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April 21, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Apr-21 (PDF)

L250 - Wed 21 Apr 2021 / Mer 21 avr 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 21 April 2021 Mercredi 21 avril 2021

Orders of the Day

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

Private members’ public business

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

Members’ Statements

COVID-19 immunization

Volunteers

Indigenous affairs

Infrastructure funding

COVID-19 response

Environmental protection

COVID-19 immunization

Stewart Cruikshank

Holocaust memorial

Small business

Question Period

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Border security

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Border security

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 response

Border security

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 immunization

COVID-19 immunization

Estimates

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Introduction of Bills

Shuang Ying Company Ltd. Act, 2021

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Nuclear energy

Motions

House sittings

House sittings

Petitions

Optometry services

Optometry services

Opposition Day

COVID-19 response

Private Members’ Public Business

Greenbelt

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

Resuming the debate adjourned on April 20, 2021, on the motion for third reading of the following bill:

Bill 269,

An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Projet de loi 269, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Further debate?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Good morning. It’s really an honour to speak here today on behalf of my constituents.

Mr. Speaker, budgets are about priorities, and surely, given the state of emergency our province has been plunged into, there can be no greater priority for any government than protecting the health and well-being of Ontarians.

I really welcome the opportunity this morning to debate this Conservative government’s priorities as outlined in the provincial budget and in this implementation bill, and to examine whether or not they match the priorities of the people I represent, the constituents of Davenport.

Toronto, along with our neighbours in Peel, have had to bear the brunt of this pandemic, but I know that none of the Ontario regions or municipalities have been spared. This week, we’re seeing all too clearly the devastating consequences of a government that has failed in its responsibility to protect and support people. We have a Premier who many people in this province are demanding to resign.

The budget that we are looking at, the implementation bill that implements some aspects of the budget, mirrors this government’s overall pandemic response. And let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, it fails. It fails utterly to offer the help that is so desperately needed. It fails to also offer the hope that a just recovery that recognizes the disproportionate impact of this pandemic on racialized and working-class Ontarians would bring, on women, on young people. It fails insofar as instead of reflecting the urgency of this crisis, this budget is presented as if the pandemic is over.

It shows a government that’s simply falling back on the same failed policies it was putting forward before the pandemic—more cuts and a narrow view of what government can do beyond satisfying the interests of the very wealthy and the very well connected. Let me tell you, people deserve better. My constituents deserve better.

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by talking about some of the key issues that the people in my community and across the province are facing right now, and how this budget that this bill implements could have offered them some hope.

Let’s start with housing. Before the pandemic began, my community, Davenport, was facing an epidemic of evictions. Ever-increasing rents coupled with diminished tenant protections and loopholes in the law have led to more people being forced out of their homes. And then the pandemic hit. While we’ve seen these on-again, off-again eviction enforcement moratoriums, people in Davenport are facing fast-tracked hearings over Zoom.

Let’s be really clear: A stay-at-home order means nothing if you’re forced out of that home. So it’s no surprise, in my community, that we’ve seen a corresponding increase in people forced to make camp in parks, transitways, wherever they can find a safe place.

This budget offers nothing—nada, nothing—to address this crisis. It re-announces some one-time emergency COVID-19-related funding for municipalities, including millions for the social services relief fund spread out among all the municipalities in Ontario. It doesn’t include a real eviction ban that would protect people until a full year, say, after the pandemic is over, like we proposed. It doesn’t adopt the other measures the NDP opposition has put forward, like the rent relief program put forward by the member for Beaches–East York or the affordable housing strategy moved by the member for Spadina–Fort York.

These are NDP ideas, but we would be more than happy for this government to steal them. In fact, we encourage it: Steal from us. We just need to keep people housed right now.

Meanwhile, in the city of Toronto, we’ve been left hanging until the last possible moment to confirm operating funding for 1,100 supportive housing units. The province is responsible for the funding needed to operate these affordable apartments and to provide the on-site wraparound services required by residents. This funding needs to be stable, it needs to be permanent, or more people in my community are going to be left to fend for themselves in encampments, couch-surfing, or moving from shelter to shelter trying to find a place to avoid infection.

This government’s priorities to support affordable housing in Toronto seem to be focused on dangling the possibility of future housing as a cover for bulldozing heritage properties.

Another issue that weighs heavily on the minds of my constituents in Davenport is, like for so many across this province—now, but always—health care. That’s no surprise, because it has always been a significant concern—and certainly now more than ever. And what are the government’s priorities when it comes to health care, as represented in this implementation bill? Well, what greater responsibility could there be, during a global pandemic than ensuring our health care system has the resources it needs to save lives?

We know that the hallway health care crisis reached record levels under the Liberal government and that major steps were needed to end it. I think we all agree to that. But this government has had over two years to correct that, and the progress has been nowhere near what it should have been.

The budget’s base funding increase is $82 million short of what the Ontario Hospital Association said they needed before the pandemic. The $300 million committed to address the surgical backlog is just marginally higher than what was announced in the fall economic update, despite the fact that even more surgeries are being delayed now in this deadly third wave. New Democrats have called for Ontario to match British Columbia’s investment, which, scaled to Ontario, would have been a total of $725 million invested. We are $425 million short of that. It’s a lot of numbers, I know.

Here’s a real-life example of what happens when you underfund hospitals: We end up with overflowing ICUs. In the middle of a mental health and addiction crisis, we lose programs that I have raised in this House on a number of occasions and with the Minister of Health—and have yet to receive a letter responding to it, even a response. We lose programs like the Portuguese- and Spanish-language community mental health programs at the University Health Network, because hospitals decide they have other priorities.

Those programs, which are so essential in our communities—imagine not being able to receive the important mental health services that you need in a crisis, in a language other than your own without

interpretation available. It’s absurd. It is really another example of how this government is failing communities in this province.

Let’s look also at long-term care: 3,755 residents have lost their lives since April 2020—grandparents, parents, friends, neighbours, elders gone, and with them, many staff, people who dedicated their working life to helping our seniors. We have failed them. There was no iron ring as the death toll kept rising. No one from this government came riding in to the rescue. The minister responsible took no responsibility, and Ontarians had to watch as she stood in this place and blamed everyone else for what was happening.

Fairview Nursing Home in my riding experienced multiple outbreaks. It’s a small home, actually. Fourteen people lost their lives in those outbreaks, which was a significant percentage of the residents there. Many more got very, very sick and, I have to say, their lives may be shorter as a result of that. Staff were ill.

I think we can all agree that we owe it to those who lost their lives to ensure it never happens again and that there is some accountability.

So what does this budget do? Does it take steps to finally get the profit out of long-term care, given that the majority of the deaths were in for-profit homes? Does it attempt to address the issue of the needs of shareholders taking precedence over the lives of residents? No, it doesn’t.

There is no commitment to wage increases for PSWs beyond June 30, 2021. There is no commitment to reinstate comprehensive resident quality inspections in long-term care. There is a commitment to build more beds, which we know are needed, and I hope that the government will fast-track not only the building of them but also the staffing of those beds.

I’ll tell you, Mr. Speaker, last week I met again with Magellan Community Charities, which is a non-profit organization working to build the first long-term-care home specifically for the Portuguese Canadian community, who make up almost a quarter of the population of my riding of Davenport. This would be the first facility of its kind in the province. They are still fundraising for capital in order to qualify for provincial support. The grants are retroactive, so they’re not going to see the money until the facility is under construction.

Why not use this moment, when the failures of our long-term-care system have become so apparent, to invest up front and get this project built sooner? Those seniors helped build our local economy, and they shouldn’t have to wait for culturally appropriate care in their own community. I stand ready to work with the government to make this happen. Will you work with me?

And those essential workers in the construction industry and in food processing who live in my riding are still waiting for paid sick days from this government. This government budget gave them nothing like that. Virtually every single medical expert, the government’s own science table, business organizations and labour organizations have all said that paid sick days would be one of the most effective ways of getting this wave under control, protecting workers’ lives and preventing new infections. And yet this government has resisted it every step of the way.

Mr. Chris Glover: Shame.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Shame on you.

We have a bill ready to be passed right now. We’ve moved unanimous consent countless times day after day, and this Premier has refused to do it. This budget is an opportunity to make that happen. Why not give themselves a win? After the province-wide revolt we’re seeing right now, why not do the right thing for once?

Speaker, you won’t be surprised that I want to move on and speak a little bit about education. In my role as critic, it’s an area I get to spend a lot of time on. I have the great privilege of speaking with teachers and with education workers every week, from all corners of this province. I talk to principals, to trustees, and of course, I really do make time to speak to students themselves, because their voice matters.

It’s been a really hard year; there is no denying that. I know we can all agree. A failure to invest in smaller class sizes, in better ventilation, in a robust in-school asymptomatic testing regime has led to closure after closure. It has brought us to this place. We warned this government, but it has brought us to this place—disruptions that have forced our kids back into remote learning and away from their peers and their supports that they need in school.

Perhaps more than any other

section of the budget, the education

section truly feels like this government thinks the pandemic is over and that there won’t be any issues to deal with after the fact. And maybe that’s no surprise, because less than 24 hours before the Premier shut down Ontario and Ontario schools, the Minister of Education was writing every parent in this province and saying, “Everything is just cool; it’s just fine. Nothing to see here; schools are opening as planned.” What went wrong? How is that even possible? It speaks to deep mismanagement and incompetence.

In this budget, it is clear that COVID-19 supports are being wound down. There is no commitment to reimburse school boards for the depleting, in their words, of $500 million in reserves, which leaves all of our school boards in a precarious financial position for the year ahead. This is not a position they should be put in, and there is still no plan to reopen schools safely. I don’t know if the Minister of Education simply had no influence over this budget or if he simply doesn’t believe that our schools are worth investing in.

We are seeing an entire generation of Ontarians who are going to face setbacks in learning, in future income, in mental health and well-being because of the disruptions and the weak supports offered to them this year. This budget could have charted a way forward. It could have been putting children and youth at the centre of our economic recovery. It could have offered hope. It failed.

School repair funding is exactly the same this year as last year, while the school repair backlog hasn’t changed. By giving that exact same, status quo support year after year, we’re never going to get near to touching that $16-billion backlog that was left behind by the Liberals and then grew under the Conservatives. Surely this pandemic has shown the need for schools that are well-ventilated and safe, with taps that work. I don’t know, call me crazy—touchless faucets in our schools. We have them here at the Legislature; they were put in during this pandemic. Why can’t our kids get the same?

