This question is for the Premier.In July, I shared an internal memo from Toronto Western Hospital, frantically trying to keep their emergency department open. They narrowly avoided that closure that time, but they were just one of 25 hospitals across this province facing emergency room closures on a single weekend. From our smallest community health centres to our busiest urban hospitals, our system is being pushed to the breaking point while this government’s budget remains status quo. Speaker, to the Premier: How many more ERs and urgent care centres have to close before he finally admits this is a crisis?

Speaker, can the minister explain what she considers acceptable for a child to get emergency care? Is it 19 hours? Is it 11 hours? How is that even remotely acceptable?

I had an ER nurse from my community tell me just yesterday that the ICU they work in is at full capacity with only half the staff to care for a full roster of patients.

How can the Premier look our exhausted and demoralized nurses in the eye—those health care workers who are desperately ringing the alarm on staffing shortages—and tell them that Bill 124 is here to stay?

It’s an honour to be able to rise today and talk about this very important issue. In our throne speech yesterday, we mentioned that we will build a health system that better cares for patients and keeps our province open. We are doing that with all of the partners, which is why I have met with the Ontario nurses’ union and I have met with the College of Nurses to say we need to expedite internationally trained nurses who are in the province of Ontario here today and waiting for those licences. We will continue to do that. We will work with all partners, including hospital CEOs, to make sure that when they need support to get the health care workers in emergency departments, they will be there and their government has their back.

It’s our health care workers who are putting forward solutions, and it’s the government that’s refusing to implement any of the solutions that they’re asking for.

This past weekend, Montfort and Carleton Place hospitals needed to close their emergency departments due to lack of staff. The Queensway Carleton Hospital, which has only been able to keep their ER open because of some creative staffing arrangements, has patients waiting up to 12 hours to be seen.

These wait times and closures are unacceptable in Ottawa and across the province. What is the government’s plan to ensure that Ottawa-area hospitals have the resources they need to keep ERs open and to provide patients with care in a reasonable amount of time?

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.

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.

My question is to the Minister of Health. After spending weeks in hiding, avoiding accountability, the government is downplaying what Ontario Health is calling an unprecedented hospital staffing shortage. Grand River Hospital in Waterloo region was recently forced to close an operating room and postpone elective surgeries because 120 staff members were off with COVID-19. According to Health Quality Ontario, as of April, half of the hospitals whose average ER wait times top the provincial average were in Waterloo region. That average is over 19 hours waiting in an emergency room.

When will this government stop normalizing this grave position our health care system is in and start listening to health care professionals’ calls to action? Everything is not okay.

If this government was actually concerned about the urgency of what is happening in our health care system, they would listen to the ONA; they would listen to the RNAO and other groups of health care professionals and you would repeal Bill 124. Instead, the Minister of Health says repealing Bill 124 “is a conversation for another day.” That is a direct quote. Well, we think that day is right now. That day is today. Why is this government actively preventing nurses and other health care workers from being fairly compensated in our system?

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?

Again, Speaker, I will remind the member opposite: In fact, we have already increased funding to SickKids in the amount of 4.3%, which equates to $22 million. We’re working with SickKids actively to make sure that anything we can do to assist, to find those opportunities that SickKids provides, incredible opportunities across the world and in Canada—we will continue to work with SickKids to make sure that that opportunity is there for us when we need it.

That is coupled with 52 different hospital expansions that are in process in the province of Ontario. That is unprecedented. When we see the kinds of investments that we are making in our hospitals, in our health care system, it makes me very proud to serve with this Premier, with this caucus, because it means we understand and appreciate that you need to make the investments. You need to build to make sure that we have the health care system we need when people need it. Thank you.

Our government has already started those investments. We have the hospital infrastructure that we want. We have already invested to ensure that we have personal support workers in community, in our long-term care, and we will continue that work because we understand how critically important it is.

Thank you for your question. I’m happy to hear about your lovely experience of being born at our Southlake hospital. In fact, I’d love to make a comment about one of the great things our government just announced in April: a $5-million planning grant for Southlake hospital, to plan towards a two-site location. Our community has been growing immensely, and I’m sure my colleague is aware of that. Our community has grown immensely, and the hospital has not grown with it. Our government has put the funding in place to help Southlake regional hospital realize the next step of where we need to go to support our growing community.

J’ai étudié le français à l’école depuis que j’étais jeune, mais je suis allée à Western, à London, Ontario. Avec les deux programmes d’immersion que j’avais faits au Québec, j’ai toujours senti que mon français n’était pas assez bien. Donc, je me suis dit : « Comment est-ce que tu vas apprendre le français très, très bien? Ah, je vais aller à Paris. » Mes parents n’étaient pas trop contents avec cette idée-là. Cependant, moi, j’ai pensé que c’était génial de le faire. Donc, je suis allée à Paris. J’étais une fille au pair pour m’aider à payer les dépenses. Donc, voilà. J’ai passé une très bonne année là.

Christine and I met in 2018. We didn’t know one another, but we had so much in common. We became, how shall I say, fast friends. I would put it that way. She asked me to work for her, to support her in the community, and right away, I said yes. What a great way to get to know my community but through the constituency office. It afforded me the great opportunity to be at her side throughout our community: these funding announcements I’ve mentioned, to also meeting George Markow, a gentleman who was turning 100 years old. He made a decision that he wanted to raise $100,000 by the time he turned 100. Well, sure enough, Christine and I went there. We heard his stories of how he came to Canada. It was back in the 1940s. He got away from Russia and the German camp. I’ll tell you, it was an amazing story. Christine and I were just in awe.

Report continues in volume B.