Thank you to the member from Newmarket–Aurora for the great question.

Speaker, I have spoken at length in this House about the urgent need to get this project done, to fill the infrastructure gap that is crippling drivers. But building the Bradford Bypass is so much more than just about relief from gridlock. This new link will provide Ontario with the economic boost that it needs.

We have the heart of agricultural production right here in our backyard. The Holland Marsh grows over 56% of the province’s share of root vegetables and is the second largest grower of carrots in North America. But if our transport trucks are trapped in gridlock, this prevents those goods from getting to market quickly, and it stops us from realizing Ontario’s economic potential.

Speaker, our government is the only government building towards a brighter future for our province and we will get the Bradford Bypass done.

But even as these calls have intensified over the years, successive Liberal governments just refused to listen. Our PC government, under the leadership of our Premier, is finally answering the call and delivering the Bradford Bypass.

Speaker, I am so pleased about the resounding support this project has received, including from York region’s chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson, who has said, “Projects, like the Bradford Bypass, will make life easier for people by alleviating gridlock that already exists on our roads and highways.” And Bradford West Gwillimbury’s mayor, Rob Keffer, has applauded our government’s plan for this much-needed piece of infrastructure.

Speaker, make no mistake: Building the Bradford Bypass is a priority for our government and we are delivering.

I’d like to know where these phantom staff are. Where are these mystery public health nurses who are supposed to be in our schools? You show me one of those. They sure as hell aren’t in our schools.

Speaker, this minister oversaw the longest school closures of any province or territory in this country—in North America. It’s a terrible track record. Instead of correcting that with the investments in our students, this government has shortchanged them at every opportunity.

The Premier can ensure a strong start to the new school year by investing and hiring more staff, bringing in more mental health supports and funding smaller classrooms. Will he do it?

We obviously believe these kids need to get back on track after two years of difficulty. We have a plan to help these kids catch up, and it starts with these kids being in school and staying in school without interruption.

Every three years, families in this province have to deal with their kids staying at home because of strikes imposed by unions, supported by the members opposite.

I think what is most regrettable is that when we have a positive plan for these kids to get back on track—on the eve of back-to-school, when all of us should be coming together to support children and their return—we have a doom-and-gloom scenario again by the New Democrats, undermining the confidence of families at a time when we should be united to keep kids in class.

Mr. Speaker, we have a plan in place, with over $600 million more for this September, $175 million for tutoring—there are 49,000 kids last week alone who benefited from that support—and a mental health lift and a jobs-in-focus priority that’s going to help these kids stay in school and get back on track.

The government House leader.

The next question.

The supplementary question.

Meegwetch. Good morning. Remarks in Oji-Cree.

My question is for the Premier. Twenty-seven First Nations in the Far North are air access only. These northern airports are lifelines to essential services: policing, groceries, mail, education, health care etc. They use gravel runways 3,500 feet in length, which may have been okay in the 1960s, but is definitely not okay today. What is the government doing to plan to extend and improve these gravel runways?

Speaker, imagine landing a six-ton aircraft at 160 kilometres per hour on a gravel runway that is less than a kilometre. Stop and think about that. We would never say it is safe to drive a car or a bus or a truck on a gravel road at 160 kilometres per hour, yet every day, planes are landing under these conditions. In Kingfisher Lake, my home community, the airport runway, which is gravel, was built in 1987. We are still using the same gravel runway.

What is this government’s plan to update these airports, to make them as safe as airports in the rest of Ontario?

Speaker, we all know that housing availability is at an all-time low across Ontario, with more than a million new residences required to address the shortage. The previous Liberal government didn’t have the initiative when it came to addressing supply constraints. It didn’t matter if it was high-rise, mid-rise, single-family, residential or missing middle, the entire process of building housing got mired in delay and wrapped in red tape.

This shortage can’t go on. There are young people in my riding—young hard-working people, people who are out building our economy—who are desperate to strike out on their own and start laying down their own roots, but they are stuck still living with their parents because the shortage has left them with limited options on where else to go.

