Research from the Canadian Mental Health Association reveals that residents of northern Ontario have higher self-reported rates of poor mental health compared to the provincial average.

Under the previous Liberal government, people living in the north had limited access to essential mental health services. Speaker, this is not right nor is it fair.

Access to care in our province should not be dictated by where a person lives. Every Ontarian deserves accessible mental health and addiction services. That is why our government must support the mental health needs of individuals in rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities.

Speaker, can the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions please share with this House how our government ensures improved access to mental health and addiction services province-wide?

Building more beds and training additional staff are integral to expanding our mental health care system; however, we know that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in supporting individuals with mental health and addiction services. Recognizing the uniqueness of service needs is paramount in northern Ontario and with our Indigenous communities. Unique barriers confront Indigenous communities in accessing mental health care services. That is why our government must support and enhance Indigenous community-based programs that are culturally focused.

Speaker, can the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions please explain what our government is doing to ensure that Indigenous communities receive the care that they deserve?

My question is for the Premier. A couple of weeks ago, we brought up the issue of operational room assistants replacing scrub nurses at Hamilton Health Sciences, but we have seen no action to date. The Minister of Health speaks of innovation, but this is not the innovation we need. This is reckless gambling with patients’ lives to save a few bucks.

When will the Premier stop replacing nurses in the operating room and ensure Ontarians have safe, high-quality surgical care?

The member from Sault Ste. Marie is correct: The north has been neglected for far too long. This is why I’ve been travelling in the north, and I’ve had the opportunity to visit many of the cities and rural and remote communities.

Just recently, in October, I had the opportunity to meet with Carolyn Karle and Team DEK, a local addiction recovery group, who have lost children to addictions. I was honoured to speak with them to listen to their experiences and learn more about what we must do to fill the gaps in their community to give better care to individuals. Mr. Speaker, we’re filling those gaps as a government.

I was in North Bay last week with the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade to announce an expansion of the North Bay addictions centre of excellence at Canadore College. This is an investment of $4.5 million to build 53 beds not only to help people but to train individuals in the north to provide better supports and build on the continuum of care in northern Ontario.

The trauma that was suffered by Indian residential school survivors, as well as the intergenerational trauma to their families and communities, requires a focused commitment to culturally appropriate services. That’s why $2 million of the Canadore investment will go toward servicing Indigenous populations.

In addition, we’re also providing supports to several Indigenous-led organizations to deliver evidence-driven, land-based care—$3.8 million for the St. Joseph’s Care Group and Dilico Anishinabek Family Care to open 34 new beds in Thunder Bay and $4.2 million to the Sioux Lookout Friendship group for addictions services.

Mr. Speaker, these are just three of the incredible investments and initiatives that are being made as a result of the Addictions Recovery Fund, which is going to open 400 treatment beds, 7,000 treatment spots—and, I might say, 56% of which will be in northern Ontario in rural and remote communities.

We’re building partnerships with our Indigenous communities because they’ve told us, “There can be nothing about us without us.” And we’re listening.

My question is to the Solicitor General. Minister, I come from a riding with a great deal of hunters, target shooters and gun collectors. I want to make it clear that these are not the folks shooting up cities; gangs and organized crime are largely responsible for that.

On October 27, I wrote to you asking if Ontario will be joining the prairie provinces, New Brunswick and the Yukon in saying no to Justin Trudeau’s gun buyback. I haven’t received an answer yet.

Speaker, I’ve read what the federal government is proposing. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on, and it certainly will not curb gun violence or crime. I know talking about guns makes some of you uncomfortable, and I’m sure some of you will peg me as some sort of gun-toting Beth Dutton. I’m not, which makes me more credible: I have no interest to protect here. In fact, if an idea was brought forward that would save lives, I’d be the first to stand in my place and vote in favour to help—to help those students like my colleague from Scarborough–Guildwood mentioned earlier this morning. Until then, we all need to exercise common sense.

Speaker, to the minister: Will you be saying no to committing Ontario police resources to assist in the federal gun buyback?

Speaker, participating in the buyback will remove police from our streets, which will put more power into the hands of criminals. There will be fewer police to investigate domestic violence, homicides and even the real problem of gangs and smuggling.

Feel-good headlines on the 6 o’clock news never translate into good public policy, and in this case it gives the people of Ontario a false sense of security at their very large expense.

I am happy to hear that you want to push the feds to stop the smuggling of illegal weapons into Ontario and join Toronto mayor John Tory in his call for tougher bail reform.

Four other provinces and one territory agree with me. Speaker, to the Solicitor General: I like what you’re saying, but are you saying “no” to Justin Trudeau’s gun buyback?

