I want to reiterate that the Ontario Line is 75% beyond its budget—above budget. That is a huge, huge, huge deal of money and a huge deal of wasted time with delays that this government is not taking account for.

I understand that the $8 billion that it will take to finish, hopefully, this Ontario Line project, could have paid for—what is it—seven brand new hospitals. I’m really wondering how much does this government actually care about health care and the human beings that help keep our loved ones safe and well when we have ERs that are bursting at their seams and they’re not getting the funding they need for health care? What is happening? What does this government have to say?

Questions?

Questions?

Further debate?

I thank the speakers for their remarks. A question, perhaps, to the member from Brampton East: One of the things governments often do is have a short-term horizon—you know, just up to the next election or even the next few years. One thing that I think is very important about this government is we have a long-term horizon, particularly with the investment in infrastructure, and whether it’s $25 billion for roads, $40 billion for health care, $60 billion for transit, long-term care—the list goes on and on and on.

From a transportation perspective, perhaps you can give your thoughts on the impact that these investments, particularly in infrastructure, are having on your community and a little broader.

My question is to the member from Brampton East, because he spoke in depth about skilled labour. One of the things we heard from the member from Waterloo, speaking also about skilled labour, was the way we make sure our workers are safe in their workplaces. The fact that we have workers who don’t come home—not only are they not safe, but we have workers who have died in their workplaces because we have failed as government, and not just this government; previous governments have failed to do the right thing and make sure our workplaces are safe.

So my question is to the member from Brampton East. How do you think that you can have a complete budget when you’re not investing in making sure that workplaces are safe? How is that justified?

Speaker, nursing is one of the most rewarding careers out there. Despite the rhetoric that’s coming from the opposition, which would discourage rather than encourage more students to enrol into nursing, nursing student enrolment has gone up year over year under the leadership of this government.

You know, when I was a nursing student, if there was a program like “learn and grow” that would cover all of my tuition and all of my expenses, who knows? Maybe I would have moved somewhere to a remote and rural community, and maybe I would have fallen in love with that community and stayed there. However, that was not available to me as a nursing student under Kathleen Wynne.

Can the member for Mississauga–Streetsville tell us why historic new programs like “learn and grow” are so important for the recruitment and retention of nurses, especially in far and remote rural communities?

I want to thank the member opposite for the question. I think it’s critical that we all understand what a challenging time we’ve had, not just over the past two years. I served for six years on the board of Credit Valley Hospital, from 2006 to 2012, and I saw day in and day out the challenges that they faced, whether it was in the ER—often always clogged up—right through to what’s happening on the floor of, and in, the ORs and the struggles that we had to face to find the right human resources for the right positions.

We’ve had many years, even decades, of a lack of the right type of investments in our health care system. But we’re making it right. We’re getting it done by making sure that we get more people into nursing, more people as PSWs, so that as we go forward, we don’t have to face this crisis—ongoing—forever because it’s been an issue for many, many years in the past.

I know the member opposite cares about not just her community but communities across this province. But you know what? This government, this Premier, this Minister of Health and everybody here is making sure we have a lot more people that are qualified. We’ll bring more immigrants here. We’ll have more people trained. We’ll teach them right in the schools that this is a great career.

But she raises a very important issue: Retention, or finding nurses, physicians and other health care workers to be in remote areas or rural areas has been difficult, all the time. Many of them come from those communities, but they have to come to learn about nursing perhaps in the city of Toronto, and many of them don’t go back because, as she said, sometimes they will find their partner right here in the GTA. So then they stay here, and then their communities are without those health care professionals they desperately need.

This program is a great way to counter that. Tuition costs, cost of books, costs for accommodation will be covered by this government, so that we can help retain those nurses in those areas where they so desperately need people, as we’re hearing. The members opposite are the ones who are often saying this: Where they don’t have the health care professionals, they have to come to the GTA to get the health care needs that they require. We will make that difference. We’ll get nurses up there into rural and northern communities, so that they have—

I’d like to thank the member for that amazing question. Like I just said in my statement, our government is making unprecedented investments across the board, whether it be health care, whether it be transit. Some of the amazing work that we’ve been doing, is—if we take a look at Scarborough, we’re finally getting a subway system that, for years, has been neglected over the previous government, and it is this government that is getting it done. When we look at our transit systems across the province, we’re investing in our GO trains, we’re investing in municipal transit systems and we’re supporting our municipalities through various programs so that their effects during COVID will be offset with our province’s support.

