The region of Thunder Bay has at least 45,000 people without access to primary care. Greenstone is losing two doctors at the end of the month, and seniors are being left without access to any care whatsoever.

There are solutions: Further increase enrolment and create a learn-and-stay program for doctors at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Establish more nurse practitioner-led clinics. Reduce the administrative burden on doctors and create a centralized electronic records and referral system now, not in five years.

Will the government finally invest in the solutions so clearly identified by medical professionals that are not happening now?

I find it very rich coming from the opposition today while every one of you stood up yesterday and voted against Bill 60. If you had read the bill, do you understand—

Interjections.

Interjections.

The Minister of Colleges and Universities.

The Minister of Colleges and Universities can conclude her answer.

Restart the clock. The supplementary question, the member for Oshawa.

Restart the clock. The final supplementary: the member for Thunder Bay–Superior North.

The supplementary question. The member for Nickel Belt.

Minister of Health.

The supplementary question.

Interjections.

The next question.

My question is for the honourable Premier. Peel region is one of Ontario’s fastest-growing municipalities, and over the next few years we know that thousands of individuals, families and newcomers to Canada will settle in our communities.

With an abundance of job opportunities available, along with thriving businesses, community organizations, schools and health care facilities that are already there, Peel region is a great place to call home. However, we know that there’s a shortage of available housing throughout Peel region and throughout Ontario.

For too many Ontarians, finding the right home is still too challenging. Our government must keep moving ahead with measures to tackle the critical shortage in housing. Can the Premier explain how our government is increasing Ontario’s housing supply?

Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the member from Brampton East. You’re doing a fantastic job. As a matter of fact, all five members from Brampton are doing a great job.

We’re in a housing crisis right now, a desperate housing crisis. No matter if it’s new Canadians coming in or young people looking for a house to buy and they just can’t afford it. It’s very simple: It’s supply and demand. We’re going to build 1.5 million homes.

We’ve set a record here in Ontario. We’re the fastest-growing region in North America—not just in Canada, not in Ontario but in North America: 445,000 people moved into our great province last year, the reason being, that’s where they see the economic growth in North America—right here. Because of my great friend, right beside me, the Minister of Economic Development, about 650,000 more people are working today than there were under the previous Liberal government.

Five years after paying deposits to Greatwise Developments, homebuyers in Ottawa West–Nepean are still waiting for their promised homes. They’ve been sent notice of delay after notice of delay, with no delivery date currently provided. The developer also gave inaccurate information, blaming the city for delays when actually the developer failed to file the permits. My constituents complained to the Home Construction Regulatory Authority, expecting some support. Instead, 22 months later, they haven’t even received a decision.

Why is the Premier continuing to allow unscrupulous developers to run roughshod over Ontarians who just want to move into their new homes?

It gets worse. While my constituents are in limbo, receiving bad information or no information, a clause in the contract allows the developer to unilaterally cancel the home purchase if the developer believes there is a dispute between the homebuyer and the developer. This means that if my constituents speak up publicly, they lose their new homes. It is unfair that a developer can behave with impunity and then take away someone’s home if they complain.

Will the Premier protect homebuyers in Ontario by banning gag order clauses from home sales contracts?

Speaker, supply chain issues caused by the pandemic created global shortages of many vital health care devices. One such shortage was epidural catheters, the medical standard when it comes to providing adequate pain relief during labour—or so we’ve been told.

We put out a call to re-shore manufacturing of epidurals right here in Ontario. One company, Canadian Hospital Specialties, answered that call and will now manufacture epidural catheters at their plant in Oakville. Last week, with our MPPs from Oakville and Oakville North–Burlington, CHS announced a $1.5-million investment to fill that critical supply gap and hire 10 people along the way. What a great example of seeing a problem and solving it right here in Ontario. Premier Ford calls that “the Ontario spirit.”

