Speaker, I am truly honoured to rise today to pay tribute to the late Honourable David C. Onley, who served faithfully as the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2007 to 2014. Mr. Onley was, among many other things, the first provincial Lieutenant Governor with a physical disability and the second-longest serving since Confederation, a father, a grandfather, a husband, a change-maker, a broadcaster, a public servant and an advocate.

I’d again like to welcome Mr. Onley’s wonderful family: his wife Ruth Ann and Robert his son who are joining us here today. Thank you for being here.

David Onley is remembered as one of the most extraordinary figures in Ontario’s rich political history. He contracted polio at the age of three, which made walking a mammoth task. As his family shared with us recently at his funeral, that also left him with a lifetime of pain. Yet when he was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor, he walked up the stairs in front of us today and sat in the Speaker’s chair. That determination and grit transcended to all areas of David’s life. When David saw closed doors, he opened them, and when they couldn’t be opened, he made sure they were made accessible—not just temporarily, not just for him, but for everyone who passed through after him.

Former Toronto mayor David Crombie and I were speaking recently about Mr. Onley, and he reminded me of his son’s reflection at his father’s disability and desire to live a full life. He said, “He lived a life of courage every day,” something we should all aspire to.

Mr. Onley lived a life dedicated to service and continually fought to make this province work for the disabled. He once remarked that accessibility was, “much, much more than just the curb cuts and wheelchair parking spots and automatic doors and ramps.... It’s that which enables people to achieve their full potential.” He shared the joy in the passing of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and was dedicated to using every tool he had to sound the alarm when he felt the province was lagging in fulfilling its legal obligations, and in 2018 he was asked to do the official AODA review.

I was speaking with disability advocate Sarah Jama yesterday—she’s a disability justice advocate who, yes, is running for a seat in this House—and I couldn’t help but ask her what stood out for her about the legacy of David Onley, as somebody who is a disability justice advocate and also a person who uses a mobility device. She said she felt it incumbent on all of us not to let his incredible work pass with him. She says, “We owe him and the millions of disabled people in this province the implementation of every single one of his 2019 recommendations.” Tough words—and she’ll have tougher words too, but I leave her to bring them to this place. And I would say that, if she were to take her seat among us here, or the next person who sits here with a physical disability, she will have been well served by the path that he forged.

I want to share, Speaker, that I was honoured to attend Mr. Onley’s funeral just a few weeks ago. It was an extraordinary event. It was held in the very church where Mr. Onley and his wife Ruth Ann met and was attended by a who’s who of leaders of all levels of government, past and present; former colleagues in the media; of course, his beloved family; but also hundreds and hundreds of disability advocates, people with disabilities.

I spoke yesterday with Anthony Hylton, his chief of staff when he was Lieutenant Governor, about the time and effort necessary to ensure that that church and service would be truly accessible for this occasion: larger font in the programs, an area for people in mobility devices, the book of condolences had to be accessible to everyone, programs in Braille, screens with captioning and on and on.

Mr. Hylton called David Onley “one of the greatest people I ever met”—and he’s met pretty great people—and he shared that he would receive a call from Mr. Onley every January 30, the anniversary of the day he asked him to be his chief of staff, becoming the first Black person to fill this role anywhere in Canada.

Anthony Hylton also remarked that Mr. Onley was a deeply religious man. His family and his pastor talked about this throughout their service. It was fitting, then, that his coffin was led out of the church by his pastor, now himself needing a mobility device, on David’s scooter.

As Mr. Onley had said often, most people are one fall or one accident away from really understanding how inaccessible places were for him. He lives on in his immortalized words in Hansard, in the results he achieved for the people of Ontario and in the lives and memories of his loving family and the friends who had the pleasure of knowing him. Thank you for sharing him with our province.

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance of the late Honourable David Onley, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, with five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s loyal opposition, five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group and five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government.

