My question is for the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

The people of my riding of Niagara West have seen first-hand the devastating consequences of mental health challenges and addictions in Niagara. We’ve seen the losses from these challenges, and we know that the losses are devastating for loved ones and have a significant impact on our broader community.

Our government is committed to building awareness and reducing stigma related to mental health and addiction challenges. I know that through investments in community support, progress has been made, but the demand for services in my riding and so many others continues at an unprecedented rate, and our government must act to ensure that Ontarians are able to get access to the care they need, when and where they need it.

Could the associate minister please explain to this House what our government is doing to ensure that all individuals facing mental health challenges and addictions care are being supported here in the province of Ontario?

This bill is being co-sponsored by Jennifer French, MPP for Oshawa; Lisa Gretzky, MPP for Windsor West; and Jamie West, MPP for Sudbury.

The bill, the Anti-Scab Labour Act, is quite simple. I would like to mention, though, that today is the 10th anniversary of the passing of my good friend Peter Kormos. Peter Kormos presented the anti-scab legislation at every Parliament until he retired, and since he retired, I have taken over.

The bill is simple. The provisions in the bill basically prevent an employer from replacing striking or locked-out employees with replacement workers except in specific emergency situations. As simple as that: no more temporary replacement workers.

“911 Everywhere in Ontario....

“Whereas when we face an emergency we all know to dial 911 for help; and

“Whereas access to emergency services through 911 is not available in all regions of Ontario but most Ontarians believe that it is; and

“Whereas many Ontarians have discovered that 911 was not available while they faced an emergency; and

“Whereas all Ontarians expect and deserve access to 911 service, throughout our province;”

They “petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To provide 911 emergency response everywhere in Ontario by land line or cellphone.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask Mikaeel to bring it to the Clerk.

This petition is entitled “Support to Ontarians living with long COVID.” The petition is,

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the impacts of long COVID are extensive and devastating, which include migraines, dizziness, vertigo, brain fog, loss of smell or taste, and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety;

“Whereas socio-economic analyses on long COVID project significant negative impacts on the economy through its effects on the labour market, gross domestic product, as well as added costs in health care and social supports;

“Whereas 1.4 million Canadians or approximately 500,000 Ontarians are suffering the devastating health impacts of long COVID;

“Whereas adequate treatment options for those suffering from long COVID are mostly limited to private clinics and can cost as much as $5,000 a month in order for them to continue in their day-to-day lives through gainful employment, parenting, and overall life enjoyment;

“Whereas the Ontario government has failed to properly address and support the escalating crisis of long COVID and how it is devastating the lives of an increasing number of Ontarians;

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

“To immediately allocate funding to support fair, equitable, accessible, and appropriate treatment for the complicated symptoms of long COVID and implement a cohesive and comprehensive funded support system for those suffering from the disease.”

I absolutely support this petition. I want to thank Lesley in my community of St. Paul’s for her leadership and advocacy on supports for long COVID. I have affixed my signature and I will hand it to Ryan for tabling.

Thank you to the member opposite for your discussion and debate of the budget bill. I’m glad to hear that you comparison shop between the dollar store and Shoppers; that’s great. I always support people who comparison shop. That’s what makes competition healthy—glad to hear that.

I did want to touch on something that’s coming down the pipe on April 1: The increase in the carbon tax. That’s 14 cents a litre on gas. That is going to cost every consumer in this entire province. Every individual, regardless of income, it’s going to cost them more to heat their home, put gas in their car, making life more unaffordable for the people of Ontario, and it’s inflationary, which is not something we want. I think we all agree we need to get inflation down right now.

Will you support us in going against this carbon tax which penalizes hard-working Ontarians?

It’s an honour to rise in this august chamber, and specifically as the member for Don Valley West glares at me. I’m very pleased that I’ll be sharing and splitting my time with her over the next, roughly, 12 minutes.

I also want to thank the member from Don Valley West for the outstanding work she does for the members of her riding and specifically for her outstanding leadership on analyzing and guiding us through this budget, which I sadly must admit is thoroughly underwhelming.

As has been articulated before, this is a budget, sadly, that very clearly tells Ontarians that they’re on their own, that this government does not have their backs, and that for the things which matter most to all of us, the things that matter most to Ontarians, they should just figure it out themselves. Unfortunately, this does not come as any surprise. As a young child, I was taught in my family to do what you say. If you promise something, then you have to deliver on it, and this is something, sadly, that this government struggles with.

For example, this government said all fall that they would accelerate the credentialing of foreign-trained family doctors, and we’re still waiting. I have no confidence whatsoever that this bill will or can deliver on the unambitious promises that it makes. You have to do what you say.

The recent reports from the Financial Accountability Office do nothing to reassure me that this government will do otherwise. In successive quarters, we have seen consistent underspending across all of the major ministries: $1.3 billion less in health than promised, $844 million less in education, $175 million less in post-secondary education and $458 million less in children and social services—the funding that goes to deliver services to those who need our help the most. Do what you say. This budget simply inspires no confidence, because the members haven’t even delivered on their last budget.

