I’d like to introduce the Mazzucco family from my riding: Mark, Michael and Madina. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

It brings me great honour to introduce Neal and Debbie Roberts, the parents of Andrew Roberts. He’s very hard-working. He’s a bright star and a part of our team who works with the Premier, so welcome. You must be very proud of your son because all of us rely on him every day. Thank you.

I want to introduce guests from Vancouver: Mr. Phil Laird, the vice-president of Trinity Western University, and Mr. Michael Shao, the CEO of Tresor Solutions. They are going to open a new campus in my riding of Don Valley North. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I would like to introduce Robert Morales. He is a constituent from Simcoe–Grey and he has recently joined my office as my legislative assistant.

I truly don’t think the opposition understand what we are trying to accomplish here. The Premier just highlighted the fact that there are some 6,000 people who are in ALC across this province. The impact that has on hospitals all over the province is of a magnitude that I don’t think the opposition understands.

What we are saying is that long-term care can be part of the solution. For the first time in decades, because of the investments that this government has made in new and upgraded long-term-care beds, in four hours of care, in 27,000 additional health care workers, we can be part of the solution. I appreciate that the opposition always want to tear down what is being built up, but we will not stop, Mr. Speaker, because we cannot. As the Premier has said, as the health minister has said, the status quo is just simply not an option any longer, and there is nobody who would suggest that somebody who is on the long-term-care wait-list should wait in a hospital as opposed to being in a long-term-care home.

Better math scores. We have more teachers in schools. Our students finally—finally—are doing better in STEM, Mr. Speaker. When you combine that with the investments that the Minister of Colleges and Universities has made, when you combine that with the great work of the Minister of Labour to bring the skilled trades back into the schools, we are building an education system that works for all Ontarians and we’re doing it faster and better than anybody could have ever imagined with higher investments than any other government in the history of this province.

Look at the record of this government. We took over from a Liberal-NDP coalition that almost bankrupted the province of Ontario. They didn’t build long-term-care homes, they didn’t invest in hospitals, they didn’t build schools. In fact, they closed schools. Together they laid off thousands of nurses.

What have we done? We have been working to create thousands of jobs in the province of Ontario, not by government jobs, but by bringing back policies that bring back companies to the province of Ontario—300,000 lost jobs under them; thousands of jobs because of the work of this government.

We brought back the auto industry. The Minister of Labour brought back the skilled trades to support all of the new building that is happening with the Minister of Transportation.

Subways: How long did people wait for subways? Under that crew, nothing got done. Under us, Ontario is moving forward. We will build and we won’t let them tear down the progress we made.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, we can’t keep doing the same old thing over and over again, pouring billions of dollars into the health system, and expect a different result. We need new solutions to old problems that the Liberals and NDP created. The opposition will always find reasons to say no. They will keep defending the status quo, saying no for the sake of saying no. We refuse to accept the status quo. The opposition want people who should be in long-term care in hospital beds. Hospital beds weren’t made for long-term-care patients. And what’s happening is it’s clogging up the emergency departments, delaying surgeries. These problems are decades in the making, created by years of refusal to act under the Liberals and NDP. The Liberals and NDP, who caused the problem, are now complaining about the solution. Their solution is to do absolutely nothing, to change nothing.

The opposition will always say no to building more hospitals, no to hiring more nurses, no to building more hospital beds. They will say no to shorter surgery wait times, no to making the system better. The Liberals and NDP built 611 long-term-care beds. We’re building 31,000 new long-term-care beds, investing $4.9 billion, hiring more than 27,000 long-term-care staff—

I have said it before and I will say it again: In the province of Ontario, we use our OHIP card to pay for health care in Ontario when people need those services.

Our five-point plan to remain open includes many investments in many different areas to preserve our hospital capacity, to provide the right care in the right place. It’s exactly what we need today in the province of Ontario. We’re making those investments. I only wish that the people across the aisle in the NDP caucus would understand that we need to make these innovations. We need to encourage them. We need to allow hospitals, health care providers, long-term care, primary care physicians to do what they do best, which is look after people with your OHIP card.

