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September 6, 2022

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2022-Sept-06 vol. A (PDF)

L015A - Tue 6 Sep 2022 / Mar 6 sep 2022

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 6 September 2022 Mardi 6 septembre 2022

Orders of the Day

Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 pour des maires forts et pour la construction de logements

Members’ Statements

Riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan / Ruth Ann Holland

Evelyn Green

Education

Employment standards

Deepak Ruparell

Government policies

Education

Bobbie Drew

Tourism

Kingston Pakistani community

Attacks in Saskatchewan

Introduction of Visitors

Question Period

Hospital services

Education

Social assistance

Government policies

Long-term care

Education

Long-term care

Mental health services

Health care workers

Employment standards

Long-term care

Green power generation

Housing

Electric vehicles

Health care

Private members’ public business

Introduction of Bills

Consent Awareness Week Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 sur la Semaine de sensibilisation au consentement

Petitions

Health care

Labour dispute

Labour legislation

Labour dispute

Labour dispute

Labour dispute

Employment standards

Winter highway maintenance

Health care

Gasoline prices

Orders of the Day

Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 pour des maires forts et pour la construction de logements

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022 / Loi de 2022 pour des maires forts et pour la construction de logements

Mr. Clark moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 3,

An Act to amend various statutes with respect to special powers and duties of heads of council / Projet de loi 3, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les pouvoirs et fonctions spéciaux des présidents du conseil.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Would the minister care to lead off the debate?

Hon. Steve Clark: Absolutely, Speaker.

Good morning, everyone. It’s a great pleasure for me to rise for third reading of our government’s proposed Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. At the start, Speaker, I want to note that I’ll be sharing the government’s time with the Associate Minister of Housing and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Speaker, before I get into the meat of Bill 3, I want to take this opportunity, on behalf of the government, to express to all of the candidates for municipal office, who are vying for office on October 24, the government’s most sincere thanks for putting your name on the ballot. This is a tremendous time, and I want to thank each and every person for being a candidate in this year’s municipal election.

I also, Speaker—because in addition to being a former mayor, I’m a former CAO—want to take this time to thank all of the municipal staff. An election time is an incredibly busy time at municipal halls right across Ontario, and I know that the staff in all 444 municipalities have been working very diligently to ensure that October 24 goes off without a hitch. I want to thank them as well for their great work in making sure the election takes place.

If passed, our proposed legislation, Bill 3, along with the associated regulations, would give more tools to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to move provincial priority projects forward.

Speaker, I just want to say, it’s great to see you in the chair this morning. Thank you so much for the work that you do. Congratulations.

Foremost, Bill 3—among these priorities is our government’s commitment to build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. This bill is both timely and necessary. Ontarians re-elected our government at a time when they are facing rising costs of living and a shortage of homes. They sent us back to work with a strong mandate because we promised to get more housing built faster, and also because they knew we could get the job done.

It’s no secret—and I think all my colleagues agree that it’s no secret—that Ontario is in the middle of a housing supply crisis. People are desperately looking for housing that meets both their needs and their budget, yet too many Ontarians are frozen out of the housing market. Young people are searching for their first home—a home where they’ll have room to have children, to grow their family, while being close to schools, work and essential services. It’s so very important.

Newcomers to Ontario are looking for a home that meets their needs as they strive to build a new life in this growing, vibrant province of Ontario. Seniors are looking to downsize, and they want homes that meet their needs as they age. Everyone is looking for something different, and that’s why we’re here today: because we believe this legislation is a piece of a larger puzzle that will help get more housing built faster for Ontarians.

We aren’t alone in thinking this legislation is a step in the right direction. I’d like to take a moment to highlight what we’ve heard about this proposal at committee. Before I remind my colleagues of the details of this proposed legislation, I think we have to have a conversation about how we got here. Since introduction just a few weeks ago, we’ve had some very clear support for this proposal.

Mayor John Tory, who has long supported a strong mayor system, noted that: “I always want to make sure city hall is working more efficiently and effectively for Toronto residents and businesses and that we make it as easy as possible to get things done....” I believe this proposed legislation does exactly that.

The Ontario Real Estate Association called this proposed legislation a “critical and an overdue step toward solving the housing affordability and supply crisis.” They go on to agree that the Strong Mayors Buildings Homes Act would “help cut red tape and speed up the local planning process by giving municipal leaders new tools and powers to help reduce timelines for development, standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing housing supply.”

Speaking to the committee of this House last week, the association’s vice-chair concluded that, “These new municipal powers will go a long way in addressing affordability, getting more shovels in the ground, incentivizing developers” to come and build in Ontario’s largest cities.

Meanwhile the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario said in written submission, “The proposed legislation provides a solid foundation to ensure that mayors have tools to combat the systemic barriers that exist at the municipal level that prevent housing from being built.”

I’d like to also share a quote, colleagues, from the Toronto Region Board of Trade from the summer: “Toronto faces numerous urgent city-wide challenges, from housing, land use, transit, transportation, budget, economic development and climate.... Effective, timely solutions require a city chief executive with clear authority to set an agenda, appoint senior city staff, and bring forward policy solutions to council....”

The board of trade goes on to say that for almost two decades, they’ve advocated for stronger powers for Toronto’s mayor, and they say, “Now is the time to act.”

Someone I don’t quote too often in this House—though I have played hockey with him from time to time; he’s a natural left-winger—is Martin Regg Cohn of the Toronto Star. He wrote that this government “got it right” with our proposed legislation, noting “it empowers the elected mayor to put forward his or her own vision for the annual budget, rather than remaining captive to a budgetary document written by committee....” That’s why we’re putting our trust in local leadership in Toronto and Ottawa.

We’re proposing to give these mayors more responsibility to help deliver on our shared provincial-municipal priorities. Our government believes that a strong-mayor system would help address the housing supply crisis in these cities, and by highlighting just a few examples of the support that we have received on this matter, it is clear that we are not alone in our belief.

Madam Speaker, I want to talk about the Premier. He said again and again—and I’m using a direct quote: Mayors are “accountable for everything, but they have the same single vote as a single councillor.” That means that mayors, who have been elected by voters across an entire city, often have no more say on an issue than a lone councillor representing just one ward. Yet Ontarians want their mayors to be able to do more. They want their mayors to cut red tape, to get shovels in the ground and end the housing supply crisis. They expect them to be responsible for all of the other major projects and priorities in their city. They’re counting on their mayors to get the job done.

What is concerning is that we’re seeing too many priority projects fall behind. Some of them have been decided to be cancelled altogether. To be truly effective for their communities, mayors need our support. They need specific tools to bring these priority projects to the forefront and to get them complete. That’s why I’m proud to lead off third reading debate on our proposed Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. The changes included here would, if passed, give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the ability to drive policy changes.

It would give them the power to select municipal department heads and, perhaps most importantly, the power to present a budget. These abilities would help our municipal partners deliver on our shared priorities such as housing.

We know that empowered mayors could better help the province and municipalities to work together on housing and other initiatives that are critical for their communities. It’s something we need as we face record growth in the province of Ontario. Our population is going to continue to increase, and housing needs to keep up with demand. And what’s more, growth isn’t slowing down. In a way, Ontario is grappling with its own success. The high quality of life here and our future prospects have drawn many, many people to the province of Ontario.

As our province continues to flourish and as we welcome more newcomers in search of economic opportunity, there will be even more pressure on our housing system. That’s why we need to take bold action, and we need to take it now.

Forecasts show that over one third of Ontario’s growth in the next decade is going to take place in Toronto and Ottawa. The good news is that these cities have shown us they’re shovel-ready for increased population and they’re committed to cutting red tape.

Madam Speaker, before I go further and explain the details of our proposed legislation, I want to answer an important question: How did Ontario get here? How did our province get to a point where we now have to make these steps as a government? Well, there was, and there still is, glaring evidence that municipal planning approvals, including appropriate zoning, have often delayed or hindered opposition from some members of local councils. Some projects have even been abandoned. Even if the project finally gets the go-ahead, a lot of damage has already been done in communities across this province.

The C.D. Howe Institute found restrictions and extra costs on building new housing has dramatically increased the price of housing. These restrictions include delays on project approvals. The institute found these barriers add approximately $168,000, or 22%, to the average cost of a single detached home in Toronto.

The Ontario Association of Architects also looked into the cost of delays. Taking a 100-unit condominium building in Toronto as an example, the association concluded that delayed approvals cost home builders approximately $2,000 per unit, per month.

In 2020, the Building Industry and Land Development Association, or BILD, reported that each month of delay—and this is just in permit approvals—adds $1.46 per square foot to the price of a low-rise project—$1.46 per square foot, and an additional $2.21 per square foot at the end cost of a high-rise development. That kind of cost increase, caused by unnecessary delays, has a significant impact on the lifetime of a project.

These delays are not just felt by developers. They’re felt by homebuyers, new condo owners and renters who are forced to push back move-in plans and, at the very worst, find temporary housing to fill in the gap between the previous lease and the new one. These are not problems that hard-working Ontarians should face, especially when the delays are avoidable.

RESCON, which is Ontario’s leading association of residential builders, also looked into the cost of delays. RESCON says we are now under-producing housing by 12,000 units per year here in Ontario because of delays.

Clearly the evidence and the alarms are there. We need to do everything we can to reduce delays and help ensure that new homes get built as quickly as possible.

I’d like to take a few moments, Madam Speaker, to explain specific ways in which our proposed legislation would support this growth in both Toronto and Ottawa. Our bill proposes changes to the Municipal Act, to the City of Toronto Act and to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. If passed, these changes, along with the associated regulations, would provide the heads of council in both the city of Toronto and the city of Ottawa with additional governance tools and increased powers to align municipal decision-making with provincial priorities.

The increased executive powers proposed under this legislation would allow the mayors of these two cities to better organize city hall. These mayors would be able to hire and fire a chief administrative officer as well as certain department heads. This would exclude, however, statutory positions like the clerk, the treasurer, the chief of police, the chief building official, the medical officer of health—there are a number of others that are used as examples. But they would be able to create or reorganize departments.

Madam Speaker, they would also have the authority to appoint chairs or vice-chairs for committees and local boards, which we could identify in the regulations, and they would have the power to establish certain new committees.

The mayors would also be able to introduce items for council’s consideration if the item, in the mayor’s opinion, would advance a provincial priority. That means, if passed, these changes would enable the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto to direct items related to provincial priorities, as identified in regulation, for council consideration. This includes the ability for the mayor to direct staff to prepare proposals for council’s consideration.