And HVAC systems that actually work. I’ve got to tell you, Mr. Speaker, this is the part that I really don’t understand. I think that we all put our children first. We believe in our children, and we want to see them helped, and we know how hard it is. There is not a person in this room who doesn’t know how hard this has hit children and youth, and it really is outstanding that this government has not addressed that at all in this budget.

Furthermore, I will add that they have not included any acknowledgement here of what the learning needs are going to be next year. We’ll have seen almost two years of learning disruption. Our education workers are doing everything they can with no support from this government—not one day of actual provincial professional development. Unfortunately, this government isn’t doing anything. It has no plan to continue to provide any kind of support.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: Shameful.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Yes.

This budget also included—I’m moving on to small businesses here, Mr. Speaker—a doubling of the problem-plagued Ontario Small Business Support Grant. I know that’s welcome news for businesses in my riding that were actually eligible for the grant, but for those that weren’t, this budget does nothing for them.

Small businesses have been so patient with this government, after they’ve been subjected to lockdown after lockdown. They have written to my office begging that this be the last one. The two-week period when restrictions were relaxed, just as the science table was warning of variants, actually hurt a lot of the small businesses in my community because they staffed up, they bought supplies, they reopened patios—and then they had to shut down again.

I’ll tell you, Mr. Speaker, restaurants and cafes in my riding, when I was going around just as they were opening up again, said to me, “Please tell the government not to do this. This is going to hurt us in the end. It’s not time yet.” They were begging.

My own constituency staff have been overwhelmed with small business owners desperate for answers and information. This second tranche of funding is supposed to be released this week, but I have businesses still waiting for the first payment; it’s outrageous.

The budget could have offered real rent relief for those businesses, and other direct supports. Instead, shops are empty, “For Lease” signs are covering our main streets.

We’re facing the biggest crisis we have ever faced. People are counting on us. They deserved a budget that would give them help and hope. This is not it. It’s reflective of a government that is absolutely out of step with the needs of Ontarians.

Last night, in Toronto alone, 1,000 people joined—sorry, this was two nights ago now—an organizing meeting on Zoom with Toronto MPPs; 6,700 more watched live. Do you know what the focus of the meeting was, Mr. Speaker? The focus of the meeting was: “How do we fight this pandemic, how do we protect one another, and how do we defeat this government?”—because they are hopping mad.

While we work to bring their voices into this place, as we do every week, I want to challenge the members opposite to do some listening of their own. I understand that the Premier planned to do a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser this weekend but they put that off. Well, thank goodness. It is time to listen to ordinary working people in this province. They are struggling in this pandemic. The construction workers in my community, their partners, wives, are calling my office in tears asking why they have to go to work and put their lives at risk. They are sick, and they are in hospital.

Your donors have had enough of your attention. The results are clear in our ICUs right now. It is time to start listening and start acting or get out of the way.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions?

Mr. Jim McDonell: I listened with intent to the opposition member’s talk about schools and classrooms and the need to get smaller classes. I might remind her that our Minister of Education did a lot of work on that line.

They tried, first of all, to deal with the teachers’ unions—to allow retired teachers to come back without penalty. It took over three months of that negotiation until the teachers’ unions—I won’t say “the teachers,” because I have teachers in the family, and they were astounded by this fact—finally agreed to let them work 90 days or 105 days, not even enough to get through the year. And then they had to go back, because they couldn’t get enough teachers. If you even thought of graduating, you had a job this year. Then they went back and allowed second-year students to come back.

If that’s the co-operation you get from schools, what else would you expect them to do? Where were you going to get these—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. Back to the member from Davenport for a response.

Ms. Marit Stiles: Thank you for the question. I have to say, this is a great example of why the people in this province are so unhappy right now.

You are in government.

These are government MPPs asking that question. They have the power. They could have agreed to what the district school boards were asking for, which is smaller class sizes, instead of eradicating that and forcing them to go back to status quo. They refuse to take responsibility over and over and over again. They’re blaming teachers now. They’re blaming the education workers on the front line who have worked so hard to educate our children. That is shameful. That’s all I’ve got to say to that.

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

Mr. Jeff Burch: I want to thank my friend from Davenport, first of all, for doing such a fantastic job as our education critic through all of this.

She raised the issue of school boards being forced by this budget to have to dip into reserves. It reminded me of when I was a city councillor and the budget chair. We were always dealing with some conservative who wanted to dip into reserves to bring in an artificially low tax increase, and we’d have to have this argument about sustainability.

What are the problems with forcing a school board to dip into reserves, and what does that say to sustainability for the future?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Thank you so much to the member from Niagara Centre for that question. The member from Niagara Centre brings so much experience from the municipal side into this House, and we really appreciate it.

As a former school board trustee myself, I can tell you that those reserves—this government treats it like it’s money that’s just sitting there waiting to be spent. This is money that has already been allocated. This will absolutely, without question, force school boards to make cuts. Where are those cuts going to come out of? There’s no way those cuts won’t impact our children. They’re going to come out of classrooms, and then this government is going to turn around—I guarantee it—like they just did, and blame the school boards.

That’s what’s going to happen—$500 million, half a billion dollars, taken out of school board reserves. That is going to come out of our children’s classrooms just at the time when they need additional supports, which is what those boards would have used that money for. This government once again is going to rob from our school boards.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions?

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thanks to the member for your comments today.

I know you touched on the Ontario Small Business Support Grant and the second round of supports coming and how that has affected some businesses in your riding—as I’ve heard from businesses in my riding, as well. Approximately 120,000 small businesses are automatically going to receive $1.7 billion in relief from the second round.

Also, budget 2021 provides an additional $10 million invested in the Digital Main Street program. I had the opportunity to meet with the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction and with the BIA from his area and heard from businesses that took

part in that and actually saw an increase in—one lady gave us an example of 180% in her business, just taking it online. These were businesses that had no online presence before. Can the member comment on what she has heard on that?

How could you not support budget 2021 and the opportunities it will bring for small businesses in your riding?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Thank you for your question.

Actually, as it happens, just yesterday I sent another letter to the minister responsible to explain some of the issues that we’re finding, the themes. We are working every day—my staff—with the minister’s office staff to try to resolve some of these issues, but they keep reappearing.

I’ll give you a good example, something that just recently came up. We have a lot of people in our community who are what I would call makers, creators. They are people who produce goods that they then sell in markets, at the One of a Kind show, things like that. They’re entrepreneurs. They have been shut out from these grants. We’re going to work hard to try to see if we can resolve that. I would welcome the opportunity to work with the government to try to solve that problem, because there are thousands of them who are completely shut out because they don’t actually have a shop.

This is an example of one of the issues, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue to work with the government to solve that.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: This government has made somewhat of a gesture for increasing wages for front-line long-term-care workers, and it’s temporary.

Just recently in PressProgress, there was an

article about how the corporate directors at Chartwell, one of the largest for-profit companies, are voting to give their executives millions in bonuses, and they recommended voting against a living wage for the hard-hit front-line workers. This is a long-term-care provider that has had at least 100 regulatory infractions. They have the highest resident death rates of any provider, and they have class action lawsuits.

So I wondered, why is it that the government has failed in the budget to permanently give front-line heroes the permanent wage increase they deserve? And can you also speak about—you mentioned not-for-profits—why the government is so stuck on not taking profits out of long-term care, such as this example?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Thank you to the member from London–Fanshawe for that excellent question.

It speaks to priorities. We know that. It speaks to priorities in terms of their focus on for-profits—because these are the very companies that are their donors, that are their former leaders, for example, sitting on some of these boards. There are definitely connections there. It’s very unfortunate that expert after expert after expert has said we must remove the profit from patient care and this government has refused again—and the Liberals before them did, as well, let’s just note.

I’ve read that PressProgress piece, as well; that research was excellent.

I want to give you another example of how I think this government is failing. In the Fairview Nursing Home in my riding, just like in long-term-care facilities across the province, they replaced some of the part-time staff who were working in the facility as screeners with security guards. I’d like to know why and how they got those contracts, first of all. But I’ll tell you that that meant that more and more of the women—largely, racialized women—who work in those facilities have less work now.

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

Mr. Stan Cho: The NDP is consistent. For three weeks now, I haven’t heard one fact, one figure, one page number, one graph—nothing referenced from actually within the budget.

The NDP had an opportunity to give their ideas—I heard lots of new ideas for the budget, but why in finance committee, then, did they not offer one amendment? The independent members offered five.

One of the NDP members yesterday admitted that in committee last year, we were able to work together to get an amendment through, to change. It’s an example of the system working, when we join forces to fight COVID-19 instead of just fighting the government.

Speaker, my question to the NDP is very simple: Why no amendments for this budget if they have so many ideas?

Ms. Marit Stiles: Mr. Speaker, this is another example, once again, of the member opposite—and thank you for your question, I guess. This is what the people of this province are seeing every day now and are furious about: this government making excuses, trying to blame everybody else for their failures.

Why would we bring forward amendments that this government is just going to defeat? They’ve defeated every single one.

We laid it out for them. Organization after organization—front-line workers—said, “We need this. We need increased pay. We need paid sick days.” This government ignored them.

Don’t make it about the opposition. Don’t make it about the people of Ontario. Take some responsibility.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time to continue with questions and responses.

Private members’ public business

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): However, I do have an announcement to make, and that is: I beg to inform the House that pursuant to standing order 101(c), a change has been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members’ public business such that Mr. Phillips assumes ballot item number 77 and Ms. Fee assumes ballot item number 83.

Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à protéger la population ontarienne (mesures budgétaires)

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

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Mr. Speaker, good morning. I’m quite happy to stand up and speak today on the government’s third budget.

One might be inclined to think the government’s recent budget might have been copied from a prior government—like the NDP or the Liberal, even. Of course, it’s not, because unlike those budgets, this PC government is spending far more than other governments in the entire history of our province—that’s excluding spending relief related to COVID-19—and has absolutely no path to balance.

Let the record show some of the headlines that this government’s budget has received—and, I might add, from some sources that are quite friendly to the government and happy to routinely give apology coverage. From the Canadian Press: “Ontario’s Long Path to Balance Is a Problem: Experts.” Matt Gurney: “Doug Ford Is No Longer a Budget Hawk.

So What Is He Now?” The National Post editorial board: “Ontario Budget Spends Too Liberally and Has No Clear Path to Balance.” Randall Denley, writing in the National Post: “Upcoming Ontario Budget is Bound to Agitate Both PC Supporters and the Public Sector”—quite the accomplishment there, I must say. Randall Denley in the National Post again: “Ontario’s 2021 Budget Filled with Red Ink, Tired Ideas, and No Plan to Restore Reality.” Yikes.

