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December 9, 2024

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2024-Dec-09 (PDF)

L193 - Mon 9 Dec 2024 / Lun 9 déc 2024

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 9 December 2024 Lundi 9 décembre 2024

Members’ Statements

Youth involvement in politics

Small business

Santa Claus parades in Oxford

Homelessness

Education funding

Highway safety

Holiday messages

Public transit

Hespeler Santa Claus Parade

Public safety

Introduction of Visitors

Denis Gratton

Question Period

Ontario Place

Government contracts

Ontario Place

Transportation infrastructure

Health care

Protection for workers

Immigrants’ skills

Health care

Mining industry

Hospital services

Affordable housing

Public safety

Government contracts

Government services

Visitors

Deferred Votes

Resource Management and Safety Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur la gestion des ressources et la sécurité

Affordable Home Heating Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur le chauffage domestique abordable

Introduction of Visitors

Introduction of Government Bills

Emergency Management Modernization Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur la modernisation de la gestion des situations d’urgence

Introduction of Bills

Green Lights for Coast Guard Auxiliary Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur les feux verts pour la Garde côtière auxiliaire

Petitions

Health care

Tenant protection

Public safety

Protection for workers

Tenant protection

Caregivers

Education funding

Social assistance

Economic development

Health care funding

Homelessness

Economic development

Addiction services

Social assistance

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Support for Seniors and Caregivers Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur le soutien aux personnes âgées et aux fournisseurs de soins

The House met at 1015.

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

Prayers.

Members’ Statements

Youth involvement in politics

MPP Zee Hamid: Last month, I received a very special courier: handwritten letters by various different youths in Milton. They were members of the true crime current events podcast at the Milton Public Library. I also want to recognize Anna Cansick, the customer service coordinator of the Milton Public Library who coordinated these 39 letters. I am delivering the handwritten response tomorrow.

Speaker, the youth of Milton recognized and highlighted a lot of issues facing not just the riding of Milton, but across the province and our communities. These issues involve crime rate, neighbourhood watch, policing and reconciliation with Indigenous people. They took time to weigh in on important matters, and I’m so proud of these young community members. I read every single letter, and I’m looking forward to meeting the youth that wrote the letters.

As a parent, I know that youth can sometime feel that their political voices are lost. So it is imperative to me that we let these young people know that our government knows their concern and we hear them. Our government recognizes the importance of hearing the voices of today’s youth and involving them in vital conversations. It is inspiring to connect with so many young people across my riding and across the province.

I also want to especially commend the youth of the current events podcast club. I stand here today to say, your thoughts are recognized and celebrated and your work and dedication have been honoured today at Queen’s Park.

It is stepping stones such as these that lead to the way we seek and incorporate youth perspective into policy. I am grateful and proud to represent each and every single one of them.

Small business

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: I’m proud to speak about something that truly defines Ontario: small businesses. With over 444,000 Ontario small businesses, producing 22% of our provincial GDP, they are truly the backbone of our economy, the heart of our communities and the key to the province’s resilience and growth. Together, they provide jobs for over 2.9 million Ontarians. From small business family shops in towns to innovative start-ups in big cities, they drive our economy forward while creating opportunities for local families and young entrepreneurs.

But the contributions of small businesses go far beyond numbers. Every time you choose to shop locally, you’re making a meaningful investment—not just in a product, Speaker, but in people.

On Saturday, I was in Cabbagetown for their Holiday in the Patch festival launch. There, I made purchases at Bill Renieris’s hardware store, Patty Junior’s Epicure Shop and ordered catering from Tender Trap and Sam’s Food. Tomorrow, I will be having drinks and cocktails with friends and neighbours at the Hair of the Dog pub in the Church and Wellesley Village.

With the holiday season upon us, we must get ready to reconnect with family and friends during Hanukkah and Christmas. We will need groceries to prepare meals, decorations and candles for our homes, gifts and sweet offerings to children and community members.

This holiday season, let’s skip the big online retailers and visit a shop in our local community. Together, we will be able to support small businesses in Ontario, which are the cornerstone of every single neighbourhood.

Santa Claus parades in Oxford

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: It’s that time of year again: When you see families coming together and all the smiles on children’s faces, you know the festive season is here.

Every year, Oxford really steps it up to show off our holiday spirit. I got to see it when I had the pleasure of attending the Christmas parade in Ingersoll and the Santa Claus parades in Woodstock and Norwich. As I made my way down the parade routes, seeing all those families dressed up in red and white waiting for Santa reminded me of what makes this time of year so special—what a great way to kick off the season. I’m looking forward to seeing more of that cheer at the Innerkip parade on Saturday.

Supporting our neighbours is part of the holiday spirit. It always warms my heart to see all the people of Oxford helping those who are less fortunate every year. Whether it’s volunteering at the food bank, toy drive or just being there for someone in need, those small gestures go a long way.

This past Saturday, I held my annual Cider and Cookie Social at the Woodstock Farmers’ Market as well. It was great to chat with everyone who came out as we enjoyed those delicious cookies and cider from local vendors.

I want to wish everyone in Oxford and Ontario a very merry Christmas and happy holidays. Here’s to a bright, safe year ahead.

Homelessness

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: As this session comes to an end, I am dismayed to be spending our time looking back with such disappointment on this government and the legacy they are building here in Ontario.

Last week, the Premier announced plans to legislate against homelessness encampments, even suggesting the use of the “notwithstanding” clause. This approach raises serious concerns for anyone committed to addressing the root causes of homelessness. The Premier’s past decisions have left municipalities struggling with limited resources and individuals trapped in poverty and homelessness.

Removing encampments may clear parks, but it does not solve the underlying issues. Communities across Ontario deserve real solutions, not actions that treat homelessness as a nuisance. We need immediate investment in shelter spaces, public health services and pathways to affordable, supportive housing. Addressing homelessness requires a compassionate, systemic approach, not punishment and displacement. This government must prioritize keeping people safe, housed and healthy. Leadership means addressing homelessness with urgency and dignity—focusing on solutions that create long-term stability and support.

As we move into the new year, I urge the government to take meaningful action. I look forward to seeing the details of their plan. Together, we can build an Ontario where no one is left behind—a province that values health, housing and hope over punitive measures. Let’s work for a future that truly supports every member in our community.

Education funding

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Today, I have more great news from the riding of Essex. Lakeshore is a growing municipality in Essex county, and growing municipalities need new schools. That’s why I’m pleased to inform the House that the Ministry of Education has announced that the municipality of Lakeshore will be receiving a brand new $23-million elementary school. This new school will house 582 elementary school students and it will be built near Girard Street and Rourke Line Road.

Lakeshore joins LaSalle, Amherstburg and Kingsville to be the fourth community in the riding of Essex to receive a brand new school from the Ford government. This new school in Lakeshore is part of a $16-billion school renewal program. Since 2018, the government has supported the development of over 300 school-related projects and child care centres, with over 100 currently under construction.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Premier and the Minister of Education for their continued support of building new schools in the riding of Essex, especially the new elementary school in Lakeshore, Ontario.

Highway safety

M me France Gélinas: It has been another week of mayhem on Highway 144. Highway 144 is a 300-kilometre highway that goes from Sudbury to Timmins. It is a two-lane highway with no shoulder, very few passing lanes, no cell service for most of it, one gas station at the watershed and a ton of transport trucks. Whether it be summer or winter, this highway kills and maims way too many northerners.

If this is a world-class place for investment, why are families and workers in my riding putting their life at risk every time they use Highway 144? My constituents want a round table with representatives from the Ministry of Transportation, police, ambulance, tow truck operators, shipping companies and mining companies, school bus drivers and other road users. Let’s put our heads together to make this highway safe. The province is responsible for this highway and needs to take action to stop the weekly deaths. This has to stop. Highway 144 kills way too many people. We want it to be safe.

Holiday messages

Mr. Adil Shamji: As we approach the holidays, I want to reflect on the many first responders and health care workers who will work tirelessly through the winter break. Whether you’re a porter, paramedic, nurse, physician or lab technologist, it wouldn’t be possible for us to stay happy and healthy throughout the holiday season without your hard work, sacrifice and expertise. Thank you for being there for Ontario’s patients, no matter the time of year.

On December 13, Ismailis in Don Valley East and around the world will celebrate Salgirah Khushiali, which this year marks the 88th birthday of His Highness the Aga Kahn. His Highness is a spiritual leader for the Ismaili Muslim community and is a beacon of hope through his work, advancing important causes like poverty eradication, disaster relief, peace and pluralism. May this important day bring health, happiness, biryani and Dandiya Raas. Salgirah Khushiali Mubarak.

As we approach the holiday break, I would like to say season’s greetings and extend my heartfelt wishes for a restful, joyous and uplifting merry Christmas in the warm company of your closest friends and family. May your days be merry and bright and your celebrations full of laughter and love.

Finally, here’s to a year filled with health, happiness and success. May your journey ahead be as fulfilling as it is inspiring, and may you find purpose and peace in all that you do. Happy new year.

Happy Hanukkah. May the Festival of Lights fill your home with peace, happiness and the love of those you hold dear.

Public transit

Ms. Natalie Pierre: I’m excited to share news about a significant investment our government is making in public transit in my riding of Burlington. We know that affordable, reliable and accessible transportation is the backbone of strong communities.

Last month, on behalf of the Minister of Transportation, I was honoured to announce the city of Burlington will benefit from a provincial investment of more than $5.6 million from our government. The combined investment from provincial, federal and municipal governments is nearly $17 million and will enable the purchase of 15 new conventional, hybrid and electric buses replacing aging infrastructure and expanding Burlington’s public transit capacity.

Ontarians deserve reliable public transportation to get to work, go to school, visit loved ones and maintain healthy, independent lifestyles, and this investment is a step towards that goal. Our government is ensuring that residents of Burlington can take public transit where they need to go, when they need to get there.

This announcement is part of our government’s $70-billion investment over the next decade, including $7.3 billion through ICIP’s public transit infrastructure stream to help build, improve and expand public transit in communities across the province. By supporting the expansion of local public transit systems, we are building stronger, safer, healthier and more affordable communities.

Hespeler Santa Claus Parade

Ms. Jess Dixon: Saturday marked the final Santa Claus parade for my region, the Hespeler Santa Claus Parade. I’m not sure where I first came up with the idea, but I dress up as an ice queen for it, sort of a knock-off Elsa, which the kids seem to really enjoy.

The Santa Claus parade in my office, in my riding, seems to have become not so much just an office affair as a real family affair, as it’s now my mother and my aunt Maureen and her friend Jeff that do most of the float-building, which bears out what I’ve said numerous times before, which is that I’m actually more work now to my mother than when I was an actual child. I don’t know that she still thought that she would be helping me come up with costumes and floats, but here you are.

Anyway, it was very chilly—ice princess costumes aren’t the best for warmth, but they look good. A really, really, really good turnout for the Hespeler parade—we gave out a thousand packages of hot chocolate to kids along the route.

But as I said, I have to give so much thanks to my mother for all her hard work, my aunt Maureen, her friend Jeff, Bonita, Caitlin, Gabe, Anna, all of the great kids that came out and volunteered—I can’t remember if I said my dad.

A very merry Christmas to everybody.

