It’s my pleasure to welcome Thomas Soliman, a new member of our team in the constituency. He’s here at Queen’s Park for the first time. Welcome.

I would like to welcome my childhood friend Bikram Cheema, who is visiting all the way from India. With him is his cousin Sahib Dhaliwal.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

The people of Ontario strongly support the reduction of duplicative, confusing and burdensome regulations that slow down our province’s long-term economic prosperity. While the previous Liberal government operated under the assumption that more red tape is better for everyone, this is not a reality. Unfortunately for many businesses and entrepreneurs, that meant major difficulties, frustration and unnecessary delays while trying to access government services when starting their operations. Sadly, the opposition Liberals and NDP still hold this mindset of saying no to measures that will improve our government services and make it easier to invest and build in Ontario.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on the benefits that have been achieved through the Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act?

Ce rapport démontre clairement l’engagement de notre gouvernement à accroître la transparence et aussi la reddition des comptes. Je suis fière des réalisations de notre gouvernement et de la modernisation de la Loi sur les services en français, contrairement aux députés de l’opposition, monsieur le Président, qui n’ont rien fait pendant 15 ans. Lorsqu’il s’agit d’agir dans les dossiers importants pour la communauté francophone de l’Ontario, seul le gouvernement Ford agit de façon significative.

L’objectif général du rapport est de démontrer comment nos ministères travaillent ensemble pour fournir des services en français accessibles et de qualité aux Ontariens et aux Ontariennes. Les progrès réalisés dans les domaines de la santé de l’éducation et de l’enseignement postsecondaire, ainsi que de la formation et de l’employabilité, témoignent de l’engagement de l’ensemble du gouvernement en faveur de la vitalité de la communauté francophone de l’Ontario.

Je vais continuer à travailler en étroite collaboration avec mes collègues au sein du gouvernement pour faire avancer les dossiers francophones et m’assurer que les voix des francophones et de leur communauté sont entendues.

Deferred vote on the motion that the question now be put on the motion for third reading of the following bill:

Bill 97, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to housing and development / Projet de loi 97, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne le logement et l’aménagement.

I’m delighted to welcome a great leader in our community, Mr. Guidy Mamann, who is with us in the gallery today. I want to congratulate him for the wonderful work he does to keep York Centre great.

It’s an honour for me to present the following petitions on behalf of Peri Ren, Samantha Bolger, Ayma Aqib and the class of 2025 medical students from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. The petition is entitled “Support Ontario Families with Autism.” It reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas every child with autism deserves access to sufficient treatment and support so that they can live” their life “to their fullest potential;

“Whereas the Ontario Autism Program was badly broken under the Liberals, and the changes introduced by the Conservatives have made it worse;

“Whereas the new funding caps are based on age and income, and not the clinical needs of the child;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services to invest in equitable, needs-based autism services for all children who need them.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and deliver it with page Christopher to the Clerks.

My question is to the Premier. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has identified London as a child care desert with only enough licensed spaces for 12% of eligible infants. Brenda Feeney told me that her grandson is 150th on the list at one London centre and 60th on the list at another. His family was hopeful about the place where he was 20th on the list, but two infant rooms were just forced to close there because of a shortage of qualified staff.

Speaker, without a child care workforce, you can’t have a child care system. When will this government start paying early childhood educators fairly so that we can attract and retain the workforce we need to provide London families with the child care they deserve?

It is my pleasure to welcome Grant Gonzales, who is a co-chair of Pride Toronto.

It’s wonderful to see you here.

I also recognize Guidy Mamann, someone I have a long history with, going back to the time I was in my twenties. I actually worked in his law firm.

Ms. Smith moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 121, An Act to enact the Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2023 / Projet de loi 121, Loi édictant la Loi de 2023 sur l’amélioration des soins aux personnes atteintes de démence en Ontario.

This is my first time presenting this petition in the Legislature. It’s entitled “Weekend GO Trains for Waterloo Region.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Waterloo region is home to three post-secondary institutions, the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Conestoga College, whose students and staff require weekend train options; and

“Whereas the government of Ontario is responsible for investing in building, maintaining and upgrading GO Transit trains and rail routes throughout the province; and

“Whereas the government of Ontario has repeatedly made commitments to invest in and improve GO Transit trains for the purposes of improving connectivity, increasing transit ridership, decreasing traffic congestion, connecting people to jobs, and improving the economy; and

“Whereas dependable, efficient public transit on weekends is as critical as weekday service to achieving these goals;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the immediate expansion of GO service to Kitchener-Waterloo, including weekend two-way rail service along the full length of the vital Kitchener GO corridor.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and give this to page Silas.

