This petition is entitled “Support Gender-Affirming Health Care.

“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 support this petition. I will pass it to page Morgan to take to the table.

J’ai l’honneur de me lever pour présenter une pétition qui s’appelle « Soutenez le système d’éducation francophone en Ontario.

« À l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario :

« Alors que les enfants francophones ont un droit constitutionnel à une éducation de haute qualité, financée par les fonds publics, dans leur propre langue;

« Alors que l’augmentation des inscriptions dans le système d’éducation en langue française signifie que plus de 1 000 nouveaux enseignants et enseignantes de langue française sont nécessaires chaque année pour les cinq prochaines années;

« Alors que les changements apportés au modèle de financement du gouvernement provincial pour la formation des enseignantes et enseignants de langue française signifient que l’Ontario n’en forme que 500 par an;

« Alors que le nombre de personnes qui enseignent sans certification complète dans le système d’éducation en langue française a augmenté de plus de 450 % au cours de la dernière décennie;

« Par conséquent, nous, soussignés, demandons à l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario de fournir immédiatement le financement demandé par le rapport du groupe de travail sur la pénurie des enseignantes et des enseignants dans le système d’éducation en langue française de l’Ontario et de travailler avec des partenaires pour mettre pleinement en oeuvre les recommandations. »

J’appuie du fond de mon coeur cette pétition. Je vais y ajouter ma signature et l’envoyer à la table des greffiers avec Ethan.

This petition calls on the government to develop an Ontario dementia strategy.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas it currently takes on average 18 months for people in Ontario to get an official dementia diagnosis, with some patients often waiting years to complete diagnostic testing;

“Whereas more than half of patients suspected of having dementia in Ontario never get a full diagnosis; ...

“Whereas a PET scan test approved in Ontario in 2017 which can be key to detecting Alzheimer’s early, is still not covered under OHIP in 2022;

“Whereas the Ontario government must work together with the federal government to prepare for the approval and rollout of future disease-modifying therapies and research;

“Whereas the Alzheimer Society projects that one million Canadians will be caregivers for people with dementia, with families providing approximately 1.4 billion hours of care per year by 2050;

“Whereas research findings show that Ontario will spend $27.8 billion between 2023 and 2043 on alternate-level-of-care (ALC) and long-term-care (LTC) costs associated with people living with dementia;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to develop, commit and fund a comprehensive Ontario dementia strategy.”

I want to thank the people from Peterborough, Guelph, Cambridge, Barrie and Whitby for providing these signatures.

Today I am pleased to present this petition to develop an Ontario dementia strategy.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas it currently takes on average 18 months for people in Ontario to get an official dementia diagnosis, with some patients often waiting years to complete diagnostic testing;

“Whereas more than half of patients suspected of having dementia in Ontario never get a full diagnosis; research confirms that early diagnosis saves lives and reduces care-partner stress;

“Whereas a PET scan test approved in Ontario in 2017 which can be key to detecting Alzheimer’s early, is still not covered under OHIP in 2022;

“Whereas the Ontario government must work together with the federal government to prepare for the approval and rollout of future disease-modifying therapies and research;

“Whereas the Alzheimer Society projects that one million Canadians will be caregivers for people with dementia, with families providing approximately 1.4 billion hours of care per year by 2050;

“Whereas research findings show that Ontario will spend $27.8 billion between 2023 and 2043 on alternate-level-of-care (ALC) and long-term-care (LTC) costs associated with people living with dementia;

“Whereas the government must follow through with its commitment to ensure Ontario’s health care system has the capacity to meet the current and future needs of people living with dementia and their care partners;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to develop, commit and fund a comprehensive Ontario dementia strategy.”

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

It is my distinct honour to rise today here, in my capacity as the President of the Treasury Board, to speak about the Supply Act.

I’d also like to note that I will be splitting my time with my parliamentary assistants who are here—I know I can’t say their names; my apologies—from the riding of Mississauga–Lakeshore and from the riding of Durham.

Madam Speaker, it’s fair to say that a lot of us may not know about what the Supply Act is, and that’s totally fine, but this, of course, does not diminish the value of what the Supply Act means and the value it holds. I believe this will give me an opportunity, actually, to take everyone through what it actually is—and a keen understanding of just how the Legislative Assembly authorizes the use of the public purse.

One of our most important functions as a government is to ensure that the people’s money is spent on the people’s priorities, and that in everything we do, Ontario’s taxpayer dollars are treated with the respect they deserve.

The government of Ontario prides itself on its steadfast belief in transparency and accountability. That is why this government has received five clean audit opinions, which is a stark contrast to the previous government.

Every single dollar spent by the government comes from the province’s hard-working taxpayers. As Ontario and the rest of the world face the ongoing challenges of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, it has never been more important for the government to be transparent and accountable when it comes to the public purse. We are all too familiar with these challenges—challenges that can seem abstract from afar but have real economic consequences every day. Geopolitical tensions continue to rise around the word, escalating while inflation and interest rates remain stubbornly high for Ontario families. There are also ongoing supply chain disruptions that continue to create economic challenges for businesses and consumers alike, and these challenges have touched all areas of life in this province and around the world. These are uneasy times for many of the hard-working people of our province.

However, there is one thing that will support this province in these perilous waters, and that is the resiliency of Ontario workers, businesses, families and people. The people of Ontario are our province’s greatest asset, and it is because of this that our government owes it to people to take careful account of every cent that is being spent in their name. I would like to take this opportunity, before I go much further into the mechanisms of the Supply Act, to acknowledge them.

Despite these challenges, our job creators still make tremendous sacrifices to create new opportunities for hard-working families, and Ontarians continue to seize those opportunities by training up and improving their skills and abilities.

Our resilience as a province and our ability to weather these storms is because of the dynamism and determination of our people.

Madam Speaker, in the face of economic conditions that I have touched upon, the business of government had to continue, and continue it did.

I would like to begin by providing a brief refresher on the government’s fiscal cycle.

The government tabled the 2022-23 expenditure estimates on September 8, 2022, and on December 5, 2022. The expenditure estimates provide details of the operating and capital spending needs of the ministries and the legislative offices for the fiscal year. This constitutes the government’s annual formal request to the Legislature to approve funding requirements and spending requirements. Should they pass, the estimates provide each ministry with the legal authority to spend their operating and capital budgets.

Once expenditure estimates are introduced, they are referred to the relevant standing committee for review. The standing committees then select ministries to appear and answer questions specific to their respective expenditure estimates. This was the first time that we used this new approach, and it resulted in a comprehensive review of almost all ministry estimates. This oversight is invaluable.

Should the Supply Act pass, it signifies the final approval by this House of expenditures proposed by the government in the expenditure estimates that have been tabled during this fiscal year.

It is important to note that our government is not proposing any new spending today. Rather, the government is simply looking to approve the spending outlined in the 2022-23 estimates.

