We removed the Canadian experience barrier. That ensured that people have access if they were trained in other parts or Canada or the world. We want individuals who are practised, who are educated and who want to work in health care, because we understand how important these health care workers are. We understand that if you want to work in health care—we want you to be part of the solution. And we’re doing that with our hospital partners, with our long-term-care partners, with community care, with primary care.

All of these things together mean that when people need the help they need, it will be there for them.

I get it; I know that there are still challenges and there are people who want to have a primary care physician, who have no access. But the work that we are doing with the medical schools, with the colleges, with the expansion of the residency program means that that is ongoing. We are seeing the expansion. We are seeing those numbers increase. I would love to have them go faster. But we have done the work, and we will continue to work with those partners to make sure any barriers are removed as we move forward.

There is no doubt that when we hear these stories, it only drives our motivation further to make sure that we do everything possible in all continuums.

The 911 model of care that we referenced at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference earlier this week has been embraced: community paramedicine that allows community paramedics to go into those homes, for individuals who are able, in most cases with very little support, to stay safely in their home. The municipalities that have embraced that 911 model of care have loved it. In fact, our satisfaction rate, I believe, is in the 97th percentile.

We are going to ensure that that 911 model of care is expanded further to other municipalities across Ontario, because we see it as one of the opportunities to make sure that when individuals like Shirley have a fall in their home, there is a community paramedicine program in place that can quickly assist them and get them back to their—

Community paramedicine—paramedics, in general, have been amazing partners throughout this pandemic; in many cases, assisting with vaccine rollout, ensuring that people were at home and able to be monitored safely.

Ultimately, when we see those models, we’re going to expand them. That is the innovation that we’re looking for. Those are the kinds of stories that I heard for two full days of meetings at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. We will take those best practices and ensure that other municipalities and other communities in Ontario have access to the same opportunities.

The short answer is, all of the above. Ontario’s hospitals are leading innovation in Ontario, transforming our health care system and improving the patient experience. Let me give you just one example that you would be interested in, coming from your own community.

Our government invested over $25 million to modernize and expand the stem cell treatments at Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences. The centre is one of three world-class hospitals offering all forms of stem cell transplants to adult patients here in Ontario. With this expansion, more patients will be able to access world-class cancer treatment sooner and closer to home, and they get that treatment they need where and when they need it. That’s innovation, Speaker.

Supplementary question.

We all understood that as the pandemic was at its height, there were going to be challenges related to surgical and diagnostic backlogs. So we proactively worked with our hospital partners through a government fund of $86 million—the Surgical Innovation Fund. We are supporting hospitals as they develop the innovative solutions they need to continue to provide high-quality care and ramp up surgical capacity, reducing wait times and improving access to surgical services for patients.

I think we all appreciate and understand that when an individual is going in for surgery, it can be a very stressful time. Anything that we can do as a government to smooth that opportunity and make sure that they get access to that surgery quickly is what we are seized at.

At Hamilton Health Sciences, they’ve partnered with Niagara and Mohawk College to successfully develop the operating room assist program. And because of a micro-certification program begun by our government, we will attract more health human resources. They’ve already recruited the first 16—

Additionally, of course, we are expanding the 911 patient model of care that I recently spoke about, so patients can get the help they need in community without having to go to an emergency department. Patients participating in this program received the care they needed up to 17 times faster, with 94% of patients avoiding the emergency departments in the days following. By expanding this service, our world-class paramedics are able to provide even more care for patients in the right place in their homes in community.

As an example, the Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service, which covers the member’s riding, has a partnership with Hospice Wellington. Eligible patients who call 911 with care needs related to palliative care have the option of being able to be treated at home by paramedics for end-of-life care. Once it’s time to go into a hospice, they are transferred directly there, instead of going through the emergency department first. Patients and families have seen improved outcomes by getting treated immediately in their own homes, with their families by their side, and they get that help faster. It’s working. The communities and the patients and families love the program, and we’re going to expand it.