What is the Associate Minister of Housing doing to keep us on track to building homes faster?

We’re so lucky to have all these new residents. They keep our economy buzzing, and they keep our province vibrant. But if we don’t buckle down and build now, we’re going to see more and more Ontarians under-housed.

Can the associate minister explain how our government is working to keep pace with the growth happening here in Ontario?

It’s actually a very important question because, as the member will know, the Premier and this government have put an emphasis on developing the north, because we understand how important the north is to the economic success of the entire province. That has not, of course, always been the case in the province of Ontario. For many, many years, the north was ignored.

He will also know, Mr. Speaker, how important it is when you consider all of the work that the Minister of Mines and the Minister of Northern Development are doing with respect to the Ring of Fire.

The member is correct. It’s not only about economic development in the north, but it is also about the communities that will follow the enormous development that is happening there. We are building hospitals in the north, long-term care in the north. We’re building roads in the north. This is all part of what happens when the Ring of Fire comes to the north, and the infrastructure in the north will have to be improved. It is all part of the emphasis that this Premier has put in place since he was elected back in 2018, and we will continue that work.

For far too long, people have thought of the north as a drag on the province of Ontario, but it was this Premier and this government who said that it’s absolutely the opposite, that there is a tremendous amount of wealth and resources in the north. There are skills in the north; we have seen it. The Minister of Mines has been a passionate advocate for the north and has brought jobs and opportunity to the north.

But the member is right. Infrastructure needs to be improved as we make these important investments which will bring hundreds of billions of dollars to the province of Ontario, thousands of jobs, enormous opportunities for all of the people in the north. The member is right, and that’s why we’re making investments not only in roads and bridges but, of course, airports will need to be part of this, because that’s what happens when you—

Having said that, we do contemplate working with hospitals to make space that is available in long-term-care homes available to our hospitals so that patients who need more complex care can have that care. That is something that has been working very well in communities across the province of Ontario. It works well in Markham–Stouffville. It has been working quite well in Ottawa. That is part of our changes to the health care system—our modernizing of the health care system.

We’ve said it a million times: We’re not just going to simply go with the status quo. It is not a good level of care when a person who wants to be in long-term care is sitting in a hospital. This has been the case in this province for years. I read you yesterday a report from the Auditor General, dating back to 2011, that highlighted how dangerous it was to have seniors waiting in hospitals when they should be in a long-term-care home. We’re acting on it, Mr. Speaker, and that is one of the ways we’re doing it.

Last week, Deana, a resident of Extendicare’s West End Villa, was forced into a move she didn’t want to make, thanks to the government’s Bill 7. Deana had temporarily ended up on a floor run by the Ottawa Hospital after they took over management of two floors at West End Villa. Warned that she was facing the possibility of being moved far from family, and hospital charges of up to $1,800 a day, Dina was forced to accept a room in this for-profit facility that she does not want to live in.

Why is the Premier insisting that no one will be coerced against their will when it is already happening to patients like Deana?

Speaker, Deana may be bedbound, but she has the same right to choose where to live that we all have. People don’t become disposable just because they’re elderly or they have a disability, but instead of being able to choose a new room or a new facility herself, she was told, “Take this one now or, next week, we can put you wherever we want or charge you whatever we want.” It’s this government’s bill that was used to coerce her decision. Will the Premier finally acknowledge the danger and stop Bill 7 from coming into force?

I think the member opposite is losing track of the fact that we have patients who are sitting in hospital beds who need to be better served in community. That can, in some cases, be in a long-term-care home, and I want to reinforce that Bill 7 ensures that the individual, even if they are moved into a long-term-care facility, will still have their priority list of five there, so that when a bed is available in the long-term-care facility of their choice, they will have that opportunity.

I have to remind people that hospitals are not homes. We need to ensure that people have the ability to live out their lives in community, in long-term-care homes, where there is social programming and where there are opportunities for enhancement, which is, of course, not what is available in hospitals.