The government introduces a Supply Act to provide the final statutory authority for the government’s and this assembly’s spending. I believe that it is an important enough process to merit a detailed description today.

Madam Speaker, we all recognize that health and education are two areas of utmost importance for the well-being and future of our province. That is why it is worth our time today to give a brief overview of the government’s spending in some of these really critical and crucial areas here today.

It makes sense to start with health because the health and well-being of the people of Ontario is the government’s number one priority.

The people of Ontario rely upon the government to build a strong health care workforce, and that is exactly what the government is doing. Our government is working every day to provide Ontario’s nurses, doctors, personal support workers and other health care professionals with the resources, support and guidance they need.

With this in mind, in August 2022, the Ontario government introduced its Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery. This five-point plan clearly lays out how to provide the best care possible to patients and residents. When fully implemented, this plan is expected to add up to 6,000 more health care workers—that means 6,000 more highly skilled and professional workers to help our loved ones when they need it the most. This is in addition to the more than 11,700 health care workers, including nurses and personal support workers, already added to the health system since 2020.

The government’s dedication to bolstering the ranks of our health care workers is undeniable.

Since January 2022, another significant historic fact is that our government has been able to register and license more than 800 internationally educated nurses in Ontario through government-funded programming. This is a big win for the people of this province.

It doesn’t stop there. The province anticipates that by next year at this time, more than 1,000 international nurses will gain the practice and language requirements necessary to apply their life-saving trade right here in Ontario.

Madam Speaker, let me step back here for a moment to share some information about the entirety of the government’s health spending.

The 2022 budget announced a suite of initiatives to bolster the province’s health care workforce, including $230 million in 2022-23 to enhance health care capacity in hospitals. This investment alone supports thousands of hospital staff, including over 4,500 externs and 2,300 nurses. It also provided more than 300,000 additional hours of physician coverage in rural, remote and in-need hospitals. This represents a much-needed investment to make sure that people in every corner of this province can easily access the very best medical care. An investment of this kind is illustrative of the importance that our government puts on the health and welfare of every person in this province.

The 2022 budget also introduced a permanent wage enhancement for personal support workers and direct support workers. That support was in the form of approximately $2.8 billion over three years. This investment supports more than 158,000 personal support workers and direct support workers who provide publicly funded services in hospitals, long-term-care homes, home and community care and social services.

As I just noted, out government’s investment in the people who make up our health care system is impressive. Of course, those dollars can only be as effective as their complementary investments in the facilities that make up the health care system itself, so I’m pleased to highlight a number of those investments as well, right now. This list, of course, isn’t exhaustive, but it will give the House a quick look at some of the exciting projects that are already under way in this province, under the leadership of this Premier.

It is fair to say that our government is implementing the most ambitious plan for hospital expansion in Ontario’s 155-year history. We are investing more than $40 billion over the next 10 years to improve and increase space in the hospitals and community health centres, and build new health care facilities. This $40-billion investment in Ontario’s health care future will support more than 50 major hospital projects that will add 3,000 new beds over the next 10 years. These projects will build a stronger health care system and at the same time create good, strong, high-paying jobs.

Madam Speaker, I’d also like to touch upon some of these projects and the impacts that they have on communities.

As part of this $40-billion investment into health care, communities like Brampton that were neglected for so long are getting a new hospital. We are building one of the largest new hospitals in Mississauga—and the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore, also my parliamentary assistant, has been a great champion for that program, making sure that we build new hospitals in communities that are growing at a very fast pace. My colleagues from Windsor are getting a new hospital—one of the largest health care investments in the history of this province, in Windsor. That is making sure that we take care of those cities that need it—places like Pickering in Durham region, where we are expanding health care access and building more facilities. The parliamentary assistant from Durham has been a strong champion for health care investments in his region—

I have the pleasure to rise today to present a petition signed by many members of my riding, including Ron Knox, and that were collected by my good friend Clarke Topp.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas the recent small increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I wholeheartedly support this petition. I will add my name to it and send it to the table with page Morgan.

I have a petition here to extend access to post-adoption birth information, and I want to thank Adoption Support Kinship—ASK—and Wendy Rowney for their advocacy and for this petition for this issue.

“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.”

Speaker, I fully support this petition. I will affix my signature to it and give it to page Paul to take to the Clerks.

Mr. Sarkaria.

—and Northumberland; Peterborough, as well. That’s strong, strong advocacy from members, and it speaks to this government’s commitment to their historic plan to build—a plan that looks at all Ontarians and supports the need for growing health care infrastructure across this province. This is on top of the 3,000 new beds that we’ve added since the start of the pandemic, that we’ve brought online, that the Premier and the Minister of Health supported—and continue to support the needs of this province as we continue to grow.

Madam Speaker, these are some of the investments that we are making into the health care system from a capacity perspective.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the new medical school that is being built in the city of Brampton. For the first time in over a hundred-plus years, a new medical school will open in the GTA, right in the city of Brampton—but that, on top of the other hundreds of spots that this government has been committed to supporting across the province; more doctors, more nurses, more health care professionals, all outlined in the budget that we put forward.

Unfortunately, we haven’t had the support of the opposition, whose members have voted against hospitals in their own areas. All across the province, 50 projects under way—$40 billion of health care investments that the members opposite have voted against. Medical schools being opened in this province, in the GTA, after a hundred-plus years, and the members opposite voting against those significant—voting against permanent wage enhancements for our personal support workers. The members opposite voted against some of these measures, which is very unfortunate, as we try to build a strong health care workforce. Over $300 million in retraining skills for nurses—registered nurses—that the members opposite in the opposition voted against.

Our government will be committed to continuing those investments, and we will continue to ensure that we have our government and members on the other side of the House who are a part of our government continue to support this incredible work that our government is doing to build Ontario, build our health care capacity all across the province.

With that, I will pass it over to my parliamentary assistant.

And Northumberland.

I wish to thank the President of the Treasury Board, the member for Brampton South, for that kind introduction and for speaking first on the Supply Act.

It is my distinct honour to rise today to further detail the financial situation of the province of Ontario and the expenditures that the government is making through our plan to build Ontario.

I would also like to thank my colleague for detailing the spending in the crucial areas of health care and education.

Speaker, I must echo the minister’s words and sentiments when it comes to health care and education spending. It is fair to say that those expenditures will likely shape the future of the province of Ontario. However, to make those investments, the province has to be in the financial position to do so.

The top-line details of the 2022 budget might be considered dry by some, but it is necessary for members of this House to get an idea of the province’s current financial situation. Only with the latest information can we accurately paint a picture of the province’s financial circumstances. Ontario’s third-quarter finances, which were released last month, give us that information.

