The Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve was regulated by the government of Ontario in 1977, and protects and perpetuates tallgrass prairie and various plants and significant species. Thanks to the foresight of our predecessors in this House, these provincial lands are protected to the highest possible degree.

This government supports considering an integration of the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve with adjacent lands under the management of Parks Canada, to facilitate the creation of Ojibway National Urban Park. This was a commitment made by our government as part of its endorsement of Platform 4 Windsor, put forward by Windsor’s mayor, Drew Dilkens.

I bring forward to this House today a new motion that is nearly identical to motion number 1, presented by the member for Windsor West, and which is scheduled for debate in this House shortly. This newly tabled motion provides a clear path forward to gain the support of this House for the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve becoming managed by Parks Canada, as part of the Ojibway National Urban Park area, as described by Bill C-248.

Our government looks forward to Parks Canada initiating the proposed committee for the project, which includes partners such as the city of Windsor, the government of Ontario, the Caldwell First Nation, the Walpole First Nation, the Huron-Wendat Nation and Hydro One. I’m proud that our government supports working together to create Ojibway National Urban Park, and I ask all members of this house for their support in getting it done.

Last night, we heard vibrant testimonies as to why private member’s Bill 9, Safe and Healthy Communities Act (Addressing Gun Violence), moved by the member for Scarborough–Guildwood, is so important to support. Bill 9 is about supporting victims. It’s about supporting families traumatized by gun violence and about making our communities safe. Bill 9 is also about prevention, which is so important in the fight against this public health issue.

Last night, the government referred to their Roadmap to Wellness as a reason to say no to Bill 9, but the Roadmap to Wellness doesn’t mention gun violence even one time. So what the government is saying to these victims is, “You can wait until we develop a program for you.” Well, Bill 9 would make services available to an existing system with expanded capacity. It is difficult to understand why any member in this House would refuse to support such common-sense measures.

Dans ma circonscription d’Ottawa–Vanier, l’impact de la violence armée est trop bien ressenti. Quarante-quatre fusillades ont eu lieu cette année à Ottawa. Il est insoutenable de continuer d’aller à des funérailles sans pouvoir expliquer aux parents et aux proches ce que le gouvernement fait concrètement pour enrayer la violence armée.

Le projet de loi 9 de la députée de Scarborough–Guildwood est un pas concret pour les aider. J’encourage tous les membres de cette Chambre à voter en faveur.

Good morning. Yesterday, I introduced the Till Death Do Us Part legislation for the third time. I first became involved with reunification of couples in long-term care back in December 2017. In 2019, I learned of the story of Jim McLeod and his wife, Joan, who now have been separated for four and a half years. He travelled here to listen to the debate in 2019 and wasn’t impressed that the bill sat in committee for three years before prorogation.

Recently, I learned of the quest of my constituent Debbie Wang. She is on a challenge to reunite her father, who is in a long-term-care home here in Toronto, as it’s the only place he can receive culturally appropriate care, and her mother, who is an ALC patient at Cambridge Memorial Hospital and will soon be forced to move to a long-term-care facility not of her choosing, due to Bill 7. Debbie’s father said his ongoing separation from his mother is making him lose his will to live. Ontario is failing them.

I’ve raised this issue with successive ministers over the years. The pandemic obviously revealed how broken the caring of seniors has become under successive governments. One could argue rectifying the situation is a matter of compassion and humanity.

The government House leader has said that in the wake of the passage of Bill 7, every effort will be made to keep patients “as close as possible” to their families. This is your chance to put those words into action. Let’s get it done.

My office has noticed a disturbing trend: More than ever, we are seeing families, especially single-support families, being pushed onto the street. These parents are terrified for their children and tell us their only next option is to buy a tent and hope for the best.

Speaker, I came to this House four years ago to help children realize their potential. Now, after four years of this government, I am seeing more and more of them live in poverty. How will these children ever be able to access or reach their potential with nowhere safe to live, no access to school and no one looking out for them? We’re going in the wrong direction.

The opposition has put forward solution after solution. Today, my colleagues and I will re-table the Rent Stabilization Act to help keep people in their homes. I look forward to all members supporting this important legislation.

This government also needs to listen to the people of Ontario and finance and build new affordable and non-market rental homes. Years have been wasted as this government hopes private, for-profit developers will create truly affordable housing. Hope is not a plan. This government needs to actually do the building that will help families who live in poverty.

When will enough be enough? How many children need to live on the street before this government will recognize that Ontario is in a state of crisis?

Eli Palfreyman turned 20 just this summer, on July 2. Several weeks later, he was named captain of the Ayr Centennials. On August 30, he brought his team to the ice in a pre-season tournament game. Eli was proud, handsome, smiling, vibrant. He never came home. Eli collapsed and passed away in the locker room during the first intermission of the game. His cause of death is unknown.

Eli was one of Cambridge’s sons, coming up with the Cambridge Hawks before forging on with the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, playing for the Kitchener Dutchmen and Pelham Panthers and joining the Ayr Centennials last year.

With friends and former teammates throughout the Ontario hockey diaspora, Eli’s influence and loss is felt everywhere. Known to his friends as Ziggy, Zigs, even Fry Man, Eli is remembered as a bright spark, a constant source of energy and laughter, the guy who could always be relied on to get your mood up if you were feeling own.

Brett, Eli’s dad, knows that his son was a leader, a person that people looked up to, everyone’s best friend.

Losing Eli has hit the hockey community hard. I know that in Eli and his mom, Tammy, and his dad and his sister, Ella, families across Ontario see themselves. They see their own son, their brother, their friend, their teammate. In grief, they are united.

A favourite author of mine, Terry Pratchett, wrote that no one is truly dead until the ripples they cause in the world finally die away. In that case, from what I have heard of Eli, he will live forever. Rest in peace, number 17.

I’m happy this morning; I have a team of friends from Richmond Hill and Mississauga. Please join me to welcome presidents and directors from the Dawoodi Bohras of Canada, including the president of the Toronto chapter, Zoeb Galiakotwala; the president of the Mississauga chapter, Behlah Ayman; Mansur Kanchwala; Qusai Kanchwala; Habib Tawawala; Murtaza Abid; Nafeesa Kapacee; and Anwar Bawangaonwala. Welcome to all of them. I am happy they are bringing greetings from His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. Welcome to the chamber.

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.

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.

Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

Every question period in this Parliament, the official opposition has brought the story of struggling Ontarians: people who waited hours in the emergency room in pain, people who had to leave the hospital without getting the care they needed, people who have waited in agony for urgent surgery. All this because of staff shortages, being made worse every day by this government’s actions.

Why is this government willing to make the waiting worse by expanding private surgical clinics, siphoning more of our staff away from public hospitals?

Why is this government so determined to let this crisis go on and tell us that the only way out is to privatize more of our health care system?

Will the government stop selling more of our health care system to private investors and bring in a staffing strategy that will improve publicly delivered health care?

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?