Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London for all the work that he’s doing, and for his family’s talents—not necessarily a put-down to you.

Last week, I saw first-hand the city of London’s music expo and how integral the music scene is, not only for London, but for Ontario. London has been designated a UNESCO City of Music—the first Canadian city to be designated that, and only the fourth in North America, a tremendous accomplishment.

Each year, our government invests millions of dollars in the industry through the Ontario Music Investment Fund.

Ontario’s music scene is really booming, and it really has become part of tourism.

I had the opportunity in my visit to London on Friday to spend some time not only with the mayor, but to sit in at a round table with all the members of the chambers of commerce.

I’d like to suggest, to use a music analogy, that three-part harmony is a little bit of tourism, culture and sport.

Music, culture and—notice I didn’t say “tourism and culture” this time—and sport are linked together. I think we all know that through sport at all ages—the culture part of music, the culture part of sport and, really, the culture part of tourism tie together nicely, and the impact that it has on local communities, as London is finding out, is second to none. I found that out in my meeting with the chamber of commerce and with the mayor. Their strategies, their plans, what they’re working with, what they have is second to none, and they deserve an awful lot of credit.

But the other part of the sports side and hosting—we have to remember the impact of sport on our communities. Let’s not forget what tourism does and sport does when we move into a community and have, let’s say, a few hockey tournaments of 100-plus teams. Restaurants and hotels are full, but more importantly, we’re helping build young leaders through sport. We take that very seriously—our Premier does, and I do. Our next—

To reply, the parliamentary assistant and member for Oakville.

I’m glad the Liberals have changed their minds and decided to support us on bail—and ask the federal government to do that. I would ask that the NDP change their minds and support us on bail, as well. But here’s the one thing they have in common: They want us to interfere with how judges do their duty. I heard it yesterday from the member in the NDP. And today, this member wants me to interfere with how judges do their business.

I just can’t understand—well, I do understand why they’re over there. They don’t understand the fundamental divide of how we do justice in this province.

We need to do better. We need to do more. We’ve already started. We ask you to join us.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier.

There is no doubt that the increase in violent crime in the past number of years is disturbing. There are too many stories of those accused of violent crime being let out of jail right away, only to offend again—women killed by their partners, police officers ambushed, children killed while waiting for the subway, and too many more.

The Standing Committee on Justice Policy made five recommendations to the government for provincial action on bail reform. Other than writing a letter to the Prime Minister, when will this government make progress on the actions recommended by the justice policy committee to strengthen bail reform in Ontario?

In late 2016, courthouses in two locations in the province started using judges to sit in bail courts instead of justices of the peace. This pilot project ended in 2019, after this government was elected. Judges have years of formal legal training and experience. By all accounts, both from police associations and from defence associations, this pilot project was successful, yet the minister has yet to produce, or at least publish, a report into the pilot program.

The chief of Toronto Police has called for judges to take over bail hearings for firearms offences and, I presume, other violent offences.

The Standing Committee on Justice Policy recommended expanding this pilot program, to ensure that bail hearings for the most violent of crimes are heard by trained judges. This government has the power to do this today. Mr. Speaker, when will they use it to strengthen bail hearings here in Ontario?

I’m not sure the members of the NDP can take yes for an answer. I have confirmed that, in absolute terms, wages will increase every single year—over the course of this year—to a minimum floor of $25 per hour.

I acknowledge that there is more to do, which is why we’re working together with the minister of social and economic opportunities for women to ensure we greater retain those workers and attract more of them, because we’re going to need them, because we’re creating 86,000 more additional spaces as we reduce fees by 50%, on average—$8,000 to $12,000 per child, per year.

Mr. Speaker, our consultation will conclude. We’ll produce a plan and provide a sense of hope to these workers, who we value and we thank each and every day by increasing their wages and giving them more incentives to stay, to work, and to make a difference in the lives of young people in Ontario.

He’s quite right; the Premier was the one who led the charge across the country to ensure that the federal government took action on bail reform. This is, of course, as I said, across the country—whether it was an NDP Premier in British Columbia or a Liberal Premier in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was this Premier who put it back on the national agenda.

Having said that, the member is correct; the Standing Committee on Justice Policy tabled a unanimous report in this Legislature. Of course, we are going to be taking action on those parts of the report that are under provincial responsibility.

Just yesterday, we also had a motion in this House, which I thought was a very deliberately simple motion, to call on the federal government to put repeat violent offenders in jail, to keep them in jail, and to take action on that. It should have been unanimously supported, but it wasn’t, because the NDP, supported by the Liberals, tried to water down that motion so that we could continue to evaluate programs.

