My question is to the Premier. The minister mentions that they’ve maintained funding, but inflation has eaten 14% of Ontario’s arts budget over the last four years, and this afternoon this government may be cutting $5 million in grants.

Arts contribute $27 billion to Ontario’s economy and cultural life. Quebec has raised their arts funding by 60%, because they recognize how essential the arts are. In this afternoon’s budget, will this government invest in the cultural life and economy by raising funding for the arts?

Thank you.

The supplementary question?

The supplementary question: the member for Spadina–Fort York.

My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Last week, I attended an exciting hockey game with the minister at Iceland Arena in my riding of Mississauga–Malton. It was one of the 487 games played across five arenas in Mississauga over four days. Thank you to the Nipissing First Nation for organizing and thank you for choosing to host the event in Mississauga–Malton.

So 184 teams played in the first Little Native Hockey League tournament to be held in three years. This tournament is more than just a series of hockey games: It is a special event that drew over 2,000 children and teens to Mississauga from several First Nations communities.

Speaker, can the minister please describe the impact of sporting events like this to Ontario and Mississauga–Malton?

It’s encouraging news to hear about the positive effects that sporting events have on tourism and the substantive impact on economic activity. However, when I speak with the tourism operators and employers in my community, they raise concerns about the future. I hear them express worries about many jobs going unfilled—of an uncertain labour market. Tourism operators are really concerned about potential lost revenue because of the challenges they are experiencing in recruiting people into the tourism industry.

Tourism is vital to the economic well-being of our province and the industry deserves support from our government. Speaker, through you, can the minister please explain how our government is attracting prospective workers to consider employment and helping these operators?

My question is to the Premier. This Conservative government has cut arts, culture and heritage since taking office in 2018. Its impacts continue today on the lives of artists like near-middle-aged Eli, a part-time shift and gig contract worker who is forced to live with family due to financial strains, struggling to make ends meet while working below a livable wage with no pension or benefits.

Artists are workers too, Speaker. They have physical and mental health needs they cannot afford to address. And I would love if the Minister of Culture would actually take our request for a meeting.

My question is back to the Premier: Will today’s budget 2023 sustain or increase with inflation the $65-million Ontario Arts Council budget, reinstate the Indigenous Culture Fund, bolster CMOG for our museums, bolster libraries and help ensure that all Ontario artists and cultural workers can actually stay in Ontario?

It’s my honour to present this petition on behalf of Lynn Mayhew, from the families of incarcerated women and girls at the Andrew Mercer Reformatory. This petition was submitted by Lorraine Vasiliauskas. The petition reads:

“Extend Access to Post-Adoption Birth Information.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas current legislation does not provide access to post-adoption birth information (identifying 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 (identifying 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, will affix my signature and deliver it with page Stefan to the Clerks.

Supplementary?

Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1139 to 1144.

Ms. Armstrong has moved private member’s notice of motion number 34. All those in favour will please rise and remaining standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Motion negatived.

The House recessed from 1149 to 1300.

It’s an honour to be able to rise in this House and share details about the investments in health care that are being made in Niagara, under the leadership of this Premier and this Minister of Health.

We’re seeing a new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital for the first time in our region.

We’re seeing 1.3 million square feet of new health care coming on board in the new South Niagara Hospital.

We’ve seen the doubling of the nursing program at Brock University, going from 300 to 600 new nursing students each year.

We’ve seen free tuition and expanded personal support worker supports at Niagara College, bringing many new PSWs on board.

Palliative care expansions—adding over 24 new beds to the region, going from 16 to 40 palliative care beds in Niagara region.

We’re seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased supports for Pathstone’s youth mental health.

We’ve seen the new mobile health mental clinic going in through the south Niagara region as well.

We’re seeing $8 million for a new community paramedicine program, supporting seniors aging in place across the province.

We’re seeing a new youth—

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to thank my colleague for that very important question. The people of Ontario care about the welfare of animals, and so does our government. We are committed to developing a strong system to protect animals, and we have delivered on that promise.

Ontario has the strongest penalties in Canada for people who violate animal welfare laws. Just last year, regulations under the animal welfare act were passed to increase standards of care for dogs kept outdoors. Our government takes animal welfare and safety very seriously.

But everyone has a responsibility to protect animals. If you suspect that neglect or abuse of an animal is taking place, please report it. The number you can call is 1-833-9-ANIMAL, and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It’s my sincere pleasure to introduce, from the town of Tecumseh, Councillor Brian Houston, who is in the east members’ gallery this afternoon.

My question is to the Premier. April 1 is fast approaching, and parents of children with autism are worried. After meeting with local trustees in Oshawa, it is clear that parents of children with autism who will be transitioning from the ending legacy autism program and into schools don’t have answers about what will happen after April 1, once that legacy program is over.

