresh approach and genuine interest in advancing Ontario’s skilled trades and apprenticeship system,’ said Stephen Hamilton.”

That’s the end of the quote from Stephen Hamilton from Ontario Skilled Trades Alliance.

“McNaughton said he was implementing the first phase of the recommendations of the Skilled Trades Panel, established last September with Michael Sherrard as chair,” who is “currently consulting on the second phase of its mandate....”

“Under the new system,” Skilled Trades Ontario—that’s the new crown agency—“would become the province’s training authority to lead the promotion, research and development of apprenticeship training and curriculum standards. It will consolidate services including apprentice registration, issuance of certificates and renewals.”

The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development “will provide system oversight, be responsible for regulatory decisions and financial supports....”

“‘Mike Sherrard did a fantastic job of listening to everybody’s concerns and coming up with a set of recommendations,’ said government relations associate for the Ontario General Contractors Association ... Erich Schmidt.

“‘We’re very excited for the second phase of consultations to engage once again....’”

The Council of Ontario Construction Associations, COCA, has had meetings here with the members in the chamber, on both sides, for a number of years, led by Ian Cunningham, their president. He said, “The realignment of responsibilities should reduce confusion experienced by apprentices and employers, who were ‘pinballed’ between the ministry and OCOT.

“As in all enabling legislation, ‘the devil will be in the details,’ Cunningham said. He said in his view the panel’s recommendations appeared balanced and neutral, with the ‘sticky’ decisions such as the classification of trades” left to the future for Sherrard and his new committee to deal with.

“‘My general sense is that what has been proposed by Minister McNaughton is a compromise,’ said Cunningham.”

We also heard from RESCON, the Residential Construction Council of Ontario, and the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, RCCAO, who “also praised the” minister and the “government’s attempts to streamline the apprenticeship system.” That was from RESCON president Richard Lyall. He “stated the legislation would create clearer pathways for youths” to enter the trades.

Ian Howcroft, who is the CEO of Skills Ontario, also “praised the focus the government is placing on promoting the skilled trades and said he expects his organization will continue to play a complementary role, implementing programs set up by the ministry and STO as the new agency begins to establish itself.

“‘There’s going to be some interplay between the agency and the ministry, and that will also involve other ministries as well’”—and I think the minister said that a number of times. This was a cross-ministry effort, when it comes to involving young women and women in second and third careers or young women to enter the trades, become apprentices and go on, whether it’s in any trade, but hopefully the skilled trades as well.

I took a few minutes yesterday to call back home to the head of our construction association in Sarnia, Andy Pilat, a long-time friend of ours. I asked Andy, “Andy, how is it going in Sarnia–Lambton? We were debating women and young girls entering the trades.” He said, “We’re working at it. We’ve got a number in a couple of the trades: the electricians trade, for sure, and some electrical.” He said that it’s not as successful in heavier trades. A lot of welders—young women have chosen to enter the welding field.

Then, with our First Nations and Indigenous community, we’ve had some success there as well, because the First Nation of Aamjiwnaang, our First Nations community, is wholly within the city. We’ve had great success there as well.

I have a quote here from James Barry, the executive secretary treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He’s also supported by Joseph Mancinelli, who said the new system would eliminate “red tape for apprenticeship training” and modernize the skilled trades. Both Barry and Patrick Dillon, who is the business manager of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario—just as a side note, Mr. Dillon and I worked together, more years than I’d like to think, in Sarnia, when we were building the massive Petrosar plant at the time. We commissioned that in 1977.

I was there the day after my boys were born. They were born November 11, 1974. I started there on November 12 on construction and spent all my career either on construction and/or with Petrosar, which later became Nova Chemicals, which most people here would be a little more familiar with. It was a great time to be alive, a great time to be in industry.

I rode back in a plane with a contractor from down home. I remember him saying this about two years ago. He was younger than my dad would be, but he was a lot older than me. He said, “Bob, I only wish I was 25 years younger. There are so many opportunities in Ontario and in this part of the province,” where we lived at the time. This is long before the boom we’re seeing now. He said, “There are so many opportunities to make money.” He was still working. His boys run the business, but he was travelling around getting new jobs. They’re installing solar plants.

They do the excavation and groundwork and install all the ground services. I remember that day on the airplane flying from Sarnia back to Toronto. He was going to Ottawa. He was going on to Ottawa to look at some job down there.

So, we’ve had opportunities in Sarnia–Lambton because of the petrochemical industry. That brings us to line 5. The federal filed yesterday an amicus brief to keep line 5 open. They’re in the courts. I’m hoping that Governor Whitmer, when she sees what’s going on with the Colonial pipe system—I don’t know how many people follow this, but the Colonial pipeline down in the southwest part of the United States, through ransomware, shut down—shortages, lineups at gas stations. It might be one of these cases where a disaster in one part of the country focuses more attention on something, the potential up here in Michigan and Ontario.

I’m hoping that those jobs will continue. We’ve put a real effort there in the Sarnia–Lambton area. I want to applaud the Sarnia Construction Association, the building trades, all of those people, the federal member of Parliament and, of course, the federal government. Minister O’Regan spoke very strongly about keeping line 5 open there. Their fallback is a treaty signed by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and former President James—Jimmy—Carter back in 1977 that one country couldn’t arbitrarily cut another country off of trade. So, at the end of the day, we’re willing to fall back on that if we have to, but I hope that good sense will come.

One of the senators who voted in favour of that treaty 30-some years ago—no, it was 50 years ago now—was a young Joe Biden, who was a newly elected senator in the United States Senate. He’s now in the White House. The son of a former Prime Minister is the Prime Minister of Canada. I’m hoping that those two individuals can get their acts together and persuade Governor Whitmer to take another look at this, because for jobs, for the economy in Ontario, in Sarnia–Lambton, but also all of Quebec—they get, actually, more fuel through that line than the rest of Ontario does.

But anyway, to close up, yes, we want to see this. I want to applaud the minister and his parliamentary assistant for the work they’ve done on getting the bill this far. I’m looking forward to it going to committee and having the chance to speak again. I didn’t expect to speak this morning. I’ll have to apologize; I didn’t have my remarks prepared as much as I’d like. Maybe we can get another 10 minutes through unanimous consent.

One thing I did want to say was that I do remember—it was about 45 or 46 years ago. It was very unusual to have women on the job at that time. I remember everybody going down to the welding shop. I said, “Where’s everybody going?”

“They’ve got a woman welder.”

“What?”

“They’ve got a woman welder in there.” It was very unusual at that time.

Let’s hope that it’s not unusual going forward. We’ll see more women and young ladies in the job.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): It’s now time for questions.

Mr. Faisal Hassan: Thanks to the member from Sarnia–Lambton for his presentation.

I just want to remind the member that the Conservative Premier Mike Harris removed shop from the school curriculum back in the 1990s. I know that getting young folks into the skilled trades is such a great, great career, but I’m also worried about how the pandemic impacts unequally. More people are impacted more, like women, minorities and so forth.

Is there a set target to recruit and to invest in the economy as the she-recovery, and to include and expand to the folks who are not part of the skilled trades at the moment?

Mr. Robert Bailey: I’ve heard the minister speak, and the parliamentary assistant as well: Starting this September, we’re going to be going into the schools—I think that’s across Ontario as a whole—and having guidance counsellors. We’ll be competing with the universities, who always show up and try to entice students away to go to the different colleges, Georgian College, Western University etc.

The minister has made a commitment that the skilled trades themselves, the building trades and, of course, probably members like himself and his PA—I offered to do something too, back home or wherever. We’re going to make a concentrated effort to encourage young people, young men and women, people of colour and First Nations communities to certainly consider the trades for a great, solid career.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mr. Norman Miller: Thank you to the member from Sarnia–Lambton for his interesting impromptu speech. If it was scripted, I’m sure we would have heard praise for the Minister of Labour in there. I didn’t hear that today, so maybe in your response to this question, you could slip some in there.

