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.

My question is to the Minister of Colleges and Universities. All Ontarians deserve to have access to the health care they need when they need it no matter where they live. In my riding of Chatham-Kent–Leamington, my constituents are looking for connected care and services that are close to home, in Wheatley, in Leamington, Blenheim, Ridgetown and beyond. Unfortunately, because of the destructive policies of the past Liberal government, many parts of our province are in desperate need of more health care professionals to provide that care. Our government must take decisive steps now to educate and retain more health care workers across the province to make immediate impacts in our local hospitals, long-term-care homes and other health care facilities.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is doing to expand opportunities to educate more health care professionals?