Thank you, Speaker, and congratulations on your re-election as Speaker.

For 42 years, under a Progressive Conservative government, Ontario became a manufacturing powerhouse, able to compete with any jurisdiction. Yet, under the previous Liberal government, jobs began to leave when high taxes, red tape and out-of-control electricity prices made Ontario one of the least competitive jurisdictions in North America. The result: 300,000 people lost their jobs when Liberal policies forced manufacturers right out of Ontario.

Now, Mr. Speaker, my question is a simple one: Can the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade assure my constituents, workers, their families and the communities that rely on manufacturing jobs that they will not be abandoned? And, specifically, will he highlight the measures he is taking to protect and grow the sector in Ontario?

Speaker, this past June, Statistics Canada provided an advance estimate of manufacturing sector sales reports. These reports indicate that manufacturing sales actually fell 1% in June, with the largest decreases in the aerospace product and parts industry.

The throne speech highlighted the need to grow the economy. It talked about risks to the economy. For my constituents, that means lost jobs. It means missed mortgage payments. What is the minister doing to protect families who rely on good jobs, local jobs, with manufacturers who are so important to communities right across Ontario?

We talk about preparing for, and we have done that. Ottawa is about to see the largest hospital expansion in the history of Ontario. We have made that commitment. We are working towards those solutions because we’ve worked with the organizations, the OMA.

We want to make sure that when people want to see their family doc, the family doc is available to see them, so we have expanded a program that allows them and funds them to see patients in the evening and on the weekends. Those types of quantitative, real solutions are going to make a difference. We are seeing people get the health care they need, where they want it, when they need it.

There is no doubt that when a hospital has to shut an emergency for four hours, for a shift, it is very challenging for the community. But we work with partners to make sure it is as seamless as possible and patients’ lives are protected.

Specifically related to your question, I think that you have already written me on that. We will look into it to make sure that due diligence has happened in that particular situation. But I want to reassure the people of Ontario and the people in the House that we are making those investments in Ottawa, in Windsor, in Niagara, in Brampton, to make sure that we have a health care system that is robust and prepared to protect the people of Ontario.

To reply, the Minister of Health.

Our government can assure Ontario families of our strong support for advanced manufacturers. We also understand the need to invest in the talent and equipment that they need to be our global leaders. Specifically, our advanced manufacturing and innovation competitiveness fund, or AMIC, does exactly that.

AMIC is our two-year, $40-million program that supports Ontario’s advanced manufacturing sector. Ontario companies are investing millions in equipment, advanced technologies and the skilled workforces they need to be competitive. Every week, you will hear about AMIC and our other investments in automotive, aerospace, life sciences, IT, chemicals, steel. These sectors each employ tens of thousands of workers and are the cornerstones of our economy, and each one is proof that Ontario is open for business.

Here’s an example of success from the member’s own riding: Cyclone Manufacturing is a leading global supplier of aerospace components. They just announced a $21.4-million expansion at their plants in Ontario to invest in new technologies, including advanced robotics. On Monday, we were at Cyclone to detail our government’s $1.5-million AMIC investment. This investment will bring back—it will reshore—60 jobs back to Ontario to do things that have been done outside of the country, and will provide upskilling for another 100 employees at Cyclone’s four plants in Mississauga and Milton.

The Liberals drove jobs away, and this is another example of our government bringing jobs back.

My question is to the Premier. Today in this House, we are joined by members of the United Steelworkers. Those members are grieving, because in June of this year they lost a brother to a workplace death at National Steel Car. His death was the third death in two years at the same workplace; a worker is dying at National Steel Car every seven months. That’s three workers whose families will never see them again, whose children will never see them again and whose communities are devastated and grieving their loss.

Mr. Speaker, it could not be more clear that this is an unsafe workplace. Workers do not go to work to die, not at National Steel Car or anywhere. When will the Premier and the minister take this seriously, meet with the United Steelworkers and make National Steel Car a safe place to work?

Every worker in our province deserves to survive their shift and return home healthy and safe. The United Steelworkers, who represent these workers, have demanded a meeting with the Minister of Labour to hold National Steel Car to account, to protect their members and to ensure people are safe at work.

Do you know what the minister has done with that request? He ignored it.

Just this week, two more workers have been killed at work in Ajax. Under the Westray law, government is supposed to provide training to law enforcement officers to make them aware of their responsibility to investigate workplace fatalities.

Speaker, will the Premier direct his Solicitor General to do this today and ask his Minister of Labour to stop hiding from the United Steelworkers? Above all, will he take any action at all to make workplaces in Ontario safe so workers can go to work to perform a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay and go home to their families?