I know that the member has been involved with the trades. This bill is moving things forward in many ways, providing opportunities for young people to develop in the skilled trades, but I really want to know what it means for your riding of Sarnia–Lambton. Maybe you could talk about how important this is for your riding.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I would have talked a lot more about my own riding in my prepared remarks, so thanks for giving me that opportunity. Of course, I would have praised the minister of colleges and skilled trades and labour more in my prepared remarks—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Excuse me, could the member please address the Chair, please?

Mr. Robert Bailey: We’ll have to do it this way. Yes, I’m keeping my eyes on you. I’ve got my eyes on you too.

Yes, this is very important to Sarnia–Lambton because we have about 5,500 skilled tradespeople in Sarnia–Lambton. The average age is 55 or more. I worked with a lot of those fellows. I’m now representing some of their sons or grandsons. I go to all their graduation ceremonies. Definitely, this is an important bill for Sarnia–Lambton as well as the rest of the province. We need to replace those men and women with this next generation.

That’s why I was glad to see that the minister talked about going into the high schools this September and the grade schools, exposing young people from kindergarten to grade 8 to skilled trades, carpentry, whatever. I’m looking forward to that debate.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mr. Guy Bourgouin: Thank you to the member from Sarnia–Lambton. I think this week the minister was telling me that you used to be a tradesman also. So was I. We’re probably in the same generation of tradesmen.

Back when I started as a tradesman, I was lucky enough to get an apprenticeship. We were successful in getting apprenticeships because there were big incentives for employers to do so. It was on wages. Employers were getting a lot of offsets on wages to bring in apprentices, and that’s why we gained a lot of apprenticeships.

I’d like to hear from you on this, because I used to negotiate for a living and that was a big thing that we kept hearing from employers: “We need to go back to what it used to be, that we get these offsets.” It is expensive to develop a tradesman because sometimes people change. They get through two years and the first thing you know, they say, “You know what? This is not for me.”

Trades are not easy. It’s good money, absolutely. But I’d like to hear your perspective on that question.

Mr. Robert Bailey: Thank you to the member for the question. It’s during debates like this that you find out about people’s pasts, where they worked. I’ve been trying to keep track on my hands of how many people—members, I should say—have represented the trades, either in negotiations and/or who were tradesmen. I know the member from Timiskaming is a long-time electrician. That was a long time ago because he’s been here 30 years. Anyway, he was also a tradesman—a number of people around us on my side, your side. I think that those people will bring that kind of perspective to the debate.

We know that there’s going to be a real incentive by employers to go out and entice young men and women to join their companies and to apprentice them.

I remember when I was at Petrosar a long time ago—which is now Nova—we had what were called multi-skilled trades. A lot of the fellows wanted to get their certificates and the company was very reluctant to do it. It was pretty short thinking. They thought, “If you get your trade, you’ll be more mobile and you’ll leave here.”

Hopefully that kind of thought and thinking is gone in this day and age, because I think if anybody prospers, the whole province prospers.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Ms. Jane McKenna: I want to capitalize on what was just said there from the member across. There was $195 million to support the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit and $194 million to support Employment Ontario youth training and employment. The list goes on and on, totalling up to $614.3 million in 2020-21.

I know we call the minister affectionately your son, but can you elaborate on what a phenomenal job he’s actually done and just say a few things about how this bill has come to fruition because of all of his hard work?

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Back to the member from Sarnia–Lambton.

Hon. John Yakabuski: Can you say something nice?

Mr. Robert Bailey: Thank you very much. I won’t take the bait on that. Yes, I know the minister because I talk to him quite a bit, maybe a couple of times a day or maybe oftener, as his wife said. So I know the consultation he’s done since he took over this portfolio. He did a great job on the other one as well, but this portfolio he’s really sunk his teeth into.

I think the Premier and others around the cabinet table said, “Look, with all this money—billions of dollars we’re spending on infrastructure—the contractors and the owners are saying, ‘We don’t have the people to do this work.’” Even with something as simple as locates through One Call, there’s a real shortage of people working for companies like G-Tel and others to do the locates.

I know the minister put a real focus—a laser focus, I think he said—on this industry and on this trade and what he could do to make it better, with his parliamentary assistant from Burlington, of course, at his side, who worked on the consultations. I know he’s laboured hard to have relations with the contractors, the owners and the Patrick Dillons and James Barrys of the world.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions?

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: I just want to point out again what several of my colleagues have pointed out: It was actually a Conservative government that removed shop classes from schools. I remember, in elementary school, getting bused to the nearest high school to do home ec and shop. It was mandatory that you did both. Yet the Conservatives pulled it out. Now they want to stand here and sound like they’re the heroes for the trades.

But I’m going to ask the question to the member from Sarnia that I asked my colleague from Beaches–East York. When we look at this bill and it talks about this trade board made up of 11 people appointed by the government—and we see the history when it comes to the Tarion board, where it was stacked with developers, with only one homeowner. When we look at government agencies—it just happened yesterday: Conservative appointees, former MPPs, former candidates and those who donate to the PC Party getting appointed to jobs they’re not qualified to do.

How is it that the people in this province, the tradespeople, can believe that you will have qualified tradespeople in the positions on the boards, including women—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. Back to the member from Sarnia–Lambton for a response.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I think that the people—I won’t read their names; they’ve been read into the record too many times. But many members—I’ll use Patrick Dillon, head of the Ontario building trades, James Barry with the electricians and there’s another gentleman with the boilermakers; I forget his name now.

Interjection: Joe Mancinelli.

Mr. Robert Bailey: Yes, Mr. Mancinelli from LiUNA. These people all support this, and they’re going to keep an eye on this, because they’re speaking for their members across Ontario. I’ve got great faith. It’s going to be a smaller board; it’s going to be 11 members. The minister heard from both the trades and the building trades business managers that this has to be a fair board. They’ll soon speak up. I know Pat Dillon—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. Further debate?

M. Guy Bourgouin: Il me fait toujours plaisir de me lever en Chambre pour parler d’un projet de loi ou de représenter ma circonscription de Mushkegowuk–Baie James. En particulier, à mon collègue de Niagara Falls, qui je sais m’écoute ce matin, je suis désolé que je vais faire mon discours—parce qu’il m’a dit : « Guy, j’espère que tu vas parler plus en anglais. » Sorry, buddy, it will all be in French.

Le gouvernement, avec le projet de loi 47 en 2019, a cancellé le College of Trades et, en 2021, l’a remplacé, avec le projet de loi 288 qu’on traite aujourd’hui, par un nouveau nom, qui va s’appeler Skilled Trades Ontario. Pour plus de deux ans, ils ont laissé les métiers, les apprentis, en confusion sans standards ou régulations ou encadrement pour les métiers.

Cette semaine, durant l’allocution du ministre du Travail, qui considère son gouvernement comme les champions des métiers, le ministre a oublié de dire que pour deux ans, ils ont traîné les pieds, laissé les métiers et les apprentissages sans structure, sans standards d’encadrement. Pas fort, monsieur le Président, comme champion.

Avant d’être politicien, j’étais représentant syndical des Métallos pour 21 ans. Mais avant ça, j’étais mécanicien industriel pour 15 ans, et je suis un produit d’apprentissage. Je viens d’une famille de métiers. Mon père a étudié comme mécanicien, machinerie lourde. Mon frère est un électricien. Mon neveu est un mécanicien de machinerie lourde. Mon gendre est mécanicien d’automobiles et présentement en apprentissage pour être mécanicien industriel. Ma nièce est enregistrée à Boréal comme charpentière. Et mon fils, Jérémy, est électricien et présentement en apprentissage à Kapuskasing dans l’industrie de papier.

Je peux vous dire qu’il n’y a pas un papa plus fier de son fils électricien et que le sang de métier coule à flots dans les veines de notre famille.

J’ai eu la chance, jeune, de faire

partie d’un syndicat, qui m’a permis d’avoir un apprentissage avec de bons salaires, de bonnes conditions de travail et, surtout, le support négocié par mon syndicat pour que je puisse faire mon apprentissage sans contrainte financière. C’est important, ça : sans contrainte financière.

