Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Members will please take their seats.

Once again, I’ll point out to the House that it is inappropriate to make reference to the absence of another member, but it is not inappropriate to make reference to the presence of another member.

It’s also within the standing orders—it allows the government to respond to a question if they choose to respond, or any minister or any parliamentary assistant can respond.

Start the clock.

The response? The government House leader.

Start the clock. The next question.

My question is to the Premier.

The Better Way Alliance, a group of business owners that’s in the House today, and their members across Ontario and Canada are creating good local jobs with good wages, paid sick days and fair scheduling, often in industries that do not offer these benefits. As they know, and as we all learned during the pandemic, healthier communities lead to healthier economies.

Almost all other OECD countries provide paid sick days, but this government cancelled the few paid sick days that were available during the pandemic.

What is this government’s plan to ensure that all workers in Ontario have mandated paid sick days to keep our workplaces and our economy healthy?

I want to thank the wonderful member from Brantford–Brant for the question. He is doing a marvelous job advocating for seniors in his community.

Thanks to the leadership of the Minister of Tourism, we have invested $235,000 through the Games Ontario program for the 2023 Ontario 55+ summer games. This event will bring together hundreds of seniors to stay active and socially connected, and for some friendly competition. I was so excited to celebrate the 99-day countdown to the events and join in on the games.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic event.

In fact, our government invested over $200,000 since 2018 into the Beckett Adult Leisure Centre in Brantford. It was this wonderful centre that hosted us on May 3 for the celebration.

We are committed to seniors.

And we are pleased to share that there are only 90 more days until these games begin.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve made historic investments.

But do you know who doesn’t show up and has never showed up? It is the NDP. This is a group that had the balance of power in this place—and they like to forget about that. They had the ability to keep the Liberals in power or to end the misery of the people of the province of Ontario, and they chose to keep them in power. When they had the opportunity to demand anything, did they do anything on mental health? No. Did they do anything to stop the opioid crisis that was emerging at the time? No. Did they say, “You have to invest in health care”? No. Did they talk about jobs and the economy? No. They talked about a stretch goal in insurance and then abandoned that immediately. Sound familiar? Because it sounds exactly like what the NDP in Ottawa are doing when it comes to the investments that we are making in the auto sector. They sit on their hands, they do nothing, they don’t show up. They collect a paycheque, and then they go home. That’s—

Interjections.

I’m proud that, under the leadership of Premier Ford, on October 1 we’re increasing the minimum wage to $16.55 an hour—in fact, the highest of all provinces in the country.

Furthermore, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are going to be the very first jurisdiction in all of North America to ensure that workers have portable benefits in the province. There are millions of workers today who don’t have health and dental benefits, and we’re going to ensure that we bring forward a plan for portable benefits to help these workers.

Lastly, we are investing record amounts in training programs to help people get better jobs and bigger paycheques. We know there are over 300,000 jobs going unfilled today. We’re going to help lift people up to get into meaningful employment, to provide more income for themselves and their families.

“Petition for Better Staffing, Better Wages and Better Care in Ontario’s Public Hospitals.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas registered nurses and health care professionals are the backbone of Ontario’s public health care system; and

“Whereas nurses and health care professionals are fighting for better staffing, better wages and better care in Ontario’s public hospitals; and

“Whereas the government has the power to direct the funding and priorities for the Ontario Hospital Association in this bargaining process;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Support nurses and health care professionals represented by the Ontario Nurses’ Association in their collective bargaining with the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) by demanding the OHA reach a negotiated agreement with nurses that results in better staffing, better wages and better care in Ontario’s public hospitals.”

Thank you for this petition to the people of my riding. I’m going to add my name to it and give it to page Leonard to take to the table.

I am seeking unanimous consent that notwithstanding order 100(a)(iv), in addition to the five minutes allotted to an independent member, that the member for Algoma–Manitoulin be allotted five minutes to debate ballot item number 47, standing in the name of the member for Oakville.

The supplementary question.

As members are aware, we recently adjusted the speaking time available to the Liberal independent members during debates on second and third reading of government bills and on substantive government motions. The eight Liberal independent members had previously been granted two 12-minute allotments of speaking time in each debate. Following the resignation of the member for Scarborough–Guildwood, we reverted to the practice of granting the Liberal independents a single 20-minute allotment of speaking time for debate, which had previously been the practice of the House when there had been seven Liberal independent members.

After making a statement to that effect last week, I was approached by the member for Ottawa–Vanier with a request that I grant the Liberal independent members two 10-minute speaking blocks in debate rather than a single 20-minute speech. While considering this matter, I returned to the statement I made at the opening of the current Parliament. On that occasion, I explained that my guiding principle was to ensure that each individual independent member had a reasonable opportunity to participate in debate that was proportional to and in keeping with the time any other individual member might expect to have.

I’ve concluded that the request from the member for Ottawa–Vanier is compatible with that initial principle. It would be fair in that it would not grant the Liberal members any more speaking time than they are currently allotted. That being the case, it would not be providing them with a more generous opportunity to participate than other members benefit from. Given this reasoning, I’m prepared to agree to the member for Ottawa–Vanier’s request.