Parents who are going in to register their children for school are met with surprised principals and no plans for support. At a time when special education needs are already terribly underfunded, my question is: What is this government doing to support students with autism to ensure a successful, smooth and supported transition from the legacy program into the classroom?

What we’ve been doing is reaching out to thousands of children’s families through emails, letters and phone calls, to make sure that they understand this process. We have ensured that the children are aware and their families are aware that they need to be registered for the OAP—which is a new, comprehensive, needs-based program—and we’ve been working across multiple ministries, including with the Ministry of Education, to make sure that those transitions are what they need to be, because that’s what we’ve heard from families: that the transition points—whether it’s entry to school, whether it’s movement from childhood to adulthood—are hard for families. They’re hard for children. That’s exactly why we’ve doubled the funding for autism. That’s why we have five times as many children receiving supports. Tens of thousands of families and children are receiving more supports than ever before under this program, something that the previous government never planned to do and never built the capacity for.

This government has done more than any government in the history of this province. And while the member opposite wants to share dramatics, I’m hard at work creating the programs that are needed to support the children of this province.

On behalf of Origins Canada, I’d like to present this petition submitted by Valerie Andrews:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“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 (identifying information) to next of kin, and/or extended next of kin, if an adult adopted person or a natural/birth parent is deceased.”

I’d like to attach my name to this petition and then send it back to the centre table with page Jing.

The bill is called the Peter Kormos Memorial Act. This is something that my colleague Peter Kormos was really adamant about.

The Gift of Life Act currently requires that consent be obtained before tissue can be removed from a human body to be used for therapeutic purposes. Under the proposed amendment, consent would no longer be required, except for children, and a person may object to the removal and use of a tissue prior to their death, or a substitute decision-maker after the death has occurred. Those changes would make sure that the more-than-1,300 people presently on the wait-list for a transplant would get quicker access to life-saving care.

I am happy to present several hundred signatures on this petition to save the Welland hospital emergency department.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the current Niagara Health system restructuring plan approved by the Ontario Ministry of Health includes removal of the emergency department and associated beds and ambulances service from the Welland hospital site once the Niagara Falls site is complete, creating inequity of hospital and emergency service in the Niagara region and a significant negative impact on hospital and emergency outcomes for the citizens of Welland, Port Colborne and all Niagara;

“Whereas the NHS is already experiencing a 911 crisis in EMS, a shortage of beds and unacceptable off-loading delays in its emergency departments across the region;

“Whereas the population in the Welland hospital catchment area is both aging and growing;

“Whereas the Ontario Legislature passed a motion by Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch on April 13, 2022, to include a full emergency department and associated beds in the rebuild of the Welland hospital;

“Therefore, be it resolved that we call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to work with the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Niagara Health system to implement motion 47 to maintain the Welland hospital emergency department and adjust its hospital plan accordingly.”

I’ll affix my signature and hand it to the Clerk.

I beg to inform the House that today the Clerk received the report on intended appointments dated March 23, 2023, of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies. Pursuant to standing order 110(f)(9), the report is deemed to be adopted by the House.

Report deemed adopted.

Madame Gélinas moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 84, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to the removal and use of tissue from a human body for therapeutic purposes, medical education or scientific research / Projet de loi 84, Loi visant à modifier diverses lois en ce qui concerne le prélèvement et l’utilisation de tissus d’un corps humain à des fins thérapeutiques, pour l’enseignement de la médecine ou pour la recherche scientifique.

First reading agreed to.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour, say “aye.”

All those opposed, say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Interjection: On division.

Motion agreed to.

Thank you to the Solicitor General for that response. Unfortunately, there are situations where distress, neglect and abuse to animals continue to occur throughout the province. As a few examples, dogs can become victims of puppy mills, where they are kept in inhumane conditions, and animals that are kept outdoors can be exposed to unsafe conditions such as lack of shelter or water. Another situation that illustrates the urgency of this problem is the detrimental effect on pets that are left in cars in extreme weather conditions.

Speaker, can the Solicitor General please elaborate on how the PAWS Act protects the welfare, health and safety of animals?

I would like to ask a question to our great Minister of Health—to share with this House what we are doing for the great people of Niagara and the historic investments we are making in Niagara.

In my response to the member from Orléans, I mentioned the gas tax. I just wanted to clarify for the record, if there’s any ambiguity, that what I was referring to was our government passing legislation to reduce the gas tax by—

I don’t think the minister heard the question of what was being asked, and again has gone back to the OAP talking points and their funding. This is not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about a program, the legacy program, that is ending March 31. Children will be transitioned into schools across all of our communities on April 1 without programs in place.

We don’t have enough teachers in the classroom. We don’t have enough EAs in the classroom. We have no extra supports happening April 1. Nobody knows what’s happening. We need answers from this government and we obviously need them soon, since April 1 is around the corner.

Can the Minister of Education possibly tell us what is going to be happening April 1 to ensure that there are supports in the classroom to support all of these children, who have never been in school and need services?