My question to the Premier. This government is giving itself the power to sign people up for long-term-care homes they don’t want to go to. Yesterday, the long-term care minister admitted to media that they will use financial coercion to make them go. He said, “Should a hospital charge them? Absolutely.”

Why does this government believe that a hospital stay should end with a bill?

Late yesterday, we learned the government plans to ram this legislation through without any hearings or opportunities to hear from front-line workers and from families whose lives will be devastated by these changes. Why is the government so unwilling to hear from families and front-line workers who will be devastated by this bill?

Interjections.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

Every day over the last week has raised new concerns about the government’s plan for private health care. Today, we have a leaked copy of a poll from the government’s pollster of record, asking Ontarians whether they agree with the following statement: “I should be able to pay for my own health care to get better service in Ontario.”

I would like to put the same question to our Premier: Does the Premier think people should be able to pay their way to better health care in Ontario?

Back to the Premier: It’s not just about private health care. The same government poll asks people whether they agree that the government should allow more private and/or charter schools in Ontario—charter schools. That is public funding of private education, let’s be clear.

Does the Premier agree that public money for Ontario’s education should be diverted to private and charter schools?

Why is this Premier so determined to divert public money from our schools and our hospitals at such a great cost to Ontarians?

Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Earlier this month, the London Health Sciences Centre was forced to close their world-leading epilepsy monitoring unit due to critical staffing shortages. The unit being closed and a lack of access to EEGs means even more delayed surgeries. Think of the impacts to health, mental health and the quality of life of patients suffering from seizures.

When will this government admit the crisis in health care is real and address the staffing shortage that they created?

People on waiting lists are waiting even longer and it is because of the disrespectful policies of this government. Epilepsy patients, like Sarah, live in fear wondering when their next episode is going to happen.

Clearly, the Minister of Health wants to peddle privatization as a cure all for the crisis Conservative cuts have created. Overworked and underappreciated by this government, then Bill 124? It’s a perfect storm. Will this government finally admit they got it wrong, repeal Bill 124, and finally treat health care professionals with respect, yes or no?

My question is to the Minister of Health. You announced the creation of the operating room assist position at Hamilton Health Sciences, but we’re hearing a concerning story from registered nurses. Registered nurses at Hamilton Health Sciences caution that replacing highly trained scrub nurses with ORAs puts patient safety at risk in the operating room. Patients don’t want someone in their OR who is unable to intervene when unexpected things happen during surgery. When a patient is coding in the operating room, there isn’t time to wait for a nurse. Delays can be the difference between life and death. With only 22 hours of online learning, two practice labs and two weeks of practical experience, ORAs do not have the same expert knowledge and specialized training as highly skilled scrub nurses.

My question: Will you stop cuts to nursing at the cost of patient care and require Hamilton Health Sciences to keep nurses in the critical scrub nurse role?

I agree that we need to address the nursing crisis, but you are compromising the standard of surgical care for patients to save money. You need to invest and protect the scrub nurse position to ensure patients get the care they need and deserve. Without proper standards of care, patients may have a higher risk of unexpected complications, which could result in multiple surgeries and, in the worst-case scenario, even lose their lives.

My question to the Minister of Health: Will you address the nursing crisis by ensuring that the right care is provided at the right time by the right provider and stop removing scrub nurses from that critical role in the operating room?

Again, this question will highlight some of the work that we have already undertaken with the Ontario College of Nurses and with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to expedite the internationally trained experts in health care who want to practise in the province of Ontario. We have asked and directed those two colleges to make sure that people who have applied have their process going through very quickly so that they get that accreditation and they get that licensing because the member is right: We need to increase the supply of health care workers in the province of Ontario.

I would add respectfully that this is not unique to Ontario. As recently as two days ago, I was meeting with the FPT, the federal, provincial and territorial leaders, to talk specifically about what Canada can do and how they can assist to make sure that those internationally trained individuals who want to practise in Ontario can do so quickly.

Stop the clock. Order.

Restart the clock. The next question.

