The works of the Group of Seven are internationally recognized. They are all recognized as artists from the early part of the 20th century. The works have captured the magnificent landscape of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, if it pleases the House, my bill will proclaim that Group of Seven day be declared annually on the 7th day of July. This date is to acknowledge the legacy and the works of the Group of Seven artists and their contributions to the province of Ontario from a cultural and artistic and historic perspective.

Ms. Ghamari moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr18, An Act to revive 2253697 Ontario Inc.

The Supply Act is one of the key acts in the Ontario Legislature. If passed, it would give the Ontario government the legal spending authority to finance its programs and honour its commitments for the fiscal year that is to close at the end of March.

Mr. McCarthy moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 78, An Act to proclaim Group of Seven Day / Projet de loi 78, Loi proclamant le Jour du Groupe des Sept.

The supplementary.

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

The division bells rang from 1150 to 1155.

On March 7, 2023, Mr. Pirie moved second reading of Bill 71, An Act to amend the Mining Act.

On March 8, 2023, Mr. Saunderson moved that the question be now put.

All those in favour of Mr. Saunderson’s motion, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Mr. Pirie has moved second reading of Bill 71, An Act to amend the Mining Act. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard some noes.

All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”

All those opposed will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

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

The division bells rang from 1200 to 1201.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Second reading agreed to.

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 62, An Act to provide for the development of a farmland and arable land strategy and an advisory committee on farmland and arable land / Projet de loi 62, Loi prévoyant l’élaboration d’une stratégie en matière de terres agricoles et de terres arables et la création d’un comité consultatif des terres agricoles et des terres arables.

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

The division bells rang from 1205 to 1206.

All those in favour will please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Second reading negatived.

Interjection.

The House recessed from 1209 to 1300.

Report deemed adopted.

Mr. Sarkaria moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 77, An Act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 / Projet de loi 77, Loi autorisant l’utilisation de certaines sommes pour l’exercice se terminant le 31 mars 2023.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

Motion agreed to.

Point of order.

While I didn’t have to stand today to ask for unanimous consent on anything, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the House that two years ago, almost to this day, we all agreed and voted in favour of having the Franco-Ontarian flag displayed permanently in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a reminder of the important symbol and the importance of our Franco-Ontarian community. I think it’s a moment we can all be proud of. So thank you very much. Merci à tout le monde.

Thank you to the hard-working member from Markham–Thornhill for asking such an important question. Seniors are the backbone of this province, and the member is doing a great job for seniors to get the support they need.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the leadership of the Premier, we have created the programs and services to break down barriers of social isolation and fight against ageism. Since 2018, our government has invested almost $22 million into over 1,200 seniors community grant projects across Ontario to fight social isolation.

Seniors have invested their energy to help build this province, and we stand with them.

Mr. Speaker, seniors are the backbone of this province and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They are the ones who helped build the best province, Ontario. That is why we have invested into programs that keep seniors active, healthy and socially connected.

Since 2018, our government has invested $59 million in 300 seniors active living centres across Ontario to promote healthy, active and socially connected living for seniors. Programs like this are key to the fight against ageism.

This petition is titled “To Raise Social Assistance Rates.” It reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate in January 2022 was 5.1%, the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the 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 increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works, and to increase other programs accordingly.”

I fully support this petition and will affix my signature to it. I want to thank Sally Palmer for sending me these petitions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I beg your indulgence for this point of order. I failed to introduce a page from Kingston and the Islands, Yonglin Su. I wanted to just thank him for his work this week, as well as the other pages. We really appreciate it.

I think instead of the fearmongering that the member is bringing to the floor, we need to celebrate the opportunities that we’re seeing—a record number of students entering into the nursing profession; as I mentioned, building on the 14,000 nursing registrants in the province last year alone. There are currently over 5,000 internationally educated nurses residing in Ontario whose applications are at various stages, who are able to enter the workforce sooner as a result of the changes that this government is making. We are breaking down registration barriers so that more health care professionals trained in Ontario and other provinces or internationally can practise here in Ontario.

We have a real opportunity here. We are seeing more and more nursing students entering into the profession—the work that our universities are doing, our stand-alone bachelor of science in nursing program now offered at colleges here in Ontario. We’re seeing it across the province—a record number of students who are able to work in our rural and our underserved areas and stay close to home, in the hospitals and long-term-care centres that need those nurses.

This petition is titled, “Real Rent Control Now.” It reads, “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas average rent has increased by over 50% in the past 10 years;

“Whereas average monthly rent in Ontario is now over $2,000; and

“Whereas nearly half of Ontarians pay unaffordable rental housing costs because they spend more than a third of their income on rent;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to pass the Real Rent Control Act to establish:

“—rent control that operates during and between tenancies, so a new tenant pays the same rent as a former tenant, with allowable annual rent increases calculated by the government of Ontario and based on annual inflation;

“—a public rent registry so tenants can find out what a former tenant paid in rent;

“—access to legal aid for tenants that want to contest an illegal rent hike; and

“—stronger enforcement and tougher penalties for landlords who do not properly maintain a renter’s home.”

On behalf of all of the tenants in Parkdale–High Park and across Toronto, I fully support this petition and will affix my signature to it.

Report continues in volume B.

I have a petition here that reads, “Support Gender-Affirming Health Care,” to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

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

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

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

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

I want to thank the residents who gave me this petition, and I send it with page Adam to the Clerks’ table.

I’d like to thank Dr. Sally Palmer of McMaster University for sending this petition:

“To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“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 budget increase of 5% for ODSP, with nothing for OW, could be experienced as an insult to recipients, who have been living since 2018 with frozen social assistance rates and a Canadian inflation rate that reached 12%;

“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 fully support this petition, affix my signature and send it to the table with page George.

I have a petition here.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Toronto city staff’s assessment of Bill 23 notes that it does not sufficiently address housing affordability, but instead decimates the city’s ability to fund services for new residents;

“Whereas the assessment from officials, including the chief planner, notes that this bill will harm the city’s ability to build affordable rentals and new homeless shelters;

“Whereas this bill does not present solutions that would push developers to build in ways that would save homebuyers any additional cost or address the skyrocketing cost of housing;

“Whereas this bill will push for a revenue loss for Toronto while the city is anticipating an $815-million budget shortfall and residents continue to struggle with not only day-to-day costs but also underfunded city services;

“Whereas this bill will impact the city’s ability to deliver on its 10-year housing targets, invest in new shelter services, and continue affordable housing development and protection programs that support vulnerable residents;

“Whereas this bill will decrease the amount of affordable housing required under the city’s zoning policies and deliver on the HousingNowTO targets and the annual financial impact of Bill 23 on Toronto would be approximately $200 million, $100 million of which would be removing housing services;

“Whereas Bill 23 will take away the powers of municipalities to protect tenants in the case of demovictions and harm renters, homeowners, and families who are looking to find safe and affordable homes and remove access to city services;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to repeal this harmful piece of legislation and engage in meaningful consultations with municipalities, conservation authorities, and communities to address the housing affordability crisis.”

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

I would like to present this petition.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there is an affordable” housing “rental crisis in Ontario;

“Whereas massive loopholes in the current rent control laws have led to unaffordable rental prices;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“(1) Stop massive rent increases by re-implementing rent control for all units in Ontario, regardless of when they were built;

“(2) End the system that gives landlords incentive to drive people out of their units and homes so they can rent at new, much higher rents by implementing vacancy control;

“(3) Provide real financial consequences for landlords who fail to maintain their buildings, and ban the use of mandatory above-guideline rent increases to pay for standard maintenance and repairs.”

I will affix my signature and hand this petition to our page Wyatt.