Supplementary question?

Deferred vote on the motion that the question now be put on the motion for second reading of the following bill

Bill 60, An Act to amend and enact various Acts with respect to the health system / Projet de loi 60, Loi visant à modifier et à édicter diverses lois en ce qui concerne le système de santé.

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

The division bells rang from 1145 to 1150.

On February 22, 2023, Ms. Jones, Dufferin–Caledon, moved second reading of Bill 60, An Act to amend and enact various Acts with respect to the health system.

On February 28, 2023, Mr. Smith, Peterborough–Kawartha, moved that the question be now put.

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

Ms. Jones, Dufferin–Caledon, has moved second reading of Bill 60, An Act to amend and enact various Acts with respect to the health system. 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 will be another five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1155 to 1156.

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

Second reading agreed to.

Minister of Health?

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

Bill 50, An Act to amend the Securities Act to require certain issuers to adopt and make publicly available written policies respecting their director nomination process / Projet de loi 50, Loi modifiant la Loi sur les valeurs mobilières afin d’exiger que certains émetteurs adoptent et rendent publiques des politiques écrites concernant leur processus de mise en candidature des administrateurs.

The division bells rang from 1200 to 1201.

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

Second reading negatived.

The House recessed from 1204 to 1500.

I’d like to thank the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan, and also it was great to have Mr. Miller join us today. We have to do something about that.

Our government is building prosperity everywhere, for everyone, to help grow regional economic opportunities across our great province. Bolstering northern tourism is critical, and northern Ontario is going to get a little more love today—

Interjection.

The north, particularly northwestern Ontario, was significantly impacted by the drop of visitation from the US due to border restrictions. Those have eased, so we are supporting the visitor economy through strategic investments. Specifically, for the northern tourism economy, we’ve invested more than $10 million for regional tourism organizations, supported festivals and events through our Reconnect Ontario Program and targeted northern marketing campaigns through Destination Ontario. Through these partnerships and investments, and great people, we’re going to get it done.

I’d also like to point out that tourism stretches far past what we might be thinking. When I think of tourism, sport jumps into mind. The Canada Games in Niagara, huge impact on the community—

Interjection.

The Ontario Winter Games in Renfrew country—huge; the film festival in Windsor—big time, all of that adds to our tourism.

We will continue to support that and the people behind tourism to make them stronger and better at what they do, because we’ve got the right people in place.

Another program that I’m very pleased to work with the Minister of Colleges and Universities on is, of course, our Learn and Stay program, which has now been expanded beyond nurses to lab techs and to paramedics.

But it’s not just our government that’s making investments in health care in the province of Ontario. Earlier this morning, it was a great honour to thank the Orlando Corp. for a $75-million gift to the Trillium Health Partners. There are literally people who are stepping up, seeing the innovation, seeing the investments that our government is making and saying, “We want to be part of that solution.”

Thank you to Orlando Corp., and congratulations to Trillium Health Partners.

I’ve got a petition here with over 2,000 signatures, and I’ll have another one with another 2,500.

A petition “to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the probation recidivism rate for high-risk offenders is 40% and very high-risk offenders is 57%; and

“Whereas Ontario probation and parole services has the highest number of offenders under community supervision in Canada, and Ontario probation and parole officers have the highest case counts in the country; and

“Whereas Ontario probation and parole officers’ caseloads and workload demands are so high that it is extremely challenging to ensure offender compliance with probation and parole conditions; and

“Whereas the Ministry of the Solicitor General requires probation and parole officers to take on additional initiatives without providing additional resources, adding to chronic and systemic understaffing and under-resourcing; and

“Whereas Ontario’s probation and parole officers issue more than 4,500 warrants each year on offenders who have breached their supervision conditions, and our criminal justice system does not actively seek their whereabouts, posing a significant threat to public safety;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“That the Ontario government hire an additional 200 front-line case-carrying probation and parole officers, hire an additional 50 probation support staff and implement a plan to actively seek and enforce the more than 4,500 outstanding breach warrants issued each year by probation and parole services for absconding offenders in order to reduce Ontario’s high rate of probation and parole recidivism, provide more effective client services, ensure the health and well-being of correctional staff and better protect public safety.”

I wholeheartedly agree with this petition and send it with page Jaden.

