Today I am joined by my executive assistant, Suhas Vij. He’s here for the first time. Welcome to the Legislature.

I would like to introduce executives from the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine: Duncan Stewart, the president and scientific director, and Sandra Donaldson, the vice-president and chief operating officer. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Today is my wife’s birthday. I can think of no better birthday present for my wife, Madame Pam, who is a kindergarten teacher, than to welcome Ema, as a page, and her father, Kevin MacAulay, to the Legislature today.

Mr. Speaker, she’s not here yet, but I would like to welcome my niece, Zahara Israr, who will be here this morning as part of the West Glen Junior School tour. Thank you.

I am informed that the member for Ottawa–Vanier has a point of order.

It is now time for oral questions.

To reply for the government, the Minister of Education.

At the very young age of 54 years old, my brother had to reinvent himself. His name is Gordon Mantha. I want to congratulate him. He has just graduated and become a fully licensed RPN.

Yes, I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House that, notwithstanding standing order 40(e), five minutes be allotted to the independents as a group to respond to the ministerial statement by the Minister of Finance on the fall economic statement.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. All along, we have advocated for children to be in stable classrooms. We know that the threat of strikes and pandemics have a great deal of impact on children’s mental, physical, social and emotional health, and their academic success, Speaker. That’s why we are at the table today, and we will remain at the table—designed to get a deal that is fair for our workers, that preserves the in-person learning experience that our children deserve.

The plan to catch up, as announced, was premised on a belief that kids have to be in school. Six hundred and fifty million more dollars are allocated this year, compared to last year. Nearly 7,000 more staff were hired since we came to power, almost a thousand more front-line teachers, a 420% increase in mental health—all of this is because we are committed to publicly funded schools. We’re committed to getting a deal and keeping these kids in school.

We are committed to ensuring stability for children. I would urge the members opposite to consider the very real impacts of union-driven strikes on children. They are real. They have learning loss and mental and physical health impacts that we can quantify. These are not abstractions; these are the children of our province. They have an obligation to them.

We have an obligation to them, which is why we are increasing funding in publicly funded schools; increasing staffing, with over $3 billion more than when the Liberals were in power in 2017-18; 7,000 more staff when you compare it to when we started; and 1,000 more front-line teachers. We are committed to our children and we’re committed to keeping kids in school.

It has been an extraordinary time in this province. This is not a normative period. Kids have—

Interjection.

But we have a plan in this province designed to help these kids get back on track: 650 million more dollars; a specific tutoring program, the first and only of its kind in the country; and $175 million helping 100,000 kids today get ahead. That’s how we help support them and get them back on track, but it all starts with keeping them in the classroom in the first place.

To the Premier: For months, health care professionals have raised concerns about hospitals’ capacity to respond to the early respiratory illness season that we are seeing this year. Despite the alarm bells, this government sat on their hands and did nothing. Today, ER wait times at children’s hospitals are unseasonably high, pediatric ICUs are over capacity and children are being transferred to adult hospitals. Why has the government ignored the growing crisis in Ontario’s children’s hospitals?

We all have a role to play in protecting children from severe illness, especially the government. Why hasn’t this government responded effectively to the acute pressures on our children’s hospitals and increasing demand for pediatric ICU beds?

Good morning, Mr. Speaker. To the Premier: On this side of the House, we know there’s power in a union. Last week the government belatedly learned that too when they were forced to make a major retreat on the use of the “notwithstanding” clause in a bill that not only banned strikes but outrageously imposed a contract on our very lowest-paid education workers.

My question this morning is very simple: Will the Premier vow today to never again use the “notwithstanding” clause in a labour dispute?

A few weeks ago, the Premier’s campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, said this about possible future labour disruptions at our schools. He said: “You’re going to get legislated back, including the use of the ‘notwithstanding’ clause,” and “You can take that to the bank because it’s going to happen.”

After last week’s debacle, I think we all hope that this Premier has learned a thing or two. I ask again: Will the Premier stand here today and vow never again to use the “notwithstanding” clause to shut down the charter rights of Ontario workers?

Speaker, the Premier’s use of the “notwithstanding” clause to take away bargaining rights did not just target CUPE education workers, it put the bargaining rights of all workers at risk. Whether you are a union member in a school, in a factory or on a construction site, the Premier’s actions sent a clear message: Your rights end when he no longer feels like recognizing them.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Labour this time: What did he do to stand up for the rights of workers that he claims to work for? And will he, at least, commit to never voting for this again?

Thank you.

The final supplementary.

The next question.

The supplementary question?

The next question?

The government has been completely ineffective. At SickKids, children going to the hospital are very sick. More than half the kids in their ICU are on ventilators. Over the weekend, the CEO of SickKids said, “So far none have died, thank God.”

Speaker, I have a really hard time understanding how this government allowed the situation to get so bad that the CEO of this province’s premier children’s hospital is thanking God that no kid has died. To the Premier: Why didn’t the government act sooner and effectively to avert the crisis?

Thank you to the hard-working member from Scarborough–Agincourt for that question. We are in uncertain times, amid global economic uncertainty, and with cost-of-living increases reaching levels not seen in decades. The road ahead will not be easy.

We know that the people of Ontario are under pressure. Governments will need to be agile with a responsible plan to respond to any challenges, while acknowledging the risks of inflation.