The seniors’ dental program is clearly one that is embraced and one to be expanded in the province of Ontario, but we have to ensure that those most in need, with that income threshold, are the ones first in line to receive the service.

Thank you very much. The next question.

My constituents in Perth–Wellington have been asking for support for our local land ambulance service because paramedics often have to travel long distances across our rural area. They’ve heard of the off-load delays across the province and have been asking for peace of mind to know service will be there when their family needs it.

Can the Minister of Health update this House on how our government is supporting land ambulance services across the province and in my riding of Perth–Wellington?

Can the Minister of Health elaborate on the 911 patient models and explain how this investment is supporting our paramedic services and patients on the ground across the province?

My question is to the Premier.

Premier, I want to tell you about Jennifer LeFeuvre. In 2019, Jennifer signed a contract and put down a deposit for a new home to be built in Stayner, Ontario, by Briarwood Development Group—whose CEO happens to be a big donor of the Premier and the PC Party.

Three years later, Jennifer is still waiting for her home to be built, and now the developer has told Jennifer that she needs to pay an additional $175,000 for the home or the contract is broken and she won’t be getting her home at all.

Jennifer is devastated. As she describes it, “These people are getting away with murder and there’s nothing that I can do.”

Premier, can you step in and ensure this developer honours the deal they made to build Jennifer a home at the original price?

This is my question to the Premier: Can you properly strengthen Ontario’s laws so homebuyers are protected from developers who price-gouge?

Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

Our government is promoting trust and confidence for Ontarians when they are investing in one of the biggest purchases of their lifetime: a new home. That is why we continue to enhance public protections while holding builders and vendors to high professional standards. The Premier spoke about it as well.

Through the New Home Construction Licensing Act, HCRA has strengthened regulatory tools for addressing licensees’ conduct, created a formal complaints process, and enhanced the Ontario builder directory to reflect disciplinary actions taken by the registrar.

Additionally, a new mandatory code of ethics for licensed builders and vendors, which came into effect on July 1, protects buyers and owners even further against bad actors.

All together, these stronger penalties and approaches would cost unlawful developers very dearly on a single home, from hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the loss of their builder’s licence.

We are making bad builders think twice before trying to take advantage of our homebuyers.

Under the previous Liberal government, we saw how the north was treated and how our region felt shut out of discussions at Queen’s Park. After years of Liberal scandal, waste and mismanagement within the energy sector and the harmful impact of the carbon tax—the impacts were tremendous for the northern Ontario’s economy. Worst of all, a previous Liberal government member actually referred to the north as a “no man’s land.”

Last month, the Northern Policy Institute and Lakehead University released a report on the impact that COVID had on the state of northern Ontario’s economy, which confirms what many of my constituents have been feeling first-hand, and that is, economic recovery is slower and taking longer than what is experienced in southern Ontario.

No longer should the north be treated differently and only be considered as an afterthought when it comes to economic growth.

Can the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development please tell this House what this government is doing to make northern Ontario an economic superpower once again?

We have heard loud and clear as well now from our Indigenous leadership across the north that they want to see the same opportunities provided to their youth as the youth are receiving in southern Ontario.

Indigenous youth will be a major part of our Ontario economic success now and into the future, and we know that Indigenous people are one of our fastest population growth sectors across the entire country of Canada. We know that economic prosperity for our Indigenous people is a key component of reconciliation.

Speaker, can the minister please let us know what our government is doing to create opportunities for Indigenous people across the north? And what are the exact policies that will support and foster innovation for our Indigenous youth who will be the future leaders of our province?

The Conservative government often talks about the need to be fiscally responsible. As a chartered accountant, I completely agree. The residents of Don Valley West completely agree.

Could the Minister of Health please tell us why she believes it is fiscally responsible to limit nurses’ pay to a 1% increase per year, contributing to them leaving the profession in record numbers, to only then have to desperately try to fill those vacant positions and possibly hire back those same nurses through private agencies at an estimated cost that is three times higher than what the hospital would pay if that same nurse were on staff?

