I want to address in my statement today the comments that the Minister of Health made yesterday. Given the context that the Ontario Medical Association has reported that 22 million patient services were cancelled during the pandemic, of which 10 million were surgeries or cancer screening procedures, we were genuinely shocked that the government did not address the urgency of the medical and hospital crisis that’s playing itself out in Ontario hospitals.

Yesterday, the Ontario health minister said that she is not ruling out privatization as the government looks at ways to deal with this major issue. What is shocking, though, is that the Minister of Health has said that she is looking at innovative opportunities to address this health crisis.

We have a recommendation. Do you know what is innovative? Do you know what is creative? When you actually invest in public health care. And when you repeal Bill 124, you won’t see the mass exodus of health care professionals from this field.

We’re very concerned about the direction and the language that the Minister of Health is using. We are truly committed to strengthening the public health care system. In fact, it has created this narrative in the health care field—is this privatization by design or by neglect? Are you choosing to not invest in health care so that the private sector can move in? This is our concern, and we share that concern with the rest of this province.

Comme c’est la première fois que je me lève en Chambre, je tiens à vous féliciter et à remercier les gens de Don Valley-Ouest de m’avoir élue députée. Je m’engage fermement à les représenter fidèlement et à servir les Ontariens au mieux de mes capacités.

I am speaking today to express the concerns of Don Valley West parents, local businesses and not-for-profits with regard to the implementation of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care program, also known as CWELCC or $10-a-day child care.

The Conservative government set a deadline of September 1—only 21 days from now—by when child care operators must sign on to this program to reduce child care fees for parents. As of mid-July, over half of Toronto operators have not yet signed on because they do not yet have the information they need to make an informed decision, like if and when they will be reimbursed for rebates they pay to parents.

The Conservative government’s signing of the federal child care agreement was a good first step, but the lateness of doing so has left municipalities, parents and child care operators scrambling. I respectfully ask the Minister of Education to help them get answers.

It would be a shame if families were not able to tap into this great support, especially as the throne speech talked about easing the financial burden for families in Ontario.

It’s an honour to rise this morning and give my first member’s statement in the 43rd Parliament.

Speaker, I want to take a moment to congratulate you on your re-election as Speaker of the House. Also, I congratulate all the members of this House. It’s an honour to serve our constituents, and I thank my constituents for electing me back here to serve them here in the House.

In a few weeks, the Chinese and East Asian communities in my riding of Oakville will participate in the Moon Festival celebration event. In the Chinese community, it is called the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, and it is the second-most important celebration, after Chinese New Year.

I want to take this opportunity to highlight this important festival and also recognize the incredible work the organizers have had on the Oakville community. On Saturday, September 3, the Oakville Chinese Network Society will be hosting the Moon Festival celebration event. Finally, after two years of virtual events, this celebration will be in person at the Queen Elizabeth community centre. The festival is rich in history and tradition. It is a time to give thanks to the harvest of the past year, while also hoping for a prosperous harvest in the new year.

This important event is thanks to the Oakville Chinese Network Society, which has been an important connection in the Oakville Chinese community, along with other communities, by providing social, educational and rich cultural events. Since 2012, Rena Lu has led the organization.

Thank you, Rena, and all your dedicated volunteers, for all you do.

I want to wish everyone a very happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

I’d like to welcome my partner, Maureen Ford, who is in the gallery and drove down from Thunder Bay with me to help me settle in, and my very good friend Diem Lafortune.

I would like to introduce two of my new policy staff members from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities: Matt Frola and Tay Rubman. Thank you for being here today.

That concludes our members’ statements for this morning.

I’ll ask members to please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

Thank you for the question.

Allow me to clarify, or to repeat what I said yesterday, which was, in Ontario, you use your OHIP card to access health care services in the province of Ontario, and that will continue.

What I referenced yesterday was innovation. We should not be afraid of innovation. We do it very well in the province of Ontario, and we will continue to work with our partners to make sure that that innovation is encouraged and can continue.

There are many examples of innovation that are happening in the province today that we want to expand, not the least of which are examples with OHN—Ontario hospital network, SickKids and many others, which I’m happy to highlight if the member opposite is not aware of that innovation that is happening in the province of Ontario today.

Je demande le consentement unanime pour que la Chambre observe un moment de silence pour honorer le décès de Gisèle Lalonde, l’une des plus importantes défenseures des droits des francophones de l’Ontario.

I seek unanimous consent for the House to observe a moment of silence to honour the passing of Madame Gisèle Lalonde, one of the most important advocates for the rights of francophones in Ontario.

It is my pleasure to introduce nurse Cathryn Hoy, the president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association, as well as Etana Cain, who are here today to watch the proceedings.

I am pleased to welcome to this 43rd Parliament my partner, Jonathan Arnold. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to welcome Kelly Harris to the Legislature today. Kelly does corporate and public affairs for PlasCred. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Thank you, Speaker, and congratulations on your election once again.

I am here to welcome, as well, Cathryn Hoy from ONA, along with Etana Cain. Welcome to the Legislature, and thank you for your hard work.

My question is for the Premier.

