My question is for the Premier. The Income Security Advocacy Centre along with over 230 social service providers and community organizations have called on you to double both OW and ODSP rates and to index these rates to inflation. My office of Hamilton Mountain has received over 3,200 emails in just a very short time in support of doubling these rates.

People on social assistance are relying on food banks, shelters, improper medications, and, quite frankly, are in dire straits, where homelessness is their only option. Renovictions and rent increases are forcing people on social assistance to spend over 60% of their income on substandard roofs over their head. Seventy-three per cent of food bank users are on social assistance, and yet food insecurity is falling on the priority list due to substandard housing.

Will the Premier and his minister listen to ISAC and the over 230 providers, increase the rates—double the rates—and include people on Ontario Works?

It cannot be more contradictory when the Liberals oppose having a strong-mayor system despite their track record of supporting one. In 2008, Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty was on board with Toronto mayor David Miller’s request for additional power, saying, “I’m in support of a strong-mayor system. My support remains there.”

With our province in a housing crisis, the members of the opposition must put aside their partisan politics, and we should all stand together to ensure we are building more affordable homes for hard-working Ontarians.

Can the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing share with the House how a strong-mayor system will be valuable in moving housing projects forward so that more families can achieve their dream of becoming homeowners?

Speaker, former Toronto city councillors of all political stripes have touted a strong-mayor system for its ability to give more decisive direction to the bureaucracy about priorities and shift resources in that direction.

To quote former Toronto city councillor Kyle Rae from 2008 on the need for stronger mayor powers, “Toronto is an economic engine, and that’s beginning to get in trouble. If that engine starts to break down, those fabulous neighbourhoods are going to stop working.”

We are already seeing that prediction come true regarding the need to build more housing faster and cut through red tape on the priority projects of my constituents.

What are the minister and all members of the Legislature doing to get this done?

I just want to congratulate the world-leading lacrosse centre of Peterborough for once again, last night, defeating the Six Nations Chiefs to win the MSL and represent Ontario for the Mann Cup for an unprecedented second four-peat. And I’m requesting unanimous consent for my seatmate, who represents Ohsweken, where the Six Nations Chiefs play, to consent to wearing my Peterborough Century 21 Lakers jersey.

Thank you for the question. In fact, our government is aligning our increases—historic increases—of ODSP to inflation. That’s exactly what we’re doing, and we’re taking an all-of-government approach. We’re listening across the board. We are making sure that those who can work are receiving the job readiness programs and the training they need, and for those who cannot work, we are supporting those individuals, those also in financial crises, the municipalities, and making sure that the social service providers have the resources they need. That was exactly what the $1-billion social services relief funding was for.

We are getting the funding to the communities, the people who need it, through the micro-credentialing strategy, the Roadmap to Wellness, the new child care spaces, the Ontario Child Benefit, the dental care for low-income seniors, the CARE tax credit, the LIFT tax credit, the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit, the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit, and the minimum wage increase. We are continuing to listen, continuing to do what is necessary to support our most vulnerable and to help those who can work get back into the workforce.

The supplementary question.

Call in the members. This will be a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1142 to 1147.

On August 25, 2022, Mr. Mantha moved an amendment to government notice of motion number 4 relating to allocation of time on Bill 2 and Bill 7.

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

We’ll now deal with the main motion.

Ms. Khanjin has moved government notice of motion number 4 relating to allocation of time on Bill 2, An Act to amend Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes, and Bill 7, An Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 with respect to patients requiring an alternate level of care and other matters and to make a consequential amendment to the Health Care Consent Act, 1996. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard some noes.

All those in favour will please say “aye.”

All those opposed will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1151 to 1152.

Motion agreed to.

The House recessed from 1155 to 1300.

First reading agreed to.

I will take this opportunity to highlight yet again the five-point plan that, together with the Minister of Long-Term Care, we brought forward a number of weeks back. It included—speaking directly to your constituent Howard—investing over $300 million as part of the province’s Surgical Recovery Strategy, bringing the total investment to $880 million over the last three fiscal years.

