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.

Yesterday, I was pleased to announce that our government is introducing legislation that is intended to give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa the ability to move forward provincial priorities, select municipal department heads and deliver budgets.

We know that municipal governments play a crucial role in determining housing supply. And the reality is that over one third of Ontario’s growth in the next 10 years will come in the cities of Toronto and Ottawa.

Too many families today are struggling with housing and the rising cost of living. We need to empower our local leaders with the tools that they need to get it done. We are also counting on them to cut red tape, to build housing faster so that more Ontarians can realize the dream of attainable home ownership.

Thank you for the question.

Back to the Minister of Health: People admitted to an ICU are really sick. Many have a 5% to 10% chance of survival.

Bowmanville had to close their intensive care unit. They had to transport people sick enough to be in an ICU because they did not have enough nurses. It came with great risks.

There is an easy solution that will keep hundreds of nurses on the job. How much risk is the Minister of Health willing to take before she withdraws Bill 124?

In fact, Mr. Speaker, the Toronto board of trade has said, “Toronto faces numerous urgent city-wide challenges, from housing, land use, transit, ... budget” and “economic development.... Effective, timely solutions require a city chief executive with clear authority.... Now is the time to act.”

Minister, we have a vibrant province. If our communities are to continue to thrive, people need to be able to stop dreaming of a home and know that they will have housing options—rental, non-profit, single detached, condo—choice and options, timely delivery as well, a clear path for residents and, more importantly, our municipal partners.

Does the minister agree with the board of trade, and does the legislation provide a realistic path to more homes, more choice and housing predictability in Toronto and Ottawa?

I’ve said many times, it is concerning, deeply disturbing when an emergency room department or another department in a hospital must transfer patients. The Bowmanville four-bed ICU was, of course, one such example. We don’t want that to happen, which is why we have been investing in our health care system, including $3.3 billion, bringing the total annual investment in hospitals to over $8.8 billion in the province of Ontario.

Specifically related to acute and post-acute, we’ve made a historic investment of $1.5 billion to support the continuation of 3,500 acute and post-acute beds opening during the pandemic. Those beds will continue because we understand our population is growing. That’s why we are making these investments in new hospitals in Ottawa, in Brampton, in Niagara. We’re doing these investments because we understand the people of Ontario deserve no less.

The member and the Toronto regional board of trade are 100% correct. Urgent action is needed to address Ontario’s housing crisis. Too many families are already struggling with housing and the rising cost of living.

We just had an election where we committed to Ontarians that we would build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. Increasing housing supply is a priority for our government, and we know that it is a shared priority with our municipal partners.

Speaker, the changes, if passed, would help empower the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to ensure that they drive priority provincial projects forward. As our province grows, we need to ensure that communities keep pace. This will require bold solutions from all levels of government working together.

I’m proud to support Toronto and Ottawa as they cut through red tape and as they speed up development timelines so that more families can realize attainable home ownership.

We’re providing enhanced tools to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa to get more homes built faster. These mayors oversee the two largest cities in our province, which are projected to have over one third of our province’s growth over the next decade. They need the tools to prepare for growth and ensure that the creation of new homes keeps pace with demand.

Speaker, we’re going to work with our two largest cities and other fast-growing communities that are shovel-ready, committed to growth and ready to cut red tape.

To help communities across Ontario build more attainable homes, Ontario is launching the housing supply action plan implementation team. The team will provide advice on market housing initiatives, including building on the vision of the Housing Affordability Task Force, More Homes for Everyone Act and other government consultations.

The government intends to appoint Drew Dilkens, the mayor of the city of Windsor, as chair and Mayor Cheryl Fort from the township of Moosonee. Both Mayor Dilkens and Mayor Fort have excellent track records for their service and success for their residents. Other team members will be appointed in the coming weeks, with the first meeting to take place in the fall.

Our government has a proud record of investments in health care, especially supporting our front-line health care heroes.

Since March 2020, we have added over 10,500 health care workers to the system. This also includes investing in the first new medical school in over 100 years in the GTA to ensure that we have—in Brampton, in the Durham region and in Scarborough—doctors and health care professionals into the future.

The members opposite have voted against each and every single one of those measures to support health care workers and increase health human resources in this province.

We will continue to do what we can and ensure that we support our health care heroes across this province.

The supplementary question.

Between 2003 and 2018, the previous Liberal government allowed communities to develop webs of red tape, which led to frustration, disappointment and, ultimately, drastically reduced housing supply. Our municipal partners, both in Toronto and Ottawa, have been calling our government to help them reduce this red tape while working with them to increase the supply of a mixed range of housing.

It is abundantly clear to anyone that leadership at the provincial level is essential if we are to assist our municipal partners in reaching our goal of over a million new homes, as outlined in the speech from the throne.

As a Toronto member, I’m keenly aware of the challenges of lack of supply, but at the same time I am now more than ever looking for solutions that will have both immediate and lasting impacts.

Specifically, how will a strong-mayor system in Toronto help address housing supply?

Empowering strong mayors is a good start to addressing housing needs to help big cities like Toronto and Ottawa, but what is our government doing for the other municipalities across the province? Our government must work with other municipalities to ensure that housing development is a priority for all across this province.

Speaker, is the minister taking any other action to help municipal leaders to identify and resolve problems that stand in the way of building more homes and building them now?

