My question is for the Premier. Speaker, ferry workers in Kingston are in a manufactured staffing crisis. Instead of raising these ferry workers’ wages to competitive levels, the minister has decided to pay an out-of-province temporary staffing agency two to three times more than what these unionized MTO ferry workers earn.

Some of the workers are in the public gallery today, Speaker, and their question is to the Premier: Will the Conservative government finally stop paying scab labour to do their jobs? Will they respect the collective agreement and repeal Bill 124 so that workers can get back to work with fair pay and competitive wages?

The ferry passengers have experienced cancellations and delays of up to 12 hours on this vital transportation route, and worse still, the understaffing situation is a health and safety issue. There was a dangerous incident on the Wolfe Island ferry just last month. These workers deserve to have safe working conditions, and the passengers deserve to feel secure, knowing that there are well-trained, experienced staff to ensure they’re safe during their commute.

My question, Speaker: Will the Conservative government stop the service disruptions and reductions caused by deliberate ministry understaffing and invest in permanent MTO ferry workers who keep our ferries safe and on time?

Speaker, just this morning, we welcomed a $40 million investment from VueReal. This is a made-in-Ontario start-up in Waterloo region. VueReal has become a leader in the development and manufacturing of MicroLED displays and sensors. They’re used in devices in aerospace, automotive and medtech. This investment, with a $2-million support from the province, will boost local manufacturing and strengthen clean-tech innovation while creating 75 new, good-paying jobs in the process.

Speaker, this is how we’re bringing new life to local manufacturing, and this is how we are building Ontario.

We have 26,000 tech companies, over 400,000 tech employees, 65,000 STEM grads every year—all part of a world-class innovation ecosystem. That’s our competitive edge. That’s the proof that we’re creating the conditions for companies like VueReal to succeed. And that’s why companies continue to land here in Ontario.

In 2019, Nicole’s landlord filed for a personal-use eviction. She later learned that this was misrepresentation. Today, Nicole is still waiting for an LTB hearing after moving into a new apartment that costs her now twice as much. LTB’s own data shows that landlords are being fast-tracked for hearings over tenants.

Can the Premier explain why he is making tenants wait so long for access to justice?

Why is it agreeable to this Premier that tenants have to wait so long for access to justice?

Thank you, Speaker, and I will do so with much pride.

The bill enacts the Advisory Committee to Protect Ontario’s People and Economy from Airborne Pandemics Act, 2023. The act provides that the Standing Committee on Social Policy shall establish an advisory committee to protect Ontario’s people and economy from airborne pandemics. The advisory committee shall make recommendations to the Minister of Health and the Standing Committee on Social Policy to improve Ontario’s infrastructure, regulations and standards relating to indoor air quality in non-residential workplaces and public settings.

Ms. Armstrong moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 87, An Act to amend the Vital Statistics Act to provide for greater access to information related to adoptions / Projet de loi 87, Loi modifiant la Loi sur les statistiques de l’état civil pour prévoir un meilleur accès aux renseignements liés aux adoptions.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear: Our government will never compromise when it comes to the safety of our travelling public. As per Transport Canada regulations, all ferries must be staffed with qualified and properly trained workers, and our goal is to make sure that all ferries are safely operational as soon as possible. That’s why we’re working so diligently towards it.

We have new ferries coming on board. The new Wolfe Islander IV and the Amherst Islander II ferries will be in service as soon as possible. As I said, our government is committed to working across the country with our partners, but also within government, with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, to make sure that we have training programs in place so that we can have workers operating our ferries as soon as possible.

The act is amended to provide for the meaning of next of kin of an adopted person and the meaning of next of kin of a birth parent of an adopted person.

The act is amended to permit the next of kin of a deceased adopted person or the next of kin of a deceased birth parent of an adopted person, as the case may be, to access adoption information.

The act is amended to permit the Registrar General to enter into an agreement with an authority responsible for birth or adoption registration in another province or territory of Canada in order to share information for certain purposes and if certain conditions are met.

My question is for the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. It’s always an education to hear from this minister, and I appreciate his environmental knowledge and expertise.

Under the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, the people of Ontario heard lots of talk and promises about protecting ecologically sensitive lands. In contrast, our government has demonstrated our commitment to environmental conservation by making significant investments and getting it done.

There is never a more important time than the present to continue to invest in initiatives that will conserve, restore and manage natural resources, including forests, wetlands and grasslands.

Can the minister please explain how our government is preserving Ontario’s natural environmental heritage?

Our natural areas support our local communities and provide habitat for species. Therefore, continued investment and support by our government is critically important. The people of Ontario expect that our government will continue to protect Ontario’s rich biodiversity.

Can the minister please confirm how these investments will help build Ontario for all of us?

Back to the Premier: The problems at Blackadar Continuing Care Centre, which is managed by Extendicare, are consistent. It is an obvious pattern. The recent power outage wasn’t an isolated incident. It has happened at this home three times in two years.