I want to take this opportunity to pause and stress that the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa could support priority items, as well as their vision for their communities, through the ability to develop their municipality budget and then table it for council consideration.

Now, I know some on the other side are going to argue that this limits the role of city councillors. I want to stress to you, Madam Speaker, that there is still a lot of room to debate the budget on the council floor, something that I think we all feel is a very positive step. Council would be able to propose amendments to the budget; those amendments could be subject to a mayor’s veto. Again, Speaker, we believe the changes that we’re proposing still maintain a solid working relationship between council and the mayor.

Our proposed changes would also give those two mayors the ability to veto bylaws passed by council. However, and this is a very important point, the mayors could use their veto power on these bylaws only if—and I want to stress only if—all or part of the bylaw could potentially interfere with a provincial priority as identified by a regulation. So at the same time, mayors would still have just one vote at council.

Of course, Speaker, there has to be a system of checks and balances, and my parliamentary assistant, PA Holland, will speak to these checks and balances in more detail a little later on.

I wanted to share my time with my two colleagues, so I’m going to take this opportunity to pass the torch over to the Associate Minister of Housing. I look forward to both of my colleagues providing more details on this particular bill.

I’m just very pleased that we’re here today. This is critical for our government’s priority of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. It’s also critical that we work with the mayors of our two largest cities. As I said, over the next 10 years, we believe that over a third of Ontario’s growth will take place in Ottawa and Toronto. We need to give the mayors the tools to get the job done. This is something that the Premier and I heard loud and clear from the big city mayors when we met with them in January.

They indicated that it wasn’t just municipal processes; the province needed to give them the tools to get the job done. This is one tool that our government is working on to ensure that that happens.

Madam Speaker, again, it’s great to see you in the chair this morning. I’ll turn it over now to the Associate Minister of Housing.

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): The Associate Minister of Housing.

Hon. Michael Parsa: Thank you very much, Speaker, and congratulations to you. It’s good to see you in that chair. I also want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for sharing his time with me today and, of course, the amazing parliamentary assistant, who we’ll hear from later on.

It really is a pleasure to stand here in this House to talk about the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act,

an act designed to empower our municipal partners with the tools they need to get more homes built faster.

Ontario is in a housing crisis. Too many families are being priced out of the housing market, and too many Ontarians have given up on the dream of home ownership. Core to the Ontario dream is having the opportunity to work hard, build your career, and raise your family in the community of your choice. We must renew the promise of unbounded potential each person has in this province. We must ensure that Ontario remains a place of opportunity and prosperity, and to do that, we must ensure everyone has a place to call home.

The Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act is one of the many bold actions the government of Ontario is taking to address the housing supply crisis, and we’re not slowing down. There is no idea too ambitious, no solutions to the housing shortage too daring, because in Ontario, it is all hands on deck to get more homes built.

In May 2019, our government announced More Homes, More Choice, our first housing supply action plan. The plan included a full spectrum of legislative changes designed to increase the supply of housing: affordable housing, attainable housing and housing that provides buyers and renters with more meaningful choices on where to work, where to live and where they can raise their families. This plan cut red tape and made it easier to build the right types of homes in the right places.

The More Homes, More Choice Act was a far-reaching omnibus piece of legislation that changed the Conservation Authorities Act, the Development Charges Act, the Education Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Environmental Assessment Act, Environmental Protection Act, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Ontario Heritage Act and the Planning Act. It took a multi-layered approach so we could help get much-needed homes built more quickly.

From home ownership to rental housing, whether built by private developers or non-profits, our first action plan and its accompanying legislation helped to give people more choice. It aimed to make housing more affordable and helped taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned dollars in their pockets.

Speaker, we reviewed every step of the development process, every policy and every regulation. We did that to eliminate any unnecessary steps, any duplication and any barriers. We cut red tape while at the same time delivering on our commitment to ensure the health and safety of Ontario. We stayed true to our commitment to protect the environment, we remained a steadfast guardian of Ontario’s agricultural lands and we continue to be the steward of the province’s rich natural heritage.

Our work is producing results. The province’s first-ever housing supply action plan has been an overwhelming success. In 2021, Ontario broke ground on a record number of new homes being built, with more than 100,000 new homes in only 12 months. That’s the highest level of new housing starts in a single year since 1987. And there’s more: Last year, Ontario reached a 30-year record for rental housing construction starts in the province—again, the most units being built in a single year since 1991.

We knew that addressing the housing crisis needs a long-term strategy; it needs a long-term commitment and collaboration at all levels of government. With that in mind, our government continued to take action. In December, our government created the Housing Affordability Task Force, which was made up of industry leaders and experts, to recommend additional measures to increase the supply of market housing.

As the task force stated at the beginning of its report, “For many years, the province has not built enough housing to meet the needs of our growing population.” The task force noted that many “efforts to cool the housing market have only provided temporary relief to home buyers.” They said, “The long-term trend is clear: House prices are increasing much faster than Ontarians’ incomes.” They stated that “the time for action is now,” that there’s no time for delays and that the province simply cannot afford to get it wrong.

We firmly agree, which is why, at around the same time, we convened with our municipal partners at both the Ontario-Municipal Summit and at the rural housing round table to gather their expert advice. We listened to Ontarians through over 2,000 public consultation submissions. We knew that through collaborating with our partners and the housing sector, we’d be on track to get more homes built.

However, despite the gains that we have made over the past four years, we know that there’s still a shortage of housing. Rental housing and affordable home ownership are even further out of reach for hard-working Ontarians. Just to illustrate the problem, for every month that approvals are delayed, anywhere between $2,000 and $3,000 is added to the cost to build a single-family home or a condominium unit in the greater Toronto area. It became clear that without an increase in housing supply to match the rising demand, housing prices will keep going up and affordability will worsen.

We took all the information we gained from our many consultations and created our second housing supply action plan, called More Homes for Everyone, which was launched earlier this year, thanks to the great work of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. More Homes for Everyone outlines the next steps we’re taking to address Ontario’s housing crisis—steps such as accelerating approval timelines, reducing red tape and protecting homebuyers from unethical business practices.

For example, we made changes to provide incentives for municipalities to make decisions in an expeditious manner on zoning and site plan applications. Effective January 1 of next year, if a municipality does not make a decision within the legislated timelines, the municipality will be required to gradually refund the application fee to the applicant.

We also made changes to the Development Charges Act and the Planning Act to increase the transparency and certainty of development-related costs. The changes we made to the Development Charges Act now require municipalities with a development charge bylaw to make their annual reporting on these charges available to the public on the municipality’s website. While many municipalities already make reporting publicly accessible, these changes will increase transparency across the municipal sector.

We also changed the Planning Act to require any municipality with a community benefits charge bylaw to publicly consult and complete a review of that bylaw at least once every five years. After the review, the municipality must pass a council resolution to indicate whether any changes are needed to that bylaw. If this is not done, the community benefit charge bylaw in that municipality expires.

We also took further steps to make it easier to build transit-oriented communities. As many members of this House will recall, transit-oriented communities are our government’s vision for higher-density, mixed-use developments that are next to, or within a short walk of, transit stations and stops.

We have set out and standardized, under the Planning Act, how much parkland, or cash in lieu of land, municipalities can collect for developments in transit-oriented communities. We see this change as balancing the priority for building new housing and transit-oriented communities quickly, while continuing to create more parks. Our government is moving quickly to take every step we can to help support the construction of more homes in the province for hard-working Ontarians.

Minister Clark has mentioned that there are regulations to help bring this piece of legislation into force. For example, while our proposed legislative changes to the City of Toronto Act would empower the mayor of Toronto, the changes to the Municipal Act would need to be supported by a regulation to also empower the mayor of Ottawa.

When our government looks at potential similar changes for other growing municipalities that are also shovel-ready, committed to growth and cutting red tape, we would also use this regulation to designate what municipalities these new mayoral powers would also apply to.

Minister Clark has spoken to how, if passed, these changes would allow mayors to create new committees and appoint the chairs and vice-chairs of identified committees and local boards. Based on the unique needs of individual municipalities, our government would again use these regulations to identify what committees and local boards these powers would pertain to.

We also plan on making accompanying regulations to set out current provincial priorities. These priorities would include our commitment to help build 1.5 million new homes in 10 years to address the housing supply crisis. But homes, as I’ve said many, many times, aren’t just four walls and a roof. They’re where we raise our families; they’re where we create our fondest memories. For that to happen, we need to build our homes in strong communities.

That’s why another provincial priority will focus on the planning, approval, construction and maintenance of key infrastructure, infrastructure such as transit and roads so residents don’t have to wait in gridlock, and for utilities such as water and waste water—all to support both new and existing residential development.

I also want to note that if there is any perceived abuse of these new governance tools, the regulation-making authority could be used to impose limits and conditions on the use of the proposed mayoral powers to hold heads of council accountable.

We did not take the development of our strong-mayors proposal lightly. We did our homework; we studied best practices from around the world and ensured the legislation will meet the test of time. We have looked at other cities that provide mayors with executive powers. We looked at cities like New York, Chicago, London, Los Angeles and Paris where strong-mayor systems work and are successful. The mayors of these cities have strengthened roles and additional administrative and executive powers. They have extra powers in developing budgets, and some have the opportunity to veto certain items.

Let’s take a look at what some of these cities are doing. In New York City, the mayor acts as a chief executive officer and does not sit as a member of council. It’s important to note here that if our proposed legislation is passed, a mayor would still sit on council and every council member would still have one vote.

However, similar to what we are proposing, the mayor of New York City may appoint and remove heads of administrations, departments and commissioners and all other non-elected officers except as otherwise provided in law. Also, the mayor of New York City has the power to create or abolish departments or positions within the mayor’s office. The mayor of New York City develops the budget and any accompanying financial plans and submits them to council for consideration and approval. And the mayor of New York City can veto any council decision to add to, increase or place terms on budget items.

There is, of course, the check and balance that council can override a mayoral veto related to the budget with a two-thirds majority vote.

Now let’s look at Chicago. Just like in New York City, the mayor of Chicago is the chief executive officer of the city and does not sit on the council. However, unlike New York City, the Chicago mayor must obtain council consent to appoint and remove heads of all city departments and officers of the municipality, all commissions, all boards and all agencies, except as otherwise provided in the law. As in New York City and as proposed by our bill, the mayor of Chicago directs the city’s budget process and submits the city’s annual budget to council for consideration and approval.