Specifically related to doctor shortages, we now have 400 new practising physicians in the province of Ontario in rural and remote communities. We also are working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to ensure that any individuals who have applied to practise in the province of Ontario have that opportunity to go through the assessment and ultimately receive their licence, when appropriate. We will do this work because we know how important it is.

We’ve done all these things, working with our partners, because we know that innovation is here in the province of Ontario and we want to make sure that when we see these best practices, like the Niagara paramedic model, we encourage other communities to do the same.

I want to thank the member for Scarborough–Agincourt for that question. The member is absolutely correct: Former Premier Dalton McGuinty mulled proposing a strong-mayor system, but it is this government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that’s actually going to get it done.

Speaker, under our proposed changes, the mayors of both Toronto and Ottawa, our province’s two largest cities, will have new tools to help them be able to move priority projects, like housing projects, faster.

This past election, Premier Ford committed to the people of Ontario that he was going to keep costs down and he was going to ensure that we put a plan in place to build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years, and I can assure the honourable member and the people of Ontario that we’re going to get it done.

I’ve said many, many times in this House that we need to get shovels in the ground faster; we need to build more housing of all types, of all shapes and all sizes. Too many families are frozen out of the housing market because there simply are not enough housing options for them across the province. That’s why our government made the commitment in the last election, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that we’re going to build 1.5 million homes over the next years.

But, Speaker, the opposition would rather have us wait. They would actually rather have us delay. They’d rather us sit around for 15 more years to start building homes. That’s why we made that clear commitment. We looked people in the eye during the election and said, “Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we were not going to do as the Liberals had done for 15 years before.”

Regardless of what is being proposed, the hateful eight is not going to make us wait.

It is, once again, a true honour to rise in the House today. Today it is in recognition of the second annual Convenience Store Week in Ontario. Last year, our government passed the Convenience Store Week Act to recognize the important role convenience stores play in our day-to-day lives. We’re very proud to be here today to kick off this important week and celebrate the hard-working employees in the convenience store industry and their significant contributions.

When we think about convenience stores, we often think about shops in our own communities, the corner store staples that we pick up, the people we see when we are visiting. We remember those friendly faces at the cash register, aisles with all of our daily necessities, and that familiar sense of community that you get when you enter a convenience store. But all of that would not be possible without the dedicated business owners and the employees who work around the clock to ensure that their stores are open and ready to serve all of their customers.

Convenience store owners and their employees are some of the hardest-working people in our communities. Many of them, as we all know, work seven days a week; they’re open 365 days a year, all to make sure that they can meet their customers’ needs. And this is especially true in rural and remote communities, where convenience stores are often the only source of fresh food and other daily necessities. I think of the Trout Creek convenience store that’s owned by Sam and Tariq—and that’s it. There’s nothing around Trout Creek. There’s not another place that you can go into and get fresh food, produce and things like that. Sam and Tariq are some of the hardest-working people I’ve met. My wife, Patty, and I have had a great opportunity to have dinner with them, with supplies, by the way, that were purchased at their Trout Creek store. It’s a great little spot.

On behalf of our government and all of the people of Ontario, we say thank you to the thousands of convenience store owners and their workers for the incredible impact they have on all of us each and every day. Ontario is home to more than 8,500 convenience stores that employ more than 78,000 people across the province. From Cornwall to Kenora, from Wawa to Windsor, you probably know somebody in a convenience store, especially your local convenience store.

We know that small businesses, like many convenience stores, are vital to our communities and critical to Ontario’s economic growth. Our government is quite proud of our support for these hard-working men and women. That’s why we have consistently cut red tape and made it easier for people in Ontario to start a business. And that is why we continue to put money back into the pockets of our business communities. Since the day we took office, we’ve lowered the cost of doing business in Ontario by $7 billion a year—I think I’ve stood in this Legislature and said that almost every single day I’ve ever stood up. We’ve cut red tape, fixed the Liberals’ hydro mess, lowered taxes so that businesses in Ontario have more money to invest in growth and invest in their people. We’re creating jobs and opportunities in every single corner of the province.

