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June 3, 2020

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2020-Jun-03 (PDF)

L166 - Wed 3 Jun 2020 / Mer 3 jun 2020

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 3 June 2020 Mercredi 3 juin 2020

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Committee membership

Time allocation

Members’ Statements

Race-based data

Places of religious worship

Discrimination

COVID-19 response

Pride Month

Skydiving landing zone

Floyd Dingwall

Discrimination

Religious communities

COVID-19 response

Correction of record

Sikh genocide

Question Period

Long-term care

Long-term care

Race-based data

Manufacturing

COVID-19

Long-term care

Anti-racism activities

Employment standards

Tourisme / Tourism

Municipal finances

Assistance to persons with disabilities

Long-term care

Tenant protection

Highway funding

Petitions

Public health

Anti-racism activities

Public sector compensation

Access to justice

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I move that pursuant to standing order 50 and notwithstanding any other standing order or special order of the House relating to Bill 159,

An Act to amend various statutes in respect of consumer protection, and Bill 184,

An Act to amend the Building Code Act, 1992, the Housing Services Act, 2011 and the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and to enact the Ontario Mortgage and Housing Corporation Repeal Act, 2020;

That the Standing Committee on General Government be authorized to meet on Bill 159 on Monday, June 22, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, June 23, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and Wednesday, June 24, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the purpose of public hearings; and

That the Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the committee Chair, be authorized to arrange the following with regard to Bill 159:

—that the deadline for requests to appear be 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2020;

—that the Clerk of the Committee provide a list of all interested presenters to each member of the subcommittee and their designate following the deadline for requests to appear;

—that each member of the subcommittee or their designate provide the Clerk of the Committee with a prioritized list of presenters to be scheduled, chosen from the list of all interested presenters received by the Clerk by 6 p.m., on Thursday, June 18, 2020;

—that the deadline for written submissions be 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, 2020;

—that the deadline for filing amendments to the bill with the Clerk of the Committee shall be 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, 2020;

—that the subcommittee on committee business shall be authorized to otherwise determine the method of proceeding on the bill; and

That the committee meet on Monday, June 29, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and Tuesday, June 30, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 159;

That on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, at 4 p.m., those amendments which have not yet been moved shall be deemed to have been moved, and the Chair of the committee shall interrupt the proceedings and shall, without further debate or amendment, put every question necessary to dispose of all remaining sections of the bill and any amendments thereto. At this time, the Chair shall allow one 20-minute waiting period, pursuant to standing order 132(a); and

That the committee shall report the bill to the House no later than Monday, July 6, 2020. In the event that the committee fails to report the bill on that day, the bill shall be deemed passed by the committee and shall be deemed to be reported to and received by the House; and

That upon receiving the report of the Standing Committee on General Government, the Speaker shall put the question for adoption of the report forthwith, and at such time the bill shall be ordered for third reading, which order may be called the same day; and

That the Standing Committee on Social Policy be authorized to meet on Bill 184 on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday, June 25, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday, June 26, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the purpose of public hearings; and

That the Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the committee Chair, be authorized to arrange the following with regard to Bill 184:

—that the deadline for requests to appear be 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2020;

—that the Clerk of the Committee provide a list of all interested presenters to each member of the subcommittee and their designate following the deadline for requests to appear;

—that each member of the subcommittee or their designate provide the Clerk of the Committee with a prioritized list of presenters to be scheduled, chosen from the list of all interested presenters received by the Clerk by 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, 2020;

—that the deadline for written submissions be 6 p.m. on Friday, June 26, 2020;

—that the deadline for filing amendments to the bill with the Clerk of the Committee shall be 6 p.m. on Monday, June 29, 2020;

—that the subcommittee on committee business shall be authorized to otherwise determine the method of proceeding on the bill; and

That the committee meet on Thursday, July 2, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday, July 3, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill 184; and

That on Friday, July 3, 2020, at 4 p.m., those amendments which have not yet been moved shall be deemed to have been moved, and the Chair of the committee shall interrupt the proceedings and shall, without further debate or amendment, put every question necessary to dispose of all remaining sections of the bill and any amendments thereto. At this time, the Chair shall allow one 20-minute waiting period, pursuant to standing order 132(a); and

That the committee shall report the bill to the House no later than the next sitting day. In the event that the committee fails to report the bill on that day, the bill shall be deemed passed by the committee and shall be deemed to be reported to and received by the House; and

That, upon receiving the report of the Standing Committee on Social Policy, the Speaker shall put the question for adoption of the report forthwith, and at such time the bill shall be ordered for third reading, which order may be called the same day.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Ms. Khanjin has moved government notice of motion number 80.

I return back to Ms. Khanjin.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: No further business.

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

Mr. John Fraser: Point of order.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Point of order: Go ahead. I recognize the member from Ottawa South.

Committee membership

Mr. John Fraser: I’d like to put forward a motion without notice respecting the membership of the standing committees.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Are you seeking unanimous consent?

Mr. John Fraser: Unanimous consent.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): The member from Ottawa South is seeking unanimous consent. All in favour? Agreed? Agreed.

Mr. John Fraser: I move that pursuant to standing order 116(

b) and (c), the following changes be made to the membership of the following committees:

On the Standing Committee on Government Agencies, Mademoiselle Simard and Mrs. Martin be added;

On the Standing Committee on Justice Policy, Madame Collard and Mrs. Tangri be added;

On the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills, Mr. Blais replace Ms. Hunter;

On the day following the day on which the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs deposits its final report pursuant to the order of the House dated May 12, 2020, Ms. Hunter and Mr. Thanigasalam be appointed as permanent members of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs; and

That the temporary membership of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs set in the order of the House dated May 12, 2020, be amended that Ms. Lindo replace Ms. Andrew as a non-voting member.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Mr. Fraser has moved that pursuant to standing order 116(

b) and (c), the following changes be made to the membership of the following committees:

On the Standing Committee on Government Agencies, Mademoiselle Simard and Mrs. Martin be added;

On the Standing Committee on Justice Policy, Madame Collard and Mrs. Tangri be added;

On the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills, Mr. Blais replace Ms. Hunter;

On the following day on which the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs deposits its final report pursuant to the order of the House dated May 12, 2020, Ms. Hunter and Mr. Thanigasalam be appointed as permanent members of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs; and

That the temporary membership of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs set in the order of the House dated May 12, 2020, be amended that Ms. Lindo replace Ms. Andrew as a non-voting member.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carries? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

Time allocation

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

Mr. Gilles Bisson: I’ve got to say I’m not entirely happy having to debate this. I notice you guys didn’t stop the clock at the beginning of this, but anyway.

That being said, let me get to the point here: First of all, here we are with yet another time allocation motion. There was an agreement between the government and the opposition that any business that we were going to do in the spring session was going to be COVID-related only. That was the agreement. The government now, on a number of occasions, has come to the House with motions that have nothing to do with COVID-19. We debated one yesterday, part of which we agree with, which is having a summer session.

We agree, as New Democrats, that the work of the people has to continue, has to be done in a way that we’re safe when it comes to distancing inside the Legislature and within the building.

But the government nonetheless brought forward this motion—part of it we agree with; on a lot of it, we didn’t. For example, they time-allocated a number of bills in committee that have nothing to do with COVID-19, plus they’ve changed the way that we’re going to vote in this House, which should have been something that we should have had a discussion at House leaders’. Instead, the government drafted up its own idea with the Clerks, which I think is fraught with problems, and I’ll speak to that in a second.

Worst off, because it’s an extension of the spring session, this summer there will be no opposition days unless the government agrees. But what compounds it is that the government has decided that the House will not sit on Thursdays, and therefore we will have no private members’ bills debates in this House, of government members’ bills or opposition members’ bills. If the government thinks that a government is the only one who has ideas on how to deal with this pandemic, you’ve got another thing coming.

We’re all in this together as Ontarians. Every Ontarian is reaching out to their MPPs across the aisle, on this side and yours, saying, “Here’s what’s going on in my community. Here’s what I think should be done, from municipalities to long-term-care facilities and others.” Instead, what do we get? The government says that we’re not going to hear from any of those people by way of private members’ bills that would come forward as a result of those consultations we’re having in our ridings, and the government is just going to decide everything on its own. I think that’s wrong, and that’s why we voted against the motion.

I know that our housing critic is going to speak to one of the bills inside this motion this morning with regard to what happens to the bill that is being brought forward, and I believe it’s Bill 184, where we have decided as a House—and we had this discussion at House leaders at the beginning of this pandemic—that we will put evictions and private rentals on hold. If people can’t pay their rents, they don’t get kicked out of their apartments. That’s something that we’ve supported on this side of the House. We called for it and the government did it.

The bill—and I’ll let the member speak to the details—decides that, in fact, we’re going to give landlords even more power to evict. What does that have to do with a pandemic? We had an agreement between the parties that the spring session would only deal with COVID-related bills, and the government is bringing forward initiatives that have nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

I just think the government is totally off base for doing so. The government is going to say, “Yes, well, you broke the agreement. It wasn’t us.” We broke no agreement. We lived up to our agreement. What makes it worse is what we saw here yesterday and apparently last week—I wasn’t here; I was back home—the voting method by which we had members up in the galleries voting at the end of the debate, during deferred votes.

We’re all susceptible to being infected by COVID-19 from something we may have come in contact with in our riding. We are agents of the public. We are out in the public even though there are no events. We bump into people. You go into the grocery store. You drive into Toronto. You come to the session. You deal with what you have to here at Queen’s Park. And we’re going to have a congregation of members in the House, like we did yesterday?

To me, that was just not the way to do it—after we had an agreement that we would keep our numbers down in the opposition to make sure that the government always kept its majority. We lived up to that agreement. The government, even though we said, “Listen, you don’t need to do this. We’re fine. We’ve just got our 14 people, and that’s all we’re going to have.” You’ve got your 24, 25 or whatever they’re entitled to, and we’ll just live up to the agreement. They didn’t live up to the agreement. They filled the members’ galleries up with a whole bunch of members who voted from up there.

Now, their way to fix that is to say, “We’ll change the standing orders by way of this motion we did yesterday, so that when we’re voting in this House, if you’re voting yes, we’re all going to line up, we’re all going to go off to the members’ lobby in the back and wait, one by one, to go and vote.” What a congregation. There’s more chances of getting infected doing that than if we were to just respect that we have X number of members on this side and you have X number of members on the other side. We respect your majority.

Why would we, as the opposition, decide to play games and trump the government in the middle of a pandemic? The thought had never crossed our minds. We were so shocked last week when the government decided to come in and do what they did and do it again yesterday that it literally had some of our members shaking their heads and saying, “What are these guys up to?”

We have to be the leaders when it comes to how you physically distance. We’re the ones who are making the decisions about emergency declarations. We give that power in this Legislature to cabinet, and cabinet makes those decisions. When cabinet decides it won’t live up to its own agreements and is not going to respect the agreements we had in place and not properly physically distance, I think the government is going down a path that, quite frankly, they don’t want to be going down. I will be voting against this motion because of that and a number of other things.