My colleague previously mentioned some of the challenges that must be considered when looking at any current economic data, but they do bear repeating. In the face of high inflation, rising interest rates, global geopolitical intrigue and ongoing supply chain disruptions, Ontario’s economy has remained resilient. And it is to the credit of the people of Ontario that the province’s real gross domestic product, the GDP, is estimated to have increased by 3.7% in the last year. Seen in its proper context, this number is impressive.

Speaker, as we are now three months into 2023, we know that Ontario’s economy is not immune to an expected global economic slowdown this year. It is true that reputable forecasters are bracing for an even more challenging year than was faced in 2022. That is why the government is maintaining a reasonable and realistic fiscal plan. Now is the time to double down on fiscal responsibility—that means ensuring fiscal policy that works with a strict and thoughtful monetary policy. Against this backdrop, the government has remained transparent and accountable—and releasing the 2022-23 third-quarter finances is in the service of doing just that.

It should be noted that the next economic and fiscal update, as part of the 2023 budget, will be this Thursday, March 23, 2023.

I’m happy to now get into some of the projections from the third-quarter finances, as it gives us context in terms of where we are financially today as a province.

Ontario’s 2022-23 deficit is projected to be $6.5 billion. While that is significant, it should be noted that it is $13.3 billion lower than the outlook published in the 2022 budget—and that is $6.4 billion lower than the 2022 Ontario economic outlook and fiscal review.

On the other side of the ledger, revenues in 2022-23 were projected to be $196.4 billion. That is $16.6 billion higher than the forecast in the 2022 budget and $9.6 billion higher than projected in the 2022 Ontario economic outlook and fiscal review.

Of course, it is reasonable to ask why revenues were higher than expected. The revenue forecast reflects stronger-than-expected taxation revenues, which were a direct result of higher net tax assessments for 2021 and prior years.

The people of this province should know how much money is being spent on their behalf on the government programs designed to make their lives better.

Overall program expense in 2022-23—those expenses were projected to be $188.6 billion, and that number is $3.4 billion higher than the forecast in both the 2022 budget and the 2022 Ontario economic outlook and fiscal review. These increases are due to spending related to reopening of colleges and resulting additional on-campus activity, the government commitment to support the city of Toronto to address a portion of its 2022 operating deficit, and additional funding for prevention and containment of COVID-19 at long-term-care homes. The government feels that these expenses were necessary and appropriate. As well, these expenses have been partially offset by additional third-party revenues from colleges; ministry underspending, particularly underspending for infrastructure projects; and through the drawing down of existing contingencies within the fiscal plan.

Speaker, before I discuss some of the investments associated with Ontario’s Plan to Build, I would like to put a little bow on some of these top-line budget numbers.

Interest on the province’s debt is projected to be $13.4 billion, slightly lower than the $13.5 billion forecast in last year’s budget.

Because of the lower deficit, the net debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to be 38.3% in 2022-23, 3.1% lower than the 41.4% forecast in the 2022 budget.

There is one additional point I would like to make about the overall budget within my allotted time. It is important to remember that the 2022 budget included a $1-billion reserve in 2022-2023. This was to protect the fiscal outlook against any unforeseen changes in the province’s revenue and expense forecasts. This demonstrates this government’s prudent fiscal approach. The reserve was designed to insulate the province from unforeseen expenses of any kind. It also provides additional prudence in the government’s fiscal framework. It should be noted that, if that money is not needed, the reserve is eliminated at year-end as part of the final projection for 2022-23, published in the 2023 budget.

With that context in mind, I’d like to move on to Ontario’s Plan to Build.

The first pillar of this comprehensive plan is rebuilding Ontario’s economy. It is sad but true that Ontario lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs between 2004 and 2018. That was quite a hole to dig out of, but that is what we were up against, and we remain up against that sorry legacy. To deal with this, the government has a plan to help create the environment for jobs and to build prosperity everywhere for everyone. The key to doing this will be leveraging what we already have. An example of this is seizing Ontario’s critical minerals. Our province is rich in the critical minerals that will be key to making sure that the next generation of automobiles are built right here in Ontario. The government’s plan includes up to $1 billion for legacy infrastructure such as all-season roads to the Ring of Fire, building the corridor to prosperity. Over the next three years, the government is investing nearly $107 million to help the province compete with jurisdictions in a global race to develop and own these technologies that will likely define the future of transportation.

The second pillar of Ontario’s Plan to Build is working for workers. This pillar included raising the minimum wage to $15.50 per hour as of October 2022. The government is proud to be able to institute this important increase, largely helping the most vulnerable across our province. Under this crucial pillar, the government also plans to invest $1 billion every single year in employment and training programs. These programs are to help workers all throughout Ontario to retrain and upgrade their skills. The world moves fast, and the skills one may have today might not be the ones needed for the jobs of tomorrow. That is exactly why retraining and upgrading is so important for our skilled workers. Our workforce must be agile and flexible—and the billions of dollars earmarked for this type of training is designed to do just that.

The third pillar of the plan is where the billions of dollars invested in infrastructure can be found. So many people in this province are wasting time, day after day, sitting in traffic or waiting for a train or subway. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, gridlock and transit delays are not only a nuisance, but they also cost this province billions of dollars. This must change, and this will change. We can talk about traffic until we are blue in the face, but nothing will solve the problem until we get shovels in the ground to build highways, transit and other infrastructure projects to fight gridlock, boost the economy and create jobs. To do this, the government is planning one of the most ambitious capital plans in the history of Ontario. Over the next decade, these infrastructure projects will total $159.3 billion, including $20 billion in 2022-23 alone. The government is investing $25.1 billion over the next 10 years to support highway projects across the province, including building Highway 413, building the Bradford Bypass, and enabling the widening of Highway 401 through eastern Ontario. There are many highway infrastructure projects and, frankly, there’s not enough time to mention them all today. But that is the investment we are making to get Ontario moving again. The government is also investing $61.6 billion over 10 years for public transit, including the Ontario Line here in Toronto and GO rail across the greater Golden Horseshoe and into southwestern Ontario.

The fourth pillar is something that any fiscally minded person can appreciate: keeping costs down. The government has a plan to help keep costs down by increasing housing supply, by making it less expensive to drive or take transit, and by providing direct relief on everything from child care to taxes. The government has committed to making it less expensive to drive by eliminating and refunding licence plate renewal fees for passenger vehicles, light-duty trucks, motorcycles and mopeds. The government made transit more affordable across the greater Golden Horseshoe by eliminating double fares for most local transit when using GO Transit services. The government is also working on lowering child care fees for parents by signing a $13.2-billion agreement with the federal government. I know it has been mentioned many times, but it should be noted that the government remains committed to securing an average of $10-a-day child care by September 2025. By putting more money back into the pockets of the parents of Ontario, the government is working toward a more financially secure future for all of Ontario’s families.