In July, Ontario had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the past 30 years, at 5.3%. That tells you we are strengthening the economy. We’re building these vibrant communities for all of the people in Ontario.

Convenience stores remind us that there are opportunities right across the province for everyone and anyone. We hear stories all the time about these hard-working individuals who open their own stores and hire people in their communities. Many of these stores have 10 or less employees, including their own family members.

To me, these aren’t just talking points; this is the story of my own family. My dad, Hub, opened Hub’s cigar store on Main Street in North Bay, right across the street from my office, in the 1960s. Employed there were my mom, my grandmother and my aunt Emelia. They worked there every single day. My dad then expanded to open Hub’s Hilltop, and as it sounds, it was on top of the hill in North Bay. It was a really popular convenience store—although I never understood the word “convenience” then. We opened at 10 in the morning, so I don’t really know what was convenient about that. But we closed at 10 at night. We were open for 12 hours a day. This was long before there was ever such a retail category—

I see Minister Monte McNaughton nodding. He comes from a small business family in a small town—which we visited together, at your store. You know exactly what we’re talking about. This is how our families bonded.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can tell you that around our kitchen table at dinner every night, there were discussions on courier rates and Bus Parcel Express times. That was the kind of thing we talked about—

Interjection.

I’d like to introduce my wife, Brendah-Leah. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary last Monday.

It’s my pleasure and honour to introduce Guru Hari H.D.H., Prem Swaroopdas Swamiji and Pujya Tyagvallabh Swamiji from Yogi Divine Society, a worldwide organization performing many social activities and uplifting youth worldwide.

Mr. West moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr1, An Act to revive Sapore Di Calabria Inc.

This petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas our government was elected on commitment on keeping costs down and putting more money back in Ontarians’ pockets by increasing housing supply, making it less expensive to drive or take transit, and by providing relief on everything from child care to taxes; and

“Whereas the government is delivering on that commitment by:

“—reducing 5.7 cents per litre on the gas tax for six months starting July 1;

“—$120 each year in savings in southern Ontario and $60 per year savings in northern Ontario by eliminating licence plate renewal fees for passenger and light commercial vehicles;

“—$300 in additional tax relief in 2022, on average, for 1.1 million lower-income workers through the proposed low-income individuals and families tax credit enhancement;

“—scrapping tolls on Highways 412 and 418;

“—cutting child care costs by 50% on average by December of this year; and

“Whereas the government is reducing the cost of housing by:

“—increasing the non-resident speculation tax rate from 15% to 20% and expanding the tax beyond the greater Golden Horseshoe region to apply province-wide and closing loopholes to fight tax avoidance;

“—implementing reforms that reduce red tape associated with new housing builds, making it easier to build community housing, and speeding up the approval process; and

“Whereas this plan is working—last year, over 100,000 new homes began construction, the highest in more than 30 years in the province of Ontario;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the housing action plan of the Ontario PC government.”

This petition was circulated by Aaron, and I will affix my signature and submit it.

I have a petition.

“To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate in December 2021 was 4.9%, the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works and to increase other programs accordingly.”

I agree with this petition, I’m going to affix my signature to it and give it to bring to Arushi to bring to the Clerk.

A little bit of politics—but more business than politics.

I’ve got to also tell you, looking back, that those were the best days ever. We miss them, and I must say, everybody in the riding of Nipissing really misses my dad, Hub—it has been about 13 years. We really miss him and thinking about those fun days.

In communities across the province, convenience stores are more than just a place to buy necessities. They sponsor local sports teams. They raise money for community causes and charities. They are filled with familiar faces for people to talk to when you stop by during the week. As they grow, they build an even stronger presence in their communities and have an even bigger impact on their customers and people all around them.

