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.

It’s a great pleasure that I have 70 pages of petitions here, given to me by Marlene Haley, who is one of the co-owners of the Merry Dairy ice cream store back in Ottawa Centre. I’m sure you might have been there once or twice, Speaker, when you’ve been in Ottawa. It reads:

“I Support Small Ice Cream Shops in Ontario.

“Whereas small ice cream shops offer customers a delicious treat, dairy producers valuable clients, and offer staff jobs;

“Whereas the Milk Act prevents small ice cream shops from local wholesaling, even if the source of their dairy ingredients comes from a certified dairy plant. In fact, the Milk Act currently restricts the wholesale of any products made with dairy ingredients, not just ice cream;

“Whereas small ice cream shops that wholesale without their own certified dairy plants are subject to thousands of dollars in fines...;

“Whereas consumers have the right to choose from a variety of safe dairy products...;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to allow small ice cream shops access to local markets for wholesaling, provided all ingredients are fully traceable, and all dairy ingredients come from certified dairy plants in Ontario.”

I wholeheartedly thank Marlene for her work here. I will be signing this petition and sending it to the Clerks’ table with page Elya.

The bill amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act in two ways:

(1) The provisions of the act protecting workers against reprisals are amended to include protections against reprisals against workers who speak out about workplace violence and workplace harassment. The amendments provide that a reprisal is any measure taken against a worker that adversely affects the worker’s employment. Examples of reprisals are provided.

(2) The provisions of the act addressing violence and harassment against workers are amended to provide that an employer that is a hospital and an employer that is a long-term-care home shall, at least once a month, publicly report on its website the number of incidents of workplace violence and workplace harassment that took place at the hospital or the long-term-care home, as the case may be, during the immediately preceding month.

“Improve Winter Road Maintenance on Northern Highways....

“Whereas highways play a critical role in northern Ontario;

“Whereas winter road maintenance has been privatized in Ontario and contract standards are not being enforced;

“Whereas per capita, fatalities are twice as likely to occur on a northern highway than on a highway in southern Ontario;

“Whereas current MTO classification negatively impacts the safety of northern highways;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows: “to classify Highways 11, 17, 69, 101 and 144 as class 1 highways; require that the pavement be bare within eight hours of the end of a snowfall and bring the management of winter road maintenance back into the public sector, if contract standards are not met.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask my good page Ria to bring it to the Clerk.

I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, pursuant to standing order 113(b).

Well, I’d like to wish my grandson Hawk a very happy 11th birthday from Nan.

I thank the unbelievably hard worker from Don Valley North for the great question.

Simply put, Ontario is in a housing crisis that requires strong leadership and bold solutions.

As I said yesterday here in this House, we have an ambitious plan to build 1.5 million new homes in the next 10 years, and our plan is working. Just last year, we had over 100,000 housing starts in our province—that’s the highest in over 30 years—13,000 of which were rental units.

Ontarians have seen the dream of home ownership start to slip under the leadership and governance of the previous Liberal government, always backed by the NDP, but that is going to change under the leadership of this Premier and this government.

Pour attirer des travailleurs, il est important de travailler avec les entreprises et les organismes francophones afin qu’ils puissent contribuer à la prospérité de l’Ontario. Lorsque j’étais président des comtés unis de Prescott et Russell, l’une des difficultés que j’ai constatées pour de nombreuses entreprises de ma circonscription était qu’elles étaient souvent confrontées à des refus de contrats, car il n’y avait pas assez d’employés pour faire le travail requis.

Je sais que la ministre des Affaires francophones est une championne de la communauté francophone et de ma circonscription depuis quatre ans, et j’ai hâte d’avoir l’occasion de travailler avec elle pour livrer la marchandise pour les gens de ma circonscription.

Monsieur le Président, sur ce, la ministre peut-elle décrire les mesures prises par notre gouvernement pour aider les entrepreneurs et les entreprises francophones de ma circonscription à s’assurer qu’ils puissent réaliser leur plein potentiel?

En tant que ministre des Affaires francophones, je travaille en étroite collaboration avec mes collègues au niveau de la formation et du recrutement d’une main-d’oeuvre bilingue et qualifiée, de l’élargissement de l’offre de services de première ligne en français et de l’appui aux entreprises francophones et bilingues pour maximiser leur apport dans notre développement économique.

Nous appuyons notamment des initiatives pour aider les entrepreneurs et les entreprises francophones de l’Ontario à profiter des occasions qui s’offrent à eux dans les marchés francophones extérieurs, comme le Québec et la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

Nous avons procédé à des investissements ciblés, et une enveloppe de 1,5 million de dollars sur trois ans permet d’élargir le soutien aux entreprises et aux entrepreneurs francophones de l’Ontario.

We have approximately 6,239 invitations issued. We’re creating the capacity for providers to do the work for us, capacity grants to make sure that the providers are there. This has not stopped and I would encourage parents and families to register their child when the invitation comes. We will continue to push out invitations, to make sure that the wait-list is reduced and that children can get the services that they need.