My question is to the Premier. Standing here today in this seat, I’m feeling the weight of the important role that we in the official opposition have in this province. A lot of people are counting on us. People are struggling. People aren’t voting, because they’ve been told over and over again by this government and governments before them that this is as good as it gets, that this is all they can expect.

When a government as rich and powerful as this one makes decisions that favour developers over farmers, shareholders over sick people, we have a problem.

To the Premier: Since this House rose, more concerns have been raised about his relationship with developers profiting from his greenbelt carve-up and their attendance at family events. Can the Premier explain to Ontarians how they are supposed to believe that these developers weren’t given a heads-up about his plans for the greenbelt?

Well, the Premier has a close relationship with developers. We know that; he has acknowledged it. But when the guest list for a family event includes the very developers who later benefited from this government’s MZOs and greenbelt sale, something doesn’t sit right. The government has a history of very specific land decisions that somehow end up benefiting their friends and their donors.

Does the Premier understand how bad this looks, not just for the Premier, but for the integrity of his government?

I am honoured to rise today to pay tribute to the late Honourable David C. Onley, Ontario’s 28th Lieutenant Governor. I welcome his family here today and express my sincere condolences for your loss.

I had the honour of attending Mr. Onley’s funeral and there is no question that he was so loved and cherished by his family, was a valued member of his spiritual community and a truly respected member of the disability community.

Mr. Onley was an extraordinary person and a real champion for people with disabilities. The barriers he broke for people with disabilities, the path he paved, the expectations he left government—this House—with were groundbreaking, inspiring and, I believe, must be honoured by all who serve in this place to carry on his legacy.

I look forward to the implementation of all the recommendations from the Onley report and I’m so thankful for the work he did to advance the rights of all Ontarians, especially those with disabilities.

The great David Onley will be missed, but he will never be forgotten. May Your Honour rest in peace.

The Premier has already responded to that, and the commissioner also responded to that, Mr. Speaker.

But at the same time, we are continuing to move forward as a government to ensure that we continue to build a strong, prosperous Ontario, and it is seen throughout the province of Ontario. Whether you travel to the north, the south, the east or the west, the province of Ontario is moving in a very good direction. We are seeing thousands of jobs being created. We are seeing investments come back to the province of Ontario.

That is what we continue to fight for, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we’re also fighting to ensure that young families can afford to get their first home, something that almost everybody in this place has enjoyed. The reason why families and people came to this province, to this country, for generations is because they wanted the dignity, the hope and the optimism that they could also enjoy that first home. We are going to do everything in our power to make sure that all Ontarians can enjoy that type of optimism and success for the future.

I rise today to pay tribute to the Honourable David C. Onley. I share my deepest condolences to David’s family: to his wife Ruth Ann; his sons, Robert, Michael and Jonathan; along with his friends and former colleagues.

I had the opportunity and the privilege of speaking at David’s funeral in January, where I noted that David was a memorable journalist and broadcaster who advocated for accessibility for all Ontarians, helping to put a spotlight on the barriers faced by people with disabilities. He then took the advocacy into Queen’s Park, making accessibility issues a priority as Ontario’s 28th Lieutenant Governor.

As Lieutenant Governor, David served the province with honour and distinction. He worked tirelessly to uphold the principle that every person should be allowed to reach the heights demonstrated by their potential and expanded the reconciliation efforts with Ontario’s Indigenous peoples, paving the way for work that continues today.

As I said last month, he was a true leader and set an example for others. Those who knew him described him as generous, compassionate and determined. He leaves behind a wonderful lasting legacy for the people of Ontario. His contributions to our province will never be forgotten.

May God bless our 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, David C. Onley.

Applause.

Regarding any family matters, my family is separate from the political process. They aren’t involved.

I had an opportunity to speak to the Integrity Commissioner, Mr. Speaker. I asked him for his opinion, and he found there was no violation. Again, this event was cleared by the Integrity Commissioner.

The member for Guelph.