We’re looking at growing and investing in our transit systems across the province in unprecedented means and taking us to the next level. The infrastructure that the previous government failed to invest in, we’re investing in, and we’re building Ontario and we’re building a stronger future for the residents to come.

I’ll give you a primary example, Speaker. When delivery drivers during the pandemic were faced with challenges, it was our government that stood beside them and made sure that their rights were protected. So when it comes to bringing in new workers and protecting their rights, that’s our government’s top priority.

And when it comes to labour skills and training, these corporations who are now asked to bring labour from overseas into this province are faced with numerous amounts of red tape with the federal government. But what this government did was to create a healthy partnership with the federal government, and now we’ll be bringing over thousands of people to Ontario through the OINP program on an express process, with support from the Ontario ministry, with the immigration ministry at the federal level. So not only are we bringing—

Thank you to my colleague from London–Fanshawe for his contributions to the debate on the fall economic statement.

I was a little perplexed by his comments around small businesses.

In the fall economic statement, we lay it out very clearly that we are providing $180 million in income relief over the next three years for small businesses. Many in my riding employ a lot of people, and we’re supporting them by phasing out the small business tax rate. I was wondering if the member would support that initiative in the fall economic statement.

Questions?

I’d like to thank the member for Perth–Wellington. You may want to correct your record that I’m the member for London North Centre.

Over the pandemic, the opposition NDP brought forward a plan that was endorsed by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. It was the Save Main Street plan. You don’t typically think that the Ontario Chamber of Commerce would endorse a plan by the NDP, but they loved it. It was a number of supports to help those struggling small businesses. It took this government about eight months to finally implement many of those measures. By that point, so many people had absolutely lost their shirt—and when you consider how many businesses have their finances tied up into their home, many people lost their entire livelihood.

So I would like to see more supports for small businesses, less corporate help for the large chains, and more consideration for the folks who contribute 80% of our provincial economy.

The member from Waterloo.

I was listening very closely to the member from London North Centre, and I always enjoy being in the House. He brings a focus from his constituents and the people from London. It’s nice, me being the member from Algoma–Manitoulin, to make the connection in the House as to how similar our issues are, and the one issue I want to talk to him about is exactly that, the ODSP.

It’s great that we’ve seen in this fall economic statement that the government is going to provide the opportunity for those who have the ability to work in sedentary work, other different kinds of work, accommodation work—that they’ll be able to increase their income from $200 to $1,000 a month without any clawback. However, the vast majority of those who are on ODSP cannot work and have no ability to supplement their incomes.

To the member: What could have been, or what should have been, or where are the priorities of this government for having failed so big on this mark?

I’d like to thank the member from Waterloo for her comments. She’s absolutely right; the trades are something vital and something that we should support, but we also need to make sure that those workplaces are ones that are safe.

I think about a terrible tragedy that happened in London, where there was a partial building collapse, where Henry Harder and John Martens were grievously injured. It was an absolute nightmare for everyone involved.

We see the Ministry of Labour and we see the Minister of Labour talking a great deal, but we don’t see enough enforcement. We don’t see enough proactive inspections. We don’t see them actually standing up for workers. We hear a lot of words about how they claim to support workers, and yet we also see the WSIB—which is routinely ignored, which needs a complete system overhaul. And yet, this government has said it’s quite content to allow the status quo, because it benefits them.

I have unequivocally stated that I am all in favour of the WSIB moving its headquarters to the London location. I am thankful, as well, that this government has finally started some communication, because I know it took them quite some time—we heard many gestures.

The member also mentioned ODSP rates—that is a reasonable gesture for those people who are able to work, but it excludes all the people who cannot. It also excludes all the people who are on Ontario Works. At committee, we heard from an individual who was living on ODSP. Many are concerned because they have to adjust their family life; they’re not able to live with the person they love, based on the fact that they’re an ODSP recipient, because family income is used against them in the determination of ODSP. This government had the opportunity to make that change within Bill 36, but they chose not to.