Public safety

Mr. Brian Riddell: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to bring attention to an important, concerning development in our community. Recently, the Waterloo regional police, one of the best police forces in Canada, conducted an operation that resulted in the arrest of three men and the discovery of a large illegal chop shop operation—and I’m not talking steaks here—in North Dumfries. This operation involved dismantling and trafficking of stolen vehicles and vehicle parts.

This is a stark reminder of the work that our police officers do every day to protect our communities and keep Ontario safe. The men arrested were involved in organized criminal activity, and their operation put our local residents and businesses at risk. The discovery of this chop shop also highlights the growing problem we have of vehicle theft, which affects families and businesses across our region.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Will Bouma: Just a couple of introductions here: Very quickly, I would like to introduce to the House friends of my office, Jane and Valois Ambrosino, Heather Meagher and Alyssa Yeo. Thank you for being here, and welcome to the people’s House.

Also, most of us have met Charlie Lyons over the last few years, and while not the official chaplain of the legislature, Charlie has done commendable work with almost all members in this House. But Charlie is moving on, as many of us know, and I would like to introduce to the House who is going to be filling in for Charlie from now on: O’Brian Doyle.

Welcome to the Legislature.

Mr. Steve Pinsonneault: Today, I have with me my better half, my rock in life. Welcome to the House, Jodie Hogg.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: I wanted to welcome to the House this morning members from the Ontario Paramedic Association, particularly the paramedics from Hamilton. I want to thank you for all you do to keep us safe. We wish you all a healthy and happy holiday season. I know you’re going to be busy, but we wish you well over the holiday season.

Mrs. Robin Martin: I’d like to welcome the Ontario paramedics as well, but especially my friend Roberta Scott, who is up in the gallery.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: It’s a real honour today to introduce Mark Gould and Carol Ingleton-Gould, who are the proud parents of my fantastic legislative intern. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Vijay Thanigasalam: It’s my pleasure to welcome Bill Yarn, vice-president of the Highland Creek Community Association, located in the wonderful riding of Scarborough–Rouge Park. Thank you, Bill, for all the tons and tons of donations to those who are in need and thank you for coming to Queen’s Park.

Mr. John Yakabuski: No introduction, but as is my custom, yesterday our grandson Leopold Gianni Michele Colucci was nine years old and today our son Zachary is 46.

Ms. Natalie Pierre: I’d like to introduce Emma Bockner and Robyn Graham. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: On behalf of the entire PC caucus, I’d like to welcome the Ontario Paramedic Association to Queen’s Park. Joining us today are president Darryl Wilton, vice-president Katherine Hambleton and secretary-treasurer Robert Kennedy. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Mr. Joel Harden: I want to join the member who just spoke to thank the Ontario Paramedic Association for being here today and for a fantastic meeting, and particularly, Darryl Wilton, who hails from the great city of Ottawa. Thanks to all of you, who will be working 24/7 shifts through the holiday period when many of us are getting a break. We appreciate you. Thank you for being here today.

Mr. Billy Pang: Good morning, Speaker. I’m delighted to welcome teachers and students from Unionville College, from my riding, for a day of learning exploration. A big thanks to Mrs. Sarah Cracknell, the grade 5 teacher who organized this visit. I hope you have a great experience. Thank you.

M me France Gélinas: I would like to welcome Sara Restani, Dr. Lisa Kikulis, as well as Sara-Emilie Clark from KidSport Ontario. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): That concludes our introduction of visitors for this morning, and it’s a new record.

Denis Gratton

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Before question period, there is a point of order. The member for Ottawa–Vanier.

M me Lucille Collard: J’aimerais demander le consentement unanime pour que la Chambre observe un moment de silence afin d’honorer la mémoire de Denis Gratton, qui est décédé ce samedi. Denis était un célèbre chroniqueur et journaliste francophone pour le journal Le Droit pendant 32 ans. Il était également le neveu de Gisèle Lalonde.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): M me Collard is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to observe a moment of silence to honour the memory of Denis Gratton, who passed away on Saturday. Agreed? Agreed. Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. Members may take their seats.

Question Period

Ontario Place

Ms. Marit Stiles: This question is for the Premier.

The more we learn about the government’s Ontario Place scheme, the worse it gets—preferential treatment, no oversight, skyrocketing costs, and a minister who has shown zero accountability to the people she is supposed to serve. This scheme is set to cost the equivalent of $400 for every household in Ontario.

Why should families from Thunder Bay to Windsor be forced to subsidize this Premier’s vanity project in downtown Toronto?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply for the government, the Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Kinga Surma: Mr. Speaker, I’ve said this in the House before: Legislators have been contemplating what to do with Ontario Place since before I was born. It is this Premier and this government that are finally taking action and bringing Ontario Place back to life.

Ontario Place is under construction today. The investment and construction that is undergoing—and these are Michael Lindsay’s words: “These categories of investment have always been the sorts of things that the government of Ontario would need to invest in in order to rehabilitate and bring Ontario Place back to life, regardless of what proposals ultimately prospered through the call for development process.”

Mr. Speaker, even if we wanted to make Ontario Place a public park, these construction costs incurred today would have to happen. Again, these are not my words; these are the words of Michael Lindsay, CEO of Infrastructure Ontario.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: Talk about out of touch, right?

The Premier’s Ontario Place scheme is going to cost every household in this province $400. That’s tax money. That’s not your money. That is money that Ontarians have invested to go to health care, to go to housing, to go to schools. And where is it going to go? To Austria, to build some millionaire’s mansion, no doubt. And what is the return on investment? The return on investment, by the government’s own assessment, shows that we’re only going to collect $1.63 million in rent from the 100-year lease with Therme.

Enough is enough. When will the Premier start to show some true accountability for this mess and start by firing his infrastructure minister?

Hon. Kinga Surma: It’s very clear, the position that the NDP is taking on this matter. In fact, what they are saying is that they would do nothing, because they have admitted that they do not understand the fact that even if you were to make Ontario Place a public park, site servicing, gas, water access, telecommunications access, shoreline repairs—all of that is necessary in order to make sure that people can go to Ontario Place.

So it’s good—to the Leader of the Opposition; you will do nothing, as you will do nothing on schools and health care and subway expansion. That is your legacy. That is your message to Ontarians.

Interjections.

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

Quiet.

Once again, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

Start the clock. The final supplementary.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Speaker, working people in Ontario are just trying to find a home, to find a doctor, to make ends meet.

The Premier has been singularly obsessed with this personal vanity project, a luxury spa that no one asked for on Toronto’s waterfront. He’s not thinking about the families with the fewer gifts under their trees or the parents who are working extra hours over the holidays. He’s thinking of himself and Conservative insiders who are more than okay, apparently, to make an extra buck through backroom deals and preferential treatment. That is the story of this spa project. He’s patting himself on the back for giving people $200 just to take $400 back from them for a broke Austrian spa company.

My question to the Premier is, don’t Ontarians deserve better than this? My goodness.

Hon. Kinga Surma: Well, it’s very clear what the members of the NDP aren’t doing, and they’re not reading the Auditor General’s report. I have been in the House for six and a half years, and throughout this time frame, the NDP have been preaching, “Don’t redevelop Ontario Place; make it a public park,” and 50 acres of public ground space is included in our redevelopment plan.

Let me read contents from the AG report on page 21 in case you have the time to take a look. “The majority of the increase is related to the additional costs of adding the public realm” park space. She references this as “parks, paths, beaches, piers ... facilities, landscaping, etc.”

So it’s very nice that the NDP are finally clear about their position for Ontario Place: “Do nothing and certainly don’t build public realm space.”

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Again, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The next question.

Government contracts

Ms. Marit Stiles: I’ll tell you what we wouldn’t be doing, Speaker. We wouldn’t be spending $2.2 billion subsidizing a luxury spa in downtown Toronto.

The concerns with building infrastructure in the province do not stop with the Ontario Place mess. The Auditor General revealed that Infrastructure Ontario’s P3—that’s public-private partnerships—contracts are just not working. The government isn’t even getting multiple bids on most projects. In fact, many times, they’re only getting one bid.

As we know, with the Therme project, they had to seek out that one favourite bidder, that preferred bidder, and costs are skyrocketing as a result. The estimated costs of the new Mississauga hospital P3 contract are now $4 billion higher than what was budgeted.

How can the Premier still have confidence in his Minister of Infrastructure with her reckless spending?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government side, come to order.

The Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Kinga Surma: It’s very clear that the NDP didn’t read anything included in the AG report, but I’m happy to reference her words. “I would say Ontario is the most mature in P3 modelling compared to other provinces. I give Infrastructure Ontario and the Ontario government credit for the fact that they are evolving it.” I do know that, globally, this is an issue, getting construction companies through to bid on big, huge infrastructure projects.

Let me repeat it again: The AG said, “I would say Ontario is the most mature in P3 modelling compared to other provinces.”

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: It’s because they lose the most money on those projects.

Look, the Vaughan hospital opened just three years ago, and it had a contract valued at $1.3 billion at the time. Here, we have the estimated cost of the new Mississauga Hospital P3 contract, now estimated at over $16 billion. That is unheard of. On a square-foot basis, the estimated cost of the Mississauga Hospital P3 contract is now more than five times what it was for the Vaughan hospital.

Does the Premier think that it is acceptable that hospital construction costs under Infrastructure Ontario and under his watch have gone up fivefold in just three years?

Hon. Kinga Surma: Again, that is not what the AG said in her report, and I would encourage the members of the NDP to sit down and read the report page for page.

We are building the Mississauga Trillium hospital. We are building a hospital in Ottawa, Ottawa Civic. We are building WAHA. We are expanding the hospital on the Queensway. Why? Because we made a commitment to the hard-working people of this province to build that infrastructure they need and that they rely on every single day.

But it’s okay, Mr. Speaker. The NDP have made it very clear where they stand: “Do nothing and build nothing.” That is not acceptable for the hard-working people of Ontario.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: Here’s the thing: With this government, ballooning costs are not the exception; they are the rule.

The University of Toronto reported just last week that the cost of building subways under this government—and by the way, all of those lines that never open—is now 10 times what other jurisdictions are paying—10 times. What’s really galling is that that money isn’t going to the people that build the transit or build the hospitals; it’s going to the private consultants that are layering on the cost. And it is Ontarians that are footing the bill. This government is out of control with reckless spending and disrespect for the taxpayer dollar.

My question to the Premier is, why is this Premier leaving Ontarians waiting for critical projects while this minister’s friends and insiders and consultants get to profit?

Hon. Kinga Surma: I’m very happy that she mentioned what we’re doing in terms of expanding transit in the province of Ontario.

Eglinton Crosstown West tunnelling: completed. The launch shaft for the Ontario Line is under construction; that’s where the tunnel-boring machines will enter the ground to construct the 15-kilometre line. Tunnelling is under way out in Scarborough—the people of Scarborough will finally have a subway line—and the Yonge North line is in procurement today.

But it’s okay. The leader of the official opposition can keep talking, because what she’s saying today to the people of Ontario is that she would build nothing.

Ontario Place

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is also to the Premier.

Not long before Therme signed the lease for Ontario Place, Infrastructure Ontario flagged that Therme recently had only €1 million in the bank, and they had more going out than they had coming in. This is from Infrastructure Ontario. This raises serious concerns that Therme won’t be able to afford to finish the spa, much less operate it for 95 years.

