I am really excited to have family members of mine here today: Dr. Deb McNaughton from Grand Bend, Ontario, and Barb Newcomb from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

We have always said that we need to look at these challenges in a way that goes outside of what we are currently doing in the province of Ontario. As the member opposite knows, we do have clinics, like the Shouldice Hospital, that currently operate and have operated for decades in the province of Ontario. We will continue to work with those partners—all partnerships. We’ve seen innovative models with community care paramedics. We’ve seen innovative models with 911 off-loads, with dedicated off-load nurse practitioners who are able to take those emergency department patients so that the paramedics can go back out onto the road.

All of these are innovations, new ways of approaching an existing problem that has been plaguing our health care system for, frankly, years and years. We’re going to make sure that those innovations are available to all communities. I’ve often spoken about the paramedic program that’s available in 49 areas. We’re going to expand that, because it’s working.

We’re working with our partners. When they bring forward ideas and suggestions that we see have an opportunity to improve the health human resources in Ontario, we’re doing that. This is not an Ontario-exclusive issue. We’re seeing it in jurisdictions across Canada—indeed, the world. But we’re making sure that where we have opportunities for engagement, for improvements, we’re doing that, and, of course, most recently that’s the college of nurses with our internationally trained educators.

It is my pleasure to introduce Konrad Noronha, who is the parent of Apollo, our page today. Welcome to the Legislature.

I am seeking unanimous consent that, notwithstanding standing order 40(e), the independent members be allotted a total of five minutes as a group to respond to ministerial statements today.

I’m very pleased to introduce Sister Patty Coates, the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour. I am sure the minister was going to introduce her. As you know, Speaker, the OFL is Canada’s largest labour federation, representing more than one million of Ontario’s workers. Welcome to the Legislature of Ontario.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Brampton to watch the Whitby lacrosse team win its eighth Minto Cup title as the best junior lacrosse team in Canada. They edged out the Edmonton Miners 6-5 in the old Brampton arena for a 2-1 win in the best-of-three Junior A lacrosse champion series final. It ends a long and successful season for the team, but it didn’t come easily. Parker Pipher scored the winning goal with just under 10 minutes to play in the third period. But the real drama came with just 30 seconds to go in the contest, when Edmonton missed on a penalty shot, sealing the title for the Whitby team.

The Minto Cup championship concludes an outstanding season for the Whitby team, who knocked off St. Catharines, Orangeville, and Toronto Beaches in league playoffs on the way to the Minto Cup. Overall, they only lost one game all season—one game.

Congratulations to the team members, coaches and management on becoming Canadian Junior A lacrosse champions for the eighth time.

As a parent or a caregiver, it is always a pleasure to see our children in action. I’d like to welcome Farah Rahim, proud mother of page Zara Hameed, with auntie Israni Coordy, as proud father Azeem Hameed is joining us online. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I have an important announcement. We will have deferred votes after question period, and following those votes, I want to ask all members to remain in their seats for an important emergency briefing from the Sergeant-at-Arms and a subsequent fire drill that will take place.

In my riding, I see first-hand how harmful Ontario’s labour shortage truly is for small businesses. Employers and businesses want to do more, but simply cannot because of the limited supply of workers. The skilled and semi-skilled labour shortage remains one of the main factors limiting business growth. Jobs are waiting to be filled and paycheques are waiting to be collected.

Speaker, my question is straightforward: Will the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development please explain to this Legislature what our government is doing to address Ontario’s historic labour shortage issue?

I am proud of the fact that our five-point plan that we announced last month with the Minister of Long-Term Care has already started to bear fruit. We’ve seen that with a willingness and, frankly, excitement from both the College of Nurses and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario where they are going to expedite. And they’ve brought forward additional ideas on how we can get those internationally educated health care workers here, working in Ontario. We’re doing that because we know we want to have the best health care system in the province of Ontario. We’re doing that by working with our hospital partners, our nursing partners, our paramedics.

You talk about individual situations. We’re actually coming up with ideas. We’re listening to the experts in the field, and we’re acting on those ideas.

It is 739,000 nursing visits. It is 157,000 nursing shift hours. It is 117,000 therapy visits, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology in community. It is 2,118,000 hours of personal support services in community and 236,000 other types of home care visits. It is precisely why we, as a government, have made that investment of $1 billion in community care programs in the province of Ontario.

It is, frankly, disappointing that the member opposite does not see the value of that and did not support it.

Mr. Speaker, we are determined to stand up for the voices of parents in this province who want their kids in class. This Premier and our government have been crystal clear on our intention: It is to ensure that these kids have a more normal, stable and enjoyable return to class, right to June, without disruption. I ask all members of this Legislature to join the government to oppose these types of impacts on kids.

