It’s always a pleasure and a privilege to take my seat on behalf of the good people of Algoma–Manitoulin, talking to the budget bill this morning. As I’ve always said, I try to bring a northern Ontario lens to the floor of the Legislature, and that’s what I’m going to be doing this morning, talking about particular matters that were not addressed for individuals in my riding of Algoma–Manitoulin.

I want to start with Donna Benke from Elliot Lake, who is an ODSP recipient. Donna is a huge advocate for fairness. She has shared many of her life stories with me, and her struggles that she has. She doesn’t want to wish anything worse for anybody else, but she does want to be seen; she wants to be heard, because as a single individual without children at home, she has not benefited in any way, shape or form from some of the benefits that have come from this government. She wants to be heard and is saying, “What about me? As an individual who is hurt, who cannot work, who cannot supplement my income, why aren’t there any supplements for me?” That’s one of the individuals.

I want to talk about Roslyn Taylor. Roslyn Taylor owns a small sawmill on Manitoulin Island. Roslyn has shared her hydro costs for her small mill with me. She employs about 20 to 25 employees. This has gone on with this government and the previous government—that I brought it to their attention. Her usage fees, on average, range somewhere between $700 to $800. Her delivery fees are always in excess of double what she is utilizing. I’ve worked with the minister—and I actually was with the minister at a reception just a couple of days ago, and I asked him once again, “When will your ministry reach out to Roslyn at Taylor Sawmill?” I wanted to provide him with her direct contact and say, “Hey, what can you do?” The minister, to his credit, indicated to me that it would take some major policy changes in order to address her issues. Okay. Well, that’s why you’re in government: to make those changes. We didn’t see those changes in this budget. Roslyn is still receiving those high costs for her sawmill, and the 25 jobs that she provides for individuals on Manitoulin Island are at stake here. So I’m hoping that, finally, the government will reach out to Roslyn, or Hydro One, and look at some of the savings that they can provide for her so she can continue doing the operation and the work that she enjoys doing.

The other thing that wasn’t addressed in this budget is a serious doctor recruitment and retainment program for rural and northern communities. I didn’t see that in this budget.

I see this government making some investments. I see legislation which is opening up more opportunities for the privatization of certain surgeries in this province. I see this government creating an environment where we’re going to need more agency nurses. I see this government creating, again, an environment where we’re going to be losing a lot of our public service workers—our doctors, our nurses, our PSWs and so on—to going towards the private sector. I see a lot of nurses who were burnt out due to a lot of decisions that were made by this government during the COVID pandemic, which now—these individuals have left and are now reappearing as agency nurses at a much higher cost. I don’t see how they’ve addressed that in the budget. I don’t see how they’ve addressed the need for locums in northern Ontario.

The hospital up in Wawa has been looking to this government and trying to get this government to continue with the locum days that they’ve had there. They’re down another doctor, and they do not have the proper coverage that they had. What is going to happen? The three remaining doctors who are there are going to get burnt out, and they’re going to move on, and they’re going to leave, and then Wawa is going to be left out.

This is the exact position that is happening on the west end of Manitoulin Island and Gore Bay. There are three doctors there: There’s one doctor who is holding down the basic practice that is there; and there’s a husband and wife, but they’re looking to move on because they’re at an age where they need to retire. That has not been addressed. Again, a serious doctor recruitment and retainment program is not addressed in this budget.

I will always give credit where credit is due, and I want to thank the Minister of Transportation, because she has actually responded to the need for a turning lane and investments in highways, particularly on Highway 17, as you turn in off Goulais River into the trading post and also the LCBO that is there. There’s a family, there’s an individual who passed away a few years ago. We’re finally going to make the investments to improve that area and add a turning lane, making it a little bit safer.

There are some investments that went into Manitoulin Island, as well, with those highways, but the resurfacing that was done just last summer—I was out on those highways this summer, and they’re already starting to deteriorate. So there are going to be some major improvements that are going to be needed to be done.