Will the government stop this deal now, save every household in this province $400, or do we need to wait for Therme to go bankrupt with a half-built spa on our hands?

Interjections.

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

Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Kinga Surma: Again, I am referencing a page from the Auditor General’s report, page 77: “The lease between the province of Ontario and Therme includes a financial test. The lease required Therme Group to have a net worth of $100 million. An examination by IO of Therme Group’s 2020 audited financial statement shows that Therme had met this financial test per the lease requirements.”

On October 3, IO made the lease public.

Mr. Speaker, we’re very proud to be in partnership with Therme. We’re very proud to be in partnership with Live Nation and we’re very proud to bring a brand new science centre to Ontario Place. Why? Because now, once the construction is completed, families will finally have an Ontario Place that they can enjoy every single day, 365 days of the year.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: The Auditor General also said that the Ontario Place deal was mismanaged and driven by an opaque process with preferential treatment. Those are the Auditor General’s words.

And this government keeps repeating this bizarre claim that Ontario Place was derelict, but in June 2023, their own financials showed it was very popular and it was very profitable. There is no sound business case for demolishing a valuable public asset at a cost of $2.2 billion just to increase the profits of a foreign European spa company.

Speaker, Ontario Place was public. It was profitable. It was working. Why should Ontarians spend $400 per household for the Premier to bulldoze it and to privatize it? Shame on you. You should resign.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I say to the member for Waterloo: I have no intentions of resigning and would ask her to make her comments through the Chair.

Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Kinga Surma: I will reference page 12 of the AG’s report: “Throughout the 1970s” Ontario Place “attracted approximately three million annual visitors. By 1989, that number had fallen to 2.1 million, and then down to one million in 2005.” And we know that attendance has dropped since then.

Mr. Speaker, I’m using the words of Michael Lindsay. Through the AG’s own submission, the call for development was not meant to be a structured procurement. It was meant to be a real estate solicitation “to take in ideas from across the globe.” We did so, creating a process that was competitive, that had non-partisan evaluation.

Ontario Place is finally under construction. Our subway transit plan from 2019—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Opposition, come to order. Minister, respond.

Hon. Kinga Surma: —is under construction. Hospitals are under construction across the province of Ontario. Why? Because it is this government that will build the services and the infrastructure that the people need and depend on—

Interjections.

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

Start the clock. The next question.

Transportation infrastructure

MPP Zee Hamid: My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Families across Ontario depend on safe and efficient highway networks to get home, to work and to school. Businesses across Ontario depend on their reliable transportation network to get their goods moving and to keep our economy strong.

For too long, people experienced delays, red tape and inaction under the previous Liberal government that have left the community stuck in gridlock, including my riding of Milton. Ontarians have rejected the do-nothing approach, but under our government’s leadership, Ontario is building for the future again. We’re making the necessary investments to help our province move, supporting economic growth and improving the quality of life for everyone.

Can the minister please explain how our government is delivering the highways and transportation infrastructure that Ontario’s families and businesses need?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant and member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington.

Mr. Ric Bresee: My thanks to the member from Milton for the question. I certainly appreciate your continued advocacy for the new infrastructure all across Ontario.

Our government is taking action to build highways. We need to move people and goods across this province. Unlike the previous Liberal government who said no to building, we’re moving forward with the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413. Through the Building Highways Faster Act, we’ve streamlined the processes and eliminated unnecessary red tape. These measures mean shovels in the ground faster and highways completed sooner. Our government understands that investing in infrastructure is about supporting families, businesses and all of our economic growth. We are building Ontario’s future.

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

MPP Zee Hamid: Building highways and improving infrastructure is more than just asphalt and concrete. It’s about leadership and action. It’s about making decisions that put families first. It’s about making decisions that put workers first and businesses first. For years, under the previous Liberal government, people in my community saw projects delayed and promises broken. That is why it is encouraging to see strong leadership shown by the Premier and our government. Our government is delivering for the people of Ontario by building new highways like the 413 and the Bradford Bypass. Ontario’s future depends on the bold actions we’re taking today to build infrastructure we need for tomorrow.

Can the minister please share how our government is showing leadership and delivering real results for the people of Ontario through our highway projects?

Mr. Ric Bresee: Thank you again to the member from Milton. Honestly, the Building Highways Faster Act is a game-changer. We’ve introduced 24-hour construction and are working closely with all of our municipalities to accelerate project timelines. This approach is already being applied to the Gardiner Expressway, which is four months ahead of schedule. It’s rather simple: By reducing red tape, we’re cutting years off project timelines.

These measures mean more time at home for families, lower costs for businesses and improved movement of goods all across the province. Ontarians know that they can count on us to deliver real results for critical transit infrastructure projects all across the province.

Health care

M me France Gélinas: My question for the Premier: This government spent over $100 million of taxpayers’ money on advertising to try to convince us that things have never been better in Ontario. Meanwhile, 2024 was the worst year on record for ER closures and 2.5 million Ontarians do not have a family physician. More than half of the presenters to the finance committee have been from health care, because they cannot recruit and retain—not even in downtown Toronto. Ask Taddle Creek Family Health Team from Toronto. They were in the media studio earlier this morning.

Can the Premier explain how $100 million of partisan advertising was a better investment than the same amount in health care?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Speaker, we have to always remember that the Liberals starved the health care budget.

In contrast to the Liberal record, this government is investing a record amount of money in the public health care system. In 2018, the health care budget was $60 billion; today it stands at $85 billion, for a $25-billion increase.

In addition to that, this summer 99% of all hospital emergency departments were absolutely uninterrupted.

Mr. Speaker, this government continues investing in the public health care system, including $44 million to reduce emergency room wait times and a $10-million fund to assist nurses in upskilling their skills in emergency department procedures so that our emergency departments can continue delivering excellent care.

Let’s praise our nurses in the province of Ontario, and especially our ED nurses, for their remarkable abilities.

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

M me France Gélinas: Last week, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, Alliance For Healthier Communities, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario, Indigenous primary health care teams, nurse practitioner-led clinics and seven more organizations came to Queen’s Park to tell the government that our health care system is in crisis. What we heard from them stands in stark contrast to what the government ads want us to believe.

But the government can’t fool the public about health care. People know that they can’t access an emergency room when it is closed. They know that they can’t find a family doctor. They know that they can’t get mental health services for their child when he or she needs them. They are waiting months and sometimes years for surgery, and even for diagnostic imaging, MRIs.

Does the government think that $100 million is better spent on advertising or on getting people the health care they desperately need?

Interjections.

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

The member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Speaker, the government remains focused on delivering patient-centred and team-based care in the province of Ontario.

As we all know, according to CIHI, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Ontario leads the country in connecting people to primary care, with approximately 90% of all residents connected to primary care.

One of the ways we are doing this is by getting internationally trained doctors into the system. I’m happy to report that an additional four internationally trained family doctors set up practice, or will be setting up practice, in Sudbury. That means that an additional 4,800 people will now have access to primary care—a family care position right in the city of Sudbury. We’re talking about the Practice Ready Ontario program, which assists international doctors in getting their accreditation in the province of Ontario.

Protection for workers

Mrs. Robin Martin: My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

Firefighters, including the MPP from Brantford–Brant, are some of the bravest people in our communities. They face danger head-on when people are in harm’s way. They protect our families, our homes and our businesses, often at great personal risk. But for years, many firefighters felt unsupported and unheard. They faced barriers to accessing the benefits and protections that they deserve. Ontarians know that this is not right.

Speaker, our government has committed to standing with those front-line heroes. We’re taking action to ensure firefighters have the support they need to stay healthy and safe.

Can the minister please share how the government is showing leadership in protecting and supporting Ontario’s firefighters?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development and the member for Ajax.

Ms. Patrice Barnes: Thank you to the member from Eglinton–Lawrence for that question and for the amazing work you do for your community.

Firefighters are our front-line heroes. I have enjoyed working closely with Chief Burridge and Deputy Chiefs Kimbell and Pankhurst in Ajax, and I thank them and their team for the amazing work they do every day keeping us safe.

Our government continues to improve their health protections and access to benefits. First, we’re reducing the duration of employment required for presumptive WSIB coverage for primary-site kidney cancer from 20 years to just 10 years—the lowest threshold in Canada. This ensures faster access to compensation and support for those who need it.

Second, we’re removing the age restriction on WSIB coverage for primary-site colorectal cancer, ensuring that firefighters and fire investigators diagnosed after the age of 61 are also eligible for support. These changes include wildland firefighters and investigators, reflecting the unique risks they face on the job.

Through these potential reforms, we’re improving access to WSIB benefits for all firefighters and fire investigators so we can—

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

Supplementary question?

Mrs. Robin Martin: Speaker, every worker in Ontario deserves to feel safe and protected on the job. Families count on knowing that their loved ones will come home at the end of the day. But for too long, gaps in workplace protections have left workers vulnerable. Many sectors have faced challenges like inadequate safety equipment, limited job-protected leave and weak enforcement of safety standards.

Our government is taking action to change that. We’re showing leadership by advancing worker health and safety measures that prioritize fairness, accountability and protection for everyone on the job. Speaker, can the minister please share how the government is improving worker health and safety and setting new standards to protect Ontario’s workforce?

Ms. Patrice Barnes: Thank you to the member for your follow-up question. Our government is working hard to ensure all workers in Ontario have the protections they deserve, with new initiatives designed to strengthen health, safety and fairness in workplaces across Ontario.

We’re especially proud of introducing a 16-week, job-protected leave for adoptive and surrogate parents, ensuring they have the time to bond with their children while aligning with federal EI adoption benefit changes. We’re also creating a 27-week long-term illness leave for workers facing serious medical conditions, which matches also again with federal EI sickness benefits.

We’re prioritizing proper-fitting PPE. We’re also cracking down on corporate negligence by implementing a minimum fine for repeat offenders under the Occupational Health and Safety Act when their violations result in death or serious injury.

Finally, we’re expanding the “slow down and move over” law to apply to all work-related vehicles with flashing lights, not just emergency vehicles, to protect workers at work on the roadside.

Immigrants’ skills

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: To the Premier: The Auditor General’s report shows that under this government, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program simply isn’t working. This program should be matching highly skilled newcomers to Ontario employers who desperately need them. These workers could fill gaps in sectors such as health care and housing construction, but the AG found that the ministry doesn’t track outcomes and the applicants face huge delays.

I heard from Tarek, a skilled trades worker, a welder, who could be building homes today, but he’s stuck waiting months to hear back from the government. Premier, how proud are you of the fact that Tarek and his employers, who want to hire him, are now waiting months when he could be growing our economy today?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development and the member for Ajax.

Ms. Patrice Barnes: I want to thank the member for your question because that is a very valid question. That is why we have been advocating with our federal government, who has broken an immigration system that has been in place and revered across the world for many years. They have mismanaged and been negligent in how they deliver this amazing service that we’ve had.

We’re now taking action to combat immigration scams and bad actors through the OINP. Our Working for Workers bill proposes legislation to crack down on fraudulent immigration representatives who exploit our newcomers. We’re proposing to introduce tougher penalties to increase fines, multi-year bans and lifetime bans for violations under the act for those who misrepresent and counsel others to deceive the Ontario immigration nominee program. We believe that we have one of the best programs and we agree that we need workers to work in Ontario.

