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March 2, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Mar-02 (PDF)

L229 - Tue 2 Mar 2021 / Mar 2 mar 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 2 March 2021 Mardi 2 mars 2021

Orders of the Day

Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la lutte contre la traite des personnes

Wearing of jersey

Members’ Statements

Services for seniors

Justin Clark

Laboratory services

Arts and cultural funding

Literacy and basic skills

COVID-19 immunization

George Armstrong

Hydro rates

Broadband infrastructure

COVID-19 immunization

Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Estimates

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Long-term care

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 immunization

Employment standards

COVID-19 response

Tourism industry

COVID-19 response

Long-term care

Human trafficking

Small business

COVID-19 response

Tourism industry

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Private members’ public business

Deferred Votes

Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à accélérer l’accès à la justice

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Government Agencies

Petitions

Tenant protection

Life insurance

Public sector compensation

Human trafficking

Optometry services

Environmental protection

Health care funding

Employment standards

Documents gouvernementaux

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board

Anti-smoking initiatives for youth

Orders of the Day

Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la lutte contre la traite des personnes

Private Members’ Public Business

Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Day and Thalassemia Awareness Day Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la Journée de sensibilisation à la drépanocytose et la Journée de sensibilisation aux thalassémies

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la lutte contre la traite des personnes

Ms. Jones moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 251,

An Act to enact, amend and repeal various Acts in respect of human trafficking matters / Projet de loi 251, Loi édictant, modifiant et abrogeant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les questions de traite des personnes.

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you, Speaker. I am honoured to open the debate on Bill 251, the Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021. I will be joined this morning by my colleagues the minister for women and children’s issues as well as the Attorney General.

Human trafficking is a vicious and violent crime that preys on the young and vulnerable and can leave its victims feeling broken and forgotten. Sadly, while COVID-19 has forced us to put our normal lives on hold, human traffickers are expanding their efforts to exploit those at greatest risk, including those who are isolated from supports or increasingly communicating through digital platforms.

For survivors of human trafficking and those who support you, it may feel as if the world has forgotten about you as it grapples with the threat of COVID-19. But, as I said on Human Trafficking Awareness Day, our message here in Ontario is crystal clear: Ontario has not forgotten—not then, not now, not ever. This is precisely why we are bringing forward even more tools to fight this crime, support survivors and raise awareness.

Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing crimes worldwide. It disproportionately impacts children and youth, particularly those most vulnerable. As I do every time I speak about this heinous crime, I will remind members of this House that the average age of recruitment into trafficking is just 13 years old.

This isn’t a problem that only happens somewhere else. Most of all police-reported incidents of human trafficking in this country happen right here in Ontario—and those are only the offences that we know of. Calls to the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline suggest that only a small fraction of incidents are ever reported to the police. I know that all of us in this House worry about the number of incidents that go unreported.

We know that human trafficking crimes are, by their very nature, hidden and that for many reasons, including threats and fears of retribution, it is particularly difficult for victims and survivors to come forward. This only underscores how important it is to raise awareness of the issue among the general public.

Before I speak to the specific legislative proposals outlined in the Combating Human Trafficking Act, I would like to remind members of the important context that this bill fits into. A year ago this month, our government launched a historic $307-million anti-human trafficking strategy. This strategy takes a proactive approach to combatting human trafficking while ensuring the necessary supports are in place to help the survivors deal with the trauma. It has four main pillars: intervene early, support survivors, hold offenders accountable and raise awareness.

Due to the complexity of this crime and the incredible trauma involved, it’s crucial that the social services and justice sectors collaborate on this issue. But the fight against human trafficking is larger than two ministries. Combatting human trafficking takes co-operation and collaboration across governments and many groups, including police, community agencies, families, schools and, of course, the youth themselves.

Whether that’s the hotel and motel association, Truckers Against Trafficking, teachers and those who care for our young people, those who work in rest stops and gas stations along our highways, the list is endless, Speaker. More and more, these groups are joining the fight, and I want to applaud them for their commitment to this cause.

And let me be clear: While we have been working tirelessly to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, that has not dampened our resolve when it comes to making a difference in this issue. Along with the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues and the Minister of Education, in August we launched two new educational tools to help raise awareness for this critical issue among our province’s young people.

From my ministry, we reinvested $6 million from the proceeds of crime directly back into the hands of local police to up the fight against human trafficking. Examples of successful projects already include bringing together municipal, First Nations and provincial police to improve community responses to human trafficking to help survivors access the supports they need to safely move forward with their lives, and launching comprehensive education campaigns targeting groups that are more susceptible to becoming victims of human trafficking, such as women in low-income groups, Indigenous and immigrant women and at-risk youth.

The proposed Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021, also builds on the actions that have already been deployed and are under way to fight the increasingly sophisticated criminal networks that perpetrate human trafficking crimes across our province. For example, we have ramped up the intelligence efforts of police services related to the identification and interception of human trafficking activity. We have also made strides in detecting and monitoring traffickers within the correctional system.

In addition, we are expanding the Ontario Provincial Police Child Sexual Exploitation Unit with an additional 23 members, both uniform and civilian, to their current complement. This is an analytical hub aimed at identifying and disrupting those intent on the sexual exploitation of children and to rescue the victims. These initiatives have laid the groundwork for the proposed Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021, which reinforces Ontario’s commitment to fight human trafficking and demonstrates our ongoing leadership in responding to this pervasive crime.

Under the proposed act, we have introduced two new pieces of legislation: the Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Act, 2021, and the Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act, 2021, which would replace the Hotel Registration of Guests Act. We are also proposing amendments to the following acts: The Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, and the Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking Act, 2017. The world understands a lot more about human trafficking in 2021 than was the case even in 2017. These two acts needed to be updated to address gaps and align with the anti-human trafficking strategy.

Together, the proposed new legislation and legislative amendments build on our $307-million anti-human trafficking strategy by:

—first, providing a long-term provincial response to human trafficking and emphasizing that all Ontarians have a role to play in combatting human trafficking;

—strengthening the ability of the children’s aid societies and law enforcement to protect exploited children;

—assisting more survivors and people who support them in obtaining restraining orders against traffickers with specific consideration for Indigenous survivors;

—increasing the government’s ability to better understand the impact of human trafficking through the collection of non-personal data; and

—providing law enforcement with more tools to locate victims quickly.

As we walk through the legislative proposals before the House, I will focus on the law enforcement-related proposals and the proposed Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act, 2021. Minister Dunlop and Attorney General Downey will speak further on the other aspects of this legislation.

The proposed Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Act, 2021, would be the first of its kind in Canada. Speaker, I would be remiss in not commenting on—the foundation for much of this work happened as a result of opposition activities with my friend and colleague the Minister of Infrastructure Laurie Scott.

The proposed Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Act, 2021, as I said, would be the first of its kind in Canada. If passed, the legislation would support raising awareness of human trafficking, and it would provide a sustained, long-term and comprehensive response to human trafficking. This would be achieved by mandating Ontario to maintain an anti-human trafficking strategy that it reviews regularly and updates to help the province stay ahead of traffickers. It would also emphasize the role that Ontarians have to play in combatting human trafficking by training certain individuals and organizations on how to identify and appropriately respond to suspected instances of human trafficking.

If passed, the proposed act would also implement the ability to collect non-personal data so that decision-makers can better understand the impact of the strategy and respond to human trafficking. It would establish the power to require companies that advertise sexual services to have a contact for law enforcement and other entities. This contact would be used to request information in support of a human trafficking investigation.

The Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act, 2021, would specify how and when police services can access hotel guest registry information without a court order in certain emergency situations when an order cannot be obtained. It would also provide authority to expand guest registry requirements to other types of accommodation providers, such as short-term rental companies, following consultation with the sector so that we get that definition exactly right.

A key area that this legislation focuses on is training and reporting requirements. Organizations can help stop human trafficking by training employees to spot the signs, especially in sectors commonly used by traffickers, including hospitality and transportation. As I outlined earlier, we have many partners ready and willing to play their part. Under this proposed legislation, Ontario would become a national leader on training individuals and organizations on how to identify human trafficking and respond appropriately.

The legislation would also establish the critical ability to collect data regarding trafficking. In order to bring traffickers to justice, we have to be able to better understand the crime. The collection of non-personal data will enable the government to conduct research and analysis to plan for the delivery of programs and services under the anti-human trafficking strategy, and to evaluate whether existing supports are working, where they can be improved and where new supports should be added.

This legislation would also create new requirements that will help law enforcement move quickly to conduct investigations. Under the proposed legislation, companies that host advertisements for sexual services must provide a contact, such as an email address or a telephone number, that police and other relevant entities could use to request information to support investigations into suspected human trafficking. These companies would be required to make the contact available in a prescribed manner and respond to requests directly at this contact within a prescribed period of time.

Failure to comply with requirements for companies that advertise sexual services could result in penalties of up to $50,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a corporation.

We understand the scope of advertising for sexual services and that many of these ads are posted online by companies outside of Ontario’s jurisdictional reach. Fighting human trafficking takes co-operation and collaboration across many sectors. While requiring that advertisers doing business in Ontario comply with proposed points of contact information, we will work with other provinces, territories and the federal government to help address this interjurisdictional issue.

Similarly, if passed, this legislation would provide police the authority to access hotel guest registration information that is collected in the context of the proposed Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act, 2021.

Most hotel and motel operators unwillingly and unknowingly provide infrastructure for human traffickers. The market exploitation of short-term rentals has added to the inventory and created new opportunities for traffickers. These facilities offer accommodation to move victims while providing privacy and anonymity to traffickers who relocate their operations frequently to evade detection by law enforcement. Hotel rooms are also used by traffickers as a base for recruitment.

Hotel and motel operators are taking a firm stand against human trafficking. I would like to thank the Hotel Association of Canada for their leadership in raising awareness of human trafficking amongst its members and supporting training programs and other anti-trafficking processes.

That is why we are proposing to repeal the outdated Hotel Registration of Guests Act and replace it with a new Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act, 2021, which would support our anti-human trafficking strategy. The new act will help deter human trafficking in hotels, motels and resorts by enhancing awareness of human trafficking and supporting police investigations and enforcement.

The proposed new act will:

—through enabling regulations, allow the enhancement of information collected in guest registries and establish a length of time registries must be maintained;

—modernize the definition of “hotel” to reflect changes in the accommodation industry, including short-term rentals—more on this

part in a moment—and

—describe the circumstances under which registries would be made available to police.