That is part of what makes our province so special. Premier Ford likes to call that the Ontario spirit. It is a can-do spirit of entrepreneurship, hard work and compassion. No matter who you are or where you come from, there are opportunities to thrive in small businesses in every single community. That’s what we think about when we are supporting our local convenience stores. We think about the family who opens a new store, the employees who get to know their regular customers, the small businesses that grow and thrive.

This week, we encourage everyone to visit a local convenience store, as we celebrate Convenience Store Week, and thank them for the important role they are playing in each and every one of our communities. It’s a signal that Ontario is open for business.

Responses?

It’s an honour to rise today to speak on behalf of the official opposition, to recognize the second annual Convenience Store Week.

For many people, the convenience store was a cornerstone of growing up in Ontario. You’d spend your hard-earned coins on little bags of candy, run last-minute errands like picking up a bag of milk, or get a slushy on a hot summer day. It’s really the first place you learned about finance and about budgeting. It brings back so many memories for me and I’m sure for all members across this chamber.

Convenience stores are a vital hub in many neighbourhoods, providing fast, friendly service, and are also vital small businesses in our communities all across Ontario. Many stores are family-owned and represent the Canadian dream. It’s inspiring and, quite frankly, astonishing to hear how many hours these dedicated folks spend serving their customers well and always with a smile. They are some of the most hard-working people I know.

I think of my friend Amit at Springbank Mini Mart, who fosters relationships with the people who visit his store and who is always looking to improve his offerings, like adding a postal outlet or a balloon store. His convenience store is just one of the businesses that he owns. Honestly, where the guy finds the time I will never know—but he also gives back. Outside his store is a food donation cabinet, which he replenishes every single day.

These dedicated folks, who run almost 8,500 stores and have almost 80,000 employees, sponsor local teams. They give back to charities. The convenience store is even more vital for your family’s needs up in the north.

As a teenager, I began my first real job in a convenience store, and I remain thankful to this day for all the lessons I learned. I spent my secondary and post-secondary years in various service roles, and it gave me an appreciation for hard work, long hours, and truly listening so you can provide the help people require.

I believe that every person should work in the service industry at some point or another. I will always be thankful that the service industry helped alleviate the burden of student debt and helped put me through university.

Throughout the pandemic, corner stores remained open to serve us, to provide food and to help us with our essential needs, such as masks and so much more. Corner stores are exactly that—the cornerstones of our communities. I’m thankful that after many months of advocacy, the Ontario government finally listened to the official opposition NDP and provided much-needed supports to small businesses.

Small businesses, like convenience stores, also require further supports—not just in name alone—like paid sick days. They’re the backbone of Ontario’s economy, yet time and again we see governments, federal and provincial, look after big businesses and ignore that 80% of our economy is comprised of small businesses. It’s disturbing when you see massive, highly profitable grocery chains getting free freezers. I know that many small business owners would love a fraction of that level of support.

In my community, US retail giant 7-Eleven is pursuing a liquor licence and wants to serve alcohol—not take-home, but serve beer and wine in a busy gas station location, to turn a gas station into a watering hole. As if that weren’t questionable enough, this location is near Western University. Granting a retail giant like 7-Eleven a liquor licence would take away from other struggling small businesses, and that’s not the kind of action people need right now.

Let’s honour the great people who work seven days a week, including holidays, open before the sun is up and close well after the sun has gone down and others are tucked into their beds. Convenience stores routinely go above and beyond the big box stores and serve their neighbours with pride.

Let’s honour them this week, listen to their concerns and ensure they stay open for years to come. I encourage everyone across Ontario to visit their local convenience store and thank them for everything they do.

I wish my great thanks and congratulations to all our corner stores, the cornerstones of our communities—the unsung heroes of our convenience stores. Thank you for serving your communities with pride, dignity, respect, and, most of all, care. From the official opposition, thank you for all you do.

I’d like to thank Dr. Sally Palmer of McMaster University for her petition campaign to raise social assistance rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate in December 2021 was 4.9%, the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works and to increase other programs accordingly.”

I am proud to affix my name to this petition. I will send it to the table with page Zara.

