Again to the minister: What should have been part of this government’s plan all along was a plan to address the root cause of our health care crisis—that’s staffing issues. This government can take tangible action right now to retain health care workers. Will the government commit to not appealing Bill 124?

Yesterday it was a family in eastern Ontario who struggled to find a hospital that could accept them for labour and delivery. First they tried their local hospital, but the birthing centre was closed due to staffing shortages. The next hospital they tried didn’t have room, so finally they returned to their local hospital. That situation should never have happened. The mom, Kendra, said this afterward: “I’m just afraid ... that health care will fail me again, fail [my son].”

What does the minister have to say to parents like Kendra who are scared for the future of our health care system?

I guess Santa came early this year.

As the member knows and as the AG has stated, we’re reviewing the decision and we intend to appeal it.

But we will speak to the investments that we have made in the health care system. Over the past year alone, we’ve increased base spending in health care by over $5.2 billion. That is the largest year-over-year increase in the history of this province. When we look at health human resources across this province, we have put in place the investments to support the hiring of over 14,500 net new nurses. That is unprecedented in the history of this province.

We will continue to make those investments, as we have with two new medical schools that we are announcing in this province, in Brampton and Scarborough, making sure we have new medical staff, more doctors in the north through that.

The members opposite have voted against each of those measures, have voted against every single increase to health care spending. On this side of the House and with our members opposite, we will continue to make sure we make those investments—

I think the minister has answered that on a number of occasions. I think, again, what it comes down to, time and time again, is that the NDP just refuse—with the help of the Liberals, quite frankly—to see the challenges that we have in the province of Ontario, the challenges that we are fixing.

Of course, there is a housing crisis in the province of Ontario, ostensibly because of the policies that were brought on by the Liberals, supported by the NDP. Colleagues will remember all of those years that the NDP propped up the Liberals to ensure that the dream of home ownership that so many of us have fought for our entire lives, our parents fought for. Under both the Liberals and the NDP, that is a dream that has vanished in the province of Ontario, but because of this Premier, because of this Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Conservatives on both sides of the House, you know what? We’re bringing back that dream. We’re making sure that we’re putting in place policies that will allow people to prosper in the province of Ontario, like generations before us, and we only wish that they would get on board.

I love that the member brought up Stouffville. Stouffville is my hometown, Mr. Speaker. Of course, it is a vibrant, beautiful community. Those who were in Stouffville on the weekend would have had the benefit of one of the most beautiful Santa Claus parades that we have had in the province of Ontario.

As the people lined the streets on both sides of Stouffville, they shouted encouragement to make sure we continued on. Do you know what they said, Mr. Speaker? “Bring more people to Stouffville.” That’s what they wanted because they all had what we all fight for: the dream of home ownership. We talked about this just yesterday.

I challenge any one of them to get up in their place and say it—say it with me: home ownership. Home ownership is not a bad word. It’s something that generations of Ontarians and Canadians have fought for. You’re against it. We want it, and we will fight to make sure that all Ontarians share in that dream—

Interjections.

Again, I’m glad he keeps talking about Stouffville. He keeps talking about Markham and Stouffville. I guess the member of Parliament must be doing something right in Markham–Stouffville, so I thank you for continuously bringing that up for me.

Listen, there is a number of homebuilders who are working throughout southern Ontario to bring the dream of home ownership to the people of the province of Ontario. As I said yesterday, when my parents came to this country, all of them were living in one home in the member for Scarborough Southwest’s riding, on Dentonia Park just off the Danforth—six of them. And do you know what they wanted? They wanted a home: the dream of home ownership. The oldest left, then the second-oldest left and, within 10 years, each and every one of those brothers and one sister had their own home. It is why they left Italy: to make a better life for all of the kids they had after that.

And that’s all the people of this province want. They want the opportunity to succeed like their parents before them. The only time we lost that is when the Liberals, propped up by the NDP, took that dream away from the people of the province of Ontario. This Premier has brought that back, and we’re on the move again.

What I will say to the people of Ontario is that we are fixing a health care system that was woefully ignored by the previous Liberal government. The former Premier, Kathleen Wynne, admitted publicly that she should not have cut those 50 doctor spaces as they did to assist in their health care crisis.

We are making the investments. Already we’re seeing additional health human resources in our communities—over 12,000 new health human resources who are working out in our communities, in our hospitals, in our long-term-care homes. We’re continuing to do that work by increasing residency spots, by increasing access, ensuring that young people who want to choose a career in health care have those options. In many cases, nurses and PSWs in particular are getting that opportunity with assistance financially from our government.

We’ll make the investments. We’ll continue to do the work. But frankly, we were left with a system that had been ignored for far too long.

Supplementary question.

Interjections.

