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?

Thank you, Minister. The Bradford Bypass represents an opportunity for economic growth for all Ontarians. The people of Bradford, Barrie, Innisfil and all of Simcoe county deserve to be respected. They deserve to have their quality of life recognized. Congestion takes hours away from spending time with their families, and that is no longer acceptable.

We saw how the previous Liberal government didn’t get it done. They delayed, deferred, demurred. And when it came to building transit infrastructure—the residents currently are just desperate, because there was no infrastructure.

Can our minister explain how we are getting it done, how we’re building key major infrastructure projects like the Bradford Bypass and how the progress of this project is currently being done?

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.

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.

My question is for the Premier.

Speaker, you may remember the case of Mr. Vibert Britton, who I spoke about in December. At the time, Vibert was suffering from large bed sores, and his sister, Pamela, fought to have him taken to the hospital for life-saving treatment. Now, several months later, matters have gone from bad to worse, and he has been in and out of the hospital. His sister tells me she believes this is a result of his private long-term-care home not following hospital orders.

Sadly, this situation is all too common. Seniors are spending their hard-earned savings on inadequate care in private LTC homes which lands them in and out of hospitals. This burdens our emergency rooms and is adding to the health care crisis. This has to stop.

When will this government ensure adequate standards of staffing and care in private long-term-care homes? Vibert and so many others don’t have the time to wait.

Thank you, Minister, for that excellent response.

Speaker, I’ve heard that some child care operators advocated for greater streamlining of the funding rules laid out in the document they received from the ministry in April of this year. Different interpretations in different regions impacted operators, some of whom are waiting to decide to opt in to this program. This could result in families in my riding having to pay additional costs for child care when they wouldn’t have to. We know that operators ultimately must enroll in order for parents to save. Many parents in my riding are overwhelmed by the extra work hours they need to put in to now earn more money to help provide for their families.

After costs rose by over 400% under the Liberals, all levels of government must do better. Can the minister outline how the government plans to streamline the application process so that we can encourage more participation?

I again want to thank the member from Thornhill for this important and timely question.

The first thing we did, part of our response to child care operators to incentivize participation and thus reduce fees for parents, was reduce the amount of days operators can take to get the savings to parents. It was 60 days; it now will be 20—part of our mission to reduce costs and move quickly to make life a bit more affordable.

What we didn’t do, though, is leave $2.9 billion on the table. We didn’t leave an extra year of funding certainty on the table. We didn’t leave for-profit, parents and their kids behind, as the Liberals and New Democrats would have recommended, taking the first deal. We set up for a better deal that creates opportunities for all families, and part of this mission is to reduce fees, a significant reduction of $12,000 next year down to $10 a day by year 2025.

In the words of the private operators group, “POG is grateful for the Ontario government for listening to us all the way through and making the appropriate changes. Hard work pays off.”

We’re going to continue our efforts to reduce fees, increase access and make life affordable for Ontario families.

Supplementary.

Interjection.

Start the clock.

The member for Don Valley North.

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

The division bells rang from 1139 to 1144.

On August 18, 2022, Ms. Khanjin moved government order 2 regarding the appointment of presiding officers and revisions to committee membership. All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Motion agreed to.

The House recessed from 1150 to 1500.

Report deemed adopted.

Madame Gélinas moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 11, An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act to protect workers who speak out about workplace violence and harassment and to require hospitals and long-term care homes to publicly report on workplace violence and harassment / Projet de loi 11, Loi modifiant la Loi sur la santé et la sécurité au travail pour protéger les travailleurs qui dénoncent les violences et le harcèlement au travail et obliger les hôpitaux et les foyers de soins de longue durée à rendre publics les incidents de violence et de harcèlement au travail.

First reading agreed to.