J’écoutais le gouvernement dire que beaucoup d’apprentis ont eu des problèmes à passer leurs certifications ou leur métier ou de compléter leur apprentissage. Je dois admettre que je n’ai pas eu ces contraintes. Je n’ai pas eu ces problèmes-là. J’ai fait mes trois étapes avec succès, j’ai eu les deux certifications—provinciale, interprovinciale—et plusieurs de mes collègues ont réussi la même chose. Peut-être une des raisons qu’ils ou elles n’ont pas réussi leur cheminement dans le métier, c’est peut-être qu’ils n’avaient pas un syndicat qui les appuyait, avec de bonnes conditions négociées.

Mais, encore plus important, la contrainte financière était là, ce qui fait une grosse différence. Quand tu élèves une jeune famille, tu as des paiements sur une hypothèque, tu as d’autres contraintes budgétaires, financières. Le fait de ne pas avoir ces contraintes-là, que tu sais que tu as plus de chance de réussite, peut faire une grosse différence pour avoir une réussite dans les métiers.

Quand j’écrivais ce discours, j’essayais de me souvenir, de retourner en arrière pour voir quand j’y étais quelles étaient les plus grosses contraintes. Une des plus grosses contraintes dont je me souviens—puis, j’étais chanceux. J’étais entouré par beaucoup d’hommes de métier, des hommes de métier de qualité, qui m’ont partagé leurs connaissances. J’étais gratifié et j’étais content qu’ils le fassent. Mais dans le parcours, on rencontre du monde, d’autres hommes de métier qui sont réticents à partager. Je me souviens d’un individu, j’avais demandé—puis il ne voulait même pas m’aider. Il disait non.

Je peux vous dire, monsieur le Président, quand je lui ai demandé pourquoi il était contre partager ces connaissances, il m’a dit : « Quand moi j’ai commencé, il n’y avait personne qui voulait m’aider. » Je peux vous dire que la discussion a « tournée sud » assez vite. Les mots qui se sont partagés ne sont pas parlementaires.

Mais le fait est que les personnes—puis, j’encourage le monde qui est dans les métiers de ne pas avoir peur de partager. Partager vos connaissances, ce qui peut faire une différence pour un apprenti, pour mettre sa vie ou peut-être ne pas mettre sa vie en danger. Vous avez de l’expérience, partagez-la avec les personnes, les jeunes apprentis, parce que ça fait toute la différence quand ça vient à une personne de métier.

Mais un des plus gros problèmes que j’ai trouvés, c’est que souvent j’étais laissé à moi-même parce que je venais d’une communauté isolée. Ça, c’est un autre problème qu’il faut que le gouvernement se penche dessus, parce que pour les communautés isolées, le problème, tu peux l’exaspérer par 10. Pourquoi? Parce que moi, je l’ai vécu. Souvent, j’ai été laissé, obligé de faire du travail qui excédait peut-être mes connaissances, mais je voulais avancer, puis je voulais faire mon travail, puis je le faisais. Je dois avoir été né sous une bonne étoile, parce que j’ai eu plusieurs « close calls », comme on dit en anglais, mais je me suis assez bien sorti.

Mais il reste que c’est important que le gouvernement se penche là-dessus. On sait dans le sud qu’il y a de grosses compagnies de construction, mais dans les régions isolées, on parle d’industries où il y a un gros manque d’hommes de métier, d’hommes certifiés, capables d’amener le ratio, pour démontrer l’expérience à ces jeunes-là qui commencent dans le métier. C’est très important. Des usines qui essayent de bâtir des équipes de maintenance ont besoin de ces hommes de métier-là.

C’est pour ça que j’en ai parlé un petit peu, j’ai demandé la question au membre, puis j’ai dit que l’apport financier à une compagnie est important. Je sais que l’assistante du ministre a dit qu’ils ont investi beaucoup pour les taxes et tout ça, mais ce n’est pas ça—c’est du direct qu’ils ont besoin. On a besoin de l’aide directe. Puis dans mon temps, ça, c’était fait. Ils ont fait des gros apports. Il faut ramener à ça.

Je suis l’un des premiers à supporter les métiers. Oui, il faut faire de la promotion. Il faut aller dans les écoles primaires et secondaires. Mais il faut faire un retour en arrière de ramener les « shops » dans les écoles. Il faut les ramener : pourquoi? C’est beau, la promotion, mais il faut que les jeunes aient les mains; il faut que tu touches aux produits pour avoir plus de succès.

Moi, je pense à mon fils qui a fait un an d’apprentissage—pas l’apprentissage, mais il a fait des stages. Il essayait d’autres métiers. Ça ne fonctionnait pas. Il a dit : « Non, papa, ce n’est pas pour moi. » Mais quand il a goûté ou qu’il a eu la chance d’aller faire un peu d’exposé, puis aller à l’électricien, son choix était fait. Mais le « hands-on » vaut toute sa monnaie. C’est pour ça que c’est important de ramener des « shops » dans les écoles.

On peut faire toutes les promotions, on peut faire toutes les bonnes choses, mais si on ne supporte pas l’employeur dans les temps difficiles, ou même dans les bons temps, pour investir dans la nouvelle génération qui va nous remplacer—j’en suis un qui, si j’avais continué dans le métier, je serais proche de ma retraite. C’est le temps d’investir. Il faut donner ces « incentives » aux employeurs pour remplacer la nouvelle génération, comme dans le temps, et ramener les « shops ». Les jeunes en ont besoin. Il y a du bon argent; je suis le premier à le reconnaître.

Mon fils, dans une couple d’années, va faire plus d’argent que moi, puis bien pour lui. C’est bien. Il y a du bon argent, faire des métiers. Si j’avais continué dans le temps, peut-être que je ferais plus d’argent que je fais aujourd’hui, mais ça, c’est une autre question, monsieur le Président.

Mais c’est une réalité. J’ai négocié des conditions de travail des hommes de métier. Je le sais. J’ai entendu les employeurs dire ce qu’ils ont besoin. Mais dans le projet de loi, il y a beaucoup de choses qui sont silencieuses qui doivent être adressées : les standards, les hommes de métier sont mieux placés; les conditions de travail. C’est pour ça que les experts, les vrais experts, c’est qui? Ce sont les hommes de métier dans n’importe quel métier.

Ça fait que, donner ce pouvoir-là à un ministre, je pense que—c’est faux que ç’a été donné aux personnes qui sont qualifiées pour donner cette information et de faire certain que les standards, les modules, la nouvelle technologie—on oublie qu’il y a la nouvelle technologie. Le métier change, avance à grand pas. Il y a des modulaires.

J’ai eu la chance, moi, d’aller voir dans un site de « carpenters » à Sudbury un « trading centre ». Ils ont tellement à offrir. Mais encore, le milieu syndical amène tout ce surplus-là. C’est important. Il y a des raisons pourquoi les gros salaires sont rendus dans les métiers. On peut remercier un syndicat pour ça.

Là-dessus, monsieur le Président, je vois que je suis près de manquer de temps. Merci, et bon matin.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. Unfortunately, there is not enough time for questions and responses. But to the member from Mushkegowuk–James Bay, when this bill comes back up, then you will have that opportunity to complete the 10-minute question and response time.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

National Nursing Week / Public health

Ms. Jill Andrew: I would first like to start by thanking all of our nurses in St. Paul’s and across Ontario. It is National Nursing Week, and I want to thank all of you for working so hard under unbelievable circumstances, even before COVID but certainly now during COVID, considering how understaffed and underresourced our health care system is, courtesy of this government.

I also want to say, yesterday I lost a loved one, a very dear friend of mine, to COVID. I had known her since I was 14 years old. She would often speak about how proud she was of me, but I was even that much more proud of her because she was a mother. And now her kids lost their mother.

So I just want to remind everyone who’s watching today, please wear your mask—double mask—socially distance, stay at home. There is no hairstyle or haircut or party or dinner or even a hug—I haven’t hugged my mother in forever—that’s worth losing your life. And please, when your time for a vaccine comes, get it. The federal and provincial government—yes, they have made mistakes, and we know that. But when you have a chance to get your vaccine, please get your vaccine. It will help save your life. Thank you.

