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March 10, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Mar-10 vol. A (PDF)

L234A - Wed 10 Mar 2021 / Mer 10 mar 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 10 March 2021 Mercredi 10 mars 2021

Orders of the Day

Supply Act, 2021 / Loi de crédits de 2021

Members’ Statements

COVID-19 response

Personal support workers

Tenant protection

Dr. Robin Poole

Businesses in Windsor–Tecumseh

COVID-19 response

Women’s representation in provincial Parliament

Protests in India

COVID-19 response

Walter Gretzky

Drapeau franco-ontarien / Franco-Ontarian flag

Question Period

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 immunization

Land use planning

Land use planning

COVID-19 immunization

Land use planning

Mental health services

Land use planning

Subventions destinées à l’éducation / Education funding

Pipelines

Indigenous affairs

Land use planning

COVID-19 immunization

Long-term care

Education funding

Notices of dissatisfaction

Deferred Votes

Services for children and youth

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Standing Committee on Social Policy

Introduction of Bills

Convenience Store Week Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la Semaine des dépanneurs

Petitions

Education funding

Documents gouvernementaux

Education funding

Abortion images

Education funding

Education funding

Anti-smoking initiatives for youth

Education funding

Health care funding

Rémunération du secteur public

Orders of the Day

Supply Act, 2021 / Loi de crédits de 2021

Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 soutenant l’expansion de l’Internet et des infrastructures

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Supply Act, 2021 / Loi de crédits de 2021

Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 261,

An Act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021 / Projet de loi 261, Loi autorisant l’utilisation de certaines sommes pour l’exercice se terminant le 31 mars 2021.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the minister to lead off the debate.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the President of the Treasury Board, I’m pleased to rise in the House today to discuss the Supply Act for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

The passage of the Supply Act by the Ontario Legislature is required every fiscal year. It provides the final approval of all spending for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, by the government and its legislative offices.

Mr. Speaker, it’s fair to say that the 2020-21 fiscal year is like no other in recent memory. Monsieur le Président, on peut dire sans hésitation que l’exercice 2020-2021 ne ressemble en rien aux années précédentes.

But I’m proud to say that amidst a global pandemic that’s impacted our health, our economy and our communities;

C’est cependant avec fierté que j’affirme que malgré une pandémie qui a impacté notre santé, notre économie et notre communauté;

We have not wavered in doing whatever it takes;

Nous n’avons jamais hésité à prendre les décisions nécessaires;

And spending every dollar necessary;

Et de dépenser toute somme nécessaire;

To protect the health and safety of the people of Ontario;

Pour protéger la santé et la sécurité des citoyens de l’Ontario.

We have pulled out all the stops and made historic investments in front-line services, like health care and education. We know this is making a difference in the lives of Ontarians. Nous avons fait tout le possible et procédé à des investissements historiques dans les services de première ligne, comme les soins de santé et l’éducation. Nous savons que ces efforts ont fait une différence dans la vie des habitants.

We did so by providing unprecedented levels of support to combat COVID-19 from the outset of the pandemic to now.

On March 25, 2020, at the height of the pandemic’s first wave, our government released Ontario’s action plan responding to COVID-19.

Ontario was the first province to release a fiscal outlook that reflected the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and charted a path forward to support people through difficult and extraordinary times.

Our $17-billion action plan was a critical and crucial first step to ensure our province was well positioned to weather the immense challenges that lay ahead. It included $7 billion in additional resources for the health care system, as well as direct support for people and jobs. It also made available $10 billion for support for people and businesses through tax and other deferrals to improve their cash flow, protecting jobs and household budgets.

On November 5, 2020, we released Ontario’s 2020 budget, which set out a total of $45 billion in support over three years to make available the necessary health resources to continue protecting people, as well as measures to support individuals, families and job creators impacted by the virus.

Our budget committed to making $15.2 billion over three years available to support Ontario’s front-line health care heroes and protect people from COVID-19. This includes supporting 141 hospitals and health care facilities. It included 626 long-term-care homes and over 770 retirement homes since the beginning of the pandemic.

Mr. Speaker, since day one, health care has been a top priority, and our investments reflect that. For 2020-21, the government of Ontario announced Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, which provided $935 million for the hospital sector. This included $341 million for additional acute care and critical care beds and assessment centres in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s critical that I remind everyone that since the start of the pandemic back in March of last year, our government has opened over 3,000 new hospital beds around the province. We will continue to ensure there is capacity across the province to provide care for COVID-19 patients and any other Ontarians requiring hospitalization.

Ontario is also investing $1.75 billion to create 30,000 new long-term-care beds over 10 years. In November 2020, the ministry announced the government is moving forward with 29 new long-term-care projects, which will lead to an additional 3,000 new and upgraded long-term-care spaces across the province. In addition to the 29 projects announced, Ontario is investing an additional $761 million to build and renovate 74 projects under the modernized funding model, creating over 11,000 safe and modern spaces.

As part of our government’s plan to create new long-term-care beds across the province that meet modern design standards, the Accelerated Build Pilot Program will enable the construction of up to 1,280 new long-term-care beds in Ontario. This brings the total number of new and upgraded long-term-care spaces in the pipeline to 22,368.

As part of the government’s long-term-care preparedness plan to support COVID-19 infection, prevention and control practices and to enable homes to prepare for outbreaks, the government offered all long-term-care homes access to an eight-week supply of PPE, at no cost to the homes. In addition, when the PPE supply at a home is low, the province will urgently top up supplies and fulfill priority requests within 24 hours. This was made possible by leveraging our provincial buying power.

Mr. Speaker, we have also invested $1.1 billion in personal protective equipment and other critical supplies to protect our health care workers, patients and people across the province. This investment has purchased nearly 300 million masks, 900 million gloves, 50 million gowns and over six million face shields.

Our front-line workers in particular have stepped up and embodied the Ontario spirit. They have been absolutely critical to our province’s response to the pandemic, and we can’t thank them enough.

In the early days of the pandemic, we announced Ontario’s pandemic pay program to recognize the dedication and sacrifice of our front-line health care heroes. This program benefited nearly 430,000 employees across 4,000 employers and helped to provide additional support and relief to our front-line health care heroes. We took further steps to support our front-line heroes by investing $461 million to temporarily enhance the wages of personal support workers and direct support workers in the home and community care, the long-term care, public hospitals and social services sectors.

This February, we launched a $115-million program to train up to 8,200 new personal support workers for high-demand jobs in Ontario’s health and long-term-care sectors. And through the COVID-19 fall preparedness plan announced on September 30, 2020, the government is investing $52.5 million to recruit, retain and support over 3,700 more front-line health care workers and caregivers.

We are also making vital investments in education, including our $1.6-billion plan to reopen schools safely, which included hiring more teachers, custodians and nurses; keeping class sizes small; providing PPE; and supporting virtual learning. As of February 16, 2021, more than 520,000 students across Ontario were able to resume learning in-person, following a period of remote learning that began province-wide in January and saw students returning to in-person learning throughout January.

To support students’ safe return to in-person learning, we implemented several measures to protect students and staff. These include:

—province-wide access to targeted asymptomatic testing for students and staff, using a combination of lab-processed PCR tests as well as rapid antigen tests;

—mandatory masking for students in grades 1 to 3, including outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained; and

—enhanced screening of secondary students and staff.

And we provided much-needed relief for families facing new education-related expenses through our Support For Learners program, Mr. Speaker, making available over $800 million.

In addition to the government’s work to support a safe return to our schools, we’re working hard to support countless small businesses in Ontario, which are the backbone and often the identity of our communities across the province. We have provided $13.5 billion to support people, families and businesses. This is in addition to the $4.8 billion to lay the foundation for a strong economic recovery fuelled by growth. We have done this through targeted supports, new tax relief measures and electricity cost relief.

Premier Ford, Ministers Fedeli, Sarkaria and I announced in January the opening of applications for the Ontario small business grant program. This is a vital lifeline for small businesses that have had to restrict their operations due to the provincial shutdown, providing up to $20,000 in one-time grants to use whatever way makes the most sense for their individual businesses.

Because as Ontario’s employers do their part to defeat COVID-19—they are facing unprecedented challenges as a result of this global pandemic—we’re doing everything we can to support them. In many cases, this is the difference between keeping the lights on and closing their doors for good. So far, the uptake of these grants has been tremendous. Nearly 90,000 applications have been processed, representing more than $1.276 billion in support.

We have also cut taxes by $360 million in 2021-22, by raising the Employer Health Tax, EHT, exemption amount from $490,000 to $1 million. This increase started in 2020 and will be permanent, benefiting about 57,000 employers in 2021.

We introduced the Digital Main Street program to assist businesses with their adoption of technology by developing simple, easy-to-use online tools and resources—because providing continued supports to enable e-commerce, develop digital strategies and leverage technology are critical to helping Ontario’s small businesses remain competitive and expand their markets.

Our online hub, ontario.ca/smallbusiness, connects small business with resources that offer mental health support, financial planning, tailored local advice, and provincial and federal assistance. In fact, through our partnership with the federal government on Digital Main Street, we’re helping nearly 23,000 small businesses tap into the opportunities of e-commerce. This program allows small businesses to maintain their operations through the pandemic while positioning them for future growth.

To keep our much-loved small and independent restaurants in business across the region, we’ve capped delivery fees where indoor dining is prohibited. We have permanently allowed them to include alcohol with food as part of their takeout or delivery orders, helping them carve out new revenue streams that they can rely on once the pandemic is behind us.

Mr. Speaker, this is about supporting small businesses so they can keep supporting us, enabling them to serve our communities, employ our neighbours and boost our economy.

This brings me to a key part of our plan for our province’s COVID-19 response and the future of service delivery in Ontario. COVID-19 revealed that in these unprecedented times, Ontario’s programs and services needed to be simpler and easier to access when, where and how the people needed them. When the pandemic hit, we moved swiftly and safely to transition vital programs and services online. A good example of this is the COVID-19 web portal at ontario.ca/covid19. This one-stop dashboard provides all the latest data and information that Ontarians need to stay safe and healthy.

Since July 2020, the COVID-19 web portal has been visited almost 50 million times, with 120 million total page views.

Another example of how we’re leveraging technology is the COVID Alert app. Developed in partnership between the Ontario Digital Service, Ottawa-based Shopify and the federal government, the app gives Ontario a digital defence against COVID-19. It’s free, easy to use, private and secure. The app notifies you if you’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, and with over 6.3 million downloads to date, the COVID Alert app is a bona fide made-in-Ontario success story.

Our government has introduced our Digital First for Health plan, which brings the patient experience into the 21st century by offering more choices and making health care simpler, easier and more convenient for patients—because as the world has changed, people expect and deserve unprecedented speed and convenience, and the latest information at their fingertips.

Digital technologies and the data that power them are changing the way that we live and connect with one another. That’s why our government has focused on rapidly expanding access to online options, including investing in innovation, delivering more convenient digital services and using data to drive our decisions. Ontario Onwards: Ontario’s COVID-19 Action Plan for a People-Focused Government is our groundbreaking plan to do just that. By continuing to expand digital options that Ontarians can access at their fingertips while preserving in-person options, we will build a government that’s truly responding to the needs of the people.