The last pillar of Ontario’s plan to build is a plan to stay open. It’s true that Ontario fared better than many jurisdictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is owing to the resilience of the people of Ontario. It is now the government’s duty to make sure that Ontario is prepared to face any future challenges. The government is doing this by making historic investments in our hospitals, with an additional $3.3 billion in investments in 2022-23. Over the next three years, the government is also investing $3.5 billion to support the continuation of over 3,000 hospital beds put into place during the pandemic. As well, the government is investing $1.1 billion over three years to support the continuation of hundreds of new adult, pediatric and neonatal critical care beds added during COVID-19.

Speaker, the people of Ontario deserve a government that has a real plan to build. Furthermore, the people of Ontario deserve to know for sure that the money that is being spent in their names is being spent in a transparent and accountable way.

The government is proud of Ontario’s plan to build and proud of its five pillars detailed today. The plan demonstrates how we are continuing to make essential investments to support the people and the businesses of this great province.

It should be noted that this supply bill, if passed, would formalize the investments I have outlined today. And at the risk of repeating myself, it is also important to note that the Supply Act, if passed, is not about approving new spending; the Supply Act is instead about providing legislative approval for the spending to which the government has already committed.

The review of the province’s fiscal position as of the third-quarter finances and the detailed rundown of the government’s Ontario’s Plan to Build hopefully served as a reminder to all members of this House of the transparency and accountability that informs all government spending.

With that said, Speaker, I encourage all members to support this important piece of legislation.

Further debate?

Further debate?

I’m very pleased to rise this afternoon, in my role as parliamentary assistant to the President of the Treasury Board, to expand on what the minister and my colleague the PA from Durham just said. It is an honour to be able to join this debate on the Supply Act for the 2022-23 fiscal year. It is an opportunity that I do not take for granted.

Speaker, the minister has already explained the mechanics of the Supply Act, and PA McCarthy has explained our Q3 results and Ontario’s Plan to Build.

As I said last year at this time, I believe it is critical that all members understand every detail of the procedures of the fiscal cycle. That’s what the people of Ontario expect from their elected officials, and that’s what they deserve, especially now, during challenging economic times. Inflation and interest rates are rising, and the global supply chain has not completely recovered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is only in this context that we can truly understand and appreciate the fiscal decision-making that has guided this year’s expenses.

Speaker, I know that this has already been said, but I want to reiterate: Every dollar spent by this government comes out of the pockets of the hard-working taxpayers of this province. That’s why the people of Ontario demand accountability and transparency for all of the fiscal decisions made by their government. The families, the workers, the students and the most vulnerable among us, and especially our children and our future grandchildren, deserve this from their government.

As PA McCarthy said earlier, the government is not announcing any new spending today. The investments that the minister and the PA spoke about earlier have already been made, but we’re required to pass the Supply Act at the end of every fiscal year to provide final approval of all spending by the provincial government.

With that said, I would like to go into more detail about some of the major investments that the government has made, and I will also take the opportunity to outline why these investments have been made and how they will benefit the people of this great province.

As the minister said, the health and well-being of the people of Ontario has always been and always will be the top priority of this government. This is more than just talk; it’s illustrated in many concrete actions.

For example, the government continues to make investments to improve health care in every corner of this province. In the 2022 budget, the government committed over $40 billion over the next 10 years to build hospital infrastructure right across Ontario. That includes about $27 billion in capital grants—grants that will get shovels in the ground to build the health care infrastructure that this province needs. That’s about $10 billion more for hospitals and other health care infrastructure than what was committed in the 2021 budget in the previous year. That’s $10 billion more that will go directly to increase capacity in hospitals and community health centres, to build new hospitals, and to renew our existing health care facilities.

This includes funding to support the complete reconstruction of the Mississauga Hospital in Mississauga–Lakeshore, which first opened in 1958. A few years later, I was born there. And my two sons were born there. My sister worked there, in medical records. My niece was a volunteer there. As Mayor Bonnie Crombie said, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need for major upgrades at the current hospital—in many cases, long overdue. Demand for hospital services in Mississauga is also expected to grow seven times more than the average Ontario hospital over the next 20 years. The truth is, we needed a new hospital 15 years ago, but the former Liberal government kept saying no. Now, because of this government’s historic multi-billion dollar investment, the new Mississauga Hospital will be almost triple the size: 24 storeys and three million square feet, with 1,000 beds, 80% in private rooms. This will be the largest and most advanced hospital in the history of Canada. The minister and I had the opportunity to tour the construction site recently, where work is under way for a new eight-storey parking structure with spaces for almost 1,500 vehicles. This is an important first step in the project. And just last week, Trillium Health Partners and Infrastructure Ontario signed an agreement with EllisDon and PCL Healthcare Partners to deliver this project using a progressive, P3 approach.

Just across the Etobicoke Creek, the government is expanding the Queensway Health Centre, with a new nine-storey, 600,000-square-foot patient tower with over 350 new hospital beds, in a modern centre for complex care.

In the north end of Peel region, in Brampton, the government is working together with the William Osler Health System to transform Peel Memorial Hospital into a 24/7 in-patient hospital and urgent care centre. This urgently needed upgrade will pave the way for a new emergency department to meet the health care needs of one of Ontario’s fastest-growing communities.

There are hospital expansion projects planned or under way in communities right across Ontario.

For example, the government’s investments will also support the redevelopment of the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus. This means an expansion of access to programs and services, finally meeting Ottawa’s bed capacity needs.

The government has also committed to support a new state-of-the-art, acute-care hospital in Windsor-Essex county to add more hospital beds and expand services in the region.

In Huntsville and Bracebridge, the government has provided funding for the redevelopment of their acute-care hospitals. These investments will improve community programs and services and expand access to diagnostic imaging, including MRIs and CT scans.

Speaker, we should also consider the Grand River Hospital and the St. Mary’s General Hospital joint redevelopment project. The government’s investments will expand these existing facilities and support the construction of another new acute-care facility. These investments will directly benefit the entire Kitchener-Waterloo region.

Northern Ontario will also benefit from the government’s increase in health spending. To help address surgical wait times, the government is supporting the expansion of the cardiovascular surgery program at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. This expansion will help to improve access to life-saving care in Thunder Bay.

Speaker, I realize that this list is long, but it’s worth mentioning a few more items to show how this government has made health funding its top priority.

The government is committed to the construction of a new, modern hospital on the existing Uxbridge site of Oak Valley Health. This investment is necessary to replace another rapidly aging facility and to support the expansion of services and a new community health hub with long-term-care services.

It’s important to remember that when the government plans these investments, we must always consider future population growth. It is critical that taxpayers’ money is spent in the most prudent and responsible way to get the most out of each and every dollar.

That’s the case with the government’s support for the Stevenson Memorial Hospital. This investment will modernize facilities, support service delivery, and respond to the population growth that is expected in Simcoe county.

Speaker, during the pandemic, my team in Mississauga–Lakeshore prepared and delivered hundreds of meals to health care workers at the Scarborough Health Network’s Birchmount site. I was pleased to see that the government’s investment included an expansion of that site, including an in-patient tower and expanding the emergency department to reduce wait times and upgrade aging infrastructure.

