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.

Speaker, everyone except the Conservative government seems to know that paid sick days help workers. It helps them keep their families safe, their co-workers safe and help keeps our community safe. But instead of 10 paid sick days, the Conservative government had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, in the middle of the pandemic, to offer a measly three temporary paid sick days. Workers can only use those for COVID-19 and nothing else, and if a worker used them in the past two years, those are gone forever.

My question is, why doesn’t the Premier care about workers who get sick with something other than COVID-19, and why are workers who get COVID-19 and have already used their paid sick days not able to have more?

Front-line workers deserve to recover from illness at home without fear that their bills won’t get paid. I’m not talking about protected leave; I’m talking about paying your bills and putting food in your belly.

My question is, will the Premier commit to 10 permanent employer-paid sick days so that Ontario can keep workers, families and our communities safe?

Thank you to the member for that question. It’s true: We have hired thousands of health care workers, and we have thousands of students now wanting to enter the nursing profession. Today’s report showed 25,000 students wanting to enter the nursing profession in Ontario’s publicly funded colleges and universities, world-class—

Interjections.

I want to thank the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry for this critical question, because as our government is seized with safeguarding our future prosperity amid global change and disruption, we have a plan to ensure the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders in our province have the skills they need to get those good-paying jobs.

Mr. Speaker, the fundamental problem we have to define is that this curriculum the children are learning in this province, from math to science, was outdated and static. The last time the former Liberals updated the curriculum was 2005 in math. YouTube had not been launched, Twitter had not been released, the first iPhone had not been released on the market, and yet, kids were learning skills totally disconnected from the global economy. Clearly, we must do better, which is why we’ve modernized our math and science curricula with a real emphasis on life and job skills: Coding, financial literacy, teaching kids about mortgages, budgeting, credit and debt—these are the skills generations of young people wished they learned and, under our government, they will this September.

We’re also, for the first time, speaking about artificial intelligence, with the emergence of new jobs within those sectors.

Financial literacy is now a mandate. It is a compulsion of graduation, starting in grade 1 with learning basic money skills, all the way to grade 8, where they’re literally building a budget for the year after their graduation.

We have a plan to help these kids succeed and get good-paying jobs, and it starts with keeping them in school this September right to June.

This question is for the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity.

Our national and economic security depends on a robust cyber security system. With the recent news of a data breach at DoorDash, I know that many people in my riding of Richmond Hill are now aware of the critical role that cyber security oversight has for everyone’s protection. Unfortunately, there appears to be a lack of diversity and inclusion for women in this important field. It is reported that they make up a small percentage of the cyber security workforce, at roughly 11% of the jobs globally.

What is our government doing to highlight the growing need for women in cyber security?

Unfortunately, many women have experienced roadblocks and challenges trying to enter the cyber security industry.

One of the major concerns is that the field often isn’t on the radar of girls and women as they pick post-secondary programs or consider new careers. Another challenge women face is the perception that only those with a programming background can get a job in the field.

With today being International Women in Cyber Day, as the minister mentioned, what is our government doing to advocate for a more significant presence of women to be leaders in this industry?

With the GTA population expected to increase by between two and six million in the next 20 years, Ontario needs to have a plan. We will need the necessary infrastructure to accommodate more residents, and most importantly, we will need enough housing. We can’t afford delay and red tape. A population increase of this magnitude requires immediate action. Experts and advocates are calling on the federal and provincial governments to address the crisis and move aggressively to support the oncoming population increase.

Speaker, can the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing explain how the strong-mayors legislation will help expedite priority projects and housing so that we can keep up with population growth?

Let’s elevate our language.

The Minister of Colleges and Universities—

The member for St. Catharines, come to order. The member for Kitchener–Conestoga, come to order. I have to be able to hear the minister in her reply.

Restart the clock.

The Minister of Colleges and Universities.

My question is to the Premier. The Ministry of the Environment has approved the use of a former dairy farm lagoon in Armstrong township for the importation, storage and spreading of raw sewage from Quebec. I have made the minister, the ministry and this Legislature aware several times of the issues involved with the approval process and have been unable to get answers, so I’ll make them here.

Could you please confirm that adjacent property owners need to be consulted as part of the EA process?

When my office contacted the ministry regarding the use of a former dairy lagoon, the ministry responded that the site did not contain an abandoned lagoon, even though it obviously does. When my office contacted the ministry regarding the well that provided water to the former dairy farm, the reply was that no prior well existed on the property. Once again, that is not accurate.

The community is losing faith in the role of the ministry in the approval of this project. Minister, will you commit to releasing all documents pertaining to your ministry’s approval and monitoring of this project?

I want to thank the member for Eglinton–Lawrence for that tremendous question. I think it’s so very important, especially during the time of a municipal election, that we’ve got to make sure that we get that plan in place. Municipal governments play a crucial role in determining housing supply.

But the member is right. As Ontario’s population has grown, housing—new construction, the supply of housing—hasn’t kept pace. We’re now facing a housing crisis that freezes too many young families out of the market. Our proposed strong-mayor system will empower municipal leaders to work more effectively with the province on provincial priorities like building more housing.

On this side of the House, we understand that municipalities play that critical role in ensuring our success, but we have to—and I have to implore the opposition to really look at this. This is so important, that we give the mayors in our two largest cities the tools that they need to get the job done. That’s exactly what our proposed bill will do.

Speaker, let me just say that I won’t be able to give him specific answers to that, so I will take it under advisement and meet with him after question period.

