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.

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.

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.

I’d like to thank all the residents of London West who signed petitions to protect the greenbelt.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Bill 23 is the Ford government’s latest attempt to remove protected land from the greenbelt, allowing developers to bulldoze and pave over 7,000 acres of farmland in the greenbelt;

“Whereas Ontario is already losing 319.6 acres of farmland and green space daily to development;

“Whereas the government’s” own “Housing Affordability Task Force found there are plenty of places to build homes without destroying the greenbelt;

“Whereas Ford’s repeated moves to tear up farmland and bulldoze wetlands have never been about housing, but are about making the rich richer;

“Whereas green spaces and farmland are what we rely on to grow our food, support natural habitats and prevent flooding;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately amend Bill 23, stop all plans to further remove protected land from the greenbelt and protect existing farmland in the province by passing the NDP’s Protecting Agricultural Land Act.”

I strongly agree with this petition. I affix my signature and will send it to the table with page Ema.