I would like to thank the member for such an important question, and I’d like to congratulate him on the marvellous work he’s doing for his riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to share with the House today that under the leadership of their fantastic member, the Thunder Bay Museum, Lakehead Social Planning Council and the township of Conmee will each receive a Seniors Community Grant.

This total of $62,724 will help deliver programs and support to help seniors to stay fit, healthy, active and socially connected to their community.

We are providing Seniors Community Grants in every single riding in Ontario. Since 2018, we have invested close to $22 million, providing 1,249 Seniors Community Grants to community groups all across Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, our government is providing the tools and resources for organizations across the province, empowering seniors to continue being active participants in their communities. When we work together, we can ensure that seniors can access the quality programs and services they need and deserve.

My question is for the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility. Unfortunately, due to years of neglect and underfunding from the previous Liberal government, many seniors in my riding were left discouraged and isolated. They lacked the resources and opportunities they required in order to stay active, fit and socially connected in their communities.

Speaker, can the minister please tell the House what our government is doing to support our seniors throughout Ontario and in my riding?

We know that social isolation can lead to serious health effects and reduce the quality of life for our seniors. That’s why our government must provide the necessary resources for our seniors to ensure they can remain active, fit and socially connected to their communities.

Speaker, can the Minister of Seniors and Accessibility please share what our government is doing to safeguard and support Ontario’s seniors population?

Minister of Health.

The Solicitor General.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the question. The problem is not with legal gun owners. And to be clear, those who possess illegal guns will not be participating in the C-21 program. This is obvious. That’s why we’re treating combatting gun and gang violence as a priority. But we’re telling our federal government to step it up at the border, because this is a priority.

I did just that when I attended in Halifax at the federal-provincial-territorial meeting, and I will continue to press the federal government: Step it up at the border. This is important now, and we have to keep Ontario safe, because we know that almost every gun that is used in an illegal activity in Ontario is coming from across the border.

I’ve seen for myself when I toured at the border with the member from Sarnia–Lambton at the St. Clair River. I saw exactly where the drones came in with the illegal guns. And I went with the member from Sault Ste. Marie to his border, and I saw the proximity between the US and the Ontario border.

The federal government must do more. Our message won’t change. We are telling the federal government: Step it up—less talk and more action.

Hyperbole is never going to replace facts in this place or in Ontario. For clarity, what we have is, Hamilton Health Sciences have worked alongside and through the innovative partners at Niagara Health and Mohawk College to establish a credentialing program that enables various existing members of the health care team to gain competencies required to practise as operating room technicians and attendants. These HHS team members include medical device reprocessing department techs, health care aides and support workers. This is part of the innovation that Hamilton Health Sciences proposed and we funded.

Hamilton Health Sciences spent a lot of time working with their partners like Mohawk College to make sure that they can additionally skill existing staff members who are working in the system. We continue to see this kind of innovation making a difference, because we know that there are so many incredibly capable health human resources who are working in the system and want to improve it, unlike the member opposite.

The latest report from the Ontario Association of Interval and Transitional Houses, or OAITH, says there were 52 femicides in Ontario this year. One woman or girl killed, I think we can all agree, is one too many. Each of these losses were preventable through action on the many recommendations this government has at hand to address the systemic issues that make it difficult for women and children to escape violence in the first place: actions on affordable housing, supportive housing included; wage parity; paid emergency leave; and doubling ODSP/OW benefits—because there are folks with disabilities who are victims of violence—just to name a few.

My question is to the Premier: Will this government put their words into action by implementing the many recommendations that the official opposition and community agencies have provided to finally end gender-based violence in Ontario?

Back to the Premier: Community-based investments like interval and transitional houses save lives, yet they still don’t receive annualized funding like many other public sectors do. What this means is that resources that could be put into preventing violence are instead put towards administrative hurdles and the precarity of short-term financial outlooks.

My question is back to the Premier. Will he commit to funding gender-based violence prevention and intervention through annualized funding, so that front-line workers, counsellors, agencies, sexual assault and rape crisis centres, shelters and all the community-based spaces and human beings who are caring for folks who have experienced violence aren’t left nickel-and-diming, which squeezes staff and the programs needed, and ultimately hurts women and children?

Ma question est pour le premier ministre. Lately, in the city of Greater Sudbury, 40% of a paramedic’s time is spent waiting to off-load patients to Health Sciences North’s overcrowded emergency department. The city of Greater Sudbury is huge. If an ambulance and the paramedics are stuck at the hospital, that leaves the good people of Beaver Lake, of Wahnapitae First Nation, of Levack up to one hour away from emergency services. Does the Premier think that it is okay to leave the people of my riding waiting up to one hour for paramedical emergency care to arrive?

The associate minister.