We have created a program—created by the community, for the community—to make sure that children who were not receiving the services under the previous government, supported by you, get the services that they need.

Childhood budget funding: 8,685 families have received the support. Families who accessed foundational family services: 24,305. Caregiver-mediated early years programs: as of June 30, 2022, 1,590. I could go on.

The reality is that we have created a world-leading program—never been done before—from the ground up, where there was no capacity because the previous government did not make the proper investments. We are doing it. We are the government looking after these children. And we’ll continue to do it.

Interjections.

My question is for the Associate Minister of Housing.

Speaker, housing affordability in Ontario has eroded at a significant rate, making it challenging for first-time buyers to become homeowners. In fast-growing, high-density areas in Toronto, housing affordability continues to be at an elevated level of crisis. Almost half of all households rent their homes, limiting their spending on other life necessities.

A report from the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force demonstrated that average house prices in Ontario have climbed 180% while average incomes have grown roughly only 38%.

Can the Associate Minister of Housing tell us how our government will address the housing affordability crisis and ensure that we help young families fulfill their dream of home ownership?

My question is for the Premier. Sara is a mother of a nine-year-old boy who has been on a wait-list for autism services since July 24, 2017. She tells me about the lack of trust that families have for this government. Out of 8,000 children who have been promised to be enrolled, few are signing on. Many would rather wait to be forced into the program in the spring of 2023 than accept the invitation and risk changes to the current services that their children are currently in. This leaves families like Sara’s on a stalled wait-list.

Speaker, when will this minister and the government be forthcoming and transparent with parents, clear the backlog, and ensure that children receive the services and supports that they need, when they need them?

Families are enduring high levels of stress, years of neglect, abuse of power, and withholding of promised funding. Parents are tired, and they need their government’s help.

Can the minister explain to families like Sara’s, who are sitting on stalled wait-lists for more than five years, when they can expect to move on the list to receive the letter for the AccessOAP program?

I want to thank Brock for doing this petition and getting the signatures on it.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas as part of Ontario’s commitment to building a stronger health care workforce, the government is investing $142 million, starting in 2022-23, to recruit and retain health care workers in underserved communities, which will expand the Community Commitment Program for Nurses, up to 1,500 nurse graduates each year to receive full tuition reimbursement in exchange for committing to practise for two years in an underserved community; and

“Whereas starting in spring 2023, the government will launch the new $61-million Learn and Stay grant and applications will open for up to 2,500 eligible post-secondary students who enroll in priority programs, such as nursing, to work in underserved communities in the region where they studied after graduation. The program will provide up-front funding for tuition, books and other direct educational costs; and

“Whereas the government also proposes to make it easier and quicker for foreign-credentialed health workers to begin practising in Ontario by reducing barriers to registering with and being recognized by health regulatory colleges; and

“Whereas to address the shortage of health care professionals in Ontario, the government is investing $124.2 million over three years starting in 2022-23 to modernize clinical education for nurses, enabling publicly assisted colleges and universities to expand laboratory capacity supports and hands-on learning for students; and

“Whereas Ontario is accelerating its efforts to expand hospital capacity and build up the province’s health care workforce to help patients access the health care they need when they need it;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to continue to build on the progress of hiring and recruiting health care workers.”

I fully endorse this petition, will sign it and give it to page Samreen.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. First of all, I want to congratulate you. You look amazing in that chair.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas our government made a promise to hard-working Ontarians in each and every region of the province that we would have their backs and never stop working for workers; and

“Whereas under the leadership of Premier Ford and Minister McNaughton, we have brought in unprecedented reforms and support to deliver for the working people of this province; and

“Whereas our government has raised the minimum wage to $15.50 an hour to help workers and their families with the cost of living, earn bigger paycheques and save for their future; and

“Whereas we have committed to completely eliminating the provincial income tax for anyone making $50,000 or less, keeping money where it belongs, in the pockets of hard-working Ontarian workers; and

“Whereas new changes to the Employment Standards Act require employers with 25 or more employees to have a written policy about employees disconnecting from their jobs at the end of the workday to help employees spend more time with their families; and

“Whereas the government is now investing $1 billion annually in employment and training programs so that unemployed or underemployed workers can train for high-paying, in-demand, family-supporting careers; and

“Whereas we are spending an additional $114 million over three years for the skilled trades strategy, addressing the shortage of workers in the skilled trades by modernizing the system and giving Ontarians the tools they need to join this lucrative workforce; and

“Whereas we are introducing protection for digital platform workers, the first in Canada, to support workers in this economy bring home better, bigger paycheques while improving job security;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to deliver on the commitment made to the people of Ontario by working for workers.”

I fully support this petition, and I’ll give it to page Elya.

I want to thank Joanne O’Connor and other friends at 507 Riverdale Avenue in Ottawa Centre for helping me sign up a lot of these petitions that read:

“The Rent Stabilization Act: Pay What the Last Tenant Paid.