To my dear friend: I didn’t even know you were sick. I love you and I will miss you.

Fire services

Mr. Lorne Coe: The government has listened to fire services across the province and recognizes the impact COVID-19 has had on their operations. In response, $5 million has been allocated to fire departments, like the town of Whitby’s, to respond to the local impacts of COVID-19.

Whitby’s fire chief, Dave Speed, said recently that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way they conduct safety inspections and firefighter training. This funding from the province will be used to help Whitby’s Fire and Emergency Services department further develop new ways of providing services to the public as they continue to creatively adapt to our new normal.

Speaker, I and the other members of my caucus remain committed to supporting Ontario’s fire services, and recognizing our heroic first responders for their dedication and commitment in protecting hard-working families in the town of Whitby and other parts of the region of Durham.

Réponse à la COVID-19

M. Guy Bourgouin: Je suis honoré de me lever aujourd’hui pour parler des préoccupations des résidents de Mushkegowuk–Baie James.

Nous, les gens du Nord, sommes des amateurs de la nature. Nous apprécions tous les bienfaits qu’apporte la nature. Ce qui cause bien des soucis aux gens de Mushkegowuk–Baie James est encore l’interdiction de camper et de demeurer en roulotte sur les terres de la Couronne et aussi d’avoir accès à des ressources récréationnelles telles que nos terrains de golf.

Je peux comprendre qu’il n’est pas facile de gérer une crise de pandémie, mais les décisions du gouvernement doivent être prises sur le support ou les preuves scientifiques, et je n’ai vu aucun document de support ou de preuve scientifique qui recommande de fermer les terres de la Couronne ou les terrains de golf.

Si c’est un problème de distanciation physique, en Mushkegowuk–Baie James nous avons de la place en masse sur les terres de la Couronne. Nos terrains de golf sont vastes et utilisés en pleine sécurité. Comment justifier une telle fermeture quand la distanciation physique et les mesures sanitaires peuvent se faire?

Je demande donc au ministre des Richesses naturelles et des Forêts et à la ministre du sport de revoir leur décision dans les plus brefs délais.

Douglas Millikin / Kimberly-Clark

Mr. Norman Miller: I rise today to celebrate an important anniversary in my riding. Fifty years ago in March, Kimberly-Clark opened its mill in Huntsville under the supervision of mill manager Douglas Millikin. Doug began working for Kimberly-Clark in 1969 to oversee the construction, and stayed as mill manager until 1978. Now in his nineties, Doug still lives in Huntsville and attended the drive-through celebration of the mill’s 50th anniversary.

Kimberly-Clark makes products we are all very familiar with, including Cottonelle toilet paper, Kleenex tissue, Huggies diapers, Scott paper towels and more. The facility ensures that none of the solid waste from its manufacturing process goes into landfill, using as much as possible on-site, while a small amount is used in an off-site waste-to-energy operation. As well, the mill has an on-site water treatment system that recycles 80% of the water used in the manufacturing process.

Over the past half-century, Kimberly-Clark has made a huge contribution to the town of Huntsville, sponsoring all kinds of local organizations and events like the Table Soup Kitchen, Huntsville Minor Hockey, and the Paddle for Fairvern fundraiser. K-C also sponsors the Huntsville High School robotics team and offers scholarships to local students going to post-secondary education.

Congratulations to everyone who has worked at Kimberly-Clark over those 50 years, from the first plant manager, Douglas Millikin, to the 230 current staff led by manager Joe Welsh.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis

M me France Gélinas: Today is May 12. It is the International Awareness Day for myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, environmental sensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivities.

The Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Association of Ontario, better known as MEAO, is a registered Ontario charity which supports and represents people living with any one of these conditions. MEAO has had several awareness day events here at Queen’s Park to mark International Awareness Day. Since we are in the middle of a global pandemic, MEAO is holding an awareness webinar today to mark the day.

Since 2013, they have advocated for changes to the health care system to better support people living with these medical conditions.

In 2016, the Ministry of Health announced a Task Force on Environmental Health, which delivered its final report back in December 2018. The final report contained concrete recommendations to improve care for the patients afflicted with these medical conditions.

In early 2020, the Minister of Health mandated Public Health Ontario to prepare and submit an action plan with regard to the recommendations set out in the task force’s final report.

Here we are in May 2021, and very little has changed. So I urge the Minister of Health to publicly release the action plan, implement and fund the recommendations of the plan, make sure that care is available now, and specify the locations where the care will be available.

Child care

Mr. Stephen Blais: Working families know the struggle between being able to afford child care, so both parents can go to work and pursue their dreams, or having someone stay home—most often the mother—in order to take care of their precious gift. It’s time that this choice not be based on economics. For far too long, the expense of child care has caused families to struggle and has taken enormous numbers of women out of the workforce.

And it is women who have been hit the hardest during the pandemic as well. An analysis by RBC shows that working-age Canadian women are leaving the workforce at a rate 10 times higher than men.

Recently, the federal government unveiled a new national child care plan, to partner with provinces to make child care more affordable for families. Unfortunately, here in Ontario, the response from the government has been anything but enthusiastic.

Ontario needs a robust and affordable child care plan. With licensed child care at $10 a day, Ontario families could save $10,000 a year for every child. But it’s not only about relief for parents, it’s also about improving the economy. Increasing women’s workforce participation has the potential to grow the economy by $7 billion a year, and every dollar invested in child care will return $2.50.

It’s time for this government to get behind affordable child care; it’s not time for blusters or fights with their political rivals. Families need help. Our economy needs and wants moms to be successful. It’s time for the government to get on board with affordable child care.

School bus safety

Mr. Mike Harris: This has been a very special week for me, school bus operators, safety advocates and all of the other stakeholders I’ve worked with over the past year. Last Thursday my private member’s bill, the Safer School Buses Act, passed third reading with the unanimous support of the chamber.

Speaker, Ontario is the only place in North America where you will find school buses with an eight-lamp all-red warning system. As the House has heard me say repeatedly, every other province and state uses the dual amber-red system. It may be only a different colour of light, but based on data from other jurisdictions and studies done by Transport Canada, we know it will make the 18,000 school buses on our roads safer.

You can think about it like a stoplight, Mr. Speaker. Drivers would know to proceed with caution when the amber lights are flashing. And when those lights turn red, there is absolutely a 100% chance that there could be a student getting off or on that bus, and that driver must stop when they see those red lights.

I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this long-overdue common sense change. And to everyone across the province who has vocalized their support, this would not have been possible without you.

As a father of five, child safety is always something that is very important to me. I can’t wait for the first day of school in September 2022, to see the buses pulling up with amber lights and to know that I was part of making the 800,000 students who take the bus every day here in Ontario just a little bit safer.

Automobile insurance

Mr. Kevin Yarde: It’s an honour to rise and to speak on behalf of my constituents of Brampton North.

Speaker, last week, I wrote a letter to the Minister of Finance requesting this government mandate lower auto insurance rates. I wrote a similar letter to the Premier in February, but I have yet to hear back. I hope the minister is a little more open to working with me and the official opposition to reduce auto insurance premiums and make life more affordable for Ontarians.

In my letter, I went over the fact that, in Ontario, we pay some of the highest auto insurance rates in the country—twice as much as our neighbors in Quebec pay on average. My constituents of Brampton North pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the entire province, more than twice the provincial average. These expensive auto insurance premiums in Brampton are made worse by the fact that Brampton is one of the hardest-hit cities by this pandemic. Bramptonians have seen some of the highest positivity rates and are struggling with the financial implications of the pandemic. They urgently need relief on these excessively high auto insurance premiums.

There have been fewer drivers and fewer accidents on the road during this pandemic. Insurance companies have raked in record profits, but the drivers of Ontario have not seen any meaningful rebates. This is why the official opposition has been asking for months that this government implement a 50% decrease on auto insurance payments during this pandemic and allow payment deferrals for those who have lost their jobs in these times of economic uncertainty.