There are many more projects that I could list. These investments, both to upgrade current facilities and to build new state-of-the-art ones, will help to ensure that the people of Ontario will have access to the best possible health care today and tomorrow.

Madam Speaker, as I’ve said, the health and well-being of the people of Ontario is the government’s highest priority, and the capital spending that I just outlined shows this very clearly.

Along with health care, another important priority of this government is transportation. As my colleague PA McCarthy said earlier, highways, roads and public transit are the economic lifelines of this province.

At this point, I think it is important to point out how large Ontario is. Ontario spans over one million square kilometres, which is over 266 million acres. That makes this province larger than France and Spain combined. Ontario is over three times the size of Germany. And we have almost 7,000 kilometres of road—that’s the second most in all of Canada.

It is easy to forget how extensive our province’s road system is and how much time, effort and money it takes to maintain and upgrade.

That’s why, as PA McCarthy mentioned, the government is investing over $25 billion over 10 years to support highway expansion, maintenance and repair projects right across the province.

I would like to take an opportunity to speak in more detail about some of the most important highway projects that are included in this investment.

There is the development of Highway 413, a new 400-series highway. As I said here last September, this project is critical to the economic well-being of both Peel region and the entire province. It will serve as a transportation corridor across Peel, Halton and York regions to support the movement of people and goods across the western GTA. This is already the single-most congested corridor in North America, and the greater Golden Horseshoe is adding at least 200,000 new residents each year. This necessary new highway will save drivers up to 30 minutes on their commute each way. That’s five hours per week and 260 hours each year. That’s 11 days every year. Highway 413 will finally bring relief to an area that so clearly needs it.

The government has also committed to the Bradford Bypass. This will be a new four-lane freeway, connecting Highway 400 in Simcoe county to Highway 404 in York region. Everyone who has sat in gridlock on Highway 400 can appreciate that this new freeway is expected to save commuters over 35 minutes per trip, compared to the existing route along other local roads. That’s almost six hours per week, or over 300 hours each year.

I’d like to move on to the QEW Garden City Skyway project. This will include a new twin bridge over the Welland Canal, connecting St. Catharines to Niagara-on-the-Lake. This new bridge will keep traffic moving across this important trading corridor that links our international border crossing with the Golden Horseshoe.

The government is also committed to the next phase of construction for the new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph. Again, this project will provide relief to commuters stuck in gridlock on Highway 401 and will connect the fast-growing urban centres of Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph.

Also, there is an investment to rebuild over 21 kilometres of Highway 101, known as the Timmins connecting link. This is one of the largest connecting links in Ontario, used by 25,000 vehicles every single day.

Of course, transportation doesn’t just mean highways. The government has also made investments that will support public transit well into the next generation. In the 2022 budget, the government committed almost $62 billion over 10 years for public transit. This includes breaking ground on the Ontario Line here in Toronto. This line will provide rapid transit between Exhibition, Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre, and connect to over 40 other transit routes, including the GO train line, TTC subways and streetcar lines and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

Outside Toronto, the Bowmanville GO train expansion will expand rail service from Oshawa to Bowmanville on the Lakeshore East corridor to help reduce gridlock in my colleague PA McCarthy’s community.

Moving west, the government has invested in expanding GO Transit rail to eventually offer weekend trips between London and Union Station in Toronto. This is part of our plan to transform the GO train network into a modern, reliable and fully connected rapid transit network. The goal is to cut down commute times across the province by increasing service, with faster trains, more stations and better transit connections.

As I said earlier this month in our debate on Bill 71, northern Ontario will play a critical role in the economic future of this province. But to help unlock its potential, we need better transportation opportunities in the north. That’s why the government has committed $75 million to bring passenger rail service back to northeastern Ontario. This will finally restore a key transportation option between Timmins and Toronto to help to connect northern Ontario to the financial centres in the south. This will be an important link for northern Ontario as the government continues to invest in unlocking the full economic potential of northern industries and natural resources, building new, made-in-Ontario supply chains to connect critical minerals from the north, including the Ring of Fire, to manufacturing in the south.

In closing, I would like to thank all the members for listening during this Supply Act debate, as we have highlighted spending on some key projects, particularly in the areas of health and transportation. These are two critical areas where every dollar spent will benefit the people of Ontario.

In the face of hard economic times, Ontario has demonstrated its incredible resilience and strength, and it is our government’s job as guardians of the public purse to support the families, workers and businesses of this province. To do this, we must also build a strong foundation for future growth and prosperity. It’s a heavy responsibility to be trusted with the hard-earned tax dollars of the people of this province. It is not to be taken lightly. The pandemic has only highlighted this point. The government made a promise to be responsible and transparent about the province’s economic and fiscal situation. And I believe, during this final process of the fiscal cycle, that is exactly what we’re doing.

Again, I would like to thank the minister and PA McCarthy for their remarks earlier today.

Together with my colleagues, I urge all members to support the Supply Act, so that spending on these critical public services can be authorized for the current fiscal year.

Further debate?

What a pleasure it is to be in the House today to address the Supply Act motion. I have to say, I actually have so much material to work with. I feel like a mosquito at a nudist resort, Madam Speaker. Literally, I don’t even know where to start.

The President of the Treasury Board, my friend, talked a lot about transparency. I think that we agree on a few things, and one is that transparency is very much connected to trust. But this government has a serious, serious trust issue. The people of this province have been promised a set of goods. They were promised a budget in 2022, which had some detailed expenditures—and I’m going to go through some of them, because that matters. When you actually follow the money and you follow where the expenditures actually occurred, then you can see sometimes what the real priorities are. But the trust piece—this government, I will admit, is very, very, very good at announcements, and sometimes really doubling down on some of those announcements with re-announcements about expenditures.

We are very fortunate, in the province of Ontario, to have the Financial Accountability Officer. This position, this independent officer of the Legislature, came to be as part of the negotiations in a minority government. Minority governments can be very effective. We wanted greater transparency with the former Liberal government. You can’t blame us, given some of the decisions that they made and some of the funding decisions that they made. I will also admit that we are still feeling the repercussions from some of those decisions, particularly on the energy file, for sure. The FAO has an expenditure monitor. Every quarter, he tracks where the money has gone, based on the government’s own numbers. So the government says, “We are going to allocate this particular amount of money to health care,” and then they make announcements and announcements and announcements. And then the FAO says, “Did that money actually go to health care?” Fortunately, we have the exposure of, really, what is happening.

We actually just got the Q3 expenditure monitor from earlier in this month, March 1, and lo and behold, combined over the first three quarters, the province was expected to spend $129.2 billion but actually spent only $122.8 billion—a $6.4-billion difference, 5% less than expected. Now, the question comes. If government has said health care, education, justice and energy—these are justifiable expenditures. You have the same formula that I think the FAO has. And then the FAO says, “Where did that money go?”—or in this case, and more importantly perhaps for this discussion, “Where did it not go?”