CBC’s Mike Crawley: “Post-Pandemic Red Ink Is the Most Startling Thing About the Doug Ford Government’s New Budget.” In the Sun: “Ontario Budget 2021: More Per-Child Cash but Decade of Red Ink Looms.” The Fraser Institute: “Ontario’s Latest Budget Will Keep Debt Interest Costs Rising.” Lorrie Goldstein in the Sun: “Ford Government on Verge of a Debt Crisis, Says Report.” Also Goldstein in the Sun: “Ford’s Budget Channels Wynne, McGuinty and Trudeau.” Oof.

And finally, again, the Fraser Institute: “Ford Fiscal Strategy Resembles McGuinty/Wynne Plans—with Predictable Results”—quite the accomplishment for a Premier who spent years vilifying all three, claiming that he was different and saying in the last election campaign that his party was the only fiscally responsible option. What a joke.

It’s amazing, the consistency of this government. I can practically talk about the same points on this budget as I did last November.

So now let’s look at the details and revisit, to a certain degree, last November.

This year’s deficit is projected to be north of $33 billion; the last budget was north of $30 billion. This spending is not temporary and not just due to COVID-19 measures. The PC government is planning on continuing their record spending, and they, again, provide no plan to get back to a balanced budget, stating simply that it will take a decade, 10 years.

I remind the House that a track to balance was a specific promise made by this government in its campaign in 2018, and they have broken that promise, COVID-19 or not.

I remind you again, as I said in November, that prior to COVID-19, this PC government was spending more on an annual basis than the prior government and publicly disclosed that they were not planning on getting back to balance in their four-year mandate—another promise broken.

This government needs a plan to get businesses back up and running as soon as possible. They’ve been forced to close their doors three times over the last year. They need a plan to reduce these historically high spending levels. They need to do so within their four-year mandate, not 10 years from now. They need to provide a plan that would boost Ontario’s economic growth post-coronavirus. They can’t go back to historically low levels of economic growth and exit the recession in this manner.

These levels of spending, where we are projected to be spending over $10 billion on an annual basis just to manage our debt, will impact our province’s ability to continue providing services in education and in health care. As our deficit stays historically high and as our debt load grows, there will come a time when we can’t even afford to maintain what we currently have for health care and what we currently have for education, never mind even making them any better. We’re going to see increased class sizes. Health care times will not decrease; in fact, they’ll increase.

People will have to turn to other options, simply because this province, Ontario, will simply not have any money left to maintain the public services that the taxpayers pay so much for. We will not be able to improve them.

In addition, I’d like to point out that now, three years into this government’s mandate, after promising to put money back in people’s pockets, this budget, much like the last budget, provides no personal tax relief—none. In fact, this government has done a tax increase in its three years that is now permanent as a result of its terrible performance at the Ontario courts and the Supreme Court of Canada, where it threw the carbon tax challenge against the Justin Trudeau Liberal government by conceding two out of the three legal arguments in that case and all the facts.

And this government knew it was losing; of course they did. They didn’t even try to win. That is why they introduced an industrial carbon tax and got it blessed and approved by the federal Liberal government, which provides this provincial government with increased revenues—so, in essence, a tax increase. For industry, it’s a carbon tax; for small business and individuals, there’s no broad-based tax relief after three years of a supposed Conservative government—again, from the government that claimed it would put money back in the pockets of Ontarians.

Mr. Speaker, let’s talk a bit about electricity. This government had complete power and authority to cancel the wind turbine project in North Stormont. They didn’t have to pay any fees, and they used incorrect examples to justify continuing this project.

As has been written by Professor Bruce Pardy of Queen’s University, it requires a bill—not a cabinet order or a ministerial order that results in lawsuits, but a bill in this Legislature, in this House—to cancel and decommission wind turbine projects like the one in North Stormont and any others that we don’t need; a bill, as in legislation that decommissions and sets the compensation, if any. That is because this Legislature has parliamentary supremacy, and past governments cannot bind future governments.

When it comes to taking such actions, I’m sure that the government and its fancy apologists in the media will scoff and say it’s unrealistic. The Minister of Health will say, as she has in the past, that it will drive investment away and turn Ontario into a banana republic.

Yet this government has no problem using that same parliamentary authority to impose more than a year of emergency measures that led to 25,000 businesses shuttering their doors and closing down, putting people out of work; causing harm to people’s mental health that they justify in the name of pretending to stop the spread of COVID-19, which they’ve failed to do, as we see by our new numbers growing every day.

Yet to fight and reverse energy poverty and to grow our economy by reducing electricity rates, by decommissioning expensive wind turbine projects that produce surplus energy that we are dumping into other jurisdictions for pennies on the dollar, this government pretends they cannot figure out what to do. They pretend that they don’t have the power. It’s an absolute shame.

In conclusion, as I’ve said, the people of Ontario wanted a government, voted for a government, gave this government a mandate, to implement fiscally responsible budgets. We’ve had three, none of which have been fiscally responsible. They wanted a government to get electricity rates down, to provide personal tax relief, to get Ontario’s fiscal house in order and, most importantly, to grow our economy. Instead, after three long years, they got a government that is spending heavier than the Liberals and any other government in the history of this great province.

No wonder people don’t trust this government. No wonder people don’t trust governments. They don’t trust decision-makers, and they question what is going on. And that is a most terrible shame.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions?

Mr. Mike Harris: It’s always a pleasure to rise here in the Legislature—especially on this snowy Wednesday morning across Ontario.

It was good to hear the member from Cambridge talk a little bit about the budget and some of the different things that it contains. She was highlighting earlier on in her remarks many of the articles that were printed in the paper and other media over the last little while. She seemed disappointed that the government was spending money on things that, in my mind and to the people I talk to in Waterloo region, are very important at this time, such as health care and education.

So my question to her would be, if she didn’t want us to spend as much money as we’re spending, where would she want that money taken away from?

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Thank you to the member for Kitchener–Conestoga.

I really enjoy this budget topic, this debate. Over the last few days, and even with this question, we’re seeing a Progressive Conservative government asking to spend more: “We’re using the NDP measures. We’ve implemented them. We’re Conservative. Look at us. We’re spending more. We’re just spending.”

We promised—and I’m saying “we” because I was a Progressive Conservative back in 2018, when I believed all the promises. I was saying, “Yes, let’s make this province better. Let’s reduce spending. Let’s have better transparency and accountability.” We got none of that. We got more spending than the Liberals.

You want to spend like a drunken sailor, my friends in the PC caucus? Let’s get some transparency around that money. Let’s see some better improvements in our health care system. You waited three years to put money into health care—three years.

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

Mr. Jeff Burch: It’s always good to hear from my friend from Cambridge.

I’ve known a lot of conservatives in my time, especially in municipal politics. Conservative beliefs can cross party lines. There are issues like, for example, conservation—many conservatives believe in conservation—economic sustainability and those kinds of principles.

This budget, it seems to me, goes away from many of those principles. Actually, it is a budget that, like many of the measures in the last couple of years we’ve seen, rewards the friends of the Conservative Party rather than actually sticking to the principles.

Is that the way you see this budget?

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Thank you to the member from Niagara Centre. There’s a lot in there.

Yes, a lot of things do cross party lines. You’ll see that there are some things that, across the board—regardless of whether you’re voting orange, red, green, blue or yellow—people feel very strongly about. Excessive spending may not be one of those things, especially when not done correctly; especially when there’s no justification; especially when the COVID-19 pandemic is being used as an excuse, when I have highlighted that, in fact, the spending was higher even before COVID-19 hit.

You talk about what is happening in terms of lobbying or things like that. I would also suggest that polling has something to do with it. A lot of decisions are being made on polling. There’s no real policy that the other side believes in—it’s kind of where the wind blows. Unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot of that in the budget.

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

Mr. Stan Cho: Thank you to the member from Cambridge. I understand where she’s coming from in her remarks.

It is certainly important to look at debt and deficits. They matter; there’s no question about that. But as I’ve said in this House before, when the health of the people we serve is at risk, there’s no dollar figure you can put on that, and now is absolutely the time to spend. I defend the Premier and this government in every way in putting no dollar figure on protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people we serve.

My question to the member is, will you be supporting this budget—because there are other measures in talking about the other side of the ledger. It’s not just about expenses; it’s also about revenue, it’s about digitization, it’s about a modernization of procurement and other government services. It’s also looking at non-tax revenue—things like iGaming, which operates in a grey market. Those revenues go offshore, but perhaps, worst of all, they don’t lead to health for those with a gambling problem in this province. Will the member support the non-tax revenue generation ideas, the modernization initiatives to increase the revenue side of this ledger until we’re through this pandemic?

We believe in betting on the people of this province, and we’re confident we can get our fiscal books in order.

This government is the only government in Canada that has been transparent with the people we serve during the entire process of the pandemic.

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Thank you to the member for Willowdale and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance.

No, I’m not supporting the budget, and I said that yesterday, simply because of the fact that it is not a conservative budget.

Mr. Speaker, I want to highlight something here. Every answer that the PCs give as of late has been, “We’ve got to save lives. We’ve got to spend the money.” That is not an answer. Do you know why? Because that’s just an easy way to make everyone sound like they’re a bad guy, someone heartless who wants people to die—no.

What should have happened? Two weeks to flatten the curve back in March—great. We knew nothing about COVID-19. Fine. “Everyone is okay. Let’s hunker down.” We’re learning more. It has been a year. We know who this virus affects. And yet, businesses are being shut down. We are decreasing our tax base and increasing our spending. In what world does this make sense? Where should the money have gone? Long-term care, health care. Who are the people most affected? That’s where the money should have gone.

Why am I saying this? I don’t even know why I talk about these things in the House. They didn’t listen to me when I was on their side; they’re probably not going to listen to me on this side. Maybe I should do a poll. Maybe that will help.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Thank you to the member from Cambridge for her presentation.

As a First Nations person and as an MPP from far northern Ontario, I spoke about some of the issues related to access to clean drinking water. I have 13 First Nation communities that have long-term boil-water advisories. Would this be allowed in Dufferin–Caledon? Would this be allowed in Chatham-Kent–Leamington? Would this be allowed in Cambridge?

What do you think is the issue here? Why will they not invest in access to clean drinking water, which is a basic human right?

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Thank you to the member from Kiiwetinoong. I always enjoy hearing you speak in the House.

The matter you bring up is extremely serious. It’s extremely sad. When you spoke yesterday, I listened intently. To know that there are people who have had 27 years with a long-term water advisory—that’s decades of governments that have failed the people in that riding, and it’s a shame. There really should be money in the budget to help with this situation.