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

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: The truth of the matter is that this isn’t a federal problem; it’s an Ontario problem. This government isn’t ensuring occupations with the largest vacancies are getting applicants. I see this government is ignoring the AG’s report which found that this program simply isn’t working.

My constituent Mohammed is a skilled trades worker who has waited over 260 days to hear back from the nominee program. He’s stuck behind other people who are also without job offers, because this government simply isn’t prioritizing the people they should be.

Will the Premier fix this problem and ensure people who can work in critical industries are prioritized first?

Ms. Patrice Barnes: We know that welcoming skilled trade workers to Ontario is essential to solving our province’s ongoing labour shortage. Despite more than 200,000 jobs going unfilled every day in Ontario, only one in four immigrants are working in the field that they’re trained in, and that is an injustice.

We are leading the country by recognizing foreign credentials, banning Canadian work experience requirements, streamlining language testing and mandating processing times. We need to continue to focus on our immigration system and addressing labour shortages.

Immigration is a federal issue. We have streamlined the skilled trades and health care that is needed in Ontario, and we will continue to do so.

Health care

Mr. Adil Shamji: Mr. Speaker, for the Premier: Last week, the Auditor General revealed that this government spent $103.5 million on ads, most of which were designed to promote the governing party. That’s the most expensive pat on the back our province has ever seen. I’d like to remind the Premier, Mr. Speaker, that the next time he gets the bright idea to spend $103.5 million on self-promotional ads, he can come to me instead, because I’ll do it for free.

Here’s a sample of my work: Imagine a place where tens of thousands of people don’t have a family doctor. Imagine a place where five local emergency departments closed just this weekend. Now, stop imagining. If you live in Huron–Bruce, Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound or Perth–Wellington, you already live there.

This weekend, tens of thousands of people in rural Ontario had no family doctor and no emergency department. Mr. Speaker, why does this Premier refuse to acknowledge that his mismanagement has caused entire regions of our province to become health care dead zones?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government side, come to order.

The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Mr. Speaker, we must always remember the Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne stated that they were holding health care costs down. In contrast, this government is investing in the public health care system. For example, right in the riding of Don Valley East, 1,650 individuals can benefit from this government’s investments in the expansion of the primary health care system through the Flemington Health Centre community health clinic.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, when the Liberals reduced the number of doctors being trained in Ontario, we increased the number of doctors being trained in Ontario. In fact, an additional number of doctors will be trained at the new medical training facilities in Vaughan, in Scarborough and across the province of Ontario. Where the Liberals failed, we will succeed.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Don Valley East will come to order, then he can place his supplementary question.

Mr. Adil Shamji: This government loves to talk about the investments it has made, but regular people don’t see any results. It has become clear that this government has a value-for-money problem. The only people getting value for money are the Premier’s friends.

The Ontario Place redevelopment: The Premier said it would cost $400 million; now the cost is up to $2.2 billion. Recklessly moving the science centre, which I disagree with, was supposed to cost $1 billion, and now the cost is up to $1.5 billion. A struggling Austrian spa company managed to get hundreds of millions of dollars out of this Premier to build a parking garage, and all a ministerial zoning order will cost you is a stroke of the Premier’s ego.

Meanwhile, Ontarians live in a state of health care anxiety. According to the ministry’s own data, not CIHI, here are the facts: Millions of people don’t have a family doctor. Millions more are at risk of losing theirs. So why does the Premier spend billions of dollars for his friends when the people of Ontario would love nothing more than to see that money spent on health care?

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore will come to order.

The Minister of Finance.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Mr. Speaker, let’s imagine an Ontario where 300,000 jobs left the province. Imagine an Ontario where taxes went up and fees went up. Imagine an Ontario where the credit ratings were downgraded repeatedly, time after time.

Wait a sec., Mr. Speaker. You don’t have to imagine it. That was the reality under the previous Liberal government. You don’t have to use any imagination.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. The member for Ottawa South, come to order. The member for Orléans, come to order. The member for Perth–Wellington, come to order. The member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas will come to order.

Start the clock. The Minister of Finance, I think, has a few more seconds.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the truth hurts.

But imagine an Ontario where 850,000 jobs were created since we took power in 2018. Imagine an Ontario where taxes went down and fees went down. Imagine an Ontario with two credit-rating upgrades, reducing borrowing costs. You don’t have to imagine. That’s the Ontario that exists today.

Mining industry

Mr. Lorne Coe: My question is to the Minister of Mines.

Ontario’s mining sector is a cornerstone of our economy. It supports thousands of jobs, drives innovation and provides essential materials for industries across the globe. Critical minerals metals like nickel, copper and gold are in high demand for use in everything from electronics to electric vehicles. These resources are key to building a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Ontario has an opportunity to lead the way by using innovative technologies to access resources that were once thought to be out of reach. Our government’s leadership will ensure we remain a global player while protecting our environment and creating jobs here at home.

Speaker, can the minister please share with this House how our government is driving innovation in Ontario’s mining industry?

Hon. George Pirie: Thank you to the member from Whitby for this question.

Last year, we passed the Building More Mines Act. Earlier this year, we passed regulations associated with it. And now, through the recovery of minerals regulation, our government is introducing the first-in-Canada regulatory change that will create jobs, foster innovations and promote sustainable mining practices while maintaining the highest health, safety and environmental standards.

As you know, rare earths were discovered just west of Otter Rapids. But the possibility of recovering these rare earths is probably going to happen first by reprocessing the slag dumps in Sudbury. That’s why this regulation is so important. With potentially hundreds of sites that contain copper, nickel, gold and more, we are enabling and encouraging industry to use new, innovative technologies to access previously non-viable sources of minerals and metals.

Speaker, we can meet the global demand for Ontario resources and do it through sustainable—

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

Mr. Lorne Coe: Ontario has a proud history of being a leader in mining and resource development. Our province is blessed with vast natural resources, skilled workers and innovative businesses that have positioned us as a global player in the critical minerals sector.

Today, the demand for critical minerals like lithium, nickel and graphite is skyrocketing. These minerals are essential for producing batteries, electric vehicles and other technologies that support and strengthen Ontario and US manufacturing. At the same time, securing a stable and sustainable supply of these resources has become a top priority for global security. The US and other allies are looking to Ontario as a trusted partner to help meet this challenge.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how Ontario is showing leadership in advancing critical mineral development to support US manufacturing and shared security needs?

Hon. George Pirie: Again, thank you to the member from Whitby for this question.

Speaker, Ontario is already a global leader in the mining and refining of gold, nickel, copper and cobalt. Our province is also home to several promising lithium and graphite development projects, among other critical mineral initiatives.

If we have the ability to expand our production by looking at alternative, responsibly sourced resources, we need to be enabling our innovative mining industry to do so. By providing this new regulatory framework for the recovery of minerals from mine wastes, we can increase our output and support more of our allies when it comes to the minerals we all depend on.

Speaker, Ontario is already a major metals and critical mineral trading partner with the US. Last year alone, total two-way trade in mined, milled, smelted and/or refined critical minerals between Ontario and the US was an astonishing $4.4 billion.

We have what the world needs right here at home, and by identifying new sources of minerals, we can continue to be a reliable supplier to all our trading partners, including and especially the US.

Hospital services

Mr. Jeff Burch: Speaker, through you to the Premier: Port Colborne’s urgent care centre has been operating with reduced hours since July 5, 2023. Niagara Health has now announced it will be closed permanently and wants to sell the Port Colborne hospital property, which was paid for by local workers and dedicated to the Port Colborne veterans of World War II.

At the same time, this Premier’s focus is on a vanity project at Ontario Place that will cost each household in the province $400.

Why is a family in Port Colborne, who could be losing their urgent care centre, expected to pay $400 to build a luxury spa in downtown Toronto?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the member for Essex.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Speaker, this government continues to invest and expand in approximately 50 hospital projects across the province of Ontario.

Let me give you a little bit of information about the Niagara Health expansion. This is the South Niagara site. It started in July of this year, and this is its first year of construction. This hospital is expected to be 1.3 million square feet. Its planned opening is for the year 2028, and it will be at the corner of Montrose Road and Biggar Road.

Of course, that’s only one example of the many, many hospital projects that are new projects and redevelopment projects that are occurring across the province of Ontario. This government is investing in hospitals and in the hospital system, not only in the north, but in the south. We are expanding our hospital care across the province of Ontario through a multi-billion dollar, multi-year expansion because we believe in public health care.

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

Mr. Jeff Burch: That’s the wrong city, wrong hospital.

The Welland Hospital has been without after-hours emergency surgical services since February 27, 2023. The people of Welland need a full-service hospital to replace their aging facility, but Niagara Health requires a planning grant to get that process under way. This minister has refused to respond to our request for a planning grant or to calls from the community to restore their emergency surgical services.

Speaker, through you to the Premier: Why should a family in Welland pay $400 for a luxury spa in downtown Toronto while emergency services are being removed from their aging local hospital?

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Mr. Speaker, we continue to invest in emergency care across the province of Ontario. We have a $44-million fund that is helping reduce emergency wait times across the province of Ontario—in addition to that, a $10-million fund that’s paying for a thousand nurses to upskill their emergency department skills.

Across the province of Ontario, we support emergency care—and that includes the emergency care that we provide to various ambulance services. The province of Ontario provides 50% of the funding for emergency ambulance services across Ontario. On top of that, we provide additional funding for special services, including mobile units, which are designed to assist communities in keeping people out of the emergency department.

Mr. Speaker, we’re committed to continuing these services, which include services and financial support to ambulance services and emergency departments, because we believe in the public health care system.

Affordable housing

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Good morning. My question is for the Premier. Ninety-three per cent of the deeply affordable homes built in the province of Ontario were built before 1995. There is no city or town in Ontario where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford average monthly rent. In Toronto alone, 92,965 people are on a wait-list for housing. The wait time? Fourteen years. Your government’s failure to build affordable homes has resulted in nearly a quarter of a million people in this province experiencing homelessness. The number has doubled in Waterloo region just in the last three years. But instead of fixing the problem, the Premier wants to take away people’s charter rights.

If the Premier outlaws encampments, can he tell us where people are supposed to go if there are no affordable homes for them to go to?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I’ll tell you what, the Progressive Conservatives—you know what we believe in? We believe that parks are for kids. We believe that parks are where people go to have fun, where parents bring their children, where grandparents bring their grandchildren. We believe our downtowns are centres where our small businesses can prosper. Our downtowns are where people get together, they celebrate, and on occasion sometimes we commemorate. That’s what we believe our parks and our downtowns are for. We’re going to double down to ensure that we can give our parks and our downtowns back to the people of the province of Ontario. We will not stop in order to get that done.