In the minute or so that I have left, I do want to say one thing. We should be debating stuff that’s COVID-related. For example, we have all kinds of small businesses who are now starting to be evicted from wherever they’re renting. I listened to CBC Sudbury this morning, where a business just got evicted on May 26 because they didn’t pay the rent for two months. That’s not right. We should be protecting these small businesses and saying, let’s put in place a program that gives a rebate, as Andrea Horwath called for, where up to—75% or 85%?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Seventy-five.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: Where 75% of the rent be paid through a fund through the province—and if you want to negotiate some of that with the feds, go and do it—so that we’re able to at least keep these people whole during this crisis. No; instead, we’re going to be debating time allocation and how we can evict tenants out of private rentals.

I just say to the government: You’re going down the wrong way, and we will be voting against this motion.

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: I appreciate the opportunity to rise and add some comments to what we’ve just heard and maybe put into a little bit of context some of the things that the government is moving forward with.

I’m going to start quickly with the voting procedure, as outlined by the House leader yesterday. It’s interesting that, after it has been voted on and passed in this House—it has been on the order paper. It was discussed at House leaders’ meetings that we intended on changing the procedure for voting. One of the reasons why we had moved to a new system of voting—which would have a “yes” lobby and a “no” lobby, and we would increase bells by half an hour—is because we had heard from members on both sides of the House, quite frankly, that they wanted to participate in voting on things that their constituents had elected them to vote on.

It became increasingly obvious, when unanimous consent wasn’t going to continue to be the way this House would function, that there needed to be a way that we could allow people to vote in this House and ensure social distancing. So just for those who may have heard what the opposition House leader said, we are putting in place a system here that will allow members of this Legislature to vote over a longer period of time. The bells would ring for half an hour.

All of the members who are elected by the people of the province of Ontario, all of the members who continue to receive a salary from the people of the province of Ontario, all of those people who were elected to work on behalf of their constituents in this place—and, as I said last week, they are. Members are working very, very hard within their communities—probably harder than they ever have before. As a legislator, I’m very proud of that fact. I’m proud of how hard my colleagues have been working, and, quite honestly, the members of the opposition have worked equally hard.

But as I said last week, as a House leader, I’m not going to decide which of my members should have a say in the very important bills that are before this House, because my colleagues have all expressed an opinion that they want to have a say on behalf of their constituents. I believe that Parliament is an essential service, and that’s why we’re sitting here and continuing to debate bills that are important. I believe that we can do this in a fashion that will respect social distancing, and I’m actually looking forward to this because it will be unique in Canada, I think.

It’s something that I hope the federal Parliament might consider. We’ve been hearing editorials on programs for the last week on the outrage that Canadians are feeling that the federal Parliament has decided to adjourn, basically, until September. We’ve chosen to go in a different direction here in the province of Ontario, and I think we should be proud of that. It’s all of us who really should be proud of that, Mr. Speaker, and we should be proud of the fact that we can bring a Legislature back.

We have found a mechanism so that members of provincial Parliament can vote on issues that are important to their community, whether they’re in favour or against.

I don’t think the opposition House leader wants to be in a position to say which members of his caucus should sit at home. They’re elected to be here and do things, and we have found a mechanism that allows them to participate. He talked about yesterday and the social distancing. We had members who wanted to vote. We brought them in this chamber and we passed a unanimous consent motion that allowed them to physically distance and be in the members’ gallery and vote.

We accomplished that in the province of Ontario, much in the same way as we’re telling people, “If you’re going to get on the TTC”—and we all want people back on trains—“if you can’t physically distance, put a mask on.” It’s okay for the people in the province of Ontario to get on transit in that fashion, but somehow we’re unique in this place in that we can’t have our members vote in a fashion that allows for physical distancing? I’m proud of the fact that this Legislature found a way around that, and we were able to have the voices of all of the people of the province of Ontario—all of their members—vote.

It’s ironic to hear the member opposite—I mean, we heard some outrage on the opposition side. Well, a number of their members on the weekend were posting pictures at a massive rally. Some of those very same members were then in this House, Mr. Speaker. But I say congratulations to those members. They went out and they did what people expect their members of Parliament to do. They participated in something. They felt they did it in a way that was safe, not only to the rest of the members of this House—they were masked; they did what they had to do. It was something that was important to them.

I feel that the work of this Legislature is also important. That’s why we’re going to move heaven and earth to make sure that members have the opportunity to have their say. But to suggest that somehow the government sprung this on the opposition is just absolutely false.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: Yes, you did.

Hon. Paul Calandra: It was brought up at House leaders’ meetings. He is the opposition House leader. He knew that this was the mechanism that we were proposing. It was on the order paper. We spent hours debating this. Not one amendment from the opposition, not one suggestion that we should change the way voting was done—not one. And then, after it’s passed—

Mr. Gilles Bisson: Would you have accepted it?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Then, as usual, after it’s passed, then there’s all kinds of resistance to it, because they’ll find any way they can to get out of working; the NDP will look for it. If there is any loophole that they can find out of being here, they will look for it. We don’t have to look far: We see the example in Ottawa. We saw the example in Ottawa. They couldn’t wait, the NDP, to strike a deal with the Liberals to bring down the House of Commons—billions and billions and billions of dollars.

Thankfully—I say this thankfully—the federal government has been a partner with us. They have been a partner with us, and a very good partner, over the last number of months in making sure that we have the resources that the people of the province of Ontario need, so we could focus here on the health care of the people of Ontario. The federal government has been a great partner in helping to make sure that individuals have access to resources so that they can continue to pay their bills.

But I can tell you, as somebody who values this place, I can’t imagine that the federal Parliament has now decided not to sit until September. I’m very proud of the fact that this Legislature has decided that although the session is supposed to end tomorrow, we will be coming back. We will be coming back the rest of June, and we will be coming back into July.

So the member opposite—I want to touch on another thing he talked about. He talked about private members’ bills. There would be no private members’ bills if this House adjourned tomorrow, obviously. But we’re coming back to deal with issues that are important to the people of the province of Ontario.

I’ve also made it quite clear to the members of the opposition that I will find a mechanism so that we can catch up on private members’ bills. Not one of the members of this House, on my side or on that side, will miss their ballot spot because of COVID. We will find a mechanism to catch up, because I do believe it is important that private members have the opportunity to put bills in this House, to have those bills debated and to have the members of this Legislature vote on those bills. When we come out of the COVID reality, I’m going to find a way to work with my colleagues opposite, and we will catch up.

We asked, quite honestly—and I don’t think I’m saying something that would be a surprise. We did ask if there could be a short-term pause on private members’ business.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: And we said no.

Hon. Paul Calandra: And they said no.

We asked if that could happen. One of the reasons we asked for that to happen, Mr. Speaker, is because we needed to have the time, as a government, to be able to effectively respond to private members’ bills that might be brought on by the opposition and by our members and we had to have legislative counsel—

Mr. Gilles Bisson: You don’t listen to the public. You don’t listen to—

Hon. Paul Calandra: And here we go, Mr. Speaker, here he goes. Here he goes, colleagues.

Interjections.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Order, please. Order.

Hon. Paul Calandra: You know what happens when you touch a nerve with the NDP, right? You know what happens. They get all angry and outraged, Mr. Speaker, but this is the same party that if we put a motion on this table right now and said let’s adjourn until September, they would be at the airport and gone instantaneously. Before the coffee could warm up downstairs, these people would be out of this place. They’re all upset. Really, what it comes down to is they’re upset that we found a way to vote that respects all of the members of this Legislature. We found a way to do it. We found a way that all members of—

Interjections.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Here they go.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): The member from Toronto Centre will come to order. The member from Davenport will come to order. And the member from Timmins will come to order.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: I didn’t say anything.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I’ll overlook that minor challenge to the Chair.

Interjection.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): It’s all right.

Now we will continue. I’ll turn it back to the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Thank you, sir. I appreciate the opportunity to continue speaking. I can assure you that although some of the members opposite might show disrespect to this place, it’s certainly something that you’ll never find from me.

It’s interesting that, I think it was the member for Toronto Centre, was upset or is suggesting that she’s upset that this House is going to come back and that we’re going to continue to work. Well, look, Mr. Speaker, I think it’s important. Some of the bills we have on the order paper that we’re talking about this summer will have a great impact on the people in her riding. I would suggest to her that the people in her community would expect her to make the decision on whether she’s voting on a bill or not, and not the opposition House leader.

As I said last week, I’m not going to turn to the member for Malton and say, “Oh, well, something might be important to you, but I’m going to decide whether you should come in or not.” I’m not going to do that to the member from Burlington, because these two members would say, “You know what? Go stuff it. I’m coming here on behalf of the people of my riding and I’m going to vote whether you like it or not, and I’m going to participate whether you like it or not.”

We’ve heard from the people in our communities that that’s what they expect of their parliamentarians. I haven’t heard from my community that the people of the province of Ontario and the people in my constituency are upset at us. No. I’ve heard them saying they want more from us. They want us to continue working hard on their behalf. They’re proud of everything that members on both sides of the House have done. But as I said last week, we’re cognizant of the fact that we continue to be paid. We’re in a very privileged position here.

Unlike millions of other people, we are continuing to get paid, and the people in the province of Ontario, the people in our ridings, expect us to be here doing work, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.

When the members opposite said that they wanted us to find a way to vote, we did it. We found a way for them to vote. We found a way for members to vote in advance of the new system that we’re putting in place by allowing members on both sides to vote in the galleries. Why did we have to do this last week? I suppose it doesn’t really matter, because the opposition broke a deal with respect to an opposition day motion.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: No agreement.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Yes, they did. The one time they shouldn’t have broken a deal—oh, now the member opposite from Timmins, the opposition House leader, after saying in his speech for five minutes that there was a deal, hollers across, when the mikes were off—I talked about this last week: the Jekyll and Hyde of the NDP colleagues. When the mikes are off, he then confirms—he says, “No, there was no deal.” When the mikes are on, there was a deal. So it’s one or the other.

So colleagues, when you’re faced with the mike-on NDP and the mike-off NDP, you have to do your work. They will know how upset I was last week. The opposition House leader will know that I was not impressed on that opposition day because we lived up to the agreement, and I said to my colleagues on this side of the House, “You have to sit down because we had an agreement with the opposition on how long we would speak, and it was”—

Mr. Gilles Bisson: No, we didn’t have a deal.

Hon. Paul Calandra: You hear him, colleagues? You hear him yelling across?

Mr. Gilles Bisson: There was no deal.