Just two days ago, I received a letter from a nurse in my riding. He shared a story about one of his patients: “My patient has fluid filling up his lungs, and he is less able to” breathe. His oxygen is not coming “into his body with each passing day.

“It is not exaggerating to say that he is drowning slowly. He needs an urgent procedure to remove the fluid.”

This should have happened last week: “This was scheduled for last week—it has yet to happen” because of the staffing shortage.

My question: What will the government do to help this suffering patient in the next 24 hours, and what will they do in the next 10 days to alleviate this staffing crisis that we see in our hospitals?

My question is to the Minister of Health.

Yesterday, the Minister of Health was asked by journalists whether the government is considering further privatizing our health care system. The minister said that the government is exploring all options.

Is this government looking to the private and for-profit sector to take over health care services that are currently publicly delivered?

Again, to the minister: Reliance on private health care providers will plunge our public hospitals and health care systems deeper into crisis. Bill 124 is draining staff from the public system, and private staffing agencies are gouging hospitals.

Will the minister allow private health care companies into Ontario, siphoning doctors, nurses and health care workers out of the public system?

Again, to the minister: Private corporations have a financial responsibility to generate profit. That’s a direct conflict of interest with their responsibility to offer affordable, accessible and high-quality care, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay.

Does the minister think patients should have to start paying for care they now receive as of right?

My question is to the Minister of Health.

Chris Hodgins lives in London West and had to take his 84-year-old mother to University Hospital ER for severe hip pain. She waited 16½ hours before being seen and then waited two hours more in the treatment room. Another patient with acute appendicitis waited five hours longer than Chris’s mother.

Speaker, how many hours will Londoners have to wait before this government finally acknowledges that our health care system is in crisis? Or does the entire ER have to shut down?

Like many Londoners, a constituent told me that she and her husband have been unable to find a new family doctor. After being turned away from overwhelmed walk-in clinics, they felt they had no other option than to pay to join a private medical service in order to access basic medical care. They have the means to pay but feel that this is fundamentally wrong.

Why is this government more interested in promoting privatized two-tier health care than in making the urgent investments that our public health care system and our exhausted health care workers so desperately need?

In Tuesday’s throne speech, the government highlighted its desire to put in place the conditions that will lead to the construction of over a million homes.

We have seen that the lack of supply, along with the recent Bank of Canada interest rate hikes, are placing a strain on many young Ontario families looking to buy their first home—but it’s not just potential homebuyers; it’s also people looking for rental accommodation in an increasingly tough environment.

More often than not, delays caused by red tape, infighting at local councils or simply bad policy have stalled construction of housing, be it rental, non-profit, long-term-care or even someone wanting to buy a home.

Yesterday, the government tabled legislation that would supplement the powers of mayors in Toronto and Ottawa. Specifically, I want to know how these added authorities help move projects along.

Welcome to the member opposite in her new role as a parliamentarian.

There is no doubt that staffing challenges impact patient care. That is why we have been working proactively to make sure that where we need those services, we have them. We’ve worked with Ontario Health to, for example, ensure that if an emergency department is at risk of closure, physicians who are prepared and willing to travel to other jurisdictions have that opportunity. They may travel for a couple of hours to go to a hospital network that they’re not traditionally tied in to. We’ve done that work. We need to do more of it, of course, but I want to reinforce that we have done a lot already. We have 10,500 new health care professionals working in the province of Ontario that we did not have without the innovation and the proactive approach that we have taken as a government.

We understand that there are many challenges that have happened as a result of individuals who could not access their primary care practitioner, who didn’t have the ability to get that diagnostic imaging. We have now essentially eliminated the imaging backlog that we’ve had and the diagnostic piece. We’re working very well with our health care partners to make sure that we focus as equally on the surgery backlog. That work will continue. But in the meantime, I think it’s really important for people to understand that a lot of this work happened because we understood we needed the capacity in the province of Ontario to be able to stay open and to continue to serve the people of Ontario.

We’ll continue that work. We are working with the colleges to make sure that they expedite those reviews and ultimately licensures, and we’ll continue that work.

But it’s not an individual piece. That’s why we’ve expanded the residency. That’s why we have expanded the number of students who are being trained. That’s why we’ve encouraged the colleges to expedite those licences.

Back to the Premier: With respect, the question that I had was really about what you are going to do in the next 24 hours.

My constituent further invites all of us to consider this: Reflect on what it would be like to be unable to breathe during every single breath that you’re drawing. Please think about what it’s like when your lungs are filled with water. Reflect upon that.

Speaker, no one in Ontario hospitals should have to experience that agony because they’re waiting for an urgent procedure.

My question again is, will this government listen to health care professionals and implement the solutions that are needed to address the health care crisis and this understaffing crisis in our hospitals?

Another constituent of mine, Gregory, needs urgent abdominal surgery. But because of the surgical backlog that we have already heard a lot about, he was told to find a doctor outside of Ontario, never mind outside of the city or in another neighbourhood. He called my office to say this: “Do they really think someone in my condition is ready to try to find care outside of the province?”

Speaker, health care workers have told the government how to clear the surgical backlog: Hire 30,000 nurses, repeal Bill 124, and fund public health care at the rate of inflation. Will the government put these recommendations into action or are they really just setting up the excuse for privatization?

Minister of Health.