Back to the Premier: We all know that the privatization of orthopaedic surgery and the poaching of staff from our public hospitals is exactly what this government wants to do with Bill 60. But section 4 of the Ontario Public Hospitals Act is very clear: Leasing any space in a public hospital requires the explicit written approval of the Ministry of Health. You can’t even put a Tim Hortons in a hospital without ministerial approval. The law in Ontario is clear: The Ottawa Hospital cannot lease its operating room without the explicit written approval of the Minister of Health. I hope the Premier knows that.

When will the Premier investigate the apparent breach of Ontario laws by the for-profit corporation leasing operating rooms at the Ottawa Hospital?

My question is for the Premier.

Operating rooms at the Riverside campus of the Ottawa Hospital have been leased to a private, for-profit corporation on Saturdays for the last while. The 26 surgeons running this for-profit corporation have been hiring nursing staff from the Ottawa Hospital’s public OR rooms. Nurses are being offered twice their normal salary. The surgical equipment for this clinic is shipped in from Toronto. On the surface, it doesn’t seem to make sense. But what has also never been clear to me is how this for-profit clinic was approved in the first place.

Can the Premier clarify if this clinic was given his government’s formal approval to operate?

Speaker, from the very beginning, as we put forward an almost billion-dollar three-year investment to expand surgical innovation and to deal with surgical backlog, the Ottawa Hospital, under the leadership of CEO Cam Love have been doing exactly what we asked. I’m going to quote CEO Cam Love: “Such concerns raised by” the member opposite “are unfounded, and the innovative model used by AOAO has resulted in more orthopaedic surgeries being completed faster.”

This is about people. This is about 40 people who needed and were waiting for hip and knee surgeries, who got that surgery faster as a result of innovation that’s happening at the Ottawa Hospital. I am incredibly proud of the partnership that they have been able to manage and work through with AOAO, and as we see more of these innovations coming forward, we will continue to fund them through a program that—

There is no doubt that Ontario leads the Canadian jurisdictions in making sure that people have fast access, but we can do better, and we are doing better. And we’re doing that with Bill 60 and with Your Health, because it means that those expansions can happen—in non-urgent, regularly scheduled surgeries that can happen in the community. I am incredibly proud of the work that we’ve been able to put through with Bill 60.

If the member opposite would focus on individuals in her riding who are desperate for that surgery to happen sooner, she might have a better chance of getting more NDP members.

Speaker, $560 million is going to make a difference to organizations such as Meals on Wheels. We understand that they are doing exceptional work, making sure that our seniors, our most vulnerable, our individuals who are recovering from surgeries get that support in their home and are not then needing more complex care in hospitals or long-term care.

We’ll make those investments, and I hope when you look at that line item in the budget, you’ll say, “This is important for the city of Ottawa, and we will be supporting it.”

My question is to the Premier.

A London-area family recently received the horrifying assessment of sarcoma after an ultrasound showed a mass in their child’s leg. In order to properly diagnose, the oncologists ordered an MRI. But children who need an MRI at London Health Sciences Centre have to wait. Children who should have that service within 28 days are waiting, on average, 299 days—waiting for almost a year. How is this acceptable?

My question is back to the Premier.

I can’t imagine the level of stress and anxiety while patients await this important step in their child’s health care. It’s necessary for diagnosis and potential treatment, and kids can’t wait.

This new Conservative government normal is not okay. While the government ignores its health care responsibilities, the family have even resorted to calling a hospital in Michigan, who got back to them right away with a price tag of $2,200 cash.

Is it acceptable that in a province such as Ontario, cash for health care access is okay?

Well, it’s not acceptable, which is exactly why our government has made additional investments in MRIs across Ontario, including at London regional health sciences. We are building a system that, frankly, has been ignored for far too long by previous governments that didn’t make those investments, whether it was in health human resources, whether it was in capital.

Speaker, 50 different hospital projects are being renovated, built or expanded in the province of Ontario, under this Premier’s leadership. We are making those investments to ensure that families who need those services can get them in the appropriate timeline.

As I said, the MRI in London is in the works because our government approved it.

Interjection.

Interjections.