Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Ontario’s world-class manufacturing sector employs over 660,000 workers and is the lifeline of our province’s regional economies, including in my riding of Essex.

When the previous Liberal government announced that Ontario’s economy would shift away from goods-producing to service-producing sectors, they were unprepared for the exodus of jobs that would ensue. They were a government without a plan. The 300,000 manufacturing jobs that they sent running from Ontario came as a surprise to no one, but it left communities, including communities in southwestern Ontario, economically damaged.

Will the minister please explain how our government is once again supporting the manufacturing sector and bringing back jobs to southwestern Ontario?

My question is for the Premier.

Amanda, a mother from the Niagara region, shared with me her heartbreaking experience trying to get an autism assessment for her child. She reached out to her MPP’s office—the member from Niagara West—asking when her child would be able to get an assessment, only to be given OAP talking points by his staff. Amanda responded, “OAP services do absolutely no good without a written diagnosis, and the wait-list for a diagnosis in Ontario under his government is years long. We don’t have years to waste waiting for an appointment, and we can’t afford to pay thousands out of pocket.” The MPP personally responded with the same talking points.

I want to make it crystal clear to the MPP: Children cannot access the OAP without an assessment and a diagnosis.

Why does the Premier and his government believe it’s okay to ignore mothers looking for answers?

Amanda contacted her MPP for information on the assessment backlog and instead was left feeling disrespected and unheard. All this MPP could do was spew OAP talking points and suggest she look at different provinces in the country. She asked him several times to answer her question about what this government is doing to tackle the wait-list for assessments, and he couldn’t do that.

How can families believe this government when their own MPPs are unwilling to listen and have no suggestion other than maybe leaving the province?

So my question is clear: How can families access the OAP in a timely manner when it is taking years for them to get an assessment?

That’s a straight-up lie.

Interjections.

I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

To reply, the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Start the clock.

The member for Eglinton–Lawrence has the floor.

The House will come to order.

Start the clock.

The next question.

I welcome the opportunity to give the member opposite the facts.

We have doubled the funding to $600 million. Shortly after we formed government in 2018, there were 31,500 people registered with the Ontario Autism Program, of whom only 8,500 were receiving support. That means barely a quarter of people enrolled in the program were receiving any support, and that support was limited to one type of therapy. The other three quarters—that’s 23,000 children—had no prospect of ever receiving supports from the Liberal government. Today, recognizing that there are different needs to be met, over 40,000 children and youth with autism have received support through multiple streams in the program. That’s almost five times more than at any point since we formed government.

Our government knows that wait times for surgeries and diagnostic tests have been increasing year after year, and we’ve said we’re not okay with the status quo. We know that more work needs to be done, and we’re doing it. That is why we announced our innovative plan for expansion of community diagnostic and surgical clinics, which the opposition is opposing at every step.

In fact, in the opposition, the member from Nickel Belt has been asking that we use hospital ORs more, if they have availability.

The hospital OR in Ottawa Centre is being used through a joint partnership. But every weekend, the member from Ottawa Centre, who is a member of the opposition, is out there, harassing patients who are trying to get hospital surgery—

Interjections.

Interjections.

The real crisis is within our health care workforce, which this government continues to disrespect with Bill 124, appealing the decision which found this legislation to be unconstitutional and a violation of charter rights. The workers who are in the health care system right now are overworked and they are underpaid. The government can talk about their so-called recruitment strategy, but you can’t recruit people into a broken system. You should be focusing on retaining those workers.

The Financial Accountability Officer expects the province will need 33,000 more nurses and PSWs to keep up with the needs of our growing and aging population.

Back to the Premier: How does this government expect to recruit thousands more nurses and PSWs when, last year, wages for Ontario nurses were among the lowest in the country?

To be very clear, what the member across is saying is that because she doesn’t agree with the policies of this government, the right thing to do is to attack the people who work in the constituency office of one of the hardest-working members of provincial Parliament. I’ve seen a lot of things in this place that have diminished the role of all of us, but I have never seen another member attack the constituency office of a member of provincial Parliament because they don’t agree with the policy. You can disagree with the policy—fine, disagree with the policy, take it to the floor of the House like she has done. But don’t attack the people who work in constituency offices.