We know that there is no time to spare. That’s why, last fall, I announced the Ontario Onwards Acceleration Fund, which is enabling us to expedite the digital transformation of our vital programs and services. Over the next four years, we will invest $500 million on projects with measurable, quantifiable and evidence-based results that improve the way people that people and businesses interact with government, saving them both time and money. It will also provide seed funding to set up pilot projects that test drive new initiatives that show promise.

Mr. Speaker, I rose today to discuss the Supply Act for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which is a routine parliamentary procedure. However, as I’m sure we can all agree, this year has been anything but routine. But if we learned one thing from the global pandemic, it is this: Change is constant. And leveraging change and applying the lessons we’ve learned from the pandemic will help us transform government to better serve the people and businesses of our province. This willingness to adopt bold, transformational measures represents the essence of the Ontario spirit, and will help us emerge from these difficult times stronger and more resilient than ever.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve made these investments to lift every single Ontarian up, and to ensure that they have a brighter tomorrow.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: As Her Majesty’s official opposition, it’s my pleasure, as the finance critic and the critic of the Treasury Board, to weigh in on today’s Supply Act.

It is an interesting disconnect I feel that we’re experiencing on this side of the House over the last year. But before I get into that disconnect, I want to thank the finance minister for reaching out to me just this week so that we can talk about the priorities that we see and some common ground that perhaps we might find in the upcoming budget.

That said, we view the expenditures of this province to date to be insufficient. In fact, I was thinking about this last night in anticipation of some time in the future debating this bill—not exactly an hour later—that this component, so far, of the Supply Act should be called “mind the gap” because there are significant gaps in opportunities to invest strategically in our economic recovery to address the immediate needs of Ontarians.

Perhaps the upcoming budget may reflect some of those needs; I certainly hope so, particularly on behalf of the small businesses that I’ve been working with for the most of this year, as the economic development critic, and as well on behalf of women. We have tried really hard to get this government to recognize that an economic recovery plan must be very focused strategically on lifting women up and providing opportunities and supports so that they reach their potential, because if women do not reach their potential in this province, Ontario will not reach its potential either.

As the finance minister mentioned, the Supply Act simply closes off this fiscal year and so it is really a procedural component. However, it is also an opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to review where the money went and where the money did not go. For us, it is interesting for me to hear about the investments in health care, because on this side of the House, we have been fighting for very strategic investments, particularly the long-term-care sector, particularly on behalf of the personal support workers who have essentially been trying to hold that system together during—we share the words and the thoughts of the government in this—what has been unprecedented.

But this was also an opportunity for the government of Ontario to move past that ideology around for-profit and not-for-profit care and to invest in the very people who deliver the direct care, who primarily are women and, in many parts of this province, racialized women.

When I was reviewing where the gaps are, where we should be mindful of the gaps, I was looking at health care in particular. We on this side of the House recognize that prior to the pandemic, the investments that this government was pulling back on behalf of public health and health care were quite damaging. We went into this pandemic limping, Mr. Speaker. You’ll know, of course, that we didn’t have the appropriate amount of personal protective equipment. The health minister herself, in testimony at the long-term-care commission, has admitted that she was not aware that the previous stock had been discarded.

So we asked companies across this province, many across all of our ridings, to step up and help. One of those companies I’m incredibly proud of, as is my colleague from Kitchener Centre, is Canadian Shield. They were a 3D printing company that pivoted—because that was the word of 2020—and started making the plastic face shields and PPE masks.

Of late, though, we have discovered from companies, including Eclipse in Cambridge, that accessing government contracts to supply much-needed personal protective equipment is not an easy thing. The government was aware of this for the last five to six months, and to their credit, these companies have said, “Listen, just let us bid on some of these contracts. Let us provide the much-needed personal protective equipment that Ontario needs, so we don’t make the same mistakes again.” I think that that’s the lens that I would like to put on the supply bill today: Let’s be mindful of where the missteps happened, because they happened.

To date, Canadian Shield and companies like Eclipse are doing their best to start to look at exports, for instance, but the Premier himself has said, “Listen, we need these companies to be strong in Ontario. We need them to provide these much-needed supplies, because we’re going to be wearing masks for a long time.” Unfortunately, two weeks ago Canadian Shield had to lay off 47 employees, because they can’t get their product into our health care system.

Now, let’s agree that we need to fix this. Let’s agree that we want those jobs to stay in Ontario. Let’s agree that we shouldn’t be very focused on creating jobs in other sectors like China. This is something that the government can address through their procurement strategy.

We have great companies in Sudbury, in Toronto and in Etobicoke, in the Premier’s own riding, who want to be part of the solution on keeping people safe, and I want to focus on why it’s so important to keep people safe: because we have never before in the history of this province been at a precipice where we fully can no longer ignore the connection between the health and well-being of the citizens that we serve and our economy.

It did take this government a long time to come to the table with tangible direct supports for businesses, particularly on the personal protective equipment side. We have made the case that that $1,000 is an insufficient amount; we have companies, I have to say, where it costs them $4,000 on a monthly basis to clean their facilities. So when we introduced our Save Main Street strategy back in April, almost a full year ago, we were really focused on those direct financial supports that would save businesses, including rent support; commercial rent, we all know, was a huge issue.

The government took a different tack. They decided to rely very heavily on the federal program, instead of a made-in-Ontario program.

That federal rent support strategy was, unfortunately, very focused on the landlord applying for the funding. Imagine being a business owner and hoping that you can see yourself through that first wave—because we also didn’t learn as much as we should have in that first wave and apply that knowledge for the second wave. Imagine hoping—praying, really—that this government sees those mistakes in the first and second wave and addresses them so that we don’t have to shut down again.

But the CECRA program that this government touted through four months of SCOFEA, the finance committee, saying that this is the best program—in the end, you had to admit that it was a complete and utter failure, because if you go along Queen Street in some of our members’ ridings, you will see storefront after storefront after storefront closed up and boarded up. That was avoidable. Those businesses said, “Listen, help us get through this period of time and we will help you recover as a province,” and that really was the only way that it was going to happen.

I do find it curious to hear the finance minister talk about the health care investment and be very proud of that. Just yesterday, the Washington Post ran a story about how the 4,000 deaths in our long-term-care system—4,000, Mr. Speaker—were avoidable. This was an

article that was published on March 8, so on International Women’s Day. It was posted by David Moscrop. It said, “On March 3”—so it was reviewing what had happened up to that point—“Ontario surpassed 7,000 COVID-19 deaths. Yet, for a ‘we’re all in this together’ pandemic, as the often-repeated refrain goes, a breakdown of the mortality figures reveals jarring inequities, especially for those living in the province’s long-term-care facilities.” Our performance—or underperformance, or complete and utter failure—in the long-term-care sector is now receiving international attention.

It goes on to say, “Of the 7,014 deaths recorded” at this point, “3,745 came from” the long-term-care sector. “The extraordinary level of suffering and death in these care facilities was avoidable.” I’m connecting this to the Supply Act, about where the money went and where the money didn’t go. “Those who could have done better to mitigate or prevent the tragedy ought to be held to account” in Ontario—and I suspect you will be in approximately 449 days, by the time the next election gets here. “Ontario—indeed, Canada—ought to look ahead to structural elder-care reform, including new or converted public homes and ending for-profit care.

“As the early March death statistics were shared, the” CBC “reported that Ontario’s” long-term-care centres “were still breaking the rules.” That’s the disconnect between the supply bill, which touts unprecedented investment in long-term care, and the reality on the ground in our ridings.

It goes on to say, “Extendicare, responsible for 22% of infractions. According to the CBC’s investigation, ‘for-profit long-term-care homes received 70% of the violation citations despite accounting for 56% of the homes in’” Ontario. I mean, that stat, in and of itself, should inform future investment: where the money goes and where the money does not go. “‘An additional 8% of the violations were found in non-profit homes managed by for-profit companies.’” This is the other piece that we learned through all of this: If a for-profit company is managing a not-for-profit company, the damage still happens, Mr. Speaker.

Now, listen, I’m the first one to admit that the Liberal government had 15 years to address this. They essentially pushed it off to the private sector. Really, it is ageism at its core. It is ageism at its core, and it needs to be acknowledged. The upcoming budget, I’m very hopeful, will address this disconnect.

There is “further evidence that while the” long-term-care “crisis in Ontario is widespread, the heart of the problem is found among for-profit homes.” I know that the government will say that on this side of the House, we are ideologically favouring the not-for-profit sector. We have enough evidence and research, and now the PC government of Ontario has that evidence to inform budgetary expenses. We favour the not-for-profit model because we want to see every dollar go to care. When you invest in the people who are doing the care—primarily in long-term care, but this also extends to child care.

When you’re investing in those ECEs or those PSWs or those nurses and you’re ensuring that elderly residents—because they’re not patients; they’re not clients. This is their home. They need four hours of care. This government has said 2025: That’s when we’re going to get to the four hours of care.

When I talk to seniors in my community—and it’s usually the only place that I go these days, the grocery store. They still find me. I’m wearing a hat and a mask, but apparently, they can still recognize me. They say, “Why is the government treating us this way? We built this province.” They also built this country. This is their time to be truly respected and to ensure that their dignity is maintained. The only way that happens is to invest in the people, the public services that bathe them, that feed them, that have social interaction with them, where their quality of life is at the centre of a decision around where that funding goes.

The fact that the Washington Post posted this this week—Ontario’s record on how many deaths happened in our long-term-care homes—is really astounding. Other sectors are looking at what not to do by looking at Ontario. So I make that point.

Then it goes on to say, “Who’s to blame?” And that’s being sorted out. But blame, accountability will happen, Mr. Speaker. I hope it doesn’t take as long as the election, but the election is the ultimate test of a government’s integrity.

Listen, I have stood on this side of the House. I remember all of that side was Liberals. I know my former PC colleagues who were on this side of the House—once that trust is gone, once a citizenry has lost confidence in the ruling government of the day, it is a very hard thing to turn around. I’ll tell you, given the fact that you have introduced some pieces of legislation here that do not put people at the forefront, you all have to—you know, I remember that the Premier gave all the MPPs “For the people” little desk things at the beginning of 2018.

Well, given that you are prioritizing donors and those who contribute to the PC Party, it should read, “For the donors.” You all should get new desk bling.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say, the Washington Post goes on—and this piece, actually, is called, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” There are a lot of people hurting out there across this province. The long-term-care commission continues to do its work. Of course, you will know that we wanted that to be an open, public process. But for the people, for the family members, for the friends who have lost almost 4,000 family members, that grief has no place to go, so it is mobilizing. It is mobilizing, and people want to see this government invest in an elder care model that puts seniors at the centre and not profit.

I can’t make that point strongly enough. This budget must invest strategically so that every dollar, every hard-earned tax dollar, goes right into the care of the people who depend on us and the people who are working for us. Those are the personal support workers; those are the nurses; those are the essential workers.