We’re not talking about new money today. We, as the official opposition, one of only two parties in this House, have said that you made a promise to the people of this province. You said you were going to invest in autism. You said you were going to invest in community services. You said you were going to invest in housing. And that money did not flow.

Just to break it down—because in order to be transparent on the lack of transparency, I want to be sure that the government understands why we have taken such issue with the budgeting of this government. Breaking it down around actual spending versus planned spending, the programs with the largest lower-than-expected spending include Metrolinx and municipal infrastructure projects.

This government talks a lot about capital infrastructure. They talk a lot about building hospitals. We heard this at the finance committee; my colleague and I travelled around the province. You can talk about beds all you want, but you are actually funding furniture if you don’t have a nurse, if you don’t have a PSW, if you don’t have a doctor. It’s just the facts.

The other underspending happened in the Ministry of Infrastructure capital program—$644 million less; public health, $605 million less.

What have we learned? We went through a global pandemic. It is not over. We are still feeling the effects of the various strains of COVID and long COVID. Nobody in the Ministry of Health is talking about long COVID at all. A responsible government would plan, do research, have an evidence-based policy around long COVID; not this government.

Certainly, underspending by $605 million, over half a billion dollars, in public health to prevent people from getting sick—early intervention and prevention is the smart investment in public health.

Social assistance programs—this kind of surprised me—got $453 million less; elementary and secondary education programs, $432 million less; child care programs, $396 million less than planned.

What is the problem? Where is the barrier to actually—you’ve acknowledged that there this is need in these areas, and you’ve set aside the funding, but the money doesn’t flow. But we do have lots of announcements, and we do have lots of photo ops.

Just as an aside: I came in last night on the UP Express—and let me tell you, it was not express. When I look at this lack of $462 million in the Metrolinx and municipal transit operating funding and I think about all the people who rely so heavily on public transit in this city, to not get that money out the door, to not invest that money, to not create those jobs, to not create those opportunities, is an economic non-starter. That train last night—it’s a diesel train; you know this. To get on a diesel train that chugalug-a-lugged me for 45 minutes from the airport to Union Station—it was a bit embarrassing. There were some Europeans on there, and they said to me, “Is this thing going to go fast?” And I had to say, “We’re not quite in the 20th century on public transit in Ontario yet.”

The expenditure monitor notes that the FAO provided all members of the Legislature—this office is open to everyone, and it is truly non-partisan.

On health care, the $1.25 billion that didn’t get spent, that did not get “invested”—that’s actually the better word. It was not invested in a time when we saw the Children’s Health Coalition for the province of Ontario—CHEO is a big part of that coalition—asking for $371 million to alleviate that 12,000-child wait-list. Some 12,000 children are long-haulers, so they’ve missed the opportune moment to receive surgery. The government has been silent on this request of $371 million. I really hope that my friend the President of the Treasury Board is able to talk to the Minister of Finance and say—not only does it look bad to keep children waiting, languishing on a wait-list and not opening up those operating rooms so that children can reach their potential, and so that their surgery is not more complex and more expensive—as one parent said to me, “Does the minister not understand that I as a parent, when I go to work, am not at my full productivity if I know that my child is in pain?” Surely, we can all understand this concept.

Going down the sector breakdown, the education piece, the actual versus expected is less $844 million in this last quarter as of December 31, 2022. The government has said, “We understand there’s a gap in learning.” The pandemic interrupted those learning patterns, especially for younger children and younger students. That money didn’t get out the door.

Children and social services: almost half a billion dollars, $458 million.

And I have to say—in the total, though, because there’s another program which captures $3.5 billion that didn’t get invested.

I can go through the other programs. These are important issues, but they’ve been encapsulated in the report, under a large umbrella, if you will.

The unallocated funds—let me just finish: You plan to spend $6.4 billion in very important ministries. I know that the communities were expecting that funding. That funding didn’t get out the door. I wish sometimes that we could get answers in this place, because I really want to know, why did you not get the job done? The people of this province, in the interest of transparency, which the government has said that they care about, want to know, because without that transparency, there is no trust.

There’s a tale of two Ontarios here, and when you factor in the Indigenous communities, it’s actually three, because there are very different levels. But here at the Pink Palace, as we heard this morning during question period, when we had people from across this province who were lobbying the government for better services for the most vulnerable people in Ontario, including Sarah and her daughter, Mia, who is homeless—so a mother and a child are homeless, and what do we hear from this government? “We’re going to create some jobs in another jurisdiction.” Sarah needs a roof. Sarah needs a place to call home. She needs to be safe. And you can talk about jobs—jobs and housing are connected. I don’t see why this government cannot draw that connection.

We also heard very clearly that housing is health care. We heard this from doctors in Ottawa. We heard this in Kenora. We heard this in Toronto very, very clearly. People who are precariously housed, who are couch-surfing, the 130 people living in tents in Waterloo region—these people are barely holding on. It was quite something, actually, to hear this morning from our leader about how many deaths happened every week over the winter. The fact that three people a week died in one of the richest provinces in Canada is really something that should keep us up at night.

The politicization of the housing file has reached a whole new extreme—because the not-for-profit sector is ready and willing to come to the table. In fact, they have applications. The minister, with the strike of a pen, could include in this budget direct partnerships with not-for-profits, and every single community in this province would have some form of supportive housing, some form of new accommodations. They’re ready and they are willing to come to the table—

Interjections.

Oh, they really don’t like it, but it doesn’t really matter, because it is the truth that the not-for-profit sector is ready.

They’ll come back and they’ll say, “Well, we have Bill 23.” I’d love to talk about Bill 23, because this is another example of a very powerful and dangerous disconnect between what is happening at this place, the Ontario Legislative Assembly, and what’s happening in our municipalities. And 444 municipalities are not wrong.

I’m just going to quote AMO. I’m sure you saw the open letter where they basically begged you, as a government, to acknowledge that homelessness is a crisis. It was signed by non-traditional signatories. It was in the paper four days ago. I’ll make sure that the minister and the Treasury Board president get a copy of it. It was very powerful. I want to say that AMO has never been back on their heels to this degree. They have always seen the government of the day as a partner, and we have seen—I’ve been here for 10 years, and I have never seen things so bad between municipalities and the government of the day. That is the truth. So I’ll just quote AMO. This actually comes from a media source that said, “Cities Push Ontario to Roll Back Environmental Cuts, Commit to Truly Affordable Housing in New Budget”—and let me be really clear: I really hope that this government puts some real dollars in housing. Direct funding for attainable, affordable housing must be in this budget.

“We had no consultation. We weren’t invited to any meetings. In 125 years, it’s the biggest affront to Ontario’s municipalities that I’ve ever seen,” said Colin Best, president of AMO.