I will remind the member opposite that it was this member for Niagara who brought new hospitals to his community after years of failure by that side of the House. It was that member of provincial Parliament who brought new long-term care. It was that member of Parliament who brought in a new autism program. It was that member of Parliament who brought in thousands of new nurses. It was that member of Parliament who—

Interjections.

Thank you to the minister for his answer.

Ontario’s booming manufacturing sector, including the important manufacturing sector in my riding of Essex, made this province number one in the world and the best to invest, live and grow.

This government has been successful in showing the world that Ontario is open for business. But just as any business changes, so does the world economy. And Ontario needs to keep up as we strive to remain competitive.

Will the minister please explain how our government continues to ensure that Ontario is a premier destination for manufacturers—both for our entrepreneurs and for the world’s investors?

My question is to the Premier.

Many of the residents in our community of Toronto–St. Paul’s live in condos they rent or own. Condo living, as we all know in this House, is not cheap, and as more and more people move into them, they’re encountering problems like broken elevators—yes—unfinished amenities, and mismanaged condo fees.

People deserve an accountable condo authority tribunal that can protect them and do so quickly—but this government voted against the official opposition’s motion to do just that.

So my question is to the Premier: What is your plan to protect residents in condos?

In my riding of Parkdale–High Park and across Toronto, more and more residents now live in condos. Condo residents experience numerous issues with property management, with the developer, and with poorly run boards. When they reach out to my office, they are shocked to learn that there’s no effective regulator, no government agency and no tribunal that they can turn to that can hear disputes and resolve them in a quick and affordable manner.

The Auditor General has called for reform in the condo sector, and so has an all-party committee of this House.

My question to the Premier is, why did the Conservatives vote down an NDP motion to set up a condo authority tribunal?

By reducing taxes, lowering the cost of electricity and cutting red tape, we have seen manufacturers look to Ontario to expand again.

Every morning, Premier Ford gets what we call his one-a-day vitamin: the name of a company, where they’re locating, how many millions they’re investing, how many people they’re hiring, and whether we have any skin in the game or not.

Sante Manufacturing in Aylmer invested $7.5 million to accelerate their expansion, diversify their product line, and hire 15 people. Arvaspring in Middlesex is investing $5 million to build a new state-of-the-art poultry processing facility to help enter international markets—MC3, $6.8 million; Idol Core, $5.1 million, 30 new jobs.

Since our election, businesses and industry have created 600,000 new jobs—proof positive that Ontario is open for business.

This government dug deep and asked them, what do you need to return to Ontario? They told us—reduced taxes, less red tape, and to fix the Liberals’ hydro mess. And we delivered. We did exactly what they asked. We reduced the cost of business by $7 billion every year, and those businesses are now back here. The exodus is over. These companies have hired 600,000 men and women in the last four and a half years, and companies have recently announced millions in reshoring investments, adding thousands more new jobs—all because they know that Ontario is now the best place in the world to invest and succeed.

Supplementary question.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

Speaker, as we have said numerous times, our government takes the matter of consumer protection in the condo sector very seriously, and we’ll never stop taking the necessary action to protect Ontarians across the province. In fact, this government has already twice expanded the CAT’s jurisdiction, and we’ll continue to take a measured and intelligent approach to increasing the tribunal’s power. And we are not stopping our efforts to improve protection for all Ontarians and ensure they have a safe and secure place to call home.

My ministry welcomes the Auditor General’s feedback on Ontario’s condo sector and has already begun consulting on ways to actively improve and expand the condo authority tribunal and its powers.

As I said, this government has already twice expanded the Condominium Authority Tribunal’s jurisdiction, and we will continue to take a measured and intelligent approach to increasing the tribunal’s powers.

Speaker, it is this government that is making condo boards fairer and more transparent and improving the lives of the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who call a condo home.

We will continue to work with the condo sector to implement the changes suggested by the Auditor General and ensure that condo owners across the province are provided with the treatment they expect and deserve.

My question is for the Minister of Education.

As Ontario’s population continues to grow, it is essential that our education system continues to equip our students for the jobs of the future that will help build Ontario.

For 15 years, the previous Liberal government stood idly by as the need for skilled trades workers ballooned and Ontario’s curriculum grew obsolete to address the issue. As a result, Ontario has seen a troublesome decline in apprenticeship certification and trades diplomas earned.