My question is for the Minister of Colleges and Universities. One month ago, the Minister of Colleges and Universities spoke about the new agency Intellectual Property Ontario, and how work would shortly be getting under way to support this agency’s mandate.

I will keep my question short and brief: Can the minister inform the House on what progress has been made and when can Ontario expect to see some impact of IPON?

Through you, Speaker, can the minister explain exactly the benefits that IPON is intended to bring to the province of Ontario’s taxpayers?

I thank the member opposite for the question. Precarious, low-paying jobs keep women in crisis and in abusive homes and very dangerous situations. That’s why this government is investing in increasing women’s economic participation: because it’s good for families. We have invested over $18 million in 35 community-based organizations and educational institutions, to help women facing socio-economic barriers develop in-demand skills to enter and re-enter the workforce.

Mr. Speaker, we understand that when women are economically empowered, when women are able to take care of their family, they have the choice and the opportunity to keep themselves safe, and we are doing that in this government. We are investing in women, because we do believe that when women succeed, Ontario succeeds.

And, Mr. Speaker, we are also investing in child care and addressing the barriers that are preventing women from being economically empowered. We are making these investments. We are going to continue to make these investments and speak to community organizations, to understand what they need, so that we can address them and get women into the driver’s seat of their economic future.

There is no doubt that paramedics play a vital role in our health care system. We have done some innovative things in the last number of months that are highlighting exactly what the member opposite is referencing: the dedicated off-load nursing program that we have put in place, investing over $23 million to ensure that hospitals that wish to hire a dedicated nurse off-load position can do so, so that paramedics can more quickly get back out onto the road and into our community. The 911 changes that we have made to ensure that paramedics, with patient approval, can take that individual to somewhere other than an emergency room, whether that is a mental health facility, a long-term-care facility, has really made a difference. We are making those investments because we see that we have an excellent workforce that really understands how, at their core, we can assist patients in our communities.

Thank you to the member for that question. I’m always happy to stand in this Legislature and talk about the amazing work our intellectual property and research sector is doing.

As the member mentioned, I announced last month that IPON CEO Peter Cowan and board chair Karima Bawa would be hard at work this month laying the groundwork for the agency. Just last week, I invited both Peter and Karima to Queen’s Park to meet with me and update me on the progress they have been making and how our government can better enable their ability to create a meaningful culture shift in the intellectual property community. I’m proud to say that since the announcement, IPON is well under way in making the concept of an Ontario-first and Ontario-driven intellectual property strategy into a reality.

And 2023 will be an incredible year for our research and businesses, and I cannot wait to see how they join the IPON framework to better leverage their work for the benefit of Ontario and taxpayers.

IPON will work with our research and business sectors to create a more robust culture around protecting Ontario-based intellectual property and how to use the economic and societal benefits of the research to fuel further research and economic activity in this province. In short, with IPON we are putting Ontario in the driver’s seat, not only for research ideas but transforming research into new technologies, methodologies and capabilities that will fuel Ontario’s future economic and societal prosperity.

Supplementary?

There being no further business this morning, this House stands in recess until 3 p.m.

The House recessed from 1145 to 1500.

First reading agreed to.

I would like to introduce the grade 12 politics class from Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute in Don Valley West.

Ms. Bowman moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 50, An Act to amend the Securities Act to require certain issuers to adopt and make publicly available written policies respecting their director nomination process / Projet de loi 50, Loi modifiant la Loi sur les valeurs mobilières afin d’exiger que certains émetteurs adoptent et rendent publiques des politiques écrites concernant leur processus de mise en candidature des administrateurs.

The creation of a policy in this regard is an outstanding recommendation of the Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce assembled by this government in 2020. It is important to see action on this recommendation to advance diversity, because diversity drives innovation, which drives our economy.

I am tabling this bill today to advance the work on this important issue, and I hope my colleagues in the Legislature will give their support.

In my riding of Niagara West and across the entire Niagara region, our government has made substantial investments in the GO train network to ensure that commuters are able to go from Toronto to Niagara and back in record time. These investments have expanded our entire GO network across the entire GTHA system. But accessibility is very important, as is ease of access. That’s why I know it’s so important that in select locations across the GTHA, we’ve seen the Ministry of Transportation expand the Presto tap program.

I’m wondering, on behalf of the people of Niagara West and the entire Niagara region, if the Associate Minister of Transportation can tell my constituents if they soon will be able to access the Presto tap program in Niagara, and in Niagara West specifically.

I know it’s important, as well, that our government takes a digital-first approach to ensure that we are able to have people access government services in a safe and effective manner that makes life easier for them and their families.

Can the minister explain more about how this program will ensure ease of access to the GO train network and ensure that more people are able to hop on the GO train, perhaps down the road at Union Station, and visit some of the unique sights that Niagara has to offer?