I am urging this government to work with me and the official opposition to provide relief on auto insurance rates for the people of Ontario and, instead, stop pointing fingers and deflecting blame.

Skilled trades

Mr. Robert Bailey: It’s an honour to rise today and inform the House of a tremendous opportunity available to the young men and women of our province with the tabling of the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021, by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

In my riding of Sarnia–Lambton, thousands of men and women already know that skilled trades training can open the door to a long, high-paying, successful career in the trades. Tradespeople build and maintain our hospitals, broadband, bridges and roads, energy infrastructure, our homes and so much more. But many skilled tradespeople in Ontario will soon be retiring. Nearly one in three journeypersons in Ontario is 55 years of age or older.

Before the pandemic, more than 200,000 jobs went unfilled every single day. Many of these jobs are in the skilled trades. In my riding of Sarnia–Lambton, where Ontario’s petrochemical industry is focused, a looming trades shortage in 2022 will present a serious challenge for companies to complete the important maintenance work necessary to meet the province’s energy needs. But with that challenge comes opportunity.

For too long, young people who have natural talent on the shop floor have been pushed into university lecture halls. Our government is committed to showing these young people that a career in the trades means good-paying jobs and exciting career paths that are in demand right now in our province. I encourage all members of this House to push for swift passage of the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act. Doing so will mean we are helping people to get back to work in meaningful careers right away.

Attacks in Israel

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Hear that silence? Over the last 24 hours, there has been no silence in the state of Israel. Instead, there have been sirens warning people to seek shelter from a barrage of terrorist attacks. We were all disturbed by the scenes of violence on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif this weekend. This site, of religious significance to Muslims and Jews, should be a place of prayer and peace.

Israel immediately took action and de-escalated tensions in Jerusalem to restore calm. Hamas and Palestinian terrorist groups have instead continued to incite violent riots, lynching, and have fired more than 700 missiles at Israeli civilians. Synagogues and schools are being burned, families attacked; innocent people are being injured and killed because of Hamas’s murderous actions, which once again endanger Israelis and Palestinians alike. I remember when I visited Israel and saw the shrapnel at schools, and that should not be a reality for any child.

Creating an equivalency between Israel, a democracy that wants peace, and Hamas, a terrorist organization bent on destruction in Israel, enables terror and costs lives. The failure to speak up and clearly distinguish between those who want peace and those who want violence and the death of civilians is morally reprehensible. I hope the Prime Minister stands up and condemns these attacks by Hamas, and I pray for everyone in that region to be safe.

Special report, Auditor General

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that the following document has been tabled: a special report entitled COVID-19 Preparedness and Management: Special Report on Management of Health-Related COVID-19 Expenditures, from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario.

Greg Didiano

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): As we all know, there are literally hundreds of staff who work so very hard here at the Legislative Assembly, without whom this place would come to a sudden, abject halt. Today we pay tribute to one of them, Greg Didiano, and we thank him for service to the Assembly going back to 1988—1988; that was before some of our current members were even born.

As a key part of our broadcast and recording service, Greg has spent the last 33 years keeping a keen, watchful eye on the House proceedings, turning on your microphones when you stand up—and, I might add, when the Speaker stands up, turning you off—operating from the crow’s nest over there in the Speaker’s gallery or from the audio console in one of our committee rooms. Greg has been a steady and sure hand on the camera, catching the image of hundreds of our distinguished Order of Ontario recipients in recent years, as well as the courage and valour of countless firefighters and police officers during their award ceremonies.

For the past four years, Greg has been a calming presence, training and supporting his staff colleagues as the House has continued to sit in person, serving the people of Ontario, as all of us on both sides of the House were elected to do. This week, after more than three decades of steady—no, exemplary—service, Greg is retiring. I’m told that Greg loves to go fishing and that he’s an avid angler, but up until this point that elusive big one has always gotten away.

Greg, you just caught it. Congratulations. We thank you and we wish you many, many years of happy and healthy retirement. Please join me in acknowledging the service of Greg Didiano here at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Thank you, Greg.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): It is now time for oral questions.

Question Period

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Before I start, I just want to acknowledge that Eid starts this evening and into tomorrow and I want to wish Eid Mubarak to all of our Muslim friends who are celebrating the end of Ramadan in the next 24 to 48 hours.

I also want to acknowledge that today is International Nurses Day and thank all of the nurses who have worked so hard to help get us through this COVID-19 pandemic. They deserve our respect and gratitude.

I can say to Greg, congratulations. I was just talking to John Vanthof, our House leader, who says that any of us after 33 years would not be looking as young and vigorous as you in retirement.

My question is to the Premier. Thank you for the opportunity, Speaker. The long-term care commission, as we know, obtained notes from the long-term care minister about some of her thoughts around what was happening at the beginning of the first wave of COVID-19 in long-term care. On April 17, she wrote this: “Military plan needed, get them in within 24-48 hours ... homes spiral down quickly.”

The Premier didn’t ask for the Canadian Armed Forces to come in until about five days later. My question is, why did the Premier wait five days to act on this urgent issue?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: As the Leader of the Opposition will know from yesterday’s question period and the question period before, of course we were very grateful for the Canadian Armed Forces and the service that they provided to the people of the province of Ontario. I know that they were active in other provinces as well.

As I said yesterday, and I know the Leader of the Opposition will appreciate this, we were on the defence for the better part of a year in the first wave of COVID-19, primarily because of the situation that the previous Liberal government had left the province’s long-term-care homes in. But we moved very quickly to address that, both before the pandemic, during the pandemic and since, whether it’s on a staffing strategy to bring in 27,000 additional PSWs, a build-out of our long-term-care homes—thousands of new homes—or the refurbishing of old homes so that we can eliminate the ward homes. A lot has been done.

More needs to be done, but as I said yesterday and the day before, we’re very grateful for the work of the Canadian Armed Forces.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I would hope that the Premier would show one iota of respect for these families and answer the questions that they have as to what went on in long-term care. The military personnel, when they arrived, found two particular homes that were in disgraceful disrepair: infested with cockroaches, infested with other animals; mould, mushrooms growing in the homes. They also found 26 seniors who died not of COVID-19 but of dehydration and neglect, is how they put it; dehydration and neglect, when all they needed—and I quote from the military personnel—“was water and a wipe down.”

The Minister of Long-Term Care knew that the Canadian Armed Forces needed to be called in urgently on April 17, but yet they were not requested until five days later. So my question is, when did the Minister of Long-Term Care ask the Premier to call in the military?

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

Hon. Doug Ford: I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. First of all, again, I want to thank the military. I’ve always supported the military. They did a great job. They came in when we were under a crisis. There’s no secret about long-term care being under a crisis.

I first want to acknowledge the families who lost loved ones and who were impacted by what happened in long-term care. It was tragic, and it was very troubling. It was a terrible situation. Our government called the commission to action to provide accountability and justice to the families as soon as possible.

Now, all of our responsibilities are to fix the system—the system that was broken, Mr. Speaker, for 15 years; a system that was ignored for 15 years under the NDP and the Liberal government. We’re throwing hundreds of millions of dollars, fixing the system. We’re making sure we’re building new long-term-care beds, new long-term rapid-care facilities in long-term care. We’re going to fix the problem that was neglected for 15 years under the Liberal-NDP government.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It’s really clear that the Premier just slid past the obligation for accountability and justice for those families, and that is not acceptable. The military trained for combat were actually—these folks are expected to see the worst in their training, right? They were horrified by the very thought of having to go back into those homes. They didn’t want to go. In fact, one person said the thought of doing so “sucked the life right out of you.”

One medic said that he saw more death in one week alone in long-term care than he had seen in all of his tours of duty combined.

On April 17, the Minister of Long-Term Care noted that the military were needed immediately, in 24 hours, and yet it didn’t happen. So did she not pass that urgency on to the Premier, or did he just decide to wait five days instead of being urgent in the response?