But at the same time, we’re going to continue to provide the resources that are needed so that we can get more affordable homes built across the province of Ontario. We invested over $1.2 billion—over $1.2 billion—in the Homelessness Prevention Program and with that, I am expecting results. If our service managers can’t deliver the results that the people of the province of Ontario expect, we will take further actions to make sure that we deliver results.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Let me be clear: I understand and I hear people’s frustrations about encampments. I, too, am angry that the Premier has failed to address the housing affordability crisis over the last six long years. Under this Premier’s watch, rent is at an all-time high. Under this Premier’s watch, the average cost of a house is up 50% in just six years, with no end in sight. And yet housing starts are down. Affordable and supportive housing? Not being built. The Premier says no to legalizing multiplexes and missing-middle housing. The Premier says no to Scotiabank’s recommendations that the government build 250,000 government-assisted non-profit and co-op housing.

So, Speaker, through you to the minister: Why does the Premier say no to building homes when he holds the key to unlocking affordable homes in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: It’s clear to me that the leader of the Green Party has literally no idea what is happening in the province of Ontario. Let me be very clear: The opposition Liberal and NDP, and obviously the Green, believe that parks are places where people with mental health and addictions should be.

You know what I think? Parks are where kids should be having fun, where parents should bring their kids to have fun. That’s what a park is for. People with mental health and addictions need help. That is why we’re bringing in HART hubs. That is why the minister of mental health and addictions has opened up more beds than at any other time in the province’s history.

Now, on Thursday, I will be presenting a bill in co-operation with the Attorney General and the Solicitor General. We will have additional resources for our police forces and communities to deal with encampments. But let me be clear: In advance of passing that bill, we will provide, again, additional resources to provide assistance and help for people suffering from mental health and addictions in encampments, in parks and in communities across the province.

And if the service managers of this province are unable to deliver the results that I expect, that we expect, then we will take different actions to ensure that we give parks and downtowns back to the hard-working people of the province of Ontario.

Public safety

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: My question is to the Solicitor General. Keeping children safe is one of our most important responsibilities. Every parent, every family and every community deserve to know that their loved ones are protected from harm.

The tragic story of Christopher Stephenson reminds us of what is at stake when it comes to public safety. Christopher’s Law has been vital to monitoring offenders, preventing crime and protecting vulnerable people. Why does public safety matter so much more now?

Can the Solicitor General please explain how your government enhancement of Christopher’s Law will lead to better protection of our communities in Ontario?

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: I want to thank my friend the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore.

Public safety is a question about leadership. Ontarians trust Premier Ford to make sure that their inherent rights to live safely in their communities are fulfilled every day. The Premier will do what it takes with legislation, with regulations, with the tone and with the reassurance to a community that nothing is more important than our public safety, and that’s why we came forward with strengthening Christopher’s Law just last week, to make sure that what happened to the Stephenson family will never happen to another family. Protecting the most vulnerable is our unwavering priority.

When it comes to public safety, Premier Ford and our government will prioritize it when others won’t and when others can’t.

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

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: When it comes to protecting our children, we must always stay ahead of those who would do them harm. Technology is changing quickly, and criminals are finding new ways to commit offences, including online.

Can the Solicitor General tell me why there is a video out there that the Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie says that she fears our great men and women of the Peel police who protect our children and vulnerable Ontarians?

Mr. Speaker, what I can tell you is public safety matters to Premier Ford and our government every day. It matters especially in the conversation at the borders now. The first trip I took was with the member for Sarnia–Lambton to see for myself our porous borders at the St. Clair River.

Premier Ford is speaking up when others won’t. We will leave no stone unturned in our message, and reassuring President Trump that the border safety matters. We will continue to make the investments. We will continue to stand with our municipal police services, especially in the border communities. We will continue to keep—

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

The next question.

Government contracts

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. Last week, we learned that Ontarians will be paying $2.2 billion for this government’s luxury spa scheme at Ontario Place. That’s a cost of $400 for every single household in this province.

Families in my community want to know why they are on the hook to help a private Austrian spa company when 128,000 Londoners can’t find a family doctor; when St. Joe’s urgent care has to stop accepting patients at noon because the waiting room is full; and when, as of this morning, there is a seven-hours-plus wait at the LHSC emergency department.

Why are London households being forced to pay $400 each to subsidize a private luxury spa in downtown Toronto?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Kinga Surma: To the hard-working people who live in London, what I would like to say is, we are spending $50 billion to expand and build new hospitals across the province of Ontario so that wherever you live, you can access that care. Whether it’s Hamilton, whether it’s Niagara, whether it’s Toronto, whether it’s Ottawa, rest assured Ontarians will have access to health care under the Premier’s leadership.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question? The member for London North Centre.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: My question is to the Premier.

Last week, we learned that every family in Ontario is on the hook for $400 to subsidize a foreign luxury spa. Instead of spending that money on health care, housing, schools, homelessness and roads in London, he’s spending it on 155 acres of prime land in Toronto to give away to an Austrian spa company. Sending $2.2 billion of our money to a struggling overseas company is ludicrous.

The Premier’s neglect of what are provincial responsibilities is why London’s property taxes are going up a crushing 30%. Why does every household in London have to pay $400 to a broke Austrian spa for the Premier’s elites in downtown Toronto?

Hon. Kinga Surma: What we are doing is spending $190 billion to build this province. We are spending a record amount for transit expansion. We are building highways. We are spending $50 billion expanding, building new hospitals across the province of Ontario. We’re connecting people to broadband, particularly those that live in northern Ontario. We’re spending $170 million for water infrastructure in order to build more homes in the province of Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, I have no problem speaking about our track record in the House for investing in infrastructure, but I cannot say the same—the leader of the official opposition was very clear today that if she were ever in government, she would build nothing.

Government services

Mr. John Yakabuski: My question is for the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement.

Ontarians rely on important government services every day, and ServiceOntario plays a key role in supporting families, businesses and individuals. From getting a health card or driver’s licence to registering life’s key events, ServiceOntario is there to help. These services are vital for accessing benefits, getting documents and settling estates.

Sadly, under the previous Liberal government, ServiceOntario was ignored, and people paid the price.

Under our government, ServiceOntario has made real progress by becoming more efficient and accessible. We’ve expanded online services and reduced wait times. Our government is delivering modern, responsive services that work for all Ontarians.

Can the minister please share how our government’s improvements to ServiceOntario are making life easier for people all across the province?

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: I thank the excellent member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke for that important and timely question about the essential work that ServiceOntario does as the front face of our Ontario government.

It is true that ServiceOntario does issue, among other things, driver’s licences and health cards, but as our great Minister of Finance would say, there’s more. In fact, vital event registrations of all types are foundational to so many aspects of our lives, from obtaining official identification documents to accessing government benefits and programs and, indeed, as the member noted, to settling estates.

That’s why I’m proud that our government has been working to modernize and expand access to ServiceOntario’s services and products, making it easier than ever for people across the province to register vital events and obtain documentation that they need. We’ve increased online service options, reduced wait times and made it more convenient for people to connect with ServiceOntario and their communities in many different ways.

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

Mr. John Yakabuski: Thank you to the minister for that answer.

We all know the joy and excitement that comes with welcoming a new baby into the world. It’s a special time for families, but it can also bring a lot of paperwork. From registering a birth to applying for benefits, the process can sometimes feel overwhelming for new parents. That’s why it is so important to make these steps as easy as possible.

Our government, through ServiceOntario, has made great progress in helping parents with these vital tasks. By cutting red tape and introducing new programs, we’re making it simpler for families to focus on what matters most: their new child.

Speaker, can the minister please share more about how ServiceOntario’s new birth registration programs are helping families all across Ontario?

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy: I thank the member for that supplementary question.

We all know that the birth of a child is one of life’s most joyous and profound moments.

In fact, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and her husband welcomed their second child, baby Anastasia, earlier this year. And we look forward to the Minister of Long-Term Care and her husband welcoming their new baby in 2025—and in doing so, I believe that the Minister of Long-Term Care will be able to access the 5-in-1 bundle, as did the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, she informed me.

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

Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We have with us, in the Speaker’s gallery, a former member who served the riding of Cochrane South in the 35th and 36th Parliaments, was the member for Timmins–James Bay in the 37th, 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Parliaments and the member for Timmins in the 42nd Parliament, Gilles Bisson.

Welcome back again today. It’s always good to see you.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Brampton West has a point of order.

Mr. Amarjot Sandhu: I would like to take this opportunity to welcome a friend and the founder and CEO of EOK Consults, a leading digital marketing agency in Ontario. Welcome to Queen’s Park, Harneet Singh.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Cambridge may have a point of order.

Mr. Brian Riddell: I just would like to announce that today is Minister McCarthy’s birthday.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Kitchener Centre may have a point of order.

Ms. Aislinn Clancy: I want to welcome the African Women’s Alliance of Waterloo Region and the wonderful young people who are visiting us here at Queen’s Park from my riding. Welcome to your House.

Deferred Votes

Resource Management and Safety Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur la gestion des ressources et la sécurité

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

Bill 228,

An Act to enact the Geologic Carbon Storage Act, 2024 and to amend various Acts with respect to wildfires, resource safety and surveyors / Projet de loi 228, Loi édictant la Loi de 2024 sur le stockage géologique de carbone et modifiant diverses lois concernant les incendies de végétation, la sécurité des ressources et les arpenteurs-géomètres.

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

The division bells rang from 1143 to 1148.

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

On November 27, 2024, Mr. Smith, Parry Sound–Muskoka, moved second reading of Bill 228,

An Act to enact the Geologic Carbon Storage Act, 2024 and to amend various Acts with respect to wildfires, resource safety and surveyors.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Allsopp, Tyler

Andrew, Jill

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Babikian, Aris

Bailey, Robert

Barnes, Patrice

Bell, Jessica

Bethlenfalvy, Peter

Blais, Stephen

Bouma, Will

Bourgouin, Guy

Brady, Bobbi Ann

Bresee, Ric

Burch, Jeff

Byers, Rick

Calandra, Paul

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Clark, Steve

Coe, Lorne

Collard, Lucille

Crawford, Stephen

Cuzzetto, Rudy

Dixon, Jess

Dowie, Andrew

Downey, Doug

Dunlop, Jill

Fife, Catherine

Flack, Rob

Fraser, John

Gallagher Murphy, Dawn

Gélinas, France

Grewal, Hardeep Singh

Hamid, Zee

Hardeman, Ernie

Harden, Joel

Hazell, Andrea

Hogarth, Christine

Hsu, Ted

Jama, Sarah

Jones, Trevor

Jordan, John

Kanapathi, Logan

Karpoche, Bhutila

Ke, Vincent

Kernaghan, Terence

Kerzner, Michael S.

Kusendova-Bashta, Natalia

Leardi, Anthony

Lumsden, Neil

Mamakwa, Sol

Martin, Robin

McCarthy, Todd J.

McMahon, Mary-Margaret

Mulroney, Caroline

Oosterhoff, Sam

Pang, Billy

Parsa, Michael

Pasma, Chandra

Pierre, Natalie

Pinsonneault, Steve

Pirie, George

Quinn, Nolan

Rae, Matthew

Rakocevic, Tom

Riddell, Brian

Romano, Ross

Sabawy, Sheref

Sandhu, Amarjot

Sarkaria, Prabmeet Singh

Sarrazin, Stéphane

Sattler, Peggy

Saunderson, Brian

Shamji, Adil

Shaw, Sandy

Skelly, Donna

Smith, Dave

Smith, David

Smith, Graydon

Smith, Laura

Stevens, Jennifer (Jennie)

Stiles, Marit

Surma, Kinga

Tabuns, Peter

Tangri, Nina

Thanigasalam, Vijay

Thompson, Lisa M.