Thank you to the member for Elgin–Middlesex–London for that important question. He is right. We need to increase health human resources, and that starts with post-secondary education.

Our government, under the leadership of this Premier, is getting it done by taking action to increase health human resources across Ontario through our historic expansion of health care post-secondary education. This includes building the first new medical school in the GTA in over 100 years. Speaker, the last medical school built in the GTA was at the University of Toronto in 1843. We are the government that is building the new Toronto Metropolitan University medical school in Brampton. We’re also creating the new University of Toronto Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health in Scarborough and expanding the Queen’s Lakeridge Health campus. Earlier this year, we also established the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as the first stand-alone medical school in northern Ontario.

Earlier this year, we also announced our Learn and Stay program, which over the next four years can help 3,000 nurse graduates receive financial supports to cover the cost of tuition in exchange for committing to practise for two years in an underserved community. We want to ensure that everyone has access to health care where they need it, when they need it.

The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have put pressure on the health care system right here in Ontario. We need more health care professionals now more than ever. With our health care services trying to stabilize after dealing with the COVID pandemic over the last two years, we need to address these urgent pressures so our province can stay open with an even stronger health care network.

Medical education is critical to providing Ontario with the health care and human resources that are desperately needed. Can the Minister of Colleges and Universities share the government’s plan to expand medical education so we can welcome more medical trainees into this province?

We currently have six universities that provide undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, but more action is needed to strengthen our health care and intellectual infrastructure. Our government understands the need for the correct number and mix of health professionals in the right places throughout this province.

Speaker, can the minister update the House on what the government is doing to strengthen the development of our existing medical education and professional development programs?

There is no government in the history of this province, under the leadership of the Premier, that invested more in public health care than this government. Mr. Speaker, that includes investing in health human resources.

Since March 2020, we have added over 10,900 health care professionals across this province. This includes making sure that, in the future, we also have health care professionals by building medical schools in places like Brampton and Scarborough, making sure we almost double the number of doctors in the north. We put forward programs in the fall economic statement: $342 million to support adding over 5,000 new and upskilled registered nurses and registered practical nurses, as well as an additional 8,000 personal support workers.

Every step of the way, Mr. Speaker, the members opposite have voted against each of these measures to help support health human resources across this province. That is a shame.

I want to thank the member from Oakville for his question. It is relevant because we didn’t sign the first deal, as proposed by the opposition. We signed a better deal for the people of Ontario, a deal with $13.2 billion of investment. We’re talking about literally $3 billion more, an additional year—the only province in the federation to have that type of funding certainty—and a commitment to for-profit and non-profit child care operators, in which those 30% of for-profit operators would have been omitted if, God forbid, we had followed the advice of the opposition.

We stood up for all families, for parental choice and ensured that every single parent is eligible for the reductions they deserve: $4,000 this year on average; $12,000 per child next year on average, on the way to $10 a day by the year 2025.

This is a massive step forward as we encourage more economic participation of women in the economy, and we reduced costs at a time of national inflation. We’re going to continue to work with all levels of government to deliver the affordability parents deserve.

Our Premier has a mandate to get the job done, to reduce fees, and part of our plan is to listen to the advice of the very operators, often women entrepreneurs, who run these centres.

I want to give a shout-out to the member from Ajax, the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education, who has been leading efforts to streamline the process, to reduce red tape, to create funding guideline guarantees—exactly what the sector wanted—and more time for them to enrol and build comfort, to November 1, as we work together to increase participation, decrease costs and make life affordable for Ontario families.

My question is to the Premier. Carmen is the primary caregiver for her 91-year-old mother. Her mom qualifies for two showers a week through home care, and Carmen made an inquiry to see if she could get a bit more. Her mom was re-evaluated and now she gets one shower per week.

Is that an example of the enhanced home care that this government keeps boasting about?

So is that the solution? Pouring billions of dollars isn’t the answer if Carmen’s mom only gets one shower, at the end of the day, through home care. I keep hearing “billions of dollars,” but it’s services to people that matter. Is this government actually going to provide the service through public health care?