Now let’s go out west and look at Los Angeles. Again, the mayor of Los Angeles is the chief executive officer of the city and does not have a seat on council. The mayor of Los Angeles has the power to create or abolish bureaus, divisions or positions within the executive office of the mayor, including having the power to remove certain city officials. Just like in New York, just like in Chicago and just like in our proposed legislation, the mayor of Los Angeles directs the budget and sends it to council for approval. The mayor can veto any changes or additions council makes, and, in turn, council can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

These strong-mayor systems support the needs of these growing communities, just as similar systems can support the needs of the growing communities in Toronto and in Ottawa.

We know that building more homes that people can afford is a priority for everyone right across the province. From the headlines of newspapers to the conversations we all hear at our hockey rinks, soccer fields or coffee shops, we know that Ontarians care about living in a province where they can find a place to live, where the dream of home ownership is alive and well for them and their children.

There is no doubt that housing affordability will be top of mind for voters in this fall’s municipal election. We have heard candidates underline what their municipality needs to do to increase housing supply. We have heard from voters, both with well-paying jobs and those who might be having difficulty making ends meet, talking about the fact that they are unable to find attainable housing. Whether they’re looking for a place to call home in urban city centres or in suburban communities across the province, we hear about the struggles families are facing.

This is all because of a lack of housing in the housing market. This has to change. With this piece of legislation, combined with all the other bold solutions our government is taking action on, we’re ensuring that it does.

Both the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and I have mentioned some of the other housing supply-related initiatives our government has put in place. From our action plans to convening experts to weigh in on the best ways to increase housing supply to engaging with both the public and municipalities on crucial matters, we stand before our honourable colleagues here today to share with you that the proposed Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act is one more step that our government is taking to help address the current housing shortfall.

As the minister has said before, solving the housing crisis is a long-term process that requires a long-term commitment and collaboration from all levels of government. It is a huge challenge that Ontario faces. It’s a defining issue of our time. I know that there is a challenge here, but I know that we can overcome this challenge by working with all our partners, because how we as elected officials choose to tackle the housing crisis will dictate whether an entire next generation can break into the housing market. Ontarians are counting on us to get this right, and failure is simply not an option.

We will meet this challenge and get homes built, and we will do it by working together with our municipal partners.

The proposed Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act focuses on partnership. The proposed legislation is built on the fact that our government trusts Ontarians to elect the right local leaders. Strong-mayor systems are intended to empower municipal leaders to work more effectively with the province to reduce timelines for development, to standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing the housing supply.

That’s why Ontario will continue to provide the tools so that municipalities can, in fact, increase the housing supply—the tools they need to break through the logjams that have historically slowed the speed of housing construction, the tools that would enhance authorities for the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa. We propose to give these mayors more responsibility to help deliver on our shared provincial-municipal priorities, including our commitment to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years.

The reality is that over one third of Ontario’s growth in the next decade is expected to take place in Toronto and in Ottawa. Queen’s Park cannot tackle the housing challenge on its own. It requires all our partners to pitch in and help us get the job done. We are counting on these mayors to cut red tape and get housing built faster so more families can realize the dream of attainable home ownership. That’s our mission. That’s our job. That’s why we’re here. We’re not going to leave anyone behind, Speaker. We’re going to make sure everyone has a place to call home. Ontarians, as I said before, are counting on us, and we won’t let them down.

I now hand the floor over to the parliamentary assistant of municipal affairs and housing, my honourable colleague from Thunder Bay–Atikokan, to further elaborate on this bill. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Mr. Kevin Holland: I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for sharing his time with me today. I would also like to thank the Associate Minister of Housing for his comments on this important legislation. When it comes to increasing the amount of housing in our province, our minister’s leadership has been unwavering. This leadership has set the standard for how we can work together to build more housing that suits the needs and budgets of hard-working Ontarians.

I want to take this opportunity to echo the minister’s point that this bill is both timely and necessary. Ontarians, young and old, need our support to get the right housing built for their families. The harsh reality is that housing construction has not kept up with our growing population. This has been the case for far too long. We know that more needs to be done. Most of this growth is happening in our big cities. In fact, as has been noted, over one third of Ontario’s growth over the next decade is expected to happen in Toronto and Ottawa.

We need to take action to ensure that there is no political logjam hindering the potential that these cities offer. We need these mayors to cut red tape and get housing built faster so more families can realize the dream of attainable home ownership. Both current residents and those who are choosing to make Ontario home are counting on us. They want us to take bold action to increase the housing supply.

As you have heard, Speaker, our proposed changes to the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act and associated regulations would provide the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa with additional governance tools and increased powers to align municipal decision-making with provincial priorities. That is because, along with their projected population increases, Ottawa and Toronto are shovel-ready and committed to growth. We know that working together with municipalities on shared priorities will not only move things along faster but it will be tailored to the needs of local communities.

Municipalities are on the front lines of the housing crisis and they see the harmful impacts that a lack of homes has on their communities, from young professionals who can’t find housing close to where they work to parents who can’t afford a home for their growing families to seniors who can’t afford to downsize. That is why we believe this collaboration will help us to make the dream of home ownership attainable for Ontarians.

Of course, this is not the only time we have reached out to our municipal partners to help address housing supply. Speaker, let me take you back to earlier this year: We held our virtual Ontario-municipal housing summit in January so we could find ways to coordinate our efforts with big city mayors and regional chairs. We discussed the bold recommendations of the Housing Affordability Task Force, including proposals on planning approvals and removing the politics from local planning processes in order to make housing easier and less expensive to build.

We have also rolled out programs such as the Streamline Development Approval Fund, which is providing more than $45 million to help large municipalities streamline, digitize and modernize their approach to applications for residential developments.

We’re also engaging with all municipalities to discuss ways they can unlock housing. That’s why we also met with smaller, rural, northern and remote municipalities earlier this year at our rural housing round table. Understanding the full spectrum of experiences with the housing supply crisis, such as the cost of supplies, helps us to align housing and infrastructure needs based on the unique ways Ontario’s population continues to grow and change. Since then, we have kept the lines of communication with municipalities open.

Of course, just a few weeks ago, I was honoured to be one of the members of our government who met with municipal leaders at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference. It is a perfect forum to share new ideas and best practices as well as to promote discussion around policy recommendations that support increasing our housing supply. We’re happy to work with our municipal partners at conferences like this and also through proposed policy changes. That collaboration is what brings us here today.

If passed, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act would empower a mayor to build a team that would help to bring forward shared municipal and provincial priorities—that is, get shovels in the ground faster for more housing and for the infrastructure that supports residential development. I will go into a little more detail on both of these priorities shortly, but I want to first focus on the specifics of how the mayors of both Toronto and Ottawa would be able to do this.

Step 1 is forging the path to empower these mayors. This proposed legislation would make changes to the City of Toronto Act in order to empower the mayor of Toronto, and the proposed changes to the Municipal Act, along with supporting regulation, would empower the mayor of Ottawa.

Step 2 is outlining what tools these mayors could access to take decisive action on our shared priorities. As we heard from the minister, if passed, this legislation would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the power to hire and fire the chief administrative officer of the municipality, as well as certain department heads. This would not include positions such as clerk, treasurer, integrity commissioner, chief of police, chief building official, medical officer of health and others.

The mayor would also have the power to create and reorganize departments to better address the needs of their communities. The mayor would also be able to appoint the chairs and vice-chairs of identified committees and local boards as well as establish identified committees.

They would have the power to direct matters that further provincial priorities to council for consideration, and they would be able to direct staff to prepare proposals to support these matters.

This bill would also give the mayor the ability to direct a municipality’s budget and table it for council to consider. The council would then be able to propose amendments to the budget. These amendments would then be subjected to a mayor’s veto.

Speaker, those critical of our legislation would have you believe that we are sidelining the city councillors of Ottawa and Toronto, but nothing could be further from the truth. The system of checks and balances that we have built into this bill would keep councillors engaged in the process of local government and provide an important restraint on mayors. Council would be able to override the mayor’s veto of council amendments to the budget with a two-thirds majority vote. They would also have a certain amount of time to do so. Once that period of time is up, the municipality would have adopted the resulting budget.

The bill proposes a similar veto-override system with regard to bylaws passed by council. A mayor could use their veto power if they are of the opinion that all or part of the bylaw passed by council could potentially interfere with a provincial priority as identified in regulation, like building more housing for Ontarians, or if it prevented related infrastructure from being built.

The council override process is a counterweight in this instance as well. Just like with budget amendments, council could override a mayoral veto of bylaws related to provincial priorities with a two-thirds majority vote. To be clear, the mayor’s new ability to veto bylaws could only apply to matters that the mayor believed to potentially interfere with identified provincial priorities.

We trust Ontarians to elect the leaders that best reflect the needs and values of their communities. By extension, we trust these leaders to use these powers fairly when it comes to driving forward our shared priorities. That is why we’re holding them accountable for their choices. As an extension of this, mayors would be required to provide written documentation when using any of these new powers, in accordance with any associated regulations.

We are also proposing changes to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act that would require a mayor to declare any financial interests related to the use of their new powers. Speaker, they would not be able to use the new powers where any financial conflict exists. For example, if a mayor’s spouse applied to be the head of a certain department, the mayor would not be able to hire them as a department head because this would be a conflict of interest. It is also important to remember that council members, including the mayor, are already subject to legislated accountability and transparency rules.

Another point I want to raise is that because of this increased authority that we are proposing for mayors, we want to ensure that voters have their say if a mayor leaves office earlier than expected. That is why we propose requiring a by-election to replace a mayor with these increased powers if the office becomes vacant. That is distinct from the current practice, which is to give council the choice of either a by-election or an appointment by council.

The existing rules for how by-elections are run would still apply: for example, rules like how a municipality is not required to fill the position if a mayor’s seat becomes vacant within 90 days before voting day in the year of a regular election. And if a mayor’s seat becomes vacant after March 31 in the year of a regular municipal election, the municipality would be required to appoint a mayor, who would not have these new powers.

This would not impact the flexibility that these municipalities currently have in deciding how to fill other vacant council seats. They would have the choice to appoint someone or have a by-election in that case. I’d like to note that our proposed changes are intended to come into effect on November 15, 2022, in Toronto and Ottawa, right as the new term of council begins.

As I mentioned previously, some of these proposed changes to empower the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa pertain to matters of provincial priority. These provincial priorities would be laid out in a supporting regulation. I would like to highlight what these proposed provincial priorities could be in more detail.

Our government is committed to keeping costs down and building 1.5 million homes in 10 years to address the housing supply crisis. As the minister has mentioned on several occasions, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act is not the first step we’ve taken to support this province-wide initiative, and it will not be the last. We’re making good on our promise to increase the number of homes for all Ontarians since 2019, when we introduced our first housing supply action plan, More Homes, More Choice. That plan is producing results.