We’re done evaluating programs. We’re taking action, thanks to the leadership—

Thanks for the question from the honourable member across from Brantford–Brant.

I want to talk specifically about one project and one First Nation: TTN. They’re a First Nation that is just north of Timmins. They have partnered with Canada Nickel, and it’s a very interesting cobalt-nickel project—the mineral that it’s hosted with is serpentine. Serpentine absorbs CO₂. The First Nation is the owner of the transmission line that will carry the power to that project. They own that transmission line. The chief is Bruce Archibald. His sister is RoseAnne Archibald—and I’m sure everybody knows who RoseAnne is. She told us last week, prior to this development—before supporting this development, the employment rate was 85%. Now it’s below the national average—

Thanks to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade’s efforts, we are securing unprecedented investments on the other end of the supply chain. We are matching those efforts through our proposed legislation, the Building More Mines Act, which, if passed, would save companies time and money. It will increase business certainty. It will promote investment in Ontario’s mining sector so we can continue to be a responsible producer of critical minerals to power the global EV revolution.

President Biden just told the House of Commons he believes “we have an incredible opportunity to work together so Canada and the United States can source and supply here in North America everything we need for reliable and resilient supply chains.”

We encourage the members opposite to act with urgency and vote with us on this important piece of legislation.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre. Plusieurs de nos régions n’ont toujours pas accès aux services à large bande et d’autres ont des réseaux faibles et interrompus. Ceci a un impact significatif à plusieurs niveaux :

—les commerces avec les ventes en ligne;

—ceci affecte les études des enfants—le manque de sessions virtuelles ou d’outils de recherche; et

—les problèmes d’attraction et de rétention des travailleurs et des familles dans le Nord.

C’est difficile en tant que représentant d’aller faire des cliniques et aider les gens puisqu’on n’a pas toujours accès au service.

Ma question : le dernier rapport du Bureau de la responsabilité financière démontre seulement 1,6 % de ces allocations ont été dépensées. Est-ce que vous proposez encore des promesses vides ou bien allez-vous finalement respecter vos promesses d’investissement pour le Nord?

My question is for the Minister of Mines. Under the strong leadership of our government, this Premier and our minister, our province now has a robust Critical Minerals Strategy. This strategy is helping to build economic development opportunities with Indigenous partners through a range of programs that support skills training and business and economic development.

For our government to be a world leader in critical mineral production, we must partner with local communities and recognize and respect their valuable contributions in order to achieve shared success.

Can the minister please speak to the measures our government is undertaking to strengthen relationships with leaders in northern and Indigenous communities regarding priority projects?

While opposition members would rather criticize and complain, our government is working tirelessly to lay the foundation for agreements that benefit the north and all of Ontario.

The mining industry in Ontario already generates more than $10 billion in annual mineral production and supports 75,000 direct and indirect jobs in our province. Our government must continue making the necessary investments in this rapidly developing industry to ensure that northern and Indigenous communities are not left behind.

Can the minister please explain how our government is making the most of the present opportunities to become a world leader in responsibly sourced critical minerals?

To reply, the government House leader.

I’d like to recognize my two very hard-working staff who are here today from London West: Janan Dean and Leah Cartan. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

The member opposite raises a really important issue that we deal with on a daily basis in the Ministry of Health. As new interventions—whether they are medication or treatments—become available, of course the Ministry of Health and our government want to provide those as quickly as possible to individuals in Ontario.

I have to say, I was really proud of the fact that as soon as Trikafta was available for children and youth suffering with CF, it was actually the Ontario government that was the first to list it. We’ve done the same thing very recently with Luxturna for rare inherited vision loss, and we now have that on the drug formulary.

We continue to work with the pCPA as they negotiate drug prices, and we put those on the formulary as soon as we can—because we know what kind of life-saving intervention these mean for the people of Ontario.

My question is to the Premier. My constituent Matt’s Christmas holidays were destroyed by one short sentence: “You may have ALS.” Ontario has medication to slow paralysis and extend Matt’s ability to use his hands to eat, and to hug his children, to use his legs to walk outside and dance with his soulmate, Cathy, and his throat to swallow and to say, “I love you.” Albrioza could lengthen Matt’s life by 10 months, but only 7% of ALS patients are eligible. The personal costs are enormous. ALS is the bankruptcy disease.

Can you imagine, Speaker? Right now, Matt’s only option is to put his family in debt to stay alive—because for the other drug, Ontario’s EAP deems him “too far gone” to provide medication.

