We acknowledge this tragedy. I had a chance to speak to my long-standing friend Chief Dean Owen immediately afterward, following a fire, as the member points out, that took the lives of three community members on February 22, 2023. My ministry holds regular calls with the community—subsequently to that—and partners to ensure that they have everything that they need to work through this crisis. I’ve approved surge funding to address communities’ immediate requests for assistance. We stand by in an effort to continue to support them in any way that we can.

I do appreciate the question from the member opposite. It is a very serious question affecting Canadian youth and children around the world—the increase of mental health needs in our province.

Mr. Speaker, we have in this province, every single year since coming to office, increased funding for mental health. We started with a nearly $18-million investment at the peak of spending under the former Liberals. Today, that investment is at $90 million—a 400% increase in investments, Speaker.

Year over year, we’ve hired 9% more mental health workers, professionals working directly with our kids—psychologists and psychotherapists; 7,000 more education workers, which includes social workers and child and youth workers. We recognize the demands are rising. It’s why we’ve increased funding this school year by an additional $10 million.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to our schools, many parents will get their kids access to treatment in their community. Working with the Ministry of Health, we’ve increased funding through the Roadmap to Wellness by $130 million, particularly for kids, and created 14 youth mental health hubs to ensure they have the services and the supports they deserve.

In addition to in-school supports—the hiring of more psychologists, psychotherapists and mental health workers—we also have stepped up support in community. There’s $130 million dedicated specifically for children and youth. We created, under our government with the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, 14 youth hubs to create integrated services for children in rural, remote and urban communities. We’ll continue to work together to meet the needs of our kids.

Thank you to the member for Carleton for the question. She’s doing an excellent job for her constituents every single day.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly do understand first-hand the challenges that flooding can bring to communities. In 2013 and 2019, in the community that I led at the time, we went through devastating situations. And in 2019, the Premier was there on that very first day to ask how he could help.

But Mr. Speaker, coming out of that, the Premier and others have paid a lot of attention to developing a flooding strategy for Ontario and making sure that communities have this strategy that they can call on, drawing on expert recommendations to ensure the public is better prepared for flooding, and that we’ve been working hard to implement those recommendations.

We’ve also committed over $30 million to protect wetlands, one of the biggest wetland recovery investments in provincial history, and that helps with flood mitigation as well. Over $26 million in disaster recovery assistance to individuals, businesses and communities, and $4.7 million to help with municipalities with flood forecasting. We can’t prevent floods, but we—

Speaker, there are no quick fixes when it comes to reducing impacts from flooding, but Ontario’s flooding strategy aims to improve preparedness and make Ontario a true leader in flood management.

My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. We are mindful of the devastating impact that flooding and extreme weather can have in our province. Many individuals will remember the damage that flooding caused to the people of Ottawa, eastern Ontario and the Parry Sound and Muskoka regions in 2019. These floods impacted thousands of homes, individuals and businesses, requiring Canadian military assistance, and unfortunately, sadly, lives were lost.

As we move from winter to spring and ice and snow begin to melt, many individuals are rightly concerned about how this could affect their communities once again. Speaker, through you, what is our government doing to respond to potential flood risks facing our communities?

Following the tragic events of the 2019 flood, our government commissioned a task force to report on areas and recommendations for improving flood resilience and enhancing public safety. The independent flood advisor’s report highlighted the proactive steps the government can take to mitigate the impacts of flooding in our community.

Speaker, through you, can the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry please explain how our government acted on this report’s recommendations?

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government takes matters of consumer protection in the condo sector very seriously and will never stop taking necessary action to protect Ontarians across the province.

Speaker, my ministry welcomes the Auditor General’s feedback on Ontario’s condo sector and has already begun consulting on ways to actively improve and expand the condo authority tribunal and its powers. We are never stopping our efforts to improve protections for all Ontarians and ensure they have a safe and secure place to call home.

Speaker, we will continue to work with the condo sector to implement the changes suggested by the AG and ensure that condo owners across the province are provided with the treatment they expect and deserve.

The supplementary question.

Thank you, Speaker. As you’ve heard, there are far too many condo residents facing big problems with no easy solutions here in Ontario, with nowhere to turn. Many end up fighting in court and are forced to give up, leaving them worse off than when they started, without a resolution and in debt. In my community, condo residents were individually forced to pay a special assessment of over $30,000, in mere days, or face a lien. Many were forced to sell. Others fought in court but gave up when legal costs hit $100,000.