Speaker, the member suggests that this is something new. But look, we have a report dating back to 2011 that was commissioned by the former Liberal government where their own commissioner begged them to do something about ALC and to work with long-term care in order to make that happen. This is dating back to 2011.

We then have a further report from the Auditor General in 2012 which highlighted the dangers of having our seniors in hospital who should be transitioned into long-term care. In addition to the potential for C. difficile, they talked about older patients’ decline in physical and mental abilities due to lack of activity as being one of the dangers.

That’s what this bill fixes. It allows us to work with long-term-care homes, it allows us to work with the patient who wants to become a resident, see what services are available in the homes around their choice, and if their choice is not available, they stay at the top of the priority list for their home of choice, but at the same time get better care in the home while they wait for that.

What we’re able to do is, we’re opening up 500 spaces for respite care. I’ve talked about how important that is, and I hope all members would agree that that’s important. We’re able to bring on 1,000 beds that have been set aside for isolation purposes—1,000 of the 2,000—and put them back into service, so that people can have access to those beds.

We’re able to work with long-term-care homes and the patients: “What is your preferred choice? Is it available? If it’s not, what homes in and around your preferred choice are available? Will that home work for you? If it doesn’t, what do we need to do to make it work for you? Do we need to put in kidney dialysis? Do we need behavioural supports for you, or specialized nursing for you?” This bill allows us to do that.

The regulations that I introduced a couple of days ago eliminate ward rooms. It reiterates the fact that there are no more ward rooms. We talked about the $60 million going forward. It’s better for patients, and we won’t stop—

The government is rushing the passing of Bill 7—not allowing the government to hear the concerns of Ontarians because there will be no public hearings. We understand that hospitals are under enormous pressure and that we need to find measures of support and relief, but moving patients out of ALC into inappropriate long-term-care facilities is displacing the issue, not solving it. The Premier himself said yesterday that patients deserve proper care, so why not invest in more home care?

The bill does not contain details regarding the implementation, and not knowing how far this government will go to free beds in hospitals really worries families.

My question is, how will the government ensure that patients’ rights to consent to proper care will be guaranteed?

Les gens sont inquiets, car le projet de loi ne donne aucune assurance que le consentement, la volonté et les besoins des patients et des familles seront respectés. Selon la loi, le patient doit être libre de consentir au traitement ou de le refuser. Le consentement doit être obtenu sans contrainte, ni coercition.

Est-ce que le ministre peut garantir aux Ontariens que la réglementation de mise en oeuvre du projet de loi 7 va respecter leur droit de consentir librement aux soins?

Supplementary question.

Next question.

Speaker, the pandemic has exacerbated the growing nursing shortage in Ontario’s health care system. Nurses and personal support workers are the cornerstone of the health care system, and that’s why we must address this problem.

To do that, we have to improve access to post-secondary education. Many young people want to become part of the solution and enter this revered profession, but are concerned about barriers such as limited selection in accessing high-quality local education.

Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister of Colleges and Universities doing for my constituents that wish to receive a nursing degree close to their home?

Speaker, Indigenous communities also urgently need more nurses and PSWs. Unfortunately, Indigenous people have long faced barriers in accessing effective and culturally safe health care. With enrolment in Indigenous institutes increasing by 43% since 2018, we must ensure that students receive culturally relevant, high-calibre education.

Speaker, what steps has the ministry taken in expanding enrolment in PSW and nursing programs at Indigenous institutes?

Thank you to the member from Markham–Thornhill for that important question. We all can agree—we know how vital nurses are to the health care system. I’m proud to say that we’ve created the conditions where a record number of Ontario students are excited to enter the nursing field and begin their postgraduate nursing education.

Our innovative approach to connecting students to nursing programs closer to home is delivering real results so we can keep Ontario open for all. Since 2020, we have allowed stand-alone nursing programs at 14 colleges and universities across Ontario to keep up with this demand. This means that students across the province, from St. Catharines to Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie, have greater choice than ever before. This means getting them through the system quicker and getting them into the workforce.