Yesterday, I have to say, I had been asking questions about essentially the Election Act, which is Bill 254, and Bill 257, supporting broadband and infrastructure. I raise that today in this House because it does speak to the priorities. If we were reading this scathing, scathing op-ed in the Washington Post about what happened in our long-term-care homes, I think that we would really be taking a step back and saying, “How can we correct this quickly?” Nobody would have thought that—we expected a piece of legislation specifically for long-term care. We did not see that from this government.

Even though the rates of deaths in the first wave really took our breath away, in the second wave, it wasn’t an overwhelming sense of sadness and mourning; it was anger. It was anger that the cycle had continued.

I have on the corner of my desk the report from the Canadian Armed Forces. I read it randomly. I just pick it up—because you actually can’t read it all at one time because it is heartbreaking. It is heartbreaking that seniors died of dehydration in our homes. It is heartbreaking that people choked to death because there weren’t enough people to feed them and to care for them, and to bathe them. This is something that will be a black mark on the history of this province on a go-forward basis.

When you look at the supply bill, though, you do not see a marked improvement in funding specifically to address the level of dignity and care of our seniors. It just isn’t there. Why? That is the question. It’s an ethical question that we are asking the government of the day.

The minister responsible for long-term care will say, just as the Premier has said—this “iron ring” business; you have to stop saying that. Nobody in Ontario, or apparently in the United States, believes that there is any kind of an iron ring, that there was ever an iron ring, that there was ever a plan to create an iron ring. I don’t know who made it up. Maybe it was like the Premier’s comments yesterday about mud huts when I asked him about housing and MZO orders, which is deeply offensive, I have to say, Mr. Speaker.

But sometimes the Premier just throws things out, like “everything is on the table.” That’s what we’ve been hearing for almost a year: “Everything is on the table.” The table is about this big, Mr. Speaker. It’s less than a card table, because paid sick days have not been on that table. Ensuring that women across this province have access to quality child care, that was never on the table. This promise of 50,000 asymptomatic tests for students in our school system, that didn’t happen. The Minister of Education promised 50,000. Our education critic asked the question yesterday. He couldn’t answer the question, because there were no 50,000 tests.

But I will connect this testing to the sick days. I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education has said, “Oh, it’s very disappointing that people aren’t going to these community centres to get their kids tested for asymptomatic COVID transmission.” I’m going to tell you why they’re not going. They’re not going because if they go and their child tests for COVID-19, even without any symptoms, that parent then has to stay home for 14 days. That parent does not have paid sick days. People are not going to go and get tested if they are going to face two weeks of unpaid leave.

That’s why we’re fighting so hard for it. That’s why we stand up every day and we ask for unanimous consent. We’re like, “Let’s do this together; let’s be in this together.”

They always come back to the federal program, and it’s so interesting because it is a complete, utter position of privilege that you stand in your place and you say, “They can just apply for the federal program.” The federal program is delayed. The federal program is insufficient. And if you are living paycheque to paycheque, you can’t wait two or three weeks for the federal government to get their act together and get that money into the account, despite what the Minister of Labour has said that it’s in there in two or three days. I’m sorry; you actually have to talk and listen to people in your ridings to know how insufficient that program is.

But a made-in-Ontario program, as proposed by my colleague here in London West and as every member on this side has continually fought for—a made-in-Ontario sick day program would prevent people from going to work sick, and therefore would prevent the transmission of COVID-19, and therefore would prevent a third wave and a shutdown of the economy. That’s how clearly we see it, and we’re not alone, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Mike Harris: Got it all figured out, eh?

Ms. Catherine Fife: Yes, we do. It’s actually not rocket science.

Sick people should not go to work and not transmit COVID-19, but they have to be in a position to make that decision. They have to be in a financial position to make that decision, and that is the truth. That is why almost every public health unit across this province has asked the government to bring in paid sick days. Just yesterday, Peterborough came to the table, so it’s taken some a little bit longer. In the region of Waterloo, it happened almost two months ago. They asked us, “Can you get the government to do this?” We are a high-risk area in the region of Waterloo. The member from Kitchener–Conestoga knows that full well.

So there are tangible measures that should be considered not only an investment in keeping people safe, but an investment in the economy and ensuring that we all recover, Mr. Speaker. But what have we seen from this government to date? This is pretty interesting. To date, we have Bill 254, Protecting Ontario Elections Act. This is really the biggest misstep that I think the government has taken in a long time.

And listen, you’ve given us a lot of material to work with, but I’m going to say, putting a taxpayer-funded subsidy towards politicians in the middle of a pandemic not only demonstrates a huge disconnect between what happens here in this Pink Palace and what happens in those communities, it really defies all logic because it actually goes against what you have said in the past when you were opposition members here, around the taxpayer-funded program.

I know how much the government likes when I quote Martin Regg Cohn, but he just wrote a piece a week ago about the doubling down on private donation limits, “undermining the democratic process.” Those are his words.

The people of this province, when they find out that the government is going to be moving forward with doubling private donations in a pandemic and then also increasing the taxpayer-funded political subsidies that political parties get, they shake their heads. They’re still waiting for justice. I’ve spoken about the grief that people experience in the health care system, people who have been waiting for surgeries even, people who have family members that they haven’t been able to see for months and months. There is a cost to that.

In fact, our education critic yesterday introduced her private member’s motion called centring youth in the COVID-19 recovery. I hope the government is going to support it. I hope that they do, because that will be an investment in our future recovery on a mental health perspective, on the disruption that has happened with our education system, despite the best efforts of teachers like my sister, for instance, in Peel, and my husband in Waterloo-Oxford. Everyone on this side of the House has a story to tell you of what’s happened in education and the negative impact that that has had on students and children and their mental health across the province.

But just back to the Protecting Ontario Elections Act. It’s a strange name for a bill. It should not have been prioritized by this government. This is what Martin Regg Cohn says about it:

“And then he did the right-wing thing”—which is cute—“by wrongly doubling private donation limits, undermining the democratic process.

“Think of those controversial ministerial zoning orders (MZO) that do the devil’s work for developers who donate money to the party in power. Like a greenbelt up for grabs, MZO equals quid pro quo, not to mention highways to nowhere that lead to the developer’s door.” I think he’s referring to Highway 413 here.

He says, “That’s why it’s worth circling back for a closer look at the government’s byplay—and its unexpected about-face—on campaign finance rules last week.”

Then he goes on to say, “Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.

“Under cover of COVID-19, Ford’s Tories have set back the cause of campaign finance reform by boosting the individual contribution limit of $1,650 by what can only be described as an astronomical amount—100 per cent—to $3,300 a year.”

So now private donors—once this bill passes, because it’s going to pass—we’ve been very clear where we stand on it. It goes on to say that now the donation limit is $3,300. No one has come into my office or sent me an email saying, “You know what, I really think politicians should be able to secure higher donations.” No one has said that, and I guarantee you that no PC MPP has ever had somebody come knocking on their door, emailing them or calling them and saying, “You know what, you guys should be able to raise a little bit more money in private donations.

I think those donors should really have even more access to you.” Nope, I’m fairly certain that—and I know that my parents who are watching right now, Allan and Sheila Wood in Peterborough, I know for a fact that this is not a priority for them. I can tell you.

He goes on to say, “That’s not an inflationary hike”—nope—“nor a catch-up increase, it’s double your money—and double trouble for democracy.”

When money does infiltrate politics—Mr. Speaker, we saw this in the last government with the Liberals. In fact I was part of the process, working with Yasir Naqvi, who at the time was the government House leader, because I was the finance critic back then—

Interjection.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Do you have something to say? Are you asking for more money over there?

When Martin Regg Cohn actually asked the Attorney General and said, “Listen, what are you doing here? What are you thinking?”—

Interjections.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: They’re a little sensitive because I’m going to quote them later on.

The Attorney General was asked, and he says, “The newer, higher limit ‘takes us to the middle of the pack in the country,’ he explained helpfully. ‘Going to the middle of the pack is going in the right direction,’” he says.

Then Martin says, “Ah, no it’s not. It’s going in circles.

“Before the Toronto Star ran a series of investigative columns in 2016 crusading for campaign finance reform, the upper limit was ... astronomical....” It used to be $9,975.

I personally never received that kind of money, I can tell you, and our colleague from Niagara Falls, when he was talking about that, said his average donation is $29. That is our strength over here. We may not get the big bucks, but we get a lot of people who donate to us because they believe in us. And we’re not authorizing the paving over of Ontario’s environmentally sensitive wetlands. That’s what they’re looking at from you.

Now the price went up from $1,650 to $3,300.

He goes on to say, “Under pressure, the last Liberal government dialed it down to $1,200 annually per person, which Ford’s Tories adjusted up again to $1,650—and are now doubling up on” again.

“How is heading backwards ‘going in the right direction’?” he writes. “It wrongly and unfairly advantages the provincial Tories, who rely far more on big donations than the opposition....”

I’ve made that point and it went over very well, I have to say. But at the end of the day this is what’s going to happen. This is where the money is going to go, because we’re talking about budgetary priorities and where the money went and where the money didn’t go. It says, in fact, “Based on the results of the most recent election, the Tories” are going to get “$5.7 million annually.” We’re going to get $4.9 million. The Liberals are going to get $2.9 million and the Greens are going to get $672,000.

I’m pretty sure that the people of this province, in the middle of a pandemic—as the long-term-care minister likes to say, “a global pandemic,” as if she’s responsible for the global pandemic. We just want her to pay attention to what’s happening in long-term care. That’s what we’ve asked for from this minister.

Interjection.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Your enthusiasm is absolutely amazing, I have to tell you. What else have we got? I think I’ve made my point on the Election Act. I don’t think I’m going to get a chance to speak to it, so that’s helpful for me, because I wanted to get on the record that the people of this province do not consider us giving ourselves more money a priority in Ontario. I don’t know how much clearer I can be on that.

The other issue ties to lobbying and it ties to where money is going. The government has introduced Bill 251, Combating Human Trafficking Act. You may be wondering where I’m going with this, but it’s an interesting point. The act itself has a good measure in it. It’s asking hotels and motels to keep a registry, because we know that human trafficking happens not only along the 401 highways; it happens in our northern communities, it happens to the girl next door, it’s happening in our schools. My daughter’s friend was almost snapped up on the campus of the University of Waterloo. It is everywhere.

This measure is good. It’s meant to have a level of accountability in those hotels/motels so that people are aware of what’s actually happening to these young women—and these young men, because young boys are also trafficked. But it’s missing one component. It’s missing the fact that Airbnbs are not part of the legislation. When our critic Jill Andrew was talking about this, she was like, “Why have you left Airbnbs out of the legislation?” Because we know from research and from listening to people on the ground—and one of those individuals is Richard Dunwoody.

He’s the executive director of Project Recover, which is a not-for-profit agency that helps young women or men who have been trafficked. He helps them regain their financial footing, because it’s absolutely devastating. Our critic here has mentioned, Chris Glover has mentioned, we should not be charging—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Can I just ask the member to refer to the members by their riding, not by their name, please.