Hon. Doug Ford: Again, Mr. Speaker, as our military folks went in there, we’re very grateful. We’re very appreciative. And it just showed—I came out numerous times; there were problems. There were holes in the system, again, ignored and created for 15 years—not even 15 years. Not Bob Rae, not Mike Harris, not Dalton McGuinty, not Kathleen Wynne could even fix the problem. They ignored the problem.

As a matter of fact, under the NDP-Liberal government, they created 600 beds. We’re going to create 30,000 new beds. We’re going to hire 28,000 new PSWs and nursing staff. We’re going to make sure every single home has air conditioning. Again, I go back to the CBC reporter who brought that up. We’re listening to people. As of yesterday, they have a plan: Over 90% of the homes are going to have air conditioning in the rooms, in the common areas.

We’re going to fix every single problem that decades and multiple governments of all stripes failed. We will fix that problem once and for all.

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Premier. Speaker, on May 26 of last year, the Premier promised families who watched their loved ones die in horrifying conditions in long-term care that they would have justice and they would get an investigation into what happened to their loved ones. Again in July, the Premier made the promise: “I made a commitment to our long-term-care residents and their families that there would be accountability and justice....”

These are the Premier’s own words, back in July, but a year later—I’m sure that the Premier knows this, but I’m going to remind him, because he seems to have forgotten in response to the last question I asked—the accountability and justice has not yet arrived for the families who lost loved ones in long-term care, for the survivors of the horrors that happened all through last year.

My question is, a year after nothing has happened, why did the Premier break his promise to these families?

Hon. Doug Ford: Again, through you, Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind the Leader of the Opposition that I was the one who called for the commission. I was happy that the commission was putting together a report. I was happy the Auditor General was called for a report. I was happy that we called on the OPP, if there was anything that went wrong illegally, to go in there and investigate. It was our government that did it.

According to the commission report, “Many of the challenges that had festered in the long-term-care sector for decades—chronic underfunding, severe staffing shortages,” again, under the NDP leadership and Liberal leadership, “outdated infrastructure and poor oversight—contributed to deadly consequences for Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens during the pandemic.” That was quoted from the commission.

My question is, what did the Leader of the Opposition do for 15 years when these homes were in disarray? We’re going to fix the problem, we’re going build thousands of new beds—

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

Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The reports are many—there’s just no doubt about it—but they describe horrors. Of course, we’ve just seen recently some military reports, debriefing notes from the military. Here’s what they were dealing with: cockroaches and animal infestations; residents literally abandoned in their beds, crying out for help; management denying military teams access to crucial information in the medical charts of these residents. One Canadian Armed Forces member said this, “Management should be charged.” That’s what the military opinion was of the situation.

So why didn’t this Premier act immediately? Why did he break his promise to the families in Ontario for that justice and accountability that they so deserve? To this day, he is still denying accountability and justice for families. Why?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I think it’s just the opposite, Mr. Speaker. I think what you’ve seen is that the Premier, as he just said, was very quick to ensure that a commission of inquiry was called. The Auditor General has done an investigation on this.

We had started well in advance of the pandemic to address some of the problems that we knew were part of the long-term-care system: the chronic underfunding of the system, the fact that only 600 beds had been built in the decade leading up to the pandemic. We were addressing a lot of those issues.

Thousands of new PSWs coming into the system; thousands of new beds; refurbishing old, outdated buildings; four hours of care: These are things we’re doing, in addition to the transition to the Ontario health teams, so that there is a blanket of care. Whether it’s long-term care, home care, acute care or increasing ICU beds, we are taking the actions that should have been taken decades before. We’re doing it now, before, during and after the pandemic.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Our Canadian Armed Forces personnel were pretty clear: In their opinion, what happened was criminal. “This was criminal,” is what they said.

So I wrote to the OPP commissioner last week, and on Monday I received the response that they are reviewing my request asking them to look at what the CAF described. This Premier, this minister or any one of those cabinet ministers on the other side should have taken the initiative to march those Canadian Armed Forces notes and reports straight over to the OPP for review.

My question is: Why, instead of doing that, did they bring legislation forward to protect private operators of long-term care and the government from accountability and justice?

Interjections.

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

The Premier to reply.

Hon. Doug Ford: Again, Mr. Speaker, just to compare notes here: Over a few short years, a couple of years, our government is investing $9.6 billion that the previous government and the NDP—they just never do. They just left it there. They invested zero into long-term care. We’re exceeding the NDP’s own platform target of a 30% increase in spending by 2028. With our pandemic pay program alone, we hired 8,636 staff.

The budget contained $4.9 billion in new funding over four years to reach standards of four hours of care, which is really unheard of—four hours of care. We’re blazing a new trail in Canada and in the US with this four hours of care and a lot of people are going to follow our lead.

We announced—

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The official opposition will come to order. The next question.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Three weeks ago, a journalist asked the science table’s Dr. Peter Jüni if the science table advised the Premier to close outdoor recreational activities, like tennis and golf courses. Dr. Jüni said, “No, of course not. The opposite....”

Ontario’s science table has been clear: Allowing safe outdoor recreational activity is smart. By shutting these things down, the Premier and cabinet are not getting to the root cause of the pandemic, which is indoor spread. Restrictions on the outdoors disproportionately affect and harm children and people who don’t have access to their own green space.

My question is to the government and to the Premier: Who advised cabinet to close outdoor recreational facilities in the first place, and what evidence was used to make that decision?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: I have a great deal of respect for the health table and the science table. We did receive a couple of messages there to limit mobility, so we wanted to limit mobility.

When I asked Dr. Brown from the science table—he has a little chart: yes/no; what you can do and what you can’t do. When it was outdoor playgrounds—I just saw it last week and will send a copy over to the Leader of the Opposition—it had a big “no” to it; yes, to open it up if everyone wore masks. Mr. Speaker, when you drive by those playgrounds, how many people do you see wearing a mask? You don’t see anyone wearing a mask.

So, there was a little bit of a message: Limit mobility, make sure everyone stays at home, but in other cases, if they go out, everyone has to wear a mask. I understand that.

The good news is numbers are levelling off. The protocol and the guidelines are working.

Mr. Speaker, I listen to everyone, but I listen to Dr. Williams. He’s the Chief Medical Officer and he believes that people need to limit mobility. They need to stay home. That’s—

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: Speaker, on Monday the Toronto Board of Health unanimously voted to ask the government to walk back the closures of outdoor amenities. Closing these facilities was not based on science or health.

Dr. de Villa put it nicely: “There’s a real opportunity to use the outdoors and use the warm weather ... as allies to help us support people in enjoying better physical health, enjoying better mental health and at the same time doing it in a way that reduces the spread of COVID-19.”

Speaker, there is overwhelming evidence and support for safe outdoor activities. Instead of cabinet ministers debating the question “to golf or not to golf,” please take this question off the table and focus on opening schools and creating safer workplaces. Work with our science table to lift the restrictions on outdoor recreation with clear communication guidelines. This is possible.

Will the government commit to this action today? You actually can do something right, right here, right now, during this pandemic.

Hon. Doug Ford: Speaker, I appreciate the question. I always go down to root cause. Root cause: Why are we in this situation, Mr. Speaker? We’re in the situation because—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Take your seat.

Opposition, come to order. Premier, please reply.

Hon. Doug Ford: The variants: We know 90% of all cases flew into this country or came across the border into this country. As the report came out, one third of the people who are supposed to be staying in a quarantine hotel don’t even bother staying in there. We have thousands of people who come through Pearson—150,000 in the last two weeks—crossing the borders into Canada, with two separate rules. There are thousands of people coming here with the variants and it’s being spread right across the province.

We need the federal government to have tougher restrictions at the land borders, tougher restrictions at Pearson, tougher restrictions flying in from across the country—

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

Public transit

Mr. Stan Cho: I don’t think there is any doubt that we all agree that Toronto is a world-class city, and one of the biggest reasons for that is because of my neighbourhood of Willowdale. But Willowdale is not without its challenges. One of those challenges is that my neighbourhood has the dubious distinction of being the only neighbourhood I know of in the country that has two subway lines that dead-end in our neighbourhood. This is a big deal for Willowdalers. Our subway maps have been embarrassing for decades.

