Mr. Speaker, we were the first province in Canada to bring in paid sick days during the pandemic to support those workers, Mr. Speaker. We were the first province in the country to bring in job-protected leave to ensure that when those workers stayed home, they couldn’t be fired from their job.

We’re working for workers every single day. I’ll remind the Leader of the Opposition that she voted against our plan to hire 100 more health and safety inspectors in this province to bring the inspectorate to the highest in provincial history.

This is an NDP party that has abandoned workers in this province. But under the leadership of Premier Ford, we’ll work for our workers every single day.

I’m obviously aware of the situation down in Windsor.

Mr. Speaker, we always encourage employers, labour—workers—to sit down and get a deal at the table. We’re proud of our labour relations in this province; 99% of deals are done at the table.

We’re working every single day to ensure that workers in Ontario have better jobs and bigger paycheques. I think of the Windsor-Essex region and the amount of young people getting into the skilled trades, joining those unions down in Windsor to build better lives for themselves and their families. We’ll continue, every day, putting forward worker-friendly policies so they earn better jobs and bigger paycheques.

We believe that government, labour and business have to work together. That’s how we’re going to improve the lives of people in this province and build stronger communities.

That’s why I’m proud to say that under the leadership of Premier Ford, we introduced the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act. We introduced the Working for Workers legislation that ensured that gig workers, for the first time in history, get minimum wage—that we increase fines to those companies that are breaking the law, that we ensure that there are naloxone kits in workplaces. The opposition NDP voted against these measures in Working for Workers.

We’ll take no lessons from a party that, years ago, abandoned the working people of this province.

That’s why we elect Progressive Conservatives in Windsor-Essex.

This question gives me an opportunity to highlight some of the things that our government has been doing to deal with surgical backlogs that, I might remind the member, existed prior to the pandemic.

We have, as a government, invested with our hospital partners over $800 million for surgical recovery to deal with exactly that: the surgical backlog that resulted as a result of the pandemic.

I can tell you that there are some innovative models that are happening in the province of Ontario that are leading to successes. This is not an either/or. This is an expansion. This is an opportunity for people who have been waiting far too long to get those necessary surgeries to happen in community and in a timely manner so that they can go back to work, back in their community and back with their families. It is a good-news story, and we will continue to invest in those innovative models.

Maybe if the minister actually believed in collective bargaining, the government, as the biggest employer, would not have brought in Bill 124 and Bill 28.

Speaker, in Leamington, Highbury Canco workers, members of UFCW Local 175, are also on strike, and the company is busing in scab workers.

This government talks about working for workers, but time and time again, they have attacked workers’ collective bargaining rights with Bill 124 and Bill 28. In fact, they supported the Liberals with Bill 115, another unconstitutional bill.

Will this government actually work for workers, stand up for collective bargaining rights and pass anti-scab legislation?

My question is to the Premier. Good morning, Premier.

A private, for-profit surgical clinic is operating for the second time this Saturday at the Riverside Campus of the Ottawa Hospital from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Meanwhile, there is a long backlog of orthopaedic surgeries—over 2,000—to members of the public who are waiting for the public health care they were promised. This is another example of our public operating rooms being closed to the public who paid for them but open to the profit of a select few.

A question to the Premier: Will this government get public operating rooms fully up and running for everyone?

Interjections.

It is a sad day when there are nurses in this building who work very hard for us every single day, we ask serious questions about the attack on the funding of our public hospitals, and we get talking points back.

What we know in Ottawa today about this clinic is that nurses are being offered, inside our public hospitals, twice the salary to work in these for-profit, private clinics. We know it’s going to get harder to keep nurses in our public system as a result of your efforts to hand over these surgeries to for-profit clinics.

A serious question, Speaker: Is this government going to invest in our public operating rooms instead of selling them off or renting them out?

I ask the NDP, what would workers do under an NDP government? You don’t support highways, you don’t support jobs—

Interjections.

First, I’d like to recognize the dedication and tireless efforts of all those who are involved in Ontario’s emergency planning, preparedness and response network. They’re heroes, and we’re all grateful for everything they do in caring for the people of our province.

The need for local and provincial declarations of emergencies can arise for a number of reasons, and it’s essential that response plans are current and reflect best practices.

We know that our government values the safety of all individuals and communities. However, more can be done in safeguarding Ontarians from unanticipated emergencies.

Can the minister please explain what action our government is taking to strengthen its emergency management response operations?

Under the leadership of the Premier and this minister, it is reassuring that our government is spearheading a comprehensive emergency management plan for all of Ontario.

Can the minister please provide more details about how our government is approaching the vital work of safeguarding and protecting our province?

The Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

I guess I need to point out to the House that you can’t ask questions of the official opposition. You need to address your question to the government.

Start the clock.

Supplementary question.