“Whereas average rent in Ottawa increased 13.5% from 2018 to 2019, the highest rate of increase in any Canadian city;

“Whereas average monthly rent in Ontario is now over $2,000; and

“Whereas nearly half of Ontarians pay unaffordable rental housing costs, meaning they spend more than a third of their income on rent;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to pass the Rent Stabilization Act to establish:

“—rent control that operates during and between tenancies, so a new tenant pays the same rent as a former tenant;

“—a public rent registry so tenants can find out what a former tenant paid in rent;

“—access to legal aid for tenants that want to contest an illegal rent hike; and

“—stronger enforcement and tougher penalties for landlords who do not properly maintain a renter’s home.”

I completely endorse this petition, I’ll be signing it and sending it with page Colin to the Clerks’ table.

I want to thank Aaron for this petition.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas our government was elected on commitment of keeping costs down and putting more money back in Ontarians’ pockets by increasing housing supply, making it less expensive to drive or take transit, and by providing relief on everything from child care to taxes; and

“Whereas the government is delivering on that commitment by:

“—reducing 5.7 cents per litre on the gas tax for six months starting July 1;

“—$120 each year in savings in southern Ontario and $60 per year savings in northern Ontario by eliminating licence plate renewal fees for passenger and light commercial vehicles;

“—$300 in additional tax relief in 2022, on average, for 1.1 million lower-income workers through the proposed low-income individuals and families tax credit enhancement;

“—scrapping tolls” in Durham “on Highways 412 and 418;

“—cutting child care costs by 50%, on average by December of 2022; and

“Whereas the government is reducing the cost of housing by:

“—increasing the non-resident speculation tax rate from 15% to 20% and expanding the tax beyond the greater Golden Horseshoe region to apply province-wide and closing loopholes to fix tax avoidance;

“—implementing reforms that reduce red tape associated with new housing builds, making it easier to build community housing, and speeding up the approval process; and

“Whereas this plan is working—last year, over 100,000 new homes began construction, the highest in more than 30 years in the province of Ontario;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the housing action plan of the Ontario PC government.”

I fully endorse this petition, will sign it and give it to page Daunte.

This is a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas from electric and hybrid vehicles to barbecues, the government is supporting the development of homegrown supply chains, creating the next generation of products and returning Ontario to its rightful place as the workshop of Canada; and

“Whereas low-carbon steel production has become critical for jurisdictions to compete for manufacturing investments as businesses look to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chain. This investment supports the creation of new jobs and economic growth as steel producers, automakers and other industries transform their operations; and

“Whereas critical minerals in the north will drive electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing in the south, where Ontario’s automotive sector is poised for resurgence as the industry continues its large-scale transformation; and

“Whereas the government’s plan will help Ontario become a North American leader in building the vehicles of the future and will build the next generation of vehicles in Ontario by securing auto production mandates to build electric and hybrid vehicles; and

“Whereas Ontario invested $1.5 million through the Regional Development Program to support an $18.5-million investment by auto parts manufacturer Ventra Group to create the Flex-Ion Battery Innovation Centre in Windsor and invested $250,000 to support the development of two new battery production lines at Electra Battery Materials Corp.’s future Battery Materials Park near Cobalt;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to continue to invest in the manufacturing sector that will contribute to the economic success of the province.”

I support this petition, I will affix my name on it and send it to the—

Further petitions?

Resuming the debate adjourned on August 23, 2022, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 7, An Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 with respect to patients requiring an alternate level of care and other matters and to make a consequential amendment to the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 / Projet de loi 7, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2021 sur le redressement des soins de longue durée en ce qui concerne les patients ayant besoin d’un niveau de soins différent et d’autres questions et apportant une modification corrélative à la Loi de 1996 sur le consentement aux soins de santé.

I would like to thank Cassandra and René Grenier from Hanmer in my riding for these petitions.

“911 Emergency Response....

“Whereas when we face an emergency we all know to dial 911 for help; and

“Whereas access to emergency services through 911 is not available in all regions of Ontario but most Ontarians believe that it is; and

“Whereas many Ontarians have discovered that 911 was not available while they faced an emergency; and

“Whereas all Ontarians expect and deserve access to 911 service throughout our province;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To provide 911 emergency response everywhere in Ontario by land line or cellphone.”

I fully support this petition, Speaker, will affix my name to it and ask my good page Pania to bring it to the Clerk.

“Gas Prices....

“Whereas northern Ontario motorists continue to be subject to wild fluctuations in the price of gasoline; and

“Whereas the province could eliminate opportunistic price-gouging and deliver fair, stable and predictable fuel prices; and

“Whereas five provinces and many US states already have some sort of gas price regulation; and

“Whereas jurisdictions with gas price regulation have seen an end to wild price fluctuations, a shrinking of price discrepancies between urban and rural communities and lower annualized gas prices;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“Mandate the Ontario Energy Board to monitor the price of gasoline across Ontario in order to reduce price volatility and unfair regional price differences while encouraging competition” and regulating gas prices.

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask page Natalie to bring it to the Clerk.

Earlier today during debate, the member from Nickel Belt had the floor. She can now resume her comments.