Ms. Catherine Fife: What’s your riding—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Spadina–Fort York.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Spadina–Fort York. Thank you. His bill is trying to address this financial inequity. We shouldn’t be penalizing these victims of human trafficking when they try to get back on their feet again.

So Richard Dunwoody from Project Recover has documented the recovery of these victims. He says that among the “120 human trafficking survivors ... credit card receipts showed their traffickers used hotels and services like Airbnb ... equally.” So the government knows that human trafficking is happening in Airbnb locations. In fact, it’s almost more underground. So it deserves our full attention if you really want to address this huge issue that’s happening.

So I was wondering, why has the government not included Airbnbs in the legislation? It should be right there and it’s not. And then I did a search at the—anybody can do this. In fact, it’s quite interesting to see who is lobbying the government. But on November 3, for instance, Airbnb hired two in-house lobbyists to address the government on issues that relate to Airbnbs, and then on January 14, Shakir Chambers also registered as a lobbyist for Airbnb.

So I have to say, is it coincidental that in November, in January, when this piece of legislation was being drafted, when it was being informed by concerned voices, that Airbnb was left out of the legislation? That’s concerning for us because if we actually want to address this scourge on our province, then you shouldn’t be missing opportunities to hold everyone accountable, including Airbnbs.

This made me think about the last finance minister when I was a finance critic, the former member Charles Sousa. I remember very clearly when the whole “sharing economy”—because it’s not really about sharing, Mr. Speaker. But when the whole sharing economy was really at its forefront in 2015-16, the finance minister stood up with the CEO of Airbnb and said, “We’re really going to figure out how these guys can pay some taxes.” I remember we asked questions about it in the House at the time.

So the influx of and the opening of the door to more money into how legislation is crafted, developed and informed is hugely concerning to us, especially during a pandemic, I have to say, when we really should be focused on who is most affected by this pandemic—and that is by and large women.

I’m going to get to that in just one second, but just before I mention it, Bill 257 is also on the order paper, as you know. This is a bill aptly named “supporting broadband and infrastructure,” and yet it has another poison pill that favours donors and developers in it.

So there is a huge pattern here that we see very clearly, and I just want to get it on the record because it was an incredibly interesting debate. Our critic from Oshawa did a great job yesterday, highlighting the importance of planning, of progressive planning principles, of ensuring that we are making investments that do not undermine our health and well-being. This is the “mind the gap” part of the supply bill.

But Bill 257 is going to ask municipalities and utility companies to co-operate with broadband services. I have to say, I’m not sure that this is going to be overly successful, because what was the broadband—was it Ontera? So the Liberals sold Ontera because they thought, “Well, the private sector is just going to take care of broadband.” When has the private sector ever taken care of any issue if they’re not going to make money on it? And there are places in Ontario where broadband will not be profitable for the company, so I’m not sure that this is going to be successful.

I’m hoping it is, because given where we are going as a province, I think the need for broadband investment should be considered, at this point in time, a public investment in an inclusionary economy.

But Bill 257 has this little poison pill in it:

schedule 3. This exempts the minister’s zoning orders retroactively from the requirement to be consistent with the provincial policy statement. The provincial policy statement, just in case folks don’t know, is the foundational set of planning rules for the province. Now, why is this concerning for us? Well, because the government should be very focused on broadband investment. It can be and should be the great equalizer for our economy, especially in an economy that has had to pivot online. So if we don’t get the broadband piece right, then we’re going to double down on inequities that exist in the province of Ontario.

What has this government done? It has directly connected

schedule 3 to the Duffins Creek issue, which has really galvanized a whole community. When I go through the timeline on the Duffins Creek issue, back in the fall—October 30—an MZO was issued for the project. Immediately, our critic and the local MPP said, “Listen, paving over these environmentally sensitive wetlands for a large infrastructure project is not the best investment to be making, particularly in that location.”

Yesterday, the member from Northumberland–Peterborough South said that this was called “ideological hatred.” For me, that was fairly unparliamentary, but I’m going to use it, because it really indicates how strident this government is—and we actually heard it from the Premier yesterday, in the response to the question on MZOs, when he said he was going to continue to override local planning councils, he’s going to continue to ignore the environmental implications and he’s going to continue to ignore our own provincial planning directives in the name of putting up major infrastructure projects.

On Monday of this week, I did raise the concern that, following the October 30 MZO which was issued, on February 24, Triple Properties owners made significant investments—$1,600—to the party, and then on March 4, the Minister of Natural Resources makes regulations forcing the warehouse to be built on top of a wetland—I’ve never seen this before in the history of this place, and we’ve seen a lot of things from the former government—just as Triple Properties had requested, preventing the conservation authority from stopping the warehouse from being built.

So instead of getting an environmentally sensitive, beautiful Duffins Creek, something that should be cherished——also, we know about water filtration. The member from Oshawa talked about the environmental significance and the long-term economic impact of destroying this particular creek—because do you know what’s good for the economy? Clean air. Do you know what’s good for the economy? Clean drinking water. Do you know what’s good for attracting people into jurisdictions where they normally wouldn’t be? Having beautiful wetlands where people can actually visit.

After the Minister of Natural Resources created this regulation—I mean, we were shaking our heads on March 4, but then on the same day, it made sense, because then the minister tabled legislation in Bill 257, a bill supposedly about broadband Internet, that will likely stop a lawsuit against this whole thing. It allows the minister to ignore the previous planning laws by applying it retroactively to this one and all previous MZOs.

And then on March 5, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority issues a late-afternoon release calling the new law “unheralded”—that is their word—and says their decision-making is being done “under duress.”

Now, does this instill confidence that this government has its priorities straight? The Premier said yesterday that housing is a priority. Well, is an environmentally sensitive wetland the only place that you can build housing? If you wanted to do infill right here in downtown Toronto—Kitchener-Waterloo has brownfield developments. Let’s build housing, for instance, where it’s needed, which is along transit corridors. But a warehouse on environmentally sensitive land? The disconnect between what the Premier has claimed is a priority and then the action that we are seeing is profound.

I would like to say, with as much respect as I can, that nobody is buying what he is selling. There is a lack of confidence and credibility in that argument, because you can build a warehouse almost anywhere. You certainly do not have to build it on an environmentally sensitive wetland.

I think I’ve made my point on Bill 254 and Bill 257, but I would like to address the issue of businesses, because we heard a lot at the beginning of the term of this government the “open for business” mantra. You used to all say it together and do that rah-rah thing. I’m glad you’re not doing that anymore because it was kind of irritating.

It’s interesting, because this is a government that got the carbon tax stickers wrong, they got the licence plates wrong—what else did they get wrong? There was one other thing.

Interjection.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Yes, long-term care. Long-term care really surpassed—oh, the buck a beer. It was the buck a beer; sorry. The buck a beer didn’t really happen, the stickers peeled off and the whole issue of cap-and-trade has really left us in a fiscal deficit as a province, because you have no plan. You have a litter day, which is not going to work for most of us.

On the health care piece, we have to make the case for investment in public services, and we are going to continue to do that. The small business community that we heard is pleased with this government: I have to say, when I’ve done round tables with Ottawa, with Toronto, the BIAs in rural communities, which I did with Waterloo-Wellington, the lack of support and tangible measures to see businesses through this pandemic was actually quite shocking, even for me. I mean, I didn’t have very high expectations, but we certainly came to the table back in April with our Save Main Street strategy and said, “Listen.

Yes, this is going to be a costly investment, but look at the return on investment. Look at the return on investment from keeping people employed, from ensuring that communities have a viable way back to economic security.” That’s what small businesses asked of us.

They also asked us not create an unequal playing field, and what did this government do? They kept the Costcos open. They kept the Walmarts open. They intentionally disaffected the main street businesses that have supported the economy. Those small businesses that create 83% of the jobs in Ontario were intentionally sidelined. They were absolutely sidelined by ensuring that the Walmarts of the world and the Costcos of the world could still sell non-essential items.

Rabbi Moshe, who I was talking to about this, said that—he heard me one day in the House and he said, “You just proposed a reasonable proposal. Cordon off those non-essential items in those stores.” Walmart’s going to be fine. I know that the Premier talks to the CEO on a regular basis and sometimes takes his marching orders from the CEO of Walmart, but I do want to say, Walmart’s going to be okay. Costco’s going to be okay. Words Worth Books on main street Waterloo? Maybe not so much. The Works, not so much. Camerons flowers, not so much.

These are those small family-owned business—they are actually the heart of the community. When we stand up for those businesses, we are actually standing up for the workers who are part of that ecosystem.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the CFIB supported our plan. These are not traditional allies of ours, but they said that providing commercial rent support, ensuring that there is some direct financial support to see businesses through this time, makes a lot of sense.

And then what happened on Thursday, February 18? In a fundraising email from the Premier, he touted the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, even though the group called his government the worst in Canada for businesses during a pandemic: “The non-partisan business group said Ford’s Tories deserve a failing grade for their handling of the COVID-19 outbreak that has killed more than 6,700 Ontarians and left tens of thousands of businesses shuttered.”

It’s unprecedented, really, to see the CFIB coming up—and also, it did catch the CFIB by surprise: “It was very surprising that Premier Ford would reference CFIB in a fundraising email,” said Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the organization representing 110,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Ontario.

“‘From a small business perspective, the Ford government’s handling of the economic ramifications of the pandemic is the worst in Canada’....

“Kelly pointed out that ‘for most of the second wave, Ontario was the only province to maintain a policy allowing big box stores to remain open while shutting down tight indoor shopping’” in small businesses.

“‘This will go down as one of the most anti-small business measures in Canada’s history.’”

So when the finance minister stands up and says, “We’ve gone above and beyond,” the reality on the ground is very different for small businesses.

We’re going to be making the case to this government around strategic investment, particularly for women in Ontario, because the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives put out a report just this Monday. To date, the government has primarily treated everybody the same, not recognizing the key differences that female workers in Ontario experience. They said that “women’s economic security is fragile.” So if a government knows that economic security is fragile, then they should be very strategic about what investments they make.

Child care, for instance, investing in early learning and care: For every dollar that you invest, there’s a $7 return on investment to the economy. Women reach their potential—women go to school; women retrain. It could even be part of the apprenticeship program that the government has been touting—although the first paid internship program in Ontario’s history is for prison guards.

If you thought about all the paid internship programs that could be in place to assist with the pandemic, wouldn’t a personal support worker paid internship program be good, or an ECE paid internship program—or all of those workers who would love to be part of the health care sector? It’s just that they don’t have child care, they’re still teaching their kids at home, they’re still doing elder care, because they’re not going to send their mother or father to a long-term-care centre in the province of Ontario—not after we saw almost 4,000 deaths. It’s really a challenge. Who is driving these decisions?

When we look at the legislation that you’ve brought to the floor of this Legislature in a pandemic, it is very singular-focused on you. What we would encourage you to do on a go-forward basis is to be focused on the people we serve, including women. There are solutions out there.