First, enhancing guest registries: Hotel guest registries have served as a valuable tool in human trafficking investigations. The more thorough and accurate the information provided, the stronger the tool. Currently, the Hotel Registration of Guests Act requires hotels to collect the name and place of residence of every person admitted as a guest. Given the connection between human trafficking and the hotel sector, more information, and more reliable information, is required.

In some cases, shady owners and operators willingly allow misleading information, such as a false name or a statement regarding their place of residence, to be entered into the registry. The proposed new legislation would include regulation-making authority to enhance the information collected in guest registries and establish a length of time that registries must be maintained. What additional information may be required will be confirmed through the regulatory process and through further consultation.

Number two is modernizing the definition of “hotel.” Based on consultations with Ontario’s tourism and hospitality sector, the government is modernizing the definition of “hotel.” This was requested by the sector in order to enhance consistency and to more accurately reflect the modern industry.

In addition to hotels, short-term rentals are often used as venues for human trafficking because they also provide traffickers with privacy and anonymity. Policing stakeholders have told us that the use of short-term rental units by traffickers is on the rise. The proposed new legislation would include regulation-making authority to prescribe other accommodation providers, such as short-term rental accommodations, to maintain a guest registry.

Let me be clear here: This is an expansion of the current requirements. Accommodation providers other than hotels are currently not in the scope of the previous Hotel Registration of Guests Act, which is exactly why we are replacing it with a new and modern framework. We will consult with the broader accommodation sector to understand how the requirements of the legislation could apply to other businesses. This is an opportunity to work with short-term rental companies as we develop the enabling regulations for accommodation providers who must keep a registry.

Number three is the authority to access hotel guest registration information. More victims may be identified and located, and more traffickers may be deterred, by specifying how and when police services and First Nations police services can access information from guest registries. And it will set a framework for when police may urgently demand to view information without a court order under exigent circumstances, such as the threat of bodily harm to a victim or destruction of evidence.

The proposed Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act, 2021, will lessen the accommodation industry’s vulnerability to trafficking and respect the balance between safeguarding privacy while supporting law enforcement in deterring human trafficking. Enforcement is an important tool to encourage compliance and deter offenders, which is why we are proposing penalties for non-compliance. Under the new proposed Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act, 2021, owners or operators are liable for fines of up to $5,000 for failure to maintain a guest registry, knowingly and willingly permitting false information or failing to comply with demands from law enforcement.

Speaker, human trafficking feeds off the vulnerable and destroys the lives of the innocent. It also fuels other criminal activities such as gun smuggling and gang violence. No part of this province is immune to human trafficking as a point of origin, place for transit or destination for the victims. The physical and emotional trauma that trafficking causes makes it very difficult to recover and live a safe and healthy life. Complex and targeted supports like the ones this government has invested in can make a huge difference.

Ontario must take the lead in the fight against human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of our children and other vulnerable people. I would like to thank our brave child welfare and social services first responders, victim support workers, and health and mental health care professionals who care for and seek justice for the victims and the survivors. You are our front line against human trafficking, and we are by your side in this fight.

Our government voiced its commitment to tackling human trafficking very early on in our mandate. We worked with a wide spectrum of stakeholders to establish the comprehensive $307-million anti-human trafficking strategy. These legislative changes, if passed, would reinforce the strategy’s key objectives of raising awareness of the issue, protecting victims and intervening early, supporting survivors, and holding offenders accountable. It would also support law enforcement to dismantle criminal networks and help deter human trafficking.

I will now turn it over to my friend, colleague and co-lead, Associate Minister Dunlop.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): I recognize the associate minister, Ms. Dunlop.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: I rise to speak on behalf of the second reading of Bill 251, the Combating Human Trafficking Act. As the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues, as a mother, as a daughter and as an Ontarian, combatting human trafficking is a priority for me and for our government. While I have not been impacted myself on the issue of human trafficking, the issue is very personal for me. I want my daughters to be safe wherever they go and with anyone they meet. I also want to ensure that if something as horrific as human trafficking does occur, there is help for them and for our family to heal and rebuild.

This bill, which brings together legislated proposals from four different ministries, is an example of the across-government approach we are taking to address this crime. These legislative proposals represent strong measures to fight human trafficking in Ontario. Proposed changes, if passed, will better protect victims of human trafficking, support survivors and increase tools to hold offenders accountable.

Tragically, human trafficking has become a growing threat to women, children and other vulnerable people around the world—a threat that we are also facing on a daily basis here in Ontario. Unfortunately, our province is a hub for human trafficking, accounting for just over half of police-reported incidents in Canada in 2019. It is a horrific crime that poses real and serious danger, robbing the safety, health and livelihood of those who are being exploited and abused, often resulting in long-term trauma. For the victims and their families caught in this awful criminal activity, it is a nightmare existence.

Speaker, while I have said some of what I will be speaking on before in this House, all of it bears repeating. Human trafficking can happen in any community and anyone can be a victim, but young women and girls are particularly at risk of being targeted for sex trafficking, especially those from Indigenous communities and other racialized groups and youth in care. Nearly three quarters of victims identified by police are under the age of 25, and 28% of victims are children under 13.

It should also be noted that the majority of cases of trafficking are not reported, so those numbers are very likely much, much higher. It is a crime that disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations and individuals, as traffickers assess and manipulate vulnerability to their own benefit to target, lure and groom their victims.

Others who may also be at risk of being targeted by traffickers include people who identify as 2SLGBTQQIA, newcomers, migrant workers, persons with disabilities and people who may be marginalized, such as persons experiencing mental illness or addictions challenges, poverty, homelessness or bullying.

Our government has been absolutely clear: This despicable crime is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We will do whatever it takes to protect our children and youth from human trafficking, as well as provide the supports victims and survivors need to help them heal and rebuild their lives.

When I first became minister in 2019, I had the opportunity to participate in numerous round tables with survivors, Indigenous communities and organizations, those on the front line, police officers and more to learn first-hand about human trafficking in this province. One thing that was stated over and over again was the importance of having these discussions and the need to have a strategy. Speaker, it is unfortunate we need a strategy about human trafficking. It is a shame that we need to raise awareness about this issue. Human trafficking should never be occurring. It should never be something considered by any individual, and no person should ever be trafficked.

We heard from the members at the round tables about the need for the strategy, and I am proud of the work that myself, the Solicitor General and the Attorney General have been doing with our federal, provincial and territorial partners to raise awareness across the province and call on the federal government for a strategy.

Speaker, this is why Bill 251 is an important next step in our five-year strategy to combat human trafficking and child sexual exploitation, accompanied by an investment of $307 million. This strategy, announced on March 6 of last year, is a comprehensive action plan that plays a proactive approach across government to raise awareness of this issue, protect victims, intervene early, support survivors and hold offenders accountable.

In designing and implementing this strategy, our government has benefitted greatly from the experience and expertise of survivors, front-line service providers, Indigenous communities, Indigenous-led organizations, law enforcement, advocates and champions for victims and survivors. I want to thank every single person who came forward to share their stories, their experiences, their thoughts and ideas on how we can work together to protect individuals, raise awareness, support those who have been victims and also hold those committing these crimes accountable. We could not have created our strategy without you.

I would also like to thank some of my members: the member from Mississauga Centre; my neighbouring MPPs, the member from Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte and Attorney General, and the member from Barrie–Innisfil; the member for Chatham-Kent–Leamington; the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore; and so many other individuals in this House who have held round tables, whether in person—once upon a time—or virtually to talk about human trafficking.

I would express my sincere appreciation to hold round tables in all of our communities across this province, and I know I would be happy to attend with any member, because the more we can do to educate the public—it will be the number one thing we can do to combat human trafficking in this province.

Over the last 12 months, as the world faced a global pandemic, human trafficking didn’t stop or take any breaks, but we didn’t either. We have taken strong action and made significant progress in delivering on our strategy, including on a wide range of supportive initiatives across government.

In collaboration with the Minister of Indigenous Affairs as well as First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities and organizations, we released an Indigenous-focused education campaign designed by and for Indigenous people to support youth, communities and caregivers; connect people; and provide resources to help address the needs of Indigenous victims and survivors.

Through the work of my colleague and friend the Minister of Education, we have updated the elementary health and physical education curriculum to include mandatory learning about online safety and consent to keep kids safe and respond to the growing threat of human trafficking.

With the member from Brampton West, the Solicitor General and the Minister of Education, we released an interactive digital education tool to help children and youth learn about how traffickers lure, groom and manipulate young people into trafficking, so they are equipped to recognize when it may be happening to them or to their friends.

Through the work of the Minister of Transportation, we are partnering with the trucking industry, including the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada, and ONroute locations to raise awareness on Ontario’s 400-series highways.

With the Attorney General, we have invested in enhanced specialized services for victims through victims’ service agencies and we have reinvested cash and proceeds seized from criminals to help fight human trafficking.

From our Solicitor General, my co-lead and an incredible advocate and champion on this issue, we have also provided grants for anti-human trafficking projects delivered by community police services. And we are investing up to $96 million over the next five years in community-based and Indigenous-specific services across the province to provide more supports for victims and survivors, particularly children and youth. These community programs do incredible work to support victims and survivors, especially our children and youth, who are often the targets of traffickers.

Just last week, I was able to join our Minister of Health virtually with Casandra Diamond and Alison Peck in Newmarket, who have two incredible programs to serve survivors, to allow them to heal and rebuild their lives. They both do tremendous work, and I am proud to support them and their organizations.

Let’s not forget the work, advocacy and efforts of the Minister of Infrastructure on this issue while in the opposition. Her Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, paved the way for much of the work in this bill and what Ontario has done on this issue. She is a champion, and it is an honour to stand with her and beside her.

We have made progress in challenging times, but there is always more to do. We are committed to continuing to fight to end human trafficking and to supporting survivors in Ontario.

To strengthen our response, we need to be constantly adding new tools and mechanisms to our toolbox and engaging key sectors. Last week, our government did exactly that when my colleague the Solicitor General introduced legislative proposals to strengthen Ontario’s ability to help victims and survivors, better protect children and youth, and strengthen our actions to fight this crime. The proposals contained in Bill 251 offer a multifaceted approach to combatting human trafficking. This is because human trafficking impacts so many sectors. We all have an obligation to be part of raising awareness and making a change.

The proposed Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Act, if passed, would require the province to maintain an anti-human trafficking strategy and support a sustained long-term response to combat human trafficking. Speaker, we are very proud of this proposal. This requirement would be the first of its kind in Canada and would position Ontario as a leader in anti-human trafficking efforts in the country. It would mean that any government, regardless of political stripe, would be required to continue working towards eliminating human trafficking in this province and supporting victims and survivors.