Therefore, going forward, the Liberal independent members will be permitted two 10-minute speaking allotments during debates on second and third reading of government bills and on substantive government motions. It will continue to be possible to share this time, but it may not be banked.

I want to thank the House for its attention.

The House recessed from 1147 to 1500.

Ms. Smith moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr19, An Act to revive The Noble House Corporation.

First reading agreed to.

I just received word that my eldest niece just gave birth to a baby boy during question period, so I wanted to say congratulations.

Applause.

“Protect the Greenbelt and Repeal Bills 23 and 39.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Bills 23 and 39 are the Ford government’s latest attempt to remove protected land from the greenbelt, allowing wealthy developers to profit over bulldozing over 7,000 acres of farmland;

“Whereas green spaces and farmland are what we rely on to grow our food, support natural habitats, prevent flooding, and mitigate from future climate disasters with Ontario losing 319.6 acres of farmland daily to development;

“Whereas the government’s Housing Affordability Task Force found there are plenty of places to build homes without destroying the greenbelt, showcasing that Bill 23 was never about housing but about making the rich richer;

“Whereas the power of conservation authorities will be taken away, weakening environmental protections, and preventing future development;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately repeal Bills 23 and 39, stop all plans to further remove protected land from the greenbelt and protect existing farmland in the province.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and give it to page Senna to give to the Clerks.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome my good friend Harout Arthur Matossian and his daughter Emma Matossian to the House. Arthur and his company were at the forefront of fighting the pandemic during COVID, and they donated thousands of pieces of PPE to long-term-care homes, hospitals, seniors’ homes, and other non-profit organizations.

Thank you very much, Arthur. Welcome to the House.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies intimate-partner violence as a major global public health concern, as it affects millions of people and can result in immediate and long-lasting health, social and economic consequences; and

“Whereas other Canadian provinces including Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador have passed legislation on the disclosure of intimate-partner violence history, to protect its citizens from domestic violence; and

“Whereas the disclosure mechanisms outlined in Clare’s Law would be an additional tool for police services to prevent intimate-partner violence; and

“Whereas over” 43,000 “people, as of April 19, 2023, have signed the petition ‘Justice for Bobbi: Adopt Clare’s Law in Ontario’ on change.org; and

“Whereas people at risk of potential harm have the right to be informed of their intimate partner’s violent past—if the partner was a repeat offender of domestic violence;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge the government of Ontario to adopt mechanisms for disclosure outlined in Clare’s Law—whereby information relating to intimate-partner-violence convictions can be used to assess the risk of and prevent harm from intimate-partner violence.”

I fully support this petition and will sign and give it to Sanskrati.

I’d like to present this petition for a long-standing issue that should be changed in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Extend Access to Post-Adoption Birth Information....

“Whereas current legislation does not provide access to post-adoption birth information ... to next of kin if an adult adopted person or a natural/birth parent is deceased;

“Whereas this barrier to accessing post-adoption birth information separates immediate family members and prohibits the children of deceased adopted people from gaining knowledge of their identity and possible Indigenous heritage;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to extend access to post-adoption birth information ... to next of kin, and/or extended next of kin, if an adult adopted person or a natural/birth parent is deceased.”

I fully support this petition, sign it and pass it to page Liam to deliver to the table.

I have a petition here:

“To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works ... and the Ontario Disability Support Program...;

“Whereas the recent small increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I will affix my signature and send it to the table with Mackenzie.

I have a very special happy birthday announcement I want to make to Kathy Beattie from my office, who’s in the under-press, and—

Applause.

Kathy has been with me for many years now and has been an absolute star in my office. She makes sure that I’m doing all the things I’m supposed to be doing—as with all of us in this House—and I want to thank her for all of her outstanding work.

Thank you so much, Kathy.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the basics of reading, writing, and mathematics are fundamental for students achievement; and too many school boards are jeopardizing student achievement by straying away from teaching the basics of reading, writing, and mathematics; and parents are being bullied and denied representation at school board meetings, and trustees are being bullied by other trustees;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“That the Legislative Assembly of Ontario authorize the Minister of Education to set provincial priorities in education in the area of student achievement, and authorize the Minister of Education to issue policies and guidelines setting out the training to be completed by board members, directors of education, supervisory officers and superintendents, and require boards to adopt codes of conduct that apply to members of the board.”

I fully endorse this petition, will sign my name to it and give it to page Leonard.

At the height of the pandemic, the government acted quickly.

Again, we always look for a partner in the New Democrats, but we never seem to get it. Our government has done a myriad of things to help small businesses weather the storm, and the government is always there, as the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development talked about. We continue to work with small business on a daily basis. It would be nice, for a change, to actually have an opposition who would join us in many of the initiatives on how we support small businesses.

Again, to the Premier: 70% of all Ontario jobs are created by small businesses, and the Better Way Alliance has identified a lack of commercial rent standards as one of the biggest barriers to the successful operation of a small business. Many small businesses are forced to close or downsize because of unfair commercial rent increases and practices.

An Indian importing company in Mississauga East–Cooksville that has been operating since 1982 recently faced a 300% rent increase. Instead of a planned expansion and hiring spree in 2023, the company was forced to lay off employees just to pay the rent.

Will this government provide standards and protections for commercial leases?

Further debate?