Highway 637 into Killarney is an absolute mess.

There are more investments that need to be done into those areas, and are they on this government’s radar?

Highway 551, Highway 542—again, there are more investments that need to be done in those areas.

Were there home care investments—a real strategy for this government to invest into home care. If we are actually going to prevent and help long-term-care homes, we need to have home care investments, major home care investments, because people want to remain staying in their homes.

In the short time that I had, these are the shortfalls that I’ve identified from a northern Algoma–Manitoulin lens, and unfortunately, this government has failed to meet these needs of Ontarians in the budget.

The member from Ottawa Centre asked about specific investments in the budget. The specific investment that I’m referring to is the $13.4 million to continue the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy, which of course, as we know, is the primary way of busting up the drug supply chain, so that the drugs don’t reach people on the street and the people who the member from Ottawa Centre was talking about.

So my question to the member is this: Given that he wants specific investments in the budget to assist the people he spoke about, will he support that specific measure, the $13.4 million to bust up the drug supply chain, or will he be continuing to promote the NDP “defund the police” policy?

Questions?

Thank you to my friend from Algoma–Manitoulin for his comments. He’s very passionate about health care in northern Ontario. What kind of investments are missing in this budget that would help in places like Wawa? And what does the future of health care look like without those investments?

Thornhill.

We’re working for Ontarians, and I want to demonstrate how this bill will have a direct impact on the people of my riding of Thornhill, as well as the rest of this province, by taking you on another tour. Let’s begin at one of the most famous delis in Thornhill; this is the Centre Street Deli. I believe some of you may be acquainted with the Centre Street Deli because Nana actually brought their very famous smoked meat sandwiches to the Legislature, and they sold out halfway through the event. It was pretty remarkable.

They’re actually located right beside the constituency office. They’re so popular you cannot get a parking spot at lunchtime during certain times of the week in my community. They were founded over 35 years ago. It’s a legacy that was continued by three dedicated employees who purchased from the original owner, and Nana, Ganesh and Kuna now lead the organization.

But despite its popularity, the deli closes every day at 5 p.m. I asked Nana, “Why don’t you keep it open longer?” She advised she would love to keep the restaurant open longer, but unfortunately, she’s unable to for a couple of reasons, including a lack of available staff. It’s a common issue that we hear across this province, which is why our government is enabling an estimated $8 billion in cost savings and support for eligible Ontario employers in 2023, making it easier for these small business people. Almost half of these savings and supports are going directly to small businesses like Nana’s and Centre Street Deli. That includes expanding access to the small business corporate income tax rate by increasing the phase-out range. That would provide Ontario’s small businesses with an additional Ontario income tax relief of $265 million over the next few years.

Our government is expanding the Ontario bridge training program by an additional $3 million in the 2023-24 year to help internationally trained immigrants find employment in their fields and get faster access to training and supports toward a licence or a certificate. More training and employment for immigrants means more staff who can help small businesses, like employers like Nana. With added cost savings measures and tax incentives, Nana will have the tools she needs to run her business effectively.

I’m going to take another tour around the neighbourhood, and I’m going to take everybody to the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, which is one of the oldest churches in my riding. It was actually founded in the 1830s. I’ve been there many times. The Holy Trinity also functions as a homeless shelter with 25 beds as part of Blue Door Shelters. I’ve had the opportunity to volunteer there and help and serve meals and hand out blankets.

Madam Speaker, with this budget, we are investing an additional $202 million each year in the Homelessness Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program to help those experiencing or those at risk of homelessness and those escaping intimate partner violence, which is a huge issue. These investments will support the community organizations delivering supportive housing. Those investments will help Holy Trinity.

Let’s move over to Henderson Avenue, where we’ve got a brand new school. It’s almost finished. I drove by it yesterday. Literally, I’d say it’s got maybe a month more of work to do, and it’s scheduled to open for the students in September. This new school will ensure that more students in Thornhill have better access to education, and I cannot wait to see it in action and up and running. I sat on parent council for over a decade with my local school, and I know how important this school is going to be to the community.

