Those are fantastic questions. It’s important for members of this House to remember that under our proposed changes, mayors are still subject to the legislative accountability and transparency measure. This includes proposed new laws that would prevent the mayor from using the new powers when they would have a conflict.

The legislation also explicitly prevents the mayor from being able to hire certain positions. The posts would include positions like the police chief, the chief building official, the medical officer of health. There are many, many others that are under legislative prescription.

We’re giving mayors the tools they need to get things done, to get shovels in the ground faster. And we’re going to hold them accountable to the decisions they make. We’re counting on them to cut red tape to get housing built faster so that families can realize attainable home ownership.

Thank you for the question.

The member highlights exactly why we have been working so aggressively as a government, across ministries, to make sure that we have capacity within our health care system. I point to the ability for internationally educated health care professionals to be able to quickly get their licences so that we have that expanded capacity. I point to the 400 new physicians that are practising in rural and northern Ontario. I point to the $880 million over the last three fiscal years that was invested to reduce surgical wait times.

I understand. When scheduled surgeries have to be cancelled because a higher-priority patient has come in and needs to be looked after first through triage, it is incredibly frustrating for that patient and that family. That’s why we’ve made these investments, and that’s why we will continue to work with all of our health care partners to make sure they have the services and the resources they need.

The concept of picking one issue and insisting that is the solution—we’ve heard very clearly from medical experts across Canada and indeed worldwide that we are experiencing shortages, which is why we’re working with the College of Nurses, we’re working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to expedite those individuals who are living in the province of Ontario, have that experience and were educated in other jurisdictions to quickly be able to get their certification and licensing.

I want to thank the member for that question. But most importantly, I want to thank the member for her leadership and standing up for the people of Ukraine against Putin’s illegal invasion. Thank you for everything you’re doing.

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. We are facing the largest labour shortage in a generation here in Ontario. To achieve our ambitious plan to build, we need all hands on deck. That is why our government is making it easier for newcomers to start working in their trade or profession faster. We’re eliminating Canadian work experience requirements and removing duplicative language tests. This makes it easier for engineers, auto mechanics, plumbers and others to move to Ontario, fill in-demand jobs and earn more for their families.

By working for workers, our government is making Ontario the destination of choice for more skilled workers.

We continue to call on Ottawa to speed up timelines and let Ontario choose those with the skills that all of our communities need. Tackling Ontario’s labour shortage is essential to keeping costs down for families and keeping businesses open and expanding in our province. Action in this file is long overdue and it’s never been more important than now.

We need these workers to fill in-demand jobs and build stronger communities for all of us. If the federal government answers our calls, this will further unleash Ontario’s potential so we can start building together.

Speaker, our major highways are filling up more and more each day, but this is not a new problem. The Liberals could have addressed gridlock by building the Bradford Bypass, but instead they quietly shelved it. Our government is taking a different approach. In the greater Golden Horseshoe alone, we are addressing gridlock head-on by making historic investments and getting shovels in the ground on highways, roads, subways and GO expansion.

Building capacity in Simcoe county and in York region starts with getting the Bradford Bypass done. Earlier this year, I was proud to announce the early works contract to construct a bridge crossing which will pave the way for shovels in the ground later this year.

Speaker, it is our PC government, led by this Premier, that is stepping up to the plate and delivering for Ontarians.

The supplementary question.

With more than 370,000 jobs going unfilled across the province, we need to expand our workforce to meet the vital market needs to get workers building our roads, highways, schools and hospitals. Newcomers are crucial to growing our economy and building a strong future for us all. As my good friend from Mississauga–Malton had said, jobs need people and people need jobs.

We know that Ontario is a destination that has always been attractive for people looking for a bright economic future, including my very own family when we immigrated 22 years ago. But we also know that we are facing a global race for talent as people all around the world are searching for a better place to build a life and raise a family.

Can the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development share what our government is doing to make Ontario a more competitive jurisdiction to help bring people to our province and address the ongoing skilled job shortages?

