Thank you to my honourable colleague for the question.

Just over one year ago, our government passed the Getting Ontario Connected Act, which, amongst other things, made amendments to improve the locate delivery system, enhanced governance and oversight of Ontario One Call, and improved compliance tools. Speaker, if I may, I want to commend the incredible work by our Minister of Infrastructure, the Honourable Kinga Surma, to build this important piece of legislation, as well as the great member from Sarnia–Lambton, MPP Bob Bailey, for having worked with his colleagues across the aisle in 2012 to bring about Ontario One Call as we know it today.

So, whether you are planting a tree, building a fence or planning to dig for any reason, remember to visit ontarioonecall.ca to learn more about how to request a locate in just a few simple steps.

Thank you to the member from Newmarket–Aurora for their question and their advocacy on creating more economic opportunities in their riding, and also across the province.

Madam Speaker, just last month, I announced the expansion of the Investing in Women’s Futures Program to 10 new locations across the province, bringing the total number of service locations to 33.

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting Operation Grow. It’s in Midland, and I was there with the member from Simcoe North, the Minister of Colleges and Universities, to announce that they will be the next location receiving the Investing in Women’s Futures Program funding.

Operation Grow is a social enterprise operated by Huronia Transition Homes, and they empower women who have experienced violence to access skill-building workshops in their commercial kitchen and their state-of-the-art vertical farm. They grow food to feed their communities and also empower women to develop skills to be able to secure employment.

In addition to Midland, the Investing in Women’s Futures program will now be delivered in Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, Pickering, Newmarket, Kingston, Killaloe, Elliot Lake, and Kirkland Lake. These programs will be led by community-based, locally informed organizations and will provide a range of flexible programs and services like counselling, safety planning, legal rights workshops, life skills and self-esteem workshops, financial literacy, employment readiness and skills development and business development. Some programs will also provide wraparound supports to enable women to participate, like transportation, child care, and mental health supports.

Under the leadership of our Premier and this government, we will continue to empower women across this province because we believe that when women succeed—

I recognize the Minister of Health.

Thank you, and it’s great to see you in the chair, Speaker.

The member opposite knows very well that hospitals are responsible for their day-to-day operations and make those decisions independent of the Ministry of Health and government. We have been assured that the Haliburton Highlands Health Services board and leadership have made this decision carefully and thoughtfully, understanding and appreciating the needs of their community and their staff. I will let them do that work.

Our government continues to support hospitals in many ways, including Haliburton Highlands Health Services, to which we have increased funding by 11% since we came into office.

This is not a funding conversation; this is a conversation that the hospital leadership, the hospital board has made based on the needs of the community, and appreciating that they want to best serve the community, and they’ve done that.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity.

Ontario is facing a historic labour shortage, with over 360,000 jobs going unfilled. If left unaddressed, this situation will cost billions to our economy in lost productivity.

We know that women make up almost half of the Canadian labour force but unfortunately hold less than 25% of the jobs in the tech sector and less than 4% of jobs in the skilled trades. Additionally, women often face added barriers when entering or re-entering the workforce.

Our government must focus on measures to provide women with the resources they need to achieve their full economic potential.

Can the associate minister please share what our government is doing to economically empower women in our province?

That said, our government understands that some women encounter social and economic barriers in obtaining the support that they require. It is essential that every woman should have access to these important programs no matter where they live in our province.

Can the associate minister please elaborate on how our government is helping women across Ontario to develop the skills that they need to gain financial security and independence?

Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

Residents of Minden and surrounding area are here today in the gallery and on the front lawn. They were shocked last week to learn that their emergency room will close on June 1. So in one week, they have gathered thousands of names on a petition for a simple ask to the minister: a one-year moratorium on that decision.

Will the minister listen to the good people of Minden and grant the one-year moratorium on the closing of their emergency room?

Speaker, the people of Minden stand with their city council and will leave no stone unturned to alter this ill-advised, ill-timed and ill-planned decision. The Minden emergency department had 13,000 visits last year, and the numbers are only going up. This town of 7,000 people triples in size through the summer with the seasonal residents and tourists who come to the area, yet no one was consulted on this decision to close the emergency department.

The government has the opportunity to act. Will they help keep the Minden hospital emergency department open for one more year?