The unpaid caring demands impact women’s paid work. We know this for a fact. Young women are particularly hard hit. Many mothers exited the workforce. The impact of COVID-19—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Excuse me. Unfortunately, the time for debate this morning has expired. However, when this bill is brought back into the Legislature, which I believe may be this afternoon, you will be entitled, if you so choose, to continue with debate.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

COVID-19 response

Mr. Chris Glover: Residents and business owners in Spadina–Fort York are angry with this government for their handling of the pandemic. This government has had months to plan the rollout of the vaccines, but the online registration portal still hasn’t launched. In some areas, you’ve got 80-year-olds competing for online vaccine registrations as if they were concert tickets.

But the vaccine rollout is just one of the recent many failures of this government. This government is using lockdowns as if they are the solution. Lockdowns are necessary, but they were supposed to be a temporary measure to get transmission under control and to buy time so the government could set up testing and tracing and make long-term care, schools and workplaces safe.

Sarah, a Spadina–Fort York parent, says, “Our children are terribly affected by the lockdowns. You failed. You lost your chance to do it right. Now make a new plan where our children can get out and play with other kids.”

Yvonne, a business owner, says, “If I ran my business like Ford runs the province, I’d have been bankrupt years ago.”

Another business owner, Jeff Cohen, who owns—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Stop the clock for a minute, please. Excuse me. You may be reading something that someone else may have said, but in reference to a member in here, I would ask that you refer to their riding name, or if they have a title such as Premier, I would ask that you refer to that, please.

Mr. Chris Glover: Yvonne, a business owner, says, “If I ran my business like” the Premier “runs the province, I’d have been bankrupt years ago.” I hope that’s better.

Another business owner, Jeff Cohen, who owns live music venues, says that the inability to get insurance and the lack of supports from this government are threatening the very existence of the live music industry in Toronto.

Your responsibilities were clear through this pandemic, Mr. Premier: make long-term-care homes, schools and workplaces safe so they aren’t transmission points; keep our small businesses solvent; and plan the vaccine rollout. Will the Premier please focus on getting us through this pandemic rather than planning in secret the destruction of wetlands and heritage buildings.

Personal support workers

Mr. Lorne Coe: Good morning, Speaker. Durham College in my riding started to accept applications earlier this week to Ontario’s new accelerated training program for personal support workers. The program is part of the government’s $115-million investment to train up to 8,200 new personal support workers for high-demand jobs in Ontario’s health and long-term-care sectors. We will be training, Speaker, some of our best and brightest in Durham region to be personal support workers.

The accelerated personal support workers training program is a tuition-free opportunity for new students, and is expected to take only six months to complete rather than the typical eight months. After three months of coursework and experiential learning in a clinical setting, students will complete the final three months in paid, on-site training in a long-term-care home or in a home and community care environment.

Speaker, this personal support training program is yet another way Ontario is collaborating with its partners like Durham College to provide innovative services and build a 21st-century long-term-care system.

Tenant protection

Mr. Faisal Hassan: Last night, I heard the disturbing news that 12 families that had been living at 2419 Keele Street in my riding of York South–Weston received an N13 notice within days of their building being bought by a new landlord and are being kicked out for renovictions. Displacing tenants in a housing crisis and during a pandemic is unacceptable and wrong, Mr. Speaker. These tenants, in many cases, have lived in the building for over 20 years.

The pandemic has left many without work or underemployed. Some have newborn children. How is it that during a pandemic, families like this can have their world turned upside down?

Renovictions are occurring more and more in Toronto. Bad landlords like this one boast on their website to potential visitors that “timing and precision are two key drivers” and that they excel at acquiring “undervalued properties and stabilizing at today’s market rents”—fancy words for renovicting tenants and forcing them during a pandemic to leave their homes, often with no options for housing that they can afford, all to maximize rents and to return dividends to their stakeholders.

When is this government going to take the housing crisis seriously and put protections in place for families in my riding of York South–Weston and in Ontario?

Dr. Robin Poole

Mr. Jim McDonell: I rise today to commemorate the achievements of Dr. Robin Poole, who recently was awarded the Order of Canada. A native of Great Britain, he moved to South Glengarry with his wife, Mary, and their children, Lucianne and Jonathan, about 20 years ago.

Dr. Poole won worldwide recognition for his ground-breaking research that led to the creation of faster diagnosis techniques for osteoarthritis. International acknowledgements include being named the president and symposium/workshop chair of the sixth world congress of inflammation research associations, and he is an honorary member of the British Society for Matrix Biology. He received the Holley Research Prize and was appointed master of the American College of Rheumatology. Lifetime achievement awards were bestowed upon him from the Osteoarthritis Research Society International, the International Cartilage Repair Society and the Canadian Connective Tissue Society.

Locally, Dr. Poole has found time to support the Cooper Marsh conservation authority.

Dr. Poole continues to be a positive influence in the medical field, acting as a mentor for young scientists while fulfilling a role as chair of the international academic advisory board of U of T’s arthritis program at the Toronto Western Hospital.

Thank you and congratulations, Dr. Poole, for your local and international achievements.

Businesses in Windsor–Tecumseh

Mr. Percy Hatfield: We have a great community college, an outstanding university and a high-class symphony orchestra in Windsor. The Ford Motor Co. builds really good engines. Stellantis makes fantastic mini-vans. Our molding, machining and tool-and-die industries are world-renowned, and we manufacture some of the best whisky in the world.

Canadian Club 43 is the Canadian Whisky of the Year. For the fourth straight year, Hiram Walker has been named Canada’s Distillery of the Year. J.P. Wiser’s Triple Barrel Rye won a Sippin’ Whisky of the Year honour, Lot No. 40 Dark Oak claimed the Best New Whisky award, and J.P. Wiser’s 22 Year Old Port Cask Finished came out on top in the Cask Strength Whisky of the Year category.

Hats off to Ontario’s grain farmers. Ninety-seven per cent of the grain that we put into Hiram Walker’s award-winning whiskies comes from fields in Essex county and Chatham-Kent.

Windsor’s master blender, Don Livermore, says, “This year there were more competitors than ever before.” The craft distilling industry is really taking off in Canada. The competition was fierce, with 130 entries. Windsor is so proud of our distillery district in Olde Walkerville. We’ve been making whisky there since the 1850s. We know a thing or two about whisky, Speaker. The awards just keep on coming. And just so you know, we haven’t given up on reopening the doors to the Canadian Club Brand Heritage Centre either.

COVID-19 response

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Good morning. On January 7, the newest provincial political party was registered with Elections Ontario with the New Blue Party of Ontario, and I’m happy to sit as its first member of this Legislature.

Today I present various concerns from constituents. Parents in Cambridge, North Dumfries and North Brant are concerned about the draconian measure to mandate mask wearing for children over the age of 2. Even the World Health Organization doesn’t recommend that children under the age of 5 wear masks.

Small business owners continue to lose their livelihoods and have to consider, if they haven’t already, the prospects of starting over as a result of the government’s inconsistent application of policies that favour their lobbyist friends and big corporate interests over small businesses that are the lifeblood of our economy.

Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the disappointment of watching this government, the Premier and members of the media ridicule, insult and condemn those churches like Trinity Bible Chapel that decided to gather for worship over the last month.

Perhaps, if the Premier and his government wanted Ontarians to take their public scolding seriously, they can work on abiding by their own rules, because apparently, while attending church or a synagogue or opening your small business is not deemed essential, travelling to a sunny location, visiting a cottage, going to a politician’s wedding or singing Happy Birthday to a former mayor are all acts that the Premier believes exempt him and his cabinet from the rules they’ve set for everyone else.

Women’s representation in provincial Parliament

Ms. Jane McKenna: Speaker, 86% of women say that seeing more women in leadership positions inspires and encourages them to blaze their own trail.

Our PC government has many strong women in critical leadership positions. Christine Elliott is Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health; Dr. Merrilee Fullerton is our Minister of Long-Term Care; Caroline Mulroney is Ontario’s Minister of Transportation and Minister of Francophone Affairs; Lisa Thompson is the Minister of Government and Consumer Services; Laurie Scott is the Minister of Infrastructure; Lisa MacLeod is Ontario’s Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries; Sylvia Jones is our Ontario Solicitor General; and our two associate ministers, Minister Jill Dunlop in children and women’s issues, and Kinga Surma in transportation.

Together, these women are responsible for the majority of all government spending in Ontario. I’m proud to serve alongside these incredible women who are making a positive difference in our communities every day.

Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking at Wonder Women Conference 2.0, an event hosted by our Burlington Chamber of Commerce. This event brings together local women—virtually this year—who are trailblazers and leaders in our community. I’m proud to represent Burlington, a community led by so many strong women.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I want to thank the member for Burlington for her presentation. I noticed a few eyebrows going up, but I wanted to say that normally the rule, of course, is that we refer to each other by our riding name or our ministerial title, but obviously those were favourable references, colleague to colleague, and I allowed it. If anybody has an issue with it, we can talk about it later.

Protests in India

Mr. Kevin Yarde: I’m proud to rise on behalf of the residents of Brampton North. There’s been a peaceful protest going around the world, and it’s one of the largest ones. It’s been going on for several months now. It’s the farmers’ protest against the Indian farmers bill, a bill which will allow the agricultural sector to be taken over by large corporations. Unfortunately, these peaceful protestors have been met with tear gas, water cannons, and all they’re trying to do is save their livelihood from mass privatization.

I’ve been getting calls to my constituency office and emails by concerned citizens who have family back home and they want me to stand up for the farmers. That is exactly what I’m doing.

What is happening now is we are seeing arrests of journalists, of peaceful protestors, as well as—we’ve seen arrests of people who are more or less just trying to make sure that the government is doing the right thing. One person, Disha Ravi, who is a human rights activist, was arrested recently.

Peaceful protest is needed in our governments, and I’m calling on the Indian government to resolve this with dialogue with these protestors. The Canadian government must also set an example. They must set an example by standing up for these peaceful protestors.

For the front-line protestors, my brothers and sisters out there, I want them to know that I stand with them in these protests.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Norman Miller: Just a few minutes ago, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced a new round of provincial social services relief funding. Today’s announcement is an investment of $255 million that can be used by local service managers across Ontario to reduce the impacts of COVID on some of our most vulnerable citizens—those who are homeless or rely on housing supports and other social services.

Locally, Ontario is providing almost $1.2 million to the district of Muskoka and $950,000 to the Parry Sound District Social Services Administration Board. With this funding, our government is continuing to provide the resources necessary to protect those residents who rely on housing supports and other social services during the pandemic.

This funding is critical to so many people in my riding. While Parry Sound–Muskoka is often seen as the playground of the rich and famous, the average income of the year-round population is well below the provincial average. The pandemic has only made this situation worse, with many in the hospitality and tourism sectors unemployed, and at the same time the cost of housing has been driven up.

In order to address those trends, our government is providing a great deal of flexibility in how this funding can be used. For example, it could be used to acquire motel and hotel spaces for homeless individuals, purchase PPE or food, or add to rent and utility banks to help prevent people from becoming homeless.