The passage of this bill will allow schools like this one to be best supported and prepare our children. This is because our budget outlines plans to invest $15 billion in capital grants over 10 years to expand and renew schools, and help create 86,000 new child care spaces by December 2026. When I drove by that school the other day, I saw that new child care space to the side. They’re easily recognizable. As somebody who has worked within the system, it was a very joyous moment for me, because I know when you’ve got new kids, you’ve got parents, you’ve got families moving in, it’s good for the community. Improving the education of our children and increasing child care spaces helps our next generation have the best possible foundation for building their lives, and as a mother, I understand how important this is to parents all over Ontario—parents and grandparents. In Thornhill, we call them bubbes and zaydes. It’s all good.

And speaking of that foundation, this budget aims to help close to 27,000 students earn credits towards both their Ontario secondary school diploma and post-secondary degree or certificate. We want to prepare our children for the jobs of the future, and we’re setting them up for success. That includes dual-credit opportunities in health-care-related courses for an additional 1,400 secondary students, which I think is a marvellous incentive. It’s a win-win for all the parties involved. The kids get exposure to this very important sector, and they’re able to gain credits for their future.

Madam Speaker, many parents and grandparents have approached me to talk about the fact that their children and grandchildren cannot study to become doctors close to home, which is why our government’s plan also includes helping more Ontario students become doctors by adding more undergraduate and postgraduate medical training seats right here in Ontario with the new medical schools in Scarborough and Brampton. We need these doctors. This is another great way of ensuring that Ontarians are able to get the health care they need and deserve.

Madam Speaker, let us now drive over to the Improve centre; it’s farther west in my riding, closer to the highway. There’s a not-for-profit called Bata to Batapreneur—also known as b2B. They just graduated 40 students from their business workshop. Giving young adults exposure to creating a plan for business is such an important thing, and our plan includes providing $2 million to the Futurpreneur Canada program, which helps young entrepreneurs grow their skills and achieve their business goals. More students will be able to nurture their interest in business and pursue successful careers in business according to our plan, Madam Speaker. This will not only supports the success of our young professionals, but it will also grow our economy, and I am certain that their businesses—their future businesses, the seeds, these ideas—will provide invaluable contributions to our community. I always talk about Thornhill being a group of self-starters—we start something from nothing—and it’s with that generation, that seed that’s handed out to these students, that allows them to further move in a direction that’s positive to create a small business.

I actually just hired a student that I’m happy to say I graduated from elementary school. He’s got his own landscaping business—that’s what he’s doing this summer—and he’s becoming an initiative for his own future, which is so important.

Okay, the tour is definitely not over. We’re going to keep driving in our e-vehicle, and let’s go over to the west side of Thornhill. Many folks may not know this, but there’s an area that’s home to some top industry manufacturers who are looking to grow and expand right in Vaughan. One of these is none other than the Give and Go bakeries, who make these delicious two-bite brownies. We’re going to be providing an Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, which will provide a 10% refundable corporate tax credit. We’re going to be providing important initiatives so that they can turn that money and invest back into the workers and innovate and become more competitive, because we don’t want to lose these businesses to the south.

We are caring for our residents and we are creating a stronger Ontario. These are such important things—

Thank you to the member opposite for his contributions. I don’t know what budget you were looking at, but the one I saw had $1 billion for home care investment and moving $569 million of it into this year to try to up-front the home care investments, which we also think are an extremely important part of our Ontario health team strategy: to make sure we move as much care as possible to home and community and out of hospital, leaving the hospitals available to do the work that can only be done in hospitals. So I hope the member will find, if he looks in that bill and also in the Your Health Plan, some of the things he’s looking for.

