Speaker, my question is to the Premier.

The government is planning to force ALC patients waiting in hospitals to move to long-term-care beds far from home, without their consent. This is going to tear seniors away from their spouses, their essential caregivers, their grandchildren, and everything that’s familiar to them.

Doctors and nurses rarely need to provide medical care for ALC patients, so this won’t free up nurses or doctors. This government is sacrificing seniors to free up furniture.

Why is the government hurting seniors instead of tackling the hospital staffing crisis?

Why is the government expanding for-profit care and making the staffing crisis in our hospitals even worse?

This scheme doesn’t hire a single nurse. It doesn’t hire a single doctor. It doesn’t keep ERs open this weekend.

Will the government scrap this scheme and instead launch a plan to recruit, retain and return nurses with better pay, better working conditions and the respect that they deserve?

Speaker, more than a million Ontarians don’t have access to a doctor or a nurse practitioner. People are waiting for hours and hours in pain in emergency rooms, waiting for months and years for surgeries, and more than 1,400 died last year while waiting.

There are over 12,000 internationally trained doctors and thousands more internationally trained nurses in Ontario ready to help fill the gap in primary care.

Why has this government failed to remove the unfair barriers for these doctors and nurses?

Nothing the minister says actually removes the barriers that internationally educated health care workers face in this province. The government says that they’re doing everything they can to work with internationally trained doctors and nurses to address the staffing shortage in health care. And, yet, data from the CPSO shows that only 739 applicants became members in 2020, compared to the 2,074 in 2019.

My question is, why was there a decrease when we’re in the middle of the pandemic and we’re facing a health care crisis?

The practice-ready assessment program, which was standardized, that this government cancelled in 2018, is actually working very well in seven other provinces. The model could have been used to implement a similar or even improved assessment process for doctors and nurses in Ontario. We could have had thousands of health care workers added to the system in as little as 12 weeks. I want everyone in Ontario to listen: In as little as 12 weeks, we could have had more health care workers in this province.

Will this government reverse its cuts? And why is this government dragging their feet in bringing in the solutions that can save lives in Ontario?

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?

This government has an unprecedented record of investing in health care and health human resources across this province. We have added over 10,500 health care workers since March 2020, and every step of the way the members opposite have opposed that. We have added over 3,100 new beds into the system since March 2020—that’s almost the equivalent of five new hospitals—increasing capacity across the province. We’ve also put forward a bold plan to invest over $40 billion to build over 52 capital projects across this province. Mr. Speaker, every single one of those projects have been rejected by the members opposite; they voted no to each and every single one of those.

We will continue to support health care and health human resources across this province by investing in our nurses, investing in our doctors and investing in health human resources across this province.

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, Ontario is in the midst of a health care crisis. Dr. Marc-André Blier, an intensive care and internal medicine physician with LHSC, has observed, “a steady uptick in the number of experienced nurses leaving intensive care,” and explained they are “the lifeblood of a critical care unit.” He told me about multiple cardiac cases being cancelled, and noted many bays with no nurses to staff them. In his letter, he asked the Premier and the Minister of Health to repeal Bill 124.

Will this government finally listen to front-line experts and repeal Bill 124?

Dr. Blier—just listen to the doctor who has seen empty bays while urgent surgeries are being cancelled. Wake up. According to front-line experts like Dr. Blier, the obvious reason is that a 1% raise annually cannot match the inflation rate. “Our health care professionals are worth it.”

My question is simple: Will this government be fair, show front-line nurses that they are worth it, and repeal Bill 124? Yes or no?

I’d like to congratulate the member from Guelph for his recent re-election. I wanted to address his remarks on the topic of health care, because he’s saying that our budget is not addressing health care issues in Ontario and I couldn’t disagree more. In fact, yesterday I received an email from the CNO in my inbox and it reads, “CNO Sets New Record for Registering Internationally Educated Nurses.

“As of June 21, 2022, the number of new internationally educated registrants reached 3,967—a 132% increase compared to this time last year.

“‘This record marks the sixth consecutive year of increasing registrations for internationally educated nurses,’ says Carl Timmings, CNO’s acting executive director and chief executive officer.”

My question to the member is, what is his suggestion to increasing our health care? Because on this side of the House we have a multi-pronged approach through internationally trained nurses, through giving free education to PSWs, to increasing the standards of care to four hours a day in long-term care. What are his suggestions? Because so far, all we’re hearing is complaints but no tangible solutions.

I listened intently to our new member from Ottawa West–Nepean and her comments on the budget. One thing I think a lot of people don’t understand is what really the dangers of privatization are in the health care system. Why a contract nurse is so much more expensive to the system than nurses employed in the public system. Can you please elaborate on what that extra cost is?

As a reminder, over 30,000 new long-term-care beds—shovels are in the ground now; 3,100 new hospital beds; 10,500 new health care workers since 2020; 5,000 new nurses being hired; 8,000 PSWs being hired; streamlining, bringing on internationally trained health care workers; tuition reimbursements for health care workers and nurses; training opportunities for health care workers. This budget is doing something for health care. Why does this opposition insist on opposing the policies to improve our health care system and address the high needs at this time?