This is of momentous importance, in line with other pieces of legislation that have similar requirements embedded on other key issues, such as a requirement for the government to maintain a poverty reduction strategy via the Poverty Reduction Act, 2009. That’s because these issues require us to all work together in a non-partisan manner with all sectors. Support is not limited to one ministry, one person, one political party or one government. It requires all of us.

The proposed act would also create enabling authority to require persons who may be prescribed at a later date in regulation, and upon further consultation, to:

—post or disseminate information about human trafficking;

—provide or receive anti-human trafficking training as part of employment, such as recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to appropriately respond to suspected instances, and;

—report suspected instances of human trafficking to a prescribed body, such as the police or a hotline.

Given the complexity of human trafficking, we know that it requires not only a cross-government approach but work across jurisdictions and with various sectors. These provisions would support the strategy’s efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking in targeted sectors, contributing to better identification, attitudes and behaviours towards human trafficking, including enhancing the ability to appropriately respond to suspected instances and connect survivors to supportive services.

If passed, this act would send a strong signal that all persons have a responsibility to help combat human trafficking, while affording flexibility to compel, for example, sectors or businesses to prioritize anti-human trafficking efforts, if required.

Much of the current issue is that individuals don’t know that trafficking is happening in their neighbourhoods and communities. Just last week, I was speaking to a school and a girl mentioned that she had heard of trafficking because of the movie Taken. While that is one way trafficking occurs, the majority of victims in police-reported incidents of human trafficking in Canada are Canadians. We need to acknowledge that this is very prevalent here.

I’d like to make note of the necklace that I have. Many people have asked why I wear this specific necklace. I purchased this through a friend named Luma, someone who I’ve never actually met in person, only online. I met friends of hers at a Women’s Day event last year. We were talking about human trafficking at our table. This was a group of women from Oakville who were telling me that a young lady in their neighbourhood had been trafficked. Her mother noticed things were different. She was acting differently, behaving differently. She approached her, and luckily they were able to have the conversation.

She told her mother what was happening, and they approached the police. But just that one story, how that spread through the community and raised that awareness. So Luma started making these necklaces and was donating proceeds of this to organizations to fight human trafficking and to raise awareness in Ontario. I thank her and her small online-run business for the work that she has done to raise awareness of human trafficking.

Prevention and early intervention are key pillars in our government’s strategy to combat human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. Bill 251, through the proposed amendments to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, would provide significant tools to better protect children and youth from this crime. If passed, these proposed amendments would:

—clarify the role of children’s aid societies to intervene in situations where a child is a victim of sex trafficking, or at risk of being trafficked, through new grounds for protection;

—authorize child protection workers and peace officers to remove a 16- or 17-year-old victim of sex trafficking, for a limited period of time, to another location to give them an opportunity to voluntarily access protective measures and/or supportive resources;

—increase penalties for traffickers who interfere with or harbour a child in the care of a children’s aid society for the purposes of sex trafficking.

Our goal here is to bring youth to supports that they may not even know exist. We know that it takes many opportunities to remove someone from trafficking, but we need to start somewhere. Allowing a victim to see that there is help for them when they need it is key. This includes community supports and culturally appropriate care for youth.

I also want to remind everyone that traffickers largely target children and youth, especially those who are vulnerable. These are our young people who are being tormented and hurt by these criminals.

Taken together, these proposed amendments are important new measures that would strengthen the authority of children’s aid societies and law enforcement to intervene in child sex trafficking cases, discourage traffickers from interfering with children in the care of a children’s aid society, and promote consistent responses across the province.

Speaker, human trafficking is a societal challenge for everyone in Ontario. The proposed Combating Human Trafficking Act is a result of engagement with survivors, a wide range of partners, Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations who gave us their best advice and counsel. We regard the measures in Bill 251 as important new tools to further our work in fighting this crime. Putting an end to human trafficking will take all of us working together in this House, across all levels of government, across the country and across various sectors.

To hear the harrowing stories and strength of victims, survivors and their families is to realize that this is a fight Ontario cannot afford to lose. It is a fight that Canada cannot afford to lose. We owe it to victims and survivors to do everything we can in our power to drive this criminal activity from our province, strengthen our ability to support them and to better protect children and youth.

I am also imploring all provinces, territories and the federal government to do the same. We need a stronger national strategy on this issue. Trafficking doesn’t stop at our borders between Manitoba and Quebec, and it isn’t stopping at the US border across our province.

We need to help because it is all of our responsibility to protect victims and survivors. This could be your sister, your daughter, your best friend or neighbour, or even you. And so I ask members of this House to give due and careful consideration of the measures we are proposing in Bill 251. Our government believes that this bill, if passed, will strengthen our efforts to combat human trafficking, better support survivors and help keep our young people safe.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): During the debate, the Solicitor General did say that we would hear from the Attorney General, so that’s who we’ll turn to now for his

part in this debate.

Hon. Doug Downey: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m grateful to share my time today with my colleagues the Honourable Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General; and the associate minister responsible for women’s issues, Jill Dunlop.

As both of them have said, this is an issue that crosses all ministry boundaries. I haven’t seen an issue before that so easily crosses boundaries, because everybody wants to do what they can do within their ministry. It reaches even beyond the three that you’re hearing from today, because this is such a heinous crime that touches on everything from finance, and how people finance this heinous activity, to cultural sectors and tourism sectors. It really is something that all the barriers came down so that we can get this right. This historic and very important legislation is the result of a lot of work across government.

I expect the full support of the opposition, Mr. Speaker, because this is not a political issue. This is a looking-after-our-children issue. I say “children” because, as Minister Jones indicated, the average age of recruitment is 13. Just pause and think about that for a moment:13 years. We’re talking grade 8. What were you doing in grade 8, you know? Just think about that.

Last week, Minister Jones and Associate Minister Dunlop introduced this groundbreaking Combating Human Trafficking Act that enshrines in law protections for survivors of human trafficking, stronger tools for law enforcement and measures to deter human traffickers.

Speaker, the issue we’re speaking about today is an absolutely heinous crime that poses a devastating threat in our communities. It’s one that our communities have been dealing with for years, but unfortunately, the situation has gotten worse.

I have a unique perspective on this, I think, or at least not an average perspective on this. My mother was a founding director of the York Region Abuse Program. It was a program that facilitated the recovery of adult and children survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It gave me a window into what actually happens in our communities. The discussions that I had, in an age-appropriate way but an understanding of the serious issues and the devastating impacts it has on people in our community—not just the victim but the victim’s families. It touches on a lot more than we expect it will.

Once you see it, once you know that it’s out there—it’s one of these things that once you tune into the conversation, you start to see it in other areas, you start to be more aware of where it could be. And it’s exactly that kind of awareness that we need to raise so that people are aware, so that they are on guard for it.

Really, if you look at the stories of some of the survivors, these are normal kids. These really are the kids next door. This is not some foreign concept. We’re not importing people. We’re not doing a lot of the things that you’d like to think that we’re doing, because then we can distance it from our own experience. But it’s actually people from our communities and from our neighbourhoods. That makes it more personal, if you tune into it.

Talking about the power differential of abuse, a lot of the abusers, a lot of the people who are doing this are not necessarily disenfranchised. These are people with some power who are abusing their power and they’re creating power over individuals.

I’m really proud as Attorney General to be able to contribute to solving this problem. The legislation will help advance our government’s comprehensive strategy aimed at dismantling human trafficking networks and stopping their crimes. The Ministry of the Attorney General is proposing changes in the legislation through restraining order provisions that would protect victims, including children, and those who support and care for them. The restraining orders will support not just the individual but their support structure.

The Combating Human Trafficking Act would give judges the discretion to lengthen restraining orders beyond the current limit of three years in order to support and protect victims for a longer period of time. We’re also proposing an amendment to clarify who specifically could apply for a restraining order on behalf of a child, because we all know that sometimes people need advocates, and victims in particular need advocates. This change responds to the needs of Indigenous families and communities by recognizing customary care arrangements.

The act also includes provisions that would protect other people, such as front-line workers and survivors’ family members. These proposed restraining order amendments would help give victims, their families and front-line workers more protection, as traffickers would be required by law to stay away from them. These are important changes and they build on significant investments and efforts we’ve made to support human trafficking victims and their families.

Speaker, we need to put the weight of government prosecution, the weight of government resources in the way of these individuals. As you have heard from the Solicitor General and Associate Minister Dunlop, these people prey on the young people. They put them into a situation where they continue to victimize them and haunt them, for lack of a better word, after they’ve been rescued.

When you say “rescued,” it’s not like you go in—if you talk to Karly in Durham or you talk to others—you grab them and carry them out and rescue them like a burning fire. You have to gain their trust. You have to develop a relationship. The police services, the front-line services and the others have to develop enough of a trust relationship, and that trust relationship is probably borne of previous experience for some of these girls primarily. If you don’t have that trust, you’re not going to be able to provide the services that they need.

And if the services aren’t working properly, word gets around pretty quick that you shouldn’t trust them, because even though they want to help, they can’t help.

We need to put the services in place. That’s what this is about. That’s what the restraining orders are about, making sure that they not only exist, but that they are working properly so that we’re not just going to protect the individual victim, we’re going to help provide protection for those around them, for their caregivers and for those who are providing the supports to them. That gives a level of trust that the system is actually working, that they’re putting their arms around them and providing a level of protection. That’s very important in terms of gaining the trust and helping them in the way that they need to.

This act is critical in terms of moving us forward on so many levels, and on this piece in particular. But we didn’t just start here; we’ve been working at this for some time. Last year, we announced an investment of more than $7.5 million over five years for dedicated supports, including culturally appropriate supports for survivors of human trafficking and victims. Local victim support organizations do an exceptional job making a difference in the lives of survivors, particularly during the past very challenging year.

The funding we are providing helps meet the needs of human trafficking victims by reducing financial barriers that many victims face in attending court—very simple things like cost of travel, meals, accommodation or court-appropriate attire. All of these things need to be in place to support the individual with their particular needs. Sometimes part of this is used, and sometimes all of it is used. It just depends on what the particular need is, but we need those in place.

The funding also covers essential expenses for human trafficking victims in the immediate aftermath of a crime, for things like transportation or meals, a place to stay, including dental care. There are other services that are important that you see fairly systemically. It also helps survivors break free from the control of traffickers by providing essentials such as a mobile phone to help access services and re-establish support networks.