Will this government do the right thing, fund Albrioza, and extend Matt’s precious time with his family?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I would. The bill amends the Excellent Care for All Act, 2010, to make the Patient Ombudsman an officer of the assembly. It also provides that the current ombudsman remains in that role until their appointment ends or it is revoked.

I think that since health care is of such critical importance, not only to the people we represent but in this assembly, we should have an ombudsman who reports on behalf of Ontarians to us here so we can make the best decisions possible.

Ms. Scott moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 96, An Act to amend the Ministry of Correctional Services Act / Projet de loi 96, Loi modifiant la Loi sur le ministère des Services correctionnels.

Je remercie ma collègue pour sa question.

Comme vous le savez, notre gouvernement est le premier à avoir modernisé la Loi sur les services en français en plus de 35 ans, ce qui démontre notre engagement à améliorer l’accès à des services de qualité en français pour la communauté francophone de l’Ontario.

La Loi sur les services en français modernisée a mené à la création d’un nouveau règlement détaillant neuf mesures concrètes que les organismes assujettis à la loi doivent mettre en place pour assurer une offre active de services en français. Ces mesures incluent les salutations « Hello, bonjour » et la signalisation bien visible en français. Cela fait en sorte qu’il incombe aux organismes assujettis à la loi de proposer activement les services en français et non à la personne francophone de les demander.

Je suis très heureuse du progrès important que nous avons accompli et de la continuité de ce travail si essentiel pour la vitalité de la communauté francophone de l’Ontario.

Quoique l’offre active ait été explicitement mentionnée dans la loi depuis un an déjà, les neuf nouvelles mesures clarifient les exigences minimales requises pour assurer une mise en oeuvre réussie de ce principe important.

I’d like to say that this bill is also co-sponsored by the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, Mr. Yakabuski.

This bill provides that if an inmate who committed sexual or domestic violence is released on parole, the board shall consider the appropriateness of electronic monitoring and may impose conditions with respect to electronic monitoring.

A petition to raise social assistance rates:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on” Ontario Works “and $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas the recent small budget increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens well below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to live in this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and give it to Artur.

Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

In my riding, many people and businesses are relying on slow, unreliable, expensive Internet. I have met with every Internet provider; none of them is interested in setting up in Nickel Belt. There is no money to be made. You can pay for all the infrastructure, they’re not coming. So we use phone lines with a five-megabit download and a two-megabit upload. How can businesses thrive with this?

The government claims they’ll spend billions on broadband, but last year they spent less than 2% of that money. Will the government finally get that money out the door and put in place a government-run system for fast, reliable Internet at a reasonable price?

Interjections.

Ma question s’adresse à la ministre des Affaires francophones. Avec plus de 620 000 francophones et 1,5 million de locuteurs, l’Ontario a la plus grande communauté francophone au Canada à l’extérieur du Québec.

L’amélioration de l’accès à des services en français de qualité dans divers secteurs est d’une importance vitale. Le vendredi passé, un nouveau règlement sur l’offre active est entré en vigueur dans le cadre de la modernisation de la Loi sur les services en français. La ministre peut-elle dire à la Chambre comment ce nouveau règlement affectera les services en français en Ontario?

La communauté francophone de l’Ontario mérite un environnement propice à son épanouissement afin qu’elle puisse continuer à participer activement à la prospérité de la province.

Monsieur le Président, la ministre peut-elle nous en dire plus sur le nouveau règlement et qui est assujetti aux mesures?

The bill has two schedules, so please bear with me.

Schedule 1 enacts the 2SLGBTQI+ Community Safety Zones Act, 2023. The act provides that the Attorney General may designate 2SLGBTQI+ community safety zones. The act prohibits persons from performing an act of intimidation within 100 metres of the boundary of a property that is designated as a 2SLGBTQI+ community safety zone. Every person who contravenes the prohibition is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $25,000.

Schedule 2: This schedule enacts the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ Safety Advisory Committee Act, 2023, which provides for the establishment and composition of an Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ safety advisory committee. The act requires the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ safety advisory committee to make recommendations with respect to various matters relating to improving the safety and preventing hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents against two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexually and gender-diverse people in Ontario. The act also requires an annual report setting out the findings and recommendations of the Ontario 2SLGBTQI+ safety advisory committee.

Mr. Fraser moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 95, An Act to amend the Excellent Care for All Act, 2010 with respect to the patient ombudsman / Projet de loi 95, Loi modifiant la Loi de 2010 sur l’excellence des soins pour tous en ce qui concerne l’ombudsman des patients.