Our government has increased funding to our school boards year after year since taking office. That includes $26.7 billion in base GSN funding for the next school year, an increase of over $700 million this year alone, a 14% increase since 2017-18.

Since the 2002-03 school year, staffing has increased by nearly 8,000 despite student enrolment remaining the same across the boards.

We continue to be very dedicated to our school boards and our school boards’ and our students’ success.

In total, we hired nearly 2,000 new front-line educators, who will be hired and supported by the overall education funding, which is at the highest level in Ontario history, with nearly 1,000 additional skilled math and literacy educators to boost skills across our boards.

We believe in our students’ success and achievement.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Recently, the Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors group met to discuss the status of mental health and addiction services in northern communities. Our northern cities and towns are unfortunately facing higher rates of overdoses than the rest of the province, and residents of the north often have to travel greater distances to access services. These are serious health issues affecting our communities, and our government must take immediate action to improve the lives of people who are struggling with substance use.

Can the associate minister please explain what actions our government is taking to improve mental health and addictions services in rural, remote and northern communities?

Unfortunately, Speaker, for young people in rural, remote and northern communities who are in need of help, some services and supports are fragmented and not readily available. That is why it is critical that we strengthen the mental health support networks and make the vital investments in prevention and early intervention. It is essential that our government prioritizes local service delivery to ensure that programs are equitable and meet the needs of individuals and communities in an accessible and timely manner.

Can the associate minister please explain how our government is providing access to critical mental health and addictions support for children and youth when and where they need them the most?

Follow-up?

The Niagara school board has been promised the funding. Please just answer the question; it’s important to Niagara.

I want to be clear: This is a very real and very urgent issue that the board needs to address. The board has spent an additional $300,000 outside of their regular spending models. At this rate, it’s not sustainable. They need support from the province to ensure students in Niagara are receiving the education and support they need and deserve.

Our education workers and our teachers deserve to have the resources needed to provide quality education in our schools.

Will the Premier commit to follow up with the District School Board of Niagara and ensure they have the necessary funding to support all students in our community?

As I said when we highlighted this pilot project that is available at Holland Bloorview, Hamilton, CHEO and SickKids, it really is an opportunity to make sure that those youth, those children have those wraparound services. It is a very exciting pilot project, and we will monitor very carefully to see how they can actually improve the access to service for those young people and their families.

I will remind the member opposite, a pilot project means that we need the data, we need the material to see whether it is an effective one. As I said that day at the announcement, if this turns into a program that will help many people and many families, we will absolutely work together to ensure that we can expand it.

That is exactly the reason why we have introduced the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act—and we ask the members to continue to support it—to support students across the province, in building off the approximately 8,000 additional staff hired since 2018; improving accountability and transparency by allowing the minister to set priorities in important areas and subjects on student achievement, like reading, math, and requiring school boards to update parents on progress; requiring school boards to publicly post their multi-year board improvement plan that reflects the priorities of student achievement and accountability to parents; and directing school boards to increase engagement by reporting to parents on student achievement and ensuring parents have easy access to the information they need to make meaningful engagement with their children’s educational success.

This is why we are asking for accountability—because we continue to believe that students are very important in our province, and we continue to want them to be successful.

Thank you to the member for this question and for the amazing work that he does for his constituents.

Madam Speaker, the opioid crisis has hit northern communities particularly hard, and that’s why we are focused on building a continuum of care that covers the entire province. Of the 400 new treatment beds and 7,000 new treatment spaces that have been created through the Addictions Recovery Fund, over half of them have gone to northern and Indigenous communities.

Our investments through the Roadmap to Wellness and the Addictions Recovery Fund have funded things like the mobile crisis response teams, mobile mental health clinics, wraparound supports, and treatment beds that are filling the gaps in care that have been experienced by those in the north.

Madam Speaker, through our ongoing partnerships with amazing community organizations like St. Joseph’s and Dilico Anishinabek Family Care in Thunder Bay, Canadore College in North Bay, and Algoma Family Services, we’re making sure that the wellness of northern Ontarians will never again be an oversight.

Since 2019, our government has invested over $130 million to improve and expand those services, and just last year we added another $31 million in annual funding to reduce wait-lists so that kids can get help sooner.