In 2021, Ontario broke ground on a record number of new homes being built, with more than 100,000 new homes in only 12 months. This is the highest level of new housing starts in a single year since 1987. Last year, Ontario reached a 30-year record for new rental housing construction, the most units built in a single year since 1991.

To build off this momentum, we introduced More Homes for Everyone this year. It focused on targeted policies for the immediate term that would make housing fairer for hard-working Ontarians and make it faster to build the homes that families need and deserve. But with our commitment to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years, we are thinking long-term. That is why we plan to develop a new housing supply action plan annually for the next four years.

When we build more homes, we also need to consider the infrastructure that will support it. Another provincial priority we could lay out in regulation would speed up the planning, approval, construction and maintenance of infrastructure to support new and existing residential development. This is the infrastructure that you use every day, the things we don’t often think about but that we require, like running water, the road you commute to work on, the electricity you use in your home.

Actioning the expansion, construction and maintenance of these services is absolutely essential, and we need to work to eliminate any barriers on delays. This will help us lay the foundation for building homes now and into the future.

As is now abundantly clear, our government is steadfast in our commitment to build new housing. That is why we are moving forward with more collaborative efforts with a variety of housing experts. Our new housing supply action plan implementation team will provide advice on market housing initiatives, including building on the vision from the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force, More Homes for Everyone and other government consultations that the minister referenced.

We recently appointed Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens as the team’s chair and Mayor Cheryl Fort of the township of Hornepayne as its vice-chair. They will lead a diverse group of experts in finding additional ways to build more market housing. The team will also be supported by additional stakeholders and industry experts who, if needed, may provide technical advice on specific topics, and they will be hitting the ground running. The team’s first meeting is scheduled for early fall.

Speaker, our government is committed to supporting municipalities and remains focused on improving planning policies and cutting red tape to get more homes built faster. We need municipal leaders to work more effectively to help reduce timelines for development, standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing housing supply.

We have set out a clear goal of building 1.5 million homes in 10 years, and we are working tirelessly to meet it, but we cannot do this alone. We need the support of our local partners, and by empowering the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to move forward on our shared priorities, we are doing just that. We are counting on these mayors to help get things done at a local level so more families can realize the dream of attainable home ownership.

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): We’ll now move to questions.

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam: My question is to the Premier, to the minister and to the government. The strong mayors bill does not actually mention housing or affordability anywhere in the bill besides in the misleading title. It doesn’t outlaw exclusionary zoning or address the cost of borrowing, labour shortages or disruptions to supply chains, which home builders are actually saying are the biggest barriers to delivering housing. The government bill does cite giving Ottawa and Toronto mayors significantly more powers to carry out so-called provincial priorities, but it goes into no disclosure about what those provincial priorities are.

My question to this government is: When the mayor’s vision conflicts with provincial priorities, which will prevail?

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): To respond, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Hon. Steve Clark: I’ve said many times in this House that there isn’t one thing the government can do. There’s no magical silver bullet when it comes to the housing supply crisis.

We committed to Ontarians in the election on June 2 that we would put a plan in place to build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. We provided a lot of legislation that my associate minister and the parliamentary assistant talked about. Every time we present something in this House, whether it be More Homes, More Choice, More Homes for Everyone or second reading of the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, the opposition votes against.

Speaker, the question I would ask, through you, back to the member is: When is the opposition going to actually support the dream of home ownership for Ontarians? The only person who’s sitting over there this morning who even referenced the 1.5 million over 10 years is the member for London–Fanshawe, and I want to thank her for doing that in her member’s statement the first couple of days of the Legislature. So there’s at least one New Democrat who supports our plans to build 1.5 million homes.

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): Question?

Mr. John Yakabuski: Minister, Associate Minister and PA, I want to thank you for your address this morning.

Since we were elected in 2018—the Ford government—we and you as the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing have incrementally and in a progressive way brought in legislation to try to address what we all see in this province as a housing crisis, where we need to build the homes to provide accommodation for the people we know are coming to the province of Ontario.

This latest bill, Bill 3—the opposition would have us believe that it is creating the emperor of mayors. And if they would read the bill, there’s all kinds of checks and balances put into this bill to ensure that council carries on as it should, but that the mayor has the ability to get past that red tape and ensure that it supports—

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): Minister to respond.

Hon. Steve Clark: Madam Speaker, through you, I want to thank the member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke. He’s been a tremendous champion. I’m proud to have served with him in this Legislature.

He has also had some experience at the municipal level, and he knows that there has to be a coordinated plan by government to move forward. At the same time, we need to make sure there are checks and balances at the local level. As someone who served this province in municipal government, both as a mayor and as a CAO, I understand that there has to be that relationship.

But the one thing—and again I want to stress to the member—when we brought big city mayors and regional chairs together in January, when we followed it up with a rural round table on housing, over and over and over again, mayors and municipal leaders asked us to ensure that they have tools to get the job done. Bill 3 does exactly that.

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): Question?

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: In Niagara, we are in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. Residents in St. Catharines are living in fear. They are seeing the near-futureness of being homeless here in St. Catharines.

But giving mayors in Toronto and Ottawa more powers is not a solution to the affordable housing crisis in Niagara. In the Strong Mayors, Buildings Homes Act, there is no mention of the word “home” in the bill except the title, nor do I see a bold action plan to address affordable housing within the changes of the Municipal Act.

Will your government put in the provincial priorities and include affordable housing within Bill 3?

Hon. Steve Clark: Actually, very clearly—today in the House, during second reading, at committee—I indicated that the number one provincial priority that I believe Bill 3 will address is the housing crisis.

We need to ensure that mayors have the tools to get it done, and I’ve met with the member opposite’s mayor. I’ve met with many municipal politicians in Niagara, and I know that housing is a huge priority. The regional chair and I have had many, many conversations about the chair’s vision for ensuring that those that need housing have a plan in place.

We need to work with municipalities. Bill 3 builds upon the success of More Homes, More Choice and More Homes for Everyone.

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): The member for Mississauga–Lakeshore.

Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto: I know that we have a commitment to build 1.5 million homes in Ontario over the next 10 years, and with the Golden Horseshoe increasing by a population of 10 million people over the next 10 years, it’s going to be difficult to build these homes. But in Mississauga–Lakeshore, there is a term that we all hear all the time; it’s called BANANA: build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone.

How will this help us build more homes in areas like that?

Hon. Steve Clark: Speaker, through you to the member: He’s absolutely right. We’ve migrated from “not in my backyard,” or NIMBY, to “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone,” BANANA.

What our government has tried to do in every regulation and all the legislation we’ve tabled is to provide that climate for housing to be built faster, for municipalities to cut through some of the red tape that blocks development, that forces excessive delays. And our policies have been working. Last year, we had the highest year of housing starts—over 100,000—in over 30 years, but we have to build upon that success. We have to do more, build—

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): Thank you.

Question?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I listened intently to the debate on Bill 3, which is the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. The government talked about more homes being built faster, more homes for more choices. How does all this legislation address the need for geared-to-income homes, for co-operative homes? Where is the government’s plan to contribute funding to building housing to help people on fixed incomes, like seniors and people who are on ODSP and OW, to remain in their homes—families who are working, low-income families?

The government’s plan to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years: What are the numbers that include geared-to-income, co-operative housing? Where are those numbers in your plan?

Hon. Steve Clark: Madam Speaker, through you to the honourable member, our policies have delivered historic results on getting more homes built faster. It complements our over $4.3-billion investment over the last three years to grow and enhance community and supportive housing for vulnerable Ontarians and Indigenous people. Our Ontario Social Services Relief Fund is making real effort and real change in municipalities at a time when they need it most. We built upon that success with successive pieces of legislation that have helped municipalities and people from all sectors wanting to build homes as fast as possible.

This Bill 3 provides the mayors of our two largest cities with the tools that they need to fast-track these types of developments.

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): The member from Beaches–East York.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: My question is to Minister Clark. The government has been insistent that this bill is meant to aid the housing crisis by giving mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more power to fast-track construction and accelerate housing approvals, among other powers, and we all understand and realize how strong the housing crisis is and that we need to deal with it.

My question is, why title the bill “Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act,” if the text of the bill never once mentions housing and my proposed amendments to the bill that were related to housing were deemed out of scope and principle at committee? Are there actual tangible housing construction goals that this bill is meant to achieve and, if yes, how will we track and report back on these goals?

Hon. Steve Clark: Thanks for the question. The amendments were five hours late, first of all. Regardless—

Interjection.

Hon. Steve Clark: Well, it’s the first lesson I learned in opposition.

Again, we have to realize that there is no silver bullet for housing. We have to continue to build upon the success of this government’s legislation in the past Parliament. We need to ensure mayors of our two largest cities have the tools to get it done. This tool builds upon the success this government has had. There’s much more work we need to—

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): Thank you.

We’re now going to move to further debate.

Mr. Jeff Burch: It’s a pleasure to rise again and speak to Bill 3. Before my critique of the bill, I want to join the minister in thanking all of the candidates who have put their names forward for municipal office across Ontario. There’s a troubling trend out there. We saw record low voter turnout in our provincial election and we’ve seen a real decrease in the number of people coming forward to run for municipal office. After a long pandemic and some of the difficult issues that are out there, I really commend folks who have put their name forward for office.

I would also join him in thanking municipal staff across the province. I don’t want to forget about the front-line staff who have worked so hard through the pandemic and municipal employees. My friends from St. Catharines and Niagara Falls joined me a couple of weeks ago at a rally in Niagara; over 1,000 workers with CUPE, with less than 2% on the table and trying to negotiate a collective agreement when there’s 7%, 8% inflation out there. We have to make sure our municipalities are well funded and that we can keep up with our obligations to those hard-working municipal staff all across the province.

I also want to thank the delegations that came forward to present. We had our committee last Monday, and despite the fact that there were only a couple of days for delegations to put their names forward for the committee, there was actually quite a bit of interest and a number of folks came forward. I want to thank people from the Ontario Home Builders’ Association; Myer Siemiatycki, a professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, who I’m going to be quoting a fair amount today; the Association of Municipalities of Ontario—of course, we appreciate all the work that they do and their presentation.

We heard from the Residential Construction Council of Ontario and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, who we had a good conversation with regarding the government’s plan to allow mayors to unilaterally hire planners, which I’m going to be talking about.