Mr. Speaker, the things that we take for granted, the cellphones that we have, the ways that we can reach out and communicate—traffickers know that they need to cut off those lifelines, and they do cut off those lifelines. So when somebody comes out of a situation and they’re being rescued, they need those immediate supports. They need that phone so that they can phone potentially a family member, their key support structure. They need to be able to get a hold of the people who are helping them with their victim supports.

We want to make sure that they have what they need to re-establish their support networks and bring those to bear, in addition to all of the things that we’re trying to do to help them.

Our investment also enables front-line workers to better respond to the specific needs of human trafficking victims: for example, offering earlier intervention, safety planning, referrals for appropriate local needs, needs assessments and help with applying for supportive programs. That can be any number of things. Local programs work hand in glove with each other to try to create a seamless series of networks to help support individuals, whether they stay in the individual location or whether they move. It’s the reality of how things are happening. We need to build structures to reflect that reality and not expect them to fit into our structures.

Human trafficking victims, many of them young women, are usually required to testify against an accused trafficker. They need a lot of help to prepare—not just legal help; they need emotional help. The Ministry of the Attorney General has hired additional victim witness workers in Ottawa and St. Catharines and Durham, three areas that see high volumes of human trafficking prosecutions. What do those three areas have in common? They’re all major highways. They’re all major thoroughfares. That’s how it works. That’s where it happens primarily. Although there are other areas, it’s those major highways and those major centres—not just those, but ones like those.

These workers share their experiences and insights with victim witness staff in other regions and work with prosecutors to ensure the victims receive information, help and support to better understand and participate in the court process. The court process can be confusing at the best of times. If you’ve never dealt with it before, if you’re encountering it for the first time, let alone being victimized, being brought into a situation—and again, that power differential that I talk about. Think about having to testify against your trafficker, who has been a menace, an oppressor in your life. So you need those supports.

We have also confirmed ongoing support to enhance a program that provides free legal supports for human trafficking victims and those at risk of being trafficked, so they can apply for restraining orders. I talked about the restraining orders earlier, but we actually have a program that helps them apply for their restraining orders. They don’t just exist out there in the ether; we will help. We will help them get those restraining orders, if they’re either a victim or at risk of being a victim.

Speaker, this is the first program of its kind in Canada. I’m really proud of that. And 100% of the applications for restraining orders that have been applied for have been granted. I’m pleased that Ontario is able to provide this kind of support. Through this program, a team of specialized lawyers provide free confidential legal advice. They offer victims help with completing their restraining order applications and provide representation at application hearings in any Ontario court of justice, which is where you would apply.

Free legal support is also available to parents and guardians of a child survivor or a child at risk of being trafficked, to help them apply for restraining orders. In fact, 30 of these applications that have been successful were on behalf of children. Two of those children were as young as 13 years old, which takes us back to where we started—the average age of recruitment: 13 years old. Imagine being in grade 8 and applying for a restraining order from your potential trafficker. Unbelievable—and that’s exactly why we’re doing this.

The restraining order amendments in the proposed Combating Human Trafficking Act would strengthen the work of this important program and provide victims and their families with more peace of mind.

I want to take a moment to talk about Indigenous-specific supports in our justice system. Ontario is enhancing existing Indigenous-specific victim services to better meet the needs of Indigenous survivors, their families and their communities. These programs are designed, developed and delivered by Indigenous people, for Indigenous people. They consider factors such as language barriers, remote communities and legacies of laws and policies aimed at destroying Indigenous families and communities and requiring assimilation.

Speaker, as we need to support human trafficking victims at every step, we must also hold human traffickers responsible and accountable for their crimes. And because human trafficking cases are often complex, we need a comprehensive, coordinated and specialized team of prosecutors spanning all areas of the province. Our dedicated provincial human trafficking prosecution team takes on human trafficking cases and advises front-line crown prosecutors across Ontario. They develop and deliver training to prosecutors, police and victim/witness assistance staff. They also work closely with police officers and services to improve human trafficking investigations and prosecutions.

My ministry has been expanding the specialized team over the past year and holding offenders accountable through enhanced investigations and the vigorous prosecution of charges. This hard-working, dedicated team with six human trafficking prosecutors in the greater Toronto area has expanded, to 10 prosecutors last October, and as of April this year, less than a month from today, we will increase it to 14, covering every region of the province.

I want to talk about another program that has helped us fight human trafficking at the grassroots level. Ontario’s Civil Remedies Grant Program invests cash and assets seized from criminals into community programs to help victims and prevent crime. Grants from 2021 total $2.5 million, and this funding is being invested in 33 local projects focused on preventing human trafficking, crisis counselling, research and public education.

We are fighting back against the menace of human trafficking by investing in training, surveillance technology and equipment to help police and prosecutors crack down on criminal networks that prey and profit on young and vulnerable people. We are funding programs supporting victims of human trafficking, including mental health services, specialized care and support and education and training opportunities.

Through this initiative, we are funding training for front-line officers to help them better detect and investigate human trafficking. Through this initiative, we are taking money out of the hands of criminals and putting it back in the hands of those who make important contributions to support the victims of crime.

In addition to helping to fund these local projects to fight human trafficking, funds seized are also reinvested directly to compensate victims. In order to ensure compensation reached victims sooner and to provide a more complete set of tools to police and prosecutors to fight crimes like human trafficking, our government made changes to civil forfeiture laws in the Smarter and Stronger Justice Act passed last year.

Ontario was once a national leader in deterring crime through property forfeiture. However, since establishing these laws in 2001, our province had fallen behind in the best practices the other provinces had. They had updated their civil forfeiture laws to keep up with the crimes that fuel gang activity and profits, like human trafficking.

We knew we had to take action on all fronts when we looked at shocking data that showed that two thirds of human trafficking crimes reported in Canada are here in Ontario. I think when I say that, people in this Legislature say, “Yes, I know; I have heard the two thirds. You keep repeating the same stats.” Well, I want to keep repeating the same stats. The average age of recruitment is 13. Two thirds of all human trafficking happens in Ontario. They bear repeating because on the off chance that somebody just tuned in, I want them to know these shocking and heinous stats.

So we passed that legislation to align Ontario with Canadian best practices by moving to an administrative civil forfeiture system that makes it harder for criminals to hold onto their proceeds of crime. These are proceeds that would otherwise fuel illegal and gang activities that put communities and people at risk of crimes like human trafficking.

Our reforms allow personal property, like cash or cars, used by criminals for illegal activities to be forfeited administratively and without a court order in uncontested cases. This can free up valuable time and resources for the police and the courts. Our proposed changes would also create cost savings, allowing more proceeds of offences to be reinvested directly to support to victims. This is another way our government is sending a signal to traffickers that their criminal activity won’t be tolerated. Again, this is such a heinous crime that covers all sectors of our society that we really need to bring all our resources to bear.

Before I conclude, I’d like to give recognition to another member of our government who has been integral to the driving efforts to stop human trafficking in Ontario. Minister Laurie Scott phoned me one day—

Interjections.

Hon. Doug Downey: Yes, Minister Laurie Scott is such a champion.

She phoned me one day. This was back in 2015, I think. This was before I was running or elected or anything; I was just somebody who had been around in the law world with the Ontario Bar Association and others. She asked me to join a group of people talking about human trafficking. Again, I had some sense of the heinous nature through my mother’s experience but really had no idea until I came to that table and talked to police officers and talked to prosecutors and talked to front-line workers and heard from people.

Minister Scott has been championing this from the beginning. She has advocated for human trafficking legislation for years. I had the privilege of being part of that advisory group that led to the Saving the Girl Next Door Act in 2016. That really was the catalyst for moving things forward. I’m glad that when our government came to power, we picked up the mantle on that and that we are doing something about that. From 2016 to 2018, really not enough happened, and then we came in and we got to work right away. We crossed all boundaries in all sectors.

This important legislative work is a tribute to Minister Scott, and I was glad to contribute to dealing with the scourge that human trafficking is.

I want to conclude my time by reaffirming my support of our government’s unprecedented efforts to stop human trafficking in Ontario. The Combating Human Trafficking Act and our anti-human trafficking strategy is helping survivors and their families recover and safely start a new life, and it is holding human trafficking networks fully accountable for their heinous and reprehensible crimes.

I’m honoured to have contributed to this landmark legislation and am proudly a part of putting our strategy into action.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): We have time for questions.

Ms. Jill Andrew: As a survivor of child sexual abuse, I certainly understand how heinous every form of gender-based violence, sexual violence is. Human trafficking, which of course includes sex trafficking, is equally heinous, as is labour trafficking or organ donation, for instance. Of course, this bill doesn’t address the full comprehensive complexity of human trafficking.

My question, actually, to the Attorney General—he mentioned very eloquently that two thirds of all human trafficking happens in Ontario. They have repeated how heinous this crime is. Yet, of 200 or so programs that applied for funding, only 27 received funding. I’ll talk more about that in my lead, but that’s a question I have. The talk doesn’t match the dollars.

The question is, why didn’t the government talk with Airbnb? That’s the biggest site, even bigger than hotels. Why didn’t you all talk to Airbnb?

Hon. Doug Downey: We are turning over every rock and looking around every corner to find ways to support those who are supporting others. Grant programs are one avenue. We’re looking at and constantly re-evaluating whether the grant programs match the outcomes that we need. Without a grant program, quite frankly—during COVID last year, we found that $7.5 million, and we phoned the sexual assault centres, we phoned some of the advocates all throughout Ontario and said, “What do you need?

What do you need to provide the services in this environment that you didn’t have before?” We have been rolling out money in conjunction with those service providers. I look forward to doing even more as time comes.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further questions?

Mr. Parm Gill: I want to thank all of my honourable colleagues for their very passionate speeches, starting off with the Solicitor General, the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues, of course the Attorney General, and also the Minister of Infrastructure for all the hard work that she has done over the years.

Mr. Speaker, it’s great to hear that the government is addressing the hotel industry. With the growth of a lot of the short-term rentals, such as Airbnb—I’m wondering if the Solicitor General can tell us, how do we plan on capturing these short-term rentals? I recognize that obviously they’re not included in this legislation and it would be done through regulation. I’m wondering if the members can shed some light on that.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The Solicitor General to respond.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I’m really pleased that you’ve raised this, because it is an important consideration.

As more and more hotels and motels educate their staff, then it does drive the traffickers to other short-term rentals. We are absolutely going to be dealing with this through regulation, and they will absolutely be included, because we understand that that is where a lot of the activity happens when there becomes a spotlight on the hotels and motels.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further questions?