Hon. Paul Calandra: For those who are at home watching, the opposition House leader is now yelling across, “There was no deal.” I suggest then that you could discount everything he said before in his 10-minute speech because I guess what he said was inaccurate. But I’m going to suggest to the people of Ontario that these members who are behind me do not like to sit down during a debate that is important to them, especially on an opposition motion, but they did it. They did it because we had an agreement. Imagine my surprise when speaker after speaker after speaker—when we went over and said, “What’s going on?

I thought we had an agreement in place,” it was, “Well, my caucus decided something different, so we’ve changed our mind.”

Of course the government has to react—it’s my job as government House leader—and we reacted. I called in my members. I said, “We are going to have to make some modifications. I need you here on standby. I need people to be present and available to vote.” We did our job, and the members on this side came in and voted. They masked up in the exact same way that we’re asking the people of Ontario, whether it’s on GO Transit or the TTC. We asked them to come in.

Do you know what? I didn’t get a lot of calls from my constituency saying, “My God, what are you doing in the House, doing your job and voting on things that are important?” Just the opposite: people saying, “Thank you for doing what you’re supposed to be doing.” And especially in light of the fact of the cooked-up deal that the NDP bargained for in Ottawa—you know, it’s interesting. When the NDP have an opportunity when there’s a minority government—we saw it here in Ontario. They get an opportunity in minority governments. We saw this federally in the 2000s. We saw it here from 2011 to 2014.

When they have an opportunity to make a difference in minority Parliaments, they usually choose to adjourn and to run away and do anything but work. That’s not how we feel, and we are going to continue to work.

The member opposite also talked about—the Leader of the Opposition—about the summer session being all about COVID, and by and large it has been all about COVID. That’s why I’ve been so happy and excited that the government of the province of Ontario, a Progressive Conservative government, was able to get the support of the NDP to pass a financial statement—imagine that. I congratulate them, because there was obviously a time when they were thinking, “Wow. You know what?

This is great, I’m going to vote.” I think, perhaps—I could be corrected, and maybe the table will correct me on this or Hansard can correct me on this—I don’t ever remember the NDP voting in favour of a Progressive Conservative government financial statement or a budget. So I congratulate them on that. It was lots of good, hard work. We did it together and I’m quite pleased at that.

In fact, I think that, across Canada, this is the only Legislature or the only Parliament that had such a great working relationship, frankly. We were able to pass bills from March right through to very recently with unanimous consent. How do we do that? Well, the government made changes as it went along. We knew that we had to work together, so before legislation was introduced in this House, we brought it to our colleagues on the opposition benches and said, “Are there things here that you want to change or things that you want to take out, things that need to be modified?” And we did it.

We wouldn’t bring things forward if we didn’t have to. If we didn’t get consent, we didn’t bring it forward. We worked together. The Liberals and the Greens often made amendments to some of the things that we were doing.

It doesn’t mean they were necessarily supportive. As I’ve said before, they were very vigorous in opposing certain things. They were very vigorous in fighting for the people in their ridings, in their constituencies, as you would expect an opposition to be. But they also understood that what was important at the time was that the government move forward with an agenda that helps us fight COVID, and I was grateful for that. But I think I made it clear the entire time that at some point, the government was going to move ahead with its agenda, that after the spring session was due to be concluded, which is tomorrow, this government was going to move forward with an agenda.

Now, why would the opposition NDP be so angry that a government that was elected by the people, that has a majority, wants to move forward with its agenda? Why would they be angry at that? Because of course the NDP do not want us to fulfill our promises to the people of the province of Ontario. Of course they don’t. It makes it easier if we’re not here and can’t pass any bills. It makes their job easier because they get it both ways, don’t they? We don’t sit, and we don’t get our agenda forward. We don’t move on the things that are important to the people of the province of Ontario.

As I said last week, Mr. Speaker, we have some very important things that we’re doing. We have a massive transit and transportation upgrade that is happening. I know when some of my colleagues in southwestern Ontario, or when Kitchener—

Mr. Mike Harris: Conestoga.

Hon. Paul Calandra: —Conestoga was talking about the expansion of the 401, I believe, in his area—I know some of my colleagues who are coming here from the western part of southwestern Ontario have talked about some of the improvements that are happening on roads in that area, and I think it’s great. That’s what we want. I come in every day down the 404-Don Valley, and the progress that has been made on expanding the 404 in my area has been significant. I know in a lot of other places in this province we are moving very quickly on infrastructure projects. In Vaughan, we’re moving on the hospital very quickly.

That’s what the people of the province of Ontario expect. We’re not going to, as I said last week, shutter the province up and not move forward. COVID isn’t going to be here forever. We want to beat it as quickly as we possibly can so that we can get back to building an economy that is stronger than any other economy in the country.

I’ve got 34 minutes, Mr. Speaker. It’s a lot of time to talk about why it’s so important that we move ahead on an agenda. Before I do that, I wanted to also mention some of the things that we’re talking about here. One of the bills that we’re moving forward is on the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. This is a bill that we took the unusual step in government of travelling after first reading. We didn’t wait for second reading; we actually took an unusual step and said, “We think that it’s important for the people to hear about this bill first.” So we travelled for five days, and part of that travel was in the ridings of the members opposite.

Obviously, when we’ve already done that—it was under the verbal agreement that it would then speed its way through the House, because we would have heard much of the criticisms on the bill. We would have made those changes. We’d come back, do a second reading, have a limited committee after second reading just to make changes, if need be, and we’d come back and do our work. That’s why we sent it out after first reading. Now, they’re upset that it’s being time-allocated. Mr. Speaker, we have done our work. These people have done their work. These members have done their work. Those members did their work. Now we want to get on with it.

There’s a point when people expect you to do your work. One of the reasons that we’re in this situation is because it’s taking so long to get things going. We have a standing committee on finance, an enormous study that we are undertaking for the people of the province over the next number of months. I want to congratulate members on both sides, because this committee is going to be working very, very hard over the summer.

We had one meeting scheduled. It was a three-hour meeting and close to seven hours of subcommittee to debate what had already been decided unanimously in this House. So one of the parties started re-debating what had already been decided unanimously in the House. I can tell you, it wasn’t the Greens and it wasn’t the Liberals, but one of the parties decided, “Let’s re-litigate for seven hours so that we can delay and delay and delay.”

What’s the impact of that, Mr. Speaker? What’s the impact of that? I’m told that the first study, which will be on tourism, which starts tomorrow, if I’m not mistaken—I am told that this is probably one of the largest, most—I don’t want to say “popular”; that’s a bad choice of words. But the amount of people who want to present in front of this committee is probably larger than any other request in Ontario legislative history. It is massive, the amount of people who want to appear before this standing committee, want to have their say, want to give suggestions on how to move the economy forward.

They’re excited to do it. They want to be heard. In fact, we are changing the process of that committee to make sure that three witnesses can appear at the same time, because we don’t want to turn away any one of those. I know the number; I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say it or not, so I won’t say it, but let’s just say there are a significant amount of people. I’m told it’s over 100, which is my understanding, and it might be over 140 people who want to participate.

That is extraordinary for a three-week study. If that doesn’t tell the members of the opposition that the people—and I don’t want to lump in the independent Liberals and Greens on this, but if this doesn’t tell the official opposition how hungry people are that their legislators continue to do the important work which only can be done here in this House, I don’t know what other indication you can have from people.

They’re asking you to be here, to be present, to listen to them at committee, and if something comes out of it, bring it forward, make some changes—because the economy is important. All of these people who are here, they’re here not because they wouldn’t rather be doing things in their communities as well. Every single one of them hops in and out. They’re on Zoom calls; they’re on the phone all the time. Sometimes it’s hard to get them in to do certain things because they’re doing things in their community. But the members of their community are telling them, “I need you to pass legislation.”

Why do we need to pass legislation? Because as we come out of this, it is so important—and it’s not just important to the people of the province of Ontario that our economy picks up steam. There are other provinces that are relying on the economic engine, Ontario, just as much as the people in this province are—resources from other provinces, from Alberta and Saskatchewan, from the Maritimes. Ontario’s 14 million people are very important. We’re important to our trading partners in the United States. We have to be ready, and we will be ready; and the reason we will be ready is because this government will continue to move on the important agenda.

The member from Parry Sound–Muskoka has been, and I know all colleagues will on our side of the House, has been leading part—and one of the reasons I would suggest why there are so many people who are interested in this first phase of the standing committee study, it’s the tourism phase—the member for Parry Sound–Muskoka has been tasked by this caucus to begin that outreach, to start talking about the best ways that we can meet the challenges that they’re facing.

We’ve heard from the member for Parry Sound–Muskoka just how challenging COVID has been to the people in his community. Imagine. It’s not just Parry Sound–Muskoka, obviously. I’ve heard from the member from Niagara Falls about what it is doing. I’ve heard from the member from Niagara-Glan—

Interjection: West.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Niagara West-Glanbrook about the wineries in his area. But the member for Parry Sound–Muskoka has been leading this caucus on a series of consultations throughout the tourism sector, proactively. I imagine the members opposite might have somebody who does that as well. We have given feedback. He’s led caucus consultations. He’s reached out to members in the tourism sector. He’s been the conduit by which we have opened up numerous avenues to spur on economic growth. And as I suggested, he’s part of the reason why we have over 140 people who want to present in front of this committee.

Am I going to tell the member from—oh, I can tell you I’m not, because he wouldn’t listen to me. But am I going to tell the member from Parry Sound–Muskoka, “Well, you know what? We might have important legislation here, but I’m not going to let you come in and vote for the people of your riding”? The member for Parry Sound–Muskoka, I can tell you, just wouldn’t listen to me, first of all, because his riding is too important to him, and the people who earn and create jobs—small, medium and large enterprises in his community—would expect him to be here.

But at the same time, we can’t fulfill the work that he has done over the last two months unless we’re back in this place and moving forward with an agenda. And I understand the NDP, why they wouldn’t want us to do that: Because they would want us to fail those 140 people who want to be in front of us, is the only thing I can think of.

But the members opposite individually always approach and say, “Look, I have somebody, a tourist operator in my riding, who wants to speak. I have a restaurant in my riding who has some advice on how to do things.” You see it as soon as question period usually ends. There’s a flood over to this side of the House of people who have questions and comments. They want advice. They want help. They want members to appear in front of standing committees. And we’re fine. We’re open to that because that’s what we have to do.

I’m not going to wait until September to start dealing with the economy. I’m not going to do that. I challenge all of the members opposite to go back into their ridings and tell those small, medium and large job creators, “Well, you know what? We’re not going to come back until September” or “We’re going to debate, for hours, a procedure.” Imagine that. Just think about this for a second: seven hours to debate—and really, congratulations to the subcommittee members on the Conservative side. I know the member for—

Interjection: Flamborough.

Hon. Paul Calandra: —Flamborough–Glanbrook and I know the member for Barrie–Innisfil was on the subcommittee. I know that Ottawa West–Nepean was on the call as well.