Triantafilopoulos, Effie J.

Vanthof, John

Wai, Daisy

Williams, Charmaine A.

Wong-Tam, Kristyn

Yakabuski, John

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): All those opposed to the motion, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Nays

Clancy, Aislinn

Schreiner, Mike

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day): The ayes are 92; the nays are 2.

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

Second reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Shall the bill be ordered for third reading? I heard a no. I look to the minister for a committee referral.

Hon. Graydon Smith: Refer to the Standing Committee on the Interior.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The bill is therefore referred to the Standing Committee on the Interior.

Affordable Home Heating Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur le chauffage domestique abordable

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

Bill 213,

An Act to enact the Affordable Home Heating Act, 2024 and amend the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998 / Projet de loi 213, Loi édictant la Loi de 2024 sur le chauffage domestique abordable et modifiant la Loi de 1998 sur la Commission de l’énergie de l’Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Call in the members. This will be a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1153 to 1154.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): On December 5, 2024, Mr. Rakocevic moved second reading of Bill 213,

An Act to enact the Affordable Home Heating Act, 2024 and amend the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998.

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

Ayes

Andrew, Jill

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Bell, Jessica

Blais, Stephen

Bourgouin, Guy

Brady, Bobbi Ann

Burch, Jeff

Collard, Lucille

Fife, Catherine

Fraser, John

Gélinas, France

Harden, Joel

Hazell, Andrea

Hsu, Ted

Jama, Sarah

Karpoche, Bhutila

Kernaghan, Terence

Mamakwa, Sol

McMahon, Mary-Margaret

Pasma, Chandra

Rakocevic, Tom

Sattler, Peggy

Schreiner, Mike

Shamji, Adil

Shaw, Sandy

Stevens, Jennifer (Jennie)

Stiles, Marit

Tabuns, Peter

Vanthof, John

Wong-Tam, Kristyn

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

Nays

Allsopp, Tyler

Babikian, Aris

Bailey, Robert

Barnes, Patrice

Bethlenfalvy, Peter

Bouma, Will

Bresee, Ric

Byers, Rick

Calandra, Paul

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Clark, Steve

Coe, Lorne

Crawford, Stephen

Cuzzetto, Rudy

Dixon, Jess

Dowie, Andrew

Downey, Doug

Dunlop, Jill

Flack, Rob

Gallagher Murphy, Dawn

Grewal, Hardeep Singh

Hamid, Zee

Hardeman, Ernie

Hogarth, Christine

Jones, Trevor

Jordan, John

Kanapathi, Logan

Kerzner, Michael S.

Kusendova-Bashta, Natalia

Leardi, Anthony

Lumsden, Neil

Martin, Robin

McCarthy, Todd J.

Mulroney, Caroline

Oosterhoff, Sam

Pang, Billy

Parsa, Michael

Pierre, Natalie

Pinsonneault, Steve

Pirie, George

Quinn, Nolan

Rae, Matthew

Riddell, Brian

Romano, Ross

Sabawy, Sheref

Sandhu, Amarjot

Sarkaria, Prabmeet Singh

Sarrazin, Stéphane

Saunderson, Brian

Skelly, Donna

Smith, Dave

Smith, David

Smith, Graydon

Smith, Laura

Surma, Kinga

Tangri, Nina

Thanigasalam, Vijay

Thompson, Lisa M.

Triantafilopoulos, Effie J.

Wai, Daisy

Williams, Charmaine A.

Yakabuski, John

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day): The ayes are 30; the nays are 62.

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

Second reading negatived.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): There being no further business this morning, this House stands in recess until 1:00 p.m.

The House recessed from 1157 to 1300.

Introduction of Visitors

Hon. Trevor Jones: I’d like to welcome a team from the amazing staff at Emergency Management Ontario, including Todd, Alisha, Alyssa, Madison, Arminda, Monica, Philip, Michelle, Eric, Vino and our own deputy minister, Bernie Derible. Welcome.

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner: I’m delighted to introduce a person who loves his community of London, Ontario, somebody I’ve known for 40 years: Mr. Peter Ross. Welcome to the Ontario Legislature.

Introduction of Government Bills

Emergency Management Modernization Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur la modernisation de la gestion des situations d’urgence

Mr. Jones moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 238,

An Act to make statutory amendments respecting emergency management and authorizing enforceable directives to specified entities providing publicly-funded community and social services / Projet de loi 238, Loi visant à apporter des modifications législatives concernant la gestion des situations d’urgence et autorisant la formulation de directives exécutoires aux entités publiques désignées qui fournissent des services communautaires et sociaux financés par les fonds publics.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche): Would the minister like to briefly explain the bill?

Hon. Trevor Jones: I would, Speaker. Thank you.

The Emergency Management Modernization Act, if passed, would enable the province, communities and key partners to work better together to keep Ontario safe, practised and prepared for any emergency by strengthening provincial emergency management coordination and giving municipalities more tools to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.

Introduction of Bills

Green Lights for Coast Guard Auxiliary Act, 2024 / Loi de 2024 sur les feux verts pour la Garde côtière auxiliaire

Mr. Kernaghan moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 239,

An Act to amend the Highway Traffic Act with respect to green lights for coast guard auxiliary / Projet de loi 239, Loi modifiant le Code de la route en ce qui concerne les feux verts pour la Garde côtière auxiliaire.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche): Would the member like to briefly explain the bill?

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: This bill amends subsection 62(16) of the Highway Traffic Act to provide that a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, responding to an emergency call to a boat, may carry on or in his or her vehicle and operate a lamp that produces intermittent flashes of green light. Many Coast Guard Auxiliary members are worried about getting to the boat to respond to an emergency in time. This bill would provide them with a green light to allow them to get to the emergency as quickly as possible and rescue people who are in distress.

It’s my honour to table this bill along with the MPP for St. Catharines.

Petitions

Health care

Mr. Ted Hsu: I have a petition from constituents in Kingston and the Islands, many of whom experienced the mass vaccination clinics during the COVID pandemic organized by Dr. Elaine Ma. She was audited by OHIP, and a demand for repayment from OHIP was upheld by a recent Health Services Appeal and Review Board ruling.

The undersigned constituents call on the Premier and the health minister to demonstrate their commitment to Ontario’s health care workers by ordering OHIP to set aside the HSARB decision and cease demanding repayment of earned billings.

Tenant protection

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It’s my honour to read a petition entitled “Call on the Legislative Assembly to Implement Real Rent Control.”

This petition is talking about the rent control legislation that Premier Ford withdrew on all new builds first occupied after November 2018. Since that time, we’ve seen a cost-of-living crisis escalate out of control. Average rent has increased over 50% in the last 10 years. People are finding it hard to make ends meet, to put food on the table and to look after the necessities.

This petition calls upon the Legislative Assembly to pass the Rent Stabilization Act that I was honoured to co-sponsor, and this would make sure that there is rent control that operates in between tenancies. It plugs the loophole that Liberals opened with vacancy decontrol, but it also creates a public rent registry so that tenants can find out what a former tenant paid in rent and also provides access to legal aid supports for tenants, because we’re seeing right now a homelessness crisis that is not getting any better under this Conservative government.

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and deliver it with page Maadhav to the Clerks.

Public safety

Mr. Brian Saunderson: I have a petition asking this government to lobby the federal government to introduce comprehensive bail reforms that prioritize public safety and deter auto theft by holding offenders accountable.

We have discussed many times in this House the need for bail reform. We know that auto theft is on the rise across Ontario. It creates financial losses for the families, increased insurance premiums and a sense of insecurity for our residents in their communities.

We know and have talked many times in this House about the failure of the current bail system, which allows offenders charged with auto theft to re-offend while out on bail awaiting trial for their first offence. We need to break this cycle, and this petition is asking this government to call on the federal government to make the necessary changes to implement that.

Protection for workers

Mr. John Fraser: I have a petition here that is requesting WSIB for PSWs, DSWs and youth workers. Some 25% of health care workers and workers in this category in Ontario don’t have WSIB. It all depends on your employer. If the province is your employer, you have it; if the province isn’t your employer, you don’t have it, but you’re doing the same work. It is unjust and unfair that people don’t have the same coverage. These are vulnerable workers, mostly women, and they should have WSIB coverage.

I agree with this petition, and I’m affixing my name and giving it to page Elyse.

Tenant protection

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: This petition is to call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to implement rent control. As we all know, rent has increased by over 50% in the past 10 years. All Ontarians definitely have the right to a safe and affordable place they can call home.

We’re calling for Ontario to pass our Rent Stabilization Act to establish rent control that operates during and between tenancies. Residents will be able to see a public rent registry that leads tenants so that they can find out what former tenants actually paid in the same building and within the same unit. They’ll have access to legal aid for all tenants that want to contest an illegal rent hike, and stronger enforcements and tougher penalties for landlords who do not properly maintain renters’ homes.

I want to say, there are many residents in St. Catharines that are already being price-gouged, not only with no rent control but also being asked for their visitors to pay parking.

We have to make this affordable across all Ontario, Madam Speaker. I am going to affix my name and agree with Jessica Jester from London, Ontario. I’m affixing my name to this petition and sending it down with page Laura.

Caregivers

Mr. Ted Hsu: I have a petition entitled “Support 24/7 Caregivers.” It comes from our mosque in Kingston. It recognizes the fact that even though we’re debating a bill later on this afternoon about long-term care, improving long-term care, and retirement homes, there are many family caregivers who take care of their loved ones at home and really support the system, and whose work just cannot be replaced by any sort of public system.

The petition asks for support for those family caregivers through financial compensation, for example, or any other kinds of relief from the stress that they experience by caring for their loved ones.

Education funding

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: I’m proud to rise in this House and read this petition into the record. The petition is from the Elementary Teachers of Toronto, and it is delivered to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

They are calling on the government to stop the cuts and to invest in our schools so that students can get what they deserve, which is that high-quality education that everyone expects. The government has been cutting funding for students by $800 each. This happened during the pandemic period. Additionally, $6 billion was cut from our schools over the next six years.

These massive cuts have resulted in larger classroom sizes and a reduction in physical and special education. We are seeing a reduction in mental health supports and less resources for students, and, of course, the languishing buildings become much more unsafe.

They’ve also noted that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario should be reversing these cuts to our schools; fixing the inadequate education formula; ensuring that schools have the funding they need to support the students; making all the investments to provide smaller classrooms; and increasing the level of staffing to ensure that students have access to high-quality education.

I’m very proud to sign this petition and to send it to the centre table with page Donnique.

Social assistance

Ms. Aislinn Clancy: I’m here to speak up for folks who are on OW and ODSP. I want to thank Sally Palmer and the African Women’s Alliance of Waterloo Region for their support of this petition to raise the rates of Ontario Works and ODSP.

We know more and more people are struggling to find a place to live that they can afford, and with doubling of food bank use in our region, we think it’s important that people have enough money for a roof and food. CERB said a basic income was $2,000 a month, and we’re urging the government to increase these funds to ensure that we have a basic income for folks in legislated poverty.

I support this petition and I’ll give it to page Macarius.