Resuming the debate adjourned on August 18, 2022, on the motion for second 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.

It gives me great pleasure to present the following petitions on behalf of Mary Margison, who collected all the signatures. It reads:

“Stop Highway 413.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government is pushing ahead with plans to build Highway 413, a redundant and wasteful 400-series highway through the greenbelt that would cost taxpayers an estimated $10 billion; and

“Whereas the Ontario government’s expert panel concluded that Highway 413 would be a waste of taxpayer money that would only save drivers 30 to 60 seconds on their commutes; and

“Whereas Highway 413 would pave over 400 acres of greenbelt and 2,000 acres of farmland, destroy the habitats of at-risk and endangered species, pollute rivers and streams, and cause significant harm to historic Indigenous sites;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Stop the plans for building Highway 413.”

I fully agree with the petition. I will affix my signature and deliver it to page Juliet for the Clerks.

When we heard the throne speech, we knew it was an opportunity for relief, an opportunity for hope. And yet, unfortunately, there were some serious letdowns with this throne speech.

I think back to when I first entered this chamber back in 2018. I was pleased to see that this government has learned, because in 2018, if you will remember, Speaker, the throne speech began without a land acknowledgment—a very curious omission, something that was completely absent. Also, in mentioning the pillars of diversity in 2018 and going through all of these different attributes, the government included the word “lifestyle,” which anyone knows is a dog whistle to suggest that being gay is a choice. So I was glad to see that this wasn’t included in this government’s current throne speech.

I worry that the throne speech is really full of empty words, that it’s flimsy window dressing for actual substantive changes, and I am also concerned that it fails to directly address many of the most pressing issues that we see across our province as this time. Some of those issues include affordability, with inflation at an all-time high, and our health care crisis—such a precarious state in all of our hospitals, seeing emergency rooms closing, seeing people leaving the field; it’s a deep concern—also, in education. We need to make sure we have more robust supports for workers and social assistance and actually address the climate crisis in a meaningful way.

To begin my remarks, I’d like to take a deep dive through the throne speech itself. It starts off by talking about the virtues of partnership and collaboration, which is good to hear—that this government is interested in collaborating and interested in listening to the official opposition.

It also mentions the affordability crisis. It does mention inflation, yet we don’t see enough relief to stem that rising tide of costs.

Curiously, it does mention hard-working people, but it also, directly after that, just two paragraphs away, talks about the rising costs of labour. Therefore, they talk about inflation—they know that life is getting more unaffordable, that people are working hard—but they’re also talking about people wanting too much money. That’s a shame.

The government talks about creating good jobs in the throne speech, but they don’t mention, in combination with that, good wages.

They talk about high-quality hospitals and long-term-care homes, but they’ve left out the mention of public hospitals. That is a strange omission, but I get it; we see with government bills like G7 that they’re hoping to move money away from the public system and put it into the hands of a few shareholders.

As well, the government talks about the free rapid antigen tests that were provided directly to Ontarians, but they neglect to mention that that was yet another example of their privatization, of taking public money and putting it into the hands of people like Shoppers Drug Mart, who had a direct financial benefit from this government’s decision.

They also mention adding 3,500 new hospital beds and thousands more nurses—it’s funny that they first mentioned the furniture, almost as though the people are an afterthought.

They also talk about investing $1 billion more to expand home and community care, but what they fail to mention is that, largely, that system is private. In fact, they undertook great pains to make sure that some of the remaining vestiges of home care were privatized under the last Legislature.

There is a mention, as well, of 30,000 new long-term-care beds. I’m sure that people with private interests are just rubbing their hands together, thinking about all the profit they are going to get from people in our system.

There are, again, some very flimsy words, some sentiments saying that in the health care system there’s “an exhausted workforce and increasingly stressed emergency departments.” Those words are incredibly true, but if the government actually believed them, they would repeal Bill 124.

It mentions that nine out of 10 high-urgency patients are finishing their emergency visit within target times—as if nine out of 10 was a success.