I just want to reiterate: This is an agreement that we had, and it was voted on unanimously, and then we spent seven hours delaying hearings from sectors that were so important, only to come up with the decision to continue on in the way that we had already decided as a House, to move on. So what is that?

Ms. Jane McKenna: Waste of time.

Hon. Paul Calandra: That’s a waste of time, yes; the member for Burlington said it. Yes, it was a waste of time, because the House had already made an order unanimously, so why would we re-litigate things? We want to move forward.

The member opposite talked about the other bill that we’re bringing through to committee, important legislation that would assist both landlords and tenants in helping resolve issues that landlords and tenants have been facing. We’re hearing from both sides.

One would assume that when debate collapses in the House, you get certain consent to move forward on it. We brought it up for debate, and debate collapsed in the House. The members opposite did not speak to the motion because it collapsed. We had hours scheduled for debate. The members on our side who wanted to speak to it spoke to it. The members opposite didn’t put any speakers forward. We brought it up and said we are bringing it to the standing committee—

Interjection.

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: —and we’re going to move forward with it. I’m proud of that. Of course we’re going to move forward with our pieces—

Interjection.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): The member from Toronto Centre, come to order—second time.

I turn it back to the government House leader to continue debate.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the frustration of the members opposite. By and large, I feel it stems from the fact that summer has been ruined. Why has it been ruined? Because we intend on working hard on behalf of the people of the province of Ontario. We’re not going to be taking summer vacation. We’re not going to be taking the lead of the federal NDP leader. We’re going to be in this House and we’re going to be working hard because that’s what we think the people of our communities want us to do.

I was talking about some of the hard work. The member for Northumberland–Peterborough South, our member David Piccini, is one of the most challenging members I have; I will say this. Trying to get him to commit to full hours on committees is tough because he’s so popular in his riding, doing work in his community. It’s a challenge because the people in his riding want him all of the time, and he has made himself available, day and night, to his community, whether it’s answering phone calls, whether it’s participating in Zoom meetings.

But that member has said—and obviously all members are the same—that as important as that is, one of the things they’ve also told him is that they want to continue the work of the standing committee on finance. They want to continue the work that is being done by the government in other areas—transit and transportation, in particular. Transit and transportation are important in his riding. Some of the other initiatives that we’re doing on environmental protection are important in his riding.

Some of the work that we’re doing with respect to farm trespass, for his farmers—this is one member close to Toronto—an hour and a half away, I guess—who has been vocal in making sure that his farmers are protected. He wants to make sure his farmers are protected, and we can’t do that unless the Legislature sits and we push through bills like the farm trespass bill. He’s not the only one; there are a number of members on this side who have expressed the same concern.

I’m not going to say to the member for Northumberland, “We’re going to help your farmers sometime in the future, in September, October, November.” I said, and he said, and the Premier, more importantly, said, no, we are going to move forward, and we’re going to protect those farmers, and we’re going to bring legislation forward, because that’s what a government does. We heard from the member opposite that we shouldn’t be doing that; we should be concentrating on other things that are important.

Well, I would suggest that protecting farmers, protecting the supply chain, getting products and transit and transportation, are important even more so during a COVID crisis—so we are going to move forward on those things. The minister of children and family—

Hon. Todd Smith: All good things.

Hon. Paul Calandra: The riding is Prince Edward—

Hon. Todd Smith: Bay of Quinte.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Bay of Quinte; there you go. He has said to us—it’s all-caucus, but he’s here. He has said to us, “Look, there are a lot of things that are happening in my community.” Tourism, in that neck of the woods, is so important to the people. I know when the member for Parry Sound–Muskoka reached out to the member for Bay of Quinte and talked about reaching out to tourist operators in his area, they heard the same thing: Get back to work, do what you can to help unleash the prosperity that has been lost over the last number of months. And we’re going to do that. We’re going to do that by being here.

The member for Don Valley West—west, is it?

Mr. Vincent Ke: North.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Don Valley North—he has seized this COVID crisis in a way that has really impressed not only me, but all of my colleagues. This is a member who has found thousands of dollars in donations and PPE for the people in multiple ridings—not just in his riding, but all ridings. But he also understands how important it is. One of the reasons he’s doing that is because he knows that small, medium and large job creators might need access to PPE. Why? Because they need the economy to get back on its feet. Is that COVID-related? Yes. An economy that works: Is that COVID-related? Colleagues, I think it would be. The opposition might not think so, but I think it is.

I know the member for Sarnia—

Mr. Robert Bailey: Lambton.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Sarnia–Lambton. The member for Sarnia–Lambton is literally the first one on our—now, shocking, Mr. Speaker: This caucus has continued to meet constantly, two or three times a week. The member for Sarnia–Lambton is the first one on our caucus call and the last one to leave the caucus call. He is the first one to talk about his community and all of the things that are important to the people in his community, and he’s relentless and does not let up to the point where I’m thankful that I can mute the mikes because he doesn’t stop.

So when we talked about coming back to this place, the first person on the phone to me was the member for Sarnia–Lambton, who said, “I have to come back. I have to be here. I want to speak to things that are important in my community, but more importantly, I want to be able to vote on issues that are important to my riding.” And he’s been here—the first one to be here, the last one to leave.

I’m certainly not going to tell the member for Sarnia–Lambton, Bob Bailey, in his years of experience, “No, you can’t come in.” I’m not going to be the one to do that, because it’s up to the people of his riding to tell him when he should stop coming to this place. It’s not up to me to tell him when he should stop coming to this place.

The member from Mississauga and the assistant whip, and the whip, the member from Whitby—the member from Whitby has held numerous town halls with his chambers of commerce and other social service organizations in his riding. He is constantly on the phone with members of cabinet, with other colleagues who might be experiencing some of the very same things, to see where there’s unity so he can bring that message forward to the Premier and parliamentary assistants, so that we can move on things that are important. I actually told our chief government whip that he could maybe take one day off, but he didn’t.

I was at home on the last caucus call; he was at Queen’s Park in front of his office, making sure that we were ready to go.

The member for Mississauga Erin—

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: East–Cooksville.

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member from Mississauga East–Cooksville causes the opposition to go into fits. He does. He causes them to go in fits because he’s working hard, when this House is in session, to make sure that our members are ready and they are prepared—that they’re ready to ask their questions, that they’re ready for their statements. It drives them crazy, because why? He’s doing the job that the people of the province of Ontario are paying him to do. I’m not going to tell him he should stay home. He represents, in part, the, what, third- or fourth-largest city in Canada?

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Third.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Third-largest city in Canada. Should we tell him, “No, you can’t come to this House. No, the government is going to put its agenda on hold for a number of weeks because the opposition would rather take the summer off”? Or even more egregious—you know what? I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they want to be here. But even more egregious, the opposition wants us to set aside the results of an election and not pass bills that are part of the things that we campaigned upon. We’re not going to do that.

Interjection.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Now, the member opposite can complain all he wants and say, “That’s not true, that’s not true.” Well, the summer session is to end tomorrow. We’re coming back, putting motions forward today that will be in place for when we extend the session.

Really, colleagues, if you read between the lines, what they’re trying to do is what they do at committee: delay. It’s about delay. That’s what it’s about. We should delay. We should not do anything because they want us just to focus on one narrow thing: question period and get out of here every day.

But what we’re doing is bringing forward measures so that when this House comes back in June, when it comes back in July, we will hit the ground running, as we have always said that we would do. We would move on things that weren’t COVID-related.

That’s not to suggest that we won’t still be laser-focused on COVID. Obviously, we’re going to be because it has such an impact on all of the things that are important to the people. It has an impact on health care. It is having a dramatic impact on tourism, on restaurants. I know the members from the capital, from the Ottawa region, have told me that the summer months are enormous to them. The amount of people that flood into the city, into the capital during that time period, is enormous. That will all be lost.

I know the Minister of Colleges and Universities has been holding round tables and chatting with members on this side of the House. I know the member for Flamborough–Glanbrook, the member for Peterborough who has Trent close to his riding, Kitchener–Conestoga, all members on this side—and I would hope the members on that side have reached out as well—where we’re seeing that, for the first number of months of the next school year, it will be done virtually, or online.

Think of the impact it has on communities when thousands of students aren’t coming into their communities for the first number of months, for five, six months or maybe even a year. Can you imagine the impact that will have on Hamilton, the impact it will have on Peterborough? This is a huge, huge problem. The member for Kitchener—

Mr. Mike Harris: Sixty thousand students.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Sixty thousand students that won’t be in that region. We’re not going to take the summer off and talk about it later. We’re working on that right now. We’re working on it now because we have to be in a position in July so that these communities can survive in September.

Ms. Jane McKenna: It’s the responsible thing to do.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Exactly. The member of Burlington says that it’s the responsible thing to do. Obviously, it’s the responsible thing to do; she’s right. That’s what the people would expect their government to do.

I’m not going to just turn my back on McMaster University because it happens to be, I think, in the riding of the Leader of the Opposition. In fact, I’m going to make sure that Hamilton succeeds, because when Hamilton does well, the member for Flamborough–Glanbrook doesn’t break down my door constantly and break down the door of the cabinet and of the Premier. When it does well, the GTHA does well. And when Hamilton does well, there’s more money available for us to expand transit and transportation in areas.

The member for Flamborough fought tooth and nail to make sure there was $1 billion investment in transit and transportation in her city. Imagine the benefit that it’s going to have, especially at a time when 60,000 students in the Kitchener area and the Waterloo area, and I don’t know how many go to Hamilton—how many are in Trent? I don’t know.

Mr. Dave Smith: Fifteen thousand there and 26,000 at Fleming.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Twenty-six thousand at Fleming and 15,000 at Trent. And congratulations to the member for Peterborough. I think his daughter graduated recently.

It’s for the member for Peterborough’s daughter now that we really start—think of the class right now of 2020. Think of the class of 2020 coming into this environment. Think of how important it is to them that we move forward, that we continue to work on an agenda that is important to the people of the province of Ontario. Am I going to say to the member from Peterborough—I know I’m not going to say it. The member from Peterborough himself is going to say, “We’re going to work hard.”

We say this all the time: “We’re here for our kids. We’re doing it for our kids, for the next generation.” And we are. I believe that. I believe that every member of this House, on both sides, has come here with the intention of doing something for the next generation, not only for their communities now, but leaving something, a legacy, in place for the next generation. I believe that.

Am I going to turn to the member for Peterborough and say, “Well, you know, I can’t get consent from the NDP, so we’re going to put her future on hold for a bit—a couple of years—while we figure out things”? No, because the member for Peterborough wouldn’t accept that, we as a government wouldn’t accept that, and I know, despite the rhetoric, that the opposition really wouldn’t accept that. I’ve got to believe that that’s not what they want as well.