I want to thank the member for her comments. Yes, I’ve looked at the budget, but the reality is that these dollars are not coming to northern Ontario and those resources are not coming to northern Ontario, and people at home are waiting days and days and hours for services. People are suffering additional illnesses at home, ending up in emergency rooms, ending up for more treatments and not getting the care that they get at home, which would really mean more savings for us, if they would get that actual care in their homes. A strategy for doctor recruitment and retention and home care specifically targeted for northern Ontario is absolutely required, and it is not present or absolutely identified within the context of this budget.

Right now, a lot of northern Ontario hospitals and communities are relying on locums. Locums are coming in at a much higher cost, which is adding a lot of stress on our health care system. The same thing happens with home care. The bodies are just not there. Why? Because the low-wage policies that this government has discourages people from going into those types of jobs. People have great pride and have consciences and want to take care of their community members, but if these low-wage policies that this government has in place, that we see under the private sector, don’t change, if a strategy does not get developed in order to attract those people and make those investments into those environments, we’re going to continue seeing people suffer across this province.

I hear what the government is saying is, “We’re putting money into this and we’re doing something and we’re making the investments.” But those decisions and that path are not working, and that’s what a lot of hospitals in northern Ontario and care providers are telling this government, but you’re not listening to them.

Further questions?

I appreciate our member, who has just taken us on a tour around Thornhill, and actually, what you’re expressing is exactly what I’m seeing in Richmond Hill.

I’d like it if you can elaborate a little bit more on the immigration plan: how that helps the immigrants who come here and how that helps our economy.

Thank you, Speaker. I’m the member for University–Rosedale.

I have a question for the member for Thornhill. In the budget, when we’re looking at how much funding is going to elementary schools, middle schools and high schools, we have a lot of concerns. With the TDSB, there is an over $60-million funding shortfall. The TDSB is looking at removing 522 staffing positions at a time when we know kids need as much help as they can get to catch up to the learning standard they need to be at for math and STEM and writing and reading. Do you think the amount of money in the budget for schools is enough? Because I personally don’t think so.

Thank you for the question on the other side. Yes, I have worked—both, actually, in my previous life. I dealt with matters under the child protection act, and I actually sat on parent council. That’s part of the reason of why I’m here. But I’m really proud to talk about the 46,000 spaces that will be available in child care as a result of this government. We’re working with our federal partners and we got that deal done so that we can make sure that these kids have proper places to go before and after school. I know this as a parent and this is such an important initiative.

One of the things that I did also want to bring up—and this is something that I really think is important—is that we’re increasing help for foster care kids. Previously, that ended at 21. These are the most vulnerable—and now it’s going up to the age of 23. Given what I did in my previous life, I’m really happy to see this bridge to give our kids the best opportunity.

I enjoyed the remarks from the member from Thornhill. I particularly liked hearing about the member describing herself as one of those politicians that will actually do a shift at a homeless shelter and help hand out blankets and food. I love to hear those stories. I’m wondering if, from her experience, she could—and it was the Anglican church, if I’m not mistaken, that you had volunteered at with the blankets and the food—the Anglican church in your community?

Further questions?

I really enjoyed the tour, and especially the stop at the Centre Street Deli, which I’ve been to many times—delicious—thank you for taking me there this morning.

At the end, the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, which I think you just squeezed in there—can you explain to us why that is important to bolster our economy and create more jobs?

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. So, actually, I just wanted to provide some information. We’ve actually increased educational spending, despite the fact that there are less—we used to use the term “bums in seats” when I was in education. We’ve increased education every year. It’s been something that has been at the forefront, and actually, it’s one of the reasons I’m here right now. These are important initiatives because we do have to help our kids and it’s important that they be given the opportunity.

Now, saying that, I also want to actually address the fact that there’s been a 555% increase in mental health spending with respect to schools when you compare us to the last government. So I actually have to perhaps say that that’s probably a very positive thing for our children in school today.

