I’d like to welcome to the House Herbert Maguire and Leslie Thurston, who are Ontarians on disability; Rita DeBiasi, who worked 34 years as a PSW and now is on disability; and Meike Pfeffer, who is a social worker with Seeds of Hope, an organization which helps people experiencing homelessness in the city of Toronto. Welcome to the House.

I’d like to introduce my good friend Matt Richter from Parry Sound–Muskoka, who is in the members’ gallery. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to welcome someone who is here today: a friend to many in the House, the remarkable, the talented Brian Patterson.

Good morning to everybody. I would like to welcome Sapan Jot, owner of Code Ninjas on the Queensway, and her family: Amay Garg, Ishav Garg and Trisha Kaura. Welcome to the Legislature. I hope you have a wonderful tour.

Since day one, since we were elected in 2018, we have put a focus on rebuilding the health care system that was so badly neglected by 15 years of Liberals and, for many of those years, by the NDP. We’ve put incredible resources. We are building out the health care system like no government has before: a new hospital in Brampton, new hospitals in Niagara and long-term-care homes in every part of the province, because we know that long-term care can be part of the solution to the acute care problems that we have.

We are hiring additional health care workers. We’re building new medical schools in the province of Ontario. I think the Minister of Colleges and Universities talked about the first new medical school in over 100 years—the largest investment of health care in the history of Mississauga. The only consistent that there has been is that the NDP have voted against every single initiative, Mr. Speaker. We’ll keep rebuilding the health care system because it’s important to the people of Ontario.

Despite the fact that we did that, they then voted against that funding. They voted against the 27,000 additional health care workers for long-term care. They voted against the four hours of care, Mr. Speaker.

We will work closely with patients in hospital who want to become residents of long-term care because we know that is better for them. It’s not me saying that; it’s health care professionals who are saying that. It’s even people who are in those homes.

Supplementary question.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

On Thursday, August 25, Kashechewan First Nation, a population of 1,900, published a news release about a severe shortage of primary care nurses at their nursing station. This is a critical situation, as only three nurses are available—now down to two—when usually they are staffed at nine. The health director, Jonathan Solomon, is worried about the well-being of the nursing staff as well. This has been the case for the past four weeks, leaving a skeleton crew giving “emergency only” services. The health and well-being of the community is at risk. Primary care for their residents is not being met, and they have no other medical facilities. This nursing station is their lifeline.

Will the government work with the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Indigenous Services Canada to put together a better recruitment plan for nurses so that the community of Kashechewan never has to address another health care crisis for lack of nurses?

Again to the Premier: Later today, the Premier will be meeting with the Prime Minister. At a time when our health care crisis desperately needs an Ontario Premier to fight for health care, this Premier has been leading the charge for more privatization. That’s not a solution.

Will the Premier continue pushing his private health care agenda in his meeting with the Prime Minister?

Will the Premier show some leadership today, scrap Bill 7, scrap his privatization agenda and work on a national plan to expand public health care and address the crisis in our hospitals?

To the nurses like Tara: Thank you. Thank you for your commitment. Thank you for being there when the people of Ontario needed you, through the pandemic.

It’s so important that we acknowledge the excellent work that nurses have done, which is, frankly, one of the reasons why we brought forward the $5,000 nurse retention. The second Toronto course is coming forward in the weeks ahead, in the first couple of weeks in September.

We’re also expanding the supply and opportunities for people who wish to train as nurses in the province of Ontario, because we understand that there are so many opportunities with additional long-term-care beds being built, with 50 new hospital expansions in the works. We need more health human resources, and it is why we’ve invested $35 million to increase enrolment in nursing education programs in colleges and universities. The new spaces will introduce over 1,100 practical nurses and 870 registered nurses into Ontario’s health care system.

We will continue to work with the College of Nurses of Ontario. We will continue to work to make sure that internationally educated health care workers who want to practise in the province of Ontario get their licence quickly through those colleges. And that work can be ongoing, because I think you and I can both agree that we want more people working in our health care system in Ontario.