I think of my own daughter. She’s graduating grade 8, and she’s not having a grade 8 graduation this year. Maybe we’ll have it hopefully in the new year. But these are very challenging times. She’s going to transition into grade 9, and she hasn’t been in an organized classroom since March. But it’s a challenging time. As a parent, I’m worried about that. I’m worried about that transition. I remember how hard it was to transition from grade 8 to grade 9. I know that a lot of parents from my community are feeling the exact same way.

I know that the Minister of Education is working very, very hard to put in place all of the resources that are needed so that our students can succeed. We’re going to do that, Mr. Speaker, but in part, we need to be here in order to fulfill our mandate and to move forward if we’re going to accomplish that goal.

The member for Brant, as well, has been extraordinary during this. The member for Brant has taken up an initiative that I think all members will be excited about, and it’s an initiative that stems from what we’ve seen during COVID. We’ve heard of “the Ontario spirit,” and, “We’re in it together.” So the member for Brant has decided on how we seize on that, how we move forward with making sure that the Ontario spirit that we see here from all members from all sides, from all communities, is not lost once we defeat COVID. He has taken it upon himself to make sure that we develop a volunteer corps that will be here and ready to go at all times so that we don’t lose the advantages.

If there’s anything that we’ve learned from this COVID crisis, it’s that you always look for a positive in what is a horrifying time—and this is horrifying; make no mistake about it. But the way people have come forward, the way people have volunteered, the way people want to donate their time: We’ve all posted pictures of people in our community going the extra mile who are delivering food to communities and who want to donate PPE to different health care sectors. We’ve all seen this. If there’s any positive that comes out of this, that is one of the things. I know that the member for Brant has been seized with making sure that they accomplish that goal, Mr. Speaker.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the member for Richmond Hill-Aurora-Oak Ridges—probably the longest name in here.

Mr. Michael Parsa: Aurora.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill.

I’m a York region member of the House. The member has been—

Ms. Donna Skelly: Standing up for small business.

Hon. Paul Calandra: —standing up for small business, and he did before the crisis. Before the crisis, the member for Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill, Michael Parsa, has been seized with—whether it’s red tape or whether it’s supporting small businesses, that is the member who has led the way. But during COVID, this is a member who makes sure that he’s out there and he’s delivering food. He doesn’t ask for accolades on it. He just actually does it. Some of us in York region need assistance. It’s the member for Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill whom we then turn to and say, “Can you help us?” And he does it.

He doesn’t ask for anything—no disrespect to the rest of my colleagues, but this is a member who never asks for anything. He never asks for anything, but you want to accomplish things for him because you know that he, like everybody else, is working day in and day out for their constituents.

Last night, I received an important text from a local business person. She was very, very grateful for everything we’ve done, but she’s nervous. It’s a great local hair salon in my riding: Headlines Hair Salon. They’re anxious to get back. They understand the challenge, the health care crisis that we’re in, but they’re anxious to get back. They say, “Look, we’re preparing. When you give us the authorization, we are good to go. We want to be part of this community.” This is a small business, colleagues, that took an old library, a very small library in my hometown, and turned it into a thriving small business.

They do extraordinary work. They hire a lot of people and train people. They are important to our community. They donate. They do a lot of things. For her and for that small business, and for all of those people there, I want to make sure that we’re ready to go and that this economy can fire on all cylinders, Mr. Speaker.

I was waiting in line up at the grocery store—

Interjections.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Excuse me. There appears to be a conversation going on here in the Legislature. I would ask that the members engaged in that conversation please keep it down real low so that I can hear the speaker continue, so we can continue with debate.

I turn now back over to the government House leader once again.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll wrap it up. As I was waiting in line up at the grocery store on the weekend, Sonya Torres came to me. She’s part of the Trentadue Torres Real Estate Team, a really spectacular real estate team. They do extraordinary work. I’ve got to really congratulate them; they do really good work there. They’re the most generous contributors to our community. You can always rely on them. You never have to ask twice; they’re always there to help and promote the community. And they’re still doing work, even during this.

They found a way to continue to do work during this COVID, and respectfully finding ways to get people to sell their house, to bring more people to my community, which I am grateful for. She was saying that people are anxious. They’re anxious to get back and to get moving again. We want to be in a position so that Trentadue Torres and Headlines salon in my area can get moving.

The local barber, Frank Frano at Frank’s and Son—this is a great little local business, Mr. Speaker. You can go there and either get your hair cut or you could just go there to have an espresso. Frank might play the accordion for you. It’s a hub for the community. It is a community hub for so many reasons.

People are anxious. They understand the decisions that we have had to make. They get it. But they have said constantly, day in and day out, “When things get going, we’re ready. We want to be a part of helping build this economy.” It’s little places that, like Frank’s and Son, like Headlines, like the local real estate champions Trentadue Torres—it’s the people who are working at Walmart, making sure that we’re distanced while we’re waiting in line.

Somehow we can do it at Walmart in Stouffville with hundreds of people, but the opposition is suggesting that somehow 70 members out of—I don’t know—120 members of Parliament can’t figure out a way to vote yes or no in a socially distant way. I have confidence that the Sergeant-at-Arms will make sure that when we’re voting in this fashion—and by the way, you’ll have a half hour to vote. I am fairly confident that the members of this Legislature will be able to take the example of the people in Stouffville who wait at Walmart, who wait at the Metro, who are waiting for a slice of pizza.

If they can figure that out, I am sure, colleagues, that members of this Legislative Assembly will be able to figure out the space that is required in half an hour in order to vote. I’m very confident of it.

Before I conclude, I want to say this: We have seen all of the crisis that has gone on with committees in Ottawa. I want to give a shout-out to our Clerks and to the committee persons out there. I think all members will join me on this. The standing committee on finance is the first committee that has opened up using Zoom technology, and I don’t know how much smoother it could possibly be.

I notice the member for Stormont-Dundas is here. I don’t have enough time to talk about all the great things that he’s been doing in his riding. Unfortunately, I only have 16 seconds, but if they would give me unanimous consent, I would continue on. But I think that they won’t.

Mr. John Fraser: An hour’s not enough.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Not enough.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that we can do the people’s work and—

Interjections.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. The time for debate has now concluded.

Debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Race-based data

Mr. Faisal Hassan: Yesterday morning, I received a heartening letter from Dorothy Rodriques, the widow of PSW front-line hero Leonard Rodriques.

Leonard was a resident of York South–Weston and passed away on May 6 after 30 years of service to our community’s most vulnerable population. Mr. Rodriques was not provided with the necessary PPE to perform his job safely and contracted COVID-19. As Leonard’s situation worsened, Dorothy tried to get him medical treatment, only to encounter resistance at every turn.

This is a stressful time for Dorothy and her family. While they cope with the loss of their loved one, they worry that other families may encounter similar situations. Dorothy’s voice deserves to be heard. She wants to know if the neglect experienced by her husband was part of a pattern of racial discrimination, but the data does not exist.

Dorothy has asked that I continue to shine a spotlight on the need for race-based data collection in Ontario’s health care system. She no longer wants to see us cover our eyes to racial bias. To quote Mrs. Rodriques directly, “Just because an institution has a system in place to treat all people fairly and equitably, it doesn’t mean it is being put into practice.”

With all they have gone through, I urge this House to honour her request and work toward the necessary reforms to bring real systemic change to our province.

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to remind the members that we are in members’ statements and ask them to keep the volume of their private conversations to a minimum, so as to allow the member who has the floor to make their presentation and allow the Speaker to hear them.

Members’ statements?

Places of religious worship

Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos: The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario has required us to alter how we work and shop, how we see family and friends, how we enjoy recreation and entertainment and, importantly, how we take

part in acts of worship in our communities.

For those of us who attend service, the restrictions of the pandemic have been very dramatic. In my community of Oakville North–Burlington, I have spoken to many faith leaders about this. They know the government had to take strong measures to restrict public gatherings but want to know when our churches, mosques, temples and other religious buildings can safely reopen.

Services with worshippers who gather in cars are now permitted, but it’s only a partial step. This is why we are holding a virtual meeting tomorrow with religious leaders, led by the Minister of Labour, to consult about the reopening of religious institutions. We will work together to ensure reopening can be done safely and that health guidelines can be followed to protect people, particularly the elderly and the vulnerable.

We know that religious services are important to so many, and we are thankful that our religious leaders and people across Ontario have been praying for this pandemic to end. We must work together, consult and listen so that our houses of worship can safely reopen.

Discrimination

Ms. Jill Andrew: Say her name. I stand by the family of Regis Korchinski-Paquet and call on this government to conduct a public, independent investigation into her death.

People are tired of this government’s refusal to do their work to address anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, so imagine our disappointment and hurt when this Premier boldly claimed that systemic racism does not exist here in Ontario.

Here are some facts: Between 2013 and 2017, Black folks were 20 times more likely than whites to be fatally shot and killed by Toronto police. Black and racialized Ontarians make up the majority of essential workers who have died due to COVID-19 and due to this government’s lack of providing PPE. In Ontario, Black students and their families deal with the trauma of anti-Black racism in their schools every single day.

This is the province we’re living in, not your imaginary Ontario. When you deny that systemic racism exists in Ontario—in Canada, at that—you deny that systemic change is needed right here and now. If we’re going to truly address how colonization and white supremacy have impacted the lives of Black and Indigenous people right here in Canada, this government must admit it and do your work. Stop erasing our lived experience. The NDP Black caucus and the official opposition will continue to advocate until all institutions that are meant to “serve and protect” do so for all Ontarians, and that includes Black Ontarians, because Black lives matter.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Vincent Ke: At a time when bad news has been making headlines since the beginning of the pandemic, I want to share some good news in this House. The fantastic people in my riding of Don Valley North, including many generous Chinese and Asian Canadians, are working tirelessly to help others. They donated tens of thousands of PPE to support our front-line health care heroes at North York General Hospital and our local long-term-care homes. Fresh meals and juice bottles are delivered to nurses and doctors, thanks to our fabulous local restaurant owners.

Our youth are also involved very actively. Some high school students donate from their own pockets to buy PPE, while others prepare homemade meals for the hospital health care workers. Many senior residents living in high-rise apartments receive donated face masks to protect them. The Bridge program, under the leadership of Teddy Lema, hosts food drives with the kind support of local grocers to help feed families in need.

On behalf of the community of Don Valley North, I commend them all for their extraordinary efforts and extend them our deepest gratitude.

Pride Month

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It’s an honour to stand in this House today to recognize Pride Month. The need to end homophobia, transphobia, transmisogyny and other forms of bigotry and discrimination is as important as ever. The Ontario NDP has a long history of fighting alongside the LGBTQ community. We have achieved equal parenting rights and a province-wide ban on conversion therapy, as well as ensuring that protections for trans and gender-diverse people are reflected in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

I am glad that people across Ontario spoke up about the repeal of the 2015 health and phys ed curriculum, which some people refer to as the sex ed curriculum. We now have a curriculum which includes LGBTQ families and individuals, so students see themselves reflected in their education. Delaying gender expression until grade 8 is a huge mistake, but I’m glad we are not still using the anachronistic 1998 version.