We heard from the Ontario Real Estate Association. The Ontario big city mayors’ Cam Guthrie spoke, and I’m going to be talking a little bit about his presentation. We heard from the Toronto Region Board of Trade—we want to thank them for presenting—the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario and the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, who also talked to us about the government’s plan to allow mayors to hire and fire CAOs and top managers in the municipality.

We heard from the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods, Indwell Community Homes, the Ontario Municipal Administrators’ Association—again, on this troubling plan by the government to allow mayors to hire and fire unilaterally—and Compass Refugee Centre.

Thank you very much to all of those who came and presented, delegations, and also to my colleagues from Ottawa Centre and University–Rosedale, who I’m sure will have a lot to say about housing and about the resistance to this bill in Ottawa and the many, many concerns from the city of Ottawa, where virtually no one is in favour of it, that I’ve heard, from city council, including the mayor.

All of the delegations agreed that we need more homes—that’s one thing that everyone agreed on—and we all agreed that we need more affordable homes.

Some of the things that we’re not agreed upon that I’m going to be talking about are whether this bill will actually do anything to create homes, because I don’t think that that connection has been made, and how a mayor will use these powers. It’s interesting that the government assumes that mayors will automatically use these powers to build more homes, but it’s up to the discretion of the mayor or their politics. What happens if we have a NIMBY mayor? With this legislation, you can have a strong NIMBY mayor who can unilaterally hire a NIMBY CAO and a NIMBY planner.

Just giving someone powers doesn’t determine how they’re going to use those powers. That’s something that many of the delegations raised, and this government, I don’t think, has really explained how that’s going to work.

No one seems to understand what the provincial priorities are specifically and how they would be promoted by a strong-mayor scheme. How does that translate from the province to getting the mayor to do what, presumably, the Premier or the minister want to happen?

There’s also a great deal of confusion, I think, on the government’s

part in distinguishing between the Canadian and the American municipal government systems, which they should understand are fundamentally different. One does not necessarily translate to the other. City managers are not CAOs. City managers in the US are not CAOs in Canada—very different. And of course, the financial structure is different. American municipalities can go bankrupt, so the financial structure—

The Acting Speaker (M me Lucille Collard): I apologize to interrupt the member. It is now time for members’ statements.

Members’ Statements

Riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan / Ruth Ann Holland

Mr. Kevin Holland: This is my first member’s statement since being elected as MPP for Thunder Bay–Atikokan, and I want to start off by saying what an absolute honour and privilege it is for me to represent this beautiful northwestern Ontario riding. I want to thank the good people of Thunder Bay–Atikokan for placing their trust in me to represent them in this House. I respect the responsibility that comes with the privilege that has been given to me, and I will work hard every day to bring the issues and, more importantly, the opportunities that Thunder Bay–Atikokan has to be a major contributor to building and growing Ontario.

I’m very excited for the role that Thunder Bay–Atikokan and northwestern Ontario will play in supplying the EV industry with the critical minerals needed to make Ontario the leader in North America in EV manufacturing.

Speaker, all natural resource-based industries and the value-added industries related to those natural resources will play a key role in making Ontario the economic powerhouse of Canada.

The business community in Thunder Bay–Atikokan has demonstrated time and time again their resilience to meet head-on the unique challenges that they face in conducting business in northwestern Ontario and to come up with solutions to meet those challenges. Their commitment and strong work ethic are second to none. The commitment from this government to continue to reduce red tape will give these businesses greater opportunity to grow, hire employees and build Ontario.

Speaker, I’d like to take a moment to thank the members in this House for the support and kindness they have extended to my family during the recent passing of my mother, Ruth Ann. Mom passed away on August 26, at home with her family. Mom was a leader, role model and community influencer. She was a successful business owner, a member of council and clerk-treasurer for the township of Conmee, and she served on numerous boards and committees during her life. She was much-loved, and her family and community are going to miss her.

Evelyn Green

Ms. Jill Andrew: Yesterday was the Labour Day parade, and I had the privilege of joining thousands of dedicated workers, including many from Toronto–St. Paul’s—people who work day in and day out, committed to the betterment of themselves, their families and our communities. It got me thinking about Mrs. Green and her legacy.

Mrs. Evelyn Green was a hard worker, and she lived in her house on Arlington Avenue for over 50 years. She raised her family there. She passed away on May 23, 2020. In her life, she worked as a civil servant, and in 1993 she was recognized for 25 years of service with the government. As if that wasn’t enough, she had been a tireless volunteer at the Castleview Wychwood Towers long-term-care home in our community and with St. Clair West Services for Seniors. She was also a homestay host for international students and was recognized as a cultural ambassador of Canada.

I didn’t get to experience Mrs. Green’s good humour or the many stories she would tell, but I see the fruits of her labour—her heart work—in the eyes of her son, Jason, a health care worker and educator, and his beautiful family. We’re currently advocating through the city of Toronto to have a nearby laneway named the Evelyn Green Lane in her memory. I ask all of you, my peers in this Legislative Assembly of Ontario, to wish us success.

Our community of St. Paul’s is full of angels, and I guarantee you Mrs. Green is surely one of them.

Education

Mr. Vincent Ke: Ontario students are going back to school this week. This is a very special school year that means a lot for the students and parents, who have encountered tremendous disruptions and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker, the impact of the pandemic on our students is endless. They were unable to hang out with friends, they had a lack of in-class interaction with teachers and peers, and they found it difficult to build new friendships—just to name a few.

Speaker, as the Minister of Education said, “Our commitment is clear: We will stand up for your child’s right to learn, from September right to June.”

Today’s world is really different from what it has been. To succeed, our children must be well prepared to face competition from all corners of the world. We can no longer afford any strikes or withdrawal of services. We have to make sure our students can be back to a normal, stable and enjoyable learning experience.

I’m wishing all of our Ontarian students another exciting and productive school year. They are the future of our province.

Employment standards

Mr. Wayne Gates: Today I rise to discuss an important holiday yesterday: Labour Day. For some of us in this Legislature, we began as workers and understand the importance of Labour Day. We understand that yesterday wasn’t just about a parade or a barbecue with friends and family. It was a reminder of the blood, sweat and tears that our brothers and sisters shed to build the basic protections workers have today. Some gave their lives. But Labour Day has never been about remembering the past for me; it’s about fighting for the future.

Some in this Legislature like to claim they are fighting for workers, but actions speak louder than words. You can’t honestly say you’re a champion for workers when you strip away collective bargaining rights and cap front-line workers’ wages. You can’t be working for workers when you refuse to address workplace safety in a serious way while allowing deaths to continue on job sites across the province. You can’t be standing shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters while refusing to fix a broken WSIB system that leaves so many in poverty.

This Labour Day, I hope everyone had time to relax, but I also hope we all spent some time reflecting on what it means to really be on the side of workers.

This government could actually start working for workers by repealing Bill 124 and bargaining fairly with teachers, education workers and nurses. Create safe working conditions for all and permanent paid sick days. Reform WSIB. Make it easier, not harder, to join a union. If you’re not doing that, you’re no friend of labour.

Deepak Ruparell

Mr. Deepak Anand: Canada is the land of opportunity, a place where many successful immigrants have built an amazing career and contributed to the community. As a first-generation immigrant myself, I’m truly inspired by those who came to a new country to build a life for themselves and ended up building an incredible community around them—immigrants like Deepak Ruparell, born in Tanzania, who immigrated to Canada in the 1970s. He followed a career in hospitality and quickly became one of Canada’s leading hoteliers.

Through the Ruparell Foundation, Deepak offered scholarships for university students and collaborated with Habitat for Humanity and Dixon Hall for the betterment of society. Community was at the forefront of Deepak’s efforts, and he was never in favour of any recognition. This is a sign of his character. He possessed humility and a desire to build genuine connections with those around him.

During the challenging time of the pandemic, Deepak led the way in the hospitality industry and supported the industry and community. Deepak Ruparell was a sharp and successful businessman with a big heart, who consistently supported social and community charitable projects.

Deepak left us too early on August 7, 2022. Deepak Ji, you will be dearly missed. Your presence will remain immortal in the community, leaving behind an inspirational legacy of selfless service, modesty and warmth. Raj Bhai, Vikram and I have endless memories together with Deepak Ji. I offer my thoughts and prayers to family and friends during these challenging times. Deepak Ji, rest in peace. Om shanti.

Government policies

M me France Gélinas: Yesterday was the perfect day to join the Labour Day celebrations in Sudbury. A big thank you to Jessica Montgomery and the whole team at the Sudbury and District Labour Council for a well-organized and fun event. Thank you to the hundreds and hundreds of people who came to join us with their families and friends. There were lots of education and health care workers that came out.

They had a clear, united message for this government: First, repeal Bill 124. It is illegal, discriminatory, disrespectful and it demoralizes our tired and burnt-out health care heroes. Make PSW a career, so we can ensure quality home care and long-term care, and stop the privatization of the Ontario health care system.

Many labour retirees were there, some of them quite elderly. They are scared. Bill 7 is causing seniors to second-guess whether they should go to the hospital when they’re sick for fear of being labelled ALC. As you know, Speaker, Bill 7 takes away the rights of frail, elderly people and allows the government to move them to a long-term-care home focused on profit, not on quality care. In northern Ontario, being transferred away from home means a lot of hardship.

Everyone at the Labour Day celebration agreed: Solidarity is the way forward, and the NDP will always stand in solidarity with workers. Solidarity forever.

Education

Mrs. Robin Martin: It’s my pleasure to rise today to say how much I enjoyed marching in the Labour Day parade yesterday with Minister McNaughton and some of my colleagues, and to speak about something on the minds of a lot of people today—especially parents, educators and children—and that’s back to school.

The first day of school is always a challenging time, a time to say goodbye to parents—at least for the day, anyway—and to say hello to friends old and new. This year is of particular importance, as we want all Ontario students to have a normal school year with the full school experience, including extracurriculars like sports, clubs, band and field trips.

Some children in my riding of Eglinton–Lawrence will have another surprise waiting for them. Thanks to an investment by the Ministry of Education, the children at Sir Sandford Fleming public school will enjoy a $7.5-million completed renovation when they open the doors tomorrow. The project includes 88 new child care spaces and five child care rooms. This is part of our government’s investment of $14 billion over 10 years to build new schools, improve existing facilities and create good child care spaces. These investments, along with historic investments in mental health and in tutoring, will help to ensure that young people can get back on track and reach their full potential.

I want to wish all the students, educators and parents in Eglinton–Lawrence and across the province a great first day of school.

Bobbie Drew

Mr. Todd J. McCarthy: Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure today to recognize an outstanding resident and dedicated public servant from my riding of Durham. After more than 30 years of public service to the township of Scugog in my riding, Her Worship Mayor Bobbie Drew has announced that she will be retiring from public service after the October 24 municipal election.