Mr. Jamie West: Thank you to the Solicitor General, the Attorney General and the member from Simcoe North. It’s a really important topic. Many of them talked about how once you learn about it, you really, really learn about it.

I want to thank Lynzy Lalande and Cristina Scarpellini from Angels of Hope in Sudbury, who had a session in the basement of the library. That’s where I first learned a lot more about human trafficking—and really, we should be saying “human slavery,” to give it the sting that it deserves.

The resources in Sudbury are resources across Canada. The human trafficking hotline is 1-833-900-1010, which I think is important to share. We also have Angels of Hope, as I said; the Sudbury Women’s Centre; SAVS, Sudbury and Area Victim Services; and Sudbury Community Legal Clinic.

In 2019, 30% of the legal clinics’ budgets in Ontario were cut, resulting in about $133 million. I’m just wondering if the government, realizing how difficult human trafficking is to combat—I know they’re having 14 special prosecutors, they’re helping with restraining orders, but let’s prosecute people. Will they restore the funding to the legal clinics?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): To respond, the Attorney General.

Hon. Doug Downey: We need to make sure that the resources are best placed with those who are best equipped to deal with it.

Legal clinics do amazing work in Ontario. They deal with landlord-tenant issues. They deal with social benefit appeals. They deal with a whole variety of things.

But this area is fairly specialized—it’s the victim services; it’s the victim witness programs. There are a series of programs at sexual assault centres. We’ve put millions—$7.5 million announced last year—in that area. We’ve equipped them with more tools. We’ve enhanced the VQRP+ program to provide things like cellphones for the victims and to put the resources in their hands when they need them. To talk about clinics doing that work—it’s not really part of the area. I’ll be happy to chat more about that later.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member for Barrie–Innisfil.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I want to thank Ministers Downey, Dunlop and Jones for introducing the Combating Human Trafficking Act. It is very important in my community, and we have a lot of advocates on this issue.

The Solicitor General talked about how we are including Airbnb in the legislation as the economy is revolving—we have the sharing economy.

I also want to talk about what the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues spoke about and ask her—when she spoke about the changes to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act regarding the removal of certain youth in care to safe locations. Can the minister please expand on the age cut-off for 16- and 17-year-olds?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The associate minister to respond.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member from Barrie–Innisfil for that important question.

We do recognize the vulnerability, as do human traffickers. They prey on young, vulnerable people. We know that the numbers in child welfare are incredibly high. About half of all victims who are young women in the child welfare system had been involved in human trafficking.

We made the changes to the child welfare modernization last year. We were really looking at changing a system to be more preventive and to offer services upfront, because we see the number of young women, and boys too, in group homes who end up being trafficked.

The changes to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act included clarifying the role of children’s aid societies—because there’s a current lack of clarity in that act—moving forward, but also authorizing child protection workers and police officers to remove 16- and 17-year-olds and to get them to places of safety, because as we said, these are victims who are as early as—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Thank you. Next question.

Mr. Joel Harden: I want to thank my friends in government for bringing this legislation forward. As people have said, it is important that we act on this as a Legislature.

My question, for whomever would like to respond, is about the allocation of the $307 million involved in this legislation. We have some fantastic advocates back home in Ottawa Centre, and as the Attorney General just mentioned, there is specific expertise that’s required in gaining the trust and confidence for people to come forward.

It wasn’t clear to me in reading the preparatory language around this legislation about which organizations would qualify for this funding. I would love my friends in government to clarify that. Is this funding largely to go to police services, which is certainly one source? Or are we going to make sure that those grassroots community leaders get access to the funding they need to help people be safe?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): To respond, the Solicitor General.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you for the question. It’s a really excellent one. We are continuing to consult. We made the announcement last year of the $307-million investment. In the interim, in the last 12 months, we have been working directly with community agencies, with justice partners, with survivors to listen and understand exactly where the investments can best be placed.

I think we all understand that there are so many opportunities. We would love to be able to fund them all, but we really are listening very closely to the survivors, to the organizers working in the field and to the justice partners, including our police, to make sure that what we do is the most effective way to ensure awareness and education.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Time for a very quick question and answer.

Ms. Donna Skelly: It is to the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues. I’ve heard from the minister and others about the importance of providing tailored supports for Indigenous youth, who are simply more vulnerable to being trafficked. Can the minister provide more detail about those supports that are being offered?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Back to the associate minister.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for that question. In fact, when I first became minister of this portfolio, the first round table I attended was in Thunder Bay with the Ontario Native Women’s Association and the incredible work that they are doing to protect vulnerable Indigenous women and children.

I was speaking with Cora, the executive director, recently. She told me that in the time since they have run their program in 2018, they have helped 116 women exit human trafficking and move forward with employment services etc. That’s just one great example. But it’s obviously very important to provide culturally appropriate services where necessary.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

Wearing of jersey

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): It is almost time for members’ statements. Before we do that, the member for Peterborough–Kawartha wants to rise on a point of order to ask for unanimous consent.

Mr. Dave Smith: I seek unanimous consent to wear my George Armstrong commemorative Maple Leafs jersey during statements.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): The member is seeking unanimous consent before he delivers his member’s statement this morning. Are we agreed? Agreed.

Members’ Statements

Services for seniors

Ms. Laura Mae Lindo: Today I would like to thank Dr. John Lord, Kay Wigle and Doug Cartan, members for Seniors for Social Action Ontario from my own riding of Kitchener Centre. In our meeting last week, they shared research that showed that the government continues to see aging through a lens of frailty. They explained that this lens is short-sighted. It pushes government decisions to support little more than attending to the issues in long-term care.

Now, don’t get me wrong: We have to fix the long-term-care system. But people would not be forced to wait indefinitely for long-term-care beds if we invested in the lives of elders in our communities right now.

They provided solutions: build a system on a foundation of autonomy and choice. In fact, they supported my call for a seniors’ advocate, because they believed in the vision of having an independent and empowered space in the Legislature that focuses solely on addressing systemic issues like low wages, unsuitable housing and the inability to age in place.

We share this vision with the National Association of Federal Retirees; Advocacy Centre for the Elderly; Care Watch Ontario; CanAge, Canada’s National Seniors’ Advocacy Organization; the Alzheimer Society of Ontario; Older Women’s Network housing committee; Accessible Housing Network; Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition; and the Waterloo Region Health Coalition. They all support this bill.

So let’s call Bill 196, the Seniors’ Advocate Act, to committee so that communities like mine can make sure that their solutions become law.

Justin Clark

Mr. Jeremy Roberts: I rise today to speak on the passing of Justin Clark, who was described as a gentle giant of disabled advocacy after he won a landmark case in 1982 to live independently. Justin passed away at the age of 58 last week.

Justin loved visiting with family and friends, and was known to play bocce once or twice a week at an Ottawa rehab centre. Born in 1962 with cerebral palsy, unable to walk or talk, he spent his childhood in the Rideau Regional Centre institution.

After he turned 18, Justin’s parents would not allow him to go camping with his friends. His efforts to have their decision overturned would eventually lead to one of Canada’s most important trials. His powerful testimony, communicated by pointing out symbols on a board, changed the minds of skeptics in the room and received a standing ovation from parents.

Judge John Matheson read his judgment aloud: “We have all, all of us, recognized a gentle, trusting, believing spirit, and very much a thinking human being who has his unique part to play in our compassionate, interdependent society.”

“Justin’s spirit lives on through our memories. His innocence and capacity to love knew no bounds. Those who came to know him felt his warmth and joy in being with them,” said Robbie Giles, his former childhood teacher.

I would like to end my statement with a quote from Justin Clark’s 2018 interview with the CBC, featuring his motto: “I had a good life. I will go forward.”

Laboratory services

M me France Gélinas: The complaints against LifeLabs are non-stop. Twelve months after LifeLabs pivoted to booked appointments rather than walk-ins, the call centre still keeps people waiting for hours, only to drop the call. Ask Tulio about this.

Their website says, “We are currently experiencing technical issues.” Ask John about that.

If you are lucky enough to get through, there will be no appointments available whatsoever for weeks on end. Ask Louise about that.

Once you show up for your long-awaited lab appointment, there is still a chance that you will get there and they will be closed. Ask Paul or ask Mr. Armstrong; they found that out. Or Nicole and Leo: They were told that they had no record of their appointment.

Or you will wait outside for a long time before anyone opens the door to let you know how much longer you may expect to wait outside in minus-27-degree weather, like Madame Thériault found out.

LifeLabs is the only lab provider in all of Sudbury and Nickel Belt. It is a private, for-profit lab. Their poor performance is having a ripple effect on our entire health care system. Specialists do not want to discharge patients from our hospital, and many patients have to reschedule their long-awaited specialist appointments because of problems with LifeLabs.

Minister, at a minimum, recognize the price our health care system is paying by allowing LifeLabs to continue to fail us all. During a pandemic, people’s lives and health hang in the balance.

Arts and cultural funding

Ms. Donna Skelly: Good morning. I stand this morning to speak about how proud I am of our government’s vision and commitment in supporting the cultural and recreational sectors through this pandemic.

Our government is investing over $2.5 million to expand and improve access to three culture and recreation facilities in my hometown of Hamilton. Our investment will help finance the construction of a new 75,000-square-foot building at the Ancaster Agricultural Society’s fairgrounds, the expansion at the Hamilton Children’s Museum, and energy-efficient and safety improvements at Dundas Valley School of Art.

The new fairgrounds will include a show ring for equestrian competitions and a large space for trade shows, events, fairs and concerts. Outdoor events can now be brought inside. The fairgrounds will host shows year-round, creating jobs and supporting the local economy.

Nearly $1.2 million will be invested in expanding and making the Hamilton Children’s Museum more accessible. A rehabilitation project will make Dundas Valley School of Art more accessible, reduce energy costs and make it a healthier environment. This will improve the lives of people in Hamilton.

Our government recognizes that fairs, museums and arts centres have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic, and we want to deliver on these projects.

Literacy and basic skills

Ms. Catherine Fife: The Financial Empowerment and Problem Solving Program is a budget item worth fighting for. It has had a profound impact on the lives of vulnerable individuals and their communities. Funding expires on March 25.

I first became aware of the value of this program through the advocacy of some of the best people in Waterloo region, Joe and Stephanie Mancini of the Working Centre. To date, across Ontario, FEPS has improved the financial literacy of 464,097 Ontarians and helped them access $794.5 million in new income.

Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, in Waterloo region, the local delivery agency, the Working Centre, has completed 1,344 tax returns and supported 2,294 people with money-related issues, including financial education workshops for those on low incomes, like Donna, a 64-year-old factory worker who had been laid off and was being hounded by creditors. Her FEPS worker helped her create a financial plan and obtain benefits at 65 in order to support herself.

Not only was this a financial success, but Donna has also said that following this support, her blood pressure was lower and her doctor was able to address her diabetes medication. Financial stress had been making her physically sick.

To end this program now would surely cause harm to my community and others across the province. The return on investment is clear, and I ask that this funding be included in budget 2021. It’s not only the right thing to do, it should be considered an intelligent and compassionate investment in our communities.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. John Fraser: Ontario’s vaccine rollout is the greatest public health initiative in this province’s history. It’s not an easy feat to vaccinate 14 million people. It requires a lot of coordination and planning.

That’s why in December, I put forward a motion for debate in this Legislature calling on the government to ensure a clear and transparent vaccine rollout that prioritizes high-risk Ontarians, includes biweekly reporting and monthly appearances by the vaccine task force at the Select Committee on Emergency Management Oversight. The motion passed unanimously. It was an agreement that all parties in this House wanted the government to be successful in the rollout, because it meant that our communities would be protected.

Now, almost three months later, here’s what has happened: Ontario took a vaccine holiday over Christmas while other provinces were vaccinating residents in long-term care. It took us nearly half a million doses and 60 days to get to the 70,000 people we said we had to get to first, residents in long-term care. Now, the central online booking portal won’t be ready until the middle of March, and public health units? Well, they have had to go out on their own. AstraZeneca was approved yesterday, and the government said, “We’re not quite sure what we’re going to do with it yet.”

We all have a stake in this rollout. The government needs to be open and transparent about what they’re doing and work with all members of this Legislature to ensure that the rollout is successful.

George Armstrong

Mr. Dave Smith: On January 24, one of my childhood heroes passed away. When I first started to play hockey, I wanted to wear number 9. My brother wore it, Gordie Howe, Rocket Richard and Bobby Hull. It seemed all the great players wore number 9. My father told me I should wear 10. When I asked why, he said, “Because 10 is greater than nine, and George Armstrong is the greatest Leaf ever.” I wore 10 for the next decade.

George made his NHL debut in 1949, playing two games with the Leafs before returning to the Marlboros. That season, Stoney reserve in Alberta gave him a nickname that he’d keep throughout his career: Big Chief Shoot the Puck, because of his Algonquin heritage. Conn Smythe described George as the greatest Leaf “captain, as a captain, the Leafs have ever had.”

I have been lucky to call his son Brian my friend for almost two decades now, and through that friendship, we were able to get George to autograph Leafs’ sweaters every year to give to a player in the Under the Lock Hockey Tournament. We did it to inspire young players to emulate George.

A Hall of Fame career, captain of the Maple Leafs, four Stanley Cups, his statue on Legends Row and number 10 retired, and yet George remained extremely humble. His son Brian opined, “Even in death, dad was humble. He did it in a pandemic so we couldn’t have a public ceremony at centre ice of the Scotiabank Centre to celebrate him.”

Thank you, “Chief” Armstrong, for inspiring so many.

Hydro rates

Mr. Gilles Bisson: We all know that in the last election, New Democrats and Conservatives ran on a promise in order to deal with electricity prices—hydro prices going through the roof as a result of policies put in place by the former Liberal government, and people have had to pay ever since.

Well, imagine how people back in our ridings are feeling—a government that has been in office now the better part of three years, that has had all kinds of opportunity to be able to deal with fixing some of the systemic problems that were created under the Liberals that have risen electricity prices, such as signing some of the contracts that they did. And what do people do now? They look at their hydro bill, and it’s still going up.

If you look at people’s hydro bills who live in rural and northern Ontario especially, where they don’t have a choice other than to either heat by propane, heat by wood or heat by electricity, many people are having to do electricity for a number of reasons and are paying hydro bills in the neighbourhood of $800 to $1000 per month.

People cannot afford this, and they’re asking all members of this House to implore on the Conservative government to maintain its promise and to drop hydro rates by 14% and not raise them each and every year in the way that they have. Do people appreciate that we’ve had a temporary pause on time-of-use pricing? Yes. But that is now over and people’s hydro bills are going through the roof.

You should keep your election promise. If not, I’ll tell you, people will remember next election.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll again remind members to make their comments through the Chair, not directly across the floor. Members’ statements?

Broadband infrastructure

Mr. Parm Gill: Not a lot of people know that my riding of Milton includes a significant rural component where access to high-speed Internet is a serious issue. Especially during this last year, it has been evident that proper access to Internet is critical for our students, families, small businesses and farmers.

That is exactly why our government created our Up to Speed strategy, Ontario’s first-ever broadband and cellular action plan. With this plan, our government is investing $63.3 million over five years to bring high-speed Internet to Milton and other parts of our province. Through the strong actions being taken by our government, I have worked closely with providers CENGN and Mage Networks to finally bring Internet service to rural Milton.

The design of this program has been finalized, and I’m proud to announce that home installations for high-speed Internet will begin as early as the first week of April. This means families, students, businesses and farmers in the north part of rural Milton will soon have reliable access to high-speed Internet that they can depend on.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Norman Miller: I rise today to talk about the thing that represents hope for all of us. This is, of course, vaccination. We’ve had some challenges with the supply of vaccine coming from the federal government, but they are telling us that those challenges are now behind us.

In Ontario, we are using local public health units to deliver the vaccine. This is important because of how large and varied our province is. The same plan that will work in Toronto won’t work in Parry Sound–Muskoka or anywhere else in rural Ontario. That local planning has been happening for some time.

Both the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit have released their vaccine rollout plans. Both health units will be using max vaccine clinics to start with. In Muskoka, the clinics are located in Huntsville and Bracebridge, which started giving vaccines yesterday. In Parry Sound, the clinics will be located in Sundridge and Parry Sound.

There are, of course, more than four towns in Parry Sound–Muskoka. As more vaccines are available, both health units have said that there will be more places to get a shot, and I will certainly be encouraging this.

This past weekend was the first weekend seniors over 85 in Muskoka could sign up to get a shot, and there were some glitches with the sign-up system. For those who ran into difficulties, please try again and sign up for the waiting list. The health unit is only scheduling based on the vaccines they know they have, but they will be using the waiting list to contact more people as they receive more doses.

I’m confident that the vaccines are safe and will enable us to return to our normal activities. I’ll be happy to roll up my sleeve for a shot when I’m eligible, and I encourage my constituents and all Ontarians to do the same.

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

Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Estimates

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Yesterday, on Monday, March 1, 2021, the official opposition House leader, the member for London West, rose on a question of privilege concerning the recent election of a member from the government party to the position of Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Estimates.

Standing order 120(

b) requires that the Chair of the estimates committee must be a member of a recognized opposition party. The member for London West pointed to a long-standing practice, however, that committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs have generally shared a party affiliation, which is correct. In addition, she argued that a deviation from this practice amounts to a breach of parliamentary privilege. The government House leader also spoke to the matter.

Before I address the substance of the member’s argument, I would like to take a moment to briefly discuss parliamentary privilege. Erskine May, the pre-eminent authority on Westminster parliamentary procedure, defines parliamentary privilege in the following terms on page 239 of its 25th edition: “Parliamentary privilege is the sum of certain rights enjoyed by each House collectively ... and by members of each House individually, without which they could not discharge their functions, and which exceed those possessed by other bodies or individuals.”

There are a number of specific parliamentary privileges, each one falling into one of these two categories: the individual privileges of members and the collective privileges of the House. Examples of individual members’ privileges include freedom of speech, exemption from jury duty and exemption from being subpoenaed to attend court as a witness. Examples of the collective privileges of the House include the right of the House to the attendance of its members, the right to institute inquiries, the power to discipline and the right to regulate its internal affairs.

While the opposition House leader’s written notice made a claim of addressing its argument as a matter of privilege, the member’s presentation in the House made a case purely about the procedural orderliness of what occurred in the Standing Committee on Estimates when it elected its Vice-Chair. The member did not establish how the matter impacts upon any of the privileges of the House collectively, her individual privileges as a member of the assembly or the ability of the Standing Committee on Estimates to fully discharge its role. No nexus to parliamentary privilege was shown or demonstrated.

I therefore find that the member has not established that a prima facie case of privilege exists in this instance. In effect, the matter raised by the member is a point of order, but because the orderliness of the procedure in question occurred in committee, it is beyond my consideration. Speakers have long held that matters arising in committee must be dealt with in committee and may only find their way to the House through a formal committee report made pursuant to standing order 124(b).

In closing, I will note that our formal rules of procedure, the standing orders, are but one element of a mixture of sources that inform and determine how parliamentary business is conducted. Precedent, tradition, custom and long-standing practices are also part of our procedure. Insofar as they work well and have done so for a long time, careful consideration should be given when changes and deviations are being contemplated.

It is one of the collective privileges of the House that it has the right to settle its own code of procedure, and as a collective activity, it works best when all members have the opportunity to discuss and understand the motivations and possible impacts of changes to procedure and practice, even if not everyone might agree.

I want to thank the member for London West and the government House leader for their submissions.

I understand the member for London West has a point of order.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: Yes, point of order: I seek unanimous consent to immediately pass private member’s motion 141, calling on the Ford government to mandate paid sick days to help keep Ontarians safe in the fight against COVID-19.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for London West is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to immediately pass private member’s motion 141, calling on the government to mandate paid sick days to help keep Ontarians safe in the fight against COVID-19. Agreed? I heard a no.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

It is now time for oral questions.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question is for the Premier. Back on May 24, the Premier announced that people should line up for asymptomatic testing of COVID-19. In fact, this is opposite from the advice that he was being given by experts, including his own Chief Medical Officer of Health, and we all recall the results. We saw what happened.

In fact, the Premier’s own minister was on the side of the experts, and pretty concerned by the sounds of it because at the commission into long-term care, here is what she said: The Minister of Health said, in distancing herself from this decision, “I would say that this was something that was very important to the Premier and that you would really need to speak to him about that.” So the Minister of Health and at least three of the government’s top experts all were advising the Premier against massive asymptomatic testing.

The question is: Why did the Premier ignore the expert advice, ignore his own minister and claim he was acting on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health when, in fact, he was doing the opposite?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, I can certainly say that at the time we were very concerned about community transmission. We were concerned about community transmission, which was then finding its way into our long-term-care homes because there were people coming in—essential visitors, sometimes staff—who were asymptomatic. It was something that was a concern to the Premier. It was a concern to me. It was a concern to the Minister of Long-Term Care. It was a concern to everyone.