Again, when will the government implement all of the recommendations in the Auditor General’s report, such as fully expanding the condominium appeal tribunal so that condo residents can finally get the respect they need and deserve?

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. In fact, we are doing a lot of the things that you mentioned, including investing in centralized wait-lists. The Your Health plan, which was announced earlier this year, has some of those very things in it, including the centralized wait-lists.

Ontario leads the country in how many people actually benefit from a long-term, stable relationship with a family doctor or primary care provider—over 90% of Ontarians. But we can do more and we will do more.

That’s why we’re increasing training opportunities at the same time by expanding team models of primary care across the province, which we announced, again, in the Your Health plan. Work is under way to train the next generation. We’re adding physician spots, including 450 new spots for physician training, 52 new spots for physician assistants, 150 new nurse practitioner spots, 1,500 additional nursing spots and 24,000 PSW spots. By adding these new health human resources to Ontario’s workforce, more team-based care will be made available to Ontarians.

My question is to the Premier. Kerrie and Daniel, who are here today, are owners of a newly built condo at 1 Yorkville Avenue. Since moving in, they’ve faced a whole host of problems—faulty equipment causing false fire alarms, amenities that were promised that have still not been built. Their home is still a construction zone.

Now, Kerrie has complained to her property manager, her condo board and government regulatory agencies, but no one is helping her and the problem remains.

A report written by the public accounts committee gives us a road map for what we need to do to give condo residents the protections they need, and this government signed off on that report as well. To ensure condo residents live in safe and well-maintained homes, when will this government turn this report’s recommendations into law?

Thank you to the good member from Thornhill for the question.

Our government has been working closely with sector partners, youth with lived experience, and advocates to inform a redesign of Ontario’s child welfare system.

To protect youth during the pandemic, we introduced a moratorium on youth leaving care as they normally would. We took that opportunity to re-examine how youth leaving care were supported and committed to improving that process.

With the Premier’s leadership, we’re taking action to enhance the system so that youth are supported. The Ready, Set, Go program, launching on April 1, 2023, will provide youth transitioning out of care with life skills and supports they need to pursue post-secondary education, skilled trades training and employment opportunities.

This will come with continuing funding to support their needs. Those pursuing a post-secondary program or training in skilled trades and apprenticeships will receive further support.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. The Ontario Fertility Program provides publicly funded in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination, including intrauterine insemination and fertility preservation, for eligible patients and as an uninsured service through agreements with participating fertility clinics across the province. Under the program, the government contributes to the funding of unlimited cycles of artificial insemination, including intrauterine insemination and fertility preservation, and one cycle of IVF per patient.

Recently, last fall, we announced a new fertility clinic opening up in Windsor, to be able to provide fertility treatments in that part of the province, with an annualized funding of $1.5 million. What we’re doing is trying to bring services closer to patients, and that’s an example of it.

We know that many other provinces across Canada are facing pressures with health human resources, but our government has been taking steps for a long time to make sure that we have new and upskilled health care providers, including 8,000 more upskilled personal support workers and 5,000 more upskilled nurses.

This government is doing everything it can to ensure that the services are there when people need them and where they need them, and we’ll continue to make those investments.

My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Our government must take action to support children and youth in the welfare system. Children and youth in the system face additional barriers throughout their lives. They are more likely to experience traumatic events such as homelessness, mental health concerns, unemployment, lack of education, and involvement in the justice system. Every day that passes, as these children get older, it becomes more and more challenging for them to move beyond the setbacks and losses that they have experienced. Governments should be helping these children, and all children, to get a good start so they can lead fulfilled, supported and happy lives.

Mr. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on what our government is doing to help these children and youth achieve better lives?

We know that having a strong support system from a very young age helps children and youth obtain the practical life skills they need to lead successful lives. It’s imperative that youth in care receive access to the same opportunities as their peers by providing them with support for education and skills training.

It is reassuring that the objectives of the Ready, Set, Go program are designed specifically to provide concrete knowledge and skills development for these young people. Can the minister please explain how this program will help provide children and youth with the tools they need?

In a few weeks, one of Canada’s first fertility clinics is closing its doors after 50 years of helping families grow. The fertility clinic at London Health Sciences Centre has helped bring more than 4,500 babies into the world since opening in 1972. These services are shifting to a private clinic, Omega, due to a lack of funding.