Bobbie Drew began her elected career in 1998, when she was elected to represent Scugog as trustee on the Durham District School Board, where she served for 12 years and retired as vice-chair of that board. She was elected to Scugog council as a local councillor in 2004, later moving up to regional council in 2010 and finally to the mayor’s office in 2018.

Throughout her career, Mayor Drew sat on a variety of committees, such as the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and the Durham region finance committee. Among her accomplishments, Mayor Drew successfully oversaw many successful initiatives like the Scugog waterfront action plan, the active transportation master plan, community improvement plans and the IT strategic plan.

Mayor Drew’s time in elected office demonstrated commitment and perseverance, associated with a warm and welcoming leadership style based on listening, learning and exercising sound judgment. On behalf of the residents of Scugog, Durham riding and all Ontarians: Thank you, Mayor Bobbie Drew, for your service.

Tourism

Mr. Billy Pang: Ontario has some of the best attractions available anywhere in the world. Here, you can go on a world-class wine tour, attend exceptional festivals or go fishing and snowmobiling. Tourism is also a key economic driver in Ontario, supporting approximately 395,000 jobs and generating over $38 billion in spending.

In Markham–Unionville, we are renowned for many attractions, including Main Street Unionville, conservation parks and our diverse range of cuisine. We are also known for hosting some of the best festivals, including our well-known Markham Jazz Festival. I had the pleasure of attending the kickoff event, partaking in the energetic atmosphere, and congratulating Markham Jazz Festival for receiving funding from our government’s Reconnect Ontario program and Ontario Arts Council grants program. Through these grants, it supported a great local initiative that supported local musicians and rekindled music lovers with jazz.

Speaker, another local festival I want to highlight is the Toronto Hong Kong film festival. As Ontario’s first Hong Kong film festival, this event highlighted and celebrated Hong Kong’s culture and successes of its internationally famous film industry. From food booths to remarkable movies directed by director Clifton Ko, this festival provided entertainment to all attendees and highlighted Ontario’s strong multiculturalism.

Ontario is a world of experiences. As Ontarians experience the seasons ahead and rediscover Ontario, I want to encourage all to continue to explore safely and responsibly.

Kingston Pakistani community

Mr. Ted Hsu: I just want to say thank you to the local Pakistan-Canada association in Kingston and the Islands. This past weekend, at the intercultural festival in Kingston, we were very much active in trying to get people to learn about what’s happening in Pakistan with the flooding, and to raise money that will be matched by our federal government to help all the flooding victims in Pakistan. This is something, unfortunately, that I think is going to be repeated in the years to come as our climate changes, and we will have more of these sorts of weather-related disasters.

It’s really important for people around the world to help each other, because when one part of the world will suffer some weather event, the other parts of the world have to step in and help.

I want to just express congratulations to the Pakistani community in Kingston who are working very hard to try to raise a little bit of money to help contribute to the flood relief efforts in Pakistan.

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

Attacks in Saskatchewan

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker: Today, our hearts and prayers are with those connected to James Smith Cree Nation, in what we now call Saskatchewan, as we struggle with the loss of life to so many this past weekend and the accompanying community trauma.

I seek unanimous consent of the House for a moment of silence in honour of the victims of this tragedy.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Kiiwetinoong is seeking the unanimous consent of the House for a moment of silence in honour of the victims of the tragedy in James Smith Cree Nation, in what we now call Saskatchewan. Agreed? Agreed.

Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

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

Introduction of Visitors

Miss Monique Taylor: I’d like to welcome Andrea Hatala from the Ontario ODSP Action Coalition and to thank her for joining us in this morning’s press conference.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Not exactly an introduction, but I want to wish our grandson—Julius Birch Colucci was two years old on September 4. Happy birthday, Julius.

Mr. Adil Shamji: I’m pleased to welcome a number of esteemed guests. I have Naadim-Khan Shamji. He’s my cousin, a lawyer and a former staff member at the British House of Commons.

Additionally, for the last three months, I’ve been functioning without an executive and without a legislative assistant. Today, that problem is remedied. I’d like to welcome Sombo Saviye and Lorne Levy, who are joining my team, effective today. Thank you and welcome.

Mr. Deepak Anand: Our office staff carry a lot of weight for us, and we can’t thank them enough. I’d like to welcome Kanika Mohaya as she’s here for the first time in this House of responsibility. Welcome, Kanika.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: On behalf of the official opposition, I’d like to welcome Raida Chowdhury, our legislative learner, to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. I have two special groups to introduce today. One is my terrific team at Queen’s Park, so marvelous Marietta Fox, my executive assistant, right there; effusive Ellen Pisani, my very competent constituency assistant; and magnificent Maisie Harrison, my legislative assistant. I’m looking forward to building a better world with all of you.

My second special group is the west coast contingent, all the way here from beautiful BC: my super sister-in-law Pamella Mulek; my charismatic and sensational son, Liam McMahon, hopefully following in political footsteps; my dynamite, charming daughter, Rebecca McMahon, from BC as well; and last but never least, my oldest brother, Michael, the most positive and exuberant person on the planet. In my inaugural speech last week, which I’m sure you were all glued to, I said we need a safety warning with this guy, he’s so exuberant. And it’s his birthday—a big birthday—today. I don’t know if we sing in the chamber, but happy birthday.

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Today, I’d like to congratulate our page captain Liliana Commisso Chen, who hails from Vaughan–Woodbridge, and welcome her mom, Lisa Commisso, and her sister Sophia to the people’s House. Welcome.

Hon. Charmaine A. Williams: I’d also like to welcome Malcolm’s mother and grandmother, who are here. Malcolm is one of our pages.

Question Period

Hospital services

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

Can the Minister of Health provide an update on how many hospital emergency rooms were closed over the long weekend due to staff shortages?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: This is a great opportunity for me to once again highlight the plans that we have in place. Of course, we’ve already done a lot of things in terms of short-, medium- and long-term goals. First of all, we have 3,500 hospital beds that are operating in the province of Ontario that were not as short as three years ago. We have 10,900 new health care professionals working in the province of Ontario today.

We will continue to work with our hospital partners to make sure that when short-term emergency department closures happen, whether that is for an hour, four hours, a shift or a weekend—we ensure, with Ontario Health, that, when possible, locums come in. We make sure that those partners and the people in those communities have appropriate health care as quickly as we can.

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

M me France Gélinas: Well, Speaker, across the province this weekend, hospital after hospital announced that they would be closing their emergency rooms: Kemptville District Hospital, Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital, Glengarry Memorial Hospital, Chesley hospital—the list goes on.

To quote one ER doctor, “We are playing a game of Russian roulette with people’s lives.” It is “an indictment of the Minister of Health” and her failure “to understand the breadth of the crisis.”

Does the minister admit it is a crisis and that her government’s response to date has failed us?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Speaker, I think it’s really important to remind the member opposite and, frankly, the people of Ontario, as they continue to fearmonger, that nine out of 10 high-urgency patients finish their emergency visit within target times and surgeries are happening at 88% of the pre-pandemic. The member opposite can breed fear, and we will continue to get the job done—and that includes working with the college of physicians and surgeons and the college of nurses to make sure that internationally educated experts in the health care field are able to get their accreditation and licensing quickly in the province of Ontario.

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

M me France Gélinas: Closed emergency rooms put people’s lives at risk. This is a fact.

At a time when the government should be building our health care system, this government froze nurses’ wages. They threatened seniors with massive fees if they refused to move to substandard, for-profit facilities far away from their families. Doctors and health care executives have come forward to call this plan “morally wrong,” “deeply disturbing,” and likely to “worsen our health care crisis.”

Will the minister take action today—first, repeal Bill 124; then, Bill 7—and start respecting the nurses we so desperately need?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Speaker, with the greatest of respect, I don’t need to start today, because our government started four-plus years ago to make sure we had capacity in the province of Ontario. We have done that. We will continue to do that work.

I highlight 400 physicians in the province of Ontario who are practising and supporting workers in northern and rural Ontario, like the member opposite’s own communities. We’re working with the college of physicians and surgeons and we’re working with the college of nurses to make sure that those internationally educated graduates are able to practise in Ontario now, in our communities.

Education

Ms. Marit Stiles: This question is for the Minister of Education.

Speaker, students are heading back to school today across most of our province, and I think I speak for—

Interjections.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Yes—and I think I speak for most of us in wishing them all the best, a fantastic first week and a really great year ahead.

Public health experts are warning of another fall wave of COVID-19, but this time, most of the health measures that were in place will not be there.

Speaker, the government’s inaction led to schools being closed longer in Ontario than anywhere else.

Can the minister remind us of how many weeks schools were closed and assure families that things will be different this time?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: When Dr. Kieran Moore came out and explained to the people of Ontario, and in particular, the parents, that we have a plan that will ensure that our young students are able to practise in schools—it is exactly what we need. It is exactly what parents have been asking for. It’s exactly what students and educators want. We want to make sure that children in the province of Ontario are safely able to do what they want to do in school: participate in extracurriculars, make sure that they have that opportunity to join with their peers and connect with their teachers.

We’re doing that in the province of Ontario because of the historic investments: 600 nurses who are working across the education sector, the addition of the mental health supports that are so critical to make sure that as children come in to the classroom, they have those supports where they need them. We’ll continue to do that work; the member opposite can continue to fearmonger. We’ll get the job done.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: Twenty-eight weeks. That’s the minister’s record: 28 weeks of school closures.

Vaccination is absolutely critical to ensuring that kids can learn uninterrupted—

Interjections.

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

The member for Davenport has the right to place her question. I’d ask the government side to allow me to hear it.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Start the clock. The member for Davenport.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Mr. Speaker, they don’t like to be reminded of their failures, but let me tell you, vaccination is going to be absolutely key—

Interjections.

Ms. Marit Stiles: —and you may not want to hear it, but that is the truth.

Among kids five to 11, less than 40% have had both first shots of the COVID vaccine. This weekend, in Ottawa, Dr. Kaplan-Myrth and volunteers held another successful Jabapalooza event. They helped get 355 kids a back-to-school booster.

While communities are taking matters into their own hands, what’s this government’s plan to boost vaccine coverage for our students?

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

Hon. Stephen Lecce: This question coming from a member who would have closed schools the entire school year—they have no credibility.

But where this government—what we seek to follow is the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, who said just last week, “I am confident that this school year will be just that: safe and healthy.”