This petition is entitled “Health Care: Not for Sale.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontarians should get health care based on need—not the size of your wallet;

“Whereas Premier” Ford and the Minister of Health “say they’re planning to privatize parts of health care;

“Whereas privatization will bleed nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals, making the health care crisis worse;

“Whereas privatization always ends with patients getting a bill;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately stop all plans to further privatize Ontario’s health care system, and fix the health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 and recruiting, retaining and respecting doctors, nurses and PSWs...;

“—licensing tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses and other health care professionals already in Ontario, who wait years and pay thousands to have their credentials certified;

“—10 employer”—government—“paid sick days;

“—making education and training free or low-cost for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals;

“—incentivizing doctors and nurses to choose to live and work in northern Ontario; and

“—funding hospitals to have enough nurses on every shift, on every ward.”

It’s my pleasure to affix my signature and give this to page Rohan.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas in the First and Second World Wars, over 7,000 First Nation members, as well as an unknown number of Métis, Inuit and other Indigenous recruits, voluntarily served in the Canadian Armed Forces; and

“Whereas countless Indigenous peoples bravely and selflessly served Canada at a time of great challenges for Canada; and

“Whereas this spirit of volunteerism and community marked the life of the late Murray Whetung, who volunteered to serve in the Second World War; and

“Whereas many First Nations individuals lost their status after serving in the wars off-reserve for a period of time; and

“Whereas despite this injustice, many continued to recognize the value in continuously giving back to their community; and

“Whereas the values of volunteerism and community are instilled in the army, air, and sea cadets across Ontario; and

“Whereas the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act establishes an award for the cadets and tells the story of Indigenous veterans’ sacrifice and mistreatment;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the passage of the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act, 2022.”

I wholeheartedly endorse this petition, Speaker, and I’ll present it to page George.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas in the First and Second World Wars, over 7,000 First Nation members, as well as an unknown number of Métis, Inuit and other Indigenous recruits, voluntarily served in the Canadian Armed Forces; and

“Whereas countless Indigenous peoples bravely and selflessly served Canada at a time of great challenges for Canada; and

“Whereas this spirit of volunteerism and community marked the life of the late Murray Whetung, who volunteered to serve in the Second World War; and

“Whereas many First Nations individuals lost their status after serving in the wars off-reserve for a period of time; and

“Whereas despite this injustice, many continued to recognize the value in continuously giving back to their community; and

“Whereas the values of volunteerism and community are instilled in the army, air, and sea cadets across Ontario; and

“Whereas the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act establishes an award for the cadets and tells the story of Indigenous veterans’ sacrifice and mistreatment;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the passage of the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act, 2022.”

Speaker, I’m going affix my signature to this petition and provide a copy of it to legislative page Charlotte.

Back to the Premier: Despite what we’re hearing, these things are just continuing to get worse, not better. Since April of last year, your government has withheld $6.4 billion that could have gone to address this life-and-death critical issue. Your government supported my private member’s motion to make this a priority, and since then, we have not heard or seen anything.

When will this government act—this is a life-and-death issue—to ensure Ontarians get emergency help when and where they need it?

My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Tourism remains a vital sector in supporting Ontario’s economic prosperity and plays an important role in communities across northern Ontario. However, the reality is that the tourism and hospitality industries are still recovering from ongoing global economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions and rising costs due to inflation. The 2022 annual report from Tourism Thunder Bay outlines many achievements, indicating a remarkable recovery, with several key tourism statistics rebounding more quickly than expected. However, there remain challenges. As an example, American tourists have typically made up one third of visitors to Thunder Bay, but their visits have dropped to less than 13%.

Can the minister please explain how our government is supporting tourism efforts in northern Ontario?

Can the minister please elaborate on what our government is doing to protect jobs and shore up the tourism sector?

I’m here to read a petition on social assistance rates from Dr. Sally Palmer.

“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 soon $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 budget increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens well below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to live in 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 fully support this petition and will sign it for Vedant to take to the table.

I have a petition to raise the 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 soon $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 budget increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens well below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to live in 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 will sign this petition and give it to Liyao.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas in the First and Second World Wars, over 7,000 First Nation members, as well as an unknown number of Métis, Inuit and other Indigenous recruits, voluntarily served in the Canadian Armed Forces; and

“Whereas countless Indigenous peoples bravely and selflessly served Canada at a time of great challenges for Canada; and

“Whereas this spirit of volunteerism and community marked the life of the late Murray Whetung, who volunteered to serve in the Second World War; and

“Whereas many First Nations individuals lost their status after serving in the wars off-reserve for a period of time; and

“Whereas despite this injustice, many continued to recognize the value in continuously giving back to their community; and

“Whereas the values of volunteerism and community are instilled in the army, air, and sea cadets across Ontario; and

“Whereas the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act establishes an award for the cadets and tells the story of Indigenous veterans’ sacrifice and mistreatment;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the passage of the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act, 2022.”

