Thanks to the member for Sarnia–Lambton for the question.

The crisis that this government has created in health care extends to all parts of our health care system. We have incredibly underfunded community health centres that haven’t seen an increase in their base funding. We have family physicians who are leaving the practice mid-career because they just can’t take the workload anymore and are struggling with burnout. We have health care workers and nurses who are leaving the profession. We absolutely need to improve conditions for all workers across this system.

Expanding the number of doctors who are working in family health teams could be part of the solution, but we need to make sure that this continues to be part of the public health care system and we are not directing the funds that should be going to health care into the pockets of investors instead.

This is part of another pattern that we see from this government. Our public health care system, as you say, is absolutely a competitive advantage. So is our publicly funded education system, and we also see the government making decisions there that are undermining the quality and the strength of our public education system.

We’ve seen in the United States what happens when public systems are allowed to erode—kids are no longer getting health care, they’re no longer getting a decent education—and what that does to a country, what that does to an economy. The only explanation when we see these kinds of examples around us is that this government is more motivated by ideology than by the actual needs and concerns of Ontarians and by the evidence that exists around us about what practices would actually support Ontarians in getting the health care and education they need.

I listed the solutions in my remarks. We had a two-hour debate yesterday on the solutions. I suggest that the member consult Hansard if he didn’t hear my remarks clearly, but the answer is to invest in our public health care system and stop driving our nurses and health care workers away from it.

I know the community service agencies in my riding that provide preventative health care that keep people from getting sick and from ending up in the hospital are desperately underfunded. I know the Queensway Carleton Hospital is asking for an urgent care centre in Ottawa, which would keep people from needing to go to the ER for conditions that can’t be dealt with in their family doctors’ office but don’t need the emergency room.

We know there are models for stand-alone surgical facilities like the one you described, and instead of looking at any of these solutions and investing in the solutions that we have in our public health care system, this government is bound and determined to go down the road of putting profits in the pockets of private investors, and the only answer can be that those investors lobbied them really, really hard.

Our government continues to invest in our health care system. Recently, I was happy to announce much-needed health care investments in my riding of Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock. The City of Kawartha Lakes Family Health Team will receive funding to support residents by adding two new nurse practitioners to enhance, support and deliver high-quality primary health care in Kawartha Lakes. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the team at the City of Kawartha Lakes Family Health Team for their tireless work in taking care of our community.

In addition, over $1 million in funding support will add two new mobile wellness clinics. The Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge will run these two mobile wellness clinics and they’ll be able to service on-the-go health care to our rural communities that need them most. These communities in my riding will now have greater access to counselling and therapy, addictions support and substance use, mental health education, medical support and access to other psychiatry services. I know, Mr. Speaker, in parts of Haliburton county they’ve already had over 80 visits that have taken place. It’s a great success.

But this initiative underlines the government’s commitment toward promoting high-quality health care for the people in Ontario. I want to thank the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions for listening and addressing the concerns in Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock. I know it’s just one step forward.

That is just typical of this government. When people need help, all they get from this government is rhetoric. Out there in the real world, people are tired of it. They’re tired of it.

The fact is things are far from normal in a lot of places in this province. The services and supports that build strong and caring communities have been watered down, whittled away or just allowed to collapse altogether. Now, the finance minister is warning them to prepare for more “restraint” in this budget.

I would love to hear from the Premier on this question. I would really like to hear from the Premier on this question. Will the Premier tell Ontarians which services they rely on will bear the brunt of this so-called restraint?

Back to the Premier of this province, who I hope will answer our questions: At pre-budget consultations, MPPs heard ideas that would make a real difference in people’s lives. So many people in this province don’t have a family doctor. MPPs heard from the Ontario College of Family Physicians that Ontario could add the equivalent of 2,000 family doctors to our health care system and serve two million more patients simply by providing funding for around 19 hours a week of administrative support.

Will the government include administrative support for family doctors in the next budget?

The committee heard a proposal to create a Peterborough community health centre—a very specific proposal—to ensure that people receive the wraparound health care they need to achieve their goals. That means people can keep their jobs, kids can focus on learning in school and families can spend more quality time together.

Access to this kind of comprehensive health care is a priority for Ontarians. Is it a priority for this government? Will you be funding the proposed Peterborough community health centre in the upcoming budget? My question’s to the Premier.

Speaker, the committee heard from the Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre who told us that they are serving the Owen Sound community, along with two sizable Indigenous communities, with only one physician working part-time. They have over 100 people on their wait-list, which is 12 to 24 months long. They are severely backlogged for cancer screenings, and 45% of their diabetic clients have not seen a doctor in two years.

They’re doing the hard work and all they’re asking for is an increase from half a doctor to two. Will you fund Indigenous health services in the upcoming budget, including the proposals from Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre? To the Premier.