Restart the clock. The member for Niagara Centre, final supplementary.

Speaker, through you to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing: In May 2021, one month after the Premier promised the people of Ontario, “I’m not touching the greenbelt,” a company controlled by Silvio De Gasperis took out a $100-million loan at 21% interest to buy 106 acres of greenbelt farmland in Vaughan. This was an unusually risky loan for an undevelopable property, but less risky if Mr. De Gasperis had reason to believe the land would soon be made available for development.

Did the minister or any other government official discuss proposals to develop these greenbelt lands with Mr. De Gasperis or any of his associates or lobbyists prior to November 4? Yes or no?

Did the minister, or any other government official, discuss proposals to develop these greenbelt lands with any representatives of Orca Equity or their development partners prior to November 4? Yes or no?

The minister also seems to have a curious interest in these particular properties. On November 4, he added them inside Markham’s urban boundaries when he amended York region’s official plan. Did the minister, or any other government official, discuss proposals to develop these lands with any representative or associate of Wyview or Flato prior to November 4? Yes or no?

Speaker, there’s no new funding in the fall economic statement on gender-based violence.

Back to the Premier: Femicide is both a predictable and preventable crime. But this doesn’t happen through words; it happens through action. We are seeing a massive uptick in gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, all while the gap between the need for resources and resources available grows wider and wider each year.

The urgency to act is grave. We cannot wait for another massacre like what happened in Montreal or Renfrew, or anywhere else for that matter, to realize what we should have done.

My question is to the Premier. The government has the opportunity to do what’s right. Will the Premier finally respond to the Renfrew recommendations with a meaningful plan of action and budget to implement them now?

The Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

First, I want to acknowledge the loss of all the women who have been murdered or killed across this province. There will be an opportunity this afternoon at 3 o’clock for each group to be able to say—several minutes on this topic, and I think this is an extremely important topic.

All women deserve safety and security, and our government is continuously, constantly working to make the lives of women safer and to provide that security, and for all Ontarians to live free of violence and fear.

We’re working to prevent and address violence against women in all forms, and we’ve made the investments to back this up. Words alone, as the member across the way has stated, aren’t enough. That’s exactly why we’re making the investments that are necessary to change this.

We’ve launched programs. We’ve passed legislation aimed at ending violence, and we will continue to do this important work because it matters to all of us. It should matter to society. It should matter to every Ontarian, and we’ll continue to do this.

Speaker, Canada recently hosted its first International Swimming Federation World Cup event in more than 20 years in my riding of Scarborough–Rouge Park. We welcomed more than 450 athletes from 40 countries as they competed at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

I know I can speak on behalf of our entire province in extending our support, admiration and well wishes for this successful event; however, some of our most talented athletes might not have the opportunity to compete internationally in events like this due to financial constraints.

Ontario is a global leader in athletic performance and we must continue supporting our competitors as they represent our province and country.

Speaker, can the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport please share with the House what assistance our government is offering to help our athletes as they represent us on the world stage?

Can the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport please elaborate on what our government is doing to support national and international sports events that take place in Ontario?

This is a very serious topic, and it’s important that we address hate in all of its forms. We’re seeing the rise of hate as it relates to religion, gender—all sorts of different ways of describing it. It’s something this government takes very seriously. It’s something that we’re investing in to make sure that we have the supports for those who are the victims and it’s something that we’re making sure goes to the front of everything that we do to make sure that we have people in safe communities and the kind of communities that they want to live in.

Resources are available. If people are not feeling comfortable, then they can reach out. And I note, in particular, we can chat offline or after question period, if you wish, about the resources that are available, because it is important, Mr. Speaker. We’re talking about our friends and our families and our children and our parents. We want to make sure that everybody is comfortable in Ontario.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a serious question.

As I’ve said many times in this House, everyone has a right to feel safe in their own homes and their own communities. The violence is completely unacceptable. Gender-based violence is a crime.

But we are moving forward. I want to speak for just a second about the Ontario Police College, where we are introducing new training for recruits. This is something our government takes seriously. Everyone has a right to be safe in their own homes and their own communities.

I’d like to thank the member for Scarborough–Rouge Park, and yes I can.

Our government is investing more than $6.3 million through the Quest for Gold program to support high-performance athletes. This program benefits performance in a high level and provides financial support for training, equipment, facilities and access to top-level coaches—those facilities, again, that they can work and train in. Every young person in this province should have the opportunity to compete at a high level, just like they should have an opportunity to someday buy a home.

We want all our kids to have the opportunity to play, whether it’s through our Jumpstart program or on a bigger stage with Quest for Gold. It’s a privilege to be able to represent Ontario and this country on the national and international stage, and we want those opportunities to be available.

