Thank you very much to the member for that question.

Not only should we be investing in home care, but we should be expanding it and making sure that we are meeting the needs of Ontarians where they are. The ability to draw up a budget and to meet the needs of Ontarians is all our responsibility, and we do that by listening; we do that by asking questions; we do that by really leaning in with the experts to determine what the solutions are. I believe that the solutions when it comes to health care are really quite evident, whether it’s home care or personal support workers, or an extension of them both. This is an equal system of health care that has to be designed to meet Ontarians where they are, and if that means meeting them at home, then that’s where it should go. But it has to be said that residents are crying out because it is too limited.

So, yes, absolutely, we need to do more, but we need to do it faster. “Scaling up,” “building up,” which I know are very sexy terms that we sometimes like to use—I really want us to put that into practice. If we were to really take a look at what the harm was in Ontario and how we can actually build up that system, this is what I would suggest. Listen to the experts, bring the residents in, and let’s get to work.

I think that the stakes are too high. So I want to see the details of the budget; I think we all deserve to. But, more importantly, Ontarians need to know how you are spending their hard-earned tax dollars and how you are going to be accountable to them when the ERs continue to close and the wait-list continues to grow.

I am actually a big proponent of active transportation. I believe that we need to build infrastructure that meets communities where they are, but I don’t believe that we should do it over the objection of local communities or over the compromising of preservation lands, wetlands, endangered species and any other type of environmentally sensitive areas.

For us to be able to build up Ontario and to build the network of roads and highways that we need, we need to be able to make sure that those growth areas are going to connect to other places. So it can’t be so random that the highway shoots up along a particular route and enriches certain developers who have massive landholdings. That is not necessarily smart development of highways and road networks.

What we do need to do is invest in transit, high-order transit, low-order transit, and make sure that that system of transit, especially for all those areas that are underserved, including rural areas—are going to be better served. Not everyone is going to have the ability to own a car. We need to recognize that, especially in a growing climate crisis.

I think for those who have grown up in poverty, whether it’s inflicted by war, perhaps political dissent, or challenges of not being able to just make ends meet, you will recognize that everything in your whole self is compromised. Not only are your relationships compromised because you can’t necessarily go out with your friends or perhaps are not able to engage in social activities that take money; you can’t send your children to programs they desperately need. Your body starts to break down. You have a lot of mental health—you have a lot of anxiety and stress. Your blood sugars are weakened. You are malnourished. Your teeth and gums start to erode, and everything starts to fall apart. You cannot possibly think well if you are not eating well. If you’re worried about not having a roof over your head, you’re constantly in a state of precarity when it comes to housing. At any given point in time, you could be on the street.

Each and every one of us is fortunate enough to have enough money to actually live in Ontario, but we know that it is expensive, especially for those on social assistance. This is why we can do better in this government, in this hall, to support people on ODSP.

Speaker, I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity, so congratulations on being re-elected as Speaker. I know all of us here are delighted that you were successful in the chair, and I wish all the best to your contested opponent that didn’t make it.

I want to congratulate the member from Thunder Bay–Superior North for getting elected this session. She mentioned in her speech many very relevant things about the north, and one of the comments she said was that sometimes the north is an afterthought. We’ve heard that a lot from our northern members.

She highlighted that the first working group of injured workers was developed and created in Thunder Bay, and I wondered if she could speak to the challenges of how they get pushed into poverty, into ODSP, and the challenges around finding housing. I know in London it’s really difficult to find affordable, geared-to-income housing, especially when you’re on things like ODSP and OW.

And then the other thing that I hear a lot, and I wonder if it’s a commonality in the north, is about access to doctors. I’m getting, almost daily, constituents saying that Health Care Connect is not working and they cannot get a doctor.

I thank the member for the question. I’ve heard from many of the food banks and service agencies that are located in my riding of Ottawa West–Nepean that they’ve seen an incredible increase in demand over the past few months. I’ve heard the same from Meals on Wheels and other organizations that are serving seniors. I’ve met with the community health centre, that says they’re seeing a real increase in need for their programs and services. I’ve met with tenants who are living on Ontario Works or ODSP who are terrified that they’re about to be squeezed out of the only housing that they’ve been able to afford. I’ve spoken with people who have their kids living with them at home because they can’t afford to move out. There are incredibly desperate needs across Ottawa West–Nepean for a government and a budget that actually takes the affordability crisis, that actually takes poverty seriously and I know that my constituents would only want me to vote in favour of a budget that actually addressed the challenges that they are facing.

I also had the opportunity to meet with the nurses of Local 83 in Ottawa last week from the Ottawa Hospital, and they explained to me in clear terms there’s only a set number of health care workers and nurses and doctors in Ontario. We can’t magically expand it with a wave of a wand because we’ve created a private system. So now that same number of workers has to spread out over a private system and a public system—a private system which can refuse to take those patients who have the highest care needs, who have the greatest complexities, who actually need doctors and nurses the most. Those private care companies can focus only on those with the easiest problems to address and solve. So now those patients are ahead of the line and the lineup for care at our public hospitals and at our public clinics is even greater. This is a solution that will only make the crisis much, much worse.

The need is absolutely great. Not a single constituent that I spoke to in Ottawa West–Nepean over the course of a year said, “Please privatize our health care system.” What they said was, “Please fix our system. Please support our hard-working health care heroes so we can actually get the health care we need, when we need it.”

I’ve heard from Meals on Wheels and Jewish Family Services, which provides Kosher Meals on Wheels, that there’s an increased demand for these services, but unfortunately the government’s funding for these services has been frozen and isn’t keeping pace with the need. So they’re afraid they’re going to have to raise prices, which means that some of these seniors are going to go hungry rather than actually getting the food services they need.

I think the refusal to address the challenge with dental care for seniors because of the rise in CPP is an example of being penny-wise, pound foolish because we know that these seniors will now go without dental care, but we also know that when dental problems aren’t addressed, they result in other health care problems, including heart problems, which means that some of these seniors are going to end up in our emergency rooms when the problem could have been addressed early on if they could have simply afforded to see a dentist.