How can you call municipalities a partner if you don’t even invite them to the table, and what excuse would you have to do that? It’s just an honest question.

The article went on to say, “As Ontario nears a budget day on March 23, leaders at towns and cities are nervous about what other bombshells the ... government might be preparing to drop.”

This doesn’t instill a lot of confidence—this isn’t like, “Oh, wow, the government is doing a really good job.” Mayors, councillors, Best and Rosborough are concerned about Bill 23 because of the potential devastation to local governance—a very real concern—and environmental damage potentially set in motion, which weakens or eliminates wetland protections—a very real concern—expert oversight of watersheds and protection of species-at-risk habitats. Obviously, in 2023, it’s hard to believe that we’re having this conversation.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s executive director, Brian Rosborough, a long-time policy adviser to past Ontario governments, said, “Bill 23 was a complete surprise, and did not reflect consultation with Ontario’s cities in any way.”

But there was a task force, and the task force was great. The Liberals were really good at task forces. They were really good at round tables and special committees; it didn’t always translate into action. This government seems to have followed in that tradition. My friend Tim Hudak was actually on the task force, but not one city official was on the task force.

Yes, me and Tim—we’re like this.

“Rosborough said cities were ‘categorically excluded,’ despite the task force’s focus on changing a planning and infrastructure regime that municipalities shape and execute.”

I actually have to wonder: How is this playing out in local communities? Every municipality should have a connection with their member of provincial Parliament, and every municipality relies on clear and honest communication from their member—and, for me, for advocacy.

When the city of Waterloo looked at their long-term strategic plan and then looked at a housing subdivision which they had really hoped to formalize—it was 800 new homes, but then they realized that because the development charges were now going to be excluded, they would be short the funding for infrastructure.

How can the government of the day expect municipalities to move forward with very ambitious housing plans—affordable, attainable housing plans—if the infrastructure funding is not there?

A very animated Bonnie Crombie came to committee, and some of the government members got into it for a little bit. Mayor Crombie said, “You can’t be so punitive. You can’t be taking away this one tool that we have to build communities, so that housing can be built.” They had ambitious plans, and they need ambitious plans, because Mississauga needs housing; Waterloo needs housing; London needs housing; Cobourg, Oshawa—they need housing. But you need infrastructure. You need the infrastructure funding to make sure that the housing is possible.

Colin Best, who’s the president, said that “because the province’s development plan doesn’t include input from local governments, it fails to help people who need housing most.” I would have to say that we are in complete alignment with AMO on this.

“Rosborough said he has heard from rural communities that people are ‘living in seasonal trailer parks and encampments in the woods’ and Bill 23 does not address their core needs. Greater Sudbury, Waterloo region and Peterborough, among many other communities, have been struggling to house encampment residents.”

Literally, people have no place to go. We have people living in cars in Ontario. We have families who have had to divide up their children just to find shelter for their kids. That’s not building up a stronger Ontario. And having the knowledge—knowingly, intentionally underfunding municipalities leaves us to question, what is the motivation here? Because if Bill 23 is not the answer, what’s driving this decision-making process? So we’re very thankful that the Integrity Commissioner is reviewing how Bill 23 came to be, how portions of the greenbelt came to be suddenly open for certain developers. We have questions, and those questions are valid questions. We need transparency on some of those questions, because without transparency, there is no trust.

So we have a government that seems unwilling or even unable to acknowledge that homelessness is a very real crisis. At one point, it may have been those folks who live on the margins, who we don’t see here in the public galleries at Queen’s Park and who may not come into our offices—but I can tell you that that cultural shift has changed on housing.

I believe, and I know that many of my colleagues believe, that housing is everything. I remember very distinctly being in Hamilton a few years back, and legal aid had come in and did a presentation. Because families were so precariously housed and because children were having to move two, three, four times a year—different schools, no consistency, really a lack of support—nothing was stable without housing. Nothing is stable in a child’s life if they do not have housing. That is why it’s so important to fight for this. Those children become very resilient, but they certainly are fighting with one hand behind their back, because they don’t know where they’re going to spend the night. When you look at the social determinants of health—housing, nutrition—these things matter in the course of a child’s life.

We’re very thankful that AMO, on behalf of the 444 municipalities, has spoken up, has put out an open letter, is trying to get the ear of this government—because I’m pretty sure none of them got invited to any special events hosted by the Premier.

“Rosborough told the Narwhal that Ontario spends $2,000 less per person on services and programs than the average of all 12 provinces and territories.”

I remember the former Premier of this province, Ms. Wynne, bragging about this fact: “We spend the least amount of money on services; we are so fiscally responsible.” So we do have some traditional funding gaps that are in health care, education. But what is this government doing? You say that you acknowledge it, but then when you follow the money, you see that the money is not getting to the core issues: the health care, the education, and the justice system.

“The homelessness crisis in Ontario is the direct result of provincial indifference”—this is very strong language from AMO; I personally have never seen anything like this—“and provincial underinvestment,” said Brian Rosborough. That is what he said to us at committee. That is what the government members who are on finance committee heard. If we are going to go through this exercise of travelling around the province and of saying to people, “Come to us with solutions”—because we did hear solutions. The not-for-profit sector, as I started off—I really am losing my audience here. Sometimes you don’t want to hear it, but I’ve got to say it, because I’m speaking the truth of what we heard at committee: “The homelessness crisis in Ontario is the direct result of provincial indifference and provincial underinvestment.”

And then I have the FAO report, which demonstrates the underinvestment. I just can’t even imagine being in a position where there was a contingency fund. This is very different than a surplus. The contingency fund in this province is at a record high. At the beginning of this year, it was at $4.6 billion. It is now sitting at $2.9 billion—$2.9 billion unallocated. We have no say over where the money is going, although the FAO, thank goodness, did come through; he did do some tracking. But there really is a lack of transparency. As I said, when you have no transparency, you don’t have a lot of trust, and I certainly don’t have a lot of trust. So we started the 2022-23 fiscal year with a total of $4.6 billion in the unallocated contingency fund—unprecedented. The FAO has said that most provinces just don’t have that kind of slush fund sitting around, especially when you have pressing, urgent issues in health care and education. But some of the money in Q3 went to auto sector subsidies and some support of the Toronto 2022 budget shortfall.

That leads me back to the AMO conversation. Municipalities have said to the government, “We want to be part of the solution. We want to plan for growth. When you have housing, housing is connected to economic prosperity, because you can draw and attract people into your communities.” But at the end of the day, if you don’t have the housing, it really is hard to pull those people back into your community.

I think some of our members have mentioned this: If you’re talking about mining, when we were up in Kenora—there’s an opioid, mental health, health care crisis which really makes it very hard to imagine what support services are going to be available to people. Housing is one of those key issues. Her question today was met in some ways with ridicule by the government, but it’s a very valid question. If you are going to bring miners to the north, where are they going to live? The accommodation certainly is not there.