And so, as a precautionary matter, the Premier felt very concerned that we do something and start doing that asymptomatic testing, so that we could stop the community transmission, but especially that transmission that was going into long-term-care homes.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: We all know that the consequences of this decision of the Premier’s, which was contrary to the advice he was being given, were serious. Our lab system became overwhelmed. People could not get the test results adequately or quickly enough in long-term care, which cost folks their lives. There were lineups. We remember those pictures: lineups of families with children, sometimes for hours and hours and hours on end, to get those tests. It was a debacle.

My question to the Premier is, why did he suggest that he was taking the best advice necessary to save lives when, in fact, he knew he was ignoring the best advice?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, that was not the case at all. As we were increasing the testing, we were also increasing the lab capacity, which, as the member may recall, started at about 3,000 tests on a daily basis through Public Health Ontario and grew to a system where now we are able to process over 100,000 tests in a day. At about that time, we had significantly increased our capacity and built a network in very short order, including hospital labs, university labs and community labs, as well as Public Health Ontario. So as we were increasing the testing, we were ensuring that we also had the lab capacity to be able to deal with that.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, look, it’s not just the testing. The Premier ignored or acted contrary to advice on the testing, as we’ve just talked about, on the risks in terms of what was happening to vulnerable people in long-term care, on the framework that the government first announced. In all of these situations, the Premier did not act on the advice of experts or, in fact, his ministers. In fact, the Minister of Health, again, couldn’t defend the Premier and said to the commission that you really need to speak to the Premier about that, regarding the testing.

So why did the Premier claim he was acting on expert advice when, in fact, it’s very apparent he wasn’t? And will he attend the long-term-care commission himself to have that question asked? Will he voluntarily go to the commission and tell everybody why he made those decisions?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, the Premier has indicated and he has followed the recommendations of Dr. Williams, the public health measures table and Public Health Ontario every step of the way. From building up our testing capacity, building up our lab capacity, getting the vaccines and setting up the commission that he has, the vaccine task force, every step along the way he’s followed the medical advice, which has gotten us to the place, I would indicate, where Ontario is right now.

The actions speak louder than words. Ontario, right now, stands at 72 cases per 100,000, the lowest in Canada except the Atlantic bubble. So I think that something has been done right. The Premier has followed the expert advice of the medical advisers, and it’s serving Ontario well.

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Nobody in this province believes the loss of 4,000 vulnerable seniors in long-term care is a victory, so it’s shameful that the minister responds in that way. But look, I want to talk now about the Minister of Long-Term Care, and so my question is to her, Speaker.

The minister very clearly told the commission that she knew that there was a problem with access to PPE in long-term care, that she knew that there wasn’t enough staffing in long-term care—in fact, she was very worried, apparently, about what might be happening in long-term care—and she also knew very clearly that there was no iron ring of protection around long-term care.

So my question is, why did the minister feel it was her role to back up the Premier’s claim that there was an iron ring around long-term care when, in fact, she knew that that protection did not exist?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: There is no doubt that our government took every measure and every tool that it possibly could as the science evolved around this virus. And let me be clear: This is the government that is addressing the systemic issues that have faced long-term care for decades. It is this government that has approved $1.38 billion in surge funding to the sector. It is this Conservative government that put forward a $1.9-billion staffing plan that will hire 27,000 new staff. And it is this government that announced a training support program for an additional 8,200 PSWs.

It is this government that is raising the daily average of direct care to four hours, and it is this government that is building 15,000 new beds and redeveloping another 15,000. I urge the opposition to support us. Join Team Ontario as we rebuild—

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, it is this government that failed to learn the most important lesson from SARS, and that is the precautionary principle. This minister should have been paying attention to what was happening in long-term care. No one should die when we’re waiting for evidence. That’s what the SARS lesson was. While we’re waiting for the evidence, if we think something is happening, we should act quickly and save lives.

Yesterday, the minister said that she knew of “anecdotal cases,” and that there was a “paucity of research,” notwithstanding the fact that she knew that she was worried about what was happening in long-term care. How could this minister, how could this Premier, how could this government ignore the most important lesson from the SARS Commission, the precautionary principle? How can that happen, Speaker?

Interjections.

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

Minister of Long-Term Care to respond.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: As the member opposite was aware at the time, the evidence was still evolving. Around the world, there were different opinions, and that is how science works.

Our government is modernizing long-term care, and the opposition continues to play politics and stand in the way. During the second wave, they voted against key stabilization measures, like emergency orders that allowed for the redeployment of staff and prevention and containment funding for homes across this province. The Leader of the Opposition herself voted against $10.8 million, to date, for long-term-care homes in Hamilton fighting COVID-19, and she would have denied money to critical PPE, staffing and renovations. And after years of advocacy, the NDP couldn’t even support our government’s commitment to an average of four hours of daily direct care in the budget.

We are zeroed in on modernizing long-term care. Once again, I say to the opposition: Join us in being part of the solution.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Again, Speaker, this government and this minister and this Premier did not take the most important lesson from SARS. You don’t wait for the evolution of a crisis where thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people die because you didn’t bother to get ahead of it and take the lessons that you should have taken.

This is what Cathy Parkes said just yesterday. While the minister kept her silence all along, Cathy Parkes said this: “April 22, 2020.... The day we had to bury my father.... I speak on national news through unbelievable grief in an attempt to speak” out “for those who need help.” Cathy Parkes was not an expert. She wants to know from this minister, “Imagine what you could have done had you” actually “spoken” up? “Imagine.” That’s what Cathy says.

How can it be that the minister who knew that the seniors in long-term care were at risk didn’t call the Premier on the fact that the iron ring was a hollow promise? Why did she not speak up and save 4,000 lives in long-term care?

Interjections.

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

The Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: The points made are exactly why we were making every effort on PPE, on testing, on surmounting obstacles, like the delays that we met with Health Canada being unable to approve rapid tests. These have been ongoing efforts.

When it comes to families—I have gone through this with family members. I can only imagine how excruciating this must have been for people, this tragedy that was unfolding not only in Ontario, but across Canada and around the world. Some good must come from this.

That’s exactly why our government is addressing all these areas that were so long neglected and rebuilding and repairing a system that was left to decline in terms of a staffing crisis, in terms of the capacity. We are repairing and rebuilding a long-term-care sector that was neglected for decades—the capacity issues, the four-bed ward rooms that were left to languish under the previous government and supported by the NDP.

We will continue to do the important work to address these issues that set the stage for this tragedy. We will continue with dedication and commitment to address this.

COVID-19 immunization

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

Local public health units have started their own vaccination rollouts, but like every single step through this crisis, they have again found themselves on their own and in the dark. Mayors, including from the GTHA, are raising concerns that while they have responsibility for running the province’s vaccine rollout, they still haven’t heard back from this government about the funding that they need to actually get this important work done.

When will the Premier let cities, municipalities know if they are going to receive any money whatsoever to do the job that this Premier has left them responsible for?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member very much for the question. In fact, we have been in regular communication with the local public health units, with the CEOs of the hospitals and with the municipalities as well with respect to their efforts to assist with the vaccine rollout.

The public health units are receiving financial assistance for the work that they’re doing, and we’ve also asked municipalities to help out with areas for mass vaccination clinics, like community centres—yesterday we were at U of T’s Mississauga campus, where they’re opening a mass vaccination clinic—and other areas, such as arenas. We are working very closely with municipalities, and there are discussions going on with respect to all aspects of the clinics that are going to be brought forward.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: Cities and municipalities are telling us that they’ve already started to spend the money, even though they have no idea whether they will be able to pay their bills when everything is said and done. Local public health units are moving heaven and earth to overcome this government’s too little, too late vaccination plan and actually get shots into people’s arms right now. They should not have a plan, a vaccination strategy based on crossed fingers and hopes that the cheque will show up at some time in the future, maybe, if you’re lucky.

Cities, municipalities need clear answers from the province, and they needed those answers yesterday. What is the government waiting for? When is this government going to get its act together and finally step up with a clear vaccine plan that includes the funding that cities and municipalities need in order to do their job?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, we do have a solid vaccination plan that involves all 34 public health unit regions as well as the municipalities. General Hillier has been in regular contact with them. I’ve been involved in a number of the conversations, as well. They’re dealing with all aspects—the expenses with the clinics, with the organization of the clinics.

Some of the public health unit regions have come out in advance of the central booking agency becoming available on March 15, and they’re already booking clients who are over 80 to come in to receive their vaccines. In fact, in the Guelph-Wellington area, they’ve already vaccinated over 50% of their over-80 population. This is in the context of working within the system that we have.

Once our big system comes online on the 15th—it was tested yesterday, because we don’t want to see it fail as it has in other jurisdictions. We want it to be solid and to stand up to the pressure that we know is going to be coming, because people are anxious to know when they’re going to be receiving the vaccine.

It is a solid plan, it is rolling out, and we’re making sure that people are receiving the vaccines in a timely manner.

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Rick Nicholls: My question is to the Deputy Premier, who is also our Minister of Health. This is all concerning the vaccine rollout.

Deputy Premier, I know that this topic is on the mind of everyone right now, and I am sure that it’s the only thing you can think about, as it remains your top priority. Getting the vaccines into people’s arms is the most important task at hand right now.

I know, under the leadership of General Hillier, our province is in steady hands as we are implementing a great plan that has ensured the top-priority populations are being fully vaccinated. This includes successful vaccination programs administered in our long-term-care homes, residents in our retirement homes, vaccinating our front-line health care heroes, and Indigenous partners in remote communities.

Can the Deputy Premier please share with my constituents in Chatham-Kent–Leamington more information about the vaccine rollout and what it means to all Ontarians?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you very much to the member from Chatham-Kent–Leamington for the question. I first want to congratulate the member on the great news about the birth of his granddaughter, Shiloh. That is wonderful news. Congratulations.

The member is correct: The vaccine rollout is our number one priority. And it depends on every member of Team Ontario.

I first want to thank General Hillier and our front-line heroes for their leadership. Over 727,000 vaccines have already been administered in the province of Ontario. Our public health units are doing a fantastic job, and there is an overall plan.

That’s why it was a real privilege yesterday to be at Trillium Health Partners, University of Toronto Mississauga, and the region of Peel clinic yesterday.

Clinics like this will play a major

part in our vaccine rollout across the province.