During pre-budget hearings in Ottawa, we heard from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board about the resources they need for a strong education system that meets the needs of Ontario students. In particular, we heard that schools are unlikely to meet the 2025 deadline for full accessibility set out by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act because funding for building repairs and retrofits has fallen short over the last 25 years.

Making sure that every student has equal access to education is a priority for Ontarians. Will this government provide the necessary funding to make schools accessible in this year’s budget?

The finance committee also heard about the importance of ensuring that children can access mental health programming through their schools. Unfortunately, a new report has shown that less than one in 10 schools have access to a regularly scheduled mental health specialist or nurse.

Ensuring that children have the support they need to succeed in the classroom and that teachers and education workers have the support they need to do their jobs is a priority for the people of Ontario. Is it a priority for this government? Will they include funding for mental health supports in schools in this budget?

Thank you for that question. Mr. Speaker, children and youth have the highest mental health care needs of any age demographic. This informs every investment that we’ve made as a government and will continue to make.

In fact, in 2022, in addition to the investments made in the Ministry of Education, we invested another $31 million in new annual funding to reduce wait-lists and support the mental health and well-being of children and youth. These investments are in the community sector.

We’re also innovating on new ways to treat children and youth, and use new means for them to access care. We invested $3.5 million in Step Up Step Down, a live-in treatment program helping move kids through levels of intensive treatment, and $2.1 million in virtual walk-in counselling, connecting youth to a clinician by phone, text or video chat. Dollars were invested in 22 youth wellness hubs in the province of Ontario.

We’re going to continue making investments because this government is more prepared than any other government to ensure that our children and youth get the mental health supports they need, where and when they need them.

To the Premier: At the pre-budget consultations, Red Lake came to ask the government once again for funding to build a new multi-purpose recreation and cultural centre. This is a request that they have been making for more than 10 years.

Red Lake generates over $4 million in provincial and federal income tax with a municipal tax base of 5,000 people. This project is a priority for Red Lake residents, but Red Lake needs this government’s support to start building.

Will there be funding for this multi-purpose centre in this budget?

This multi-purpose recreation and cultural centre will benefit existing residents and will help the community grow. While many people come to Red Lake to work in mining, they often take the money they earn back to the south. The area struggles to attract workers who need to support our population, including health care workers. Recreation and cultural centres are important to families when they’re deciding where to live, which makes this centre important to the future of Red Lake.

Again, I know the answer is “yes,” but there’s a “no” in there.

Will this government commit to providing funding for this project in this budget?

My question is to the Premier. When pre-budget consultations came to Windsor, we had the opportunity to hear from Hiatus House about the life-saving and life-changing work of shelters for women and children escaping domestic violence. These shelters are grossly, negligently underfunded. All they’re asking for is some stability in their funding and the ability to focus on the work they do for the community instead of needing to fundraise or apply for grants or beg this government for money.

Will this government finally break the cycle of violence against women by providing stable, long-term funding to organizations like Hiatus House in this budget?

This is to the Premier: Advocates for survivors of intimate partner violence have echoed at this year’s pre-budget hearings the same recommendations following the Renfrew county inquest. Ontario needs a plan for housing survivors of intimate partner violence. Shelters are overflowing. Women have to stay in shelters longer and longer because of the challenges in finding their own safe and real affordable housing, and this Conservative government does not have a plan. This is a priority for Ontarians. Is housing survivors of gender-based violence a priority for this government?

Will the Conservative government provide adequate, stable, long-term funding for women’s shelters, for real affordable housing, for transitional housing in this year’s budget? I don’t want to hear about five years from now—in this budget.

At the pre-budget consultation hearings in Timmins, we heard from the Cochrane Public Library about some of the services they provide to build a stronger, more caring community: services like Internet access for people who can’t afford it or don’t have a home to link it to. Did you know that in the district of Cochrane, the rate of homelessness per 1,000 people is higher than anywhere else in the province? Services like printing and faxing documents to help apply for jobs are all services that people need—people from all walks of life.

Libraries are often the great social equalizers. They have been through history, and they will be in the future. But they’re also the first thing on the chopping block for municipalities, who are also having a tough time balancing their budgets—but they’re incredibly important. Will this government ensure that Ontario’s libraries receive the direct, stable funding they need in this budget?

Thank you very much, Speaker. Thank you to the member opposite as well.

I was reading in Hansard yesterday that the member for Nickel Belt was talking about how, in Health Sciences North in Sudbury, we have 17 surgical units available. Only 14 of those are open; typically, they don’t even run the entire year because they run out of government funding.

I’m curious to understand why the Conservative government thinks that’s a better solution than providing the funding to operate these existing, publicly structured, already-built hospital surgical rooms; that funding them at a lower cost doesn’t make sense, but funding a private clinic where there’s a profit margin that will cost more, ultimately—it’s through the OHIP card, but it still costs the only taxpayer we have. There’s only one taxpayer; we’ll pay more, all of us, as taxpayers. Why is that a better solution than actually funding the hospitals that exist, that could be doing the work with the equipment in facilities that we already have?