As true progressives, the NDP realizes that much work needs to be done. LGBTQ folks face challenges accessing health care that is affirming, friendly and competent. Too many LGBTQ seniors enter long-term-care environments where they’re forced back into the closet. It’s unfair that these champions of human rights and human dignity encounter living situations where they don’t feel safe to be their authentic selves. Other NDP measures to support LGBTQ folks include pharmacare for all, access to PrEP, and gender-affirming transition medication and therapies.

Pride will be very different this year, and I commend Queer Events, Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, Pflag chapters, CUPE Ontario, Glad Day and the 519 for reaching out virtually to support the community at this time. We look forward to celebrating Pride in person in the years to come. Happy Pride, everyone.

Skydiving landing zone

Mr. Jim Wilson: I rise today to acknowledge the efforts of an enterprising entrepreneur in my riding who is working hard to build his skydiving business and help revitalize the tourism industry which is so important to the economic well-being of Wasaga Beach. Leslie Farkas wants to establish a landing zone at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park for occasional use during special events like Canada Day or Simcoe Day.

I understand that after several years of rejecting Mr. Farkas’s requests for permission to use a small portion of the beachfront for periodic landings, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is now considering his request, and I commend them for that.

Skydiving is a safe, highly regulated and licensed activity. It is a popular and fast-growing sport that has the potential to help breathe new life and vitality into the Wasaga Beach community and economy.

Supporting outdoor recreation opportunities is a key component of MNRF’s mandate. I would hope, as Ontario focuses on job creation and opportunities for economic growth, that the government will remove the ill-conceived and counterproductive red tape that has stopped Mr. Farkas from realizing his vision. I look forward to the day that, when the beach returns and it’s safe to do so, a large Canadian flag is allowed to drop from the sky for a celebration on the beachfront.

Floyd Dingwall

Mr. Jim McDonell: Speaker, I rise today to remember a friend and a true community champion.

Floyd Dingwall owned and operated a successful dairy farm with his brother in Berwick, in North Stormont township. Farming was tough work, but Floyd always made time for significant contributions to his hometown of Berwick and surrounding area.

Through the local agricultural groups, he shared his herdsmanship and cropping experience with others. Floyd was named Jersey Canada’s 1985 Master Breeder, judging countless shows, which eventually led him to England, where he met Queen Elizabeth and toured her Jersey cow farm. In 2002, he was awarded the Ontario agricultural service diploma, and Jersey Canada made him an honorary lifetime member in 2011.

Floyd served with the Berwick township council as councillor and mayor, and in 1995 was the warden of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and the first deputy mayor of the newly amalgamated North Stormont.

He became especially interested in conservation issues, becoming a member of the South Nation Conservation Authority board for 18 years, including three years as chair. For his time on the board and his work to develop the popular McIntosh Park in Berwick, South Nation awarded Floyd its first lifetime achievement award in 2012.

For all his contributions to the community of North Stormont, he humbly confided in a Chesterville Record

article that he benefited in return because all the organizations educated him.

On behalf of my constituents, I offer my condolences to his wife, Esther, and his family.

Discrimination

Mr. Gurratan Singh: “I can’t breathe.” These were the last words said by George Floyd before he was murdered by the police. And now people are on the streets once again, protesting against systemic anti-Black racism and police brutality.

Some Canadians, including our Premier, look to America and say, “At least that’s not us. In Canada, we’re different.” To those folks, to the Premier, I say, Canada, Ontario, this very House that we stand in here today, is built upon systemic racism. It is built upon a history of the oppression of Black and brown people, of the enslavement of Black people, of the genocide of Indigenous people. Instead of acknowledging this deep history of injustice that exists here, our Premier denies it. Worse, he guts the institutions that are meant to fight racism and inequity by slashing the Anti-Racism Directorate and the public services that we rely on.

So today I ask all of you in this House, let’s do more than call for peace. Let’s call for justice. Let’s fully investigate all police killings. Let’s end the systemic discrimination of Black students in our schools. Let’s invest in our communities and the services that help to end inequity. We need justice, and I promise you, we’re not going to stop fighting for justice until we get it.

Religious communities

Mr. Stan Cho: Over the past weeks, I, like my colleagues on all sides of the House, have recognized many of the everyday heroes who have risen to meet the challenges we face in our communities. This morning I’d like to take a moment to recognize the work of religious leaders and congregations in my community and across this great province.

The last few months have been difficult for people in our faith communities. Gathering to worship and fellowship are keystones in the lives of many. Although we can’t gather in person at the moment, the essential work that our religious leaders and their congregations do has continued throughout the pandemic.

Over the last few months, I have attended several virtual services and seen first-hand how Willowdalers have come together to support one another and serve the community—like Pastor Paul and the team at Willowdale Community Christian Assembly, who started the Kindness Project to deliver groceries and supplies to seniors and people in need.

Many are also preparing for the new normal, like Rabbi Grover, who has been working tirelessly with his team, including doctors in their congregation, to prepare Beth Tikvah for in-person services; or Pastor Sean of Faith Church and Pastor Bruce at Willowdale Baptist, who have been working together with other faith leaders to develop best practices for re-gathering. Many have spoken directly with the Minister of Labour as part of his consultations in developing guidelines for religious gatherings.

Places of worship and our faith communities are essential, and the work that priests, rabbis, imams, pastors, pujari, staff and volunteers do is vital to so many communities across the province. Thank you for your hard work, for your sacrifice in staying home and for keeping our neighbours safe. Thank you for your faith, prayers and love. God bless.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Will Bouma: During the past few months, COVID-19 has certainly challenged us all. Whether you live in Toronto, Timmins, Windsor or my riding of Brantford–Brant, we have seen some amazing work done by our local businesses to help combat this horrendous virus. The Ontario spirit has never been stronger.

I want to acknowledge and say thanks to a couple of businesses in Brantford–Brant that exemplify the Ontario spirit.

KeepRite Refrigeration has been operating in Brantford for over 75 years, employing hundreds within the community. They are a leading North American manufacturer of commercial refrigeration products. Recently, led by their employees, KeepRite donated $10,000 to our local food bank. I want to say thank you to your amazing employees for all that you do.

Another business in Brantford–Brant I would like to recognize is Apotex. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Apotex Pharmachem, Canada’s largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients, retooled part of its Brantford facility to produce high-in-demand hand sanitizer. Employees at the Spalding Drive facility produced an initial run of 500 one-litre bottles of sanitizer that were donated for distribution among local agencies and health care facilities.

As the need for hand sanitizer skyrocketed during the pandemic, dozens of Apotex employees collaborated to get production of the germ-killing liquid ramped up as quickly as possible. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you to Apotex and your employees for stepping up and showing us what the Ontario spirit truly looks like.

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

Correction of record

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Solicitor General has informed me that she wishes to raise a point of order.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you, Speaker. I would like to correct my record. During an answer to the member of Don Valley East yesterday, I said “anti-racism” when I meant “anti-Black racism.”

Sikh genocide

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

Mr. Gurratan Singh: I believe we have unanimous consent of this House for a moment of silence. Thirty-six years ago in June 1984, the Indian government launched a military invasion into the Harmandir Sahib complex, killing thousands.

Today, I ask for the unanimous consent of this House for a moment of silence to remember those victims and all other victims of the Sikh genocide. Lest we forgot.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Brampton East is seeking the unanimous consent of the House for a moment of silence. Agreed? Agreed.

Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

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

Point of order, the member for Timmins.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: I would ask unanimous consent to stand down the leads as we wait for the Premier.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Timmins is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to stand down the lead questions for the leader of the official opposition. Agreed?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I heard a no.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Are we ready to start question period? I hope so.

Question Period

Long-term care

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): It’s now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, my question is to the Premier. I will go slowly, as he’s about to take his seat.

Families across Ontario are in anguish watching the ongoing tragedy unfold in our long-term-care homes. The Premier promised to share information with them as soon as he knew it. But yesterday he refused to answer even basic questions.

Today I’d like to start by asking the question I asked yesterday: Will the Premier tell families with loved ones in long-term care which homes are on the high-risk red list, and if not, why not?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply on behalf of the government, the Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you for the question.

Our government has been clear from the beginning that we will be transparent about these issues. When the Canadian Armed Forces were called in, we were transparent about the homes that they were going into. These homes that are fluctuating out of the various levels, whether it’s yellow to red or red to yellow—there is a dynamic nature to this list. It would not be fair to homes if we were to put out a list that was erroneous in terms of the immediate change that occurs in these homes. It is a dynamic situation. We are monitoring these homes. It is the necessary thing to do.

We’re looking at making sure that all our homes are improving. In fact, we are at 14 days of lowering active resident cases. This is good news.

I want to thank all the staff—our personal support workers and nurses, and all our health workers who are on the front lines—for what they’re doing to support our homes. The integration with hospitals and public health is appreciated very much.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The supplementary is back to the Premier, Speaker.

The bad news is that we’ve lost 1,652 seniors as of today. That’s the bad news.

Transparency is about providing information so that people can make decisions and prepare for what their loved ones are going through.

For months, families have been unable to see their loved ones—we all know that—in long-term care. And some have read with horror the reports from military personnel of literally criminal levels of neglect in those homes.

The Premier says that he knows what’s going on inside the homes and which homes pose the highest risk to residents. The government releases daily updates on the progress of COVID-19 in Ontario. You just heard the minister do it again today, just a second ago, around how many homes are still in COVID-19 crisis. So why can’t the Premier tell families what’s actually happening in their long-term-care homes? Why can’t families know what’s happening in the places where their loved ones live?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, we’ve seen the outbreaks in long-term-care homes that have occurred in every region of this country, represented by every political party, and in both public and privately owned facilities.

Our number one priority is protecting the health and the safety of our must vulnerable members of society and residents of long-term-care homes. We’ve pulled out every single stop to make sure that we make these homes safe. We’re going to be reviewing it through a commission. The Auditor General is going to be reviewing it. We have the coroner’s office reviewing it. We have the Ombudsman reviewing it. So we’re going to get down to the answers of how this happened over decades—not just in the last 18 months or two years.

It has been going on for decades, under other governments, under other leadership, as people sat around for 15 years and never addressed this problem. We’ll address it, and we’re going to fix it.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, the minister just said that there are still well over a hundred homes that are in outbreak with COVID-19. That’s the reality at this moment, and once again families are worried. They’re worried about their loved ones in long-term care, and they’re worried when they see a Premier who’s more interested in protecting friends who are running for-profit homes than the people who actually live inside those homes.

Since residents and their families are not allowed to know whether they live inside a high-risk red home, can the Premier confirm that the for-profit homeowners and their lobbyists know whether or not they’re on the red list?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, let’s just be very clear: I don’t have friends who run long-term-care homes. Maybe the Leader of the opposition can tell me about it.