We do talk a lot about northern Ontario, and the potential of northern Ontario has not been realized at all. Our members of the official opposition have been very clear about what the north needs. They just need a fighting chance. They need the same parity of infrastructure funding. They need the same funding around health care and mental health resources. They want the investment in education.

The President of the Treasury Board also mentioned that they’re supporting doctors. Well, I talked a couple of weeks ago about the concierge at my building, Mohammad. He’s a medical doctor from Pakistan. His specialty is around dealing with dialysis and renal functioning. One of our northern members had been talking about how hard it is to get doctors to go to the north. Well, I guarantee you, if Mohammad was given a fighting chance to secure his licence here in Ontario, he would go to the north. He would bring his family. He wants to be a doctor. He’s trained to be a doctor. We need Mohammad to be a medical doctor in the province of Ontario, and yet barrier after barrier after barrier is set up against him. I’m going to connect him with the local media, and we’re going to tell his story, because the story of what this government is investing—or not investing—in, the story of this government’s so-called priorities and what’s actually happening on the ground are two very different stories.

Nowhere else is that as clear as day as when the President of the Treasury Board talks about nurses and how this government values nurses.

This morning, I did my statement based on the Ontario Nurses’ Association delegation to us at finance committee. I have to say, I don’t know why this government keeps fighting with the nurses. I have no idea why this government will favour more expensive privatized agency nurses over the very nurses who helped us get through the pandemic and who showed up every single day to hospitals across this province. They paid such a huge price. These are their recommendations—and I’m so happy to get more detail on this, because the President of the Treasury Board talked about operating expenditures. Well, every hospital in Ontario—their top expenditure is 60% for salaries.

You should be investing in the people who are doing the work. You should be investing in the people who take care of people. As I said, funding a bed is one thing—it’s a piece of furniture—but investing in the people in the system is really where a progressive government would be going.

This is what ONA said: Their number one recommendation is to retain nurses and health care workers—and this is what we heard. I remain convinced that you can have the most ambitious, most expensive, most glamorous recruitment strategy, but you cannot recruit into a broken system. It will never happen. That’s why nurses are going to Alberta. Regardless of the tête-à-tête that the Premier of Alberta and the Premier of Ontario is having—he’s like, “Can you please stop doing that?” Well, can you please treat nurses with respect so they will stay here in Ontario? It’s a basic concept. It’s not really a complicated concept. When they talk about retaining nurses and health care workers by improving their working conditions and showing them respect—so this is from nurses. Nurses in Ontario do not feel respected. One of their first things is, they say to drop the costly appeal of Bill 124—this is the Superior Court decision which struck down the wage-suppression legislation as unconstitutional. So it’s one thing to bring in an unconstitutional piece of legislation, but it’s another thing to lose that case in court and to have the court say, “This is unconstitutional. This piece of legislation is working against the people you’re elected to serve.” And then it’s another thing altogether to then go back to court and waste more tax dollars fighting that unconstitutional piece of legislation. It’s not a good situation.

This government has a long history of spending a lot of time in court. We’re still waiting to see the mandate letters. This is something that defies all logic. If the government of the day, the Conservative government of Ontario, is interested in talking about transparency, if they are interesting in building trust with the people of this province, then open up your mandate letters. You have lost four times in court. You are spending money—you are throwing good money after bad—trying to prevent the people of this great province from finding out what’s in the Minister of Health’s mandate letter, and I’m very curious about that particular letter. I’m also really curious about community and social services, and children’s services. I’m very curious about finance. I would be very interested to find out what the Minister of Education’s mandate letter says. Why should I not, as a parliamentarian, as the critic for finance and Treasury Board, be able to see and be able to walk across the aisle and say, “What are your priorities? What has the Premier of Ontario said to you, as a parliamentarian? What direction, what marching orders—what are your goals?” What is so threatening about that? Why would the Premier be fighting that in court, having lost four times? I joke—I don’t think it’s very funny—but you are really employing a huge number of lawyers. It’s sad.

We’ve actually never seen this before. There was some plays that the Liberals had taken. But when they got pushed on cash-for-access, which was a really big issue in that term—and I was sitting on the finance committee—they struck a committee. They reviewed what was happening at the federal level. They looked at other jurisdictions. They basically came clean on the fact that cash-for-access is not acceptable. I hope that we all agree that cash-for-access is not acceptable. But they did that. So why is the government of Ontario preventing the people that you serve—that we serve—from seeing the mandate letters? Because your actions are worrying many people across this province, particularly on the profitization of health care.

So when the nurses say—and this is one of their recommendations, they go through Bill 124, they ask you to bargain in good faith. This seems very reasonable to me. Go back to the table. They say legislate 10 permanent paid sick days for all workers. They acknowledge that getting sick in the workplace—you can have all your “working for workers” pieces of legislation, but at the end of the day, if those workers are getting sick on the job, that isn’t good for patient care, it isn’t good for patient outcomes and it isn’t good for the workforce.

This is a tool that the minister has had. Our member from London West has brought forward several pieces of legislation. We have said to the government, “Let’s work together on this so that sick people don’t have to go to work and get more sick, and so that it doesn’t compromise the overall health and well-being of the people that we serve.”

The second thing from the Ontario Nurses’ Association is bolster the health workforce and plan for the future. I have to say, some of these numbers are worrisome. They want the government to launch a robust recruitment strategy to bridge the RN care gap and for Ontario to reach the average RN-to-population staffing ratio in Canada. Just so that we’re on par with other provinces, the province needs to hire at least 24,000 net new RNs.

They have some suggestions, though, Madam Speaker. They say “Maintain appropriate RN-to-patient ratios in all hospitals.” They say “Increase the number of RN seats at Ontario universities and colleges by 10%.” Why haven’t you done that? I mean, this is something—it makes so much sense that you have to question why the government would not increase the capacity of new nurses in universities and colleges. Why? The people want to know—people who are international nurses who want to go into those programs, people who are RPNs who want to become RNs. That bridging program needs to be more streamlined.

My future daughter-in-law just went through this process. I have to say, it took her so long. She’s so talented. She got a job away right away because, of course, we need nurses, and she got put right into the pediatric unit right out of college. Nurses have told me—because there are so few nurses to mentor new graduates, and this is something that the Ontario Nurses’ Association is genuinely concerned about, and so should the government. It is really important to have somebody to mentor a new nurse. You need that support. It is a hard, hard job, Madam Speaker. The emotional labour of being a nurse in the province of Ontario right now cannot be underestimated.

They go on to say “Expand the bridging programs”—I talked about that—and “stop the replacement of RNs with other classifications.” That’s a big issue. Changing the scope of practice willy-nilly isn’t going to solve the underlying issue of not having the appropriate amount of nurses.

I didn’t know he was your friend.