Economic development

Mr. Deepak Anand: This is a petition which is actually talking about how we need more investments for the people of Ontario, but not just that we need investments. We don’t want to borrow the money; we actually want to increase the revenue. So this is a petition which is talking about how critical our manufacturing sector is for economic growth, providing thousands of jobs and creating industries across the province.

The residents are saying to implement and invest in the policies that will help and increase Ontario’s manufacturing sector. The reason for that is, when the manufacturing sector increases, it will increase the revenue for the province of Ontario. It will give economic financial strength to the residents of Ontario. And when the whole manufacturing sector increases, the whole province will have better progress also.

So I want to say thank you to the resident who has sent this petition, which is asking for Ontario to remain competitive in the rapidly changing global economy, fostering innovation and promoting the local supply chain. I want to say thank you to the resident for thinking of Ontario, how we can increase the revenue of Ontario and how we can build a better stronger Ontario.

I absolutely support this petition, Madam Speaker, and would like to give it to Jonah to pass it on to the centre table.

Health care funding

Mr. John Fraser: I have a petition here to support access to spine care in Ontario. Essentially, what it is—the petitioners are asking for the government to take complex spinal surgeries into consideration. Often with painful conditions like scoliosis, patients go a long time before they get a surgeon who’s able to do that—if they can, because it’s very complex surgeries that the government doesn’t fund properly, so it’s hard to get a surgeon. And then to find the operating room time to do that is very hard for these petitioners, and they’d like to see that changed.

I agree with this petition. I’m going to sign it and give it to page Kamila.

Homelessness

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: The petition I have is to address London’s urgent homelessness crisis. In my city of London, shelters are over 100% capacity, while vacancy rates are around 1%. There are 2,000 people, at the time of this petition’s drafting, on the city’s homeless registry, and more than 300 Londoners are experiencing chronic homelessness, while 7,000 people are waiting on the affordable housing wait-list.

This petition calls upon the government to invest emergency funds to London’s homelessness prevention system, including shelters, mental health care and harm reduction providers—for the wonderful work that they provide, they aren’t paid nearly enough—but also to fund and build affordable and supportive housing, so that people who have lived in crisis remain housed with the supports that they require, if this government sees fit.

I fully support this petition. I will affix my signature and deliver it with page Autumn to the Clerks.

Economic development

Mr. Anthony Leardi: I have a petition here. It’s about the Ring of Fire. To summarize the petition, it talks about the Ring of Fire being a crucial resource for the province of Ontario. It makes reference to essential minerals such as nickel, copper and chromite, and it also makes reference to how these minerals are important to our future technologies and our future economy. It makes reference to job creation, especially in the north, and economic growth, especially in the north. And then, finally, it calls upon the Legislature of the province of Ontario to commit to making a timely and responsible development of the Ring of Fire, so that this can be benefiting to all people in Ontario.

I certainly support this petition. I will sign it and give it to this excellent page, Charlotte, and ask her to bring it to the Clerks’ table.

I will just note that we are far behind where we should be in terms of access for Ontarians with disabilities, given that the target year is 2025.

Addiction services

Ms. Aislinn Clancy: I’m bringing forward these signatures from my riding of Kitchener Centre. The people of Kitchener believe that we need not only rehab services, but also harm reduction. Safe consumption sites have saved 32,632 lives from 2016 to 2022. We know, and data shows, that these sites prevent toxic drug deaths, they prevent the spread of infectious disease and they prevent public drug use. So the people of Kitchener Centre are asking to continue this low-barrier mental health and addiction service.

I believe in this petition, as does the African Women’s Alliance of Waterloo Region. I will put my signature on it and pass it to the wonderful page Jonah.

Social assistance

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: I’m very proud to present this petition into the House. It has been submitted by Dr. Sally Palmer. The petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and it is to raise the social assistance rates.

We recognize that, in Ontario, individuals living on ODSP as well as OW are living in poverty. We recognize that those citizens have been left far behind. They have been frozen in time. We recognize that even during the COVID pandemic, the federal government put forward a basic income of $2,000 per month and that that was seen as at least the minimum to support individuals during the pandemic.

Therefore, these petitioners are calling on the Legislative Assembly to double the social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.

I’m proud to send this petition back to the centre table with page Dawson.

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Mr. Anthony Leardi: I move that, pursuant to standing order 50 and notwithstanding any other standing order or special order of the House relating to Bill 229,

An Act to enact the Skilled Trades Week Act, 2024 and to amend various statutes with respect to employment and labour and other matters;

That when Bill 229 is next called as a government order, the Speaker shall put every question necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill without further debate or amendment; and

That, upon receiving second reading, the bill shall be ordered for third reading, which order may be called the same day; and

That when the order for third reading of Bill 229 is called, one hour shall be allotted to debate, with 25 minutes for members of His Majesty’s government, 25 minutes for members of His Majesty’s loyal opposition and 10 minutes for the independent members as a group; and

That, at the end of this time, the Speaker shall interrupt the proceedings and shall put every question necessary to dispose of the third reading stage of Bill 229 without further debate or amendment.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche): Mr. Leardi has moved government notice of motion number 29.

I return to the member to start the debate.

Mr. Anthony Leardi: Before us we had Working for Workers Six, which was, obviously, the sixth in a series. The government made it quite clear from the very beginning that we would continue to introduce such legislation often. I even previously stood in this chamber and I spoke about Working for Workers Five and I said there would be a number 6 and a number 7 and a number 8 and so on and so on and so on, because this government is committed to working for workers. Through our Minister of Labour, we have been making progress every step of the way.

It’s my intention for the next period, while we debate the motion, to refer to the act itself and, in addition to that, to refer to various other implementations and strategies which the government has introduced throughout the course of its government since 2018 in order to strengthen the position of workers in the province of Ontario.

I think that all 124 of the members of this chamber would agree that we have a fantastic workforce in the province of Ontario. It is a trained workforce. It is an educated workforce. It is a workforce that is skillful in all sorts of endeavours.

I can make reference to my own specific riding, which is the riding of Essex, where we are very, very fortunate to have a very diversified economy and, in addition to that, where we are very, very fortunate to have a diversified workforce that knows how to participate in that economy.

Let me provide a few examples of what I’m talking about. For example, my riding, Essex, is part of the county of Essex. The county of Essex is very much a rural riding, and it has a workforce that is designed to support industries and economic activities that are commonly developed in rural areas. Of course, when we think of that, we always think of agriculture. We have some spectacular agriculturalists in my riding. I could name families like the Wismers and the Maillouxs and the Drouillards; these are names that, if you mentioned them in my riding, they would be famous.

Everybody would know who you’re talking about. The Wismers—fantastically successful agriculturalists in my riding; I could say the same of the Drouillards; I could say the same of the Maillouxs. Of course, they’re supported by a fantastic workforce—a workforce which understands the industry of agriculture and understands how important it is to produce quality food and get it to market in a way that consumers want to have it.

Finally, on that topic, I want to say that I want to thank, specifically, the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Transportation before the present Minister of Transportation. I want to thank both of them because there are approximately 2,000 trucks that leave the area of Kingsville and Leamington every single week—2,000 trucks bringing produce to market along Highway 3, which is a principal highway in the county of Essex.

That highway is being expanded from two lanes to four lanes, which will not only improve commuting safety in the riding of Essex, but in addition to that, it will make it easier for those 2,000 trucks to get their goods to market. That is a great support for the agricultural industry in the riding of Essex and a great support for all of the workers who are working in that industry, from the people who plant it, to the people who pick it, to the people who package it, to the people to process it. It is a wonderful industry.

We’re so happy to have that in the riding of Essex and we’re happy to continue supporting the workers in that industry.

I spoke earlier about how we have a diversified economy in Essex; part of our diversified economy is the manufacturing industry. The manufacturing industry is very, very important to my riding, even though it’s primarily a rural riding. We have great manufacturing interests in my riding, and those manufacturing interests are supported by the workers who know manufacturing like the back of their hand. Sometimes when you want to know what’s going to happen in the manufacturing industry, you don’t need to read Forbes. You don’t need to read The Economist.

All you need to do is go talk to somebody from Unifor Local 444 and say, “Hey, what’s going on in the manufacturing industry?” They’ll tell you. They’ll say, “We have this product lined up to come in year 1 or year 2 or year 3.” Or they’ll tell you, “Listen, this product is being phased out. We’re hoping to get another product.” They can predict the ups and downs of the economy because they see the product coming in through their plant. That speaks volumes to the fantastic manufacturing workforce that we have in the province of Ontario, and I wanted to say a little bit about that.

Finally, I also want to say something about our skilled workers. I wanted to say that the province, in conjunction with all of the Working for Workers acts that we have been introducing over the course of time, that we’ve also been supporting our skilled trades in training individuals in the province of Ontario to provide a pipeline for skilled tradespeople in the province of Ontario. As we all know, the typical person in the skilled trades is a person who is nearing the age of retirement—closer to retirement than they are entering. The average person getting into the skilled trades was typically 28 years old.

We’re trying to bring that age down. We’re trying to get people into the skilled trades faster and we’re trying to get people into the skilled trades at a younger age. That’s why we’ve introduced so many programs through the Ministry of Education to make sure that we get people not only interested in the skilled trades but also into the training programs. To that end, the Ministry of Labour has supported various trades, and I want to mention three.

First, I want to mention LIUNA Local 625, which is a local in my area. I’ll talk about the training centre, which is not located in my riding; it’s located right next door. Even though it’s not located in my riding, I know people in my riding will benefit from it, because those people who are interested in getting into the construction trades are going to be able to go to LIUNA and they are going to be able to get the training they need. That is supported by a specific grant from the government of the province of Ontario, which is permitting LIUNA Local 625 to upgrade and build their training centre, located just next door to my riding.

I also want to mention IBEW. IBEW is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and they are also participating in this government program to help upskill and train electricians. So many are going to be needed not only now but also in the future. IBEW has also been the recipient of government funding so that they can build a training facility and get more electricians into the skilled trades so that we can help build Ontario.

When I think about that, I think of the homes that we’re going to need for the many, many people who are looking for homes and the many people who have decided to call Ontario home and will be looking to found a family and start a home in the province of Ontario.

Finally, I wanted to specifically mention one more union, and that’s the carpenters and joiners’ union. They too have benefited from the grants given by the province of Ontario, and they too will be building a new training centre in our area, in the greater Essex area, in order to get more carpenters into the skilled trades to build the homes that we’re going to need in the province of Ontario.

I wanted to mention those programs because they’re so vital to getting skilled trades in the province of Ontario and getting young people into the skilled trades. I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll mention it again: One of the common telephone calls that I get in my constituency office is actually from grandmothers who are seeking to get their grandchildren into the skilled trades. They call my office and they say, “How do we do this?” I’ll often refer them to LIUNA or IBEW or the carpenters and joiners’ unions, and I say, “Here’s the number to call.

Call these people, and they will get your grandson or your granddaughter into a program and train them for a great career that’s going to give them a job for life, interesting work; often give them great pay with a great pension and even benefits.” So that’s part of what we as a government believe in and will continue to support through the programs that we introduce.