The one thing that the member opposite and I can agree on is that in fact it is not acceptable. However, I think that the numbers show that, through the use of Ontario Health, making sure that we fully utilize emergency department locums, we’ve actually avoided almost 2,000 of these emergency department closures.

We are building, through your health plan, capacity to add emergency physicians, primary care physicians and nurses. We have now a plan that actually gives us an opportunity to serve the people of Ontario through their primary care physicians and through their hospital networks, ensuring that when people need the care they deserve and expect in the province of Ontario, through a fully provincially funded system, we will be there with that support.

Government House leader.

Mr. Speaker, again, the commissioner has responded, as well as the Premier.

Yes, we are making decisions that will put more of the valuable resources of the province of Ontario available for families and for young Canadians who want to be able to buy that first home, but we didn’t just start last week. We started from 2018, Mr. Speaker, and at every step of the way the opposition has been opposed to that.

When we brought on transit-oriented communities to build housing around the transit infrastructure—which, by the way, Mr. Speaker, is the largest investment in transit in the history of this province, if not the country—we brought in rules to build transit-oriented communities, they voted against it, so it is no surprise that they are against building more homes for people.

It is that hope and optimism that we have been fighting for since we were elected, since the Progressive Conservative government was even formed. We knew that the people of this province wanted a prosperous province, but they also wanted the hope and dignity of having their first home. We are going to do everything in our power to make sure that that is affordable for everybody.

But, Mr. Speaker, we are moving forward and we are looking ahead. We are building an economy that is stronger coming out of COVID than it was before. That is what we are continuing to focus on, whether it’s the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investments that the Premier and Minister of Economic Development have brought to this province or whether it is the groundbreaking transit system that the Minister of Transportation is bringing in. The Minister of Infrastructure, who is bringing, for the first time, broadband services to the entire province: Do you know what that means, Mr. Speaker? That means that every part of the province—north, south, east and west—can participate in the economic advantage that Ontario used to have, that was lost under the Liberals but that we are rebuilding. That’s what we’re doing, Mr. Speaker.

But we are moving forward, Mr. Speaker. We are moving beyond COVID to build an Ontario economy that is stronger than it was going into COVID. We have not stopped on that. As I just said, billions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of jobs are being created in the province of Ontario. We’re cutting taxes for the lowest-income Ontarians so that they can participate. We’re putting billions of dollars in investments into northern Ontario, because for far too long the north was ignored.

Now, the opposition can continue to look backward. They can continue to forget about the economy. They can continue to vote against these investments that we’re making, but we are looking forward because that’s what the people of Ontario want. They want a stronger economy and that’s what we’re doing every day, building a stronger, more prosperous Ontario.

At the same time, the Minister of Labour has been working very hard with our partners in labour to ensure that all of these thousands of jobs that remain unfilled can be filled by the people of the province of Ontario, that they have the skills that they need to help us continue to build a more prosperous, stronger Ontario, a better Ontario than we inherited and a stronger one than we had going into COVID.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre. In the last 12 months, Ontario emergency rooms have closed at least 158 times. This is the equivalent of 184 days when the urgent medical needs of Ontarians were not being met in their communities. These closures are unacceptable. They put people’s health and lives at risk. Why hasn’t the Premier acted to address the crisis in our emergency rooms?

When will the government finally prioritize the health of Ontarians, respect our health care workers and keep our ERs open?

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. For over a decade, the Liberals chased hundreds of thousands of auto and manufacturing jobs out of the province, including in my riding of Newmarket–Aurora. They simply left the people of Ontario unprepared for the EV future. That’s why we have taken action to rebuild the province’s auto sector, all while growing the economy and creating good jobs.

In a sector that employs hundreds of thousands of workers, will the minister explain how the government is attracting new investments and ensuring that Ontario is open for business?

Speaker, with Magna’s historic investment and expansion plans in the province, can the minister please elaborate on how this project will help create jobs in my great riding of Newmarket–Aurora, as well as across the province?