Mr. Speaker, this is a member who is encouraging and actually participating in protests in front of community surgical units. I will not take lessons from a member who doesn’t understand that there are people who are waiting for surgeries who want to have access.

Clinical surgeries in community have existed in the province of Ontario for decades, and, I might also remind the member opposite, approved by Progressive Conservative governments, by Liberal governments and, yes, by NDP governments, because they understand the value of ensuring that people have access to publicly funded services where and when they need them.

I am happy that we finally are formalizing a process that patients have asked for for a long time, which is that we need timely access to diagnostic and surgery options in communities. We have, through Bill 60, a process that will ensure those applications will be assessed and reviewed based on needs, based on backlog, based on waiting lists, and they will be placed in appropriate communities that have those challenges. We will do that with oversight that ensures, through a licensing process and a renewal process, that oversight is there for the clinics, but most importantly for the patients.

Order.

Supplementary question?

The next question.

Speaker, through you to the Premier: Seniors and young families are being pressed to the limit as your government has allowed Enbridge to pass along increases in gas prices that are making life very hard for Ontarians.

The Ontario Electricity Support Program provides immediate on-bill relief for families who struggle to pay their electricity bills, but there is no similar program for families struggling to pay natural gas bills or other heating bills. Will this government establish such a program in its upcoming budget so every family who struggles to heat their home can get support?

Back to the minister: Last week, Niagara had another large ice storm. People have to heat their homes and there is no way around it. Prices to heat your home are going up and up. People are in desperate trouble.

Charles Christenson, a 67-year-old retired manufacturing worker from St. Catharines, showed me his bill: an increase of $100 from six months ago. This is a senior on a fixed income, making only $1,500 a month. We owe it to our seniors that built our province and to all Ontarians to have a solution, especially when it already exists for electricity.

Speaker, to the Premier: Does the Premier, or anyone else on that side of the aisle, believe that it’s okay to stand by and do nothing as gas rates double in the middle of the winter and continue to push seniors and young families right to the brink?

I want to ask the Minister of Health about her plan to use for-profit clinics to deal with the backlog of surgeries. It seems to me, looking at Bill 60, that a crucial linchpin is the director, who checks licence applications, does inspections and revokes licences for those who break the rules. But whereas in the existing legislation, the director has to be a public servant, an employee of the ministry, under this government’s new Bill 60, the director could be anybody or any “entity.” It looks like Bill 60 is setting up to have this government delegate oversight of this industry to some unspecified entity.

As it happens, the current Independent Health Facilities Program is run out of my riding of Kingston and the Islands. My constituents deserve to know how many experienced and qualified staff will lose their jobs to some as yet undisclosed entity?

My goal, as the Minister of Energy, is to ensure that we have a reliable and affordable and clean energy system in the province of Ontario. We’re doing that under the mess that was left for us by the previous Liberal government. We have brought electricity prices under control and we’re doing the same thing with natural gas prices, Mr. Speaker. There are programs in place through Enbridge that the member should be passing along to her constituents to be aware of.

But it is interesting to get this kind of a question from the NDP, a party that believes in the highest carbon tax not just in Canada, but in the world. This party is supportive of the federal carbon tax, which on this Enbridge bill that I have here right now is $50, Mr. Speaker, on a—

It’s pretty rich, though, for the NDP to talk about affordability when it comes to energy prices. This is a party that wants us to get rid of natural gas. It thinks that natural gas is a bad thing, when more than 76% of homeowners out there are heating their homes with natural gas. This is a party that also supported the previous Liberal government every step of the way in their Green Energy Act, something that was driving up electricity prices by 10%, 11% year over year. We brought that to an end.

It’s also a party that doesn’t believe in nuclear, Mr. Speaker. It’s a party that believes that the source of energy in our province providing 60% of our electricity every day should be phased out.

We’re not going to take any lessons—

My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

Strong workplace health and safety practices ensure that all workers and employers are safe and protected on the job. In the construction sector, workers deserve access to hygienic washroom facilities. The regulations for construction projects under the Occupational Health and Safety Act are clear: Workers must have access to clean workrooms. Thanks to the leadership of the Premier and this minister, there is a record number of building projects under way in the communities across our province.

Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is doing to ensure that all workers have access to clean and safe washroom facilities?

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how the government is supporting the health and safety of workers in Ontario?

Thank you very much. This is a really important question that the member for Don Valley North has asked this morning. The member has hit the nail on the head: Clean bathrooms are essential to respecting the hard-working men and women who are building the homes, schools, hospitals and transit that our communities and families rely on. Everywhere I go, I hear from workers about the state of bathrooms on some job sites, in factories and in retail. In 2022 alone, my ministry visited worksites more than 23,000 times to inspect bathrooms and issued nearly 2,000 orders for bathrooms in poor condition.

