This week, the government released their legislation to bring surgeries and diagnostic services out of hospitals. While there could be merit in such a strategy if implemented in a not-for-profit manner with credible guardrails, it alone cannot be a solution to all the challenges in our health care system.

The bedrock of our health care system is its people, and that bedrock has been eroded by Bill 124. This wage-constraining, unconstitutional legislation has pushed health care workers out of the public system. Meanwhile, temporary, for-profit nursing agencies, operating with limited oversight, have been pulling them out. As this has happened, we have learned how some temporary, for-profit nursing agencies exemplify some of the most corrosive elements when profit is mixed with health care.

That is why today I will be tabling a private member’s bill that, if passed, will license and regulate temporary nursing agencies. It takes aim at the most outrageous and predatory practices in a fair and reasonable way. For the first time, nursing agencies will be required to obtain a licence that can be suspended or revoked. They will be forbidden from unethical recruiting practices, unfair negotiation tactics and price-gouging. There will be transparency and accountability achieved through inspections, along with a prohibition against unconscionable pricing.

The bill is fair. It is not onerous. It borrows from accepted practices by this very government, and it won’t destabilize our health care. What it will do is level the playing field and prevent siphoning of health care workers from our public system, and it will stop runaway profiteering.

I’d like to introduce Emily Trudeau. She is the director of research for the NDP caucus. She started as an OLIP intern back in 2016. She went on to be my legislative assistant and executive assistant. She is moving on. Tomorrow is her last day. I just want to say a special thank you. We can’t do the work that we do without our amazing staff.

Today, we are welcoming Centennial Infant and Child Centre straight out of St. Paul’s, where they’re supporting children with complex development challenges and their families through innovative—and fun, I might add—individually designed programs, services and supports. I want to welcome Shemina Ladak, Fatima Mulla, Matthew Lee, Kasia Ziemba, Lorraine Chiarotto, Ali Arshinoff, Brett Balaban, Chris Butler, Grace Lowe, Katherine Newton and Jessica Rotolo—who, by the way, is the winner of the LotsOfSocks design competition; Jessica’s fantastic sock design was selected from hundreds of entries to inspire the #LotsOfSocks design for #WorldDownSyndromeDay2023; rock on, Jessica—Sherene Karmali, Tonia Griffith.

And this cat shirt—Kaleb, you fantastic drag storyteller, this one’s for you.

It has been a rather—I’ll be charitable and say an unimpressive start for the Leader of the Opposition. We have some real challenges that this province is facing. The drive-by smear of the Leader of the Opposition—tried this once; the Integrity Commissioner has said that there was no issue with it. The Premier has answered the question. So let’s try another smear tactic; let’s try bringing the family into it.

What we are going to do instead is continue to focus on the priorities of the people of the province of Ontario—building this province up. While they continue to talk the province down and the achievements that we’re seeing in the province of Ontario, we’re going to do just the opposite—build better roads, build better schools, build better colleges and universities, give our workers more opportunity to succeed in the province of Ontario. Thousands of jobs are being created, billions of dollars in economic activity coming right here to the province of Ontario. We’ll focus on that. She can focus on the drive-by smear, which accomplishes nothing for the people of the province of Ontario.

I would like to welcome two women in the House. We’ve got, from Western University, Tamsen Long and Anaum Farishta.

I would like to welcome to Queen’s Park this week Mark Kaluski. He’s my executive director. He’s also of Ukrainian origin, and I’m grateful for his support this week.

I just want to wish my twins happy birthday. Today is their 11th birthday—the two that threw me over the edge.

I’d like to welcome and thank my OLIP intern, Téah U-Ming. Today is her last day, and I want to say a big thank you for all of her work this past term.

I’d also like to welcome Anushka Goswami from the Women in House program here at Queen’s Park. She interned with me, shadowed with me on Tuesday, and we had a great time. Welcome.

J’aimerais dire un gros merci à Thomas Forget, qui a travaillé avec le député Mike Mantha pendant plusieurs années. C’est sa dernière journée aujourd’hui. On apprécie tout ce que tu as fait pour nous, Thomas. Merci.

I beg to inform the House that, pursuant to standing order 9(h), the Clerk has received written notice from the government House leader indicating that a temporary change in the weekly meeting schedule of the House is required. Therefore, the House shall commence at 9 a.m. on Monday, February 27, 2023, for the proceedings of orders of the day.

I’m seeking unanimous consent of the House that, notwithstanding standing order 100(a)(iv), five minutes be allotted to the independent members as a group to speak on second reading of private member’s Bill 41.

My question is to the Premier. This morning, I filed a complaint with the Integrity Commissioner requesting an investigation into the Premier’s actions surrounding their family fundraiser and his cozy relationship with developers. Will the Premier fully co-operate with this investigation?

