I just want to talk for a moment this morning; I’m looking forward to speaking a bit about our health care system, because we in Ontario cherish our public health care system. The right to health care for everyone regardless of income or where they live is part of our identity as Canadians. So it’s no surprise Ontarians are reacting to this government’s recent attack on public health care and seniors’ care with growing fear and anxiety.

I want to take the few moments that I have here this morning to speak to something very specific, which is this government’s decision to table a time allocation motion on their government bill, Bill 7, on long-term care. This is the bill that would deny seniors and their families the right to consent to where they want to be sent for long-term care. I wanted to raise that because the government has tabled a time allocation motion that would prevent committee hearings, prevent this bill from going to committee, which means that the people of this province who care about these issues, which are most Ontarians, will not have an opportunity to speak, to present and, frankly, to outline their concerns or arguments around this legislation.

I think it’s really unfortunate. I think that we need to do better here in this place. This government was elected with a majority. They can do whatever they want, pretty much, at this point. I encourage them, please, to provide an opportunity for people to speak to this bill, for experts to come and express their concerns, and maybe we can actually create some good legislation in this place.