Ma question s’adresse à la ministre des Affaires francophones. Notre gouvernement doit se tenir derrière notre population franco-ontarienne. La francophonie ontarienne est un atout inestimable pour notre province, et nous devons continuer à soutenir la communauté francophone avec des initiatives qui contribueront à assurer son succès pour les années à venir.

La semaine dernière, notre gouvernement a rendu public le deuxième rapport annuel sur les affaires francophones. Le rapport souligne les réalisations que nous avons accomplies pour soutenir la francophonie ontarienne et favoriser son développement économique, culturel et social.

Monsieur le Président, la ministre peut-elle expliquer l’importance de déposer ce rapport annuel?

Monsieur le Président, la ministre peut-elle nous en dire davantage sur la façon dont notre gouvernement réalise une approche pangouvernementale afin de mieux servir la population francophone de notre province?

It is with great pleasure that I would like to introduce a number of individuals: Kyle Fitzgerald, director of government relations with the Alzheimer Society; Catherine Barrick, chief executive officer; Sanah Manickam, policy coordinator, government relations; and Kari Quinn-Humphrey, chief executive officer of ASO York region.

Also, with RetiSpec, it is my great pleasure to introduce Eliav Shaked, co-founder and CEO of RetiSpec, and Catherine Bornbaum, head of clinical operations and partnerships.

And, with the Ontario Brain Institute, I would like to introduce Christa Studzinski, manager, partnerships; and Jordan Antflick, director of integrated discovery at OBI.

It is also my great pleasure to introduce Michael O’Leary, dean of the faculty of applied health and community studies at Sheridan College.

And it is also my great pleasure that I introduce from ORCA, the Ontario Retirement Communities Association, Mr. Grant Gonzales, senior manager of government relations and corporate affairs.

(1) The Minister of Health must develop a provincial framework designed to support improved access to dementia care. The minister must table a report setting out the provincial framework in the Legislative Assembly and, afterwards, must prepare and table a report on the state of dementia care in Ontario. Each report must be published on a government of Ontario website.

(2) The Ministry of Colleges and Universities must review its Personal Support Worker Standard to determine if certain changes should be made, including whether to require in-depth learning about person-centred dementia care.

I want to thank my colleague for the question once again. The 42 different actions being taken in the Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act are game changers for Ontario. The member is correct; the Liberals and the NDP have said no to all of them, unfortunately.

They said no to saving businesses $800 million each and every year, Mr. Speaker. They said no to delivering broadband to every community in our province, Mr. Speaker. They said no to improving road safety. They said no to helping farmers, Mr. Speaker.

While the opposition wants people and businesses to pay more and be dependent on governments, we will never let that happen on this side of the House.

I’m very pleased to confirm to the member opposite that the city of London is going to be receiving an allocation of an additional 2,000 spaces in the first round and an additional 809 in the second round. That would not have been achieved if we followed the New Democratic advice, which would have omitted a third of childcare operators in London. The for-profit centres in your own riding would have been denied participation.

Decouple the ECE issue—you would have removed the capacity of one in three parents from having the choice of lower fees. You’ve ideologically opposed options for parents because you know better, bureaucrats and politicians, instead of the people who pay the bills and raise their kids. It’s absolutely unconscionable that you would have denied that many participants from enrolling. Some 92% said yes to our offer.

We have a reduction of fees by 50%: $46 to $23 today. Yes, we’re going to help support the creation of 86,000 more spaces in London and right across Ontario.

With respect to wages, in the federal deal we did accept that we’re going to create a wage floor for the first time in the sector’s history. We’ve increased the wages by $1 per hour every year over the course of this agreement, and we’ve committed to going even further.

Mr. Speaker, in the member’s community in the Niagara region, there’s an additional roughly 3,000 more spaces which we are going to fund to support expanded access, to reduce wait-lists and make life affordable for families in Ontario. We are going to invest in a quality child care program that’s going to reduce fees. One of the great legacies, I think, when it comes to affordability during this time of rising inflation federally is that this government has slashed child care fees by 50% for non-profits and for-profits—for everyone, Mr. Speaker. That’s a good thing for people in Ontario.