In addition, our $61-million investment into the Learn and Stay program will provide life-changing financial supports to students right here in Ontario. These investments and programs are making real change in Ontario, and we will continue to provide students with the education and skills they need to address health care needs in this province.

Through an investment of $34 million over four years to Indigenous institutes, we are increasing enrolment at PSW programs at six Indigenous institutes. This investment is expected to directly train over 400 PSWs in the next four years, and will support the enhancement of Indigenous knowledge and language in students’ learning.

Together, we are working to overcome the unique challenges facing our health care system and our students. We will continue to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities, so that students receive culturally relevant, high-calibre education and Indigenous people can continue accessing effective and culturally appropriate health care.

Look, this government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, will always have the backs of workers across this province. That’s why, Mr. Speaker, we were the first province in Canada to bring in job-protected leave. If anyone had to stay home because of COVID-19, they can’t be fired for that.

Furthermore, we became the first province in the country to bring in paid sick days during the pandemic. I recently extended those paid sick days until the end of March. But let me be clear to all workers in this province: We’ll continue to have their backs every single day.

I’m also proud to say, unlike the NDP plan that would bankrupt thousands of small businesses in this province, under our paid sick days, we’re reimbursing businesses for the cost of those paid sick days. Mr. Speaker, we’ll continue every day working for workers in this province and we’ll continue to have their backs.

My question is for the Minister of Education. Industries and businesses across all of Ontario are struggling to find employees to fill jobs they’re offering. A company in my riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, SigmaPoint in the city of Cornwall, is facing extreme difficulties finding engineers that they need to seamlessly run their business.

This labour shortage is hampering our economy. It is often the case that our young people are not aware of, or qualified, to work in these sectors. As legislators, we cannot accept this. We need to ensure that our students, starting with the youngest learners, including my own young children, know about the jobs of the future and are equipped to fulfill the jobs.

Mr. Speaker, through you, to the minister: How will this government ensure that our children are prepared to enter the workforce and fill our employment gaps?

The answer is simple, Speaker: Our young people were not adequately prepared for the current demands of the job market. For 15 years, the previous Liberal government was distracted trying to teach discovery math and other items that failed to help our students find employment with good paycheques.

We need to ensure that our children, including children of my riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, are being taught relevant subjects that are continuously updated so that they can access and be aware of well-paying jobs. To the minister: How is the updated STEM curriculum going to prepare our next generation for the jobs of the future?

My question is to the Premier. This government spouts a lot of numbers about the thousands of new health care professionals they hired during their last term, but there is—

Interjections.

As I said, this government spouts a lot of numbers about the thousands of new health care professionals they hired during their last term, but there is no evidence whatsoever that any of these new professionals exist. They are nowhere to be seen in Thunder Bay–Superior North, and given the staffing crisis gripping every single health care setting in the province, they’re nowhere to be seen anywhere else.

Is your refusal to negotiate a fair wage with existing health care workers, thus sending them out of the profession in droves, part of your long-term plan to privatize health care, ultimately leading to low-waged and precarious work for all health care workers once you have destroyed the existing workforce?

The $5,000 bonus given to nurses but not other health care workers not only did not represent a permanent wage increase, it continues to cause division and resentment amongst all those health care workers who are not eligible for the bonus—an entirely predictable outcome in the government’s divide-and-conquer strategy.

I was called recently by a young nurse who was adamant he did not want their “damn $5,000.” He wanted to see across-the-board pay and benefit increases so that more health care workers would stay in the profession and they wouldn’t be working in a constant state of exhaustion.

Will this government admit it is deliberately driving existing health care workers out of the profession in order to gut the public system?

The Minister of Labour.

Supplementary question.

Order. Member for Niagara Falls, come to order. Government side, come to order. That shouldn’t have happened.

Start the clock. I recognize the member again.

Restart the clock.