He’s absolutely right that this change does not take into account all the people who are on ODSP and the reasons for which they are on ODSP, which is frequently because they are unable to work. We on the official opposition side have stood for doubling the ODSP rate, making sure that it is reasonable and can actually address the cost of living challenges that people have.

The CERB program that was instituted by the federal government determined that everyone should receive $2,000 per month, and that was a reasonable income for everyone to survive, and yet this government has decided routinely that they would like people who receive ODSP to remain in legislated poverty, because that is the decision they have made. They’re keeping people suppressed.

I’d like to focus my recommendations on education. If we compare Bill 36, the fall economic statement, to the FAO report, the government is going to be short a billion dollars in education through 2024-25. If we consider the post-secondary sector, Ontario would have to spend 43% more, not to be first but simply not to be last.

The fact of the matter is that, year over year, we’ve had governments, Liberal and Conservative, that have looked at education as an expense, when it is an investment. The expenditures on post-secondary education don’t even cover a third of what is required for post-secondary students.

We know that children in the elementary and high school levels are struggling with mental health. The rates of violence are at an all-time high. We need to have investments now to make sure that people can have their best life.

Further, autism and the Ontario Autism Program never even show up in Bill 36. That is a great cause for concern. We know that the sooner we can get these interventions to children, the better life they will have.

I would like to thank the member opposite for the debate.

You mentioned WSIB—and I would like to ask: How come you are not supporting this legislation? You know that this government changed the support for persons with disabilities, the people who are on ODSP, increasing the money they get, and they elevated the exemption from $200 a month to $1,000, which will put money back into the pockets of those groups of Ontarians who are in bad need of that.

Thanks for the presentation.

I appreciate that the member brought up the importance of skilled trades.

The government has said that they want to pull more skilled trades workers into the sector. However, 41 workers have died this year on work sites, and the Ministry of Labour has just categorically dismissed the 10 recommendations from the coroner’s jury on the two workers who died last August in a trench collapse in Ajax, Ontario.

What does the member say to the government about ensuring that we do pull people into the skilled trades, and that connection to workplace safety and feeling supported as workers in Ontario?

I wanted to ask the member if he would expand on some of the things that you felt could have been addressed in Bill 36 that were not. You did mention mental health, and I would agree with you that at a time when we see the need of young people in our schools requiring much, much more mental health supports—I know the $90 million that the government has put in works out to $45 dollars a student, and I’m not sure that that’s going to go very far when you look at the needs across our school system, in the rising anxiety in young people and just the stress of not having been in in-class learning consistently for two years.

I just wondered if you could expand on what else you felt the government could have invested in and how to expand more mental health services.

I want to start off by saying that doubling GAINS for some of our lowest-income, often vulnerable, seniors is important. It’s important that, in the face of rising inflation, we see a change in their income levels. I would say that that is a good change that was made. But Madam Speaker, this is coming at a time when people across this province are really struggling. They’re struggling to climb out of a pandemic, while at the same time being hit with other illnesses like the flu virus, RSV, affecting so many children in this province and putting them at risk and severe danger. We also see soaring inflation rates, and people are struggling. They’re struggling to cope with everyday needs. We can see that our health system, for instance, is just really feeling the effects of that. It’s buckling. The government’s fiscal update does not seem to respond to those needs that we see in our society and for the people across this province.

We were very hopeful and encouraged the government to use it as an opportunity to get rid of Bill 124. It was this finance minister who introduced that and has not made any correction, despite what we’re seeing there in terms of the pressures in our health system. We can’t keep nurses because they are burnt-out from the pandemic and don’t feel very appreciated for their services. We call them heroes, but what are we doing to recognize them with this very oppressive Bill 124? And let’s be clear, Madam Speaker: The Ontario Superior Court judge has just struck down Doug Ford’s Bill 124 and its wage cap legislation. This is a major blow to this government. I hope that, rather than appealing, they listen to the advice that is coming through loud and clear: that this legislation is damaging; it is exacerbating the staffing shortages that we are seeing and that is overwhelming our health care system.

When you see that hospitals in Ontario have to call in emergency humanitarian assistance from the Red Cross just to attend to the needs of children at CHEO—

Interjection.