Ontario deserves to be a part of a fair system, to have a bigger say in how we address the jobs and skills gap in our province. It is not right that Ontario only has a say in less than 5% of immigration applications, while other provinces have nearly 50% oversight in application approvals. It is vital that we address this now and fix the growing backlog.

Skilled individuals are in demand all over the world. Right now, when Canada is short countless people for jobs in the skilled trades, the Federal Skilled Trades Program has a processing time of 47 months, which is nearly four years. Can you imagine?

Can the minister please explain more about the advocacy from Ontario and the other provinces regarding fixing the immigration approval system and ensuring that we can bring more skilled workers to meet our growing needs?

A constituent of mine—who wishes to remain anonymous, so we will call her Sarah—reached out to my office to share her “health care horror story.” Sarah explained that after waiting for three hours at Juravinski Hospital for a scheduled surgery to remove suspected ovarian cancer, the surgery was cancelled at the last second because there was not a single bed available for her post-procedure. Sarah’s surgeon had mentioned that numerous other patients experienced the same last-minute cancellations just a week prior, all due to a lack of beds.

Premier, our emergency departments are at their breaking point, with ongoing surgical delays. What is this government going to do to alleviate the increased ER visits that we are seeing from Ontarians with undiagnosed issues resulting from pandemic delays, surgeries being pushed back and preventable illnesses progressing?

Premier, is this inaction around bed availability this government’s cruel and shameful strategic move to convince Ontarians that private clinics are the end-all and be-all solution to our health care woes?

I thank the member for this very important question. First, I want to begin by expressing my condolences to the family impacted by the loss of life.

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, like the member opposite said, every single worker deserves to come home safely after a hard day’s work. We know the importance of agriculture workers in this province. They truly are heroes, putting food on all of our tables, supporting families right across this province.

Mr. Speaker, I did reach out to Minister Fraser, the federal minister. As the member opposite knows, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is the responsibility of the federal government. They’re also in charge of bunkhouses.

Specifically on the incident that she is referring to, we are investigating as we speak and committing to getting answers for these families as quickly as possible.

In the supplemental, I’ll talk about more actions that we’re doing to keep all workers safe in Ontario.

We have now hired more than 100 additional health and safety inspectors to bring the total number to the largest inspectorate in Ontario’s history. We’ve doubled the health and safety action phone lines to ensure that any worker, including migrant workers, if they’re concerned for his or her safety in a workplace or on a job site, can call the Ministry of Labour and have an inspector go out and ensure that workplace conditions are safe.

In our Working for Workers legislation, we have introduced a licensing system to crack down on temporary help agencies who are breaking the law. We have introduced the largest fines for companies who aren’t abiding by the health and safety laws in this province. We’ll continue working for workers every single day, protecting the health and safety of all workers in this province.

Thank you to the member for that question. We recognize how vital nurses are to the health care system. That is why this government has made changes to nursing education in Ontario, by allowing colleges to offer stand-alone nursing programs. There are 14 colleges in Ontario that, this fall, will now be able to start offering this program: colleges like Loyalist College in Belleville and Georgian College in my area. Do you know what that means to these communities? Students will have the option to train and practise in those communities where they may be underserved with nurses.

We’ve made incredible investments in nursing education. The stand-alone was only one of those. The Learn and Stay program for nurses in underserved and rural communities is an opportunity for nurses to have their tuition and all educational expenses covered, in exchange for two years in an underserved community.

We are doing many measures to increase the number of nurses in Ontario and give students the opportunity to enter this fabulous profession.

My question is to the Minister of Labour. Minister, just a few weeks ago, Jamaican migrant farm workers in Niagara region wrote to the Minister of Labour in Jamaica, raising concerns about their working conditions here in Ontario. Sadly, days later, on August 14, Garvin Yapp of St. James, Jamaica, was killed in an accident with a tobacco harvester in Norfolk.