On behalf of the people of Parry Sound–Muskoka, I want to thank Minister Clark for this funding. I know that both the district of Muskoka and the Parry Sound DSSAB will put this money to great use and support those residents who rely upon those services.

Walter Gretzky

Mr. Will Bouma: I rise today to pay tribute to arguably Canada’s favourite hockey dad, Walter Gretzky. It was with profound sadness that I learned of his passing last week. Not only was he a Brantford institution, legend and tireless promoter of our community, but he was a family man.

Walter was an avid hockey player as a youth and a keen analyst of the game. He built a backyard rink for his children and coached Wayne, the Great One, from the age of three, devising creative exercises and drills and teaching him profound insights into how to play successfully.

He was known for his charitable work with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind Foundation and with the Summer Computer Orientation Recreational Education program, known as SCORE. SCORE helps blind students learn computer skills that will be needed for jobs in their future and increases blind students’ access to computer programs and Internet applications.

Walter was awarded the Brantford Citizen of the Year in 1996. He was also an inductee of the Brantford Walk of Fame.

He was appointed as a member of the Order of Ontario in 2002.

Gretzky was named a member of the Order of Canada on December 28, 2007.

On February 12, 2010, Gretzky carried the Olympic torch during the Olympic relay, hours before the opening ceremonies in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Wayne later lit the Olympic flame.

On behalf of the government of Ontario, I send our sincere condolences to the Gretzky family and to the city that he loved so dearly.

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

Drapeau franco-ontarien / Franco-Ontarian flag

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

M me Lucille Collard: Yes.

Je demande le consentement unanime pour présenter une motion sans préavis concernant le déploiement permanent du drapeau franco-ontarien dans la chambre législative, pour célébrer le drapeau comme emblème officiel de l’Ontario.

I seek unanimous consent to move a motion without notice regarding the permanent display of the Franco-Ontarian flag in the legislative chamber in celebration of the flag as an official emblem of Ontario.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): On the same point of order, government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I just want to thank the member for that motion. It is a very good motion, which we will be supporting.

I wonder if she would entertain a friendly amendment that we recommend to the Speaker that the Franco-Ontarian flag be flown on the legislative grounds as well as in the chamber.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Would the member care to reply to that?

M me Lucille Collard: Thank you very much for that amendment, which is actually an improvement to the motion.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa–Vanier is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to move a motion without notice regarding the permanent display of the Franco-Ontarian flag in the legislative chamber, in celebration of the flag as an official emblem of Ontario, and to display the flag outside. Agreed? Agreed.

Just to be clear, you have unanimous consent to now move the motion.

M me Lucille Collard: Je propose que, de l’avis de cette Chambre, le drapeau franco-ontarien devrait être déployé de façon permanente dans la chambre législative et sur le terrain de Queen’s Park. I don’t know how to say it in French.

I move that, in the opinion of this House, the Franco-Ontarian flag should be permanently displayed in the legislative chamber and on the legislative grounds.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Ms. Collard has moved that, in the opinion of this House, the Franco-Ontarian flag should be permanently displayed in the legislative chamber and on the legislative grounds.

I’m just seeing if there’s any debate.

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

Motion agreed to.

Applause.

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

Mr. Gurratan Singh: I seek the unanimous consent of this House to bring forward a motion to call on the Conservative government to immediately implement paid sick days so that workers in Brampton and throughout Ontario are protected from COVID-19 and so they don’t have to make the terrible decision between going to work sick or paying their bills.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Mr. Singh is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to bring forward a motion requiring the government to implement paid sick days legislation.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Point of order.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I apologize. The government House leader: point of order.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I wanted to just mention that, of course, there are already 20 sick days. I’m just wondering if the member opposite in his point of order is suggesting that we repeal the 20 sick days that are already in place?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): He’s seeking unanimous consent to bring forward a motion requiring the government to implement paid sick days legislation. Agreed? I heard a no.

Question Period

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, my first question this morning is to the Premier. I think it’s pretty positive that Ontario is finally joining the rest of the world in receiving vaccinations; that’s a positive thing. But questions still remain about the fair inoculation process, whether the inoculation process here in our province is actually going to be done fairly.

I ask the question this morning because I think there are still lots of questions that are swirling out there in Ontario about how this government intends—or whether this government has a plan—to actually make sure that those folks who need the vaccines the most are in fact going to get them first, as opposed to folks who are going to decide to queue jump.

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the leader of the official opposition for the question. There is a plan that has been developed that was based on the work of bioethicists. We did receive recommendations from them. The plan that has been developed is based on age and risk and making sure that our most vulnerable receive the vaccines first, which is why we have vaccinated the people who want to receive them in long-term-care homes; 80% of them have also received their second vaccine. We are well on our way to implementing our plan, based on the plan that was developed with the assistance of the vaccine task force, based on the work of a bioethicist who assisted us in that regard.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Back to the Premier: It’s really the case that the questions around people getting the vaccine who need them first are even much more confusing because of the system that the government has put in place. It’s a really confusing system. We have six regions that are going to go it alone and have their own registration. And then all of the other regions in Ontario are going to have their own registration, and they’re going to be in part of the provincial registration. Then they’re going to have hospitals registering. Then they’re going to have pharmacies registering.

How is it that people are going to be able to understand this? Maybe folks are going to put their names on every single list.

The question remains: How do we make sure that people who need the vaccine the most are actually going to be able to get it first when the process is such a confusing mess?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Premier?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, the only person that’s confused is the Leader of the Opposition. This is the way we have to deal with it.

What I’m hearing from the Leader of the Opposition is that maybe we shouldn’t have pharmacies, we shouldn’t have family physicians, we shouldn’t have mass vaccination centres. No, this is all hands on deck.

The great news is, someone in Ontario will receive the one millionth dose today. It just goes to show you everyone is pitching in. We’re going to ramp that up, along with AstraZeneca. The good news is, again, today, at a Shoppers Drug Mart, they’re going to start pumping out the AstraZeneca and people will be getting needles in the arms.

I want to thank all the front-line folks, no matter if it’s the health care mobile unit, paramedics, front-line health care workers or mass vaccination centres. All the PHUs are doing an incredible job, and once we get more vaccines we’re just going to ramp it up more. Thank you for the question.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: In fact, Speaker, what we should have in Ontario is a plan, instead of mass confusion and chaos that likely leaves vulnerable people behind when it comes to getting the vaccinations first. That’s the concern that we have.

In fact, we’re not alone in that concern. Dr. Warner says this: “If we don’t have a structure and we don’t have a framework and we don’t have true criteria that can be enforced and checked, people will jump the queue. And the people who really need the vaccine will be forced to wait.”

People who need the vaccine most in this government’s chaotic plan are going to not get it. They’re going to be forced to have to wait. So the question is, how will this Premier and his government make sure that people who need the vaccine the most will actually get it first?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, in other great news: zero mortalities in long-term care.

I could be quoting our doctors, too, as the Leader of the Opposition always quotes us Dr. Warner—and I’m sure he’s a great doctor, by the way. But in saying that, Mr. Speaker, we’re already rolling out the 80-pluses and hopefully very shortly, as we ramp this up, we’re going to get through the 80-pluses. We’re taking care of the most vulnerable people.

And then I guess the Leader of the Opposition is questioning the ethics of the people of Ontario. I think that would be the worst thing in the world, if a healthy young person tried to jump the queue and use a health condition for getting a vaccine. The difference between the Leader of the Opposition and ourselves is we actually have faith in the people of Ontario. The people of Ontario got us through this pandemic, so we appreciate it.

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Premier, but I have to say, I question the ethics of a government that let 4,000 people die in long-term care in the first and second waves of this virus.

I do have to say, there are some positive things; there’s no doubt about it. AstraZeneca is here. It’s about to roll out. But the reality is that everybody who needs a vaccine should be able to get it as easily as possible. Of course, as folks know, last week we talked to the government and started asking the government—or, rather, not last week; a couple of days ago at the beginning of this week—about whether or not they’re prepared to step up and support those front-line heroes, those front-line workers, who need to get vaccinated but can’t afford to lose pay.

We asked the government to come forward and say to folks, “If you need to get a vaccine, you need to have an appointment, you don’t have to worry about losing a couple hours of pay.”

So the question is: Will the government do the right thing here and make sure those front-line heroes can easily get their vaccine and protect not only themselves but the rest of us as well?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, a tremendous amount—thousands and thousands of front-line health care workers—have already received their vaccine. We actually encourage them. My big concern is there’s probably 40% may not get the vaccine, so we’re encouraging them to come and get it done. We have sites all over the province. We’ll have the mobile units going into regions. We’ll have the mass vaccination centres. We’ll have the family docs administering the vaccine as well, just to name a few.

But talk about ethics, okay? Talk about ethics. As we’re working our back off, the Leader of the Opposition sent out a fundraising email to try to cash in on the tragedy of long-term care. Who does that? Who cashes in on the tragedy of long-term care? The same political party, the NDP, thought it would be appropriate to launch their campaign platform on the height of the second wave, using the second wave and the mortalities in long-term care to raise cash for their party. That’s about as low as you can get, Mr. Speaker.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I think the Premier is little confused and uncertain about the question I’m asking. I’m talking about front-line, essential workers: folks who work in warehouses and in factories, folks who have been there bagging groceries and working in the community; folks who literally can’t afford to lose pay to go and get their vaccine.

This is a matter of fairness, Speaker. It’s a matter of fairness to make sure that we do everything we can to help those workers be able to get the time off that they need and not have to lose pay. It’s something that is not only about fairness, but it also makes sense. In fact, New York just passed legislation this week to give workers—all workers—the time off, with pay, to go get their vaccine.

Why is the Ford government turning their back on hard-working people, on front-line, essential workers, on heroes, not only in terms of not giving them paid sick days, but not giving them the paid time off to go get their vaccines?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I’ll repeat what I said earlier on: that tens of thousands of front-line health care workers are getting their vaccinations. As a matter of fact, I talk to numerous CEOs of hospitals, and people are just getting them at the hospitals. They’re getting vaccinated right there so they don’t have to take time off.

There are going to be vaccination centres opening up right across this province—seven days a week in a wide range of different areas—to make it very convenient for these health care heroes to get vaccinated. Even in long-term care, I know first-hand many, many of them, probably the vast majority of the PSWs there, were in a lineup at the long-term care, and they were getting vaccinated.

I truly believe the Leader of the Opposition is blowing this way, way out of proportion. As a matter of fact, maybe she should do a little due diligence and find out how many are actually getting it at their place of work.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Maybe the Premier doesn’t understand what an hourly waged worker has to go through to try to meet the bills. I think that is what’s going on here: no concept.

Speaker, I’m talking about essential front-line workers in all kinds of workplaces who were working while the rest of us were able to stay safe at home. These are workers in places like Scarborough, Brampton, Etobicoke, Rexdale, all around the province. These workers were working and still are working and need to be given the opportunity to take time off without losing pay to get their vaccine. It is a matter of what people deserve in terms of our thankfulness for the work they’ve done. They deserve paid sick days and they deserve to be able to get their vaccine and not lose pay.