Moreover, Mr. Speaker, we know how important agriculture is to the province of Ontario. It’s something that the Minister of Agriculture has been talking about constantly. We will continue to work with our farmers, we will continue to work with communities, and we’ll continue to work with this member to ensure that what we are doing each and every day is highlighted, respecting the fact that we need to protect our environment, making sure that the rules that are in place protect not only our communities but protect the people who work within our communities, and ensuring that our farmers and our agriculture community are respected in that process.

As I said, Mr. Speaker, at the conclusion of question period, I will sit down with the member and take some additional advice from him and hear some of his specific concerns.

Thank you to the member from Richmond Hill for that excellent question.

You improve the security of an organization when you have diverse mindsets.

Today, September 1, is International Women in Cyber Day. It is a day set aside to bring awareness of the challenges women face and to celebrate women’s achievements within the cyber security industry.

To better address the growing demand for jobs in the cyber security field, we have to encourage a diverse set of voices throughout the field and in leadership positions.

I’m really glad the Minister of Education highlighted the importance that our government is making in changing the face of STEM for young kids—because we are modernizing our science and technology curriculum to place an emphasis on STEM that will encourage more young girls and women to explore cyber security.

Mr. Speaker, women can be at the forefront of this industry and can change the landscape in cyber security while increasing their representation.

In the world of cyber security, it is becoming increasingly evident that our sensitive and private information is vulnerable.

The women involved in this industry are our front-line heroes, keeping us safe in an environment of new technology and cyber attacks. The same as a firefighter or a police officer, women in cyber security have the same ability to protect and serve our communities as well.

The industry is booming today and growing in exponential ways. I recently had a meeting with the Ontario Centre of Innovation and learned about the work they are doing to elevate women in the advanced technology industry to start up and scale up their businesses.

Mr. Speaker, now more than ever, I am excited to highlight and encourage young women to consider a career in cyber security. Our government will highlight women’s achievements and cast down barriers as an ally alongside them because women belong in every place, at every table and in every space.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

Mr. Speaker, it is this government that vowed to stop bad developers from trying to make extra money off the backs of hard-working Ontarians, and it is our government that is strengthening the regulatory tools available to address this concern. These include much heftier fines for bad builders and enhanced powers for HCRA to proactively investigate potential bad behaviour by developers.

Altogether, these stronger penalties and approaches would cost unlawful developers very dearly: on a single home, from hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the loss of their builder’s licence. Speaker, we are making bad builders think twice before trying to take advantage of our homebuyers. Also, we are actively working to stop these incidents from happening any further through multiple different means.

Leading voices have warned that the lack of new housing and planning for population growth in Toronto could hamper the city’s economic future. These same voices have said that the top concern for everyone should be addressing Ontario’s housing crunch and the difficulty that many residents have buying and renting.

Many of my constituents are very concerned about home ownership for themselves and for their children. They ask why governments are not taking immediate action and cutting through the red tape that is holding up development.

Speaker, can the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing explain how our strong-mayors legislation will result in more homes and provide reassurance to my constituents about their future in cities like Toronto?

The supplementary question.

The division bells rang from 1147 to 1152.

On August 31, 2022, Mr. Bethlenfalvy moved third reading of Bill 2, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes.

All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

The House recessed from 1156 to 1300.

The ayes are 76; the nays are 30.

Speaker, through you to the member: I’ve said this many, many times in the House, that we need to work with our municipal partners to unlock more housing supply. Too many Ontarians are worried that they’re never going to be able to own the home that meets their needs and their budget. Our government has to move forward. We have to implement policies and build upon the success of More Homes for Everyone and our housing supply action plan.

I want to remind the members of the House that last year, we had the most housing starts, over 100,000. It’s the most we’ve had in our province in over 30 years.

But, Speaker, more has to be done. We need to pull out all the stops to ensure that municipalities have the tools to get the job done. We’ve committed to Ontarians in the last election that we’re going to be building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years, so that people can realize the dream of home ownership. That’s exactly what our proposed strong-mayors bill will accomplish.

I’m just rising on standing order 59 to outline the business in the coming week and to thank members on all sides of the House for a very productive week for the people of the province of Ontario.

On Monday, September 5, pursuant to standing order 9(i), the House, of course, will not meet, in recognition of Labour Day.

On Tuesday, September 6, in the morning and afternoon, we will be dealing with Bill 3, Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. In the evening, we will have private member’s notice of motion number 2 from the member for Brampton North.

On Wednesday, September 7, in the morning and afternoon, we will proceed with Bill 3, Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act. In the evening, we will have the member for Scarborough–Guildwood’s Bill 9, Safe and Healthy Communities Act.

On Thursday, September 8, in the morning, colleagues, we will have tributes to deceased members of Parliament. Let me just thank members who have been participating in that. They are very important to the family members, and the speeches on all sides have really been very, very well done. So thank you and congratulations to everybody.

We will then have a statement by the ministry at routine proceedings. The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions will have a statement on World Suicide Prevention Day. In the afternoon, we will continue with tributes to deceased members of provincial Parliament and, in the evening, the member for Windsor West’s private member’s notice of motion number 1.

Deferred vote on the motion for third reading of the following bill:

Bill 2, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Projet de loi 2, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois.

Thank you, Speaker—and I apologize; I was unable to be prompt with it. I do have visitors in the gallery today who I want to introduce to the House. David Ennis and Ian Sutcliffe are both students at the University of Windsor, and I’d like to welcome them here today. They’re experiencing the Ontario Legislature for the first time.