They’re attempting to change the channel. But what is deeply concerning, when you analyze the language of the throne speech, is—they mention working with “health system partners.” They talk about doing “whatever measures” and that there’s “meaningful reform.” This is concerning because these are coded words. These are words that are signalling the increasing privatization of our publicly funded health care system.

There’s a mention of paramedicine, yet this government does not take into account the fact that, for instance, in my community of London, one third of paramedics want to leave. They’re actively pursuing another job because of the backlog at hospitals, the amount of stress they’re under, the fact that they don’t get breaks. They’re worked off their feet. All of their shifts are incredibly long. This government provides words, but we don’t see any investments to help make their lives better.

There are further buzzwords, like “stifles innovation,” “status quo.” Yet again, these are buzzwords. This government wants to overhaul the publicly funded health care system. It’s almost as though they’re suggesting that public funding is the status quo. Actually, funding hospitals properly is the status quo. They can’t claim that they have actually maintained that, because they have not funded hospitals properly. We have not seen that under this government’s mandate, yet they’re saying it’s not working. Well, it’s no surprise. If you strangle a system when it stops working, it’s no wonder it stops working because it is underfunded and cut to the bone.

There is also, of course, much finger-pointing. They’ve said that the federal government needs to pay its fair share of health care funding. Let’s look back at history. Provincial governments are calling for 35% of the health care transfers. Let’s never forget that it was a Conservative Prime Minister who cut the federal health care yearly increases from 6% to 3%—yet another example of austerity that we have not seen changed under a federal Liberal government, for that matter.

We also see: “Together, let’s build an economy with better jobs and bigger paycheques,” but it’s very careful language in that they are not saying “better wages.” It’s almost like this government is expecting people to work more so they have a bigger paycheque, but they’re not going to pay them what they’re worth—because they’re clearly not repealing Bill 124 at this stage.

They do, however, include an increase to the Ontario Disability Support Program. I’m reminded of when this government first took power. There was a promised 3% increase, which was cut to a 1.5% increase. After having learned the lessons throughout the pandemic, with everyone agreeing that $2,000 a month was an adequate, sustainable income for everyone in this province, this government still has chosen to ensure that people living on social assistance are well below the poverty level.

I’d also like to take a look at some of the things that we need to consider in terms of affordability. We see across our province that people are having to accept lower wages, and that everything else is going up in price, whether it’s the cost of food, the cost of fuel—the cost of everything else. It would be refreshing to see this government raise the minimum wage, repeal Bill 124—raise public sector compensation by getting rid of Bill 124. ODSP rates need to be doubled to make sure that people are able to maintain housing, to feed their families properly and to have a healthy life.

We also need the government to take an active role to protect people from price gouging. During the pandemic, we heard the Premier talking about becoming an 800-pound gorilla, being on people’s backs, and yet we saw no one who was pursued who reported price gouging across our province.

From the official opposition side, we introduced legislation for a consumer protection watchdog, yet this government didn’t feel it was important to protect consumers; they didn’t feel it was important to make sure seniors aren’t getting fleeced. We saw that door-to-door sales were banned under the previous Liberal government, but that doesn’t stop people—they call on the phone, they make an appointment, they get into people’s homes, and they force them to sign terrible agreements for HVAC systems, for home automation, for so many other things, and this government has done nothing to stop that.

If we take a look at our current health care crisis, right now there’s so much of our public money that is going to private, for-profit industries as it is. We know that health care spending is being used on hiring temp nurses, that spending on temp agency nurses has gone up 550% since pre-pandemic levels. There’s a clear connection here. Many nurses have been exhausted, and they feel, quite frankly, humiliated by this government—to be rejected, to be ignored, to be completely cast aside. We have words, and then we have actions. This government could repeal Bill 124 and deliver the respect that they deserve, and yet instead we see talking points and no actions.