Every worker deserves a safe working environment and the basic expectation that when they come to work, they will return home to their family safely, just as they came, wherever that may be. Migrant workers come to this province in good faith and expect a safe working environment as they fulfill the jobs in our agricultural sector that are vital, not only to the agricultural sector but to our economy overall.

Minister, what are you doing to keep these migrant workers safe?

Minister, you’ve just tabled a budget. If you could tell this House what you’re doing to keep these migrant workers safe. We’re preparing for another COVID season. We know that we did not have a very good start with these workers when COVID began. They are looking for more from us, and they’re appealing for that support. So if you can describe what you’re doing currently with your responsibility to keep them safe.

This government has an unprecedented and historic record of investing in health human resources across this province. In fact, Mr. Speaker, since March of 2020, we have added over 10,500 health care workers across this province.

Every step of the way, the members opposite have opposed measures that we have put in place to support and increase health human resources across this province. For example, just in April of last year, when we put forward a plan to help speed up the process to train and include foreign-trained professionals in the province, the members opposite voted against that. In the fall economic statement, when we made investments of over $300 million to train, support and upskill nurses, the members opposite voted against that.

We will continue to support health care workers across this province, and we will continue to make historic investments to support health care in Ontario.

The President of the Treasury Board to respond.

Minister of Labour.

My question is to the Premier. The University Health Network in my riding has seen an increase in the use of temporary nurses. Their spending has gone up from $1.1 million to $1.7 million over the past three years. Other hospitals are seeing similar increases.

Nurses are burning out. They’re leaving the profession in droves. Why is it okay for the Ford government to pay private companies more than the nurses who are essential to delivering health care for our communities? When will this government repeal Bill 124?

Anything short of repealing Bill 124 will not fix the nursing crisis. This is really the question at the heart of what we are discussing. We have nurses all over Ontario who are crying out for help. I will share just one story. One nurse tells me that their profession is seen as a dead-end job in Ontario, because what they are now seeing is that health care in Ontario is going absolutely nowhere. I wish that that was not the case, certainly not within my lifetime.

Bill 124 is actually driving this low-wage economy for nursing. What is the government going to do? You called them heroes during the pandemic. Are they not heroes anymore to you?

I want to thank the member from Thornhill for her exceptional leadership, standing up for all families in this Legislature. And, Speaker, I celebrate with her what this child care deal means for working people in this province. We averaged this year $4,000 in savings as we hit 25% on average in a reduction, and 50%—we’re still on track to achieve that by December 31 of this year, roughly $12,000 in the bank, because our Premier had the fortitude to stand up for non-profit and for-profit child care operators and the children and the families who depend on them.

The member from Thornhill is right: Operators were looking for more certainty from the various municipal service providers in the province. So we have done that, following the best advice of for-profit and non-profit child care to deliver on the priority of this government, which is money in the bank and savings for working people. That’s why we extended the deadline to November 1. It’s why we’ve streamlined the guidelines for operators. It’s why we’ve reduced the red tape, all to build confidence as we continue our effort to reduce fees and make life more affordable for the parents of this province.

As this is the first time I rise in this chamber, I want to thank the hard-working people of Thornhill for bringing me here.

Mr. Speaker, as the cost of living rises, the effects can be felt by young families in my riding. My constituents are seeking support from our government to ensure they are getting fair rates and much-needed financial support when it comes to child care, but they are worried. They’re worried that the daycare operation will miss the opt-in deadline of the $10-a-day program, which will result in them missing out on a program that will provide them with financial relief during these times of global economic uncertainty and high inflation.

Will the Minister of Education please inform the House how our government is supporting families in my riding and make sure that they aren’t left behind on this deal?

The supplementary question.

First of all, I think I better point out that all of us have multiple responsibilities and it doesn’t help decorum to refer to another member’s efforts as being part-time. Secondly, I’m going to ask the member to withdraw his unparliamentary comment at the conclusion of his question.

The Minister of Long-Term Care can reply.

I realize the government House leader and Minister of Long-Term Care was reading from an article, but it would still be better if we could try to refer to each other by our riding name or a ministerial title, as applicable, on both sides of the House.