My question is for the Premier. This morning, the Ontario Federation of Labour, the Ontario Nurses’ Association and many other representatives of Ontario’s workers put the Conservative government on notice that they’re fed up with being ignored. They’re saying, “Enough is enough.” ONA nurses and Ontario health care workers are demanding the Conservative government finally show the respect that nurses and other front-line health care workers deserve.

My question is: When will the Premier finally listen to Ontario’s demands for more public funding for public health care, for an end to the staffing crisis, for the full repeal of Bill 124 and for decent wages and working conditions for all workers in our health care system?

This Thursday, there will be thousands of public health care workers and supporters joining in solidarity to echo and amplify Ontario’s nurses’ demands for better staffing, for better care and for better wages. Nurses in Ontario are saying, “Enough is enough,” and so are New Democrats.

My question is: Will the Premier and Minister of Health be visiting those demonstrations with New Democrats on Thursday, or are they too afraid of what they will hear from Ontario’s front-line health care workers?

The Premier.

The next question?

My question is for the Minister of Energy. As Ontario’s population continues to grow, we must address our future energy infrastructure needs today. The previous government, supported by the opposition, created a mess in our energy system. This mess led to the people of Ontario facing some of the highest bills in North America. For our economy to grow and our province to continue to prosper, we need to support innovative and bold solutions that meet our ongoing energy needs.

Speaker, what is our government doing to provide affordable and clean energy solutions for the people of my riding, both now and into the future?

Thanks to the member opposite from Brantford–Brant for that great question this morning.

Ontario has a world-class electricity system. It’s 90% emissions-free. We get over 60% of our power from our nuclear fleet emissions-free. We get about 25% from our hydro fleet emissions-free. There are about 33,000 other generators across the province: wind and solar and biomass facilities. Many of those facilities are still producing power at night, though, when demand is low, at off-peak times. Under the former Liberal government, what we had happen was this surplus power was sold to neighbouring jurisdictions at a loss.

We’re bringing that to an end, thanks to our government’s work on the Oneida battery storage project, one of the largest battery storage projects in the world. We’re partnering with the Six Nations of the Grand River to build this. We’re making full use of Ontario’s clean grid by drawing and storing the energy at off-peak times and then dispatching it at times when we’re on-peak, when we need that power. Making our—

Ontario has again become the top auto jurisdiction. To build on this, our government is transforming Ontario’s automotive supply chain to build the cars of the future. We’re doing this because we lowered the cost of doing business by $7 billion annually and, as a result, we have attracted $17 billion in transformative auto investments in two years. Last week, Magna International announced a historic investment of almost half a billion dollars into six of their Ontario plants. With $23.6 million coming from the province of Ontario, Magna is creating more than 1,000 well-paying jobs here in Ontario.

This is how we’re bringing new life to our auto sector, Speaker. There are now 600,000 new jobs created since we first took office.

Thank you for that question. Mr. Speaker, we know, after 15 years of neglect, how we had hallway health care. We’re fixing health care and you’re blocking health care every step of the way. The opposition wants to have endless debates about our health care system, but the people of Ontario just want to make sure they see action happening, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We have 203,000 backlogged surgeries, and we have a plan to make sure we lower that.

We have a plan by making sure we give pharmacists—now able to treat more patients with common illnesses: just in the month of January, just in one month, 40,000 assessments being completed with 65% of pharmacies across the province providing their services. That is 40,000 people who aren’t going to the primary care doctors, 40,000 people not going to the emergency room.

Paramedics are now able to make sure that they take care of the people—

With the greatest of respect, a $14-billion increase in health care spending since 2018 suggests quite the opposite: that we have in fact invested in our health care professionals. We are investing in our primary care beds. We are investing in our home care and our hospitals. We are doing that because we understand and appreciate that the status quo is no longer an option.

We will continue to make those investments, and while the negotiations happen with the Ontario Hospital Association and ONA, we will continue to invest, because that is what a government does when they understand the people of Ontario deserve a publicly funded health care system, and they will get that under Premier Ford.