I will sign my name to this petition and provide it to Nolan.

Thank you. I’ll remind the members once again that it’s preferable to make reference to other members by their ministerial title or their riding name, as applicable, even when reading from a text.

I’m pleased to address my question to the Minister of Infrastructure. This bill before us has two schedules. It’s fairly compact; it’s only five pages long. But the section about infrastructure, specifically—I’m wondering how transferring control of the 14 properties to the Minister of Infrastructure is going to make things better.

When I had read the recommendations from the Auditor General’s report about the real estate portfolio, the AG referenced a lot about how poorly Infrastructure Ontario was managing the government’s real estate portfolio. It wasn’t recommending that the agencies hand them over to Infrastructure Ontario to manage.

This bill, from where I sit, appears to address a problem that I can’t identify. If the minister could answer that for me, I’d appreciate it.

Thank you to the member for the question. I think the Auditor General was very clear in her recommendations in terms of finding efficiencies and optimizing office space. I think it’s very difficult to do when there are many, many different agencies making various different real estate decisions.

To be able to optimize office space and also find efficiencies—because we try to be fiscally prudent in this House—is to have a holistic view and a central place where that decision is being made.

I have a petition here to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas in the First and Second World Wars, over 7,000 First Nation members, as well as an unknown number of Métis, Inuit and other Indigenous recruits, voluntarily served in the Canadian Armed Forces; and

“Whereas countless Indigenous peoples bravely and selflessly served Canada at a time of great challenges for Canada; and

“Whereas this spirit of volunteerism and community marked the life of the late Murray Whetung, who volunteered to serve in the Second World War; and

“Whereas many First Nations individuals lost their status after serving in the wars off-reserve for a period of time; and

“Whereas despite this injustice, many continued to recognize the value in continuously giving back to their community; and

“Whereas the values of volunteerism and community are instilled in the army, air, and sea cadets across Ontario; and

“Whereas the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act establishes an award for the cadets and tells the story of Indigenous veterans’ sacrifice and mistreatment;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the passage of the Murray Whetung Community Service Award Act, 2022.”

I fully support this motion, will add my signature here too, and pass it to page Jaden.

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 1, 2023, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 69, An Act to amend various Acts with respect to infrastructure / Projet de loi 69, Loi modifiant diverses lois sur les infrastructures.

The petition is titled: Tell Ford to Double Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas there are over 900,000 Ontarians who are forced to rely on social assistance;

“Whereas Doug Ford’s Conservatives promised to raise Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates by only 5%, and have provided no additional support for those who receive Ontario Works (OW);

“Whereas inflation is at a 40-year high and people on fixed incomes are forced to make sacrifices every day just to survive”—I apologize, but the font is very small here;

“Whereas both ODSP and OW recipients live in legislated deep poverty, a meager $58 increase to ODSP and no additional support for OW recipients will do virtually nothing to improve the lives of people living on social assistance;

“Therefore, we the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately double social assistance rates, so that people can live dignified, healthy lives.”

I definitely support this petition. I will wholeheartedly sign it and send it down with George the page.

Thank you very much to the member for the question. I think the easiest way that I can explain this—I’ll use different ministries as an example. Our government is often very proud of the fact that—how closely our ministries collaborate and work together in order to make decisions, rather than ministries making decisions in silos. Similar structure here: agencies reporting to ministries. Of course, our ministries work together, but in order to have a real, holistic ability to make decisions, to make recommendations, to find efficiencies, to optimize and modernize space, I think it would be extremely helpful to government to have it all in one place so that we can take a look at the picture and make decisions and recommendations to government.

If there are very technical questions that you have, I would be happy to honour the member and arrange for a briefing.

I want to thank the member for that question. I want to make it very clear that the EA process is not in any way being compromised. The proposed legislative amendments are minor and will not have any impact on the existing class EAs or environmental protection. The EA process requires proponents to assess potential environmental impacts, identify mitigation measures and consult with Indigenous communities, the public and stakeholders before the project can proceed.

Again, this process is not affected. To be clear, the environmental assessment standards will remain in place.

What we’re doing here today is ensuring that when there’s an approval, there is no 30-day waiting period for municipalities—which are the number one proponents of most of these EAs and are the ones that are most involved in it. So there’s no requirement to wait 30 days while you’re twiddling your thumbs and contractors are waiting to get the job done. We can waive that period. It is now within the purview of the minister—and every situation will be judged by the minister, but the minister will have that opportunity and that authority to waive that 30-day waiting period should they choose, and that is going to move projects ahead more quickly, more effectively and perhaps even avoid the winter season to get a job done.