Start the clock. Next question.

The member of course will remember that in the last Parliament, we passed the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, which extended the highest standards, frankly, in North America, not just on the for-profit but on municipal and not-for-profit—because it really shouldn’t matter where you are; the standards should be the same.

Now, as part of that, Speaker—and remember, they voted against it—we increased staffing to a record, a North America-leading four hours of care, billions of dollars of support to get to that four hours of care. We have doubled inspections. This is all part of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act. Of course, the members voted against it. We have also brought in 58,000 new and upgraded beds to add to the system in the member’s own riding and ridings across the province of Ontario. We’re well on our way to having the best long-term-care system in North America, and I’m very proud of the fact that we can play a part in building an integrated health care system in Ontario.

This member is no stranger to getting things wrong, Mr. Speaker. In fact, last week, he asked a question of the Premier with respect to a citizen in his riding and ambulance care. Now, of course, the headline in the papers: “MPP Wayne Gates’ Recent Attack on Niagara EMS Unfounded, According to the Region.”

What’s wrong with it? I quote from the article: “It appears that the ... member for Niagara Falls had some of his facts mixed up.

“First of all, paramedic services ... are the responsibility of” the region.

“Second, the Fort Erie resident did not call 911....”

“Third, and most importantly, according to” the incident report, when paramedics were dispatched, service was done, the person was assessed all within 35 minutes, and did not need to go to the hospital to have that care.

Interjections.

Interjections.

Sous l’ancien gouvernement libéral, nous avons vu comment les circonscriptions rurales et francophones comme la mienne ont été ignorées alors que des fonds étaient déversés dans des villes urbaines et métropolitaines.

L’ancienne députée de ma circonscription a perpétué cette situation en négligeant d’appuyer ses électeurs. Mes électeurs sont toujours confrontés à des défis alors que nous sortons de cette période d’incertitude économique mondiale causée par la pandémie, une pandémie qui a affaibli de nombreuses petites entreprises de ma circonscription.

Contrairement à ma collègue avant moi, j’ai l’intention de mettre sur la carte les circonscriptions rurales et francophones comme Glengarry–Prescott–Russell, et de faire en sorte que nos voix soient entendues ici même à l’Assemblée législative.

Monsieur le Président, la ministre des Affaires francophones peut-elle expliquer comment notre gouvernement reconnaît la francophonie ontarienne comme un atout économique?

Voilà pourquoi nous avons mis sur pied la Stratégie de développement économique francophone, qui gravite autour de trois axes :

—l’entrepreneuriat et l’innovation francophones;

—une main-d’oeuvre qualifiée bilingue; et

—la promotion de la francophonie ontarienne comme atout économique.

Depuis son adoption, nous avons mis sur pied plusieurs initiatives pour épauler nos entrepreneurs et nos entreprises francophones. Grâce à cette stratégie globale et évolutive axée sur la francophonie ontarienne, 38 programmes permettent maintenant de mieux appuyer les entrepreneurs et entreprises francophones de la province.

Yesterday, the part-time long-term-care minister said 100% of residents have access to AC, but of course that doesn’t mean their bedrooms when they’re in quarantine or asleep. In fact, he was proud that one in 10 long-term-care residents don’t have AC in their bedrooms through the summer heat where they have to stay for 24 hours a day when there’s a COVID outbreak. He also said consent is required to move patients from hospitals to long-term-care homes that they don’t want to.

He asked me to read the bill, so I thought I would: “This new provision authorizes certain actions to be carried out without the consent of these patients. The actions include having a placement co-ordinator determine the patient’s eligibility for a long-term care home, select a home and authorize their admission to the home.”

It also says—because I’ve read language before. Subsection 60.1(4) of his own bill says actions can be “performed without consent if reasonable efforts have been made....”

So given he made two inaccurate statements twice in one morning, will the minister explain why he thinks misleading residents is a better strategy—

Interjections.