The Conservative government often speaks about how it is fighting for Ontario workers.

Could the Minister of Health please tell us why more taxpayer dollars are being shifted to private agencies, giving those agencies a healthy profit, instead of repealing Bill 124 and paying that money directly to Ontario’s health care workers in our public health care system?

As the member opposite would be well aware, the federal government is looking at expanding dental. They have not made any determinations of how that pathway is done.

In the province of Ontario, we’ve acted. We have a seniors’ dental program which—again, as with every other income-based program, whether it’s drugs, whether it’s rental—has an income-threshold base to it.

Is the member opposite suggesting that individuals most in need, most at risk, should not have access to the dental care that we are currently providing in the province of Ontario?

The federal government is talking about it. We in Ontario have acted and implemented it.

Congratulations, and welcome to the House, the member from Don Valley West.

Mr. Speaker, she referenced fiscal responsibility, and we completely agree. This province is focused on delivering value for taxpayer money.

Let me go back to the 15 years of the Liberal government, supported for three years by the NDP: $200 billion of extra debt—$200 billion. Did we get more subways? Did we get more highways? Did we get more hospitals? Did we get a long-term-care bill? Did we hire nurses?

Mr. Speaker, the case: We went to the people of Ontario. They endorsed our plan to build Ontario.

You have an opportunity to vote in favour of the budget. Please join us.

Interjections.

This government has a strong track record in supporting and investing in Ontario’s health care and health human resources. In fact, we have added over 10,500 new health care professionals since March 2020.

We’ve also put forward plans that would create the first new medical school in over 100 years in the city of Brampton and in Scarborough—as well as doubling the amount of doctors in the north.

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way, any action that this government has taken to increase the amount of health care professionals in Ontario—the members opposite have always voted against those measures.

We will continue to make historic investments into health care and supporting our health human resources across this province.

[Inaudible] Mr. Speaker, in making sure that Sault Ste. Marie, like every town, city and Indigenous community across northern Ontario, is fully integrated to a new and modern supply chain. From mines to motors, earth to electric vehicles, we want to ensure that northern communities are in, and one of the important ways we do that is through the Northern Energy Advantage Program. Algoma Steel and Tenaris, Borden mine, Resolute, Evolution Mining, Vale Canada, Impala Canada, GreenFirst Forest Products—they all have something in common; in fact, a few things. They’re rallying behind this program which, under this budget, is going to expand from $120 million to $176 million and increase the scope by which they can access this program so northern communities and northern businesses are in play for this extraordinary opportunity to build Ontario.

Wouldn’t it be neat, Mr. Speaker, if the NDP could support that?

One of the first things we did with the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund was ensure we had a stand-alone program to incentivize businesses to hire Indigenous interns—young people who get a chance to work in businesses, for an opportunity to get a job, to keep a job out of the internship program, over 80% retention rate—and support a new opportunity that’s emerging from the revamped Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. That is clear support for Indigenous businesses. In the last quarterly meeting alone, we saw a significant improvement and amount of resources to help Indigenous businesses across northern Ontario that will enable them, in turn, to hire Indigenous people.

We want to make sure in this new modern supply chain that Indigenous people have an opportunity for a prosperous job and a prosperous community moving forward, and that’s what this government is committed to.

The President of the Treasury Board.

Members will please take their seats.

Interjections.

Start the clock.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, thank you to Mississauga Centre—thank you for the question.

And thank you to the Brampton Centre constituents for trusting in me to be their voice.

I wake up every day motivated to see women in Ontario live in a social and economic landscape that they can grow in, because when women succeed, Ontario succeeds. Us women belong in all spaces, at every table and in all sectors.

That’s why, under the leadership of our Premier and our government, we have invested in empowering and supporting women entering and re-entering the workforce. As part of our proposed 2022 budget bill, we have announced we are investing an addition $6.9 million over three years into enhancing the Investing in Women’s Futures Program. This constitutes the largest—

Interjections.