The bill before us also made steps to expand cancer coverage for firefighters, and this was a reduction of the duration of service required for what we call presumptive coverage. Presumptive coverage means that should a firefighter contract primary-site kidney cancer and should that firefighter have 10 years of service, it will be presumed that the firefighter contracted that disease in the course of their duties. If this is passed, it will lower that to 10 years.

Previous to this legislation, the presumptive factor was 20 years. In order to be eligible for the presumption, you had to work 20 years in order to be eligible for that, but under this legislation, now it will only be 10 years of service. Of course, we hope that nobody will contract this terrible cancer, but in the event that they do, they will be benefiting from this presumption.

Also, in this piece of legislation, they created a new parental leave for parents through adoption and surrogacy. That will give them a 16-week job protection period, and I think that is an improvement over what it was in the past.

Also included in this legislation is a new 27-week long-term-illness leave for employees unable to work due to serious medical conditions. These would be defined by a medical practitioner. Here are a couple of examples of what might be meant by that: Cancer would be a serious medical condition, multiple sclerosis would be a serious medical condition and Crohn’s disease would be a serious medical condition.

If this legislation passes, that would mean that this would be one of the longest provincial leaves that are eligible for workers in all of Canada, and it will ensure that workers who have one of these serious medical conditions, or perhaps a different serious medical condition, will be able to take the time they need away from their jobs in order to recover, concentrate on their health, without the risk or fear of losing their job.

We’re also taking steps to make the trades more welcoming to women and that is a step that I think is fairly important. We’re going to make sure that, if this legislation passes, if women are seeking to enter the trades and they need personal protection equipment—which everybody does when you’re in a trade—that personal protection equipment be made for all persons of all body types. That might seem, on its face, not to be a great leap into the future, but as a matter of fact, it is an important step because that is sometimes something which has been unwelcoming in the past.

We want to change that and we want to make it instead welcoming. We’ll say the same thing about washroom cleaning records, which will be benefiting everybody. That is a step forward as well.

We’re also cracking down on bad actors and people that harm workers. We’re going to have minimum fines for people who are convicted of repeat offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act within a two-year period. This will be a factor or a consideration which will take into account serious injury—a serious injury of one worker or a serious injury of more than one worker. It will also take into account those incidents which might result in death. If this legislation passes, one of the considerations which will be imposed will be a mandatory minimum fine of $500,000 for a corporation or individual convicted of repeat offences.

You have heard me, Madam Speaker, several times in this Legislature make reference to the enforcement provisions in various pieces of legislation. I tend to concentrate on that because we like to call this the teeth in the legislation. People often say, “That’s nice to have that in the legislation, but how are you going to enforce it? How are you going to make it work?” Of course, that’s through the teeth; that’s through the enforcement provisions of the legislation. If this legislation is passed, it will introduce a new minimum fine of $500,000 for a corporation that is convicted of repeat offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

So those are some general comments about what the legislation does, and also some general comments about some initiatives that have been introduced by the government of Ontario. It is, if I may say so, my intention to continue supporting these initiatives and, I hope, other initiatives that will be introduced by the government of Ontario.

I don’t anticipate that Working for Workers Six will be the last Working for Workers act that this government will introduce. I’m looking forward to Working for Workers number 7 and number 8 and number 9, and so on and so on and so on, because as I have said before, and as others in the government party have already said before, we will never stop working for workers.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche): Further debate?

Mr. John Vanthof: It’s always an honour to speak in this House—today, on the time allocation motion basically rushing Working for Workers Six through the House. I don’t want to leave any misunderstanding: We support this bill, but we do not support time allocation, mainly because it is removing the committee process from the legislation.

So while the government claims that they know everything that needs to be known about workers, eliminating committee kind of—

Interjection.

Mr. John Vanthof: Yes, but they don’t want to listen to those same workers. Again, we are in favour of, by far, most of the changes made in this bill.

Miss Monique Taylor: Modest changes.

Mr. John Vanthof: Modest changes.

In our view, this is Working for Workers Eight, because Bill 124 and Bill 28 also concern workers and they were very, very, very anti-worker. They don’t like to mention Bill 124—wasn’t that one struck down in court? Didn’t that one cost billions of dollars when they had to repay to workers the wages they basically tried to—I don’t know if “steal” is parliamentary; if it isn’t, that they unrightfully took from workers.

They don’t mention that; they don’t even lift their heads. I don’t know whether that’s Working for Workers 1 or 2 or 4, but there’s actually eight Working for Workers bills. The other one was, I believe, when education workers went on strike and they tried to limit their ability to strike—again, unconstitutionally. So it’s easy to understand why we would be a bit reluctant whenever they propose legislation to not have committee to actually listen so we can hear what workers actually are saying about the bill, and not just workers that they contact. Because they also rush these.

We don’t have any prior time to actually look at these bills to make a broad range of consultation ourselves on these particular issues. That’s why we support the bill but don’t support the way the government is doing it, specifically the committee.

I listened intently to the member from Essex. I actually like the Legislature; I like listening to people’s input. I believe people’s input is important, and I believe differing opinions are important. That’s how this system is supposed to work. So that’s why I disagree that this is Working for Workers Six. The member from Essex says it’s six; I think it’s Working for Workers Eight—so, six were okay, and two massive failures.

He talked about transportation. I would fully agree that people driving trucks are workers, and they should have the safest conditions possible, and so should the people who share the roads with those trucks. He used an example that on Highway 3, I believe, there were 2,000 trucks a week from one—and he could correct me, but I believe it was from one facility there were 2,000 trucks a week. That’s a lot. He was commending the government for taking steps to multi-lane I believe it’s Highway 3—great.

I would like to put on the record that on Highway 11, north of North Bay, which is where it becomes two-lane, there are 1,800 in the trucks a day, driven by workers and surrounded by other workers trying to get to their jobs, surrounded by families.

There don’t seem to be the same protections provided to those workers, to the people driving the trucks, who are great truck drivers. It’s not an easy job, driving trucks. It isn’t, and specifically in our part of the world, where there are no shoulders. If you don’t know this and you pull your truck over to the shoulder, you’re not getting back out. You’re stuck. There are no rest areas—very few. There is a place; we call it the Field cut-off. It’s where Highway 64 and Highway 11 butt. There has been a rest area promised for that corner almost, I think, as long as I’ve been here.

And it’s needed, because there is no place for trucks to stop—no place at all. Shouldn’t that be a priority for Working for Workers? That’s what’s frustrating, Speaker, that there are so many things should be done, could be done, in the cases of the rest areas that are promised to be done and just aren’t.

Why I keep focusing for us—and every time someone gives me the opportunity to speak, I’m going to talk about Highway 11 and its impact on the workers of the country. Because Highway 11 is the Trans-Canada Highway—11 to 17. When they’re stopped—and they’re stopped multiple times, and I’m not even talking about the people who lose their lives on 11 and 17 because of the risks involved. That’s a whole different issue. I’m talking about the millions and millions and millions of dollars that are lost by Ontario and lost by other provinces each time the commerce of the country is stopped.

Because, quite frankly, Ontario isn’t living up to its obligations protecting workers across this country regarding that artery—even on incredibly simple things.

I’ve got a question for the House: Does everyone here check 511 before they go for a trip?

Interjection: I did.

Mr. John Vanthof: We do in northern Ontario. But you know what? It happens very often. And I’ve got to mention his name in the House: Shawn Poirier. He’s a trucker. He actually ran against me once—great guy. I don’t hold that against him. He had issues to bring to the table, and he brought them. He continues to bring them. And he brought this to my attention again: We all check 511, but you know what? Sometimes, in northern Ontario, they don’t update it. So you can check 511 and it will say, “road’s clear.” But you check Facebook, and “road’s closed.”

Imagine a place where 511 was accurate. We hear all these ads about how great Ontario is and how you should be able to imagine it. You wouldn’t need to imagine it if it was actually happening. That’s the problem: The basic, basic stuff shouldn’t be beyond the capability of the government to have 511. So you put in 511—I have it on my, what is it? It’s not called Twitter anymore. It’s X. And it must be other places too; X is pretty volatile these days. But you still don’t know if it’s accurate. So what is that? And that’s the same for workers, for people on those trucks.

I’m going to be really—I have to be careful with—no, I don’t have to be careful with this issue. There are people who are driving those trucks, some of them who shouldn’t be, because somehow they get licensed without the proper training. And some of them aren’t licensed in Ontario. I always hear, “Well, this is a federal problem.” But many of them are, without the proper training. That’s not only dangerous for the drivers; that’s dangerous for them. Because, regardless of who you are or where you come from, everyone in this province, in this country, in this world, wants to come home to their family.

And it’s incumbent on the government to ensure that, when you’re licensed in Ontario, you are actually capable of driving whatever you’re licensed for in this province. That’s incumbent on the government.

I’ll give you a little bit of a personal story. I like telling personal stories. Sometimes it doesn’t put me in a very good light. I’ll be 62 in a while. I got my driver’s licence when I was 16, in the little town of Englehart. Drivers’ licences were different back then. I had my driver’s licence, I think, for two years before I saw a stoplight. I am sure that I wasn’t safe to drive on the 400-series highways until I was about 35 years old, because I had never experienced it, nor did I claim to be. Because of my job, I didn’t have to drive. And then, all of a sudden, I got involved in politics, and all of a sudden, I find myself driving 100,000 kilometres a year.

I knew I wasn’t. I spent a lot of hours driving tractors, but I didn’t spend a lot of hours on the highway. But we have now people who are on the highways, and I think specifically it’s a specific problem on the Trans-Canada two-lane. Anyone who has driven the Trans-Canada two-lane has experienced this: A truck will pass another truck, but you’re coming the other way. They act like it’s a four-lane. It’s not.

And this is not an uncommon occurrence, that you get pushed off the road. That should never—you just shouldn’t be able to do that. That’s an enforcement issue, and the OPP and whoever else and the MTO are doing what they can. I’m not criticizing them. But they don’t understand the rules of the road in northern Ontario. They just don’t, and that’s a licensing issue. That is a licensing issue.

We’ve put forward many bills to try and fix that. The member from Mushkegowuk–James Bay just put forward another one regarding getting trucking simulators, perhaps, to somehow give people some experience on what it’s like to drive in northern Ontario. Because, believe me, driving in northern Ontario for a lot of people is like me on the 400 when I was 18. “Oh, my God, what foreign country is this?” It is. Many parts, if you’re driving in northern Ontario, there’s no cellphone. There’s a lot of things that aren’t—that all has to do with Working for Workers. No, it does, because those are all things that we can change.

We don’t even need to be doing that in this House. I believe a government that—remember they used to be “for the people?” I believe a government “for the people” should be able to fix 511—that when you look at 511 in northern Ontario, it’s actually accurate; it’s not a day old. That shouldn’t be beyond the capabilities.

Another one: Enhanced 911—great. There are big parts of this province that don’t have any 911, and now that they’re upgrading the towers from 3G to 4G, we’re actually losing coverage of cellphones instead of gaining. And it’s so frustrating. It’s so frustrating.

Some of you go, “Well, he’s not talking about Working for Workers.” I’m just following the member from Essex. He started about trucks and started about agriculture. I haven’t even gotten to agriculture yet. I listen very intently to what other people speak. I go where they go—no; sometimes I don’t go where they go, bu