To the Premier: At the recent Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting, I heard the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association delegation raise concerns about the proposal to cut Ontario’s health units from 35 to 10 and paramedic services from 55 to 10. The plan is to merge the Kenora, Rainy River and Thunder Bay districts under one health unit covering at least 220,000 square kilometres, and over 500,000 square kilometres if Kiiwetinoong is included.

In the Ontario northwest, we already face enormous geographical challenges to access health care. The proposed mega health unit would serve an absurdly large geographical area with distinctly different communities and distinctly different needs that no single health or paramedic unit could possibly manage without putting people’s lives at risk.

Why is this government looking to make our health care challenges in the north greater by reducing available services?

So my question is: Will this government listen to community members, health professionals and local mayors, stop the amalgamation of health units, return the monthly mobile health units, and strengthen rather than weaken access to health care in northern Ontario?

At the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, I was very pleased to be able to announce an expansion of the paramedic programs that have been incredibly successful in some of our communities. Not all Ontario communities have access to that, and we are making sure that that continues.

Now, when a paramedic today has the only option of taking their patient to an emergency department, it is a strain on the system. When we have—with the patient’s consent—the ability to take that patient to a mental health facility, to a long-term-care facility, to a palliative home, there are opportunities that, together working with the patient, make for stronger and better outcomes. That’s what we’re doing. That’s what we’re talking about when we say the status quo is not an option in the province of Ontario.

Visitors to Ontario, to different parts and communities, don’t always know that, which is why we as a government have invested, and will continue to invest, in next-generation 911.

The people of the Niagara region deserve better when it comes to transit services in our peninsula. For years and years, the previous Liberal government would make promise after promise about the delivery of the long-awaited GO service to Niagara, but they always failed to deliver. When they were asked about the status of their commitment, we would hear Liberal members claim that it’s a “very, very big priority” or that they “could see it coming in the next year.”

But my constituents have waited long enough. Delivering GO rail service to Niagara is an essential piece of ensuring that we’re building up Ontario’s economy and strengthening Niagara’s tourism sector. Could the Minister of Transportation please update the Legislature on the important expansion of GO service to Niagara our government announced last week?

It’s vital that transit expansion becomes a reality across the GTHA, including in Niagara. Speaker, can the Minister of Transportation explain what our government is doing to expand GO services in Niagara and to get the job done for the people of Niagara West?

The Minister of Health.

My question is to the Premier. Earlier this month, Ken and Lorena Dillon from Chapleau were biking at Shoals Provincial Park when they suffered an accident. They tried to call 911 but the call wouldn’t go through because there was no cell coverage.

No one in Ontario should have to wait for hours on the side of a highway in an emergency because there is no cell service. Is the Premier going to ensure that everyone in Ontario can call 911 when they are in an emergency?

For some in northern Ontario, the situation is even worse. They have to find a 10-digit number to call during an emergency. The services are there, but 911 is not.

The patchwork system of cell coverage and emergency numbers in the north is putting lives on the line. Will the Premier commit to ensuring that 911 can be contacted in every part of the province where there is an emergency?

I want to thank the member from Niagara West for the question and for being such a dedicated and effective advocate for his constituents every day.

Speaker, delivering more rail service to Niagara is a priority for our government. Last week I was pleased to join the Premier, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and the member from Niagara West to announce that we are reinstating GO train service to Niagara 365 days a year, with year-round weekend service from Toronto’s Union Station to Niagara Falls. With two round trips each day on weekends, our government is giving a major boost to the region and unlocking access to the world-class tourist destination that is Niagara Falls. The Niagara region is an economic driver for our province.

This increase in service will not only build our economy but will also strengthen the region’s $1.8-billion tourism industry. But the job doesn’t stop there, Speaker. We will continue to work with our rail partners at CN to deliver even more service to Niagara region.

But, Speaker, rest assured our government is filling the massive infrastructure and transit gap that was left behind by the Liberals. I’m so proud that our PC government, led by our Premier, is stepping up to the plate and getting the job done for Ontarians. GO expansion is a key part of our government’s plan to fight gridlock and to better connect residents and commuters to the reliable transit services that they need. Bringing year-round weekend GO rail service between Toronto’s Union Station and Niagara Falls is a major step forward as our government delivers on the largest transit mandate in Ontario’s history.