Our new Life Sciences Council will help to accelerate commercialization and encourage adoption of made-in-Ontario health innovations. Much like when we did the auto sector’s Driving Prosperity plan, we’ve now introduced Taking Life Sciences to the Next Level. It’s their plan for Ontario’s first life sciences strategy in over a decade. This will ensure that Ontario is the global life sciences centre for our world’s innovators.

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Ontario is home to a world-class life sciences sector, with our researchers continually pushing the envelope for better health outcomes for all. But if there’s anything that the last few years have shown us, it’s the importance of having an established medical manufacturing sector that tops the life sciences agenda. That’s why last week’s Moderna announcement was so welcomed.

Will the minister please speak further to the progress that this government is making to ensure that Ontario will never again be left behind and left reliant on others for critical goods?

It’s great news that Ontario will now domestically produce epidural catheters. This announcement is a welcome relief to hospitals that struggled to manage their supply of epidural catheters and secure inventory.

Because of the leadership demonstrated by the Premier and this minister, Ontario manufacturers have begun to produce an increasing number of critical medical supplies.

With the ongoing rollout of the life sciences strategy, what further initiatives can we expect to see from our government as we continue to bolster our manufacturing industry, create jobs and position Ontario as a world leader in the medtech and biotech sectors?

My question is for the Associate Minister of Transportation. Public transit is the primary form of travel for many people living in my riding of Markham–Thornhill and also for many people living across the GTA. It should be easy for them to travel across the entire transit network. However, the transit fare system under different transit agencies is unfortunately inconsistent. This leads to confusion and misunderstandings for many individuals.

People who rely on public transit are counting on our government to remove barriers so that using public transit is simple and convenient.

Can the Associate Minister please share what our government is doing to deliver more options for riders to make transit a more convenient experience in Ontario?

The supplementary question?

My question is to the Minister of Transportation. I rise for the third time since last August to ask about the reconstruction of the Caledonia Argyle Street bridge. I will continue to stand in this House on this issue until reconstruction begins, because it’s a matter of safety.

Last August, the minister said the detailed design of the Argyle Street replacement was already complete and that the ministry was in the process of obtaining final approvals to proceed to construction. The minister also said, “We will not take any shortcuts when it comes to getting critical infrastructure built.”

The ministry may not take shortcuts, but the long way around could see this bridge collapse under this government’s watch. My constituents are fearful to cross the bridge and they become anxious when they are stopped in the middle during bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Speaker, through you to the minister: What is the holdup? What is the date reconstruction will begin?

Ministry staff has said that the structure is safe and the minister alluded to it this morning by saying that for some traffic, including emergency service vehicles, provided that the load restriction is followed and enforced, the bridge is safe.

The truth is, the majority of Haldimand county is crossing over that bridge on a daily basis. If the bridge is only safe if load restrictions are followed, the travelling public has a right to know how many infractions have occurred and are occurring on a daily basis. Locals know what is travelling that bridge.

Speaker, through you to the minister: How many fines have been issued since the load restrictions were put in place?

We have not made any changes to existing rental replacement bylaws that are currently in effect in some municipalities. They remain in place. In fact, we’re proposing to build on those bylaws by explicitly requiring that municipal rental replacement bylaws include compensation and the right for the tenant to move back in at the same rent. For example, we’re exploring right now a framework where a municipality could require that replacement units have the same core features, like the same number of bedrooms, as they did previously, and requiring that tenants are given the right of first refusal to move into that new, modern accommodation at a similar rent. Those are the facts, Speaker.

I want to thank the member opposite for her important question. Our government understands the importance of the Argyle Street bridge in her riding as Argyle Street is the main street that connects Caledonia and Haldimand county. The bridge remains safe for limited use, including emergency service vehicles. The bridge is closely monitored by MTO and load limit restrictions are enforced.

As the member opposite knows, for years the previous Liberal government simply ignored important infrastructure investments like this one in rural Ontario. This bridge, which was built in 1927, has reached the end of its service life and it needs to be replaced. That’s why our government is saying yes to making these investments in rural Ontario and that’s why we’re investing in replacing the concrete Argyle Street bridge with a new five-span steel arch bridge.