We’ve got a number of great industries in our neighbourhood, and the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit is so important to bolster Ontario’s economy to create more jobs. So this credit will help local manufacturing companies invest and expand in their own businesses. Now, this is a key sector and contributor to the economic success of the province. In 2018, employment in Ontario’s manufacturing sector declined by over 300,000 workers, but now, we’re continuing to bring manufacturing back to Ontario and support local businesses with these kinds of measures. And we’re going to, especially in Ontario—we want to keep all of those businesses here in Ontario—

It’s a pleasure for me to add my comments on Ontario’s 2023 budget bill, Bill 85. As it turns out, I had the opportunity to travel with the pre-budget committee. We went to many places. We heard from many people. I got the opportunity to know many of the committee members, and I have a great deal of respect for everyone who shared this journey.

In terms of the people who presented at committee, I heard and I felt what they said, and I believe in my heart that committee members did as well. But this budget is as exciting as a three-pair of tube socks. At best, it missed the moment; at worst, it deliberately ignored the issues. We heard time and again at committee that Ontario, despite being the richest province, spends the least amount on services. We spend, in fact, $2,000 less per resident in Ontario than other provinces. It is a shame.

When we look at many of the decisions that have been made in this budget—and let’s face it, they are decisions—there are many which are bad business decisions, ones that do not recognize the value of upstream investment, ones that do not recognize or do not pay any heed to a cost-benefit analysis, and ones that simply don’t have any consideration of return on investment. Many of these decisions include the Therme spa, the proliferation of losing court cases that this government seems hell bent on engaging in. In fact, I’ve lost count at the number; I think it’s 14, 15, perhaps even 16 by this point. We also see decisions about the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., where this government is undermining its own revenue streams.

We have seen Bill 124, a losing battle, time and again, that this government keeps throwing public money at. They’re having a party with the public purse to simply attack nurses. We heard again at committee that nurses felt humiliated, they felt demeaned, and at the time when this legislation was passed, this government claimed that there was a need to be fiscally prudent and to be restrained. Yet through this budget, they have claimed how excited they are to return the province to the black, but it’s on the backs of nurses and public workers.

We also see a government that refuses to release its mandate letters. What’s the return on investment on that? What is being hidden?

Further, rather than not abiding by economic principles, we, in fact, see disinvestment from some of the things that Ontarians require. We see disinvestment in health care. We see disinvestment in mental health.

I had the opportunity to attend a mental health round table hosted by the MP for London–Fanshawe, Lindsay Mathyssen, and MP Gord Johns, and I’d like to quote Dr. Andrea Sereda. She indicated that when we consider our mental health crisis, we also should consider that this is a consequence of a lack of investment in housing, because housing is health care. Housing, food and warmth are medicine. The government has not done its part to make sure that people are adequately housed. Poverty has a cost.

Further, if one looks at poverty as being the root cause and housing being something that the province and the federal government have denied people, that causes mental health exceptionalities. Dr. Sereda pointed out that organic mental health exceptionalities such as schizophrenia account for 5%, whereas these mental health exceptionalities have been brought upon by the conditions that have been created—deliberately created—by provincial disinvestment.

Also, I’d like to echo the voices of many of the dedicated harm reduction workers who we had the opportunity to meet on that day, who have indicated that harm reduction workers can’t afford rent and groceries because they are not being paid nearly enough. The people who are providing services to our most vulnerable can’t afford to look after themselves. They’re in jobs that don’t pay enough. They don’t have pensions. They don’t have benefits. So once people find themselves trained within these positions, they have to leave for something else, even though their heart might be in that role.

If we take a look at an economic development lens towards this budget, we also need to consider that many different organizations and different global companies consider Ontario as a wise place to invest because of our public health care. They know that they are going to have a workforce that will be healthy, that will be looked after if they become injured, if they become ill. And yet, this government chooses to disinvest from health care and continues to privatize, making it on the path towards the United States. We cannot compete with the United States in terms of their fiscal opportunities, so we have to look at the things that make Ontario unique, look at the things that make Ontario desirable—and that is our publicly funded and publicly delivered health care.