I have to say that when I hear the member opposite talk about limiting opportunities, it concerns me greatly. We have a hospital system that has worked very well with their nurses’ associations, with their medical associations, to make sure that all opportunities are explored to make sure that they have the appropriate coverage in their departments in their areas. We need to continue that work.

We have—as I’ve said many times—already expanded by 10,500 more health care workers working in the province of Ontario, including 6,700 to support hospitals in need. These programs support international health professionals and students, as well as redeploy medical residents and physicians to where they are needed most critically. That work will continue, and we will ensure that we have a partner in our systems.

Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. But first, I’d like to congratulate you and all members in this Legislature for your election. I look forward to serving the people with each and every one of you.

Inflation is negatively impacting all Ontarians, especially the most vulnerable. It’s impossible for people with disabilities to live on $1,169 per month. An extra $58 will force them to continue to live in legislated poverty. It’s wrong. This is a moral issue. The people of Ontario want to care for the most vulnerable, and I would hope that the members opposite would as well.

Will the Premier do the decent thing and double ODSP rates so that people with disabilities can at least live at the low-income cut-off?

Poverty and rising food prices are driving food bank use to all-time highs. Geopolitics, excessive grocery profits and climate-fuelled droughts are disrupting local food supply chains and pushing food prices through the roof.

There are solutions—things like doubling ODSP rates, protecting local supply chains by permanently protecting prime farmland, legislation to stop price-gouging in concentrated grocery retail markets.

Will the minister commit to implementing any of these solutions to make groceries more affordable for people, especially people living with disabilities?

The Minister of Health.

Order.

We’re ready to start the clock again.

Member for Guelph.

The more things change, the more they stay the same with the NDP. It’s all about personality, right, Mr. Speaker? If they can’t win an election based on policies—and we know that they never can because they’ve only done it once and people threw them so far out to the curb and never gave them the opportunity ever again. So what do they do? They start attacking the personality of individuals. That’s what the NDP is all about. That’s why they go from this to this to this to where the NDP leader can’t even bring himself to sit in the chair of the opposition leader. He seeks refuge in the middle of his small, tiny caucus.

We will stand up for the workers of the province of Ontario. We’ll stand up for nurses. We will build a better health care system, a better long-term-care system, a better education system, a better transportation system. We’ll keep the economy moving.

Interjections.

My question is to the Premier.

I have been contacted by nurses in my riding of Thunder Bay–Superior North expressing frustration with working in hospitals, continually short-staffed, while nurses from for-profit agencies are working next to them earning two and sometimes three times their wages.

How is it the Ministry of Health can justify limiting public sector nurses to a 1% increase with inflation near 8% while staff from for-profit agencies performing the same duties receive so much more?

Will this government remove wage caps and end the health care crisis by ensuring we have full-time jobs with benefits instead of temporary and costly agency work?

Inflation continues to negatively impact families across Ontario, with Stats Canada reporting a year-over-year increase of 8.1% in June. As mortgage rates increase, so too does the cost of basic groceries, leaving many families in my riding and beyond worried about their future.

Soaring costs that put pressure on families is not the way to build a strong Ontario. Carbon taxes, which increase the cost of fuel and virtually every other product a person buys, red tape, and policies that restrict growth, that reduce opportunity, could devastate communities and the hard-working people who are trying to build a life within them.

Can the minister outline what immediate steps he is taking to support families across Ontario?

Thank you to the member opposite, and congratulations on your re-election and serving the people of Ontario.

There’s no daylight between, I think, the member opposite and many of us to make sure that we, in these very difficult times, when people are feeling the pinch—particularly the most vulnerable and people, for example, on disability.

That’s why, through the campaign, we said we were going to increase by an historic amount—5%—the Ontario Disability Support Program. That’s why we are adjusting it for inflation. That’s why we kept that promise after roundly being supported by the voters of Ontario, and we tabled it in the budget bill, Bill 2, the other day. Many Ontarians are feeling the pinch. That’s why that’s just one part of a suite of measures that we’ve taken to support the most vulnerable of Ontario.

I’ll have more to say in the supplementary.

It’s just one of many things that this government is doing, not least of which is the Ontario Community Support Program, which you know also supports for vision care, for dental care, for health care. It helps with meals, helps with prescriptions.

It’s also why we have put in the budget the fifth round of social services relief, under the leadership of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, for supportive housing, to help the most vulnerable, to help people with disabilities in this province.

We’re doing many things, and we will continue to do many things to help our most vulnerable in society as we work together to make a fair society.

Our government has been working tirelessly to rebuild our economy. We have lowered taxes for lower-income Ontarians, and we have reduced gas and fuel taxes. We negotiated a child care agreement to reduce costs for young families across Ontario. We eliminated licence plate renewal fees and, for the people of Durham, we eliminated the tolls the previous Liberal government put on Highways 412 and 418.

We have continued to focus on building a strong economy by reducing taxes and fees for job creators. We have stabilized electricity rates. We have continued to invest in our auto, mining, infrastructure and construction sectors.

The road ahead is going to be uncertain. Global events in Europe and abroad are in our environment right now, but that’s why we’re making investments to transform our economy and unleash economic prosperity across the province.

Together, let’s build Ontario.