At the same time, young people in the province of Ontario need to find good-paying and dignified jobs to succeed.

Will the minister please explain what measures our government has implemented to close the skills gap between our students and the jobs that we need to fill in Ontario?

In my own riding of Flamborough–Glanbrook, Adventec produces engineered products for the automotive industry that are critical for production of in-demand vehicles. The president of Adventec, Jim Campbell, tells me that he needs more workers to serve consumers in our community. I’ve been told that his company is consistently short at least eight workers. Specifically, Jim needs machinists and other technical skilled trades workers who will help his business grow. I know that this is a problem faced by many businesses right across Ontario.

Can the minister please elaborate on how our government is connecting young people with the jobs of Ontario in the future?

I want to thank the member from Flamborough–Glanbrook for this important question.

We believe that we need to ensure every student in this province has a pathway to a good-paying job. That is the mission we are on. It was why we reformed and modernized Ontario’s curriculum in math, in science, in computer sciences, in technical education, in careers. We have overhauled the curriculum to finally align with labour market needs, to give these young people a competitive advantage when they graduate.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve also expanded the Dual Credit Program, which allows students in high school to take a college course or a course that helps them complete their apprenticeship training. It’s a two-for-one deal. And under our government, we’ve seen an over-137% increase in students enjoying and benefiting from the dual credit expansion.

We’ve also expanded the Specialist High Skills Major program—a 40% increase for students in it—and the reason for this is because we want young people to graduate with the life and job skills that are necessary to get them the jobs of the future.

This government has a plan, working across the ministry, to ensure young people have the connection points to employment, because we know a job means a life of dignity, it means owning a home, it means having purpose in this province.

We want everyone to aspire to be bold in this economy. It’s why yesterday I joined the Premier of Ontario to announce that we are finally going to allow students, after grade 10, to enter directly into the skilled trades, allowing them an immediate accelerated pathway to apprenticeship training. This is going to help solve the skills labour gap that exists in this country. I’m excited and I’m proud that we’re working with our partners in labour, in the private sector and in school boards. All of us yesterday stood together with a mission to help these young people succeed.

We’ve added more hospital beds in four years than the former Liberal government did in 14 years. Hospital capacity is at record highs. Emergency department wait times are coming down. And we’ve started to shorten wait times for key surgeries.

The highest hospital capacity, under the former Liberal government—not even during COVID—was 98%, with 1,087 patients waiting in hallways.

We’re addressing all of those things. Nearly 100,000 people have been connected to convenient care at a pharmacy in their community for common ailments. We know we need to do more, which is why we have asked the federal government to take their fair share of funding and give it to the provinces for health care. We know we need to address more of these concerns.

We knew we had an aging demographic that was coming, and that former Liberal government did absolutely nothing to prepare for what was coming. This government is addressing those concerns.

To the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

The Speaker is in no position to determine the veracity of statements that might be made during question period or during debate, but I would encourage members not to engage in personal attacks which inflame the passions of the House.

Start the clock.

I appreciate the question from the member opposite.

When it comes to acting to build a more sustainable environment, this government is acting. We’ve spent a record investment in public transit, taking millions of cars off the road. That member voted against it. When it comes to climate change impact assessment—the first of its kind—that member voted against it. When it comes to countless commitments—working on getting housing built for our next generation—he voted against it. What is his solution? His solution is to punish low-income and middle-class families with a carbon tax that is so punitive that we would drive jobs out and impoverish an entire generation of Ontarians.

When it comes to acting, we’re working with industries like Algoma and Dofasco—the largest industrial decarbonization in Ontario’s history. We’re going to continue doing that, ensuring green jobs for generations to come.

My grandfather came to this country and worked in the steel sector. He would be proud to know that this government is decarbonizing, working with industry, expanding jobs.

If that member spent a little less time crowing and harassing people outside health clinics and actually sitting down with job creators, with research institutions, he would know that when it comes to GHG reductions, Navius, an independent world leader, validated this province’s plan to reach our climate goals by 2030.

We’re going to continue working with industry and investing record amounts in public transit, which he voted against; record amounts in housing, which he voted against; record amounts to ensure that we can build a more sustainable future, taking meaningful action, working with industry. I just wish he would join us and bring meaningful solutions, instead of harassment—

Interjections.