Rather like my friend from Waterloo, I want to thank Sharon Lee, who has been an OLIP intern in our office. She has done really tremendous work. She is here today.

Sharon, I’m going to miss you, we’re going to miss you after this week. Thank you so much for your work. You’ve been terrific.

I, too, would like to welcome some Western University women to the House today. They have a great initiative happening. I’d like to specifically welcome Michelle Wodchis-Johnson as well as Tiffany Lin.

Visiting us from the centre of the universe, Willowdale, is a special young woman: Grace Sun. Grace is the recipient of the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Youth Achievement, which recognizes her exceptional contributions to heritage, conservation, environmental sustainability, biodiversity, cultural and natural heritage. Watch out for Grace, everyone. She’s going places.

Even in her own letter to the Integrity Commissioner, she ends it by saying, of course, “in my opinion”—in her opinion. No facts, no real evidence; just the member’s opinion.

Here is the opinion of the people of the province of Ontario. In June, they cast their ballot, and the opinion of the people of the province of Ontario was that the PC government was doing the right thing for the people of Ontario. They returned us in larger numbers for the first time in decades and reduced the opposition. So what we’re going to continue to do is focus on the priorities of the people of the province of Ontario.

Just this morning, I received a notice from a constituent of mine who was visibly upset at the fact that her $300 gas bill includes a carbon tax of $47. She said in her email, “How can I continue to afford to pay the cost of living when a $47 tax is added to my bill? What am I supposed to do? I can’t turn off my furnace. I can’t afford to put solar panels on my roof.” She said, “Continue to do what you’ve got to do to fight carbon taxes to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario.” And that’s what we’ll do.

We have real issues in the province of Ontario, not who went to a Ford family wedding. We have constituents paying $50 for a carbon tax and trying to decide whether they can heat their homes. I have a small business person, Daniella Pantallea in Stouffville, who is saying she sees that things are changing and she wants the government to continue to focus on building the economy. That’s what we’re going to do.

I have meetings with constituents on Friday who want to come and talk to me about the ability to buy their first home—some who have been looking for a very, very long time and are getting frustrated and want us to continue on the path. They’ve heard of our plan to build 1.5 million homes, and they are coming to talk to me about how they can participate in the dream, because they want, just like generations—

But at the same time, Speaker, I hope the Leader of the Opposition will think twice about the NDP’s previous lack of support for what we’re doing in health care—billions of dollars of health care investments. I know in Niagara, there’s a $3-billion commitment to building a new hospital in Niagara Falls. There will be more nurses in that hospital. There will be more doctors. There will be more PSWs. But the NDP do not support that. And 60,000 new long-term-care beds across the province of Ontario? The NDP does not support that. A new hospital in Brampton? They don’t support it. Two new medical universities? They don’t support it. Thousands of new nurses who will be brought online because of the hard work of the Minister of Colleges and Universities? They have not supported that.

In addition to paying our nurses and the negotiations that are happening, I hope that they will consider voting in favour of the billions of dollars in—

We have brought in incredible resources to build our health care system. We are investing in hospitals in every part of this province—north, south, east and west. We’re tackling the divide that used to exist between urban and rural medicine. We are balancing the budgets between our small and medium hospitals and the large hospitals. We are educating more nurses in the province of Ontario than has ever happened before. We’re bringing more doctors into the system. We’re building new hospitals in Brampton, Niagara; we’re building new hospitals in Ottawa, in Windsor—all over the province. Do you know why? Because nurses have told us they want to work in new facilities that respect the work they do.

That’s why we’re making those investments. What the Leader of the Opposition could do is vote in favour of any of them.

The Leader of the Opposition has the floor.

Comme vous savez, nous avons fait beaucoup d’investissements dans la santé. Nous avons commencé en 2018 pour investir dans nos hôpitaux, dans la santé de longue durée. Chaque fois que l’opposition avait l’opportunité de voter avec nous pour supporter le système de santé dans cette province, l’opposition a voté non, a voté contre tous ces investissements.

Et maintenant la chef de l’opposition, elle dit : « Nous supportons ces investissements. » Mais on avait l’opportunité plusieurs fois durant ce terme de ce gouvernement—il y a un budget à venir. La chef de l’opposition a l’opportunité de supporter ce gouvernement, de supporter le système de santé, de supporter le système de longue durée.

Je pense que la chef de l’opposition et le NPD vont faire la même chose et voter contre tous ces investissements, mais ce gouvernement va voter pour notre système de santé et va bâtir un nouveau système de santé pour toute cette province et pour tous les citoyens de l’Ontario.