That is why we have a plan that maintains flexibility and continues to invest in building the critical infrastructure and services that the people of Ontario rely on, and works to restore our manufacturing capacity while keeping costs down for people and businesses.

Mr. Speaker, we have a strong plan for Ontario and, by being flexible and demonstrating restraint, we can overcome any challenge that comes our way.

My question is to the Minister of Agriculture. Ontario is losing 320 acres a day, every day, of farmland to development—320 acres of the best farmland in the world, every day, under the minister’s watch; farmland that we will need to feed our cities. You think food is expensive now? Wait, if we keep going at this rate.

Now the government has announced that it also wants to pave over 7,000 acres of farmland in our greenbelt, including at Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve—another 7,000 acres gone forever. Why is the minister so eager to pave over our food security?

The Premier’s own task force stated that the land isn’t the problem and we need to protect the greenbelt. So we know the land isn’t the problem, but we also know the Premier made a promise to speculators a long time ago and then recanted—but obviously, this is a promise he intends to keep.

Now, why are you continuing to allow the best farmland, the farmland that we need to feed our people—the things that are important to our people are shelter, yes, but even more important, food. We have the best land in the province, and the Minister of Agriculture sits and watches it being paved over. Why?

So again, I would say, respectfully, we have responded and we are responding with our partners. COVID-19, influenza and RSV are triple threats that our hospitals and our pediatric patients in particular are dealing with. The most vulnerable, the most senior and the youngest in our populations are definitely at risk, which is why, earlier today, Dr. Moore, as the Chief Medical Officer of Health, did strongly recommend Ontarians in all areas add a layer of protection when appropriate. That includes a strong recommendation to mask when indoors, when interacting with our most vulnerable and certainly with our youngest, four and under, who cannot mask, and making sure that if and when you have the opportunity, and you are in a time and place that is appropriate for your timing, that you get your flu shot, which is free of charge and available across Ontario in pharmacies and at primary care. And, of course, keep all of your vaccines up to date. We need to make sure that all of the tools—

As the group went around the table and shared all of the initiatives, I turned to my officials and said, “What are we not doing in Ontario that others are doing and that we could emulate?” And the answer, sir, was “nothing,” because Ontario has already implemented those. We have trained new HHRs. We are training new nurses. We are giving individuals who want to practise nursing in the province of Ontario a process that is expedited through the College of Nurses of Ontario, and it is working. We have more historically now getting through the licensing process with the College of Nurses and the CPSO, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, in a faster way, because we understand that people who want to practise in health—

I just want to thank the opposition for their question. Mr. Speaker, we have a housing crisis. We have a housing crisis that the majority of our kids can’t afford to buy a home. They can’t afford to live in Toronto or the GTA because the previous government didn’t have the backbone to make the changes.

We’re increasing the greenbelt more than 2,000 acres, unlike the previous government that changed the greenbelt 17 times—and you voted for it 17 times. You supported them changing the greenbelt to suit their buddies, to change it 17 times.

We’re creating 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. And I’d like to ask this chamber, where are we going to put the 1.5 million people who are going to show up just over the next five years right here in Ontario, and in Canada, 1.5 million people in the next three years? We need homes. We’re going to build homes, affordable homes.

But, Mr. Speaker, again, I’d like to ask the opposition, what are they going to do when 50% of the 500,000 people a year come to Canada and they arrive in Ontario? What are we going to do? Are we just going to stack them up into rooms? No, we’re going to build them affordable housing; we’re going to build them attainable housing, something that the opposition would never, ever do. We need to plan for the future, not only for the new Canadians that are coming but the next generation, so that they can afford—that’s the reason we are building transit that extends into areas that we’re building, and we’re building right beside existing developments that are right there and on the other side of the street.

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals, if you’re a farmer, you won the lottery—$40 million, $50 million, $100 million. But your next door neighbour, the exact same piece of property—guess what? He will be struggling for the next—

Interjections.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. The ongoing global economic instability and worldwide supply chain disruptions continue to negatively impact the people of Ontario. In the face of this economic uncertainty, my constituents continue to struggle with rising costs driven by higher gas prices due to the federal carbon tax. Many of my constituents express concerns about their household budgets and the unexpected rising costs of their day-to-day necessities.

Speaker, with all these concerns, could the minister please tell the House how our government is working to keep Ontario on a sound economic footing and providing continued financial relief for my constituents?

I’m hoping, Speaker, that the Minister of Health can answer.

Everyone but members of this government agree that we are witnessing an undeniable and unprecedented health human resources crisis. Ontario hospitals are falling further behind. Nurse vacancies in Ontario have increased by 300% since March of 2020. The government says that they’ve brought thousands of new nurses, but where are they? We are currently at a 14.5% turnover rate among hospital nurses. It’s clear that the government’s plan, their so-called retention bonuses, have done very little to keep workers in the field.

Will the minister repeal Bill 124 and show some respect to our burnt-out health care workers?

Last week CHEO’s pediatric ICU hit 280% capacity. In-patient medicine is at 171%. The emergency department, which was built to handle 150 kids, is seeing, on average, 229 kids a day. Surgeries are being cancelled, and children are being transferred to hospitals hours away.

The government can’t blame seniors waiting for long-term care for causing this situation. When will the Premier get serious about the crisis in health care, make the necessary investments and repeal Bill 124 so our children get the health care they deserve?