Good morning. I have about seven and a half minutes to complete my response to the throne speech of about two weeks ago. I just want to start by reflecting back. I won’t repeat what I said in the first part of my response to the throne speech, but I was noting when I was reviewing what I said last time that, in the moment, when this throne speech was first presented, the government was using that opportunity to reassure Ontarians about the state of our hospitals and the crisis in emergency rooms. They were saying things like, “High-urgency patients are finishing their emergency visits within target times,” which is not what we’re hearing, of course, from hospitals, and continue to hear. So we were commenting on the fact that the government was seeing this all through rose-coloured glasses.

In the meantime, since that throne speech was first presented, the government has used this opportunity to actually leverage what I think is a crisis in our emergency rooms and in health care as an opportunity to further privatize health care in this province and to push patients—vulnerable people—out of hospitals and into long-term-care facilities without their consent, which is another bill which we will be continuing to debate, although apparently which won’t be appearing before committee where anybody else in this province will have a chance to comment.

I wanted to start there because I think that’s important context, because what the government has gone from in the last few weeks is to take a situation in this province that is very, very dire, which is frightening for so many people in my community and across this province, and then use that and exploit that opportunity to, at the end of the day, pad the coffers of shareholders and exploit the opportunity to further privatize health care in this province.

One of the things I meant to do the last time I was responding to this is reflect on something that one of my constituents shared with me, because in the first question period of this government, of this session, I asked the Premier and the health minister about whether or not this was the kind of level of care that Ontarians could expect from this government. I had a constituent call me very distraught about the state of our health care system. They brought their son to SickKids after he broke his finger and faced a five-hour wait after being examined in a hallway. When they complained, the staff told them, “Call your MPP. We’re exhausted here.” And I suspect that people are calling. I think they’re calling the members opposite; they’re certainly calling us. The government, again, is using this opportunity to take a path toward privatization instead of doing what really needs to be done, which is addressing the staffing crisis.

The government could, right now—and I called for this yesterday in my comments on Bill 7—stop their low-wage policy, stop this arbitrary cap on health care workers and other public sector worker salaries and repeal Bill 124—easy. Just do it.

I want to talk for a few more minutes though and use the opportunity I have now to talk about another area which I think is very important to many Ontarians. When we talk about this government’s attempt to privatize public health care—and we’ve put this government on notice that we will not stand for that and the people of this province will not stand for that. But I wanted to also talk about another area which people in this province care very deeply about, which this government has opened up the door to privatization, and that is education.

Tacked on to this throne speech was the offer of another direct payment program. The finance minister and the education minister continue to have few-to-no details about what’s going to happen here, but when we do the math, it really works out to a payment directly to parents of about $50 per student or per family to cover private tutoring costs. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I have received nothing but outrage from families about this as they face another September with classrooms packed to the rafters and kids who are struggling. What they want to see is actually what their taxes pay for, which is an investment in public education. They know that every dollar that you put into that public education system, you’re going to get so much more out of it, and kids are going to benefit so much more from that than from any dollar that’s put into a pocket, which is going to pay for, what—$50? You might get an hour of tutoring, if you’re lucky, and most tutoring programs are going to cost a lot more than that.

The other part of it that I think is really frustrating for families is it puts the onus on parents to go out and supplement their kids’ education because this government has let them down again. I’ve got to tell you, my youngest is now heading into university this year, and so I’m out of that part of the education system to some extent, but the years as a working parent that my partner and I spent trying to support our kids while juggling full-time jobs—this is the reality for so many families, and many more who struggle more and have to juggle multiple jobs. And then to have to think, “Okay, I put my child in this school. I know that their teachers and other education workers care for them and are looking out for them”—but my gosh, the added stress of having to seek out additional support for them, that’s something that only very few people have the privilege to do. It’s not just a money issue, it’s a time issue. It’s really difficult for so many families who are already struggling with that.

I wanted to say, Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, that the government thinks they can throw 70 bucks or 50 bucks at a family and that that’s going to cover up the growing class sizes or the growing mental health and anxiety issues our kids are experiencing. This stripped-down, bare-bones approach to education that denies our children the quality of education they could be getting in so many other countries, frankly, and putting our province and those families at a huge disadvantage is really, very—not just unfortunate; it’s really deeply disappointing.

I want to imagine for a moment a future where kids go to school hungry to learn, not hungry for food—it really shouldn’t be too much to ask—a future where kids go to school and get the supports they need; where teachers and other education workers aren’t exhausted; where you can have one educational assistant maybe per class. Imagine that, instead of one per school or two per school. Imagine a future like that.

But this is where we’re at with this government. They had a chance to lay out a plan with solutions to address the crises we face in education and health care and cost of living, and they chose not to. But it’s not too late to do the right thing. People aren’t looking for business as usual, because that has not been working for them. They want to see all of us here in this place get to work and deliver for them, so I invite the government to work with us, to listen to the voices of front-line workers, to invest in the public services and solutions that will help lift all Ontarians and chart a better, greener future for all of us.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. You are looking great in the chair.

And thank you to my colleague from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound. It is a beautiful riding. You talk about your landscape and the water and the green—always, I miss your riding. Thank you for your election. Thank you for bringing your wonderful family to the chamber, and congratulations on your election.

My colleague comes from the municipal world. He understands the housing crisis is not only facing Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, but Ontario as a whole. Tell me about the throne speech—elaborate on that—bringing hope and dreams to the next generation of Canadians of having a home, having a roof over their heads. Please elaborate on that.