We’ve also provided funding for the creation of 22 youth wellness hubs across the province of Ontario, including one that’s scheduled to open next month in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. We’ve funded a youth wellness hub in Sagamok in one of the Indigenous communities. And along with our friends up north in Kenora–Rainy River, along with the Kenora Chiefs Advisory, we’ve funded beds for children and youth who are of Indigenous and non-Indigenous origin. Madam Speaker, the—

Je voudrais souhaiter bonne fête à ma femme aujourd’hui. C’est sa fête, mais ça fait 40 ans qu’on est ensemble. Chérie, on fête notre 40^e, puis aussi, on fête notre 25^e. Bonne fête, encore.

My question is for the Premier.

This government announced their new pilot program, connecting children and youth with specialized care, on March 9, partnering with three hospitals, including the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Sonjia, a mother of a child with autism, shared with me that she called CHEO on the very day of the announcement, and staff had no idea what she was talking about. They could not answer any of her questions on who could enrol, how to enrol, or what the program specifically offered. She could not get the basic information, let alone enrol her child. Staff told Sonjia they would follow up with her. When she called back two days later, the program was already filled.

How can the Premier boast about a pilot program when their government cannot even ensure the hospitals who are administering the program—

The ayes are 70; the nays are 18.

Point of order.

Mr. Fraser moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 104, An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 with respect to personal emergency leave and the establishment of an employer support program for such leave / Projet de loi 104, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2000 sur les normes d’emploi en ce qui concerne le congé d’urgence personnelle et la mise en oeuvre d’un programme d’appui des employeurs relatif à ce congé.

Pursuant to standing order 36(a), the member for Scarborough Southwest has given notice of her dissatisfaction with the answer to her question given by the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services concerning the ODSP clawback. This matter will be debated on Tuesday, May 9, following private members’ public business.

Please stand.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

The division bells rang from 1145 to 1150.

On April 26, 2023, Mr. Kerzner moved second reading of Bill 102, An Act to amend various acts relating to the justice system, fire protection and prevention and animal welfare.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Second reading agreed to.

The House recessed from 1154 to 1300.

Report deemed adopted.

Mr. Glover moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr23, An Act to revive Ice Hockey Resources Ltd.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

It’s just to, on standing order 59, outline the order of business for the week when we return and to thank all members, again, for what was a very productive week for the people of the province of Ontario.

On Monday, May 8, when we return: In the afternoon routine, there will be a ministerial statement on sexual abuse prevention month; in the afternoon, third reading of Bill 71, Building More Mines Act.

On Tuesday, May 9: In the morning, third reading of Bill 71; in the afternoon routine, a ministerial statement on the Ministry of Francophone Affairs’ annual report; in the afternoon, third reading of Bill 71, Building More Mines Act; and in the evening, the member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington’s Bill 99, Garrett’s Legacy Act.

On Wednesday, May 10: In the morning, there will be third reading of Bill 75, Queen’s Park Restoration Act. In the afternoon, third reading of Bill 75 will continue. And in the evening, the member for Davenport will be debating Bill 100.

On Thursday, May 11: In the morning, third reading of Bill 75, Queen’s Park Restoration Act. In the afternoon, colleagues, there will be five tributes to deceased members of provincial Parliament. Then, we will continue on with third reading of Bill 75, Queen’s Park Restoration Act. Additionally, in the evening, the member for Brampton East will have private member’s motion number 49 concerning mental health initiatives in schools.

At the same time, Madam Speaker, I hope all members will—and, of course, I know all members will—be taking time out on May 6 to enjoy celebrations across the province of Ontario and right here at Queen’s Park in honour of the coronation of His Majesty, King Charles III.

Finally, to the colleague in Scarborough–Guildwood and the colleague for Kitchener Centre, both who have indicated that they will be leaving their seats at—I guess in the member for Scarborough–Guildwood’s case, prior to the final registration, and Kitchener Centre at the conclusion of this session—we will be allotting both of those members time to give their farewell addresses, as has become the custom in this place, on our return.

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 102, An Act to amend various Acts relating to the justice system, fire protection and prevention and animal welfare / Projet de loi 102, Loi modifiant diverses lois relatives au système judiciaire, à la prévention et à la protection contre l’incendie ainsi qu’au bien-être des animaux.