I know that you are advocating for the people in your community. I know there are others advocating for that. My hope is that eventually your cries will fall on ears that are actually open.

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

Mr. Robert Bailey: It’s a pleasure to rise today and place a question to the member from Cambridge.

I was listening to your responses and your remarks, and you mentioned that you’d put money into long-term health care and health care in general.

In the Ontario 2021 budget, our government is taking steps to protect people from this deadly virus and other issues by increasing health investments by $16.3 billion.

Would the member opposite be supporting that unprecedented investment in public health?

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Thank you to the member for Sarnia–Lambton.

I’ll tell you what I do support: the fact that you’ve passed more private member’s bills in this House than, I think, anybody. So congratulations once again on that, because it’s quite impressive. I can’t get even one passed in this place—but that’s a story for another day.

As I mentioned, I will not be supporting the budget.

There have been three years of excessive spending. There had been three years—or a lack of transparency. Things could have been done much better.

As I said in my remarks back on November 18 of last year, 2020, when we had the last budget released—I had made suggestions that are similar to today’s because the budgets are also similar. Those suggestions were not taken into account.

So again, no, I will not be supporting the budget.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions?

Mr. Michael Mantha: I heard the House leader indicate that there were some shortfalls on paid sick days. I heard the Minister of Health also say yesterday that there were gaps. I also heard the Minister of Labour indicating that there were gaps and that they were looking at addressing them.

We know where the pandemic is being spread is in the workplaces. Individuals need to stay at home when they are sick.

Does the member support the call that we’ve been putting forward for paid sick days?

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Thank you to the member from Algoma–Manitoulin. I like this question because no one has asked me this question yet.

I support temporary implementation of paid sick days only if it doesn’t come back to the business owner to have to pay for them. That is what I support. So, short answer, yes, I do support paid sick days.

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

Mr. Lorne Coe: Good morning, Speaker. I’m pleased to join the third reading debate on the budget bill. It’s a budget that’s continuing to invest in the future, in the programs and services Ontarians rely on today and that will be there for them in our post-pandemic world.

With Bill 269—protecting people’s health and our economy—we also provided transparency to the people of Ontario, showing them, even in this time of great economic uncertainty, exactly how the government is spending taxpayers’ dollars responsibly to combat the virus. It’s what Ontarians expect, and it’s certainly what Ontarians deserve.

Today, I want to focus my remarks on the unprecedented supports the government is providing to hard-working families and the job creators in our province, the small businesses of Ontario. We recognize that just as we must make sure that people are healthy, we also must safeguard our economy. That’s why protecting jobs and preparing for Ontario’s economic recovery is a crucial second pillar in our plan, alongside our unwavering commitment to protect people’s health.

Residents and employers have gone far above and beyond the call to protect each other from COVID-19.

While no one could have predicted or prevented this global pandemic, Ontario residents understand that their personal actions can lower the risk of transmission and help protect their families and communities, like the town of Whitby and the region of Durham.

Speaker, I’ve seen first-hand in Whitby the sacrifices people have made to keep their neighbours safe, sacrifices they’ve made even when it impacted their own livelihoods. While these sacrifices have come at a cost—this government will continue to be there to support people, to support jobs, until we can put this difficult period behind us.

Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy brings the government’s total investment to protect Ontario’s economy to $23 billion in direct supports. Through the 2021 budget, we’re taking further steps to support many hard-working families in Whitby and the region of Durham—the many families, workers and employers who have given so much of themselves to help their community withstand the pandemic.

The measures proposed in Bill 269 represent significant steps forward in our plan to protect the economy—not only to get through COVID-19, but to emerge on the other side even stronger. That’s an important distinction: to emerge on the other side even stronger.

This legislation proposes three changes to the Taxation Act, 2007, that will bring direct relief to people and businesses. That’s in direct response to the level of collaboration and the consultation led by our finance minister and parliamentary assistant—to listen carefully across the province to what people’s real needs are in the province of Ontario. I thank them for that.

To provide additional support to parents for child care expenses, the government is proposing a 20% top-up to the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses tax credit, or CARE tax credit, for 2021. The government introduced this tax credit in 2019 to help Ontario families with child care costs while letting them choose the care that is right for their children.

When you speak about choosing the care that’s right for their children, again, it’s absolutely illustrative of the level of consultation that took place across the province, listening carefully to all sectors of the province—in particular, families. I know when I speak to my daughter, Melissa, who lives in the community of Bowmanville—it’s constructed of a lot of young families—this particular aspect is certainly making a difference and will continue to make a difference in their lives. The top-up proposed in Bill 269 would increase support for parents from $1,250 to $1,500, on average.

Total support provided by this temporary top-up would be about $75 million to more than 300,000 families in Ontario. If passed, it will help make child care more affordable for those families struggling to make ends meet during this very trying time, and during a time when child care has become even more important and even more of a challenge for working parents.

Speaker, I know that you’re a new grandfather. Congratulations on that—I know it’s hard to believe, but that is the case. Notwithstanding that, you know what a difference what I’m speaking about is making in your family group as well, going forward.

This support will also help parents get back into the workforce. This is another aspect of what we heard in the consultations that took place across the province.

The parliamentary assistant participated in a number of virtual consultations that I hosted in Whitby—whether it be with the Whitby Chamber of Commerce or whether it be with other sectors across the community. They included people from across all of the region, not only Whitby. Not unlike other communities, we’re developing an economic recovery plan. The time that the parliamentary assistant took to listen carefully to the people in that round table not only informed the budget, but it also informed the construct of the economic recovery plans for the region of Durham—an important distinction going forward, and it’s a segue into what I want to discuss next.

Many of the sectors that have suffered heavy job losses and are experiencing a slower recovery are female-dominated. Our government fully recognizes, as we should, that supporting increased participation by women in the workforce will be critical to Ontario’s economic recovery. In the riding that I have the privilege of representing, we have a number of women entrepreneurs leading successful small businesses. We know that a key factor in enabling the participation of women is having access to affordable child care.

Along with access to affordable child care, people should have access to the training and development that will help them to succeed. You’ve often heard me speak here in the Legislature and say that no one succeeds alone. We’re at a time in the history of this province when people need a hand up.

This government has listened carefully. This budget demonstrates how well we’ve listened. We know that COVID-19 has had a significant impact. Everyone here today and those who are watching know that it has had a significant impact on Ontario’s labour market, and some of its impacts may be long-lasting. Many workers lost their jobs and are still unemployed. This is why Ontario is providing a range of training and employment supports to ensure workers have the skills required to support economic recovery—and that’s the economic recovery that I spoke of, particularly, in the region of Durham. This is a key plank in the region of Durham’s economic recovery plan.

Bill 269 aims to help people connect to jobs by proposing the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit. This would be a temporary refundable personal income tax credit that would ease the burdens on people looking to shift careers, retrain or sharpen their skills. The Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit would provide an estimated $260 million in support to about 230,000 people in 2021, many of whom are included from the region of Durham.

In the region of Durham, you’ll recall, Speaker—when you visit the region, which I hope that you do often—that we’re blessed by having many educational institutions: Ontario Tech University, Trent University and Durham College.

Durham College has a significant regional training centre, a skills development centre, that aligns so well with the training tax credit I just referred to.

This credit would provide up to $2,000 in relief for 50% of eligible expenses, including graphic design programs, heavy machinery training programs and post-secondary courses that provide credits toward a degree, diploma or certificate. It also includes personal support worker training. Those elements that I just described are based on consultation not only with those people who want to retrain but with the educational institutions that I spoke of. It’s also based on the types of jobs that are available from our employer community in the region of Durham.

Without a doubt, this government is committed to training and hiring more personal support workers as part of our plan to fix our long-term-care system, after 15 years of neglect under the previous Liberal government.

The dedicated men and women who serve our seniors as personal support workers have performed heroic work across this great province during the pandemic.

Ontario is initiating the largest recruitment and training of personal support workers in our province’s history, to reduce an unreasonably long wait-list and provide better care for long-term-care residents. It’s our hope that people interested in becoming personal support workers will take advantage of the proposed Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit to help with their training costs, because the people of Ontario need them more than ever.

Speaker, Ontario’s prosperity is built on the strengths of its regional economies. I spoke about the economy of the region of Durham, and I spoke about its economic recovery plan. While the province as a whole experienced positive employment growth between the last recession and the outbreak of COVID-19, the pace of the regional market growth has varied. Areas in and around Toronto, like the region of Durham, experienced more rapid employment growth compared to other areas of the province.

That’s why Ontario introduced the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit in the March 2020 economic and fiscal update to help encourage businesses to invest in areas of the province where employment growth lagged the provincial average between 2009 and 2019. This corporate income tax measure is a 10% refundable tax credit for eligible corporations that build, renovate or purchase eligible commercial or industrial buildings in a qualifying region of the province.

This measure proposed in Bill 269 is to enhance the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit by doubling the tax credit rate from 10% to 20%, a very important distinction and a very needed one. At a critical time, when many businesses are looking to reopen or transition their operations, enhancing the tax credit would provide opportunities for economic growth and job creation. That’s what we want, and I know you would agree.

Positioning the province as a top-tier destination for investment and job creation is critical to supporting long-term economic growth. We know that in the global economy, however, there’s increasingly fierce competition among jurisdictions to attract business investments. To help make Ontario more attractive, more competitive and to transform its approach to business attraction, the government has created Invest Ontario, an agency dedicated to attracting investors to our great province.

As part of the 2021 budget, the government is committing $400 million over four years to create the Invest Ontario Fund, which will support Invest Ontario and encourage investments in the key sectors of advanced manufacturing, technology, and life sciences. Why those three areas? Again, that’s based on the level of consultation across a number of sectors, led by the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Finance. The agency will provide expertise and investment services that are responsive and customized to support investment opportunities.

Services include identifying available financial assistance, talent support, advisory supports and other program assistance overall.

Small businesses that are confirmed eligible recipients of the Ontario Small Business Support Grant will automatically be entitled to a second payment in an amount equal to the first payment that they received, saving them from the red tape of another application form. These two rounds of support will deliver an estimated $3.4 billion to approximately 120,000 small businesses in Ontario, helping them weather this difficult time and protect jobs—protecting jobs across Ontario, but, in particular, protecting jobs in the region of Durham.

You’ll know, Speaker, that the region of Durham, geographically, is the largest in Ontario. In the next five to six years, we’ll have close to a million people in that region, so this particular grant and the effect that it’s having is significant and lasting.