I would invite the minister to have that conversation with my constituents, who are waiting 12 hours for care.

With health care in Ottawa already teetering on the brink, the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre in my riding of Ottawa West–Nepean is laying off health care workers with years of experience and good performance reviews. This is a tumultuous situation in which one-third of staff have been laid off or have left over the past three years. Community health centres serve some of our most vulnerable members. Now these patients are contacting my office to say they have nowhere to turn.

Will the Minister of Health launch an immediate investigation into the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre to ensure that funding and staffing decisions are being made in the best interests of patients?

I certainly appreciate the passion that the member brings to it. I can’t think of any situation that would be more horrific than for a family to receive a visit when a loved one is at work and to be told that their loved one will not be coming home—somebody who has worked day in and day out. I can’t think of something even more horrific than that.

Again, I say to those in attendance, all of us: our sympathies, directly to the families—not only in this incident, but of all workers who have died in the line of duty.

But at the same time, a lot of work has been done here. I know the member wants more, and there will be more because that’s what the Minister of Labour has been doing since the day he took the job.

As I highlighted earlier, there have been 75 visits to this facility. There are 73 orders required for National Steel Car and there is action in front of the courts with respect to health and safety contraventions by National Steel Car.

Mr. Speaker, through you, to the member from Ajax: Thank you for the questions.

Because of our government’s commitment, we are getting it done for the people of northern Ontario. In April, chiefs of Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation announced that they have completed the terms of reference for the proposed northern road link environmental assessment.

The northern road link project is an Indigenous-led environmental assessment which integrates Indigenous principles with the provincial process. The northern road link will connect two proposed roads—the 200-kilometre Marten Falls to Aroland Community Access Road at the south end, and the proposed 110-kilometre Webequie Supply Road to the Ring of Fire at the northern end.

Our government remains committed to the success of this project, with nearly $1 billion in funding to support critical legacy infrastructure such as the planning and construction of an all-season road network and investments in high-speed Internet, road upgrades and other community projects.

It was a privilege to visit Webequie First Nation, and I look forward to continuing our important work with both communities.

Earlier, the Minister of Economic Development touted Ontario’s progress in attracting advanced manufacturing to Ontario. However, Russia’s unprovoked and illegal attack on Ukraine—along with growing instability in Asia as China attempts to destabilize the region—has left our global partners seeking a strong, stable, reliable source of critical materials.

The Ring of Fire in northern Ontario is that source. Now, more than ever, the world is looking at Ontario and the Ring of Fire, with deposits of essential, critical materials valued at an estimated $60 billion.

My question, to the Minister of Mines: At what stage is the development and what is the next major milestone for success?

Speaker, the First Nations communities themselves deserve to be part of the success of this project. First Nations want to see their communities prosper. They want to see economic benefits that should occur in any community in Ontario or Canada. They want to provide a better future for their younger generations.

The minister recently met with the First Nation communities of Webequie and Marten Falls. Can the minister please provide the House an update on the nature of these meetings as it relates to the Ring of Fire development?

The supplementary question.

Again, Speaker, I will reinforce that it is deeply disturbing when we have an emergency department that must close, whether that’s for four hours, a shift or a weekend. We work very closely with Ontario Health, with hospital CEOs and with management to make sure that they have explored every option to ensure that that does not happen. When it does, we have safeguards in place that include making sure that first responders—paramedics—understand where the redirect is, often within 15 minutes of the nearest hospital. We want to make sure that we build the capacity, and we will continue to do that.

As the member opposite knows, I’ve spoken to and I have directed the nursing college of Ontario and the College of Physicians and Surgeons to act quickly to make sure that every possible individual in the province of Ontario who wants to work in health care has that opportunity.

We are incredibly grateful to our front-line health care heroes for the contributions they are making across this province. That is why we have made record and historic investments to support health care and health human resources across this province. We have added 10,500 health care professionals to the system since March 2020. The members opposite have voted against each and every single one of those measures. This also includes building capacity for the future, which involves creating the first new medical school in the GTA in over 100 years, in the city of Brampton—another measure that the opposition voted against. On this side of the House this government will continue to work to support health care across this province.

The supplementary question?

The Minister of Infrastructure.

My question is for the Minister of Health. This summer, we have seen unprecedented levels of pressure placed on our hospitals like nothing I’ve seen in my career. Emergency departments, intensive care units and other critical services are closed due to severe staffing shortages. Nothing on this scale has ever been seen before in our province.