This overreliance on these temp agency nurses is a stopgap that is not helping anyone—it is not only privatization, but it’s ensuring that people are similarly leaving the field to pursue these private industries. We also have the greater risk of injury at work for places that are unfamiliar. We also have concerns about the continuity of care. It’s yet another example of privatization, where this government is taking public money, our tax dollars, and flushing it down the drain. They’re making sure that only a few people are benefiting from that. Here, on the official opposition side, we believe in publicly funding health care and making sure we stretch every last one of those dollars as much as they can go to the greatest level of care, yet this government seems immune to that.

What’s a further tremendous concern is when we see this hinted privatization language within the throne speech. We see examples in Bill 7. We heard the government actually speaking about how people who are in hospitals, who are in an alternate-level-of-care situation, should be paying. This government believes that those people should be paying. This government wants hospitals to charge people up to $1,500 a day for their care. The only other option is for them to be forced into a situation that is not necessarily one of their choosing, into a long-term-care home that they did not choose, through really what is a disgraceful level of coercion for seniors, who deserve far better.

We also want to look towards inflation. We know that inflation is around 8.1% at this stage, yet this government doesn’t offer much relief for taxpayers; it doesn’t offer much relief for the middle class. In fact, in a recent report, it has been indicated that only 16%—did you hear that—of workers believe their wages are keeping up with inflation. That’s shocking. That would leave out so many people across this province. Think about the gig workers. Think about the PSWs who aren’t provided full-time jobs with benefits, because this government is happy to allow private, for-profit long-term-care homes to operate in the way they do.

I want to take a look at privatization itself because, as I’ve said, this throne speech reeks of it; it stinks to high heaven.

In long-term care, for-profit residents—let’s do some facts and figures here—were 60% more likely to be infected with COVID-19 and 45% more likely to die. In the for-profit homes throughout the pandemic, they were five times more likely to die than those in publicly and municipally run homes and not-for-profit homes. Yet instead of taking that information, instead of learning that lesson throughout the pandemic, we see this government is hell-bent on continuing to take public money and put it into shareholders’ pockets, put it into the pockets of insiders. It’s truly frightening. For-profit homes spend 24% less per year on care. That should be obvious. We have a government that talks a good game about finances and conservation of wealth and spending money in a wise, frugal way. This should be clear and it should be very obvious: If the money is not going towards its intended purpose, then it should not be spent. If we wanted seniors to be cared for correctly, then we would have publicly funded, not-for-profit long-term care. It’s obvious.

We also want to look towards how these private, for-profit long-term-care corporations and businesses are able to funnel that money away. Do you know how that is, Speaker? It’s because they pay their staff less money. They work their staff in ridiculous ways—they have part-time jobs without benefits, without respect—and they pay them far less. They hire, in fact, most times, casual staff, part-time staff. They rely on these very same agencies I mentioned earlier to keep their doors open—not just keep their doors open, but keep the pockets of their few investors full.

We should be expanding home care and making sure it is publicly delivered and publicly funded, instead of it going into agency pockets. If we look at how much the home care companies are paid with public funds for a nurse, it’s between $58 and $70 per hour—this was from 2015, mind you. How much do those companies actually pay the staff, pay that nurse, from that $58 to $70? They pay them about $30 an hour. That’s hefty profit—for a PSW, it’s between $30 to $50. That’s how much money they get from the government, yet they pass on less than half of that: $15 per hour for a PSW. That’s a shame, and that should be stopped. That is a very inappropriate and ineffective expenditure. It’s an unwise way to spend our public money.

Speaker, we also need to take a look at a government that needs to build affordable and supportive housing. Throughout my community, we have a really amazing organization, the Forgotten 519. Jenna Rose Sands, Dan Oudshoorn and Dr. Andrea Sereda came together to really show the plight of what’s happening to people who are losing their lives; people who have hopes, people who have dreams; people who have families who are dying on the street in front of our eyes. Yet this government is not funding social assistance well; they’re not building affordable housing. This is the problem. We need to make sure that people are housed, that people are safe, and then and only then can they build back their lives. Frequently, whenever I’ve brought this issue to the House before, we’ve heard this government talk about wraparound services, yet they don’t provide those wraparound services. They are not funding mental health support. They aren’t funding things correctly. We can fix that.