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

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Thank you, Deputy Premier, for your kind remarks. Baby Shiloh is doing fine. I almost want to break into a Neil Diamond song, Shilo.

We are seeing innovation and leadership throughout this province from different public health units. In my region, the Chatham-Kent public health unit has begun vaccination appointments for those over 80 years old. In Ottawa, people over 80 who are in high-risk neighbourhoods have been able to book vaccination appointments using the city’s flu immunization booking system. In Toronto, a pilot program to bring COVID-19 vaccines directly to Toronto seniors living independently is already up and running. And in Guelph, they’ve begun the process of vaccinating residents over the age of 80 after completing vaccinations for residents and staff in all of the long-term-care and retirement homes.

As more vaccines come in, we’ll put up more mass vaccination centres. Can the Deputy Premier please elaborate to this Legislature more about the groundbreaking work being accomplished at mass vaccination centres across the province?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thanks, once again, to the member.

During conversations that we had with local public health units and heads of council last week, we made it clear that we will need them every step of the way, to help execute and improve on this plan. This will be a team effort that we’re going to see right across the province, no matter if it’s the hospitals or the public health units or even the private sector as well.

Here’s one example of one of the mass vaccination centres set up, from the folks at U of T Mississauga—and what leadership they have shown. Clinics like this will play a major

part in our provincial vaccination plan. Our plan is the most comprehensive vaccine distribution plan in Canada, tailored to each one of our 34 public health units.

With the great news about a third vaccine now approved for use, we expect shipments will become more reliable and consistent over the coming weeks and months and, hopefully, that will allow us to vaccinate more Ontarians within a much shorter period of time.

Employment standards

Ms. Sara Singh: Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, this government once again voted against giving workers in Ontario paid sick days, voting instead to continue forcing families in places like Brampton to choose between going to work and getting sick or staying home but not being able to pay the bills.

This Premier has already said that he thinks that spending money to keep families in Brampton safe is a waste of money. Why does the Premier think that families in Brampton aren’t worth investing in?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I’m pleased to rise to answer this question once again.

The very first piece of legislation that this Legislature approved when COVID-19 hit the province of Ontario was job-protected leave, to tell every worker in the province that if you’re impacted by COVID-19, if you’re home in self-isolation, if you’re in quarantine, if you’re a mom or a dad who has to stay home and look after a son or a daughter because of disruptions to the school system, you’re not going to be fired for that. Furthermore, we eliminated the need for sick notes during COVID-19.

Mr. Speaker, we negotiated a $1.1-billion deal with the federal government, in partnership with all provinces and territories, to deliver now four weeks of paid sick days for every single worker in the province of Ontario. I would implore every opposition MPP to come clean with their constituents: Let them know there’s four weeks of paid sick days for every worker in Ontario.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: Many hard-working families in Brampton are stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Our medical officer of health, Dr. Loh, has been crystal clear: Essential workers across the region of Peel are still going into work sick because they cannot afford to miss a day of work. Our mayor has been clear: Paid sick days will save lives in our city.

Families in Brampton have been on the front lines of this crisis, but years of neglect by the Liberal government in our health care system have strained our health care resources. And now large numbers of essential workers are being ignored by this Conservative government.

Speaker, again to the Premier: Despite what this government thinks, families in Brampton are not a waste of money. It’s actually the fiscally prudent thing to do so that we aren’t straining our health care resources in our city. When is this government going to stop fighting New Democrats and finally give families in Brampton the paid sick days they need to stay safe?

Interjections.

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

The Minister of Labour to reply once again.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: The opposition party won’t take yes for an answer. There are now four weeks of paid sick days for every worker in the province of Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, to quote the Leader of the Opposition: On February 16, she said, “What we want to see is paid sick days in Ontario, 10 paid sick days, seven—rather, 10 sick days, seven paid—and that would, yes, be the employers’ responsibility.”

There’s $800 million left in the bank account. There are four weeks of paid sick days for every worker in the province of Ontario. It’s up to every elected official to let workers know that this program is out there for them. That’s what we’re doing on this side of the House. You should join us.

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

The next question.

COVID-19 response

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Minister of Long-Term Care. I’ve read the minister’s testimony before the long-term-care commission and in it she repeatedly states that she raised concerns about staff working in more than one home, asymptomatic transmission and the need to stabilize the workplace. Clearly, given the minister’s training and experience, she knew there was a lot at stake.

Last spring, BC and Quebec moved quickly to stop workers from working in more than one home and to raise their wages to stabilize the workforce. It took Ontario one month to do the same—one month, in a pandemic.

Speaker, through you, can the minister explain why it took so long for Ontario to take the same action as BC and Quebec?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. In hindsight, you go back and you say, “What was happening? What was the historical information that was understood at that time?” Many, many people were working around the clock to address these issues.

If we look at long-term-care homes, they were in the front lines against COVID-19, not only in Ontario but around the world. We were using every option at our disposal to prevent and contain the spread of this virus. We implemented surveillance testing for residents and staff, and this helped to slow the outbreaks by catching new cases early. The Premier pushed personally, and so did I, to have every resident and staff member tested in wave 1 as part of our testing strategy, which is absolutely key to asymptomatic spread. Despite the reluctance of some, we pushed for implementation of rapid testing in wave 2. More than 1.5 million rapid tests have been shipped to over 550 homes.

The previous government, propped up by the opposition, had 15 years to bring about the “revolution” in long-term care—

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

Mr. John Fraser: The Minister of Health said that the Premier blew testing wide open, which impacted long-term care, so I’d like to remind the minister of that. It’s like we learned nothing from the first wave.

Last June, Quebec said, “We need to get 10,000 PSWs,” and they went out to find them. They only got 7,000.

But at the same time, homes were begging this minister for a plan. That plan came in September, and in that plan, there was $14 million to recruit and train PSWs and $42 million for security guards in long-term care. The plan didn’t protect residents from the second wave. More people died in the second than the first. There was no iron ring.

The minister announced last week essentially the same plan that Quebec did eight months ago—eight months ago, in a pandemic. It’s too late, Minister. Speaker, through you to the minister, why did it take your government eight months to announce the same staffing strategy as Quebec did last June?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: You know, if the member opposite would get his facts straight, it would be much easier to have a discussion.

The reality is that Quebec hired orderlies. They are not PSWs. Quebec was not able to hire 10,000, and they lost trainees through attrition, who then had to pay back the government. This is not the approach that we took. We used the resources that were available to us, making sure that we marshalled the hospital sector, we created matching portals, and many of our efforts helped homes in stabilizing their staff.

It’s been neglected for many, many years. Our government knows that the previous efforts by the previous government, supported by the NDP, were grossly deficient. So we’re committed to increasing quality care: $1.9 billion by 2024-25 annually to go to supporting the requirement for 27,000 new positions. We’ve taken action all through this, and that $150 million to help train 8,200 new personal support workers—

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

Tourism industry

Mr. Rick Nicholls: My question is to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. Ski resorts and amusement parks are an important economic driver in Ontario, and they play a critical role in the success of Ontario’s tourism sector. These attractions employ thousands of Ontarians and contribute to Ontario’s being a truly four-season destination. There are also countless businesses and jobs that rely on the success of these attractions.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ski lift and amusement device operators have been acutely impacted. Just yesterday, I met with two ski resort owners via Zoom who shared the hardships that they’ve experienced due to COVID.

Ensuring that these businesses and the world-class attractions they support have the support they need throughout the pandemic is a priority of our government. Can the Minister of Government and Consumer Services speak to the support being provided to ski lift and amusement device operators?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Thank you to the member from Chatham-Kent. Not only is he a very proud grandpa, but he’s very proud of his riding, and I know he works so hard because of that pride. I’m pleased to answer his question with regard to what our government is doing to provide relief not only for ski hills, but amusement parks across Ontario. We’re facilitating this through our oversight of the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, as well as the Electrical Safety Authority.

On an annual basis, fees are typically paid to TSSA for regulatory services like licences and safety inspections, under the assumption that ski hill operations would resume, but we all know that due to the pandemic, amusement parks and ski hills alike unfortunately were unable to operate through their peak season. So, Speaker, I’m very pleased to share with you that these fees for this year will be returned to them. We’re providing approximately $2 million in financial support to enable TSSA to refund the fees already paid for the 2021 season, and we’re reducing ESA’s oversight for the—

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

Supplementary?

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Thank you, Minister, for that insightful response. This is very welcome news.

Speaker, by providing financial support to the ski and amusement sectors, we are helping to address the financial barriers that many ski lift and amusement device operators are facing. Ensuring that these attractions are around after the COVID-19 pandemic is important to enable a healthy tourism sector.

The recovery of this important sector will be largely dependent on Ontario’s success in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, Speaker, can the Minister of Government and Consumer Services explain what further supports may be available to support this very important industry?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: As I was mentioning earlier, we are actually looking to ESA to enable their recipients—their registrants, if you will—additional relief, by $150,000. The Canadian Association of Amusement Operators has noted that this fee waiver will be a huge savings for their industry.

Over and above that, beyond the two oversight fee waivers, supplementary transfer payment funding of up to $175,000 may be available to TSSA in the current fiscal year, on an as-needed basis, to help with the provision of additional temporary relief.

You know, Speaker, it’s very important to recognize that we all continue to look for ways to support our industries throughout this province, but I’d also like to take this moment to give a shout-out to TSSA. They’ve hit a milestone. I’d like to congratulate them on the release of their new customer relationship management IT system. This is another critical step to modernizing as a regulator and moving towards a risk-based approach as technical safety and standards are upheld in Ontario.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: My question is for the Premier. Thunder Bay is still in a COVID crisis. Our cases keep rising. We’re in lockdown. Our hospital is filling up. Finally, more resources are on the way, but this government took so long. More help is needed.

For months, the opposition has proposed sensible choices like paid sick leave and capping class sizes so we could stop this lockdown cycle. Yet this government won’t work with us. What is this government’s plan to help Thunder Bay for the long run, to make sure this doesn’t happen again?

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

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you very much to the member for the question. This is an obvious concern with respect to the breakouts in Thunder Bay. That’s why last week the Chief Medical Officer of Health, working with the local medical officer, decided to apply the emergency brake to put Thunder Bay into grey, a lockdown area, to prevent further transmission and to make sure that our hospitals and health care services are not being overwhelmed.

Additional supports have been provided. There has been additional money that has been placed into the hospital to allow for more beds to be created. But it is the variants of concern that are a priority right now, and dealing with them, trying to get them under control. We know from the mo