Furthermore, through education—education is an investment, not a cost. We need to make sure that we have students who are trained and understand the importance of the skilled trades, not simply in high school, but also in elementary school. Let’s remember that it was a Conservative government that removed shop classes and home economics classes from elementary school. Sometimes high school is too late. We need to give students that opportunity as soon as possible. Put shop classes back in elementary school.

As well, we look at Ontario as a viable place for investment because of the trust that Ontario has built as a partner. We’ve seen volatility from this government. We’ve seen bizarre statements. We’ve seen things that do not hold up to fact, like the claims that the greenbelt is a myth. We see these strange, bizarre performances. That undermines trust in Ontario as a place to invest.

We have also seen a culture of unfairness. We see a culture that does not recognize the importance of honest competition. We see favours for insiders. There was the 407, OLG. We’ve seen Tarion turn into yet another agency, HCRA, which is not working. This government talked, when they were in opposition, about how they would reform Tarion; they have chosen not to. We also see the favours that are being done right now for Therme, a private spa that has a lease that this government won’t release. We also see government appointments—we know that in these hallowed halls, many people who used to be Conservative candidates are now walking these halls in paid positions. Is that a culture of competition? Is that a culture of “Did that the person with the greatest experience and aptitude gets the position?” I’m not certain about that. I also would like to ask who’s benefiting from all of the housing decisions that this government has made, with the parcelling off and the sale of the greenbelt. That’s not a culture of fair competition.

Also, as we look towards some of the things that this government has done, they have not made the investments that we heard about, like making sure that nurse practitioners are able to practise across the province. They will alleviate some of the strains on our health care in the north—but across the province.

We also see a lack of investment in housing. Speaker, $124 million was cut from municipalities—and then they’re re-announcing $202 million, but that’s nowhere near enough to address the crisis. Housing is health care.

Furthermore, this government would pat itself on the back for the paltry 5% increase to ODSP and the fact that they’ve indexed legislated poverty. Congratulations. You’re going to keep people in poverty for many years to come. That’s not a success.

The 5% raise to CMHA was not the 8% that they requested.

I’d like this government to understand the importance of upstream investment, the importance of looking at all of their decisions with a cost-benefit analysis. And for heaven’s sake, look at the return on investment.

We need to make sure across this province that there’s wage parity among sectors. Whether it is in the community support services, home care, long-term care, as well as acute care, people should be paid accordingly; they should be paid appropriately. People should not be jumping between sectors because they can’t afford to pay the bills.

Furthermore, this overreliance on agency nurses is fiscally imprudent. It’s not fair to our health care system, it’s further privatization and it’s not effective use of the public purse. The party is over. Please stop. Please make sure that you’re making financial decisions which benefit all of Ontarians, not the insiders who are in the backrooms. Make sure that you’re investing in people. Invest in health care. Invest in home care. Invest in long-term care. Invest in education.

Last but not least, the opportunity to re-establish rent control, as recommended by so many stakeholders, is not found in this budget. We saw that autism was not mentioned once and we saw that school violence—an epidemic in our schools right now—was not mentioned once.

To this government: You can do better. I know you can do better.

Thank you to my colleague from London North Centre for his contribution to this debate. My question would be this: It’s very clear from what you’ve talked about that this budget is set up in a way that’s disabling. People are sick; people can’t afford health care; people can’t afford places to live. That, in and of itself, is creating conditions where people will continue to be disabled simply by existing. What would creating a caring budget, based on a caring economy, look like to you?

Thank you to the member opposite for their remarks. In this budget, our government is supporting mental health by supporting a full continuum of care for first responders experiencing PTSD. We’re providing an additional $425 million over three years to connect more people with mental health and addictions support. We’re increasing investments in education to historic levels and have increased spending on mental health in schools by more than 500% since our government took office in 2018.

My question: Will the member opposite support our government’s initiatives to support our first responders and our students’ mental health?

Questions?