But every single day, we’re improving the system. Every single day, we’re improving it. We will review the system with an independent, non-partisan commission and we’ll get down to the bottom of this, Mr. Speaker. We will do whatever it takes to fix these homes. We will do whatever it takes—I want to repeat that—to fix these homes of the mistakes that have happened for decades.

As I said the other day in my news conference, I spoke to one unnamed politician who said, “Doug, this has been happening since Bill Davis. We’re going to be the government that fixes it.” I’d like to ask the opposition: Rather than sit there and criticize, why don’t you help us fix the system that they had 15 years to fix, that they did not fix?

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also to the Premier. I do have to say, we’ve been trying our darndest for decades to try to get the former government and this government to do something about long-term care. Unfortunately, they won’t listen and instead cut $34 million from long-term care in their budget, which was a mistake.

But yesterday, families in Kitchener learned that the for-profit Forest Heights facility had been on the red list for weeks and was finally being taken over after weeks of delay. Over a month ago, grieving families and staff were warning the government that residents with COVID-19 were not being quarantined, even while Revera insisted they were meeting or exceeding government standards.

Since that time, 28 more residents have died. How long was Forest Heights on the government’s secret list of high-risk red homes, and why did government allow Revera to continue running the facility and claim that they were meeting government standards?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: I want to call, and I’ve been calling, on the federal government to support us. There’s no province in this country that can fix this alone, no matter if it’s Ontario, BC or Quebec. I hear it on our conference calls all the time. We’re asking for the support of the federal government. We need the financial support to get this fixed. We need the health transfers to increase if they’re true partners, Mr. Speaker. We can’t rely on 22% of health transfers from the Canadian government.

They’ve been doing a great job, by the way. They’ve been supporting all provinces, all the people. I want to thank them. But we need more support. We need more support in long-term care.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, in fact, in April other provinces like British Columbia moved quickly to take control of for-profit homes and ensure proper staffing and infection control, way back at the beginning of April. The Ford government refused to act at that time and refused to even share basic information with the public.

In British Columbia, to this day, 111 seniors have lost their lives in long-term care during this COVID-19 pandemic. In Ontario, as I already mentioned, over 1,650 long-term-care residents have died. Why has the Premier refused to take the measures that BC has taken when it is clear that their actions have in fact saved lives?

Hon. Doug Ford: I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for that great question. Actually, I consult with Premier Horgan all the time. I don’t consider him just a colleague; Premier Horgan is a friend. And as I’ve told him many times, I don’t look at the political stripe. I don’t look if he’s part of the orange party or not. He’s very pragmatic. He’s helped us. He’s given us advice.

But he’ll be the first to admit that this virus hit BC four weeks before it hit Ontario full-fledged, and he’s the one that I consult with. I talk to him privately on the phone, not to mention on our weekly calls as well, and I think the world of Premier Horgan. I think he’s doing a great job. So if we can learn something off BC, we’ll take it. If we can learn something off Quebec, we’ll take it. And if we can get the funding from the federal government, we will take that as well, and fix the problem.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, even if it was four weeks before—and it wasn’t—this is the problem that the Premier has: If they were in COVID four weeks longer than us and to this day, only 111 seniors have lost their lives while in Ontario over 1,650 have lost their lives, then Ontario has made some big mistakes along the way and hasn’t been listening to what they should have been doing.

Across Ontario, thousands of families have been forced to watch helplessly as loved ones in long-term care have fallen ill; and have learned, often after their loved ones had died, that their loved ones weren’t being quarantined and, in some cases, weren’t being cared for at all, even while for-profit homes insisted that they were meeting government standards and the Premier was claiming that there was an “iron ring” protecting their loved ones, which we all know was not the case.

Will the Premier do the right thing today and admit that he and his team have actually failed, and call an independent judicial inquiry? Because that’s what Ontarians deserve.

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

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you, Speaker, and thank you for the question. Our government worked in combination with many ministries and with the command table. We were, very early—back in February—putting out guidance for our long-term-care homes, and we were actively engaged the whole way through; in some instances, taking earlier measures than other provinces.

This is a global pandemic. This is not a normal time. Every measure and every tool possible has been used to prevent the spread of COVID into our long-term-care homes. There are many variables. I can assure you that when we put active screening in place, essential visitors only, one location of work, infection prevention and control measures, integrating with hospitals to get rapid deployment teams and SWAT teams into our homes, working with public health, taking the directives of the Chief Medical Officer of Health—every measure has been taken. We will continue to take measures as necessary, including the management of homes, if necessary.

Race-based data

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also to the Premier. Yesterday, our offices were contacted by Dorothy Rodriques, the widow of Leonard Rodriques, a Black PSW from Toronto who died from COVID-19 because he did not get the PPE that he needed at work. Leonard was a dedicated and beloved husband, father and colleague, but when Leonard got sick, the family experienced barrier after barrier in accessing appropriate care. After his death, the trauma only continued. Dorothy said, “We are not able to tell if this, the neglect from our health care system, is a pattern or a one-off, because there’s no data to support it.”

Dorothy has called for the immediate collection of race-based data by this government. Will the Premier listen to Dorothy?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Deputy Premier.

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the leader of the official opposition for this question. Normally, the Ministry of Health does not collect race-based data. It’s not considered to be particularly relevant. However, in this case—

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It has always been relevant.

Hon. Christine Elliott: It hasn’t been in the past. However, in this case we have seen the need for it to be done, and we are trying to set up a system where it can be done where people’s identity can be protected and where this can be collected, because this is going to be relevant to COVID-19, to areas where it has broken out. We want to make sure that every Ontarian’s health is protected.

This has been asked for by a number of organizations. We are listening, we are willing to collect this data, and we are looking at the best way to do so to protect everyone’s health and to make sure that we can continue to do that in future.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, the way that Black people are treated in our health care system has always been relevant. Anti-Black racism exists systemically throughout all of our systems, and it’s shameful that this minister does not acknowledge or recognize that and thinks that it’s only relevant because of COVID-19. That is disgraceful.

Leonard Rodriques spent 30 years of his life caring for vulnerable Ontarians as a PSW. His spouse is pleading with the government to act, and I can tell you, she is not alone. Health experts from across the province, as the minister already mentioned, have identified anti-Black racism as a public health crisis and have called for government action.

Dorothy said, “Canada has gone too long covering their eyes to racial discrimination by refusing to collect data that challenges Canada’s racial bias.” And that would be the same right here in Ontario—news flash for the minister. “We need a plan of action,” she says.

The Premier can answer this call today. Will the Premier acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of Ontarians face racial discrimination every day in this province and immediately issue an emergency order for the collection of race-based health data in Ontario?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Premier to reply.

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, to the Leader of the Opposition: Of course, there’s systemic racism in Ontario. There’s systemic racism across this country. I know it exists.

What I don’t know are the hardships faced by those communities, and a lot of us in this chamber do not know the hardships within those communities. I don’t have those lived experiences. I do not have those lived experiences, and I can empathize with them. But again, a lot of us have never lived that. We have never walked a mile in someone’s shoes who has faced racism. Not only just in the Black community; a lot of minority communities throughout the history of Ontario and Canada have faced racism.

Our government won’t stand for it, I won’t stand for it as Premier, and we will do everything we can in our power and work collectively with other parties to stamp this out.

Manufacturing

Mr. Stan Cho: My question is to the Premier. Premier, as you’ve said many times, this pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone out there, and we’ve all made great sacrifices—individuals, people in our province, our country and, indeed, around the world.

Back in March, our province launched the Ontario Together website, and you made a call. You issued a call out to our business community to say, “We need reinforcements. This is the time that we need your help,” and they answered that call. We had our great entrepreneurial leaders step up to the plate and channel that enterprising spirit to help us make the medical supplies and equipment we need to get through this pandemic.

Could the Premier please update this Legislature about those positive efforts that this has resulted in for the people of this great province?

Hon. Doug Ford: I want to thank our great member from Willowdale for the question. I want to thank the great business community that has stepped up during this time, that has switched over their lines to make hand sanitizer, switched over their lines to make face shields or masks. That is the true Ontario spirit.

Since launching the Ontario Together Fund, these are some of the amazing numbers here. We received over 25,000 submissions from businesses right across the province, and 15,000 of those submissions have led to $200 million in purchases of medical supplies and equipment: 121 million masks, four million face shields, 100 million surgical gloves and 20.9 million gowns straight to the front lines.

We can compete against anyone. As I’ve always said, we won’t rely on foreign countries for PPE any longer.

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

Mr. Stan Cho: Thanks for that response, Premier. I think we all share that pride in our businesses in Ontario in this chamber.

Now, our government is also proud to partner with these businesses to unleash that power—the power of the private sector—in an effort to beat this virus for good and ensure that Ontario never again is at the mercy of another country when it comes to personal protective equipment.

I, as well as everybody else, want to thank the great leaders for stepping up to the plate during this very difficult time—these great examples of leadership by Paul Moyer, an apple farmer in Niagara who retooled his apple-sanitizing machine to sanitize used N95 masks with technology that kills 99.9% of germs; or True North Printed Plastics in Bracebridge, who have been teaming up with northern Ontario medical students to make 3D-printed face shields.

Could the Premier please share with the Legislature other examples of ingenuity and leadership by companies during this time?

Hon. Doug Ford: I thank the member for the question. Our government is making a priority to support innovative businesses like SouthMedic Inc., Sterling Industries and SRB Technologies through the Ontario Together Fund. That’s why we are pleased to announce that Ontario is investing more than $2.8 million in our homegrown manufacturers to ramp up the production of PPE. With our support, these innovators will increase their output of personal protective equipment to meet the province’s needs and help the front-line health care workers have the proper PPE.

Mr. Speaker, twelve weeks ago we were relying on other countries; now we are relying on our own Ontario base of manufacturers.

COVID-19

Mr. Gurratan Singh: For weeks, the Conservative government has promised that they’ve got testing under control, only to underperform and under-deliver. Then, yesterday we learned that they not only didn’t have a plan to meet their own testing goals, but they were actively under-reporting and hiding testing data from some hospitals.

Cases in my riding are growing, and we are desperate, Speaker. We are desperate for more testing. Many are essential workers and are at the front line of this crisis, and need to know that their families are safe.

My question to the Premier, Mr. Speaker, is, how can they trust a government that so consistently overpromised and under-delivered when it comes to testing and tracking cases for COVID-19?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: I would like to say to the member opposite that we have increased our testing. We have been open and transparent in our reporting at every step of the way. The Premier has promised that we will let people know that we will be open with that information.

We submitted over 17,000 tests yesterday. As a matter of fact, I also went to a testing centre, a pop-up centre in Scarborough, where we’re trying to increase testing. Anyone who wants to be tested, who feels that they have symptoms of COVID-19 or feels that they have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, can go to be tested. So anyone who wants to be tested will be tested at an assessment centre.