As Niagara families confront the summer child care squeeze, with providers barely running at 60% due to staff shortages, I am troubled and so should you be. Remarkably, two thirds of our Niagara ECE graduates are international students. The minister should be deeply concerned about retaining these graduates in Ontario.

Minister, how can we expect to keep our trained ECEs with a base salary of $19, $6 less than any other province’s? Fourteen months post our federal child care agreement, through you, Speaker, I ask, will the minister present a clear timeline for a workforce strategy to secure essential child care for our families here in Ontario?

I would like to table the following petition:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas police provide protection to some of the most vulnerable members of our society; and

“The provincial government has launched the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy; and

“The 2023-24 budget commits an additional $13.4 million to this strategy;

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

“That the Legislative Assembly of Ontario reject the ‘defund the police’ position, and continue funding police, seizing illegal guns, suppressing gangs, and supporting victims of violence through the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy.”

I support this petition. I will affix my signature, and I’m going to be passing it on to our page.

I am pleased to share this petition.

“Stop the 413 GTA West Highway.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government is pushing ahead with plans to build Highway 413, a redundant and wasteful 400-series highway through the greenbelt that would cost taxpayers an estimated $10 billion or more; and

“Whereas according to a TorStar/National Observer investigation entitled ‘Friends with Benefits?’ powerful developers and land speculators with political and donor ties to the Premier and the PC Party of Ontario own thousands of acres along the proposed highway corridor and would profit from its construction, suggesting that this $10-billion taxpayer-funded highway is about serving the private interests of the Premier’s friends and donors, not the public interest; and

“Whereas the Ontario government’s expert panel concluded in 2017 that Highway 413 would be a waste of taxpayer money that would only save drivers 30 to 60 seconds on their commutes; and

“Whereas that expert panel identified less costly and less destructive alternatives to new highway construction, such as making better use of the underused Highway 407, just 15 kilometres away; and

“Whereas Highway 413 would pave over 400 acres of greenbelt and 2,000 acres of farmland, destroy the habitats of at-risk and endangered species, and pollute rivers and streams; and

“Whereas building more highways encourages more vehicle use and increases traffic and congestion; and

“Whereas the highway would cause significant harm to historic Indigenous sites;

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

“Stop the plans for building Highway 413.”

Of course, I support this petition. I will affix my signature and send it with Ameer.

I’d like to present a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas two-spirit, transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse, and intersex communities face significant challenges to accessing health care services that are friendly, competent, and affirming in Ontario;

“Whereas everyone deserves access to health care, and they shouldn’t have to fight for it, shouldn’t have to wait for it, and should never receive less care or support because of who they are;

“Whereas gender-affirming care is life-saving care;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the reintroduction of a private member’s bill to create an inclusive and representative committee to advise the Ministry of Health on how to realize accessible and equitable access to and coverage for gender-affirming health care in Ontario.”

I will proudly affix my signature to this petition and send it to the table with page Christopher.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas police provide protection to some of the most vulnerable members of our society; and

“The provincial government has launched the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy; and

“The 2023-24 budget commits an additional $13.4 million to this strategy;

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

“That the Legislative Assembly of Ontario reject the ‘defund the police’ mentality, and continue funding police, seizing illegal guns, suppressing gangs, and supporting victims of violence through the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy.”

Speaker, I’m going to affix my signature to this and provide it to page Pierre.

I have a petition here.

“Ontario Should Say No to Federal Gun Confiscation.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the federal government is banning a large number of firearms legally owned by private citizens; and

“Whereas the federal government has introduced legislation for a buyback/confiscation of the banned firearms and wants provincial law enforcement agencies to execute said confiscation; and

“Whereas participating in this buyback/confiscation will take law enforcement personnel off the streets; and

“Whereas the governments of provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick and the Yukon territory have said they won’t allow provincial resources to be used for the federal gun confiscation;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to inform the federal government that Ontario won’t provide funding for police agencies to execute the gun buyback/confiscation and take police off the streets to execute ... gun control measures.”

I support this petition and will affix my signature and send it to the table with page Dina.

I’d like to thank the folks from Guelph, Kitchener and Kitchener–Conestoga for collecting these signatures. It reads as follows:

“Petition to the province of Ontario Premier and members of provincial Parliament:

“We, the undersigned residents of Ontario, call upon the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to stop ordering sprawl via urban boundary expansion and development on farmland and natural spaces.”

I fully support the intent of this petition. I will affix my signature and give it to page Arisa.