Three days after the news report from the Globe and Mail, the Hamilton Spectator reported that internal documents showed that—listen to this—that long-term-care home had dirt, mould and leaks in their home. Extendicare saying “not my fault, not my responsibility” is unacceptable. Long-term-care operators need be held accountable.

Speaker, through you: When will the Premier and his ministers stop protecting their corporate, profit-driven long-term-care buddies and protect seniors living in long-term-care homes, where 5,400 of our moms, our dads, our aunts and uncles, our brothers and sisters have died?

This is a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario about stopping the cuts and investing in the schools, as students deserve.

“Whereas the ... government cut funding to our schools by $800 per student during the pandemic period...;

“Whereas these massive cuts have resulted in larger class sizes, reduced special education and mental health supports and resources for our students, and neglected and unsafe buildings;

“Whereas the” FAO “reported a $2.1-billion surplus in 2021-22, and surpluses growing to $8.5 billion in 2027-28, demonstrating there is more than enough money to fund a robust public education system;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“—immediately reverse the cuts to our schools;

“—fix the inadequate education funding formula;

“—provide schools the funding” they need “to ensure” there are “supports necessary to address the impacts of the pandemic on our students;

“—make the needed” improvements and “investments to provide smaller class sizes” to our children.

I fully support this petition. I want to thank the Elementary Teachers of Toronto for collecting these signatures and sharing our concerns to stop the cuts and invest in our schools.

Thank you to the member from Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston. He’s such a strong advocate for the outdoors and our environment.

The member is right; you’ll hear a lot from members opposite—they will oppose a couple of trees that would take 28,000 cars off the road, with the largest public transit expansion in Canada’s history that this government, under this Premier, is making. They’ll be against building more homes, but they have no solutions.

That’s why I’m pleased to say that thanks to this finance minister and this Premier, in the budget, we’re investing more than $14 million more in the Greenlands Conservation Partnership program. This is a solution to protecting more in the province of Ontario and represents a 40% increase in funding, which will be used to secure ecologically important land and conserve Ontario’s natural beauty.

Speaker, you can’t spell “Conservative” without the word “conserve.” And I’m pleased to stand here today to tell you that we’re getting it done for the people—

Interjections.

I heard a member opposite say “cringey,” and it’s that member who said that who has presided over sewage spills in her own community and proposed no solutions to that. But this government is getting it done.

We hear a lot about pointing fingers at problems, with no solutions from the members opposite.

Well, a solution to conserve more land is to invest in the Greenlands Conservation Partnership program. It has protected over 400,000 acres of land and is the single largest provincial fund in this province’s history to support private land security. That’s the equivalent of over 300,000 football fields of protection under this Premier and this government. That’s real action. That’s real results.

Mr. Speaker, the previous government talked a lot about it, but we never saw these sorts of funds, these envelopes to conserve and protect more.

It’s under the leadership of this Premier and this government that they’re going to work with—

I’m pleased to rise today to present this petition to stop the cuts and invest in our schools, which our students deserve. I’d particularly like to thank the parents and community of Jack Miner Senior Public School, which was just one of many schools where these signatures were collected.

The petition reads:

“Whereas the Ford government cut funding to our schools by $800 per student during the pandemic period, and plans to cut an additional $6 billion to our schools over the next six years;

“Whereas these massive cuts have resulted in larger class sizes, reduced special education and mental health supports and resources for our students, and neglected and unsafe buildings;

“Whereas the Financial Accountability Office reported a $2.1-billion surplus in 2021-22, and surpluses growing to $8.5 billion in 2027-28, demonstrating there is more than enough money to fund a robust public education system;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“—immediately reverse the cuts to our schools;

“—fix the inadequate education funding formula;

“—provide schools the funding to ensure the supports necessary to address the impacts of the pandemic on our students;

“—make the needed investments to provide smaller class sizes, increased levels of staffing to support our students’ special education, mental health, English language learner and wraparound supports needs, and safe and healthy buildings and classrooms.”

I wholeheartedly endorse this petition, Speaker, will add my name it to and send it to the table with page Paul.

A question for the Premier: Another inspection in a for-profit long-term-care home has exposed terrible living conditions for our seniors, this time at Blackadar Continuing Care Centre in my riding, managed by Extendicare. We heard from the daughter of a resident who was distraught with the undignified conditions her mother is living in, including numerous and extended power outages.

Under this government, 5,400 seniors died in long-term care during COVID and the vast majority of these deaths were in for-profit care. Have you learned nothing from this tragedy? Why is this government giving these same for-profit operators multi-decade licences, instead of correcting these substandard care issues through enforcement?

My question is for the Minister of Colleges and Universities. Many veterinary practices across Ontario are struggling to meet the growing demand for animal health care services, particularly in rural, remote and Indigenous communities across the north.

As MPP for the great riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan, I have consistently advocated for a veterinary medicine program at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. Lakehead University is a leading post-secondary educational institution that is forward-looking and well-positioned to educate more veterinary practitioners to help address this pressing need throughout our province.

Speaker, can the minister please explain when a veterinary medicine program will be implemented in Thunder Bay?