While we agree, Speaker, that we could have a very spirited debate at the negotiating table, what we disagree with is the imposition of a strike on a child after two extraordinary and difficult years. We want them in school. We want them to learn. We want them to be nourished and supported by their educators and their friends.

Speaker, I hope all members of this House will stand with this government to keep kids in school right to June.

Our Premier and our party will continue to invest to ensure a safe, stable and enjoyable return to school for these kids in this province.

On top of all of this, the number one guiding priority of the government when it comes to these negotiations, in contrast with the opposition, is that we’re going to stand up for kids and keep them in school right to June.

The Minister of Education.

My question is to the Premier. Good morning, Premier. You should know that I received an upsetting call regarding a 90-year-old woman in my riding. She’d been living independently at her home, receiving home care three times a week. She recently spent a short while in hospital. When she was discharged, the LHIN and the hospital signed off on her care plan, which was to include home care. When she returned back home, alone, she was informed that it would be at least three weeks just for her to be assessed and that there was no home care available for her. She felt abandoned and frightened, as we all would.

Why is this government punishing our seniors instead of fixing the health care crisis?

When will this government fix our public home care system and stop—please stop—turning your backs on seniors?

I want to thank the member for Markham–Unionville for this very important question.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, our government really understands Ontario is facing a historic labour shortage. In fact, today in the province there are nearly 400,000 jobs going unfilled. We need all hands on deck to build a stronger Ontario. That is why we’re connecting job seekers with the skills and training they need and promoting the lifelong careers that are available in the skilled trades. We’re also making it easier for out-of-province workers and immigrants to fill in-demand jobs, and we’re calling on skilled workers from right across Canada and abroad to come here to Ontario to collect these paycheques that are waiting to be collected.

Mr. Speaker, our government has an ambitious plan to build, and we’re going to get it done.

Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. After two long years of interruption and remote learning, parents sent their kids off to school this week. They’re looking for peace and stability and supports in the classroom so their kids can finally get back to some sort of normal. Yet, day after day, this Minister of Education is ratcheting up the rhetoric against the people who make our schools work.

Why does this government seem so determined to create conflict in our classrooms?

Parents and teachers remember the PC record of cuts and conflict: mandatory online learning, 10,000 planned layoffs, freezing wages with Bill 124, working with the Liberals to freeze wages with Bill 115.

Does the minister understand that attacking the very people who make our schools work is what puts the school year at risk?

They have clear ideas on how to improve our schools: smaller class sizes, mental health supports, fixing the decades of backlogged capital repairs. Will the minister start implementing these ideas to improve our schools and stop creating conflict in our classrooms?

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, this government claims that Ontarians are accessing the health care they need when they need it. But a constituent of mine reached out after their partner waited eight hours in an ER after having a stroke—waiting alone, without family, with only the paramedics who brought them in; eight hours.

Is it acceptable to the Premier that anyone should have to suffer like this after having a stroke?

Without nurses available, paramedics had to stay with my constituent even over a shift change. Only by sheer luck, the second massive stroke happened after my constituent was in a bed, and it was caught just in time.

Wait times continue to grow, so the next patient might not be so lucky.

Will this government invest the 1.8-billion health care dollars they hoarded last year and respect health care workers by repealing Bill 124, or will they keep strangling our public system?

The supplementary question?

The member opposite highlights exactly why we have been investing and will continue to invest in our health care system.

To be clear, nine out of 10 high-urgency patients finish their emergency visits within target times, and surgeries are happening at 88% of their pre-pandemic rate.

We’ve already added 3,500 hospital beds. We’ve already added 10,900 new hospital HHR—nurses, PSWs, doctors. We’ll continue to do this work, because we understand that we want to make sure that we have a robust health care system in the province of Ontario—and, most importantly, where people want to be, whether that is needed hospital and acute care during an acute-care crisis, whether that is recovering in their own home, whether that is in a rehab bed in a facility or, indeed, a long-term-care bed. We are doing this work. We are making these investments because we understand it is needed in the province of Ontario to deal with our aging population.

I’ve often spoken about 49 pilot projects that are currently happening in communities across Ontario—911-models-of-care pilot projects, which have borne amazing proof. Indeed, in London-Middlesex we have a success rate of 84% and a satisfaction rate of over 80% where individuals who are able to be cared for by their community paramedics in their community appreciated and understood that this was the most important and the most valuable role they could play.

We’re going to continue to do that work. We’re going to expand those models of care that are working in our community to make sure that every community has an opportunity to fully utilize their paramedics, because, frankly, sir, they have been making a huge difference in our communities.

Thank you again to the member for that very important question.

As a government, we are determined to continue to open doors for young people and help them get the training and financial supports that they need. It’s our mission to give more people a hand up to better jobs and bigger paycheques. That’s why our government is investing billions in innovative training programs that connect workers to these bigger paycheques. Working together with our labour unions, government and business, we’re making Ontario a place where hard work pays off and big dreams come to life.