We are working quickly to bring more frequent GO service to the entire network, including Niagara, while moving full—

Nursing shortages continue to plague Ottawa hospitals. The Queensway Carleton Hospital in my riding of Ottawa West–Nepean has had to close ICU beds due to lack of nurses.

Nurses without specialized experience are being assigned to work serious cases in the ICU or trauma cases in the ER. In at least one case, a nurse with only a few months’ experience was put in charge of an entire unit overnight, by herself. Speaker, this is unsustainable and risky. Why is the Premier refusing to repeal Bill 124 and address nursing shortages?

Recently, I met with the nurses of ONA Local 84 who work at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. They are burnt-out and frequently left in tears over assignments that they do not feel qualified to take on.

There are nurses who are quitting and working minimum wage jobs in retail because at least it doesn’t have the stress of nursing.

Will the Premier finally listen to nurses, address working conditions, and repeal Bill 124?

Thank you to the member for the question.

As we work to create a strong health care system, we are relying on strong health human resources as well. That’s why we are taking strong measures, specifically in my ministry, to ensure that we are training more doctors and nurses.

For example, the Learn and Stay program will pay for all educational components of a nurse’s education—in order to qualify, and to commit to two years in an underserved area. This will be starting in 2023. This will allow up to 3,000 nurses as part of this program, so it’s a great opportunity for young people to serve in some of those underserved, rural, northern areas.

As well, we’ve now allowed colleges across Ontario to offer stand-alone programs in nursing. Fourteen colleges now offer this program in areas like my own—in Georgian College, Lambton College, Loyalist—great opportunities for young people to be entering into rewarding careers, where we know we need more nurses.

As I mentioned, we have so many opportunities for young people to join the nursing profession. We are offering opportunities for students as well as opportunities for bridging in some of the work that I’ve been doing with the Minister of Long-Term Care, where we’ve invested over $100 million to support students who are moving from being a PSW to a registered practical nurse to a registered nurse, all while working in these careers while we need them in the workforce.

We’re offering opportunities for young people in their own communities—as I mentioned, the opportunity for students to learn in a college and to complete their four-year degree there, close to home. These are opportunities—I know in my own area, where students were at one time leaving to go to a university to finish their two-year degree, usually in a city, and not coming back to our rural communities. So there are great opportunities for colleges across Ontario to accept students, to be able to offer the nursing degree programs.

I want to thank the member from Peterborough–Kawartha for the question.

Everyone has a right to feel safe in their own home and in their own communities. Our government has established the guns-and-gangs joint-forces operation that is being led by the Ontario Provincial Police. This is a province-wide tool to help ongoing battles against guns, gangs and violence throughout our province.

The guns-and-gangs joint-forces operation is made possible through a $75-million investment by our government and will increase both intelligence sharing and enforcement action. We will be working with all law enforcement agencies across the province, such as Peterborough, to keep Ontario safe.

Community safety is a top priority, not just for those who work in and support the justice system but for all Ontario families. And as I said before, everyone has a right to feel safe in their own homes and their own communities.

With this in mind, I would like to point out that since the member from Peterborough–Kawartha has been elected, our government has provided more than $11 million in direct grants for policing. For example, starting this year, the province will be investing locally $3 million through the Community Safety and Policing Grant Program.

I want to say, Mr. Speaker, that keeping our community safe is our highest priority.

Monsieur le Président, la sûreté et la sécurité de notre province seront toujours notre priorité absolue.

Speaker, people in my riding are concerned about an increase in crime in our community. Peterborough has always been a peaceful town, and now we’re seeing an increase in gun crime that would have been unheard of not that long ago. We’ve had five shootings in the last five months, with the most recent one being just this past Saturday. People in Peterborough are concerned about an increase in violence that appears to be fuelled by the drug trade.

The media often focus on stories of crimes in larger cities, but I want to know, what’s the Solicitor General doing for communities like Peterborough that are concerned about public safety? How is the Solicitor General going to tackle crime in communities like mine?

It’s great to hear how joint operations can be so effective. Peterborough is a small police service, and their resources are spread thin. Our community looks to the province for support in achieving our provincial goals.

Mr. Speaker, could the minister share more about the investments our government is specifically providing to the people of Peterborough–Kawartha?