Imagine, Mr. Speaker, that you or someone you love had a heart attack or a stroke. Imagine that you are a mother and your newborn child suddenly seizes before you. And if that isn’t bad enough, imagine now that all of this happens in a community that just lost its emergency department. This is the reality for too many Ontarians this summer, and yet we’ve all heard the minister’s comments.

Speaker, through you, I ask: Can the Minister of Health please finally provide her assessment and explain why she doesn’t think that the current situation in our hospitals is a crisis?

My question is to the Minister of Health. SickKids is one of the best hospitals for children in the world, but the hospital’s ability to help, see and heal children is being put to the test by this government. Demand at SickKids is skyrocketing. Visits to the emergency room are up 47%, and over 3,400 children are waiting for surgery beyond the acceptable timeline for them to wait. No child—no child—should have to wait too long for necessary surgery, Minister. This is my question: What is this government’s plan to address the surgery backlog at SickKids?

Minister, this is my question: Can you increase funding to SickKids to meet the need, to address the staffing shortages, so that children can get the care that they need?

I want to thank the member from Essex for the question. Our government knows how important access to reliable high-speed Internet services is for families, business and farmers, which is why we’re investing nearly $4 billion to make high-speed Internet services accessible in every corner of the province by the end of 2025.

Last week, we announced a huge accomplishment in our broadband strategy that’s connecting as many as 266,000 unserved and underserved homes across 339 municipalities. As part of the reverse-auction announcement, we’re making Internet accessible to as many as 3,970 homes and businesses in Lakeshore, Essex, Kingsville, LaSalle and Amherstburg. This is just one of the many ways our government is addressing the needs of our communities and supporting the good people in southwestern Ontario.

All options are being considered. We are almost at our goal. We will make sure everyone is connected by the end of 2025.

For too long, the people and businesses in parts of southwestern Ontario have been living without access to reliable high-speed Internet. The agricultural sector relies on reliable Internet to operate and to make connections, to make business decisions, market their products, operate on-farm technology and maximize farming techniques, among many other things. Ontario’s agricultural business sector is a leader in modern and innovative technological practices and can no longer rely on old and outdated techniques.

The government recently made an announcement highlighting investments in high-speed Internet infrastructure. Can the Minister of Infrastructure please explain how this will benefit the people of my riding in Essex? Will my farmers be able to access reliable high-speed Internet, and will a promise be a reality?

Unfortunately, for many of my constituents, that is a way of life. Repeated service interruptions, or areas with little connectivity, is something that we have been forced to live with because of the failures of the previous Liberal government.

Speaker, through you, how are we supporting the connectivity needs in areas such as my riding, the riding of Essex, that may not have been covered through the reverse auction? They deserve coverage, and unlike the previous member from Essex—

Thank to the member opposite. Welcome to your new role as a parliamentarian.

Imagine, Speaker, if we hadn’t had a government for years ago who had invested in making sure that we have 3,500 new hospital beds operating in the province of Ontario. Imagine, Speaker, if we hadn’t taken the time to ensure and expand so that we have 10,500 new health care resource people working in community, in hospital, in long-term care. I worry about that. Imagine if we hadn’t had a Premier who had the foresight to say, “We are going to make sure we have the capacity in the province of Ontario to make sure that for any pandemic, any future issues, we have capacity within our health care system.” We have that, and we will continue to work forward with that.

Our government appreciates this, understands it and acknowledges it, which is why we gave SickKids a 4.3% increase to their base operating, which equates to $22 million. We’re going to work with SickKids. We want to make sure that that world-class reputation that we are all so proud of as Ontarians and Canadians continues to be able to offer their expertise to the world.

The auto industry has long been a vital source of jobs, innovation and prosperity in this province. In communities across Ontario, thousands work in auto manufacturing facilities directly or in businesses, small and large, that supply that sector. Under the reckless policies of the previous Liberal government, a carbon tax, red tape, high taxes and out-of-control electricity prices cost Ontarians jobs and left facilities shuttered.

Uncertainty has long been the enemy of investment, and we are in a period of global uncertainty. Mr. Speaker, can the minister provide any comfort to the thousands employed in the industry and in the communities that rely on it that the government will not abandon this sector, as the Liberals did when they declared manufacturing in Ontario to be dead?

The auto sector in Ontario thrives when it’s integrated—when we produce and supply the products and services for all parts of a vehicle. While the Umicore investment is historic in many ways—and a great privilege to be in my own backyard—history has shown that unless it’s integrated into the larger production process, its impact will be limited. I ask the minister: Can you explain the economic spinoffs of this investment?