Speaker, what does this government have to say to the thousands of families who depended on this vital public service?

What we need right now is action to address the hospital crisis and a plan to recruit, retain and return health care workers in our public hospitals, not further privatization. Why does this government want Ontarians to settle for less when it comes to creating their families?

The supplementary question.

This government seemed to take its eye off the ball when it came to the impact of Bill 124 on the health care system. They seem to neither know and certainly don’t report the growing number of unfilled nursing positions in hospitals and nurses leaving the profession. Bill 124 led to surgical backlogs, closed ERs, and unnecessary suffering for the people of Ontario, including our nurses. Public servants of this government’s Ministry of Health stated this in a leaked memo.

One impact of Bill 124 is quite clear: This government is underspending on health care by underpaying the remaining nurses we do have, contributing to underspending to the tune of $4.9 billion in the next three years, according to the FAO.

My question to the Minister of Health: Will the government take accountability for their Bill 124 mistake and invest some of the billions they’ve parked in contingency funds to fix the staffing mess they created with Bill 124?

Thank you to the member for the question.

We have record numbers of students who are entering the nursing profession, and we are ensuring that we have more nurses as we move forward with our plans, and this is in no part due to the NDP and Liberals, who do not support us every step of the way. We continue to make investments in registered nurses, registered practical nurses, PSWs. Every time, the opposition votes against those measures.

We are allowing our colleges and universities to now offer stand-alone nursing programs across the province, and this will ensure that nursing students can practise in their areas and continue to be professionals in those areas. As part of Bill 60, we’re hiring more health human resources, but we’ve also expanded the Learn and Stay program that is now not only there for nursing students but also for lab techs and paramedics, and this is in exchange—free tuition—to continue practising in those areas after graduation.

We will ensure that more students are entering the profession as we continue to build Ontario’s world-class health care system.

Last week, our government introduced the Your Health Act, 2023, which outlines our plan to provide Ontarians with a better, more convenient health care experience closer to home. If passed, our plan will reduce wait times, recognize credentials of out-of-province health care workers and respond directly to the changing needs of our health care system.

As part of this plan, we are working to hire more health care workers. That starts with ensuring that the next generation of those workers have access to high-quality, high-calibre education right here in Ontario. This includes moving forward with the largest medical school expansion in more than a decade and adding thousands more nursing spots and schools across the province. Unlike previous governments, we are getting it done for the people of Ontario.

My question is for the Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Mr. Speaker, we need to continue to strengthen the health care workforce in our province. After years of neglect and inaction from the previous Liberal government, access to health care in rural communities suffered. The people in my riding of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound were negatively impacted when it came to ensuring that we have the same level of access to health care compared to major cities. We must educate more health care workers across our province now, to ensure no region is left behind. Together, let’s build a health care system that better cares for our communities and keeps our province strong.

Can the Minister of Colleges and Universities please elaborate on what additional measures our government is taking to strengthen our health care system?

Investing in the future of Ontario’s health care system starts with providing a high-calibre education for those who want to work on the front lines. Earlier this year we announced our expansion of the Learn and Stay grant, a key component of Ontario’s plan to stay open. I’m happy to say that the Georgian College, Owen Sound Campus is part of this program.

The grant, which we announced in March 2022 for students who enrol in nursing programs, has now expanded to include paramedic and medical laboratory technologist programs in priority communities. Eligible students will receive full, upfront funding for tuition, books and other direct educational costs in return for working and caring for people in the region where they studied for a term of service after they graduate.

Grant applications for the 2023-24 academic year opened this spring, targeting 2,500 eligible students at over 20 institutions. Right now, students can go online and see a full list of eligible schools and programs on the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant website and learn more about how they can apply.

My question is for the Premier. Hamilton Health Sciences has 270 patients waiting in hospital who cannot be discharged because they are waiting for alternative kinds of care, such as long-term or home care. This has gotten so bad that Hamilton hospitals have resorted to keeping these patients in a satellite health facility. Clearly, Bill 7 and its promise to free up bed space by sending seniors up to 70 kilometres away is not working for Hamilton.

It has been four years of empty promises from this government. Will the Premier commit to repealing Bill 7 and finally focus on providing the funding our health care system needs?

These problems are getting worse, not better. Why is the Premier sitting on $3.5 billion in contingency funds instead of ensuring we have a strong health care system that people can rely on?