Mr. Speaker, I joined the member from Mississauga Centre this morning at a brand new school built and funded by our Premier in Mississauga. To see these kids smile again, to see them share with their educators, get a hug from their teacher, high-five their friends—it was everything. It’s what we’re here to do in education: to inspire these kids to believe again in a publicly funded education and to actually be kids with their friends.

This school year is going to be more normal, it’s going to be more stable and it’s going be much more enjoyable. As the Minister of Health noted, the extracurriculars and sports, the mental health lift, the tutoring investments—all of this is designed to get these kids back on track.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: Every single person, every single parent in this province wants a normal school year. But it’s going to take a whole lot more than some wishful thinking from this government, and that means real people in real classrooms, not just pretty words in an expensive government ad campaign and threats to education workers.

Last year, we know that this government ended up spending $900 million less on education than they committed. Will the government commit today to spend every single cent in education on keeping our schools safely open?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Students in this province are returning to more normal, stable, enjoyable schools, and we couldn’t be more excited for them. To start the school year off with an additional $650 million to ensure they catch up, a program that allows 5,000 additional front-line staff to support our kids, to keep them on track—that is a plan that underscores the commitments to publicly funded education to help these kids get back on track with their studies and to restore the physical and mental health benefits that come with our schools.

Mr. Speaker, we’re excited for these kids. This is why we’re here: to get them on track with their studies after two years of difficulty, and we owe it to all of them as a Parliament to come together to ensure that they stay in school without interruption right to June.

Social assistance

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is for the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. This summer, over 230 community and social service organizations wrote to the government calling for them to double the social assistance rates. Rates for Ontario Works and ODSP have been frozen for four years, and inflation is at a 40-year high. The government’s 5% increase to ODSP and nothing for Ontario Works recipients won’t even be close enough to cover the cost of rising basic needs.

Will the government recognize that more needs to be done to support social assistance recipients and double the rates for ODSP and Ontario Works today?

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

Hon. Doug Ford: I want to thank the opposition for the question. We’ll always be there for the most vulnerable, always have been. The previous government ignored ODSP for 15 years. One of the first things we did when we took office: We increased ODSP. And now we’re doing it again. We’re increasing it by 5%. This is the largest increase in over a decade. As the NDP and Liberals stood there and starved these people, we increased it by 5%—the largest in a full decade.

We’ll always fight for the people that need our help. That’s the reason we lowered the taxes for 1.7 million lower-income people. They aren’t going to have the burden of the tax that the previous government put on. We lowered the gas tax by 5.7 cents, on top of the 4.3 cents and—

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

Interjections.

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

Supplementary question? The member for Ottawa West–Nepean.

Ms. Chandra Pasma: Since the Premier thinks his historic increase is so great, I invite him to try living on it. Today, my colleagues and I are beginning a two-week advocacy effort, living on an approximate social assistance grocery budget of $95.21. We are undertaking this effort in solidarity with the thousands of social assistance recipients and community organizations that have been imploring this government for years to raise the rates.

Will the Premier and the Minister of Community and Social Services join us in this solidarity effort with social assistance recipients?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government is continuing to support those who need it most, whether it’s people who need job re-skilling and retraining or people who are unable to work. That’s exactly why we increased the ODSP rate to a historic 5% and aligned it with inflation: because we know that high inflationary times are troublesome and make it that much more difficult for people.

We’ve also got the discretionary benefit. We’ve created the LIFT and the CARE tax credits. We increased the rates at the very beginning. If you look at our track record throughout the years that we’ve been here, we started with an increase that the Liberals never did, and then we created the social services relief fund of a billion dollars for people during a very difficult time. All the while, we created programs to help people: the micro-credentialing, the energy and property tax relief, the Ontario Trillium fund. The list goes on. We are continuing to work on this. We know that people need support, and we’re continuing to do just that.

Government policies

Mr. Robert Bailey: Yesterday was Labour Day, a day set out to recognize the sacrifice and dedication of this province’s hard-working women and men. Unfortunately, many have come to view it only as a day off that marks the unofficial end of summer.

The economic strength of this province is built upon the sacrifice of our carpenters, electricians, plumbers and the full array of blue-collar skilled trades workers. Our economic success has only been made possible by the hard-working men and women of this province helping to build and maintain the infrastructure that keeps us safe and secure each and every day. Because of that sacrifice of those on the front line, our province was able to emerge out of the worst of the COVID pandemic.

Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development: What is our government doing to support all workers of this province? What are we going to do to recognize and thank them?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I want to thank the member from Sarnia–Lambton for that question, but more importantly, I want to thank him for his leadership on the ground in Sarnia. The MPP from Sarnia–Lambton really is why we’re doing a lot of the work we’re doing. He was a union member, and also on the management side. So to the member: Thank you for everything that you’ve done.

Our government stands with working people right across Ontario. They are our everyday heroes. On Monday, members of our government and myself had the great honour of marching shoulder to shoulder with union leaders and workers at Labour Day celebrations across Ontario. Together, we are working for workers. We’re leading the way in Canada and right across North America with common-sense measures that support hard-working people and their families. And, Mr. Speaker, we’re just getting started. Our government is on a mission to make Ontario the greatest place in the world to live, work and raise a family.

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

Mr. Robert Bailey: The people of my riding know that this province faces many challenges. They see that we are currently encountering a housing crisis, and the only way to solve this is by working with our skilled carpenters and tradespeople. They see that we have a supply chain shortage, and we will address this through the hard work of our truck drivers and Teamsters. They see that we are facing global economic uncertainty, driven by dangerous actors in China and Russia.

Ontario can provide that economic leadership by regaining its manufacturing materials leadership role once again, ensuring financial security for our global partners. So many people see Ontario as a beacon for economic opportunity, and I’m pleased that our government embraces this.

Once again, my question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. What is our government doing to support and partner with our workers as they help us to become a powerhouse once again?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, has an ambitious plan to build Ontario and put workers in the driver’s seat of our future. In our last working for workers bill, we introduced first-of-their-kind measures to deliver better jobs and bigger paycheques for workers in Ontario. We’ve also hired over 100 new health and safety inspectors to make sure workers are safe and return home to their families every single day. We’ve introduced the right to disconnect, which will allow workers to enjoy their off time with their friends, but most importantly, their families.

And we’ve made unprecedented investments in training for in-demand jobs to tackle our historic labour shortage and grow Ontario’s economy.

Mr. Speaker, we’re rolling up our sleeves and getting things done for the workers of Ontario.

Long-term care

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Remarks in Oji-Cree . Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Premier.

Bill 7 is not an appropriate solution for northern Ontario. Elders like Garnet Angeconeb, who is directly impacted, have reached out to my office. Garnet is an Indian residential school survivor who is now at the end of his life and he is being institutionalized again by Bill 7. This is not right.

My question is: How is moving elders away from their families a human solution?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: In fact, what Bill 7 seeks to do is improve the quality of care for our seniors who are in hospital. It is very, very clear that—

Interjection.

Hon. Paul Calandra: If the member for Niagara Falls would like to hear the answer to the question that his colleague posed, I think that would probably be beneficial to the House.

What the bill actually does is provide a better quality of care—the right care in the right place at the right time. I think we would all agree that, for our seniors, they deserve the best quality of care possible. That is why, in particular when he talks about the north, we have made so many investments in long-term care in the north, because we want to ensure that the discrepancies that existed for far too long between north and south, urban and rural, are no longer part of the fabric of the Ontario health care system. That is why we’ve also partnered with First Nations to ensure that there are bed allocations specifically for First Nation communities, and we will continue to do it.

Bill 7 is a positive step in helping us reform our health care system once and for all, and we’re on our way.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: We need clear expectations in bills like these around rural and northern equity. In Sioux Lookout and Red Lake, yes, the hospitals have high numbers of alternate-level-of-care patients, but the answer isn’t shipping elders to southern Ontario without their consent.

What is this government doing to ensure Bill 7 has real accountability so that rural and northern health care equity is not forgotten?

Hon. Paul Calandra: First and foremost, let me just say this: The only people who are talking about shipping our seniors from the north to the south are, in fact, the NDP. That, in fact, will not happen because of Bill 7. What it does is ensure a better quality of care, the right care in the right place at the right time. That’s what Bill 7 is all about. Because health care professionals would agree that a hospital is no place for a senior who is waiting to be in long-term care to wait. As the Auditor General has reported, as health care professionals reported, there is no physical activity; there’s no social activity. They are more susceptible to disease in a hospital.

What we are doing with Bill 7 is ensuring that our seniors who are waiting for long-term care have access to that quality of care while they wait for their preferred home of choice.

I will let the opposition continue to fantasize about what we are doing in Bill 7, but what we are finally doing is putting our health care system, and ALC in particular, on the right path. It’s because of the investments that we’ve made; we’re improving health care and we’re getting it done for seniors in the north and the—

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

Education

Mr. Ross Romano: My question is for our excellent Minister of Education. Millions of students across all of Ontario are returning to school today and tomorrow. Mr. Speaker, I want to note that three of my own kids are starting today in grades 3, 4 and 5. All of these students are so excited with the promise of a normal school year for the first time in nearly two years. Parents, like my wife and I, know how difficult it has been, and we know that COVID-19 has caused so many disruptions for our students and made it very difficult for a normal school year for them.

Studies have shown that in every jurisdiction, students’ math scores have declined sharply. Schools have also played an important role in their social lives as well—something that our children have been missing. There is no substitute for in-person learning and a disruption-free learning environment for our students.

Speaker, can the Minister of Education please outline our government’s plan to ensure that our kids can catch up, and outline the supports that are in place for Ontario students to ensure that they can succeed?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I do want to thank the member from Sault Ste. Marie for being an exceptional member, a proud father and someone who, like our government, believes in public education. When we saw these students return to school this morning—and more will return tomorrow—it underscores what we’re here to do in the first place, which is ensure children learn the necessary skills to help them succeed in life.

This year, children will be returning to a modernized curriculum that is actually in line with the labour markets, that when they graduate, they can get a good-paying job: a new science curriculum and a new math curriculum that focus on the transferrable skill sets that are going to help them get from the classroom to the boardroom to the shop floor.

The full experience of learning that we envision for kids starts with them staying in school, and we’re going to fight to ensure kids stay in uninterrupted, in-person learning right to June.

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

Mr. Ross Romano: While I’m so happy to hear that our government is acting to ensure that we are prepared for our children’s safe return to school, we must also ensure that they are protected while they are in transit to and from school.