We are making sure that women and girls of Ontario have well-paying, stable jobs that align with their passions—and I’ll say that again—with their passions and their skills.

I do want to acknowledge the leadership taken by the Minister of Finance and my predecessor, the Minister of Colleges and Universities, in establishing Ontario’s Task Force on Women and the Economy. That program and that task force resulted in leading initiatives that we are taking action on to see women’s full economic participation. For example, implementing the largest agreement in Canada, $13.5 billion, to lower the cost of child care—that is going to unlock many opportunities for women. Also, the skilled trades strategy: We are investing in several initiatives that support women and girls entering the world of trades, which aims to get more women and girls good-paying jobs. We are also modernizing our school science and technology curricula to better prepare students for the jobs of the future in STEM—science, technology, engineering and mechanics.

We are supporting the economic empowerment of women because, again, when women succeed, Ontario succeeds.

Mr. Speaker, thank you to the member opposite, through you, for that question.

Many in Ontario are feeling the pinch, whether it’s at the grocery store or at the gas pumps, and we’re committed to putting more money back in their pockets. That’s why, under the leadership of Premier Ford and our team, we cut the gas taxes. And the inflation rate going down to 7.6%—that was driven by Ontario leading the country in the biggest drop in gas prices right across this country.

Mr. Speaker, what I would ask respectfully of the member opposite and all the members opposite is, that while they voted against reducing gas taxes for the people of Ontario, join us this time and vote for the budget bill so that we can build Ontario together.

We are acting. Look at the record. Look at the 241 pages of the budget. Let me highlight a few things, Mr. Speaker.

Minimum wage—it’s going up again. In 60 days, it’s going to go up again to $15.50. That’s amongst the highest in the country. But we’re doing more.

The low-income individuals and families tax credit means that 1.1 million people in Ontario are going to pay some of the lowest personal income taxes in the country.

We’re helping seniors so that low-income seniors can live at home longer, by providing a tax credit so they can retrofit their home and have home care come to their home.

We’re providing job training tax credits so that people can get retrained for the jobs of tomorrow.

The child care tax credit—we doubled it.

Please join us and vote for this budget bill.

It is an honour to rise today to ask my very first question in this 43rd Parliament. I am humbled by the trust the voters of Mississauga Centre have put in me for a second time.

Speaker, I have spoken with many women in my riding and across Ontario who have expressed challenges with not being able to successfully enter the workforce and stay employed.

We must lift women up and empower them to excel in business, leadership roles, as entrepreneurs, and in sectors where they are under-represented, like in the skilled trades, for example. Ensuring that women are economically, physically and emotionally safe requires a broad network of support.

Our government has taken action in breaking down barriers that exist for women, including women who are Indigenous, Black or racialized, but more work needs to be done.

Can the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity please tell us about what investments our government is making to empower women in my riding and throughout the province?

As a result of COVID-19, women and girls have faced additional challenges, such as increased economic insecurity, greater burden of caregiving responsibilities, and a rise, unfortunately, in the incidence of domestic violence. Women across Ontario were disproportionately impacted by the personal effects of the pandemic, including increased needs around child care, balancing home and work responsibility with children staying home during closures.

Our government established Ontario’s Task Force on Women and the Economy to ensure that women would not be left behind in a post-pandemic economy. Can the associate minister please highlight some of the initiatives that have been launched as a result of the work of the task force?

CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions represents 55,000 education workers. These are the early childhood educators, the administrative workers, the bus drivers, the custodians, the maintenance workers. Despite being the backbone of the education system, their pay is so low that many of these full-time workers have to work part-time jobs just to make ends meet. This is shameful.

My question is to the Premier. The OSBCU contract expires on August 31. I’m wondering, will the Conservative government ensure these workers can keep up with the rising cost of affordability by providing them with a pay increase that keeps pace with this rising cost of living?

The Minister of Finance.

Interjections.

Restart the clock.

Supplementary.