Will this Premier support this? I don’t understand why he is so unwilling to support those essential front-line workers all around our province who have been there for us in every workplace. Just give them the time off with pay to get their vaccine so all of us can be safer and we can stop the spread.

Hon. Doug Ford: Again, rather than playing politics on the backs of our health care heroes, as the Leader of the Opposition did with our long-term-care tragedy throughout this province, these front-line health care heroes who I’ve talked to at the hospitals—and I’ve talked to dozens of them, more than dozens. They’re getting it done at the hospitals. When I talked to long-term care, dozens, more than dozens, are getting it done right there at the long-term care.

We encourage the hospitals to continue protecting their front-line health care heroes, no matter if it’s in long-term care or in hospitals or in any other area. We’re going to continue doing it. I know our front-line first responders, they’re getting taken care of as well. We’re covering all the bases.

But it’s not about us; it’s about all the people pitching in, every single person. No matter how small or how large it is, everyone has pitched in in Ontario. We’re doing so much better than the rest of the world and the rest of North America. We’re going to continue on the path of recovery.

Land use planning

Mr. Taras Natyshak: My question this morning is to the Premier. There is a report that broke this morning on the CBC that shows that the ultimate reason the Premier is paving over wetlands in Pickering seems to be for a giant Amazon warehouse. The main developers, Triple Group, are looking to cash in on skyrocketing property values if they get their way. They’re making sure that this Premier knows that they’re real close, tight buddies because they cut the PC Party a cheque for $5,000 just a couple of weeks ago—more than a coincidence. If you’re a big developer that needs an MZO right now, it seems that the world is your oyster.

Yesterday, the Premier said that he wants even more ministerial zoning orders. He will not put a stop to this. Speaker, why is this government bending over backwards to build another warehouse on top of protected environmental wetlands?

Hon. Doug Ford: I always stand behind the MZOs, as all these other parties changed the greenbelt 17 times, the NDP and the Liberals. Guess what, Mr. Speaker? We’re expanding the greenbelt. We will not build on the greenbelt. We’ll make sure we protect the greenbelt, unlike the NDP and the Liberals did for 15 years, taking care of their developer buddies.

But let me tell you something, Mr. Speaker: What I’m hearing from the opposition is that the thousand affordable homes that we gave an MZO—we shouldn’t do it. The MZO—we’re giving and putting homes in Hamilton. I should call the people who are going to be in those homes and say, “Guess what? The Leader of the Opposition doesn’t want them.”

As for the 26,000 new jobs through the MZO—and thank God Amazon is building and expanding here, along with other companies throughout Ontario. What should I do when we get through the recovery, say, “No, let’s go through the process that will take four years, and everyone sit in the unemployment lines”?

That’s what the NDP believe in. Socialism doesn’t work. Freedom, democracy and entrepreneurship works, and it’s—

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

The supplementary question.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: No one in this province should be left wondering whether projects are being sold for political donations to developers—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I feel the member has crossed the line. He’s imputing motive and must withdraw.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: I’ll withdraw.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Finish your question.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Thank you very much. Speaker, if you’re a worker desperate for paid sick days, there’s no MZOs and magic wands for you, and the Premier won’t even take your calls, but it’s pretty apparent that the Premier will move heaven and earth to get these folks what they want. This is about a company whose owners donated big political cash in order to make millions of dollars on land speculation.

Why is this Premier, in the middle of this pandemic, so ready to do anything he can to build a warehouse for his donor buddies?

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, I have to laugh when I hear him speak, because I don’t even know who the heck the developer is, to be very frank with you. As a matter of fact—I’m just reading off my notes—the developer, whoever this person is, actually donated to Steven Del Duca’s riding, specifically to him—and also totalling over $20,000 worth of donations from the group since 2014, including political donations. As I’m sitting, I’m reading off notes. Someone could give me a ton of money to figure out who this is. I don’t have a clue who this person is.

Anyway, in saying that, let’s be very clear: This is about creating jobs. It’s not about donations. Maybe they can be bought; I can’t be bought and neither can our party.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I ask the Premier to withdraw.

Hon. Doug Ford: Withdraw.

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

Land use planning

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: My question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Minister, I know the opposition fails to understand why you issue minister’s zoning orders. These are local priority projects that municipalities identify to play a key role in the province’s recovery, projects like affordable housing and long-term-care beds. Members of this House need to better understand how involved and engaged municipalities are throughout the ministerial zoning order process.

Will the minister speak to the typical process, working with municipalities, that leads to an MZO?

Hon. Steve Clark: I want to thank the member for Perth–Wellington for highlighting this very important topic. Our government has been clear that every single minister’s zoning order issued on non-provincially owned land has been at the request of the local municipality, full stop. Municipalities are in the driver’s seat, not us.

Of course, a municipal request simply starts the process for the government; we need to do our due diligence. For example, we’ve been clear that we are expanding the greenbelt and will not develop any part of it. That’s why I’ve rejected nine different MZO requests from municipalities that would have allowed development in the greenbelt.

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

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Thank you, Minister, for that answer. The city of Stratford, which I’m proud to represent, made multiple requests for you to issue an MZO to allow a glass manufacturing plant, but following the concerns from residents, the company decided to suspend the proposal indefinitely. Then, on Monday, the city of Stratford passed a council resolution asking for the minister to revoke the MZO. As a former municipal councillor myself, I have always encouraged local decision-making, I have always respected the role of our elected municipal councils, and I know you’ve been clear that municipalities are in the driver’s seat.

Given this new request, will you revoke the MZO in Stratford?

Hon. Steve Clark: Again, I want to thank the member for Perth–Wellington for the question. I also want to thank him for his letter that I’ve received.

Our government has always been clear that we are committed to working with our municipal partners to advance their local priorities. Our government has been clear on that matter, and I want to reiterate that every single MZO issued on non-provincially owned lands has been at the request of the local municipality. Given that the city of Stratford no longer wishes to have the MZO in place to allow for the proposed development, I will be issuing the required 30-day public consultation notice to revoke this MZO.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Gurratan Singh: My question is for the Premier. It has been months since Ontario has received vaccinations. Brampton is one of the cities worst hit by COVID-19 in this entire province, yet the Premier has failed to give Bramptonians the details about when they’re going to receive the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine. Front-line workers, seniors, at-risk communities don’t know when or how they’re going to be getting their vaccine.

Now, Brampton has been a COVID-19 hot spot for months, with no support from this Conservative government. The health care crisis at our single underfunded and overcrowded hospital was bad before COVID-19, and it’s worse now.

Despite the fact that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel with the COVID-19 vaccine, Bramptonians are still being left in the dark. Why does this Premier think it’s okay to leave front-line workers in the dark and refuse to give Bramptonians the details that they deserve to know about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I had a great conversation with the mayor of Brampton. He was thanking us for all the things we’re doing for Brampton and opening up William Osler. They’re already on their way in vaccinating people 80-plus, of which they’re doing a great job and throughout Brampton.

If you look at the numbers, we’re really focusing—and it’s been very transparent—on the hot spots, and Brampton was one of the hot spots. So was Etobicoke North and so was Scarborough, and so on and so forth. But we focused on Brampton, and they, per capita, ended up with more vaccinations than a lot of regions. A lot of regions are wondering, “Why Brampton? Why not me?” and so on and so forth, but it’s a hot spot, so we focused on it.

I appreciate the mayor reaching out and having a great chat. But do you know something, Mr. Speaker? We have some great news coming to Brampton on a couple of fronts. I just can’t wait until the budget rolls out. And I look forward to taking over the three other seats in Brampton in the next election.

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

Mr. Gurratan Singh: Back to the Premier: The Premier loves to pretend to care about front-line workers, but in cities like Brampton and others across Ontario, where front-line workers are risking their lives every single day going to work, moving our economy, they’ve been given no details on when they’re going to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The people of Brampton and folks across Ontario have done their part. They have gone through the hardest months to stop the spread of COVID-19, and now they expect the Premier to do his job and prepare for this critical moment of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. If this Premier actually cared about front-line workers, then he would immediately provide the details for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout now.

Why is the Premier keeping communities that have been the hardest hit by COVID-19, like Brampton, in the dark about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the opposition. We’re rolling it out big time in Brampton, and there’s no secret: They’re getting more than anyone. Now, the good news is the family physicians in Brampton are going to get the AstraZeneca. So we have the mobile units in there, we have the mass vaccination centres; we have the PHUs going full steam. We have the hospitals as well pitching in, and they’re doing a great job out in the hospitals as well. So we’re throwing everything and the kitchen sink into Brampton, and you’re going to see the numbers start coming down.

The people of Brampton are incredible. I lived there for five years. That’s where I first moved when we got married, so I have a really close spot in my heart for the people of Brampton. Thank you for the question.

Land use planning

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Premier. Wetlands protect people, businesses, infrastructure and property from flooding. They clean our drinking water, they keep the Great Lakes clean, and wetlands do all of this for free, if we don’t pave over them.

Yet the government is ripping up environmental protections to destroy the Duffins Creek wetland. These extreme actions are for what, Speaker? An Amazon warehouse—destroying wetlands for an Amazon warehouse, pulling out all the stops for an Amazon warehouse.

Speaker, will the Premier prioritize the people over Amazon by revoking the MZO to destroy the Duffins Creek wetland?

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

Hon. Steve Clark: Speaker, the MZO requested by the city of Pickering and supported by the region of Durham would help create over 10,000 jobs and boost the economy in that region. We are, as a government, supporting these local municipalities. The proposed change will ensure that priority projects that play a key role in the province’s economic recovery, located outside of the greenbelt, do not face unnecessary barriers and delays after an MZO has been made.

In this particular case that the member speaks about, the proponent and the TRCA have entered into an agreement that will ensure the creation of ecological benefits that will meet or exceed the loss of the natural environment system.

This is a project that the region and the municipality have asked our government to provide, and we’ve extended an MZO for that purpose, at their request.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Speaker, the city of Ajax, which is directly affected by this decision, has come out opposing this MZO.

If you look at their report, the TRCA says they’ve issued a permit under duress and there is nothing that can be done to fully prevent the damage that the government is doing with this MZO.

Think about what small business owners must be thinking about. First, the government kept big box stores open and allowed them to sell non-essential goods while small businesses were closed. Now small businesses are having to compete with Amazon, and the government is pulling out all the stops for an Amazon warehouse.

I’m asking the government: Will the minister, will the Premier put the people of Ontario first? Put small businesses first. Put the protection of our communities first by revoking the MZO that will allow the destruction of the lower Duffins Creek wetland.

Hon. Steve Clark: First of all, I’m not going to speak ill of a company that provides hundreds and thousands of jobs in the province. But I am going to go back to the member’s question regarding the site.

The Ajax request happened after the city of Pickering and the region of Durham made the request to the government for the MZO.