When you look around the world to other world-class cities like New York, Paris or Seoul, their subway maps look like cobwebs. It’s something that is important to the people of my neighbourhood.

So, yesterday marked a big day for our government, because we heard an announcement confirming that the funding was there to get these projects built in the greater Toronto area, including in my home neighbourhood of Willowdale. My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation: What will this announcement made yesterday mean for priority transit projects in the GTA?

Hon. Kinga Surma: Thank you very much for the question. Yesterday was a great day. We did it, Mr. Speaker. We achieved what many called the impossible. I want to thank the federal government for endorsing the Premier’s transit plan. Since 2019, Minister Mulroney has been advocating for transit infrastructure investment to get a good deal for Ontario.

Combined with the province’s $17-billion commitment, the transit plan for the greater Toronto area marks the largest subway expansion in Canadian history. We now have secured funding for our Ontario Line, our three-stop Scarborough subway, the Yonge North subway extension and, of course, the predominantly tunnelled Eglinton Crosstown West extension. Residents of Toronto and York region can rest assured that our subway plan will be built.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Mr. Stan Cho: I agree with the associate minister: Yesterday was a fantastic day. Not only did we, thanks to the efforts of our health team, get six and a half million first doses into the arms of adults here in Ontario, but this is a project that we campaigned on, that the Premier campaigned on, and said, “We’re going to get subways built.” It’s one of my election promises, Speaker, to no longer have two subway lines that dead-end in the great riding of Willowdale. So I agree, I share the optimism of the associate minister.

But forgive Willowdalers for being questioning. They’re wondering how we’re going to make sure that we actually get shovels into the ground. Back to the associate minister, Speaker: How is the province going to seize on this opportunity to make sure that we actually get this thing right?

Hon. Kinga Surma: Thank you very much. Our government is committed to re-envisioning how transit is built, and the people it will serve. While building our transit expansion, we will also be building transit-oriented communities—dynamic, complete communities, centred around good planning principles.

We have all seen over the past 13 months that people living within large urban centres like Toronto and York region have been confined to their immediate neighbourhoods. This further demonstrates the need to build complete communities around transit that can connect people to where they need to go and to essential services, communities where everything you need is within 15 minutes’ walking around your neighbourhood. That is the dream, Mr. Speaker. It is time to make public transit a more attractive option and to rethink the way we plan and build infrastructure projects as we lay the foundation for Ontario’s lasting prosperity.

Health care funding

Ms. Jill Andrew: My question is to the Premier. We now know that the Financial Accountability Office estimates that the surgical backlog in Ontario will require $1.3 billion and nearly 3.5 years to clear. But the government’s budget is approximately $700 million short of what is needed to get folks the surgeries they desperately need. The government’s failure to provide this money means that our community members across Ontario will suffer worsening health conditions, pain, loss of mobility and severe depression.

My question to the Premier is: Will the Premier and his Conservative government spend the money which they have and clear the backlog ASAP? If not, what is their rationale for not investing in people and leaving our community members in unbearable pain?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. Unfortunately, we have had to postpone some surgeries and procedures. As we did between the first and second waves, we are now having to do this in the third wave because, as the member will know, our hospitals are very crowded right now with COVID-19 patients, as well as our ICUs. Although the numbers are starting to go down, they are not yet at the point where we can resume those scheduled surgeries and procedures.

We are watching this on a daily basis, because we know that many people have been waiting for a long time to have these surgeries done, but I think it’s also important to note that prior to this phase coming forward, we had already put over $500 million into bringing forward these surgeries, so that our hospitals could operate longer hours, evenings and weekends. We are looking at a regional wait-list, and as soon as we can get back to performing those surgeries and procedures, we will certainly do so, because we know it’s important to the people of Ontario.

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

Ms. Jill Andrew: The surgical backlog is impacting my community members, like Gloria, a senior, who has been waiting in excruciating pain, now completely immobile because of delays to her hip replacement.

Failing to invest and clear the surgical backlog means people like Gloria will see their health decline for months, even years, before surgery is scheduled. These delays can cause an irreversible decline in health and have worsened conditions like Gloria’s degenerative osteoarthritis. All she has ever known is that she’s on some mythical wait-list. She doesn’t know where she is on the wait-list, how long it will take, whose wait-list—nothing.

This government is responsible for her care, but since last summer she has heard nothing, not even whether or not she’ll have to wait weeks, months or years for her surgery. The lines of communication are non-existent for Gloria and many others who have contacted me and the government.

Question: Why is the Conservative government failing to provide essential health care funding to help people like Gloria get the surgery they so desperately need? You’ve got the funds. Help Gloria—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. I’ll remind members to make their comments through the Chair, not directly across the floor of the House.

Minister of Health, please reply.

Hon. Christine Elliott: It’s important to note that it’s not—money will be helpful when we’re able to resume those surgeries so that we can start hastening them. Right now, it’s a question of space in our hospitals. Right now, our hospitals are full of COVID patients. We are starting to see the numbers go down. We’re starting to see the numbers in our intensive care units go down. Right now, we need both the spaces in hospitals and the staff to care for the very ill COVID-19 patients.

But we recognize that others are waiting. We have put $500 million into hastening these surgeries, when we’re able to do them, and we are watching this on a very careful, daily basis. This is a priority for our government, to make sure the health and the well-being of all Ontarians is our top priority. We want to get to those surgeries, but we are not able to do that until the numbers come down more in our hospitals.

Ms. Jill Andrew: Then why not fund it? Fund it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s, come to order. The next question.

Long-term care

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Premier. It’s been 12 days since the long-term care commission released their final report, outlining 85 recommendations that the government must undertake to improve conditions in long-term care. On Monday I introduced a private member’s bill, Bill 290, that fulfills the 85th recommendation in that report. The bill mandates the government to report on the progress they’ve made in implementing the remaining recommendations in the commission’s report in one year and again three years from now. It’s the easiest and simplest measure in the report for this government to implement.

Speaker, through you: Will the Premier make reporting mandatory by passing Bill 290 or introducing legislation of his own that will require the government to publicly report on the progress that they’ve made to implement the commission’s recommendations?

Hon. Doug Ford: I want to thank the member for the question. I’m glad Johnny-come-lately just all of a sudden came up with this, after being down here for 15 years.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m just going to interrupt the Premier. We use riding names or ministerial titles.

Hon. Doug Ford: Yes, I apologize, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’m glad the member came up with this after 15 years of coming here and being able to build—what was it?—600 homes. We take the commission’s report very seriously. We’re well on our way to making sure that we fix the problems in some of the areas that the commission came out with.

Mr. Speaker, just to again remind you, we’ve allocated over 20,000 beds to date, more than two thirds our 30,000 commitment, and there are thousands of beds under construction as we speak right now—the rapid builds. We have rapid builds going around Toronto and the GTA that are going to be ready by 2022. We’re hiring 27,000 new PSWs and nurses, and again, I go back to the four hours of daily direct care.

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

Mr. John Fraser: The Premier said last May that he’d build an iron ring around long-term care. That never happened. More residents died in the second wave than in the first.

Then after the release of the military’s report, which outlined how 26 residents died from dehydration and other squalid conditions, the Premier said, “We’ve launched an investigation and the results will be turned over to police.” That never happened either.

The answer that I’m hearing from the Premier right now feels like the same thing: “Don’t worry, we’re going to take care of it.” Well, Ontarians can have no confidence that the government is going to take care of it.

Speaker, the Premier can assign blame wherever he wants and make fun of me, but the reality is our collective responsibility is to ensure that every single one of those recommendations in the report is reported on.

So, I’m going to ask the Premier again, and hopefully he can give just a simple yes or no: Will he pass legislation mandating the government to publicly report on the progress in the recommendations of his own long-term care commission’s report?

Hon. Doug Ford: Again, through you, Mr. Speaker, I find it very rich and ironic that the member of the Liberal Party that was down here for 15 years did absolutely nothing to protect the most vulnerable, did nothing to protect the long-term-care system as a whole.