I am thankful that our government recognizes the agri-food opportunity and economy of the north, highlighted in the commitment made in our budget last week. I want to thank the Ministers of Colleges and Universities, and Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, for ensuring the expansion of vet services in the north, particularly large-animal vet services. This has been described by my community industry leaders as a game-changer.

We know that across the north, vet services are spread thin while responding to vast geographical areas. A significant portion of veterinarians operate practices which are small businesses and have their own economic impacts.

The people of Ontario are interested to know how this new veterinary medicine program will work to make a real difference in the post-secondary sector. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on this new program, along with information about the overall benefits provided for northern Ontario?

Please welcome to the Legislative Assembly my new Queen’s Park assistant, Kaleena Lee.

I appreciate the question from the honourable member. There was an inspection that was done at the home, and the home itself has been ordered to fix the generator problem by June 30 or face administrative monetary penalties.

Speaker, as you know, the member opposite did vote against the increase in inspectors. We have the highest inspector-to-home ratio in North America now, something that, of course, they voted against. The member opposite would remember that she specifically voted against the new homes that are coming to her riding. The member also voted against the additional 27,000 health care workers for long-term care and the over $60 million worth of funding for the member’s riding to increase the level of care. The Minister of Colleges and Universities is helping us attain that 27,000 additional health care workers.

Look, I’m glad to hear that the member opposite actually supports some of the initiatives that we’ve done, especially when it comes to inspection.

This is the exact same member who last week suggested that those health care workers working in for-profit long-term-care homes cared less about the seniors that they were caring for, and as a result, this gentleman here across the aisle suggests that’s why he can’t vote for all of the initiatives that we are doing to improve care across the province of Ontario—not something that they did when they held the balance of power. In fact, they completely ignored long-term care.

Here is the good news, Mr. Speaker: Because of the investments in the budget, we’re continuing to improve long-term care and—

Interjections.

I’d like to welcome back our friends from OPSEU, the ferry workers, going through a labour dispute currently and anxious to hear the petitions being read today.

MPP Wong-Tam moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 86, An Act to establish an Advisory Committee to Protect Ontario’s People and Economy from Airborne Pandemics / Projet de loi 86, Loi créant un comité consultatif pour la protection de la population et de l’économie de l’Ontario contre les pandémies à virus transmissibles par voie aérienne.

“Whereas the Wolfe Island ferry and Glenora ferry have had serious service disruptions due to a staffing crisis created by the Ontario government; and

“Whereas residents and visitors to Wolfe Island have been trapped on the island for up to 12 hours with no way to leave, even for emergencies or work; and

“Whereas Glenora ferry has had a reduced schedule during this year’s busy tourism season, creating hours of lineups and delays for passengers; and

“Whereas the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) ferry workers are drastically underpaid in comparison to the rest of the marine industry, causing recruitment and retention issues; and

“Whereas instead of paying competitive wages and hiring more permanent staff, MTO has contracted out the work to Reliance Offshore, an out-of-province, private temporary staffing agency, which charges up to twice as much hourly as ministry staff earn; and

“Whereas contracting out the work is a waste of our public funds on a stopgap solution that doesn’t provide long-term stability to our ferry system;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“(1) Fix our ferries—stop the service disruptions and reductions caused by ministry understaffing.

“(2) Repeal Bill 124, which has imposed a three-year wage cut on already underpaid ferry workers during high inflation, and pay them fair, competitive wages.

“(3) End the outrageously expensive contracts with private temporary staffing agencies and hire permanent Ministry of Transportation ferry workers to work and live in our communities instead.”

I wholeheartedly support this petition, Speaker. I’ll affix my signature and give it to Jing to give to the table.

And the supplementary.

This House stands in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1143 to 1300.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

I would like to read the petition on behalf of Anne Wildman.

“Extend Access to Post-Adoption Birth Information....

“Whereas current legislation does not provide access to post-adoption birth information ... to next of kin if an adult adopted person or a natural/birth parent is deceased;

“Whereas this barrier to accessing post-adoption birth information separates immediate family members and prohibits the children of deceased adopted people from gaining knowledge of their identity and possible Indigenous heritage;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to extend access to post-adoption birth information ... to next of kin, and/or extended next of kin, if an adult adopted person or a natural/birth parent is deceased.”

I fully support this petition. I’ll sign it and pass it to page Morgan to deliver to the table.

I have a petition from my constituents to double ODSP rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the government systemically underfunds and fails to adequately support peoples with disabilities; and

“Whereas the government cancelled a planned 3% increase in ODSP benefits; and

“Whereas persons with disabilities have borne a disproportionate burden of the pandemic; and

“Whereas the cost of shelter” and food has gone up; and

“Whereas persons with disabilities on ODSP have been struggling to survive...;

“Whereas the government must place people with disabilities at the centre of the province’s pandemic recovery plans, addressing a long-standing gap in Ontario’s social safety net while honouring its commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To instruct the Ontario government to immediately commit to doubling ODSP rates and take action to ensure Ontario provides a livable income supplement for people with disabilities.”

I wholeheartedly support this petition. I will sign it and ask page Stefan to bring it to the table.