The 2021 budget is investing an additional $10 million in the Digital Main Street program in 2021-22 to help more small businesses achieve a digital transformation and serve customers more effectively online. This particular program has really been a difference-maker with business improvement associations across the province. I can give you any number of examples in the town of Whitby where this has been a significant game-changer.

Speaker, our response to the pandemic has required extraordinary measures, and I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. We’re living in an extraordinary time.

I would like to thank Premier Ford and our cabinet for their heavy lifting through this extraordinary time.

These extraordinary measures have resulted in a growing deficit. While these deficits are neither desirable or sustainable, they are absolutely necessary right now to protect the health and safety of those we serve.

There can never be a doubt that we’re committed to working hand in hand with the people of Ontario, the people we have the privilege of serving every day, to get through this pandemic, to chart a course together—

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. We do have time for some questions.

Ms. Sandy Shaw: To the member: Thank you for your speech this morning.

You talked a lot about early learning and child care. I have a letter in front of me from Today’s Family, which is an excellent organization in my riding. Among other things, they say, “We have provided, and continue to provide emergency child care in addition to child care throughout the pandemic as an essential service for families.

“Now more than ever, it has become clear the importance of child care as an essential service and as an economic driver....

“We urge you to make child care educators in our community, and across the province eligible immediately for the COVID-19 vaccine.”

These educators are begging you to make sure that they’re safe by prioritizing their vaccine.

Also, the issue that you didn’t address: There are tens of thousands of families currently on the waiting list trying to access daycare spaces.

Where in your budget is anything that will make sure these families get a space and that child care workers get the vaccinations they deserve as essential workers?

Mr. Lorne Coe: I thank the member opposite for the question.

Speaker, you will know that as part of our response, we’re building 30,000 spaces, and 20,000 of those particular spaces are on the way overall.

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

Mr. Norman Miller: Thank you to the member from Whitby for his excellent speech and for outlining the parts of the budget that are needed, certainly in Whitby.

In my riding, the hospitality and tourism grant that’s being worked on as we speak and the tourism tax credit that are in the budget are really important for coming out on the other side of COVID-19. The small business grant that is being doubled is certainly very significant.

The member talked about the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit. I know Durham College is in his riding. As we come out on the other side of COVID-19, as the economy starts to boom, how will this tax credit help?

Mr. Lorne Coe: I thank my colleague from my caucus for his question.

The effect of that particular tax credit is immense within the region of Durham. Unlike other particular sectors across the province, we have a number of workers who are retraining—but they have the platform for that retraining from Durham College. It has one of the largest retraining centres in the province of Ontario, and in varying disciplines overall. This particular tax credit for these workers who are retraining is really going to help them and their families to continue to succeed going forward.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): To the member from Whitby: There will be time on the clock when this bill is called back into the Legislature, and you will have an opportunity to complete the question-and-response period.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Jeff Burch: Vaccines are the light at the end of a very long tunnel, but in my community in Niagara, the vaccine rollout has been rife with confusion due to the actions of this government.

We still have no answers on the diverted shipment of 5,000 Moderna vaccines away from Niagara. I’ve heard from countless constituents from all age groups who were told conflicting information for the provincial booking portal and had difficulty booking their appointments.

The province earmarked selected areas for priority access to COVID-19 vaccines, but people across the province were confused when some of the areas with higher case numbers were not selected.

Niagara region’s Medical Officer of Health, in an interview with TVO, stated that they were not consulted and that they did not even receive detail on how the hot spots were selected.

Ontario’s own science table stated that they “did not determine the actual (postal codes) that the government would ultimately prioritize in its vaccine strategy.”

Welland, a city in my riding, has the highest case count per capita in Niagara. The mayor, the CAO and the fire chief have written to the Premier, respectfully and urgently requesting additional shipments of vaccines to protect our community.

Premier, it is imperative that you review the data, listen to the science, and get vaccines into Niagara and communicate clearly so that we can get them into the arms of our citizens as quickly as possible.

Volunteers

Mr. Jim McDonell: I rise today to shine a light on the goodwill and generosity shown by so many individuals and volunteer groups in my riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. When we talk of Ontario spirit, they have shown its true meaning with their innovative ideas and their giving of their time to their communities. These acts of goodwill truly make a difference for so many, especially those who have difficulty getting out during this pandemic.

The Optimist Club of Cornwall hosted drive-through parades for Halloween and Christmas. Cars lined up for over three hours to get through.

The volunteer fire departments and community organizations organized Santa Claus parades and drive-throughs in Finch, Winchester and Crysler.

On an individual basis, neighbours picked up groceries and prescriptions for those who are unable to get out and shop. Others have sewn face masks for friends and neighbours when they couldn’t find them in the stores.

There are also the volunteers who take our long-term-care residents out for a stroll in their wheelchairs and to the local Legion for their Friday luncheon.

In the same spirit, Mrs. Louise Ballantyne of Cornwall noticed that the Premier was constantly having to remove and replace his mask during his daily updates, so to make it easier, she made a number of mask holders and asked me to hand-deliver them to him personally.

All over Ontario, but especially in Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, volunteers are stepping up to make life better for their communities.

Indigenous affairs

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

Earlier this month, we learned the cost of policing at Land Back Lane in Six Nations treaty territory. Between July 2020 and January 2021, Ontario spent $16 million dollars on policing the Haudenosaunee people at Land Back Lane.

Speaker, that could have been all avoided. The nation has repeatedly called on Ontario to engage in a peaceful process that would build a true nation-to-nation relationship. But this call was answered with racist and colonial violence from the OPP and Ontario, and the invitation to the Premier to visit Land Back Lane has been unanswered since day one.

Now the Haudenosaunee Confederacy at Grand River has put in place a moratorium on development in the Haldimand tract. They have said, “Our children are relying on us to protect them. This is a sacred responsibility that every Haudenosaunee person must uphold, and no one, not Canada, Ontario, and certainly no municipality has any right to interfere in our right to protect the lands and waters that belong to our children.”

The council has said they understand that they share the lands and agree to uphold the agreements between our people to live in peace, friendship and trust. It’s time for Ontario to uphold the treaties.

Infrastructure funding

Mr. Norman Miller: Yesterday, I had the opportunity to join the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry for an exciting virtual announcement. We announced that our government will fund 16 projects that resulted from the good work of the Muskoka Watershed Advisory Group. The government has entered into funding agreements with the district of Muskoka for 15 projects and the town of Bracebridge for one project.

We are investing $4.25 million in these projects to address three main issues: The first is a long-term goal of creating an integrated watershed management strategy for the Muskoka watershed, the second is addressing flood mitigation in the shorter term, and the third is ensuring the health of the watershed and water quality.

These projects have all come from the 19 recommendations made by the Muskoka Watershed Advisory Group.

I want to take a moment, again, to thank the members of this group for their hard work and dedication to ensuring the health and future of the Muskoka watershed.

Thankfully, this spring has not brought flooding or high water within the Muskoka watershed, but after significant flooding three times in the past decade, water levels are an annual worry for many residents. That’s why I’m pleased to see funding for a number of projects that focus on flood mitigation. Many of these projects will involve a great deal of community involvement in consultations and in more formal roles within a community round table and task force. I hope that residents who are interested in protecting our beautiful lakes, rivers and wetlands will get involved with these projects.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Michael Mantha: I’ve been in my seat over the last couple of months listening to this government make statements, as far as misleading—a disservice towards the opposition—when they’re raising the concerns that have been raised by many health care professionals across this province and community leaders in regard to bringing in paid sick days. We know that the federal sickness wage replacement program can only be accessed if a worker contracts COVID-19 and cannot be used to cover vaccination appointments. This is a fact. This government has been steadfast in their position, claiming that the federal program answers all the needs of workers across this province.

Recently, I’ve heard some backtracking coming from the House leader, coming from the Minister of Health yesterday during an interview, coming from the Minister of Labour. I hope—and these are giving me signs—that this government will be supporting our opposition motion that we will be bringing this afternoon in regard to focusing on bringing vaccinations to essential workers and bringing in paid sick days to workers across this province. It is my hope that we will finally see this done by this government. We heard from many municipal leaders across this province. We have heard from the experts at the table.

What I am asking this government and pleading with this government—support the vaccination of essential workers. This afternoon, you have the opportunity to bring in paid sick days.

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

Environmental protection

Mr. John Fraser: We all got a bit of an April surprise today, and I do have to say walking to Queen’s Park this morning was really quite peaceful and beautiful. The place looked great. It was very healing. Nature always finds a way of giving us what we need, so we have to give nature what it needs.

April 22 is Earth Day. It’s a celebration of the world’s largest environmental movement.

In fact, every day is Earth Day, and it’s up to all of us together to protect our planet.

Climate change is the greatest challenge for our generation. It is vital that we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. I was proud to be part of a government that understood this and that introduced a plan to reduce our carbon footprint.

This government has gone in the opposite direction. They ended the cap-and-trade program and put nothing in its place. They axed the Environmental Commissioner. They gutted conservation authorities. They passed legislation allowing a minister to pave over a wetland to build a warehouse. And now they want to spend billions of dollars on a highway through protected lands that nobody wants.

Speaker, good environmental policy is good economic policy.

To quote Ernest Hemingway, “The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.”

COVID-19 immunization

Mr. Mike Harris: Earlier this week, I was pleased to share some exciting news with Kitchener–Conestoga and all of Waterloo region: As of yesterday, everyone 40 and older is now eligible to get the AstraZeneca vaccine at participating pharmacies and through certain primary care physicians.

COVID-19 has touched nearly every aspect of our lives and has presented challenges that no one could have predicted. But we are getting closer to defeating this deadly virus, and the best way to do that is through vaccines.

Let me be clear: All of the vaccines that Health Canada has approved for use in Ontario are safe and effective. Vaccines are the best way to protect your health and the health of those around you. And your first choice for a vaccine should be the first one that is available to you.

There are over 50 pharmacies across Waterloo region offering the AstraZeneca shot, in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Breslau, New Hamburg, Baden and Elmira.

If you live in Breslau or the surrounding area—this Saturday, the Waterloo Region Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic is also holding a vaccination clinic at Breslau Commons pharmacy. These nurses will be using their day off to get vaccines into as many arms as possible.

So, please, if you are eligible, visit ontario.ca/pharmacycovidvaccine to book your shot today.

There is a light at the end of this very long tunnel, and the more people who roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated, the sooner we can turn the corner.

Stewart Cruikshank

Mr. Peter Tabuns: I stand to recognize and thank Stewart Cruikshank. Stewart retired this month as the executive director of Don Valley Community Legal Services. He started out as staff lawyer at East Toronto Community Legal Services, was executive director there, and then executive director of the merged unit.

I want to thank Stewart for all the work he did to protect tenants. For a number of years now, we’ve been dealing with renovictions in my riding. People would find out that their landlord had sold their building, and a new speculative landlord came in, intimidating people, harassing them, in some instances trying to bribe them to get them out because they knew they could make a fortune.

Stewart made himself available to those tenants. If it was a Sunday morning meeting in somebody’s living room, if it was a Tuesday evening in a parking lot behind the building, if it was in a room in a recreation centre, he came, he brought legal knowledge, he calmed people down, and he gave them the tools they needed to fight and protect themselves. He did an extraordinary job.

I want to thank him on behalf of my riding, Toronto–Danforth, for all he did to help protect people’s homes and make their lives better. Thank you, Stewart Cruikshank.

Holocaust memorial

Mrs. Robin Martin: I rise today to thank this House for passing my motion—motion number 155—to establish a Holocaust memorial by unanimous consent on Monday morning.

As we did not have the opportunity to debate this motion through the usual process, I just want to put a few words about the motion on record.

Motion number 155 states that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario will, in broad consultation and direct engagement with Ontario’s Jewish community, establish a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of the assembly no later than 2025.

Earlier this month, we marked Yom ha-Shoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, which is Israel’s official day of commemoration for the six million who perished at the hands of the Nazi regime. Yom ha-Shoah, of course, is widely observed outside Israel, as well, by the Jewish community and others. In years past, these commemorations would happen in person, and I have attended many of them at synagogues in and near my riding. I recall outdoor ceremonies at Mel Lastman Square, as well.

Last year and this year, many of those commemorations went virtual. But make no mistake; there will come a time when we can gather together in person once again to mark this tragedy.

I think a permanent memorial on the grounds of the Legislature will establish an excellent place for those gatherings to take place in the future, an excellent place for us to remember and reflect on the horrors of the past, and an excellent place to affirm, “Never again.”

Small business

Mr. David Piccini: It’s an honour to rise in the House today.

This past year has been incredibly difficult on the people of Ontario, as governments across Canada and across the globe battle the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the health and well-being of their citizens.

I want to take a special moment to highlight the remarkable work of our small businesses. These small businesses are the backbone of our economy, the lifeblood of small communities like mine. This pandemic has not been equitably felt by everyone, and it has been harder on many of our small businesses.

It’s hard being a small business at the best of times, but I think to my friend George from Olympus Burger, who I spoke with the other night, who has pivoted well with takeout and who has stood tall, offering gift cards to support other small businesses in our community.

I think to Jess Dodd, new owner of the Beamish in Port Hope, and what should have been the most exciting summer of her life, but who has instead been navigating the pandemic; salon owners like Ben in Newcastle, whose stories will forever be etched in my mind; Rino Ferreri in Cobourg; Gina Boyd in Brighton; Sharpe’s Food Market in Campbellford, which had an army of volunteers delivering food to the most needy; and Rob from Wrap It Up-N-Go in Norwood, who dealt with the tragic passing of his dad, but who has pivoted to continue to grow that business.

This member’s statement isn’t about the supports; this member’s statement is about them—the work that they do in our community, the selfless attitude, the get-up-and-go attitude every day, the backbone of our economy.

I thank you, and I appreciate the work you’re doing. We all in this place and in this country owe you a debt of gratitude.

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

I’ve been informed that the Leader of the Opposition has a point of order she wishes to raise.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to ensure that today’s debate on opposition day motion number 4, calling for an essential workplace safety plan with paid sick days and paid time off for vaccinations to protect Ontario workers and businesses from COVID-19, starts no later than 4:30 p.m. this afternoon.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Leader of the Opposition is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to ensure that today’s debate on opposition day motion number 4 starts no later than 4:30 p.m. this afternoon. Agreed? I heard a no.

The member for Ottawa South has informed me he has a point of order.

Mr. John Fraser: I seek unanimous consent to move a motion regarding the immediate passage of Bill 247, the Paid Personal Emergency Leave Now Act.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The opposition is seeking the unanimous consent of the House to move a motion regarding the immediate passage of Bill 247. Agreed? I heard a no.

The government House leader has informed me that he has a point of order that he wishes to raise, and I’ll recognize him now.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I’m seeking unanimous consent that the House return to orders of the day today at the ordinary hour of adjournment and that it meet until midnight.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader is seeking the unanimous consent of the House that the House return to orders of the day today at the ordinary hour of adjournment and that it meet until midnight. Agreed? I heard a no.

It is now time for oral questions.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, we’re in big trouble here in Ontario. We now have 790 patients in ICUs in our province—72 new admissions over the last 24 hours—and 32 more people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in that time, just in this last day.

We know very clearly what to do. The science table has set out very clear and simple recommendations as to the measures that the government needs to be taking. Of course, one of those key recommendations is paid sick days.

My question to the Deputy Premier is: After a year of ignoring this advice to bring paid sick days to Ontario—the advice from the science table and so many others—is the government finally prepared to listen?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: As the Leader of the Opposition will know, of course, we moved very quickly on this a number of months ago, with respect to paid sick days. The Premier negotiated a very comprehensive agreement.

As I said earlier in this House—I believe it was Monday—we were disappointed that the federal budget did not include some of the enhancements that we had asked for, that we were assured would be in that budget. Given those enhancements that we had advocated for—we have been very clear that the government of Ontario will be coming forward with additional enhancements in the very, very near future.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but we know what the track record is of this Ford government. The two measly sick days that we had in Ontario were cancelled by this Ford government—one of the first things they did when they took office.

What has changed, now that the government finally acknowledges that paid sick days are exactly what Ontario workers need and deserve, when, for the last year, they’ve been saying it was the wrong thing?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Obviously, just the opposite—that’s why the Premier worked hard to ensure that there was a very comprehensive made-in-Ontario plan, a plan that was, quite frankly, applauded by the leader of the NDP federally, somebody who used to sit in this chamber.

In fact, in a press release many months ago, the national leader of the NDP, whose convention the Leader of the Opposition recently spoke to, made a great deal of hay out of the fact that he had negotiated a nationwide sick benefit for all Canadian workers.

There have been certain changing circumstances. We’ve seen that variants of concern are troubling. We’re seeing troubling circumstances at our border, as the vaccine supply has not materialized the way it should have. It’s very clear that we need to supplement the original plan that was negotiated by the Premier. Given that there’s a $700-million surplus in that program, given the failure of the federal government to move on it, we will be moving on it very quickly.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Entire families are in the ICUs of Ontario because of this government’s inaction when it comes to paid sick days. We can’t wait another week for the Premier to dilly-dally around doing the right thing for our workers in this province. We’re over a year into this pandemic. Workers have lost their lives. Young mothers are in ICUs with COVID-19, getting sick. Children have lost their parents.

This government can no longer ignore the science. It can no longer come forward with half measures and delays.

When will the government bring forward a real, effective paid sick day program for Ontario’s workers?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Obviously, as I just said, given the failure of the federal government to address the challenges, the obstacles in the current Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, the province of Ontario will be moving to supplement that for Ontario workers.

We understand how important essential workers are to the province of Ontario—and not just the front-line workers in our health care system, who have been extraordinary heroes throughout this, but, yes, those workers who have kept the supply chain going. When we go to our grocery stores and we see the cashiers—when we go to the grocery stores and are able to buy things, it’s because somebody is working somewhere to ensure that we have the ability to do that.

That is why we worked so hard with the federal government to ensure that there was an original benefit for workers. We thought we had been explaining to the federal government that, given the lack of vaccines and given the shortage of vaccines, that had to be supplemented.

I was very clear on the measures that we think needed to be taken, and the government of Ontario will be moving quickly to make sure that that happens.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Deputy Premier.

Yesterday, I was joined by Dr. Danyaal Raza to talk about the need for paid sick days in our province. He was pleading, like so many others, with the government for a true paid sick day program where workers don’t lose any pay if they stay home sick. Working people don’t take sick days if they think they’re going to lose pay. So it’s a matter of acting, but getting it right.

My question to this government is: Will they do exactly the right thing and make sure that no worker will lose pay by taking a paid sick day, that they will be fully paid when they stay home sick?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Of course, we moved very quickly to protect workers in the province of Ontario, with respect to protecting their employment as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.

We did work very closely with the federal government for a number of months—where the federal government was to handle transfers to people and individuals and the province of Ontario would focus on health, long-term care and education.

But as the control of variants—we’ve seen the challenges that we’re facing at the border—as the supply of vaccine failed to materialize in the way it should have or the way we were told, and given the failure of the federal government to move on Monday as we were assured they would—it is absolutely correct: We need to ensure that these essential workers, who are so important not only to the economy but to ensuring that we can get through this pandemic, are taken care of.

We will be moving on the exact same things that I mentioned in this House on Monday.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The last thing that sick and dying workers in this province need are empty platitudes from government. It’s too late for any of that. We see what’s happening to the workers in this province because the Premier refused to act.

What we need is a program for paid sick days that is easy for people to see through, easy for people to take advantage of, where there are no barriers, where there are no requirements for doctors’ notes, where there are no application forms required, where there is no waiting for benefits. This is the kind of program that’s necessary to actually help workers to stay well. In fact, my colleague from London West’s Bill 239 does exactly those things.

So will the government today commit to a barrier-free, accessible paid sick days program like is outlined in Bill 239? Just vote for that bill, and we’ll be good.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, we will be working very quickly to fill the gaps that the Canada sickness response benefit currently has. As I said, we were assured that those gaps would be filled—like a number of members, I too was disappointed to see in the federal government budget on Monday that that didn’t exist. I was even more surprised when they celebrated a $20-billion surplus in their pandemic response.

Having said that, the Leader of the Opposition is quite correct: Those essential workers who are working to keep this economy going, but more importantly, to help us get through this pandemic—workers like those at Novo plastics in the riding of Markham–Unionville. These are people who are working very hard every single day. They’re working at more than one job, in many circumstances. It is very difficult for them. They had a benefit that was there. It does not go far enough, especially given the fact that we have not been able to vaccinate and get the supplies of vaccines in as quickly as we were told they would be—in February, March, April, and now heading into May.

The government of Ontario is going to move quickly to fill the gaps that the federal government left behind, and that is coming very shortly.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, we all know that doctors, nurses, experts, the government’s own science table, have been pleading with this Ford government for over a year to do the right thing when it comes to working people in this province. The stakes could not be higher, as we all know. The ICUs are bursting at the seams. Front-line health care workers are working off their feet. They are stressed. They are fearful, going into work every day, to see what might be facing them at every shift.

The government needs to do the right thing. They need to bring in paid sick days, and they need to bring in a program that works for working people.

The NDP has a motion today on the order paper that is supposed to be debated. It calls for paid sick time off. It calls for paid vaccination time off.

Will the government do the right thing: Stop trying to get rid of that NDP opposition day motion, debate that motion with us, and then support us and start working to save workers’ lives?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I do appreciate the question from the Leader of the Opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition herself just refused unanimous consent to have the legislative session today go through until midnight on the order paper. I know she’s very upset about this, but on the order paper are two very brief motions which will not take away from the opposition day timing with respect to night sittings going forward to the end of the session. I think it’s very important.

With respect to the opposition day motion on the order paper, I can tell the Leader of the Opposition very clearly, we will not be supporting that motion, because it is vague, it does not provide enough specifics.

As the Leader of the Opposition just said, we have to provide the people of the province of Ontario, the essential workers of the province of Ontario, who have been working so hard to keep this economy going, but more importantly, to help us get through this pandemic—we need to give them real measures. In light of the fact that the federal budget didn’t accomplish that, we will—no half measures.

That’s why we will not be supporting that motion. I look forward to the fulsome debate on it this afternoon.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Sara Singh: My question is for the Premier.

The science table is clear that non-essential workplaces must be shut down to save lives and to save workers from contracting COVID-19.

Yesterday, a group of 40 doctors, medical professionals and scientists released an open letter: “Ontario is now facing the most challenging health crisis of our time. Our case counts are at an all-time high. Our hospitals are buckling. Younger people are getting sicker. The disease is ripping through whole families.”

The government is still not listening to these experts.

In Peel, chief medical officer Dr. Loh had to take steps to protect workers because this government clearly won’t. Dr. de Villa in Toronto echoed similar sentiments. Dr. Loh has said that, in the absence of paid sick days, he was left with no other choice, and that’s why he issued an order to close any workplaces with outbreaks of five or more cases.

Why is the Premier refusing to protect workers in Brampton and Mississauga, as their own science table is recommending?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Just to be clear: These are, of course, authorities that the chief medical officers of health of Peel and Toronto have had throughout this pandemic. These are not new measures. In fact, as I said, they’ve had these authorities throughout.

We have, of course, done a number of measures to address hot spots and essential workplaces, even given the fact that the vaccines have not materialized as we were promised they would in February, March, April and now heading into May. We have moved vaccines so that we can go directly into hot spot communities. We’ve gone into these essential workplaces so that we can ensure that we are getting vaccines to them quicker. I think that ultimately that’s what the workers in the essential workplaces I’ve talked to want. They want to be working, and the way that we can ensure that they are working is by getting vaccines in their arms. In the absence of that, we have to protect those workers.

In the absence of federal leadership on this, the province of Ontario will fill the gaps that we were assured would be closed on Monday. They weren’t, and we will take action to ensure that they are.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: Speaker, what workers want in the province of Ontario is paid sick days and actually to be protected by this government. But they continue to ignore those pleas. The science table made it abundantly clear yesterday. They wrote, “The list of what stays open must be as short as possible.”

We know from Dr. Loh’s orders that workplaces in Brampton and the rest of Peel continue to be unsafe, but this government hasn’t enforced additional safety measures in any of those workplaces. They haven’t provided paid sick days or prioritized workers in these warehouses and workplaces for vaccines. As a result of this, people are risking their lives, getting COVID-19 and spreading this to their families. This is putting our ICUs in distress. What does this government not understand about this?

My question is simple: Has the government calculated the cost of providing paid sick days to workers versus the cost of their inaction and the cost to our health care system and economy?

Hon. Paul Calandra: As I just said, Mr. Speaker, we have made significant movements with respect to ensuring that our essential workers could be safe. That is why the Premier negotiated the initial Canada sickness response benefit. We were assured that on Monday that would be supplemented to fill in some of the gaps that we had, especially in light of the fact that the vaccines did not arrive in February, March, April and now probably heading into May, and despite the fact that our international borders were causing us tremendous difficulties.

The member is right: We have to do more to protect essential workers, and that’s what we are doing. We’re transitioning to ensure that essential workplaces are vaccinated. We’re ensuring that hot spots are vaccinated. Despite the lack of supply from the federal government, there’s almost—if I’m not mistaken—close to four million Ontarians who have received their first vaccination. We’re getting the job done. More has to happen—it’s unfortunate that that didn’t happen in Monday’s budget, as we were assured it would.

We will move quickly to ensure that all essential workers, who are so important to getting past this pandemic, are protected.

Border security

Mr. Dave Smith: We’re in the middle of a dangerous third wave of COVID-19—a wave largely caused by variants of concern brought here from other countries.

Yesterday, in India alone, more than 300,000 daily new cases were reported and 2,000 deaths—a third of yesterday’s global case counts. While it’s not yet confirmed by public health authorities, the evidence seems to suggest that the new double mutant variant B.1.617 may be more virulent, more transmissible and may be responsible for India’s overwhelming second wave.

Mr. Speaker, it’s really very simple: We need to close our borders to stop the variants from getting in.

Will this government call on the federal government to secure international borders immediately?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member is right.

Let me first say this: We have really enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the people of India, so our hearts go out to them. We understand how difficult this is for them. They have been incredible partners for us.

I’ve heard from a number of my constituents who have family back in India who are very concerned about this.

But ultimately—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I can’t exactly hear what’s being said by the opposition, but I would caution you. And please stop heckling.

Government House leader to reply.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, what we’re calling on is that the federal government do a better job of securing our borders. This is very, very important. We have seen variants of concern coming from other international jurisdictions into the province of Ontario, into Canada, and the federal government has to do a better job of helping us secure these borders. Hundreds of people are coming in, landing every single day, bringing in more variants of concern, and we have to get a handle on this.

So I say very clearly to the Prime Minister, please close down our international borders.

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

Mr. Dave Smith: In the last two weeks, there have been at least 17 flights from India to Toronto with confirmed COVID-19-positive cases. On these 17 flights, more than 260 rows of passengers were deemed “affected” by the confirmed cases. This could represent literally thousands of possible exposures.

The right thing to do is to secure the borders, and only the federal government can do that.

Will this government insist that the federal government act now before it is too late?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, it’s a very, very good question.

It is very important—it is essential—that the Prime Minister heed the words of those provinces that still have international flights coming in. It is time that we get control of the borders. I’m pleading with the Prime Minister that he take action to secure our borders.

These variants of concern that are coming from international jurisdictions are having a dramatic impact on places like Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and we have to do all that we can to secure our borders to stop this from happening—and it’s not only about importing variants of concern; it’s about exporting it, as well. It’s about Canadians going to other jurisdictions and people coming to this country. This is an enormous problem in Canada right now.

I am pleading with the Prime Minister to secure our borders so that we can get control of these international variants. We saw what happened with the Brazilian variant. We saw what happened with the UK variant. We saw what happened with the South African variant. He needs to take control of those borders so that we can get control of this pandemic here in the province of Ontario and across Canada.

COVID-19 response

The Premier managed to shock Ontarians once again by planning a political fundraiser with tickets costing $1,000 per person in the middle of a disastrous third wave. This week’s fundraiser has now been postponed. But over the last week, the Premier has held a slew of cash-for-access fundraisers—and charging thousands for a chance to meet the Premier—while our hospitals are overrun with COVID-19 patients in ICUs.

Why is this Premier meeting with donors instead of the doctors and experts who can get us through this crisis?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: In fact, that is what not only the Premier but I would certainly hope all members of this Legislature have been doing—meeting with officials in their ridings; meeting with constituents in their ridings. I know that I have been doing that on a daily basis, and I would hope that all members—in fact, I know that all members have been doing that.

This Premier has been working non-stop since well before the pandemic to put the province of Ontario back on the right track. We inherited a devastating situation—whether it was out-of-control budgets, whether it was a health care system that hadn’t received proper investments in over a decade, long-term care that was a mess, transit and transportation systems that were outdated and needed renewal. This Premier got to work right away.

When the pandemic hit, this Premier moved into action right away—and it wasn’t just this Premier; it was all of the colleagues on this side of the House. And to the great credit of all members of this Legislature, we all worked together to help defeat this pandemic.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and if we continue to work together, we will get past this.

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

Mr. Michael Mantha: Again to the Deputy Premier: This question is about the priorities of this Premier and this government.

The essential workers this government calls heroes could never afford these exclusive fundraisers, but those are the people the government needs to hear right now.

Last Thursday’s fundraiser happened at the same time cabinet was supposed to be meeting to plan a response to the COVID-19 crisis.

In the middle of an unprecedented crisis, will this government finally focus on the issues that matter to all Ontarians?

Hon. Paul Calandra: That is what we have continued to do right from the beginning.

I note that the Leader of the Opposition actually spoke at the NDP national convention last week or the week before, and I would have hoped that she would have brought a message to her former caucus colleague and now the leader of the NDP in Ottawa—a message that we needed the federal government to live up to its commitment to improve the Canada sickness response benefit. But that’s not the message the leader of the official opposition took to a partisan convention.

Instead, I will ask her this, point-blank: Will she call her national leader and suggest to him that he vote against the federal budget—a federal budget that had $20 billion in unspent pandemic response, a federal budget that did not improve the Canada sickness response benefit the way we were hoping? Will the Leader of the Opposition, will all of the members of the NDP stand in their place and ask their federal leader to vote against that federal budget, because it didn’t meet the needs of the people of the province of Ontario?

COVID-19 response

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: My question is for the Solicitor General.

Last Friday, this government tried to turn Ontario’s police forces into its own political enforcement service by stating that officers could now randomly ask pedestrians and motorists for their identification and why they aren’t at home. We were then led to believe that the government “walked back” these regulations, as the Solicitor General publicly stated that the new regulation would add a belief requirement. Unfortunately, upon reading the regulation—there is no belief requirement imposed on an officer, and this government didn’t walk back anything. In fact, the rewritten regulation is now even worse.

Will the Solicitor General admit that she didn’t properly explain the rewritten regulation and confirm that the new regulation has tossed away one’s right to remain silent by compelling them to give the police information, and has allowed the police to question people based not on a belief but on a suspicion that someone is attending an outdoor gathering?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: As I’ve said continuously, it is critical for all Ontarians to respect the stay-at-home order to prevent people getting COVID-19. We need to stop the spread.

Although the vast majority of Ontarians have respected the public health measures put in place, individuals continue to put others at risk by gathering with those outside of their household.

Our priority has always been to address and discourage gatherings and crowds that violate the stay-at-home order. We have the potential to do this right and to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to give our ICU capacity the space they need to protect people across Ontario.

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

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: Last year, I encouraged the Solicitor General to read Bill 195, and now I’m encouraging her to read her own regulations that clearly state “reason to suspect” and an “officer may require an individual to provide information.” With those two lines, this government has turned the police into judge and jury. And it didn’t take long to see the results.

Reports appeared from Gravenhurst of a boy being taken to the ground by officers because he failed to identify and because the officer said, “You don’t talk to an adult like this.”

Mr. Speaker, if being rude was a crime, at least half of the Ontario PC Party establishment would be in jail. But being rude is not supposed to be a crime in Ontario.

Does the Solicitor General see that the language in her regulation that says individuals have to provide information and no longer have the right to remain silent can lead to physical clashes between officers and individuals who aren’t doing anything wrong, like we saw in Gravenhurst?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: We have reinforced and refocused O. Reg. 8/21, “Enforcement of COVID-19 Measures.” If a police officer or other provincial offences officer has reason to suspect that you are participating in an organized public event or social gathering, they may require you to provide information to ensure you are complying with the restrictions. As I have said repeatedly, this is all about ensuring that people only go out when it is absolutely necessary, to ensure that we limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect our intensive care bed capacity.

Border security

Mr. Dave Smith: Just last week, the medical officer of health in my region confirmed that we have the highest percentage of variants of concern in our region.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Trudeau was asked by the media why the borders are still open to international jurisdictions with high rates of COVID-19 cases and new and emerging variants of concern. The Prime Minister said that officials would “look at what the UK has done, suspending flights from” other jurisdictions and what more can be done and should be done to ensure we’re not getting cases from overseas. The Prime Minister suggests that there’s a lot to look into here and that there is a lot to study.

While the federal government looks into this, perhaps this government can tell us exactly what needs to be done to ensure that we aren’t bringing in variants of concern from outside of Ontario.

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: I would say to the honourable gentleman, it’s a very good question—but it is also about us exporting.

Again, let me reiterate to the people of the province of Ontario and to Canadians in general: As much as we have seen an influx—and we are seeing daily an influx—of other jurisdictions and international variants of concern into the province of Ontario, it is also very important that we do our job to not export COVID-19 to other jurisdictions.

The province of Ontario has led the way with respect to our international airports—we’ve asked the federal government to do that. Isolation centres—we asked the federal government to do that.

When you’re looking at those variants of concern—other jurisdictions have moved more quickly to restrict access to their countries. We have to get control of our international airports, in particular, and our border crossings. These variants of concern are very, very troubling, and when combined with the lack of supply that we’re seeing in vaccines over the next number of weeks, it is very important.

I plead with the Prime Minister: Take action on our international borders soon.

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

Mr. Dave Smith: This is a very serious situation. We have thousands of flights each month and tens of thousands of people flying into this country, potentially with exposures to COVID-19.

At the outset of this pandemic, Canada closed its borders; other jurisdictions have done the same. We’ve looked at Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, for example.

Mr. Speaker, when will Canada take action?

Will this government do everything in its power to call on the federal government to secure our borders and protect Canadians from the dangerous new variants of COVID-19?

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member is correct.

We hold our hands out to the federal government—we want to work with you on this the way we did with testing at Pearson airport. It was, of course, this government that started testing of international travellers at Pearson airport. A number of weeks later, the federal government did help out on that. It was this government that led the way on isolation centres for those international travellers who were coming into the country and needed to isolate because they were bringing in—those who had brought in COVID-19.

We want to work with the federal government to ensure that our borders are secure. These international variants of concern are causing a dramatic impact on our ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s not just about those who come here, but it’s also about Canadians exporting to other countries.

So I plead with the Prime Minister: Work with us to secure our international borders so that we can put all the necessary resources that we need to into ensuring that the people of the province of Ontario and the people of Canada are safe.

COVID-19 immunization

Ms. Sandy Shaw: The L9K area in my riding of Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas is currently dealing with an alarming outbreak of cases and positivity rates. But because the Premier and the Conservatives chose their own political fortunes over the people of Hamilton, we still can’t get our fair share of vaccines or the extra support that we need to keep people safe.

Speaker, my question this morning is to the Deputy Premier.

This week, we learned the Auditor General is now looking into the PC Party’s politicization of postal codes.

My question: When will you stop playing politics and start listening to the experts who are begging you to do your job and keep people safe?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I would say to the member opposite, through you, Speaker, that I absolutely disagree with the elements of your statement.

The hot spots were identified initially by the science advisory table. Working with the information that was available through Public Health Ontario, they were then reviewed, taking into consideration other elements such as hospitalizations in that area, ICU admissions, fatalities, issues with respect to language, socio-economic factors, vaccine hesitancy. A number of additional factors were brought into that decision, which was then brought before the vaccine task force and was accepted by the task force. That is the basis upon which we are doing the vaccinations.

Making sure that 25% from the top of all vaccinations be further allocated equitably among all of the 34 public health unit regions, based on population, is making sure that they have those extra vaccines in those hot spots to halt transmission in those areas, which will help all of Ontario.

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

Ms. Sandy Shaw: I appreciate the answer, but I think we’ll be interested to see what the Auditor General actually has to say about this issue.

Every day, I hear from front-line workers, teachers, child care workers, grocery store clerks—hundreds of people—who, despite putting their lives on the line every day, still can’t get a vaccine.

Mr. Speaker, you will know the science table has been clear, and they said so again yesterday: We need to get more vaccines and more supports into hot spot areas, and we need to ensure that those at the highest risk of catching COVID-19 are being protected. That means vaccinating front-line workers.

So again, my question, through you, Mr. Speaker, and to the Deputy Premier: Will you listen to the science table this time, or are you going to pretend that you know better?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have been listening to the advice of the medical experts and taking their advice. The entire vaccination rollout plan was designed with the assistance of the medical advisers, with a bioethics table—to advise that we need to vaccinate based on age and risk, and concentrate in the vaccine hot spots. That is exactly what we are doing. That is why we have designated the top 25% of vaccines to go to those public health units where they’re having particular difficulty—and I would specifically mention Peel and Toronto, where a lot of the hot spots exist right now.

The issue is supply of vaccine. We are being supplied with vaccines, as the member will know, by the federal government. We had delays in vaccines through part of February into early March. We’re receiving more vaccines from Pfizer now. The AstraZeneca—we will be receiving more. Moderna has been delayed three times, and the supply has been cut in half.

But I can advise that as of yesterday, we were able to administer 136,353 vaccines, so we are—

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

COVID-19 response

M me Lucille Collard: My question is for the Solicitor General.

Last Friday, I think we can all say that there was collective shock and frustration felt across the province over the proposal of sweeping and dangerous police powers—so much so that even regional police services spoke out against these enforcement measures.

Then, on Monday, many essential workers commuting from Gatineau to Ottawa found themselves caught in hours-long traffic jams while Ottawa police were stretched thin trying to monitor seven crossing points.

It seems like there was absolutely no coordination or consultation done ahead of Friday’s announcement, resulting in confusion and frustration for so many people across the province.

Did the Solicitor General and the government consult with any of our municipalities and regional police services before their announcement of outrageous policing policies?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: As I’ve mentioned, the COVID-19 variants of concern continue to pose a significant threat to Ontario citizens, and those variants come to Ontario from other jurisdictions. That’s why our government issued an emergency order restricting travel into Ontario through land and water crossings from the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec, while continuing to advocate to the federal government to restrict travel from federally regulated aviation. I think it’s important to note that the province of Quebec has instituted a similar travel ban into their jurisdictions.

Local police services are best positioned to determine the operational deployments necessary to ensure the continued safety within their communities.

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

M me Lucille Collard: Again to the Solicitor General: Racialized and low-income Ontarians have already shouldered a disproportionate share of the pandemic’s negative impacts.

The science table made clear recommendations and advice: Close all but essential workplaces, have paid sick leave, vaccinate essential workers, allow safe outdoor activities two metres apart, and do not further harm racialized and marginalized people.

How could the Solicitor General possibly think that increasing police control is what this province needs?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: In fact, there are a number of measures that the province of Ontario has taken to ensure the safety and security of the people of the province of Ontario.

What I would suggest to the member opposite, and I think she would probably agree with me—the first thing that we need to do is to ensure that we have a proper supply of vaccines that we can get into the arms of the people of the province of Ontario.

Despite the fact that we have seen reduced shipments in February, March, April and heading into May, we have gotten four million vaccines into people’s arms, but there’s still so much more work to be done.

I would ask the member opposite if she could work with us to reach out to the federal government to ensure that we can get some control of our borders—work with us so that we can get control of our international borders, where these international variants of concern have become so difficult in helping us beat the pandemic here in the province of Ontario and across Canada.

Border security

Mr. Dave Smith: Many jurisdictions are struggling with the possibility of more transmissible and more virulent variations of COVID-19, like B.1.1.7, first discovered in the UK; or B.1.427, first discovered in California; or B.1.617, which I’ve already spoken about.

In the last two weeks, we’ve seen at least 17 international flights with confirmed cases of COVID-19. On those 17 flights, we can estimate possibly 2,500 passengers are at risk of exposure to the virus.

Mr. Speaker, if the federal government is not willing to secure our borders and ban flights from hot spots, what can we do to keep these dangerous new variants from entering the country?

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: It really is an important question that the member opposite raises.

I can’t say it enough—we are pleading with the Prime Minister of Canada to do his part, help us secure our international borders and ban flights from hot spots. It is so important.

We are seeing hundreds of flights come into Pearson airport every single week with hundreds of variants of concern. This cannot continue. We need the help of the federal government to do this. It’s not enough that we instituted a testing program at Pearson airport unilaterally, in the province of Ontario. It’s not enough that we instituted isolation for those travellers with COVID-19. We need the help of the Prime Minister and the federal government. Only they can stop travel between Canada and those jurisdictions with variants of concern that are out of control.

Please help us and get control of those international borders.

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

Mr. Dave Smith: I believe the minister is quite right: The only way to stop the variants from entering the country is banning flights from those hot spots.

Countries across the world are tightening their borders. You just have to look at Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia. Meanwhile, Canada is accepting travellers from everywhere—on more than 120 international flights in just the last few weeks.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister acknowledged the effectiveness of border closures early last year. He said, “From the very beginning ... we brought in some of the toughest, most stringent travel restrictions of any of our peer countries around the world.”

Perhaps the government can shed some light. If these measures were effective a year ago, where are they today?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Government H