But there’s more to it than that, Madam Speaker. You don’t just have to do what you say; you have to say what you do. This government has consistently committed to doing one thing, only to actually do another. For example, this government is funding a housing plan, but they promised in the process that they wouldn’t touch the greenbelt, and now they’re carving it up. They promised that they would protect our public health care system, and are now funding a plan that is so poorly conceived that it will lead to the corporatization and profitization of our health care. And so, as much as I am underwhelmed by this bill, I’m also concerned about just how much it is not talking about.

In health care, for example, the budget mentions nothing about eliminating hospital surge funding for COVID, even though it is getting eliminated tomorrow. It mentions nothing about access to hospital care for our most vulnerable and marginalized uninsured patients in Ontario, even though that also is getting eliminated tomorrow. Say what you’re going to do.

The government has also made a profoundly short-sighted decision in eliminating paid sick days, which will actually hurt our businesses and economy when sick people are forced to come to work and infect entire workplaces.

Most upsetting of all, there is no attention whatsoever to health care worker retention, even as this remains one of the biggest challenges that we face in health care right now. Say what you do. Not only is there no mention of health care worker retention, outside of this chamber this government is pursuing avenues to fight courts that have told this government that Bill 124 is unconstitutional legislation that infringes on charter and worker rights.

On Indigenous issues, I am most disturbed at the growing chorus of Indigenous people and communities who say they have not been adequately consulted on so many of the proposed changes in the budget. I have heard from Indigenous stakeholders, for example, that the government’s plan for integrated community health services centres is being implemented without their input. And we all witnessed yesterday how Indigenous people share their concerns about the Ring of Fire. We must listen to Indigenous people, particularly the ones who are most at stake.

I have more I could say, but in the spirit of respecting the time of my colleague, I will simply mention that on the challenge of education, this government has dropped the ball, focusing upon things like infrastructure, like buildings, instead of supporting teachers by making sure that they are adequately funded. On this issue, along with so many more, the bill is very clear: People in Ontario are on their own. They don’t matter, and this government does not have their backs.

With that, I turn it to the member for Don Valley West.

Thank you very much for that question. The message very clearly is universal in this budget: Ontarians are simply on their own. The services that they need, that have been underfunded in the last quarter, as per the Financial Accountability Office—they’re not there. They weren’t there before; they’re not here in this budget; they’re not going to be there in the future.

We as legislators and parliamentarians have an obligation to look out for the little guy, or the little gal. We need to have compassion, integrity. To respond to the member across, we have to collaborate with each other—with other levels of government but with each other right here in the room. Let’s have a conversation, talk about the issues that actually matter to Ontarians. Affordable housing is inaccessible. There are over 62,000 people that cannot get access to autism services. What we’re looking for, and what is entirely absent in this budget, is a government that has compassion for people who need help the most.

Interjections.

To exactly the point that I made: There is no plan for the retention of health care workers.

As we continue to see mass attrition and a mass exodus of health care workers across multiple professions—physicians, nurses, PSWs and all of the amazing health care workers who work at the front lines and behind the front lines—this budget does not have a solution to the empty hospitals that this government is proposing and hoping to build.

We need staffed hospitals, not empty ones.

My comments were intended to highlight the fact that there may be some investments here that are intended to look at addressing that crumbling infrastructure. But in this budget, it is to the exclusion of the people who are essential to enable our education system to thrive. So thank you for allowing me to clarify that comment. I don’t think that we disagree on this.

My question is to the member for Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston. Over the last couple of weeks, I have raised some issues in question period based on what I’m hearing from residents of London West. I talked about two young nurses who are leaving London, moving to other provinces, moving to the US, because of the way that they are treated here, because of the way they feel disrespected and demoralized and exhausted because of this government’s policies.

The health care programs that the member talked about all depend on having a health care workforce in place. My question is, why is the government not dropping its appeal of the unconstitutional Bill 124 and moving forward so we can actually have the health care workers we need in order to deliver the health care services that Ontarians deserve?

My question is to the member for Mississauga–Erin Mills. I noticed in the budget that there is an increase in the amount of funding that is going to be earmarked to for-profit health facilities. I am concerned about this because I am seeing what’s happening in Ottawa, and I’m seeing planned cancer blitzes, cancer surgeries for people who are in life-threatening conditions—many of them are—being cancelled because there’s not enough nursing staff available because they’re working for the for-profit clinic that operates on the weekend and can pay nurses more.

What commitments is this government going to make to ensure that Ontarians get the absolutely life-saving surgery that they need and that it is not threatened by the arrival and expansion of for-profit health clinics?

I want to thank the member for St. Paul’s for your passion for those in your riding; I know I certainly have many in mine as well. Last Saturday, I was speaking with the CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Bill Marra, and he actually had some kind comments about the budget. He said, “The proposed investments in children’s mental health, adult mental health and addictions and supportive housing opportunity is noteworthy. By focusing on early intervention and prevention, the Ontario government’s leadership is demonstrating a commitment to improving health care outcomes for all Ontarians.”

Given the contrast in comments between what you shared and what I’m hearing in my community, I’m wondering if you could elaborate a little bit as to the kinds of investments that you would prefer to see in the budget.