This petition is titled, “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 Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones 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 crisis in health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 and recruiting, retaining and respecting doctors, nurses and PSWs with better pay and better working conditions;

“—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-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;

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

I support this petition and will affix my signature to it.

It’s a great honour to rise and be able to present this petition on behalf of Melanie Duckett-Wilson from Newmarket Ontario. The petition reads, “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government announced a 30-day consultation in November on removing approximately 2,995 hectares across 10 municipalities from the greenbelt, which was created in 2005 to permanently protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands; and

“Whereas this government also announced another 14,000 hectares of urbanized land to develop, and the regions of Peel, York, Halton and Hamilton recently had their boundaries expanded under provincial approval; and

“Whereas the greenbelt contributes $9.6 billion in GDP and supports 177,700 full-time jobs (Greenbelt Foundation, 2021); and

“Whereas this government intends to spend over $12 billion on the proposed 413 and Bradford Bypass cutting through more greenbelt knowing there are dozens of endangered species at risk;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that the proposed ... hectares be returned to the greenbelt and the 2005 legislation be augmented to ensure no such future land rezoning takes place in the greenbelt.”

I would be pleased to affix my name to this and send it with page Alex to the table.

I have a petition to raise social assistance rates and would like to thank once again Dr. Sally Palmer, who has literally sent in thousands of names supporting this petition.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate in January 2022 was 5.1%, the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the 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 increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works, and to increase other programs accordingly.”

I wholeheartedly support this petition. I will affix my name to it, and hope for Christmas the government will please do the right thing and double the rates.

I move that, at the conclusion of the afternoon orders of the day, the House stand adjourned until 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.

I’m co-sponsoring this bill with MPP Stevens. The purpose of this bill is to provide tenants, the 1.4 million households in Ontario that rent, better protections against illegal eviction, because everyone in our province deserves to live in a safe and affordable home.

Ms. Scott moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 59, An Act to require the Minister of Health to direct public hospitals to have a specified number of sexual assault evidence kits available / Projet de loi 59, Loi exigeant du ministre de la Santé qu’il ordonne aux hôpitaux publics de disposer d’un nombre précis de trousses médico-légales en cas d’agression sexuelle.

Before I ask for orders of the day, I have a brief message for the House.

As we leave Queen’s Park to return to our ridings for the holidays, let the light of the season symbolize the hope and promise of good things to come. Amid the darkness of challenges that we have confronted in the past few years, we have found light in our support for one another, the dedication of our front-line workers in all sectors and the promise of the bright future that lies ahead for all of us.

Here at the Legislature, light also symbolizes the work that we do each day. In 2017, the Washington Post adopted the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” At the seat of Ontario’s Parliament, light reminds us of our commitment to the principles of democracy as we work together on behalf of all Ontarians.

Our work as elected members could not be possible without the dedication of our Legislative Assembly staff, from the cleaners to the Clerks, Hansard to human resources, broadcasters to buyers, protocol to protection services. Thank you all for the work that you do behind the scenes to allow us to do our work in Parliament.

I also want to express thanks to the presiding officer team, the Deputy Speaker and member for Flamborough–Glanbrook, the member for Parkdale–High Park, the member for Ajax and the member for Ottawa–Vanier, who worked to support me in my role as Speaker; and express my appreciation to the members of the Board of Internal Economy, the government House leader as well as the member for Timiskaming–Cochrane. I look forward to working with you in 2023.

To all members on both sides of the House, after a busy start to the 43rd Parliament, I hope you’re all able to rest and reconnect with family and friends as we close out the year.

Merry Christmas, Hanukkah sameach, happy holidays and best wishes in the new year. Thank you very much.

Applause.

Orders of the day? I recognize the government House leader.

The House adjourned at 1255.

This petition is entitled “Stand Up for Early Years and Child Care Workers.” It reads, “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas child care centres across the province are closing rooms and limiting enrolment because they cannot retain staff in their programs; and

“Whereas child care experts and advocates estimate Ontario may need as many as 65,000 new child care workers to meet the expected demand for $10-a-day child care; and

“Whereas without a strategy to recruit and retain child care workers through setting a salary scale, increasing wages, and implementing decent work standards, parents will lose access to affordable child care; and

“Whereas early years and child care workers have long been overlooked in child care policy-making discussions; and

“Whereas the vitally important work of early years and child care workers has been historically undervalued, with low pay, poor working conditions, and high turnover;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately establish an Early Years and Child Care Worker Advisory Commission to develop recommendations on how to support the early years and child care workforce and address staffing shortages, including through a salary scale, increased compensation and improved working conditions.”

I fully support this petition. I have tabled a bill for this and I call on the government to take action.

No further business.