Speaker, my message to workers is clear: Our government has your backs. We stand with you, the workers who are out there building Ontario and all of our communities every single day.

Interjections.

I’m pleased to report that my ministry is currently conducting a workplace bathroom blitz to ensure that those out there building Ontario have access to clean bathrooms. In February of this year, as part of the ongoing blitz that’s going to be run until March 31, ministry inspectors issued about 130 orders related to construction worksite washrooms, ensuring that the workers who are building our province have access to facilities they deserve.

Speaker, we’ll continue working for workers and make sure that everyone going to work has a healthy and safe workplace.

As per the Toronto Region Board of Trade report, gridlock is a fact of life in the GTA, and if we do not address it, it is going to cost us over $15 billion by 2031 in lost productivity.

Efficient and convenient transit is essential to support economic and community growth in Ontario. For too long, people in my riding of Mississauga–Malton have not had the public transit they need and deserve. Well, Mr. Speaker, we would not have been in this position if the previous Liberal government had not ignored the transit needs of individuals and families across our province. With 300,000 new Canadians coming to Ontario, the situation is going to be even worse.

Thankfully, we have a government with an ambitious plan for transportation improvement, and we must continue to make strategic investments. Mr. Speaker, my question to the government is: Can you provide an update on the progress of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, which will better connect Mississauga to Toronto?

It is exciting to learn about the exceptional progress we have achieved. This speaks volumes to the strong leadership of the Premier and the Minister of Transportation and the Associate Minister of Transportation in delivering on major transit infrastructure in our province.

The area around Renforth Drive and Pearson international airport is the second-largest employment hub in the country.

Rapid, reliable and seamless transit is essential in supporting workers, as well as reducing gridlock and emissions.

Mr. Speaker, the Eglinton Crosstown West extension will effectively provide connections to other transit options. Residents of Mississauga–Malton expect that this project must remain a priority for this government and must be delivered successfully.

Can the government please explain how this transit extension will benefit not only Mississauga–Malton but all Ontarians?

Thank you to the member. This is a boring story that is exciting for me, because the Eglinton Crosstown West extension is more than halfway dug, and it’s ahead of schedule by four weeks. Speaker, this is going to create 31,000 jobs—

Interjections.

This government believes—and we will remain undeterred from the goal of building transit, connecting the grid and getting it done for commuters in Ontario.

The member opposite is missing two very important pieces when he talks about the expansion of surgical and diagnostic in community, and that is, of course, that for-profit and hospital partnerships are a critical part of the application process. As we find the innovation—that is happening in Ottawa right now, as an example—we can see where hospitals working in community, with community partners, are actually providing a higher and faster level of service.

I’m proud of the work of Bill 60 that is going to ensure that oversight piece, and I look forward to the member’s insights and input during committee.

Interjections.

We want to see those expansions happening in community, because we have seen that they are successful. They mean that patients can get back to their families. They mean that patients can get back to their communities and the workforce quickly.

We want to eliminate the wait-lists. On that, the member opposite and I can agree—I hope.

This Conservative government claims its privatization of health care bill, Bill 60, will give Ontarians more access to health care they need when they need it. The reality is, only those who can afford to pay to play will get the care they need in private clinics and private hospitals. Bill 60 leaves vulnerable patients without deep pockets in dangerous situations where diseases will go undiagnosed and surgeries will be delayed, all while they live in chronic pain and depression as their illnesses get worse.

Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Why does this Premier believe that access to health care should depend on one’s ability to pay?

Karen Bender is a 73-year-old senior in my community, and she needs eye surgery. She has been told that she’ll be waiting eight months to a year and that her vision will get worse, if not completely untreatable, the longer she waits. Karen knows of other seniors who were upsold in private clinics, and she’s also aware that the Premier and the Minister of Health admitted that their profitization of health care bill has nothing in it to protect patients like her from extra charges.

So my question is back to the Premier: What advice would this Conservative Premier give Karen and others without deep pockets waiting and desperate for surgery, while they’ve left our publicly funded surgical operating rooms empty and unstaffed in our province?

I appreciate the question from the honourable member. Under the leadership of former Mayor McCallion, Mississauga really saw such explosive growth, both in terms of people who wanted to live there, economic prosperity. Unfortunately, the transit and transportation system in the region did not keep pace with the growth that happened there and continues to happen because of the hard work of the members of the Progressive Conservative caucus from Mississauga.

He is quite right: The previous government certainly let down the people of Mississauga. But I am very happy to report that the Eglinton Crosstown is doing very, very well, and actually reached a landmark just last week, with about half of the tunnelling done on the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension at Renforth.

Now, look: The people of Mississauga have every reason to be very excited by this. I know how hard the members of provincial Parliament in the Progressive Conservative caucus have worked to expand transit and transportation, because it is an important part of continuing the economic growth and prosperity for the people of Mississauga.