This pop-up centre, I can tell you, when I was there yesterday, had a lineup of at least 40 people half an hour before they were even going to be opening. People want to come in for testing. We are accommodating them. We have a strategy to increase our testing, and we are increasing it on a daily basis with over 17,000 tests done and over 20,000 on several days just before the weekend.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas, supplementary.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: To the Premier: I have been hearing concerns from small business owners and workers from my riding and from across the province. They’re telling me that the Conservative failures on testing aren’t just hurting families; they’re putting our reopening and our recovery at risk as well.

Thousands of Ontarians are going back to work now and they’re getting back out in their communities, so we can’t continue to underperform on testing and we certainly cannot lose track of tests. When is the government going to ensure that the hard work and the sacrifices made by everyday Ontarians aren’t undone by these failures?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, I would say, Mr. Speaker, through you to the member opposite: quite the opposite. We understand how important testing is in defeating COVID-19. We very much appreciate the efforts that the 14 and a half million Ontarians have already made by staying home for a long period of time, by physically distancing, by approving and dealing with all of the important health measures that we have asked them to deal with.

Currently, we are working with businesses to allow, when the time is right, for people to come back in a safe way. We are increasing our testing, because we know that as we open up the economy bit by bit, in a careful and measured approach, people will continue to be safe. We absolutely know that testing is important, and we are increasing our testing. We can do 20,000 tests per day now; we’re going to increase that so that anyone who wants to be tested will be tested. And when people come back to employment, they will be tested to make sure that it’s safe for them to return. That is a major priority for us.

Long-term care

Mr. Stephen Blais: My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. Like too many facilities here in Ontario, Madonna Care Community in Orléans has been devastated by COVID-19. One quarter of all residents have died as a result of the disease, and out of 61 staff cases, two long-term employees have also passed away.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier has said that we will know everything that he knows. The Minister of Long-Term Care has asked the opposition for help in assisting her in finding a solution to the problem, yet when asked which facilities are in trouble, she refuses to answer.

Mr. Speaker, given the Premier’s declaration and the minister’s request for our assistance, will she release the lists of long-term-care homes in need, those that are scoring a yellow and red?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you for the question. The monitoring of these homes is ongoing. There have been inspections; there have been thousands of inspections. The issue here is that we want to make sure that the inspections of these homes are unannounced. If we release the lists, then it is much more difficult to do an unannounced inspection.

We’ve heard your concerns, we’ve heard the concerns from Ontarians, and we listened. That is why these inspections will be unannounced for these long-term-care homes. This is a process.

I want to clarify something that was said earlier from the Leader of the Opposition. In fact, our numbers are not as you portray in terms of the outbreaks. We are substantially reducing our numbers. We’re now at about 108, so we are—

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Over a hundred is what I said.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Well, actually, that was yesterday. Today I believe we’re at 94, so we are on the trend downwards, and I think it’s exceedingly important to deal with the facts. We are now in a downward trend. The inspections of these homes will be ongoing. They will be unannounced, and it is a way for us to make sure that the inspections that you’ve asked for—asked for more—are being done.

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

Mr. Stephen Blais: My supplementary is also to the Minister of Long-Term Care. As I’ve mentioned, in Orléans, the Madonna Care Community has been devastated by COVID, and they’ve been relying on local hospitals to supplement their staffing to address the needs of residents. Mr. Speaker, hospitals have indicated that this support can’t last forever, and in fact it can’t last for very much longer at all. We have been informed that at Madonna Community Care, that support might be withdrawn as early as next week.

My question to the minister is, what’s the plan to continue to provide supports to Madonna Care Community through the summer and as we approach the fall into a second wave?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thanks for the question. All these homes are required to provide a stabilization plan. It’s very important to point out here that the staffing crisis that our homes experienced during this horrible, tragic pandemic—those staffing issues were building over many, many years. We began, as a government, as soon as we took over as the new Ministry of Long-Term Care, to address that issue. These are long-standing issues. They will not be addressed overnight, and many partners are working with us to try and address as quickly as possible and stabilize these homes.

That is exactly what we have been doing all this time. When our homes were in dire need, we called in the Canadian Armed Forces and they came, and they were there to help. All our partners, all our tools, all our measures will be used. But our homes have a stabilization plan, and we are actively on that.

Anti-racism activities

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Solicitor General. Earlier, the Premier answered a question from the Leader of the Opposition, saying he acknowledges that anti-Black racism exists in Ontario, after not answering the same question yesterday. After centuries of anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism and racism against people of colour, I think all of us who were born into privilege need to answer the question about institutionalized and systemic anti-Black racism in Ontario, so I was happy to see the Premier answer that.

But I ask the Solicitor General, what specific actions is the government going to take to combat systemic and institutional anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism and racism against people of colour in Ontario?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you for the question. I think this is an important conversation for all of us to have. There are many examples of systemic racism across Ontario, but in answer to your specific question about examples of what we have been doing, under the leadership of the Ontario Anti-Racism Directorate we have developed regulations under the new police legislation, the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act.

We have developed a cutting-edge applied learning program to equip members of the OPS, the Ontario Public Service, with the anti-racism knowledge, skills and tools needed to build a public service that is more inclusive, equitable and responsive. We’re supporting the Ministry of Health with developing their approach to collecting race-based data in the health care sector. The Anti-Racism Directorate is providing guidance and support to organizations in the education, justice and child welfare sectors to implement the collection of race-based data.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I appreciate the Solicitor General’s response. I’ll say that the Anti-Racism Act, when it was passed, established four commitments for the government: to establish a three-year anti-racism strategy; to implement the collection of race-based data across all ministries—it’s important in health, but across all ministries; to organize and conduct ongoing public consultations to provide the public with reporting; and to create an anti-racism campaign for our education system.

Speaker, will the government today commit to fully funding the Anti-Racism Directorate and to fully implementing all four of the commitments in the Anti-Racism Act?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: To be clear and to repeat: Our government has zero tolerance for racism, hate or discrimination in all of its many forms.

There has been zero change to the budget of the Anti-Racism Directorate, and our government has been clear in our support for the ARD and its important mandate. The Anti-Racism Directorate, to your point, is leading strategic initiatives to advance anti-racism work across government with a plan, including through the three-year anti-racism strategy, and including the issues I have already spoken about and that they’re already working on. They are also working to identify and address racial barriers in the recruitment of correctional officers.

Speaker, the Anti-Racism Directorate is doing excellent work. I would hope that, with the co-operation of all members of this House, we can continue that important work.

Employment standards

Mr. Taras Natyshak: My question is to the Premier. There are over 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases among migrant workers in my riding of Windsor-Essex, another hundred in Chatham-Kent, an outbreak in Niagara and yesterday it was reported that there were 164 cases in an outbreak in Norfolk county. Last Saturday, one of these workers in Essex county—a young worker, 30 years old—tragically died from COVID-19. Our collective hearts and sympathies go out to his family and his colleagues.

These were agricultural workers who were brought here. They were recruited here in the middle of a pandemic because what they do is so essential—the work that they perform, the expertise that they bring is so essential—that our agriculture sector could not operate without them. Speaker, what concrete steps does the Premier intend to take today to protect these workers, to prevent a further outbreak jeopardizing these workers’ health, and why hasn’t he acted to this point?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond on behalf of the government, the Minister of Labour.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Thank you to the member opposite for this question. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to begin by expressing our government’s condolences to the family of the worker who was killed by COVID-19. In fact, we send our condolences to all of those families impacted across the province by COVID-19 during this global pandemic.

As the member opposite noted, migrant workers play a key

part in the agricultural sector of Ontario’s economy. I come from the great riding of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, and migrant workers are part of our communities and part of the agricultural industry in the province. Mr. Speaker, I can report to the House that in April, I launched a health and safety blitz of the agricultural sector, of farms, specifically those farms with migrant workers; and I can report to the House today that we’ve done 137 field visits to date.

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

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Speaker, these regions with large agricultural operations are now the epicentres, the sites of the largest COVID-19 workplace outbreaks in the province. However, this was entirely predictable. The work in the fields in close proximity, the bunkhouses where it’s practically impossible to properly isolate, the need to access personal protective equipment, regular access to sanitation and washing stations—these are hard to find in these workplace environments.

The province has bought up banks of hotel and motel rooms elsewhere in the province in order to rehouse those who need to self-isolate. The Premier could do that here in order to help stop a worsening situation and even help the struggling hospitality sector. Here’s an idea from the opposition that you could take to make life better for these workers. Will you take this and act on it today?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: As the member opposite knows, the health and safety of every single worker in this province, including migrant workers, is my top priority as minister and is our government’s top priority. Mr. Speaker, as I said, I launched a blitz in April. We’ve done 137 field visits in the agricultural sector to protect the health and well-being of migrant workers specifically. The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development has issued 34 work orders to improve conditions for workers in the agricultural sector.

But, Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk specifically about a $2.25-million investment announced by Minister Hardeman and OMAFRA. Our government has put in place $2.25 million. This will be used for key initiatives like purchasing PPE, enhancing cleaning and disinfection, and redesigning work stations on farms to protect migrant workers across this province.

Tourisme / Tourism

M lle Amanda Simard: Ma question s’adresse à la ministre du Tourisme.

Le secteur du tourisme est l’un des plus durement frappés par la COVID-19 avec les restrictions de déplacement, oui, mais en plus, on ajoute à ça une chute significative dans le revenu des Ontariens et des touristes : une recette de dommages catastrophiques. Comme on dit, on n’est pas sorti du bois.

Et comme ça semble être la tendance, le gouvernement lance la balle au fédéral pour fournir un appui à ce secteur. C’est la ministre fédérale du Développement économique qui vient d’annoncer 30 millions de dollars pour l’Association de l’industrie touristique de l’Ontario. Encore une fois, la ministre Joly à la rescousse.

Quand est-ce que le gouvernement va arrêter de dépendre du fédéral pour venir en aide aux entrepreneurs de notre province, les créateurs d’emplois, et commencer à assumer ses responsabilités et offrir de l’aide au secteur du tourisme?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House Leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, I’d have to disagree completely with the member opposite’s question. In fact, the minister responsible for tourism has been a national leader with respect to bringing together the federal, provincial and territorial ministers in a plan to react to COVID-19. She has hosted hundreds of round tables, and she’s worked very closely with Minister Joly. Yes, the member is correct: She has worked very closely with Minister Joly.

She has appointed within our caucus the member for Parry Sound–Muskoka to reach out to tourism operators across the province of Ontario. We’ve heard from numerous members on our side. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Finance, which is about to begin meetings on the tourism sector tomorrow, has over 140 individuals who want to present, who want to give ideas on how we can move that sector forward.

She has done a tremendous amount of work, and I am very proud of the work she has done, and all colleagues have done. We will continue to work with Minister Joly to bring visitors back not only to Ontario but all of Canada.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary que