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June 23, 2020

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2020-Jun-23 (PDF)

L169 - Tue 23 Jun 2020 / Mar 23 jun 2020

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 23 June 2020 Mardi 23 juin 2020

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Orders of the Day

Extension of emergency declaration

Members’ Statements

Pride Month

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Human rights

Graduations

Education funding / Subventions destinées à l’éducation

COVID-19 response

Racism

Question Period

Long-term care

Long-term care

Mental health and addiction services

COVID-19 response

Correctional services

Education funding

Forest firefighting

COVID-19 response

Protection for workers

COVID-19 response

COVID-19 response

Education funding

Protection for workers

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Justice Policy

Petitions

Public sector compensation

State of emergency

Long-term care

Orders of the Day

Extension of emergency declaration

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Royal assent / Sanction royale

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased to assent to certain bills in her office.

The Deputy Clerk (Mr. Trevor Day): The following are the titles of the bills to which Her Honour did assent:

An Act respecting registration of and access to defibrillators /

Loi sur l’accès aux défibrillateurs et leur enregistrement.

An Act to protect Ontario’s farms and farm animals from trespassers and other forms of interference and to prevent contamination of Ontario’s food supply / Loi visant à protéger les fermes et les animaux d’élevage en Ontario contre les entrées sans autorisation et d’autres actes susceptibles de les déranger et à prévenir la contamination de l’approvisionnement alimentaire en Ontario.

An Act to amend the Commercial Tenancies Act / Loi modifiant la

Loi sur la location commerciale.

Orders of the Day

Extension of emergency declaration

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll recognize the Solicitor General to move the motion.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I move:

Whereas an emergency was declared by order in council 518/2020 (O. Reg. 50/20) on March 17, 2020, pursuant to

section 7.0.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act; and

Whereas the emergency was extended past the end of March 31, 2020, for a period of 14 days by O. Reg. 84/20 on March 30, 2020, pursuant to subsection 7.0.7(2) of the act; and

Whereas the emergency was extended by resolution of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for a period of 28 days on April 14, 2020, pursuant to subsection 7.0.7(3) of the act; and

Whereas the emergency was extended by resolution of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for a period of 21 days on May 12, 2020, pursuant to subsection 7.0.7(3) of the act; and

Whereas the emergency was extended by resolution of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for a period of 28 days on June 2, 2020, pursuant to subsection 7.0.7(3) of the act, ending June 30, 2020; and finally

Whereas the period of the emergency may be further extended only by resolution of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, pursuant to subsection 7.0.7(3) of the act; and

Whereas the Premier has recommended that the period of the emergency be extended for 15 days past the end of June 30, 2020;

Therefore, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario hereby declares that the period of the emergency is extended past the end of June 30, 2020, for a period of 15 days.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Ms. Jones has moved government notice of motion number 82. Further debate?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Before I begin, and as I often do when I stand in this House, I want to thank the dedicated assembly staff who are working to ensure that legislators can meet to conduct the business of the province. Democracy, especially in these trying times, is an essential service. People expect us to be working for the health and safety of all Ontarians, and it is thanks to the staff here at Queen’s Park that we can do so safely. As such, it is an honour to be in the House to open the debate on the proposed extension of the provincial declaration of emergency.

This will be the third time that our government has sought legislative approval to extend the provincial declaration of emergency. It is a significant trust and responsibility that the Legislature, and indeed all Ontarians, place in the government, and we do not take that responsibility lightly. The declaration is an important tool in our provincial response to this public health crisis, but it is only one tool. Before the declaration started, and after it ends—we have and will continue to consult with medical and health experts and others and will act wherever and whenever necessary to protect the people of Ontario from COVID-19.

Every day, more of Ontario is reopening—campgrounds and other recreational areas, daycare facilities, shops and patios. In my own constituency, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health was one of the first to move into stage 2 of reopening. And after some additional work to help flatten the curve in Peel region, I’m pleased that Peel Public Health will be moving to stage 2 this coming week.

Over the past few months when most of our province was put on pause, many people stepped up for the benefit of all Ontario residents: Ontario farmers, truck drivers, grocery store workers, transit operators, health care workers and first responders, who left their families at home to help and protect ours, and those within my own ministry and across government.

Staff in the Ministry of the Solicitor General have been unyielding in their hard work to keep Ontarians safe and to support public safety personnel across Ontario: correctional services staff, probation and parole officers, police officers, coroners and forensic staff, the Office of the Fire Marshal and emergency management, who monitor this crisis 24/7, and those who enforce animal welfare laws to protect our animals and keep them safe from harm.

While many of us were able to stay home by avoiding non-essential travel, Ontario’s front-line heroes could not, and all Ontarians owe them a debt of gratitude for their work. Ontario is on a firm path to recovery, and these Ontarians and others have paved the way.

On March 17, our government took an essential step to protect Ontarians by declaring a provincial emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and on the advice of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. We took this extraordinary measure because we needed to offer our full support and every power necessary to help front-line workers in health care and other critical sectors to contain the spread of COVID-19. As the Premier has said, the situation was changing day by day, hour by hour.

A provincial declaration of emergency has supported our government’s rapid response to the COVID-19 crisis as new fronts in the battle against this deadly virus emerged.

As time has gone on, Ontario has made significant strides in the fight against COVID-19. We’ve launched a testing strategy that is seeing impressive results, with regularly over 20,000 tests being performed every single day across Ontario. And here, I want to publicly thank Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontario’s chief coroner, who has gone above and beyond to support the province, acting as the executive lead, along with Ontario Health, to make this mobile strategy a reality.

We’ve also stood up a case management and contact tracing strategy to ensure that we can rapidly and accurately manage new potential outbreaks as they come up.

In response to the ongoing crisis, we launched the Ontario Together portal to encourage businesses, innovators and entrepreneurs to submit proposals to help in the fight against this deadly virus and to retool manufacturing to supply personal protective equipment to protect essential medical staff and other front-line workers.

Today, I’d like to update the House on the success of Ontario Together. As of June 15, over 27,000 submissions have been received. These submissions have generated over $642 million in purchases of critical equipment and supplies—everything from protective gloves and masks for health care workers to clip-on hand sanitizers for OPP front-line officers. This has ensured that we are less reliant on other countries for the supply of personal protective equipment and other life-saving equipment during a medical crisis—because protecting Ontarians during times of emergency will always be this government’s highest priority.

All of these efforts have helped Ontario stabilize the ongoing crisis, safely and gradually reopen Ontario, and become better equipped should a second wave occur later in the year.

As members know, the Legislature can extend a declaration of emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act for periods of no more than 28 days. The current declaration of emergency would terminate on June 30 if it is not extended. The government is now asking the Legislature to consider extending the declaration of emergency to July 15—a two-week extension.

We’ve come a long way over the past several months. Following our government’s road map for reopening Ontario, businesses are getting back into gear, people are reuniting with their loved ones in nursing care, and communities across the province are springing back to life. But we’re not there yet. The declaration of emergency needs to remain in place so that we can continue to move forward in a safe and measured manner that doesn’t put our hard-earned gains in peril. We can’t risk undoing what Ontarians have achieved together through personal sacrifice and looking out for each other’s health and well-being.

We must also remember the Ontarians who have lost their lives during COVID-19 and their many loved ones who are still grieving.

We’ve seen progress go backwards elsewhere, where jurisdictions have opened only to close again because they weren’t ready.

Since declaring the initial emergency on March 17, our government has been careful and deliberate in enacting emergency orders. We have acted on the guidance of public health experts and the evidence that continues to be gathered day by day.

Emergency orders have only been implemented whenever and wherever necessary and have been amended or lifted when no longer needed. Many of these orders, as well as other measures that don’t directly fall under emergency orders, are in place to help lessen the hardship of COVID-19 on Ontarians and on small businesses. In addition to orders that I’ve highlighted during past debates, this includes temporarily freezing eviction orders; allowing bars and restaurants to sell alcohol with their takeout and delivery orders; and cutting red tape so municipalities can allow restaurants to extend their patios to accommodate physical distancing.

We can’t look away from the pain that COVID-19 has inflicted on the lives of the people of Ontario, but our government can and will continue to take action to ease the impact of this global pandemic. This is the responsible way of managing the crisis and has set the stage for what’s to come: a full reopening of the province, with Canada’s economic engine once again firing on all cylinders.

Ontario is a $700-billion-plus economy. Before the COVID-19 outbreak hit, our economy was growing, job creation was outpacing the rest of Canada and unemployment was at its lowest level since the late 1980s. A return to those days is within our grasp. But we must keep the declaration of emergency in place a bit longer to help steer us on the right path for the journey ahead.

The declaration of emergency has given us needed space to press forward. Under the declaration, Ontario has successfully navigated through the first stage of reopening. We are taking a balanced approach as we consider every step, recognizing, as our government always will, that Ontario is not a one-size-fits-all province.

We can now look forward with more confidence than we have felt in months, thanks as well to the processes we have put in place to stabilize and manage this public health emergency.

Even through the darkest days of COVID-19, the resilience and compassion of Ontarians has shone through. So many people reached out to help the most vulnerable among us during this difficult time. They ensured that nurses, medical staff and other public safety personnel working around the clock had the meals and groceries they needed, and they volunteered for organizations providing critical services within our communities. We’re through the worst, but this crisis continues to bring out the best in the people of Ontario.

Ontario is gradually returning to normal. More people are returning to work. We are once again including a trip to the provincial parks and campgrounds in our summer plans. This will be a new normal. Nobody can say for certain what this new normal will look like, except that we will continue to be vigilant to stop the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the risk of a second wave.

When the time is right, remaining workplaces and community spaces will also reopen. At the same time, public health advice and workplace safety guidance will remain in place and large public gatherings will continue to be restricted. This means that some of the emergency orders that have guided us through COVID-19 and the first steps of reopening the province will have to remain in place. Others will be amended or lifted altogether. As we continue to see success in stabilizing this emergency, we can turn our attention to the long-term solutions to ensure the continued health and well-being of all Ontarians.

A continuous state of emergency is neither sustainable nor necessary, which is why staff at my ministry are taking the time necessary to carefully review every emergency order to determine the best next steps should the declaration of emergency end after July 15. Our government has put together a COVID-19 response strategy to support medical staff and other front-line workers, to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place so as not to overwhelm hospitals, to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to reopen the province and create the conditions that will enable the economy to come back strong.

None of it would have been possible without a massive buy-in from the people of Ontario, all 14.5 million of them. Ontarians endured the impacts of COVID-19 and are now embracing the recovery. When the history of COVID-19 is written, Speaker, the resolve and strength of Ontarians will be a significant piece of that story. Ontarians have rallied to the cause.

It is with the 14.5 million Ontarians in mind that I now ask this House to consider extending the declaration of emergency. Extending the declaration will mean the work can continue to take recovery to the next level and to prepare for the post-COVID-19 world that is on the horizon.

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

Mr. John Vanthof: On behalf of the official opposition, it’s always an honour to stand in this House—and, today, to continue debate on the extension of an emergency declaration in the province of Ontario. I think it’s something that many of us, perhaps all of us, never thought we would have to do again.

I thank the Solicitor General for her remarks. We work together on many issues. We don’t always get along. But as you know, we do respect each other, Speaker.

A state of emergency is almost an un-Canadian thing, an un-Ontario thing. And we can’t forget why we’re here: because COVID-19 has impacted the world. But it’s also impacted Ontario, in some ways, more than other parts of the world, and more, sometimes, than other provinces.

What’s happened in long-term care, the deaths in long-term care, is something that we are going to have to spend some serious time on, which we should spend serious time on, in a full public inquiry, so we can prepare for not only COVID-19 or another virus, but so we can make sure that our seniors and the people who built this province are treated with the dignity they so deserve.

There have been many people impacted that we don’t hear about in the news. Even if we do, it’s a passing—I’ll give you an example. At one of our committee hearings—and I apologize; I don’t have the gentleman’s name, but he represented the Airport Taxi Association. Ten of his members have died from COVID-19; 10 people picking up people at the airport. His description of how people were informed doesn’t exactly equal what we’ve heard in the media, and you wouldn’t think about it. And right now, through the migrant worker population—they are being hit incredibly hard.

That’s why we will be supporting this extension, but not at all because of the government; despite the government. When you are granted emergency powers, you also have a duty to—because in a way, you are suspending the democracy of which the minister spoke. So it’s incumbent on the government to be transparent at all costs. The Premier stated that, regarding transparency, the people of Ontario will “know what I know.” But the people of Ontario don’t know who’s at the command table. The people of Ontario don’t really know who’s actually advising the government during these emergency measures.

That is a very serious issue, because emergency measures are something that are very serious and people should know.

The minister in her remarks said that they have a comprehensive strategy to manage new outbreaks as they come up. I listened intently, and I have extreme respect for the minister, but what is the strategy? What is the strategy to manage the outbreaks in the migrant worker population? Ontarians have a right to know. The families of those migrant workers have a right to know. So far, the only strategy that they’ve seen is the Premier in a press conference chiding the farmers. That’s not a strategy.

It’s incumbent during emergency measures, when you are granted more power than any democratically elected leader should have—but there’s a reason: We are dealing with a worldwide epidemic, which demands extraordinary measures. But with those extraordinary measures comes extraordinary responsibility. What I heard at that press conference, the Premier—as an example, if the farm community is part of the problem, then that comprehensive strategy should sit down with the farm community and talk about it and work it out, not chide them in a press conference.

It’s the same with when the Premier talked about the landlords. If you know there’s an issue and you’ve got extraordinary measures, it’s incumbent on you to work the issue out, as opposed to simply doing politics via press conference. There’s no time. This is not the time to do politics. There’s a difference. And as we go further into this, it would appear that there are more politics creeping in than actually what should be done. With the minister’s words—manage new outbreaks as they come up, the comprehensive strategy—it should be open to all and it doesn’t seem to be.

The government is also moving ahead with other legislation or with other powers under the emergency measures act, like changing plans or zoning issues, removing red tape. Well, I’m not sure that they were given the extraordinary powers to push through building projects that, perhaps, wouldn’t survive the light of true public scrutiny. I’m not sure that Ontarians would agree with that. I think Ontarians might see that as a slight—“abuse” is too strong a word—use of opportunity.

This also isn’t the time to be opportunistic. This is the time to focus on what is important to Ontarians, why you were granted the emergency powers, why we support this extension despite what the government is doing. We understand that there are things that have to be done, but they should all be done openly and transparently.

A few days ago, after my remarks on Bill 156, the farm trespass act, in his remarks to my speech, the government House leader was very pointed. It kind of caught me by surprise, to tell the truth. If he had been a bit more expansive in his remarks, I would have given him a more direct answer. He seemed to be upset that I, as Chair of the government agencies committee, signed a letter asking for the government to let that committee operate and somehow that was partisan. They operate some committees, but asking the government to operate committees that are basically oversight committees—if that’s viewed as partisan, I don’t understand.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

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

Hon. Paul Calandra: Actually, it was that he sent the letter on NDP letterhead. That’s why it seemed to be—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): That’s not a point of order. I apologize to the member for Timiskaming–Cochrane and I allow him to continue.

Mr. John Vanthof: Thank you for that clarification.

Getting back to my remarks, I don’t believe that asking for oversight committees to operate during this time of emergency—if you’re going to allow committees that don’t provide oversight to operate, then it would appear fair, it would appear democratic that all committees should operate.

In the time that the emergency orders have been instated, the government has made over 100 appointments. For those of you who are watching, there is a committee that actually oversees those appointments. The way it works—government has a right to make appointments; that’s part of their job. That list is distributed, and the opposition can ask people to come before that committee and they’re questioned.

But since the state of emergency, that committee has not been allowed to run. It’s the government House leader who has the power to allow those committees to function. Of the 100, the opposition has put forward 35 that we would like to ask questions. But that committee doesn’t function.

Public accounts is another committee that actually is very important, right? They work very closely with the Auditor General. The Auditor General is looking at things like long-term care, things that would be very relevant now. Public accounts isn’t running.

We fully understand that that is much easier for the government, but in a time when basically—I never thought I’d have to say this. In a time when in many ways democracy in this province has been suspended, it’s very, very important that the government take all steps possible to make sure that transparency is maintained. It’s good for the government, as well.

It’s good for the government, as well, because the more transparency, the more people know, the better the solutions and the answers will be. As soon as sunlight hits something, it’s much cleaner. I’m not sure that works for COVID-19. I’m not the president of the United States, so I’m not going to comment on that. But it’s really, really important, and I think the government is missing the mark on that. If they’re not careful, they will be judged on that as well.

The government’s getting very used to holding a press conference and walking away and everything’s fine. You know what, Speaker? Everything is not fine. The fact is that the Legislature plays a very, very important role, a role of—and I’m not a great quoter, but you know the owl and the eagle; we’re supposed to look down on the government. Well, the only way that works is if you’re actually allowed to look down and make comments. With the government not allowing oversight committees—not allowing—they can talk about transparency all they want, but they really don’t want transparency.

There are a few issues that have to be dealt with, pronto. I agree with the minister about what Ontarians from all walks of life have done, how they’ve united, how they’ve worked together against the common enemy, and many have been front-line heroes. As we speak, many of those front-line heroes—their front-line hero pay has already been cut, and we’re still in a state of emergency. They aren’t directly paid by the government. Other front-line heroes who were deserving, who should be getting or are supposed to get this pandemic pay, still haven’t got it. I’d say that’s an emergency as well.

For those people, that’s an emergency. And the issue that happened, that some people on the front lines are supposed to get this pay and some people who are equally on the front lines don’t get this pay—that’s also something that should be discussed here. There are all kinds of issues.

The people of Ontario want us to work together. The government says they want us to work together. But what the government says and what the government does don’t always match up.

I like to quote my father. My father never would have thought I would ever stand in this place. My father always taught me, “When you’re dealing with people, watch how they do the little things, because if they do the little things right, then you can trust them on the big things.”

I’m going to talk about a really little thing right now that, outside these walls, probably doesn’t mean anything. I’ve been here a while—some would say too long, and some people on the other side say they’re going to fix that, and some of my own constituents would like to fix that. Anyway, when I first got here, I knew nothing about how this place ran. I still don’t know a lot. But the one

part I did understand, and I was a whip for five years, so I understood it even more—the opposing parties and the government would get together once a week and would lay out what they were going to discuss for the rest of the week so that everyone would have time to do their homework, to debate intelligently, to ask credible questions in debate, and to make the government, quite frankly, work harder. At the end of the day, you had better legislation. As I sit here today, we don’t know the morning of what’s going to come up for debate—I’m sure the government does, and that’s great.

They’re saying they don’t, but they’d be crazy if they didn’t. But for the opposition not to know—that’s not actually increasing transparency; that’s the exact opposite. It’s a little thing, but that wouldn’t have passed the smell test with my dad. It likely doesn’t really make any difference to Ontarians.

When I hear a minister say, “Oh, transparency” and “We have to protect democracy,” and say how important that is to the government—yet when they do the things they do in this House, I have a hard time believing it. I want to believe it, but I have a hard time believing it.

When a minister says they have comprehensive strategies but they don’t want to talk about them, I have a hard time believing that too.

We are fighting a common enemy and that enemy doesn’t care about party politics—the COVID-19 virus doesn’t care—so the more we all know, the better off all Ontarians are.

We are in favour of extending the emergency measures because there are things that need to be done to fight COVID-19—but again, we do it not in favour of the government, but despite this government, because this government has forgotten in many ways why they were given these powers. That is very sobering. I hope that they remember why they were given these powers. I hope that they take the opportunity, actually, to not only talk about transparency, but do transparency.

With that, Speaker—do you want to—

Interjection.

Mr. John Vanthof: With that, I would like to share the rest of my time—or no? Okay. I would like to share the rest of my time with the member from London West.

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

I’m pleased to recognize the member for London West.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I am pleased to rise today, as the deputy House leader for the NDP caucus, to participate in this important debate on the extension of the declaration of emergency.

As both the minister and my colleague have pointed out, a declaration of emergency is an extraordinary measure that happens infrequently and must be implemented judiciously and wisely. Basically, when you are declaring a state of emergency in the province or in the country, you are asking citizens to suspend democracy. You’re asking citizens to put aside the democratic processes that we value so highly, that are part of the way that we function as a democracy, and entrust the governing party with the ability to exercise exceptional power.

Speaker, as you know, our caucus, the official opposition, has supported the government in declaring a state of emergency, and we will support this motion once again. However, we have serious concerns about the exercise of power that has been displayed by this government, having been entrusted with that ability under the declaration of emergency.

A declaration of emergency really relies on citizens feeling that we are all in this together. We have seen that. We have seen amazing stories of collaboration. We have seen manufacturing plants pivot. In London, Labatt stopped making beer and started making hand sanitizer. We’ve seen manufacturers start producing masks and gowns and other essential PPE for front-line health care workers. There has been a really unprecedented level of stepping up and collaboration to support each other, because we understand that this is an experience that we have never seen before in this province and it is having a significant, significant impact on all of us.

However, the notion of “all in this together”—the danger of that notion is that it can paper over the reality that some people are experiencing the pandemic differently than other people. I think that that is something that this government has not fully recognized, when you look at the kinds of emergency measures that it has implemented. We know that both the health crisis and the economic crisis, the process of recovery that is going to take months if not years in Ontario, has played out very differently in different regions of the province and among different populations within society.

We have seen the devastation of the virus in long-term-care facilities and in retirement homes. Some 80% of the deaths that we have grieved in Ontario have occurred in long-term-care facilities among the most vulnerable seniors in the province. We know that Black and racialized communities are also harder hit by COVID-19 than other communities.

In London, the Middlesex-London Health Unit has been collecting race-based data from the beginning of this pandemic and just completed a preliminary analysis last week, and they found that Black and racialized people represent 17% of the population, but account for 27% of COVID-19-positive cases. So it’s clear, Speaker, that the pandemic is affecting different groups differently, and we need to understand that. We need to be sensitive to that in terms of the public response to helping people through the pandemic.

We saw a government that resisted the collection of race-based data for weeks and weeks. They said it was not necessary. The Middlesex-London Health Unit analysis shows directly the importance of race-based data in understanding the disproportionate impact of COVID-19, and then coming up with strategies to help mitigate that disproportionate impact.

We know that while all of us were advised to stay at home as much as possible, for certain workers, that was not an option: workers who were declared essential. They worked in grocery stores. They worked in gas stations. They worked in public transit. They worked as cleaners. They worked in low-wage occupations. Those were essential occupations. They didn’t have a choice. They didn’t have a choice to stay home. They had to go to work every day.

Under this government’s emergency powers, it created a pandemic pay program to recognize the risk and sacrifice that so many workers in this province have made to keep us functioning, to keep us going as a province. And yet they excluded thousands. Thousands of essential workers have been excluded from the pandemic pay program. They went to work every day. They got up every day and went into that variety store, went into that grocery store, went in to perform their janitorial duties. The risk that they took has not been recognized or acknowledged by this government. It has not been included in the government’s pandemic pay program.

We also know that in particular our front-line health care workers—there are teams of front-line health care workers who work side by side in a hospital facility. There are occupational therapists. There is a physiotherapist. There is a dietitian. There are many, many different health care professionals who come together to become part of the health care team that cares for COVID-19-positive patients. And yet this government decided that its pandemic pay program, the $4-an-hour wage supplement, would only go to certain health care workers.

Only certain members of that health care team who work alongside each other are being recognized for their sacrifices, for the risks that they took, caring for potentially COVID-19-positive patients and confirmed COVID-19 patients. They took risks by going into work and having to go home to their families.

Many, I know, chose to live apart from their families. In London, we had an RV manufacturer who donated RVs so that health care workers could have an RV in their driveway and they could come home from their shift and could stay in the RV, so they didn’t have to worry about taking the virus home to their families.

We’ve heard about personal support workers. Some personal support workers are included in the government’s pandemic pay program, but many are not. If you’re a personal support worker who works for a private agency that may be subcontracted by a long-term-care facility, you’re not eligible for the pandemic pay because of who your employer is. The program is not recognizing the essential, critical value that these PSWs are performing for their patients and also for us collectively.

We know that persons with disabilities have been particularly hard hit by this pandemic, and yet very, very little has been done by this government in response to those truly extraordinary hardships that persons with disabilities are experiencing. We’ve seen almost no response in the emergency orders that have been implemented so far. Many of them rely on public transit. The transit routes have all been closed down, or many transit lines have been reduced. They’ve had to incur extra costs to get food delivered, to get their medications brought in.

They may be on the Internet more, so they’re spending more on WiFi or cellphones just to maintain some kind of connection, to break the isolation that they have been experiencing. And there has been very little acknowledgement of the financial costs of the pandemic, the financial pain of the pandemic that these vulnerable people are experiencing.

We know that the pressures of the pandemic on parents who have young children, who are either out of work—they don’t have an income coming in—or they may be trying to work at home, but with the closure of child care facilities, they’ve been struggling to try to manage caring for their children, sometimes while supervising online lessons. It has been incredibly challenging, Speaker. Yet there has been, again, a lack of attention from this government in terms of the impact of the pandemic on some of these groups of people.

We have heard in London about the skyrocketing spike in calls for domestic violence assistance. Sexual violence and domestic violence are on the rise, because the pandemic has created all new kinds of stresses. That is manifesting itself in these increased rates of domestic violence and sexual violence.

Speaker, when a government declares a state of emergency, when we collectively give a government the power to respond to a state of emergency, it is absolutely essential that that response take into account the different experiences of every citizen in this province. So we consider, today, the kind of response that we have seen from this government.

I just want to refer members to a report that was released on May 26 by Samara. Samara is a non-profit institution, and its focus is on strengthening democracy across the country. Samara did an analysis of different provincial and territorial governments and Legislatures’ responses to COVID-19. It looked at the changes that were made in terms of the functioning of Legislatures during a state of emergency and the legislative agenda that was brought forward by various governments. In analyzing that data, Samara came up with a number of recommendations.

I want to share those recommendations with the government, because I think it’s important for them to reflect on how to maintain a robust democracy, even in a state of emergency.

Their first recommendation, number 1 on the list of recommendations, is, “Make oversight an essential service.” They state, “Legislatures must scrutinize governments throughout the pandemic to ensure they remain responsive to citizens.”

Now, Speaker, what have we seen from this government in terms of oversight? We have seen a government that has refused to allow the three main oversight committees of the Legislature to do their work. We had a letter that was issued by the Chairs of those oversight committees—the Chair of public accounts, the Chair of estimates and the Chair of public appointments—urging the government to allow those committees to move forward and do their critical work of overseeing, scrutinizing, what the government is doing.

To date, there has been no response from the government about when those committees will be back in operation, and that is a disservice to the people of this province. It’s a disservice to the voters who elected us to come to the Ontario Legislature and do our job as MPPs whose whole focus is on ensuring accountability and responsiveness to the people we represent.

The second recommendation from Samara is that “virtual platforms should be embraced....” I do give the government credit: We moved some committees online. But let’s think about which committees were able to move online to hold virtual participations. The only committees that this government decided to move online were those that were dealing with non-COVID-19-related legislation that this government had introduced before—long before, in some cases—the pandemic was declared, but has decided to use the state of emergency to ram through those pieces of legislation with a haste that we have rarely seen before.

If you’re going to enable virtual committee hearings—which we should, and I think that has allowed much greater participation from people across the province—we have to prioritize making sure that the committees are dealing with all of the issues that should be addressed; for example, the oversight issues. The public accounts committee would be a perfect committee to bring forward for virtual hearings. The public accounts committee was doing some very in-depth work, looking at long-term-care inspections and emergency management.

The Auditor General had been engaged in a number of other audits that began before the COVID-19 emergency was declared but have particular relevance, given the situation that we are facing. The deliberations of the public accounts committee would be very helpful, I would think, Speaker, to inform the government’s response to the COVID-19 emergency.

The third piece of advice from Samara is, “Don’t rush.” They say, “While governments may want to pass legislation as quickly as possible, there are several examples where this has ... resulted in the passage of legislation with serious issues. Instead of finding ways to pass legislation more quickly, governments should work to enable more thorough consideration of legislation.”

Have we seen this government work to enable more thorough consideration? Have we seen them work to give the public lots of lead time as to when a bill is going to be brought forward to committee for review—one of these bills that I mentioned that the government has pushed through under cover of COVID-19? No, we have not. We have not seen that happen. Not only has the public been limited in their ability to participate in consideration of legislation; we have also been limited in our ability to participate in debate.

In particular, my colleague the member for Timiskaming–Cochrane talked about the fact that we never know what legislation is going to come to the House for debate. This morning, we arrived and that was the first we heard from the government that the order of business for this morning was going to be the motion that we are discussing right now.

A couple of weeks ago, I was here in the chamber and, with almost no notice whatsoever, they brought in legislation that they didn’t even have the courtesy to let us know about in advance so that we could come prepared with speaking notes, so that we could have touched base with constituents we represent, so that we could bring the voices of the people who elected us to this chamber to participate in debates. That has now become the modus operandi of this government.

This government has decided that this is how they’re going to be doing business in an ongoing way. The last House leaders’ meeting lasted 45 seconds for the official opposition—because the government House leader has shown no interest in consulting with the official opposition on the business that is going to be brought before the House.

We are in a state of emergency. As I started out by saying, in a state of emergency, when the government is entrusted with extraordinary power, it is more incumbent than ever on the government to be collaborative, to be open, to be consultative, to work together with the other parties on what the Legislature is going to be doing.

Another recommendation from Samara: “Co-operate in public.” We have not seen that. We have seen a complete lack of transparency. In fact, we have seen the government move forward, under the veil of COVID-19, with some very egregious changes to environmental laws. They suspended ministerial zoning orders, which allowed the overriding of Planning Act provisions and environmental protections. They did that without any consultation whatsoever. This was just something they decided to slide in. It has nothing to do with the COVID-19 state of emergency.

It has nothing to do with an emergency order to protect the citizens of this province. But they have this power, so I guess they figured they may as well use it. Maybe it’s not surprising. We also saw majority governments in Alberta and Manitoba that also happen to be Conservative bring in similar measures to circumvent environmental laws. Those kinds of actions are really what undermine public confidence in government, in all of us as politicians—when people see power being used in ways that don’t contribute to the public good.

The next recommendation from Samara: “Resume usual business, but not business as usual.” They point out that with many people distracted and many civil society organizations in financial trouble, Legislatures must find new ways to encourage and seek out public input. As I mentioned before, that has not happened. In fact, the exact opposite has happened. The government, with very little notice, set days for public input into its controversial bills, and this is not helpful to engaging the public and encouraging people to participate in business.

Another recommendation: “Reboot committees.” Speaker, I’ve already talked about the fact that this government has decided to reboot certain committees, but not the committees that are doing the fundamental work of oversight and ensuring accountability from the government.

And finally, the last recommendation is, “Start following the money.” Samara notes that governments must share their assumptions and plans with Legislatures going forward if financial oversight is to continue. If there’s one committee that is tasked with following the money, it is public accounts. Public accounts is a vital committee to understand how government dollars are being spent and if the public is getting value for those dollars. The estimates committee is another vital place to follow the money. And yet, both the estimates committee and the public accounts committee have not been rebooted. They are not sitting. That means that MPPs are not able to do that vital work.

What else have we seen from this government during the declaration of emergency? We have seen a very troubling lack of transparency. The Premier has refused to disclose who is sitting at the command table. I think, when we are in the midst of an infectious disease emergency, we want to make sure that all the decisions are being made, and are in accordance with the public health advice and with the opinions of public health experts, under the direction of people who understand infectious diseases and how to respond most effectively.

And yet, we don’t know who these people are who are sitting at the Premier’s command table. Yes, we know the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province, but we don’t know the other members of the command table, so we don’t know who has the Premier’s ear, what research is being shared, and what advice is being shared to guide government decisions.

We’ve also seen a lack of transparency around long-term-care homes. The government has indicated that certain long-term-care homes have been flagged as high-risk homes because of problems, certainly very likely with private sector operators. There have been concerns flagged that have led to the province classifying these homes as high risk. We don’t know where those homes are. What homes are they? People whose loved ones are in long-term-care homes have a right to know. They want to know: Is their loved one in a long-term-care home that the province has decided is at a much higher risk than other long-term-care homes in the province? We don’t have that information.

We also heard from my colleague about the political appointment process. That’s another activity that this government has engaged in during the state of emergency. It has continued to move ahead with public appointments, which wouldn’t be a problem if the public appointments committee had a chance to review those appointments. But this government has made over 100 appointments, the official opposition has called 35 of those appointees to appear before the committee; none have appeared.

That’s a problem, Speaker, because people in this province want to have confidence that the persons who are appointed to very important public roles, serving on agencies, boards and commissions—people want to have confidence that those are not partisan appointments, that those appointments were not made in order to reward an insider friend or other kinds of patronage reasons.

That’s going back to my earlier comment about the necessity of having those oversight committees, including the public appointments committee, functioning during a state of emergency.

Samara also did another analysis that I wanted to speak to. It looked at four approaches to emergency law-making and scrutiny. This analysis was published on April 21. They reviewed four different countries and looked at how emergency law-making was conducted in those countries and what kind of scrutiny was in place. They looked at New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Canada. Interestingly, what they found was that the most successful country in terms of managing COVID-19, implementing emergency measures to respond to COVID-19 and enabling ongoing scrutiny of government measures related to COVID-19, was New Zealand.

As we all know, New Zealand is a country that operates on a system of proportional representation. It’s no surprise that New Zealand, in this analysis, compared to Australia, the UK and Canada, came out on top, because other commentators have noted similar findings. There was an editorial in the Washington Post called “Which Kinds of Democracies Respond More Effectively to a Pandemic?” That editorial found that Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Israel have all been championed as countries that implemented an effective response to COVID-19, and of course, what they all have in common is they all operate their democracy on a system of proportional representation.

Why, Speaker, would you think that countries with proportional representation would have a more effective response to COVID-19? It is because proportional representation requires the kind of transparency, accountability, cross-party collaboration, consensus, openness, working together—all of those things that we have seen lacking in the Ontario government.

New Zealand—and this is interesting—created a special committee that was actually chaired by a member of the opposition. That special committee was mandated to review the government’s response to COVID-19 in a very comprehensive way. That committee is meeting three times a week, it’s hearing testimony from ministers and experts, the public is engaged. That really is the kind of a best practice that we see in countries, like New Zealand, that operate on systems of proportional representation.

Particularly, in a public health emergency, proportional representation is even more important because when you compare health outcomes in countries that operate first past the post versus proportional representation, you find more inclusive and more effective health systems or health outcomes related to the health of the population.

COVID-19 has shown us that we need to ensure that we have capacity in our health care system to respond to the virus. Countries with proportional representation have laid the groundwork. They have a much more solid groundwork to respond to a pandemic like COVID-19 when it happens because of that collaboration that’s required to move forward. There appears to have been a greater consensus about the need to invest in public health, the need to—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sorry to interrupt the member mid-sentence, but it is 10:15 and I’m compelled to now ask the House for members’ statements. Thank you very much.

Debate deemed adjourned.

Members’ Statements

Pride Month

Ms. Suze Morrison: This month is Pride Month. I sometimes think that I’m the luckiest MPP in this chamber because my riding of Toronto Centre is home to the Church and Wellesley Village, a community that I’m humbled and honoured to represent. It’s also a neighbourhood that’s home to the largest Pride festival in Canada. This year, Pride might feel different, but it’s no less true to its roots. Pride always has been and always will be political. COVID-19 may have changed how we gather physically, but it can’t change the heart of Pride, and that’s the fight for justice.

Pride started as a riot, led by Black, queer and trans folks demanding not just equal rights but justice. Pride is a time to remember Stonewall, the bathhouse raids and those we lost and those who survived the AIDS crisis. This year more than ever, we have to honour that history and, with the spirit of Stonewall in our hearts, continue to fight in solidarity with Black and Indigenous members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

If members of this Legislature really want to celebrate Pride this year, I hope that you’ll join me in fighting to end police violence and demilitarize police, to ensure queer and trans businesses survive COVID-19, to make PrEP free and accessible, to fund all gender-affirming surgeries and drugs, and to put gender and sexual identity back into our curriculum.

To Black and Indigenous members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community: Your lives matter.

Happy Pride, everyone.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: Since COVID-19 burst into our lives earlier this year, we have all seen the remarkable perseverance and determination of our constituents in responding to this virus in our communities. Incredible acts of service, care and sacrifice from our front-line workers, those who work in essential workplaces, and simply everyday Ontarians in Niagara West and beyond have demonstrated the best of what Ontario has to offer the world.

But families, workers and job creators in my riding are hurting. The health, social and financial impacts of COVID-19 have been devastating. So my message to my constituents is clear: I hear you and I will work with the government you have sent to Queen’s Park to help you.

To the families who are worried about their loved ones getting sick: We are investing in health care to protect our hospitals, doctors and nurses.

To those who have lost their jobs and are worried about putting food on the table, and to students coming out of school into a tough labour market: We are determined to rebuild Ontario as the economic engine of this country, with a singular focus on creating good-paying, long-term jobs.

To seniors nervous about making end meet: We have your back and will continue moving to cut taxes and make life more affordable.

To every man, woman and child in Niagara West: I hear you and will be working tirelessly with Premier Ford and your PC government to make sure tomorrow is brighter than today and yesterday.

Together, I believe our best days are still ahead. God bless you all, and God bless Niagara West.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Taras Natyshak: I’m going to make a prediction—a prediction that on June 27, we are going to witness a miracle. And Speaker, I’m not talking about the Leafs winning the cup; that would take more than a miracle. I’m talking about a miracle of love, of community and support for one another. It’s going to happen right in my riding, in Windsor and Essex county.

It was originally the brainchild of Wes Thompson and James Rasmussen from Chatham-Kent, who initiated a grassroots effort to raise non-perishable foods for their community in light of the challenges that all communities are facing during COVID-19. Then, Adam Lally, Josh Lane, Steve Truant and Steve Desjardins had a call with James and Brent to find out how they could put that together for Windsor and Essex county. That has spawned an incredible response from our community. Right now, we have over 10,000 volunteers that have signed up to take

part in this grassroots effort.

There are others from Windsor-Essex county: Kerri Zold, Josh Spadafora, Mark Jones, Tracey Bailey and Steve Ilijanich, and 10,000 other people who, on June 27, are going to spread across Essex county to perform a miracle. They’re hoping that everyone in Essex county can participate. They’re hoping to raise over—well, we think we’re going to raise over a million pounds of food, and we hope that that record is broken in other communities.

Speaker, it is going to be amazing. I encourage everyone in Essex county to take part. Go visit the website. Visit the Facebook page. On June 27, we’re going to see a miracle in Essex county. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who is going to participate for this incredible example and show of love and compassion for our community.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos: Speaker, as our communities have battled the COVID-19 pandemic over the last few months, one of the things we have seen is the thousands of people volunteering to help their neighbours and communities. This has happened in my community of Oakville North–Burlington and all across Ontario—volunteers supporting our hospitals and communities, contributing supplies and support.

Yesterday, I was honoured to meet some of these individuals and thank them for their selfless service. The Halton Region Chinese volunteer group and Caps for Care Chinese Community, with more than 200 volunteers, made and donated thousands of masks and other supplies to our health care organizations, including Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, Joseph Brant Hospital, long-term-care homes like the Post Inn Village and retirement homes like Palermo Village, the Compassion Society of Halton, and family doctors’ offices. It is so often in times of crisis when we see individuals and communities come together caring for one another.

Thank you to the Halton Region Chinese volunteer group and Caps for Care Chinese Community and all your many volunteers for your work. When our community was in need, you took action and assisted those who needed help. You are an inspiration to us all.

COVID-19 response

Mr. John Vanthof: As I’m sure many other members have done since the lockdown—our office has been busy talking with and calling a lot of our stakeholders. I focused on the tourism sector, because we have a lot of tourism in our area and a lot of small mom-and-pop tourism operators who seem to have fallen through a lot of the cracks and are in some pretty desperate times right now. Now that the state of emergency has allowed them to operate again, some of them are breathing a sigh of relief. But they’re not doing a happy dance yet, because, as the American border is still closed, what they’re trying to do is salvage their season.

They’re facing some other issues. One of them, Terry Petznick from Moose Haven Lodge, gave me some interesting information. From 2018 to 2019, in that period, his general liability insurance went up by 41%; 2019-20, another 38%. His insurance in that period, from 2018 to the end of 2020—over 100% increase. Even in good times, they can’t withstand that, and right now, they’re in crisis.

The Ontario government needs to do more than chide insurance companies. It needs to actually work with them to allow businesses like Moose Haven Lodge to continue to serve our great province.

Human rights

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: Happy Pride, everyone.

Mr. Speaker, last week there was a CBC story out of Manitoba that reported, “Current and former employees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg say its management would sometimes ask staff not to show any gay content on tours at the request of certain guests, including religious schools/groups.” This is a shocking story, Mr. Speaker, on so many levels, including that management of an institution that exists to shine a light on human rights would accommodate bigotry, that educators would choose to deny children the opportunity to learn and draw their own conclusions from history, and that in 2020 in Canada, we’re still dealing with homophobia and transphobia.

Every year at this time we celebrate Pride. We celebrate, but as one activist said yesterday, as we were raising the flag here at Queen’s Park, the seeds of Pride are in protest. And that protest has to continue to be a part of the Pride celebration. The situation in Winnipeg highlights why. And so when we hear the question that we always hear during Pride, “Why do they need a parade?”, the answer continues to be, “Because we’re not done.” The story about the human rights museum makes that clear.

This year, Pride will be very different from last year and the last 20 years, but it is no less important. In fact, it may even be more important, because of the isolation that’s been our reality for months. That isolation is even harder on people who are living in a closet of fear, who need the warmth of Pride to feel that they belong, and that at some point they will be able to be open and proud about who they are. Especially to you, I want to say that you are important, you are loved just as you are, and next year let’s hope we can get together and dance.

Graduations

Mr. Mike Harris: Graduation is typically a time when families, friends, mentors and colleagues come together to celebrate the achievements of our students. But for the class of 2020, their ceremonies will not be the way they imagined them.

I want to congratulate all Kitchener–Conestoga’s graduates of this extraordinary year. They have worked hard to get to this point, especially over the last few months. Whether you’re graduating from elementary school, middle school, high school, college or university, I hope that you are still able to celebrate this momentous occasion.

The ceremonies at Waterloo region’s world-class post-secondary schools are going to be very different this year. The newest alumni from the University of Waterloo are celebrating this year virtually, and Conestoga College and Wilfred Laurier University are making arrangements to honour their graduates in the months to come.

On lawns across my riding, parents have put up signs to show just how proud they are of their children. My house is no exception, Mr. Speaker. Two of my sons are graduating this year: Jaxon is off to high school and Maverick will be starting middle school in September. I know you are watching right now, and I just wanted to say how proud I am of you.

To all the classes of 2020: You are our future leaders, the future members of this House, and while this may be a challenging time, your future is very bright. Congratulations.

Education funding / Subventions destinées à l’éducation

M me France Gélinas: Students in Nickel Belt are having a very hard time since the schools closed due to COVID-19. Why? Because they cannot participate because the Internet is so, so slow.

Les étudiants et étudiantes sont frustrés. Ils sont isolés. Ils sont assis seuls devant leur écran en attente du téléchargement qui n’arrive jamais. Le conseil scolaire avait organisé une belle prestation avec des chanteurs et des danseurs, mais personne de l’École Notre-Dame à Foleyet n’a pu participer, n’a pu les voir, parce que l’Internet est trop lent.

La même chose avec les graduations en ligne : les enfants, les conseils scolaires et les écoles organisent de belles cérémonies de graduation en ligne. Mais pour les enfants de Foleyet, les enfants de Bisco, les enfants d’Ivanhoe, aucun d’eux autres n’est capable de participer parce que l’Internet est trop lent.

In April of this year, I wrote to the Minister of Education and told him that there are solutions to help the students of Foleyet, of Ivanhoe. We can help these kids get access to what they need online. It has been two months and, so far, radio silence. We have followed up twice with the minister’s office and still no answer.

It feels to me like the minister doesn’t care about the challenges of northern and rural kids, but I care. It’s not only places like Bisco and Foleyet; it is also in and around Sudbury, in Whitefish and Wahnapitae. The minister has a role to play to make sure those kids learn.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Christine Hogarth: I rise today to pay tribute to the Ontarians who are making a difference in people’s lives. In these challenging times, many organizations and individuals in Etobicoke–Lakeshore have gone above and beyond to support our community:

I want to mention my neighbour Jeanette, who, rain or shine, at 7:30 each night, leads our street in banging pots and pans to cheer on our front-line workers; the Pastors, who pitched in to help when it was not safe for volunteers at Haven on the Q, who I had the pleasure to join one afternoon to pack groceries for those in need; Jasmine at LAMP, who I visited with my staff a few weeks ago to bring dry goods for her to hand out to those who need that extra little bit of help at the end of the month; the Downing Street Group, who generously donated empty rental space to GlobalMedic so they can house much-needed supplies; and the amazing people at Humber College, who generously donated their north campus to GlobalMedic so they can set up a place to package food and supplies.

The headquarters for GlobalMedic is also in Etobicoke–Lakeshore, and last month, along with my staff, I had the honour to pack thank-you hygiene kits for front-line workers working in hospitals, seniors’ homes and long-term-care facilities. The products were generously donated by Procter and Gamble and were also distributed to local food banks and shelters around the province.

These are a few of the many local heroes in Etobicoke–Lakeshore who have exemplified the Ontario spirit.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the numerous organizations outside Etobicoke–Lakeshore, such as the Canada India Foundation, who I joined last week to distribute meals to Mississauga Fire Station 101.

Thank you to everyone.

Racism

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: As the MPP for Markham–Thornhill, I represent one of the most ethnically diverse ridings in all of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, what I have to say might make some uncomfortable, but we cannot stay silent about things that matter—new racism is to deny that racism exists. I believe that our diversity defines us as Ontarians and as Canadians. However, as we have all seen lately, racial inequality, discrimination and unfair treatment of marginalized communities are very much with us. This is especially true for Indigenous and Black Canadians, people of colour and other minorities.

It is a privilege to learn about racism instead of having experienced it. As a person of colour myself, I have experienced my own fair share of racism and discrimination. I could tell so many stories.

What we need now is action. The solution is not to be colour-blind, but to acknowledge that for many people in this country, racism is a fact of life.

Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that we will overcome these challenges.

I want to say to the people of Markham–Thornhill: I am your voice.

And to the people of Ontario: Our government understands that we must do better.

Question Period

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question this morning is to the Premier.

This morning, families from across Ontario are gathering here at Queen’s Park. They’re here to honour the memory of loved ones who died in long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure that is there is accountability for a system that so badly failed their parents and grandparents.

That hasn’t happened in Ontario. No minister has been held to account by the Premier. The Premier has not taken responsibility. And last week we learned that the Premier is planning some new legislation to ensure that for-profit long-term-care homes will be freed from legal liability for their actions.

The people who are gathering today on the lawns of Queen’s Park—their question to the Premier is: Will anyone be held accountable for the failures in long-term care?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: We’ve been very clear that the system in Ontario has been broken, and we must act quickly. It has been broken for 15 years, as the opposition leader stood by and did absolutely nothing to support long-term care.

We’ve been very clear that we’ll review the long-term-care system once we get through this pandemic. Mr. Speaker, we announced that we will be launching an independent commission in July. We will get down to the bottom of this. We’ll be finalizing details of the commission, including terms of reference, membership, leadership of the commission, and the reporting timelines.

We aren’t going to wait years, as the previous government did and the present opposition folks did. We’re going to make sure we get answers for the loved ones. There is going to be accountability, and we’ll get down to the bottom of this.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, the only thing the people of Ontario deserve is a true judicial public inquiry. That’s what they’re asking for and that’s what they need—not a government-controlled commission.

Families are very angry that private for-profit care homes did little to protect the lives of their loved ones. Facilities like Orchard Villa have kept their licences even after the Canadian Armed Forces found seniors living amongst cockroaches and mice while they were in soiled diapers the whole time. Families repeatedly called for the for-profit provider to respond. They called the for-profit provider and the government for help. They were ignored.

Their question today is: Why is the government protecting for-profit long-term-care facilities from legal liability rather than pulling licences from the homes that have so brutally failed our seniors?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: Our top priority has been protecting the safety of the most vulnerable, especially the residents in long-term care. That’s why, in January, we made COVID-19 a reportable disease, implemented our COVID-19 action plan, issued three emergency orders, introduced two packages of amended regulations, announced $243 million in emergency funding to support 24/7 screening, additional staffing, enhanced cleaning and additional surge capacity. It’s why, last year, we conducted over 2,800 inspections.

Upon receiving the report from the CAF, I announced an immediate investigation into all code red homes—and all of those under way or complete, with orders and notices being issued. Right now, 63 homes are in outbreak out of the 626 homes; 252 homes are resolved. All hands are on deck to stabilize those worst-hit homes.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: And, Speaker, if I may—2,003 lives lost. If that was the Premier’s priority, he certainly failed at it.

The people joining us today did everything in their power to protect their loved ones. They called management at facilities like Orchard Villa and Camilla Care, only to be ignored. They wrote the Premier. They even called his office every hour for three days straight in May and never got a reply.

Now they see the Premier springing into action, but not to help them and their families, Speaker—not to help them and their families.

Why is the Premier so eager to help the for-profit long-term-care homes that failed these families?

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

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: To the member opposite: Thank you for the question.

Our government has been committed to the long-term care system, to the reform, to the transformation, ever since we began. It began with a commitment to rebuild, to advance long-term care and to fix the problems that had existed for many, many years under the previous Liberal government, supported by the opposition. That is what we’ve been doing. We’ve been addressing the issues of neglect for many decades–-and 15 years. We’ve looked at how we can improve the capacity in our long-term-care homes; how we can improve the staffing. One of the first things we did at the outbreak of the pandemic was call to make sure that homes had the support they needed.

Nobody was prepared for the aggressive, infectious nature of COVID-19, which has wreaked havoc around the world, with no knowledge of how it works, how it spreads or how it moves. That evidence is evolving, and we’re taking measures every day to advance our long-term-care system and fix the problem left behind by the previous government.

Long-term care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question’s also to the Premier.

Last week, the minister said, “New thinking is required” when it comes to fixing problems in the long-term-care system. New thinking should mean seniors shouldn’t have to wait a week, or even more, to have a bath. New thinking should mean clean, respectable, comfortable places to live, not homes infested with mice and cockroaches. New thinking should mean that families aren’t left protesting on the lawn just to be heard. It shouldn’t mean that private, for-profit corporations that failed to protect our seniors should be shielded from legal action.

How can the Premier claim he’s protecting seniors when the only people being protected are the ones who helped create this tragedy in the first place?

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

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Thank you again for the question.

The solutions that are required for the long-term-care system that we need for the 21st century are many. There is not one solution; there will be many solutions required. When we try to look at the system across the board, there’s no particular type of operation that’s at fault. There was a duty to maintain the standard of care in all our long-term-care homes. That was not negotiable, and certainly, with the commission—an independent, non-partisan public commission, with public hearings, public input, a public report—we will get to the bottom of this.

This is a tragedy across the world.

I’m taking measures now, as the Minister of Long-Term Care—preceding the pandemic—to modernize long-term care, to make it ready and responsive to the needs of our aging population, which is rapidly increasing in number. We know what needs to be done: what your government didn’t do.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, last week, the Minister of Long-Term Care said, “The duty of care of our long-term-care homes is non-negotiable. They must keep our residents safe.” That’s what she said. Some 66 long-term-care homes still have an outbreak as of yesterday afternoon. Seven of those facilities lost a quarter or more of their residents to COVID-19. For every four seniors in their care, one senior has died.

If these long-term-care facilities are supposed to be keeping residents safe rather than allowing this horrible virus to spread, why are they allowed to keep their licences? And why is the minister allowed to keep her job?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Again, I appreciate your question.

When we understand the issue, at the crux of the problem is years of neglect that cannot be turned around in a matter of days or weeks. We were a strained system, according to Justice Gillese, who reported in the summer of 2019, exactly the same time when the new Ministry of Long-Term Care was created. COVID-19 broke that system.

When we look across the board, we understand how 70% to 80% of our homes were not in outbreak. And on “outbreak,” we reduced that definition to mean one case, even one case of a staff member who is self-isolating at home, with potentially no cases in the home whatsoever.

We need to understand the facts. The truth matters, the facts matter and we will get to the bottom of this with a public, independent, non-partisan commission. We are committed to that. It will be done. We will be announcing more about that in the coming weeks.

I appreciate your concern.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Other provinces did much better in protecting their seniors. For example, we have a province that had only 160-odd deaths because they actually did do the work in advance of COVID-19 hitting long-term care, where our province did not; this minister and this Premier did not. No matter how many times they were saying that they were putting an “iron ring” around long-term care, they were not doing that, notwithstanding the report that the minister talks about that she received last year, from the horrors that happened in the murders that the Wettlaufer case unveiled.

But look, the families who are here at Queen’s Park, Speaker, were failed by this government. The Premier, as I said, promised that iron ring and then ignored—literally ignored—their calls for help, as their parents and loved ones were left to suffer in conditions that no one should ever have to live in. Now, once again, he’s putting the interests of for-profit providers and political allies ahead of the needs of families.

Will the Premier do the right thing and stop protecting the for-profit homes, stop protecting cabinet ministers, and offer real accountability to families who have endured so much pain because he has failed to protect them in long-term care?

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: Let’s look at the facts. For 15 years, the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, failed to address the problems that led to the crisis in long-term care with COVID-19. When you refer to other provinces, let’s understand the facts. In BC, between 2013 and 2017, with the population of that province one third of Ontario’s, they built 900 beds—for one third of the population; in Alberta, since 2014, they’ve built 1,227. That’s the reason why they managed better. They had better capacity, because the previous government took measures during that time to keep up with an aging population.

The previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, did nothing of the sort. They also neglected a staffing crisis.

I suggest the Leader of the Opposition may want to take her own advice.

Mental health and addiction services

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

Ejaz Choudry was a 62-year-old father of four from Malton. He was experiencing a mental health crisis, so his family called the paramedics for help. Instead, he was shot dead by police in his own home.

Ejaz Choudry, like D’Andre Campbell, like Regis Korchinski-Paquet and like Caleb Tubila Njoko, was loved and valued. They all needed help and should all be alive today. They should have gotten the help and should be alive today.

How many more people in mental health crisis have to die during interactions with the police for this Premier to take responsibility and do something about it?

Hon. Doug Ford: First of all, Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure the family and the loved ones of Ejaz Choudry and the people of Ontario that effective, reasonable and independent police oversight is one of my top priorities. As I mentioned in my press conference yesterday, my prayers, my thoughts, my condolences go out to their family.

The SIU is an independent, arm’s-length civilian oversight body, and I do have confidence in the SIU. They investigate deaths, serious injuries and allegations of sexual assault that may occur when police are involved. They have the sole discretion—and I say the sole discretion—to decide whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence has been committed and charges to be laid. All decisions are rendered without interference from the public, the police or the government.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question, the member for Brampton East.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: My question is to the Premier. Ejaz Choudry was a 62-year-old man from Malton. He was suffering from a mental health crisis, so his family decided to call the paramedics for help. When the police arrived, they used a ladder to break into his apartment, with guns drawn and screaming. They shot and killed Ejaz Choudry in his own home while he was alone. His seven-year-old son is still asking when his father is going to come back from the hospital.

How many more people are going to have to die? How many more people are going to be shot and killed by the police? How many more people who are suffering from mental health crises are going to be shot and killed when all they needed was help?

The family deserves answers. We all deserve answers. Will the Premier commit to an independent public inquiry into the death of Mr. Choudry?

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, again, my heart goes out to the family and loved ones, to anyone in these tragic situations. We know that more needs to be done to tackle the mental health crisis in our communities. That’s why we’ve invested over $3.8 billion, with the co-operation of the federal government.

We recognize that the nature of policing and community safety has changed, especially when it comes to those with complex mental health needs. Last year, our government made a $174-million commitment to address mental health and addiction challenges. Over $18 million of that new funding was specifically designated to those affected by mental health and addiction challenges in the justice sector alone. We also invested nearly $7 million for new mobile crisis teams designated to bring together the police officer with a mental health professional to provide care for the people in crisis.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Christine Hogarth: My question today is for the Premier.

Premier, yesterday was an exciting day for the province, with the announcement that Toronto and Peel regions would be entering stage 2 reopening this coming week. I can only imagine the excitement and sense of relief for the people of Toronto and the people in my riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore in hearing this news. For businesses, both large and small, this is a very welcome announcement as they restart their operations to serve in these communities once again.

Ontarians can be sure that every time our government make a decision, it is always based on the best available medical and scientific advice. This is always done to ensure the betterment of all Ontarians while protecting their health and their safety.

With that in mind, Speaker, can the Premier share with the Legislature more about this next phase of reopening and how it will benefit the residents of Toronto, the people of Etobicoke–Lakeshore, Peel and all of Ontario?

Hon. Doug Ford: I want to thank the fantastic, excellent member from the great riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore. She’s doing a great, great job.

When more regions move into phase 2, it means one thing: We’re all doing our part. It’s amazing what can get done when you’re all pulling in the same direction, no matter what political stripe you’re from.

When we all do our part, more people across the province can go back to work, more people are taking home a paycheque, and more people are able to put food on the table. That’s why, yesterday, we announced that we are reopening Peel and Toronto. That means that restaurants and bars can reopen their patios. Beauty salons and barbershops can start taking appointments. Shopping malls can open their doors once again.

But that wouldn’t be possible, Mr. Speaker, without the support of the 14.5 million people of this great province.

We’re going to continue opening up. I’m not comfortable until all of Ontario opens up—and that includes our great friends in Windsor-Essex.

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

Ms. Christine Hogarth: Thank you, Premier, for that answer. I know that the people in my riding really do appreciate that.

Although this is welcome news for the people of Toronto and Peel, I know that, along with everyone in our government, we remain committed to ensuring that all of Ontario is allowed to move forward. I know that the situation in Windsor-Essex is of great interest to you.

As the Chief Medical Officer of Health stated yesterday, we are seeing progress, but more oversight is required.

I know that the spread of COVID in our agricultural sector continues to be an issue for you and our government. We’re continuing to closely monitor and address the situation.

Speaker, can the Premier share more about the actions our government is taking to ensure that Windsor-Essex is ready to move forward to stage 2 as soon as possible?

Hon. Doug Ford: Well, first of all, Mr. Speaker, I want to assure everyone in this House and the people of Windsor-Essex that we are doing everything in our power to make sure we reopen that region. I was on the phone with the farmers last night, on the phone this morning, on the phone with OMAFRA, our health table, and our Chief Medical Officer of Health. I believe that everyone is coming together, that we’ll have an agreement that we can move forward on—a mutually rewarding agreement that will help out the people of Windsor-Essex—the people, the farmers and the workers.

Mr. Speaker, I feel terrible for the people of Windsor Essex—that they’re going through this—and I feel terrible for the farmers, along with the workers. But we’re coming up with a solution that is going to benefit every single person.

I want to give a shout-out to the farmers. I support them 100%. We’re going to get through this together.

Correctional services

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: A question to the Premier: The correctional system across Ontario is a factory that produces broken Indigenous people who are sent back to our communities or left to fend for themselves on the streets of big cities, and then back to jail, in a vicious cycle without an end, Mr. Speaker.

These systems dehumanize our young people—young men and young women. But these young people are more than just the charges they face, or their sentences. This includes my nephew Kevin. He died three weeks ago while he was in custody at the Thunder Bay jail. Another young Indigenous man died at the same jail in recent weeks. Nine have died there since 2002. Seven were Indigenous men. Like Kevin, these young people were our sons, our fathers, our nephews.

The Ontario Human Rights Commissioner, coroners’ inquests, the Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and even my brother have all called for this jail to close.

How many more Indigenous people need to die at the Thunder Bay jail before the government takes action to solve this crisis?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Solicitor General.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: As we discussed a number of weeks ago, I committed to you that when the investigation was complete, all information that we are able to share with the family will be shared. I know that these are tragedies and that we must do better. But when deaths occur in our corrections facilities, there are very strict guidelines that must happen. It starts with an internal investigation. It continues with the coroner’s investigation and, if necessary, a police investigation.

The commitment that our government has made to announce and re-announce the Thunder Bay Jail is on the table. We made that commitment in 2019. We are working with the community, with the corrections officers and with our justice partners to make sure that the facility we build in Thunder Bay, which we need in Thunder Bay, will be appropriate for the community, for the workers that work there and for the inmates that are serving.

It is important that we do this work now so that we don’t re-make mistakes that have happened, where we build quickly but build poorly. We are making the investment up front to consult and to work with the individuals in the justice sector and the corrections side to make sure that we get it right, and we will do that. You have my commitment that we will do that.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Most of the Indigenous men and women who go through the system do not belong in jails. They’ve suffered years and even generations of trauma and extreme poverty. They need access to proper education, access to their cultural teachings, access to clean drinking water, houses for them to live in, and health and mental health supports when they need them. They do not belong in jail.

The Thunder Bay jail should close, Mr. Speaker. The problem cannot be fixed by simply creating a bigger jail, a newer jail that will fill with even more Indigenous people. The shift must happen across systems—that address the underlying issues of colonialism that ripped children away from our families and brought us to where we are today. Sometimes, actually, it’s called systemic racism.

What does the Premier plan to do so that no more families will see their child’s body flown away from home for another autopsy?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I couldn’t agree more with the member opposite. It is not an issue that only the Solicitor General ministry is working on; it is an issue that all of our governments, all of our legislators must work together on to resolve. In the meantime, we are doing what we can in the Solicitor General, in corrections, to provide a safe environment and culturally appropriate services to individuals within our custody.

Indigenous programming and services are provided at all our institutions, including the Thunder Bay jail, that aim to address barriers Indigenous inmates face while honouring their histories, traditions, heritages, beliefs and cultures. Core programs and services are offered and facilitated by elders, native inmate liaison officers, community corrections workers as well as other Indigenous staff and other service providers.

I know that across government we can do better, but we are doing what we can in corrections to make sure that we provide the appropriate services when needed.

Education funding

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: My question is for the Minister of Education.

Last Friday, the minister laid out three options for return to school come September. He told the 72 school boards to prepare for all three: fully open schools, continuation of full online learning, and partly opened schools. Over the weekend, the minister said that in fact, boards had to be ready to implement the least workable option, part-time school, for the beginning of September.

Here’s the reaction of a parent who wrote to both the minister and to me—a parent of a JK student and one of many whom I’ve heard from since the announcement the minister made:

“For families with two working parents, like mine, we cannot sustain part-time in-person schooling. We will need child care for our children when school is not in-person. This means that many children would be in various part-time daycares, with babysitters, and/or grandparents on the days they are not in school, which completely invalidates the logic behind small cohorts.

“Not only is this plan not sustainable for families that financially require parents/caregivers to do paid work (particularly worrisome for single parents), it is not optimal for keeping the children or the community safe via limited contact.”

If the minister’s objective was to support children’s learning and safety and to support the opening of the economy, why did he choose the model that is absolutely designed to fail on both counts?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Thank you very much to the member opposite for the question.

Indeed, we did unveil last Friday three options for school boards to be ready, because what we have learned from this pandemic is that we must be ready. Students deserve to learn no matter what the circumstance and difficulty that manifests on the horizon. So we’ve asked boards to be ready for in-class, day-to-day instruction with enhanced protocols—yes, with a remote online option, and a third option of blended.

What I said on Friday, as I reaffirmed on Saturday and as I will affirm in this House today, is that, based on the modelling and the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, SickKids Hospital, some of the best pediatric doctors in this country—their advice is today to proceed with an adaptive model. Of course, we know that in this reality it is fluid, which is why we’re asking boards to be ready for all circumstances for the reopening.

In addition to that, we’ve provided enhanced cleaning supports—$730 million more for school boards to be prepared for a positive start, including in mental health and technology. We’ll continue to invest more in our students, in every board in Ontario, to ensure that September is a positive restart for all kids in Ontario.

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

Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne: I appreciate the minister’s answer.

I have heard the announcements. I have listened very carefully to what he has been saying. My concern is that I do not believe—and this is because of conversations that I’ve had with leadership of the federations and the unions—that the conversations with the people who are going to be in those classrooms, who understand exactly what needs to happen, are happening.

I think that there are other options. The education unions and federations have all made recommendations to the minister. For example, a fourth option could be developed. But it would take collaboration, real collaboration, with teachers, with support staff, with students, parents and administrators, and it could allow the full opening of schools. But it would take the government working with those partners, providing additional funding to have smaller groupings of students in schools but also in community space, also in commercial space and other public space in the community.

It would require funding for outdoor classrooms, but it would allow staff to connect with the community and have more outdoor learning. Other jurisdictions like Denmark have been doing just this.

Can the minister explain why this model, which would require additional funding or some version of it, is not an option for Ontario’s children?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: On Friday and in the days preceding, we announced a plan to invest more money into public education than any government in the history of Ontario. We’re investing an additional $10 million. In fact, under the former Liberal government, when the member opposite was Premier, they were investing just shy of $20 million. I’m proud to report that we’re investing over $40 million in mental health to support the resilience and strength of every child in the province.

In technology—an area of mutual interest, I hope and I would expect—we are investing an additional $15 million to procure upwards of 35,000 Chromebooks and tablets for at-risk students so that their families have access to technology.

We’re investing more money for cleaning. In fact, in our announcement on Friday—over $730 million more in public education. Every school board in the province of Ontario, including the Toronto public and Catholic, is receiving more money to ensure a safe, positive restart this September.

Yes, it will require investment. It will require co-operation.

Our government will continue to be guided by the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and continue to listen to parents, students and educators, on the best way to—yes—get students in class in September.

Forest firefighting

Ms. Lindsey Park: My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

I know that Ontario has one of the best wildland fire management systems in the world. But we saw earlier this year, when Australia faced a busy wildfire season, and we’re seeing now, as Ontario has sent support to Quebec to help combat a fire in Lac-St-Jean region, that we need to be ready and we need to support our communities. In typical Canadian fashion, our government has responded by providing personnel to assist with critical functions to support our neighbours in their firefighting efforts.

Can the minister share how his ministry is preparing and is helping fire personnel be prepared to keep Ontarians safe during this wildland fire season?

Hon. John Yakabuski: I want to thank the amazing member for Durham for that question.

Our government acted quickly—and I am so proud that our firefighting system is recognized as among the best, if not the best, in the entire world. We acted quickly this year to ensure that we could protect people and property and our firefighters under the COVID-19 situation.

First, we enacted an early fire ban, which protected those workers, because they were getting prepared for a very unique season. So we’ve had an early fire ban that was really, really helpful in keeping those fires out in the early season. We increased the base budget for firefighting this year by $30 million. To protect our staff, we ensured that they had the preparation and the planning and the training for physical distancing, as well as self-assessment tools that they must do each and every day.

Our aviation forest fire emergency services are among the best in the world, and we are making sure that we will keep it that way. While we’re doing that, we will ensure that the protection of people and property in the province of Ontario continues to be our number one priority.

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

Ms. Lindsey Park: I want to thank the minister, on behalf of Ontarians, for these smart, balanced measures to keep our natural resources, people and property safe during this challenging time.

With the first official day of summer just behind us, Ontarians are looking to enjoy the great outdoors, whether that’s camping or cottaging, or hunting, fishing and hiking. And of course we all enjoy a good campfire. Ontarians want to be able to relax around a good fire in a way that’s safe and enjoyable.

Can the minister please tell us what he is doing to make sure that Ontarians are able to safely enjoy fires?

Hon. John Yakabuski: Thank you again for the question.

As I said, we increased the firefighting budget by $30 million this year. In addition to the amazing forest fire rangers that we have in this province, we also have a fleet of 30 aircraft—as I say, one of the unique systems in all of the world. We have our water bombers, our Twin Otters and our helicopters.

We employed a different strategy this year because of COVID-19. We wanted to make sure we kept our forest fires small, and hit them early and hit them hard. As a result, as of yesterday, Ontario has had 151 wildland fires this year, burning 892 hectares. This is well below the 10-year average of 285 fires and 56,604 hectares burned as of this date. So our strategy has worked. It is working, but we are now into summer. I want to ensure everybody that our people are ready, including to help our neighbours in Quebec.

We also have a responsibility to be as diligent and vigilant as possible to ensure that we can prevent as many forest fires as possible, to make sure that the great people who work for us in MNRF—

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

COVID-19 response

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: My question is for the Premier.

Three migrant workers have now died of COVID-19 in Ontario. Bonifacio Eugenio Romero and Rogelio Muñoz Santos died while working in Essex county. There are countless others who are sick.

The Premier has sat back and watched while the case numbers have grown among this vulnerable population. Despite pleas from local leaders and public health officials for increased resources and a plan, the province has done nothing but say, “We feel bad.” Now the outbreaks have spread, but we still don’t know the full scope of the issue.

The Premier spent this week blaming farmers, blaming Ottawa, blaming everyone but himself. It’s time that he took a long, hard look in the mirror, because other provinces have avoided the outbreaks that we are seeing in Ontario. This lands squarely on the shoulders of the Premier.

Speaker, people in my riding are understandably angry about how this has been handled.

Why did the Premier allow this to happen, and what metrics did he use when deciding to keep us in stage 1?

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

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Thank you to the member opposite for this question.

I want to begin by saying to all of those workers impacted by COVID-19—our government sends our sincerest sympathies and condolences to all of those families. In fact, Mr. Speaker, to the family of Mr. Romero, to the family of Mr. Chaparro, and to the family of Mr. Santos, I want to send specific regards from me to their families. They’re facing, obviously, just a tragedy, and we’re going to be with them every step of the way through this.

Mr. Speaker, I launched a blitz of the farming sector back in April. We’ve done over 230 investigations, and we’ve issued 70 orders to improve health and safety for workers on farms across this province.

As the member opposite knows, yesterday I joined the Premier to announce a partnership between the federal government—between us and local health units to begin investigating living quarters for these workers.

I’ll talk about more in my supplementary.

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

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: To the minister: Respectfully, condolences don’t stop people from getting sick or from dying. What our region needs is funding. We need policy and enforcement, and we need to make sure that these workers have appropriate living and working conditions—full stop—not your condolences.

Windsor Regional Hospital recently announced that there was no one with COVID-19 in the ICU or on ventilators or in hospital in Windsor. The field hospital has been shut down. Chatham is closer to the rural areas of Essex county than the city of Windsor, and yet they’ve been open for weeks. Toronto and Peel have higher numbers, and they’re opening.

Speaker, we respect public health direction, but it’s very difficult for my constituents to understand this decision without transparency. My constituents are at their wit’s end with the prolonged closure. The Windsor-Essex chamber has called for immediate financial relief for our local businesses, saying that it would be “catastrophic” for our region without it. This morning, the FAO reports that Windsor is the hardest-hit city by pandemic-related job losses, at 19%.

To the Premier, I will ask again: What metrics did you use when deciding to keep us in stage 1? What are you going to do to support the people who have so much to lose from this decision?

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

Hon. Monte McNaughton: As the Premier indicated earlier in question period and yesterday at his press conference, there’s no one who wants Windsor-Essex open more than the government of Ontario, to help those small businesses, those families, those workers across that region.

But to the first part of the question—I do want to address the migrant worker issue. The health and safety of every worker, including those in the agricultural sector, is our top priority. The member opposite knows that when it comes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the living quarters for those workers, that’s the responsibility of the federal government. But I’m proud that we are working together—the federal government, the provincial government, local health units—to get in there and inspect those living quarters to improve those conditions for workers.

My responsibility, as Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, is to inspect workplaces, and I’m proud to say that we’ve inspected 231 farms and we’ve issued 70 orders to improve conditions for those workers and every worker in the agricultural sector.

Protection for workers

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Minister of Labour.

Seasonal migrant farm workers are essential workers. Tragically now, three workers have died from COVID-19. While I’m sure their families appreciate the minister’s condolences, we need to talk about the two-tiered system for worker protections in this province.

Seasonal farm workers are not entitled to many of the protections in the Employment Standards Act. Many of them are afraid to speak out about unsanitary housing conditions, to speak out about unsafe labour conditions and lack of PPE, and of the loss of wages if they test positive. No wonder many of them don’t want to be tested.

I realize the Premier keeps saying, “Farmers, get your workers tested. Migrant farm workers, get tested.” But the bottom line is—BC developed a program that paid workers while they were quarantined. Many of these workers are afraid of deportation and loss of wages if they test positive.

Will the minister guarantee that migrant farm workers will not lose their wages if they test positive for COVID-19?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: As the member opposite knows, the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act applies to every single worker in the province of Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, further to my earlier answer, our ministry has provided now eight health and safety guidelines for agricultural businesses and farms across the province. I’m proud to say that four of those have been translated into Spanish. We have 500 inspectors going to workplaces right across this province, including farms and agricultural businesses. I’ve been assured, and I know, that these inspectors also have translators with them, so they’re talking to migrant workers who have a Spanish background.

So far, in Ontario, I’m proud to say, during the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve inspected nearly 12,000 workplaces, we’ve issued nearly 7,000 orders and have shut down 23 workplaces in this province.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Speaker, with all due respect to the minister, migrant farm workers need to be assured that they will be protected if they report unsafe work and living conditions.

When this outbreak started, I met with farmers who told me how vital and essential temporary migrant farm workers are to feeding Ontarians. I also talked to many farmers who said, “You know what? We need more support to improve living conditions in bunkhouses. We need support to ensure that our workers have access to PPE.” I’ve talked to advocates for migrant farm workers who say that workers are afraid to speak out because they might be deported and they might lose their wages.

The real question is: If we want to solve this problem, we have to protect worker rights, so will the minister guarantee the migrant farm workers that they will not lose their wages if they test positive for COVID-19?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I want every worker in the province of Ontario to know that I will stand with them every step of the way. We will not tolerate employers not treating employees properly. The laws are in place through the Employment Standards Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

One of the announcements that my colleague the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs made a number of weeks ago was an investment of $15 million to better protect farm workers in the province of Ontario, to buy more PPE, to improve housing and to improve transportation.

I don’t need to remind any member in this Legislature that the very first piece of legislation we passed during COVID-19—Bill 186 protects every single worker in this province, including migrant workers. If they’re in quarantine, if they’re in self-isolation, if they have to stay home and look after a loved one because schools are closed, they will not lose their job. They cannot be fired.

I will stand with every worker in this province.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: My question is for the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

Our government’s safe and responsible approach of phased reopening throughout the province has meant that, day after day, more and more businesses can begin to open up their communities to visitors and generate much-needed revenues. This is especially important for Ontario’s tourism industry, which, as the minister described it, was one of the hardest-hit industries that will take the longest to recover.

I know that the minister has taken a keen interest in visiting all corners of the province as they begin to reopen. In fact, I know that she was proud to begin these visits with her hometown of Ottawa as it opened up for stage 2 earlier this month.

I know that, just this past week, the minister was in Niagara Falls to help reopen Canada’s number one tourist destination. Can the minister please update this House on the significance of this reopening and what it means for both Niagara’s tourism operators and Ontarians who are looking to visit?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I’d like to thank the member for his question, but mostly for his interest in this industry.

I’d also like to start by just saying thank you to Premier Ford. Just over a year ago, he appointed me to this ministry, and I would like to thank those in my ministry, as well as our 18 agencies and attractions, as well as all of those stakeholders and industry partners, particularly as they’ve gone through the last four months.

The member opposite is right. I did undertake a province-wide tour, starting in Ottawa, into the 1000 Islands. I went up to Muskoka, over to Blue Mountain, and then, of course, on Friday, I spent some time in the Niagara region.

I often say that this ministry is responsible for a spectacular double bottom line. It looks at improving our cultural fabric in the province of Ontario while driving a $75-billion economy. However, over the past number of months, we have faced a triple threat: the health care crisis, the economic crisis and the social crisis. As a result of those crises, we are seeing consumer behaviours inhibited, and that has driven a real stake into the heart of this fleet of sectors and industries.

I’ll be happy to talk a little bit about what we did in terms of that tour and what we hope to accomplish with our marketing dollars in the supplement.

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

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: It looks like Ontarians will have plenty of reasons to visit Niagara both this summer and in the future as we anticipate our government’s $25-million commitment to redevelop the Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station.

In keeping with news around the theme of welcoming back visitors across Ontario, I know many of my constituents were thrilled to hear Premier Ford announce that even more of our province will be able to reopen this week. As of June 24, parts of our province, including Peel and Toronto, will be able to open up more of their services and attractions to visitors and residents. This is wonderful news for the region and for Ontario’s $36-billion tourism industry.

Can the minister please update this House on this good news and please explain how our government plans to visit and promote all of these newly opened regions to—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. The Minister of Heritage to reply.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Again, thank you for the question.

Our government is committed to ensuring that the economy opens gradually and safely. That said, just because we’ve flipped the switch does not necessarily mean our visitor economy will return any time soon, which is why our government has invested $13 million in supporting a hyper-local tourism initiative so we can start to reconnect within our own communities.

I want to make sure that we demonstrate the safety of going to these cultural and tourism attractions, which is why we have embarked on that tour across Ontario—to demonstrate that it’s safe to stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Gananoque; it is safe to visit Santa’s Village in Bracebridge; it is safe to go on a walking tour with the Haunted Walks in Ottawa; it is safe to take the SkyWheel in Niagara; it will be safe to go through Toronto this week and, God willing, safe to go through Windsor and Essex once it is cleared for phase 2.

Speaker, we have a long road ahead of us, but I think it’s important for each member of this assembly to take leadership in their own communities to start getting Ontarians to reconnect in each one of their ridings.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier.

Since the beginning of this pandemic, public health experts have all agreed on measures to flatten the curve: wash your hands, maintain physical distancing and stay home if you are sick.

For many workers without paid sick days staying home was their only option, because their non-essential workplace was shut down. Now as the economy reopens, it will be almost impossible for low-wage workers like those in retail or hospitality to stay home to recover or wait for the results of a COVID-19 test, when that means even more financial hardship.

Speaker, how does the Premier expect to prevent a deadly second wave of the virus if workers can’t afford to stay home when they are sick?

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

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Well, thank you very much. Again, I’m proud to say that the very first piece of legislation that we passed during this global pandemic here in Ontario was Bill 186. That piece of legislation amended the Employment Standards Act, and tells people that if they are in self-isolation, if they’re in quarantine, if they have to stay home and look after a loved one—for example, a child, because the schools are shut down—then they can’t be fired for that. That change will last until COVID-19 is defeated here in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, we’re going to continue to protect the health and safety of every worker in the province, and to help families, help businesses get through this global pandemic and ensure that we come out of this stronger than ever.

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

Ms. Peggy Sattler: The federal government, pushed by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, has recognized that there is a vital public interest in providing paid sick days so that workers can stay home when they are sick without giving up their wages—especially in a pandemic. The cost of paid sick days should not just be the responsibility of hard-hit employers; government must come to the table as well. That’s why the federal government proposed to work with the provinces on a paid sick leave program.

Speaker, when other provinces and territories have welcomed the federal initiative, can the Premier explain why he doesn’t believe in paid sick days, against the advice of almost all public health experts, and why he is refusing to develop a paid sick leave program?

Hon. Monte McNaughton: Thank you to the member from London West for that question.

We continue to listen to workers, labour leaders and employers right across this province. Obviously, the global pandemic has disrupted Ontario. In March and April alone, Mr. Speaker, 1.2 million people were out of work. But we moved quickly and decisively at the beginning of the pandemic to pass Bill 186 to tell those people that they can’t be fired because of COVID-19. We’re taking every measure necessary to ensure that people have a job coming out of COVID-19 as we enter the recovery phase; that businesses are able to unlock their doors, reopen their places of business and hire people back.

When it comes to protecting health and safety, I think it’s worth mentioning that we’ve invested heavily throughout COVID-19 to double the capacity of the health and safety action centre. If any worker feels unsafe at work, they can call 877-202-0008.

Education funding

Mrs. Robin Martin: My question is to the Minister of Education.

Last Friday, I was thrilled to see the minister announce funding for the 2020-21 school year that is $736 million more than last year. I know that our priorities are in the right place: on student success and well-being.

On the latter, it is more important than ever to make sure that our kids can receive the mental health support that they need. School boards, students and parents in my riding will welcome our government’s increased funding for mental health.

Can the minister please outline how these funds will support our students as they prepare to return to school in September?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Allow me to thank the member from Eglinton–Lawrence for her leadership and for her advocacy for more supports for mental health and special education in the province of Ontario.

Indeed, I was proud to join the Premier last week to announce new investments to support mental health and the resiliency of our kids. We know that COVID-19 has had a great impact on their strength and on their ability to continue on in learning. We know that this isolation has an impact on their social-emotional learning. It’s why our government more than doubled mental health funding last year. It’s why this year, for September, we’re adding an ancillary investment of $10 million. That brings the Mental Health and Well-Being Grant from the province of Ontario to $75 million.

In the member’s riding, for Toronto public, for example—that’s a $10-million investment being provided to that board to help them hire more psychologists, more psychotherapists and social workers to help our children, our families and our entire community get through the difficulty of this outbreak.

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

Mrs. Robin Martin: Thank you to the minister for that answer. I know from speaking with him that many parents of special-needs students are especially concerned for student well-being during this period of uncertainty. We put in place increased supports for special-needs students during distance learning and we continue to invest to support them. The Toronto Catholic District School Board, which operates in my riding, will receive close to $128 million in special education funding in 2020-21, an increase over last year.

Can the minister please share further details on how our government is supporting special-needs students in Ontario?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Thank you again to the member opposite for the question.

Speaker, indeed, the government is continuing to invest more in special education. This Progressive Conservative government will increase investments in special ed to the highest levels ever recorded in Ontario history, to $3.2 billion. We are more than doubling the mental health portfolio. It’s over $40 million.

When you look at the agreements we reached with the union federations and our partners—$212 million for the new Support for Students Fund. That is a fund that is designed to focus on hiring staff that actually meet the needs of our parents and our kids—more in special ed, more in mental health and STEM education.

Obviously, part of our commitment for September is to make sure that IEPs and IPRCs continue to be followed by school boards and that school boards provide a check-in ahead of the start of the year to ensure families have the resources, the technology and the supports they need so that their child can have dignity, opportunity, and succeed this September.

Protection for workers

Mr. Wayne Gates: My question is to the Premier.

Last week, the national media exposed the horrific toll on the lives of injured workers that was brought on by the Ontario workers’ compensation board. The report documented that the WSIB was forcing injured workers back to work, in some cases within days of injury. It showed that they were paying for opioids to deal with the pain of working while still injured—but only long enough to get them addicted before they cut them off compensation. They were denying recommended treatments and surgery for injured workers. And while the WSIB was doing this to workers, your government was standing by and doing nothing.

Will this government admit that they have failed injured workers, that the WSIB is broken, and finally direct the WSIB to provide proper respect and compensation for injured workers in the province of Ontario?

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

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I’d like to thank the member from Niagara for that question here this morning.

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to begin by just telling all those injured workers out there across the province—I want to send them my condolences and sympathies.

We’re working every single day to make this system better. As the member opposite knows, the WSIB is currently undergoing an operational review, which I’ll be making public very soon, and making some changes to further strengthen the WSIB system and help workers across the province.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things I’m most proud of, serving under Premier Ford and in this government, is the fact that, together, in partnership with the federal government, we’re going to be investing $3.8 billion into mental health and addictions across the province to help workers, to help families, to help every single person dealing with mental health and addictions issues.

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

Mr. Wayne Gates: As the president of the United Steelworkers said, these tragedies are not surprising to anyone who has ever advocated for injured workers. People have been trying to tell this government for years that the WSIB is broken and failing injured workers, in many cases—and listen to this, Minister—condemning them to a life of poverty.

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