I’ve talked about the proponent for the site in Pickering—that he has an agreement with TRCA to provide the replacement of wetlands.

I also understand that since that time, the mayor and the town of Ajax have put a request in regarding their property. I understand that they were in strong opposition to the Durham Live site. I was sort of surprised to see it, given the fact that Duffins Creek directly runs through the Annandale golf course, which is the subject of this. However, municipalities do make these requests, and we are obviously under active consideration of any request that a municipality gives us.

Thank you for the question.

Mental health services

Ms. Donna Skelly: My question is to the Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Speaker, the parliamentary assistant to the minister represents Peterborough, and that’s why I am sure he was very happy to hear that our government is investing $695,000 to increase mental health and addiction services for students attending Trent University and Fleming College. This was excellent and welcome news, as we know that students at colleges and universities across Ontario have had their mental health negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Even though the majority of students are not on campus, the government has a responsibility to make sure that our students are getting the support they need to succeed while attending college or university.

Can the minister tell us what our government is doing to support mental health services on campuses and for students?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Northumberland–Peterborough South and parliamentary assistant.

Mr. David Piccini: Thank you to the member from Flamborough–Glanbrook for that important question on mental health.

She’s right: COVID-19 has been a very challenging time for students across the province of Ontario. That’s why I was so proud to join the member for Peterborough–Kawartha and the Minister of Infrastructure for a historic announcement of over $695,000 to increase mental health supports and services for those students attending Trent University and Fleming College.

As I mentioned last week, this funding will be used to enhance important mental health supports for students, like increased access to mental health practitioners, increased access to crisis counselling, mental health planning, additional FPHL counselling, international counselling, peer support etc. These are critical supports for our students at a time when they need them most.

But our commitment goes beyond our post-secondary schools in Peterborough. Across the province, we have made a historic $26-million-plus investment into mental health supports for students. I’ll expand more on that in the supplementary.

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

Ms. Donna Skelly: Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for the update. We know that before the COVID-19 outbreak, students on college and university campuses were increasingly facing mental health challenges. According to the last National College Health Assessment survey of the Canadian student population in 2019, 52% of students reported feeling depressed—that compares to 46% in 2016; 69% experienced anxiety; 12% of Canada’s students had considered suicide compared to 14% in 2016; and 2.8% of students reported having attempted suicide. Those statistics are alarming and must change.

I hear in my constituency all the time from students and family members about the need for greater on-campus supports. Speaker, what is the government doing to address these concerns across Ontario’s post-secondary campuses?

Mr. David Piccini: Again, thank you to that member for this important question. As I mentioned, this government has made a historic investment of over $26.25 million in mental health supports for post-secondary students across the province of Ontario. That’s a $10-million-plus increase from last year, at a vital time for students.

This investment supports a number of new and ongoing initiatives, and that includes mental health grants to publicly assisted colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes, the Good2Talk/Allo J’écoute mental health helpline for post-secondary students, new investments to support partnerships embedded in local communities to support student needs arising out of COVID-19, and a new virtual mental health act.

Mr. Speaker, this Premier recognizes the challenges students are facing. That’s why we’ve stood up with this historic $26.25 million investment. We have expanded the virtual learning strategy to support students with a $50-million investment and a $164-million investment to expand capital supports for our colleges and universities—

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

Land use planning

Ms. Sandy Shaw: My question this morning is for the Premier.

The Environmental Bill of Rights provides Ontarians with essential protections, yet this government has repeatedly and shamelessly violated this legislation. In fact, there is a letter from me on the Minister of the Environment’s desk with these concerns.

In late February, big developers dropped donations into PC Party coffers, and just days later, magically, this government tabled legislation and regulations to try to stop a lawsuit and pave over an environmentally sensitive wetland at Duffins Creek. Now, there are concerns that

schedule 3 of Bill 257 could violate the province’s own Environmental Bill of Rights—especially because there was no consultation, particularly with Indigenous peoples.

Why, just days after taking big developer donations, is the Premier plowing ahead with a plan that could violate Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights?

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

Hon. Steve Clark: I want to correct the record of the member opposite. Every ministerial zoning order that our government has done on non-provincial lands has been at the request of the local council. In fact, the Premier was absolutely correct this morning when he indicated that we did receive a request from the city of Hamilton for an affordable housing project in that community. I want to thank MPP Skelly for making that announcement on my behalf.

Again, Speaker, the process is simple: The municipality makes the request to the government and the government considers it. There is no other process, as the member opposite alludes to. Municipalities are in the driver’s seat.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll remind the House that you can’t correct another member’s record. You can correct your own.

Supplementary question.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Thanks for that mansplaining, or MZO-splaining, this morning.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. I’m going to ask the member to take her seat.

I’m going to ask the member to withdraw.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Withdraw, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Place the question.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Mr. Speaker, you will know that Ontarians are outraged that the Premier is pushing everyone aside and plowing ahead with this development, rather than protecting the natural wetlands. And now, this government is prepared to rewrite laws retroactively, just days after receiving developer donations.

Ontarians know that the Environmental Bill of Rights enshrines their rights to comment on and be notified of proposals that impact the environment. Once again, it looks like this government broke our environmental laws. Will the government do the right thing and pull back from this disastrous plan?

Hon. Steve Clark: Again, our government has been crystal clear that municipalities are the ones who make the requests for the MZOs—not a proponent for a particular development, but the local municipality.

As well, again, through you, Speaker, to the environment critic for the official opposition, I’ve denied nine requests from municipalities because the proposal included development of the greenbelt. I have been, on behalf of our government, extremely clear that we will not accept a proposal to develop in the greenbelt. In fact—the member opposite talks about consultation—we’re involved in a historic consultation on growing the greenbelt, which I hope, based on input from Ontarians, that we will have a situation where we will grow the greenbelt to a level that we haven’t seen since it was created in 2005.

We encourage members from all sides of the House to participate in that consultation opportunity.

Again, Speaker, through you, I want to thank the member for the question.

Subventions destinées à l’éducation / Education funding

M lle Amanda Simard: Monsieur le Président, malgré les affirmations des membres du gouvernement, les choses vont mal à Sudbury.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Merci. To reply, the member for Northumberland–Peterborough South.

Mr. David Piccini: I thank the member opposite for that question and for her concern. Mr. Speaker, I do find it deeply concerning that that member opposite is referring to our judicial system, referencing Bay Street. We have a proud history in this province of an independent judicial system. This matter is before the courts.

As I’ve said previously, this government does find the reality at Laurentian University deeply concerning. We’ve been working to ensure that the students have access to the supports that they need, that there will be continuity of learning.

As this matter is before the courts, I will provide a little more in the supplementary. But it is inappropriate to comment any further, as this matter, as I said, is before the courts.

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

M lle Amanda Simard: Quite frankly, that’s not an acceptable answer, because it’s not about the matter being before the court or not; it’s about the government respecting the French Language Services Act. That’s separate of what’s going on.

Mr. David Piccini: We will take no lessons from that member and her party after decimating the post-secondary sector, after—on the backs of students, over a decade—leading to some of the highest tuition costs in the country.

We put students first with a historic 10% reduction. Mr. Speaker, we’ve invested more into Laurentian University, with stable supports of over $80 million a year. We’ve invested in the northern Ontario special purposes grant—$6.1 million per year—and the graduate expansion grant—$7.9 million per year.

We’ve stood to support francophones across the province. In fact, it was this government that launched a university governed for and by francophones in the province of Ontario.

So we’ll take no lessons from that member opposite, who is now part of the independent party, on how to work collaboratively with partners in the post-secondary sector.

We will continue to support students in this province and—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. Both sides of the House, come to order.

The next question.

Pipelines

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Mr. Speaker, last week, members of this House debated a motion on the importance of the line 5 pipeline. We discussed the impact of line 5 on our province’s economic future and energy security and its importance to many sectors, including manufacturing and agriculture.

It is clear that line 5 isn’t just a pipeline; it’s a lifeline, one that supports thousands of people who work in well-paying, high-skilled jobs that help produce products we use every day. Most importantly, it is a supply that will be very hard, if not impossible, to replace if the pipeline shutters in May.

Will the minister inform this House about the government’s efforts to ensure the continued safe operation of the line 5 pipeline?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Associate Minister of Energy.

Hon. Bill Walker: I’d like to thank the member for Perth–Wellington for his question and for all of his dedicated work on behalf of his constituents.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve had two important debates over the past two weeks, and I thank colleagues on this side of the House for taking a strong stand on this important issue from day one.

I’m proud that our government is fighting to ensure the continued safe and responsible operation of line 5. We know that as many as 30,000 jobs are at stake, and they’re worth fighting for.

I’m glad that the official opposition finally realized that it is appropriate to fight for families and jobs and joined us in supporting our motion on line 5, which recognized pipelines as the safest way of transporting energy resources.

All of us have a role to play in advocating for these jobs to stay in Ontario as we recover from this pandemic.

I can assure the member that this government and this Premier will never stop fighting for those jobs.

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

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I want to thank the minister for reiterating the importance of line 5 to our government. I know that the minister has been a steadfast advocate since day one.

Mr. Speaker, we know that the continued safe operation of line 5 is not just important to Ontario, but to our whole country. I know that my colleagues and I have been writing to our federal counterparts to advocate on this important issue.

Can the minister please tell this House what he has heard about the federal government’s response to the line 5 issue?

Hon. Bill Walker: As the member from Perth–Wellington knows, our government has taken a Team Canada approach on this issue. We’ve been advocating non-stop for the continued safe operation of line 5 since November.

As the member said, many of us have written to our federal colleagues. In addition to the Premier’s advocacy, the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and Indigenous Affairs and the Minister of Labour wrote to their counterparts in Ottawa to express concerns over the impact of line 5 on working-class, skilled trades jobs.

So we were relieved to hear the federal Minister of Natural Resources recently state that the line 5 pipeline is “a vital part of Canadian energy security and its continued operation is non-negotiable” in the context of our relationship with our neighbours and friends to the south.

Our government is glad to hear this news and looks forward to learning more about what the federal government has been doing on the diplomatic front to resolve this issue. Be assured, Mr. Speaker and the people of Ontario, we will continue to stand in unison and advocate with them to resolve this critical matter for the benefit of Ontario families.

Indigenous affairs

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Meegwetch, Speaker. Good morning.

Remarks in Oji-Cree.

My question is to the Premier.

Ontario pays a lot of lip service to treaties. In Kiiwetinoong, Eabametoong First Nation is part of Treaty 9, a treaty that Ontario signed. Ontario has a relationship with Eabametoong that they like to ignore until Ontario needs environmental assessments approved for roads and mining.

It’s inhumane to let people live in tents in the middle of winter anywhere, but there are multiple families living in tents in Eabametoong right now, today.

How can Ontario say it respects Treaty 9 when they do nothing to help Eabametoong?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Attorney General to respond.

Hon. Doug Downey: Thank you to the member across for the question.

We are engaged with our First Nations, and Treaty 9 in particular, on so many different files, whether it be matters of vaccines, whether it be matters of justice, w