With nearly 840,000 students riding school buses every day, many experts say that our students are most at risk when they are travelling to and from school. Studies show that improvements to school bus lighting systems will greatly improve visibility and safety for our students when they are entering and exiting school buses. That is why our government has been calling for the improved eight-lamp, amber-red warning systems to be installed on all of our Ontario school buses. This will help drivers know further in advance of when school buses are slowing down and stopping, which is a crucial factor in increasing school bus safety for our students.

Speaker, can the minister please update this House on the status of the implementation of the eight-lamp, amber-red warning systems on our Ontario school buses here in Ontario to keep our kids safe?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: This is an important question, because as kids get back to class this week, we’re going to see over 800,000 children a day on our buses, and I want to express my gratitude to our school bus drivers for all the amazing work they do in our province.

Speaker, the problem though, in working with the member from Kitchener–Conestoga, the Minister of Transportation and others, is that we know there are literally hundreds and hundreds of drivers a day blowing past a school bus that is stopped, violating the law. It puts so many children at risk, and we’ve seen this in all of our communities. So the province of Ontario has moved forward with the Safer School Buses Act, which ensures that all school buses in the province now have the new eight-lamp amber-red warning system, designed to create more awareness, more caution and ultimately more safety for our kids and for the drivers themselves.

This is positive progress. It builds on a $1.1-billion investment through transportation that is with the aim of getting kids to school, so that they can stay in school right to June.

Long-term care

Mr. Wayne Gates: My question is to the Premier. Every day we hear more stories of a broken long-term-care system, more proof that Bill 7 will make a broken system worse. CTV News reported the story of Mona Chasin, an 80-year-old woman who had to go to the hospital after a stroke, and now she has been told she will lose her bed in a long-term-care facility.

Seniors should be treated with dignity and respect. Why is this woman being evicted from her home because of a hospital stay?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the Minister of Long-Term Care.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I just want to get this straight: So the member now is advocating in favour of the bill that we just passed, while at the same time advocating against it, all in one question?

That is what Bill 7 is all about: It is about improving care for our seniors, because nobody thinks that a senior who is in a hospital waiting for long-term care should be sitting in a hospital. Nobody believes that, because they don’t have access to the physical exercise that they need. They don’t have social opportunities. That is why we passed Bill 7, to ensure that our seniors who are waiting for long-term care can get into long-term care faster. That’s the whole point of it.

Only the NDP are suggesting that a hospital room is a better place for a senior waiting to be in long-term care. We disagree with that, and that is why Bill 7 allows us to get our seniors who are waiting in a hospital into long-term care.

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

Mr. Wayne Gates: My question is to the Premier again. This is an 80-year-old woman who is being told she can’t go back to the home that she’s with her husband at, because she was at hospital for 29 days, got COVID in the hospital and then had to isolate for 10 days. So that’s what the question is about. This woman should go back to her husband, where she’s comfortable, where her family is comfortable. That’s what the question was. It would be important if the minister would please listen to the question. It’s a serious issue for this family.

Mona’s family wants her to return to her home. Her home is where her husband lives and where she is comfortable. Her family fears that Bill 7 will force her into a new facility. Her niece told reporters: “It’s devastating.... I don’t think our elderly are being properly cared for.... I don’t know where she is going to end up.”

Why is the government forcing seniors like Mona into homes away from their loved ones and their families?

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

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I will remind the member opposite that Anthony Dale, the CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association, said: “Ontario’s hospitals are rapidly becoming the health care provider of last resort for thousands of people who actually need access to home care, long-term care and other services.”

Specifically regarding the example you raised, it is essential that all partners continue to work collaboratively together in a Team Ontario approach to seeking to overcome the underlying issues facing the health care system and ensure that patients are receiving access to the right kind of care in the right setting. I have faith in the hospital, in the long-term care, in the Ontario health team in that community to do the right thing for that family, for that husband and wife to be able to remain together.

But, member, you need to understand that the system works together—with long-term care, with home care, with hospitals—to make sure that, in the example raised, that individual gets the most appropriate care in their community.

Mental health services

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: My question is to the Premier. It has been a particularly violent weekend in our country, and, on behalf of this Assembly, I extend condolences to the people of rural Saskatchewan on an unimaginable situation that has occurred.

When these types of mass incidents happen, it is seared in the minds of the community and those that are impacted. In my community, in Scarborough, we had the Danzig shooting 10 years ago. At that time we lost Shyanne Charles and Joshua Yasay, two young people. And I can tell you that after 10 years, those wounds have not healed.

I spoke to Tyrone Charles, Shyanne’s grandfather, about how he and his family—in particular, his daughter, Afifa—are doing 10 years on. And I can tell you, Speaker, that with this tragic loss, those wounds have not healed. He said to me they have gained an angel, yet the pain is still overwhelming for Shyanne’s mother and the entire family.

My question today to the Premier: You have an opportunity to provide support to those individuals by supporting Bill 9, which would provide the help that families need right now. Will you support that bill tomorrow?

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

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Thank you for that question. When we talk about incidents like what occurred in Saskatchewan, what we’ve seen in the province of Ontario, we know that we need to do more, and our government has and will continue to do more.

The investments that have been made, the $3.8 billion that will be invested over 10 years to build on the Roadmap to Wellness, are the types of investments that will focus and assist, whether it be the mobile intervention crisis teams that are out working each and every day to defuse situations and to provide support to individuals; whether it be the $194 million that was invested during the pandemic to provide emergency funding to help reduce wait-lists and improve capacity for individuals in need of help; whether it be the $31 million that was invested for a 5% across-the-board increase in government-funded youth and children mental health supports.

We are continuing to do this work, and including youth wellness hubs that are also providing supports to families and individuals throughout the province. We will continue to do that work.

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

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Speaker, Tyrone Charles told me, in the aftermath of a shooting, the spotlight on the families is so bright but only for five minutes. What people need is support when they need it, and sustained support, like for Ali Demircan’s daughter, who, four years after her father was shot in the Danforth shooting—now she needs counselling help. This is a gap that Bill 9 would fill by providing trauma-informed counselling directly to those victims and survivors at the time of need. Expanding our health services would provide that much-needed help and support.

For far too long, Ontarians who have suffered from social, emotional, physical and mental health impacts of gun violence have done so alone. Traumatized families like the Charleses have had to struggle through years in silence. Bill 9 would change this for them, and I’m asking this government, do they support Bill 9?

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Once again to the member opposite, I appreciate where she is coming from with respect to the question that’s being asked. The work that we continue to do—for instance, the youth wellness hub is something that we began and fully supported. The youth wellness hubs in Wellington county, for instance, have hosted more than 14,000 youth since their launch in 2021.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve attended some of those vigils that take place with moms who have lost their children. I’ve seen the pain that’s caused by the trauma that’s induced as a result of these violent crimes.

Our government is making the investments to build the continuums of care with community-based supports. It is making the investments to ensure that the supports are there for the families as well as for the individuals. We know that many of these investments should be made early on to support children and youth, because by doing that, we provide them hope and we provide them opportunities.

So once again, our government continues to make investments to help the people of the province of Ontario where and when that help—

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

Health care workers

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: We have seen the concerning impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our health human resources system. With an aging population, the issue of more front-line health workers will only increase in the years and decades ahead. Experts also warn that Ontario’s population will increase by as much as two million to six million over the next two decades. An increasing population will mean more individuals needing access to our health care system in the future. Getting more students into the health care profession programs today will help address the health care human resource issues we’ll see tomorrow.

Speaker, can the Minister of Colleges and Universities update this House on what our government has done to help encourage students to pursue a meaningful career in nursing programs?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member from Markham–Thornhill for that question. I, too, was encouraged to see the reports that applicants to nursing programs are up in both college and university programs by 25% since the 2018-19 school year. Speaker, that translates to more than 13,000 students who applied to a university program and more than 12,000 students who applied to a college program right here in Ontario.

Our government has been working hard to address the gap in health care professions through innovative programs like our three-year college degrees and our new Learn and Stay program. Over the next four years, the Learn and Stay program will help over 3,000 nursing graduates receive financial support to cover the cost of tuition in exchange for committing to practise for two years in an underserved community.

We have created 14 new programs at colleges and universities across Ontario, allowing thousands of students to have greater choice and flexibility in accessing high-quality and local education.

This record number of applications demonstrates that the work we are doing to increase the number of students entering nursing and health care professions is working, and we’ll continue to look for innovative ways.

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

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: Thank you, Minister, for that great answer, and thank you for your great work on this file.

Speaker, under the watch of the previous Liberal government, the people of my riding saw the lack of vision and understanding about the state of our health care system. We saw how they cut medical residency programs for new students, forcing them to move out of the province. We saw their record of championing freezing health care budgets as their goal was to keep costs down.

Once again, can the minister explain to this House what work the Ministry of Colleges and Universities is doing with other ministries to address the health human resource shortages in Ontario, and what action is our government taking to strengthen the system after the years of Liberal neglect?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you again to the member for that question. We know that a high-quality health care system starts with high-quality post-secondary education, but it doesn’t end there. That is why the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has been working closely with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care throughout the pandemic and beyond to address the health human resources issues that Ontario faces. For example, we are adding 2,000 nurses to the health care system through the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

This is a $35-million investment to increase enrolment at our publicly assisted colleges and universities, allowing institutions to accept an additional 1,000 practical nursing diploma students and over 800 bachelor of science and nursing degree students.

Through the Bridging Educational Grant in Nursing—this is a nearly $100-million investment that will support the upskilling and training of PSWs and RPNs. This program will increase access to nursing programs and create an additional 500 spaces for enrolment in our bridging program this year. And through our fall economic statement, we announced an investment of nearly $342 million over the next five years to add over 5,000 registered practical nurses and 8,000 personal support workers.

Employment standards

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. Whether workers are returning to the workplace or have worked there all along, this government has made one thing clear: “Don’t count on us to help keep workers safe.” Not only did they scrap COVID isolation requirements, they also scrapped the independent science advisory table before its members could advise against this dangerous move. Ontario workers are now more vulnerable than ever, especially if they don’t have access to paid sick days.

Speaker, instead of spreading illness in the workplace, will this government help prevent illness? Will they bring in 10 permanent paid sick days for all Ontario workers?

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

Hon. Monte McNaughton: We were the first province in the country to bring in job-protected leave when COVID-19 hit the province. When you’re sick, you can stay home, and you can’t be fired for that. Furthermore, we were the first province in the country to bring in paid sick days for workers to stay home, and those businesses get reimbursed up to $200 per day.

Mr. Speaker, we’ll continue having the backs of workers every single day during this pandemic and beyond.

That’s why, during the pandemic, we hired more than a hundred new health and safety inspectors.