We are moving. People can see the difference—right now, they can see they difference. We’re making sure that we’re making the appropriate changes that the commission recommended, making sure we’re making the appropriate changes that the Auditor General recommended. We’re well on our way to making sure that we have a sustainable long-term-care system in this province. We’re pouring money into it. We’re pouring staff into it—as I mention again, 28,000 new PSWs and nurses.

These two governments sat by and watched it all happen and did absolutely nothing to protect these most vulnerable people. We’re doing something—

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. Order. Okay, I’m going to caution everybody on their language. Order.

The next question.

Public transit

Mr. Stan Cho: I think it’s clear to me that Willowdale is a very special place, but I didn’t always live there—43 years ago, in fact, I was born in Etobicoke. And Etobicoke, in that time, has changed a lot. The population has boomed. But it’s not just the west end of our city; it’s west of Etobicoke. When you look to Peel, Brampton is now the sixth-largest city in our entire country. And our subway system, sadly, has changed very little in that time of four decades. That’s unacceptable.

The Eglinton Crosstown West extension is going to run nine kilometres and bring more rapid transit—desperately needed transit—to Etobicoke and Mississauga.

Speaker, my question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation. I’m wondering if the minister can tell us when this line may be in operation and why it is so vital.

Hon. Kinga Surma: Thank you to the member for the question. Of course, I would be very happy to speak about the Eglinton Crosstown West extension. If you live in Toronto, you know that the suburbs are not as well served when it comes to public transit as the downtown core.

With the predominantly tunneled Eglinton Crosstown West extension, residents in Etobicoke will finally have access to fast, reliable public transit. Now residents who rely on the TTC will have shorter trips and many residents won’t have to rely on their car to get around the city. It will also better connect Mississauga and Toronto residents and allow for service integration between MiWay and the TTC at Renforth station. It also has the potential to connect people to the largest employment hub in the GTA, which is Pearson airport.

Mr. Speaker, we are connecting people to places, people to jobs and truly building a transit network that the people of the GTA can be proud of.

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

Mr. Stan Cho: Thank you to the minister. I want to share with the House a story that many Willowdalers are all too familiar with. It’s the painful story—that I had to do for decades, really—of getting to the train to go southbound at Sheppard station during morning rush hour and having to take the subway north to Finch just to get a spot to get downtown. Willowdalers know that transit in this city has just been, frankly, not good enough for way too long.

The minister talked about the Eglinton West project, but that’s just one of four priorities. We also have the Ontario Line, which Willowdalers desperately need to get relief for those commuters trying to get downtown, to provide that seamless connectivity for the great city of Toronto.

My question is back to the Associate Minister of Transportation: How is the Ontario Line going to reduce the gridlock and congestion that has been plaguing our city for decades?

Hon. Kinga Surma: Thank you for the question. The 16-kilometre Ontario Line will provide more than just rush hour relief. It will not only reduce crowding on the TTC’s Line 1, it will connect the people of Toronto like never before.

As you mentioned, it will include 15 stations that will link communities from east to west and north to south, with a travel time of only 30 minutes from Ontario Place to the Ontario Science Centre. This line will also provide many communities north of Pape, such as Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park, with access to a subway line. We are expecting over 380,000 daily boardings on this line and over 250,000 more people will find themselves within walking distance of transit, resulting in 28,000 fewer vehicles on our roads.

Rush hour crowding on subways will also be reduced by tens of thousands of people, which will go a long way in making transit a more attractive option post-COVID-19.

Long-term care

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: My question is to the Premier. COVID-19 took a deadly toll on long-term-care homes. The Premier promised an iron ring around long-term care in the first wave of COVID-19, yet more seniors died in the second wave than in the first. His iron ring was a myth. It never materialized.

At the Village at St. Clair in my riding, hundreds of residents and staff got COVID; almost 40 people died. The CAF and long-term care commission reports confirmed that this government failed long-term-care residents. Staff carried the burden of the pandemic on their shoulders, largely alone, ignored by this government. “Staff told the commission about crying before, during and after work, vomiting in locker rooms from stress, and watching residents whom they loved die in great numbers.”

Lives could have been saved if this government—this government now—had stepped up to protect staff and residents. Instead, they put a legislative iron ring around private, for-profit corporations and themselves.

Will the Premier take responsibility for his failure to protect long-term-care staff and residents, and implement the long-term care commission’s recommendations immediately?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: As I’ve said, we are well on our way to doing just that. There is no doubt, as I’ve said on a number of occasions, we were certainly on the defence for the first part of the COVID-19 crisis. Predominantly, we had seen what the underinvestment by previous governments had meant to long-term care: understaffing and not enough long-term-care homes. I talked about the enormous waiting lists in my own riding with respect to long-term-care-home placements. We had outdated homes that needed to be refurbished. We saw a lot of that.

The pandemic, yes, made it worse, but we were trying to catch up before, during and after. What we’ve done, as the Premier has talked about—hiring thousands of additional staff; building hundreds, thousands of new places; four hours of care.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done. We are finally on the offence in this province when it comes to attacking COVID-19, with over six million doses in arms. We are on our way to a better long-term-care system, to a better result for all Ontarians.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: To the government House leader: To be on the defence, you actually have to be in the game instead of on the sidelines, like your government was.

Some 4,000 long-term-care residents died on this government’s watch. The Canadian Armed Forces report revealed that 26 seniors died from neglect, simply needing “water and a wipe down.” I’ll say it again: Seniors died because they weren’t given water, and that was during this Conservative government’s watch. It is on them.

The long-term care commission wrote, “As a result of staff shortages, and with no family members to help, residents were confined to their rooms for extended periods without access to recreation programs or visitors.... Many residents experienced symptoms of what is known as ‘confinement syndrome.’”

Families could have safely been there to get residents water and provide support. Congregate care homes continue—continue to this day—to refuse residents access to their designated caregivers, as this government tinkers with unenforceable directives.

Speaker, my Bill 203, More Than a Visitor Act, passed second reading in September. Will the Premier immediately make it law so no resident in congregate care is forced to suffer from neglect or isolation like this again?

Hon. Paul Calandra: It certainly is on us—it is on us to fix the system that was broken, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Before the pandemic even hit, we had identified the serious problems in long-term care. Understaffing: We knew that staff was getting trained but not staying in the system, so we studied that, and now we’ve come up with a plan to hire over 27,000 new PSWs for the system. We knew that there was chronic underfunding, which led to no new homes being built. Before the pandemic, we began building thousands of new homes, including 600 new spaces in my riding alone.

During the pandemic, we announced even more funding for long-term-care homes. We’re on our way to 30,000 new long-term-care spaces, Mr. Speaker. We began to phase out the ward rooms, because we saw that that was a problem.

Mr. Speaker, we are moving mountains to fix a system that had been so chronically underfunded in the 15 years before we got there. It’s our responsibility to fix it, and we—

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

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Stephen Blais: My question is for the Minister of Health. Mr. Speaker, the minister knows very well that there have been significant challenges organizing, booking and distributing the first dose of the vaccine. Now, more and more Ontarians are approaching the timeline to think about their second dose, and anxiety about how this is going to work is sinking in.

Some people received an exact date for their second dose; others have received information that’s more nebulous. Some have been given date ranges. Some have been given telephone numbers to follow up. Others have received absolutely no information whatsoever. Now the government has also ended the use of AstraZeneca for second doses and provided very little information as to what that means for the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who received it as their first dose.

Needless to say, Mr. Speaker, the process for the second dose isn’t looking like it’s going to be much better than the first. When will the government come forward with a clear plan and process to ensure all Ontarians understand how to receive their second dose?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the member for the question. Actually, there is a very clear plan in place that is rolling out very well. We have administered vaccines to almost six and a half million people, which is over 50% of the population of Ontario over 18. In addition to that, we have 4.9 million doses already booked, some for second doses, some for first doses.

The plan is rolling forward. It is clear. If you have booked your vaccine—you