We are providing nearly $900,000 to support 14 national and international sport events in 16 host cities across Ontario this year and next, building legacies in communities and building young people and the communities along with it. These events will contribute more than $17 million to communities across Ontario and feature more than 4,600 athletes. Applications are now open, so I would encourage Indigenous communities, not-for-profit organizations and municipalities to go ahead and submit proposals by January 9. Together, we are making Ontario a destination to train, to live and to host. No one does it better than Ontario.

I find it so rich and so ironic, hearing from the Liberals that changed the greenbelt 17 times. You should do your homework. You froze housing.

We have 300,000 people coming to Ontario every single year. I see the young people there. I see people up here that are renting. Do you know what their goal is in life? Their goal is to own a home. It’s supply and demand, Mr. Speaker.

But I can tell you, the last people we should be listening to is the previous government that destroyed housing, that just voted against every housing bill that we’ve had. You destroyed housing—

Interjections.

The member opposite is highlighting exactly why our government is making the commitments and making the investments in the health care system. We are hiring and training additional health human resources, whether those are lab technicians, personal support workers, nurses, doctors. We’re making those investments because we saw that we did not have sufficient capacity.

The health care system was ignored for far too long. We’re making those investments now. We are seeing some very good work out in the field, in the community. We’re seeing the increased numbers of nurses and PSWs who are working in the system—over 12,000 more than pre-pandemic. We’ll continue to get the job done, and we’ll make those investments so that we don’t have long wait times for things like diagnostic testing.

You are talking about how we need to increase capacity. We are doing that. As a government, we are ensuring that all partners have the ability to expand and continue to offer services in our community, and we will do that with all of our partners. We are not going to freeze out individuals and organizations that can be part of the solution.

What a thrill it was for me to be in the member’s riding—the clean-energy capital of Canada—in the Durham region along with the Premier on Friday morning to announce that construction is beginning on Canada’s first grid-scale small modular reactor.

You know, the member’s hair was blowing in the wind, and we were all jealous about that—or at least I was. But this was an historic moment for our province—construction under way on a 300-megawatt small modular reactor. Well, what does that mean, Mr. Speaker? A 300-megawatt small modular reactor is enough to power a city the size of London.

Our plan is not to build just one on the site at Darlington, but potentially four. That’s 1,200-plus megawatts that will add to our clean—and I emphasize clean—reliable, affordable electricity grid in the province of Ontario.

We have an incredible team at OPG that’s going to be building that BWRX-300, and, Mr. Speaker, the world is watching what’s happening in Canada’s clean-energy capital.

Already, 76,000 people work in our nuclear supply chain across the country. Almost all of them—about 65,000—right here in Ontario. This is a tremendous export opportunity for Ontario and for Canada.

The small modular reactor, as I say: The world is watching, and the world really is watching this project. Countries over in Europe and around the world are looking for energy autonomy, energy security, and this is the flexible form of electricity generation that’s clean that the world is looking for.

It confounds me, Mr. Speaker, that members opposite aren’t standing and applauding the work that is happening in Canada’s clean-energy capital with OPG in the Durham region. Stand with us and push for this project to be the success that it’s going to be.

Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

Linda Luyt from Sudbury is an endometrial cancer survivor. She requires annual PAP tests by her oncology team. She had her test on October 18. Usually, it takes between three and six weeks for the results to come in. But when she called her doctor last week, she was told that it now takes six months for the results to come in.

Minister, is six months an acceptable amount of time for a cancer patient to wait for a diagnostic test result?

Ontario lab services are now dominated by LifeLabs, a private, for-profit company. In my riding, LifeLabs offers terrible customer service. They let frail, elderly people wait outside in minus-20 weather. They have minimum staffing. They have minimum hours of operation and huge delays for test results.

Does the minister agree that privatization of our lab services made our lab services worse?

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Nuclear power represents a critical component of our province’s energy production capabilities now and in the future. Ontario is a global leader when it comes to nuclear power and in producing new and innovative energy technology.

We’ve heard our government and the Minister of Energy tout the potential for small modular nuclear reactors to assist us in generating clean and reliable electricity to power Ontario and our growing economy. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Energy please tell us more about what the next steps are in advancing SMR technology here in Ontario?

With global businesses looking to expand in jurisdictions with clean and cost-effective electricity, small modular reactors will help us as we compete and attract more game-changing investments here at home. SMRs, Mr. Speaker, have the potential to drive job creation, economic growth and export opportunities, which will allow Ontario to leverage its highly skilled nuclear industry and workforce.

However, members from across the aisle continue to say no and oppose the advancement of new nuclear technology. Mr. Speaker, therefore, can the Minister of Energy provide further details on how our government supports this critical endeavour?