As I look back on this throne speech, we see that this was an opportunity. I had hoped, through all the different iterations of the pandemic and all the different waves, that this government would have learned and that it would have looked at how it did not create an iron ring around long-term care; how it failed working people in Ontario by waiting so long to finally provide sick days, the paltry few that they did, and finally looked towards the future by providing 10 paid sick days—like the member from London West has brought forward once again.

We also have opportunities to make sure we expedite the credentials of foreign-trained nurses, like the member from Scarborough Southwest—the excellent legislation she has brought forward. There was an opportunity back then, and yet we only hear the government making noises about this now.

There is so much more we can do. I look forward to working with this government to make sure we find—that we show what has been missing from this throne speech and what actually needs to be done here in the province of Ontario.

Pursuant to the order of the House passed earlier today, I am now required to put the question.

Mr. Bethlenfalvy has moved second reading of Bill 2, An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?

I heard some noes.

All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”

All those opposed will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, it will be deferred until the next instance of deferred votes.

Second reading vote deferred.

Resuming the debate adjourned on August 24, 2022, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 7, An Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 with respect to patients requiring an alternate level of care and other matters and to make a consequential amendment to the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 / Projet de loi 7, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2021 sur le redressement des soins de longue durée en ce qui concerne les patients ayant besoin d’un niveau de soins différent et d’autres questions et apportant une modification corrélative à la Loi de 1996 sur le consentement aux soins de santé.

Mr. Calandra has moved second reading of Bill 7, An Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 with respect to patients requiring an alternate level of care and other matters and to make a consequential amendment to the Health Care Consent Act, 1996.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?

I heard some noes.

All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”

All those opposed will please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, it will be deferred until the next instance of deferred votes.

Second reading vote deferred.

Resuming the debate adjourned on August 25, 2022, on the motion for an address in reply to the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session.

Thank you to the member for Barrie–Innisfil for the question. It’s almost like she borrowed words from my speech and was trying to use them against me. It’s rather interesting.

On the official opposition side, we have always advocated to listen to the front lines in health care.

Throughout this throne speech, we don’t see any listening to the front lines of health care—we hear “working with system partners,” and we saw a government that worked with long-term-care owner-operators throughout the pandemic. They created legislation to protect them from legal liability for all the deaths that happened on their watch. That’s frightening.

Instead, we need to listen to the workers. We need to listen to the nurses. We need to listen to the PSWs. We need to listen to the patients who are actually being impacted. That would include having a committee so that we could actually discuss Bill 7 and hear from the people who are going to be impacted, the people who are going to be coerced and forced out of the hospital into a place where they don’t want to go, hundreds of kilometres away, away from their family. That would be listening. That would be your actions matching your words.

Instead, we have all sorts of talk in this throne speech—but it’s coded language; it’s hiding what is actually going on, and that’s increasing privatization. Quite frankly, that is something I believe Ontarians are frightened of.

Why don’t you just be forthright and tell Ontarians what you’re hoping to do—and that is to make health care for-profit in Ontario?

By listening to people, by actually engaging with Ontarians, the official opposition has been able to advocate on some very important pieces of legislation. Those include the member for Windsor West’s More Than a Visitor Act, something that would give essential caregivers more of a role within health care decisions that are being made for folks in long-term care. That was incredibly important, because, throughout the pandemic, we saw that many of these essential caregivers, these loved ones, these people who provided care, who helped buttress a system that has been woefully undercut and underfunded for many, many years—they were the ones who were actually providing that care, and they were shut out from these homes. They were not allowed to see their loved ones, and that’s so difficult on a senior, on someone with disabilities—the only thing that they look forward to every day is seeing that loved one.

Also, we had other legislation—like Till Death Do Us Part Act, to make sure that loved ones are kept in the same home, from the member for Waterloo, and so many other things.

We see a government that doesn’t want to work across party lines and that doesn’t want to work with each other.