I can assure the member opposite, as well as all members of this House, that safety has always been and will continue to be our top priority.

My question is to the Premier. A new report by the city of Toronto is raising fears that the Conservatives want to override Toronto’s laws and make it easier for developers to knock down rental buildings, kick out tenants and replace rent-controlled homes with luxury condos. When renters are facing a demolition, they need better protections, not an eviction notice.

To make our city more affordable, can this government commit to strengthening municipal rental replacement laws instead of weakening them?

My question is back to the Premier. Average rents in Toronto have reached an alarming high of $3,000 a month, which means losing your home to demolition is devastating. Right now, there are 73 rental homes approved for demolition and conversion in Toronto, putting over 3,400 rental homes at risk. Tenants living in these buildings, like those at 55 Brownlow, 25 St. Mary and 145 St. George, are rallying at city hall today because they want to save their homes.

I’m going to ask the minister again: Can you commit to strengthening rental protections when a tenant is facing a demolition instead of weakening them?

Again, another great question from the member from Brampton East. As we see the population grow, as we see the economy grow, we need to get people from point A to point B. Through our great Minister of Transportation and Minister of Infrastructure, we’re spending over $184 billion not just building new highways like the 413 or the Bradford Bypass, but also, where I was yesterday in Kitchener-Waterloo, we’re building Highway 7; in southwestern Ontario, we’re widening Highway 3.

Mr. Speaker, we’re pouring money into infrastructure, no matter if it’s 50 projects and the $50 billion through new hospitals and expansions, or long-term care through the Ministry of Long-Term Care. The previous government built, what, 618 in 12 years? We’re building 68,000 new long-term-care beds to make sure that when the population grows, they have a place to live and call home.

Right now, Ontario is on fire and we’re going to continue making it sure the economy grows, putting money back into people’s pockets.

It’s good news that so many housing projects are under way and that our government is creating conditions for more construction to take place. This will benefit my community of Brampton East and benefit other communities across our great province.

Rapidly growing communities like mine need access to convenient transportation networks. The previous Liberal government ignored the need to build and expand vital transportation infrastructure, like roads and highways, to keep up with future growth. Their failure to address the needed expansions to public transit and highway networks is making life inconvenient for individuals, families and businesses. Transportation infrastructure is vital to address the highway congestion, create jobs and support Ontario’s economy.

Speaker, can the Premier please explain how our government is building stronger transportation networks which will further support our communities?

I’m very happy to talk about transit this morning—a much better subject than talking about hockey.

Speaker, through last summer and into this winter, we introduced Presto’s credit card tap option for riders on the GO network and the 905 with terrific success, and over one million credit card taps have successfully been logged.

I’m happy to say that last Tuesday, our government, under the leadership of this Premier, launched a debit card tap feature on Presto and GO Transit and major local transit agencies in the 905—that includes York region, in that member’s riding. This is game-changing stuff, changing the way that people are able to get from point A to point B and pay their transit fares. With a simple tap of a debit card or a credit card, riders can now take transit and get to work, school, appointments, everything in between—

Interjection.

This is something that the Liberals simply didn’t do. They left behind the commuters of this province. This government won’t do the same. We’re building record transit and making the experience better all along.

The government has a responsibility to keep up with the times. That’s why we can’t limit ourselves to just paying for transit through physical cards. That’s why people on the GO, 905 and UP Express network can now use their credit and debit cards and smart phones or smart devices—with a simple tap of your smart device—to ride transit.

It doesn’t end there, because new Presto devices are also being installed on the TTC to deliver new payment options—like credit, debit and smart pay—to Toronto riders later this year. Progress has been very solid. In fact, I’m glad to update the House that the hardware refresh has been completed on buses and streetcars; the work is ongoing for stations.

Unlike the down bad opposition, this government is getting it done for commuters in Ontario.

The supplementary question.

The supplementary question.

Start the clock. The next question.