That was announced this weekend, member opposite, if you weren’t paying attention to that.

It was announced this weekend and it is a direct result of the overwhelming need in our children’s hospitals, in the ICU, in the critical care units, for those very vulnerable children that we should be protecting. The hospitals are scrambling and they’re doing everything they can—but not this government. You’re not doing everything that you could be doing, because Bill 124 is an absolutely oppressive bill. In fact, the judge said, “Ontario has not ... explained why it was necessary to infringe on constitutional rights to impose wage constraint at the same time as it was providing tax cuts or licence plate sticker refunds that were more than 10 times larger than the savings obtained from wage restraint measures.” This is from the Ontario Superior Court judge.

Speaker, I would urge this government to do all that it can to provide the essential services and systems in this province, like health and education, with the resources that they need.

In September, the Financial Accountability Officer estimated that the government could end up paying $8.4 billion in back pay and increased wages to unionized and non-unionized employees affected by this very draconian wage cap in Bill 124.

I also want to just bring to the government’s attention—I met with some very, very passionate people in my community who were talking about ODSP and OW. The government did increase ODSP rates by 5%, and this is a step in the right direction—I acknowledge that—but the feedback I have received from these residents in my riding of Scarborough–Guildwood is that it is simply not enough for people to survive on in the current reality, in the face of rising inflation, in the face of increased costs in food, which we have seen will be a sustained increase in food costs. We see that core foods like bread and milk are going to remain high, even well into 2023.

I just want to read to you a letter that was written to me. It comes from the Social Assistance Coalition of Scarborough. By the way, Madam Speaker, they wrote to Minister Fullerton about their concerns all the way back in April 2022, so this government has had enough time to consider these very thoughtful recommendations from the Social Assistance Coalition of Scarborough, and they ought to be listening to these residents.

“While there was a 5% increase (just over $58 more per month) for ODSP recipients, it does not come close to lifting people on ODSP to a livable income, especially with rampant inflation and years of stagnated rates.” They noted to me, actually—not what I’m reading right now—that the rates have not increased since 2018, and we know that in 2018 a promised 3% increase was halved by the Ford Conservative government to 1.5%. “Moreover, the rate increase doesn’t apply to OW recipients. Many OW recipients are people with disabilities trying to access ODSP and forced to live on $733 a month, the maximum amount for a single person on OW.”

This is something that has been put forward by the Social Assistance Coalition of Scarborough, and I do want to note that this is an important aspect in my community. Food security is at a precarious level in my riding of Scarborough–Guildwood. In the 2022 Feed Ontario Hunger Report, it reveals that there is skyrocketing food bank use, including a 64% increase in first-time food bank visitors, and I can confirm that in my community we’ve actually opened new food banks—very sadly, but that’s because people are not able to make ends meet. They have to depend on the food bank each and every week for food. When I go to those lines, I see the faces of our students and our young people. I see the faces of our elderly, who have served this country and should live in dignity in their senior years, but they are relying on those food banks. And sadly, I see the faces of our children and our families.

And so, the fact that there is this food insecurity in our system right now, rising inflation, heavy cost of food—and at a time when the government is actually paving over farmland, right? Because Bill 23—we’ve been talking about that in this Legislature. Instead of investing and making people feel more food-secure, this government is busy paving over farmland by selling off the greenbelt to their developer friends. It’s just the wrong focus at a time when we need to do better, and I would urge the government to back down from Bill 23. It’s a wrong-headed move, a wrong decision.

The people of Ontario are saying that. In my community of Scarborough–Guildwood, which is located on the shores of Lake Ontario, right on the Scarborough Bluffs, we are sensitive to what happens in those wetlands, because what happens there is that it flows right down through my community and into the lake. So I am very concerned.

Yes, housing is at a crisis. We need more affordable housing. This government should be focused on that instead of looking at greenbelt land and those big monster homes. That is not going to solve the housing crisis, I can tell you that.

The one thing I also want to say as I close out is that extending the gas tax for cities is important. It’s important because they use those resources for public transit. In my community in Scarborough–Guildwood, we rely on that. I know that TTCriders has come to me. They would like to see an increase in funding to maintain the existing system so that it can operate at full capacity to serve the need, as well as new investments in things like the Eglinton East LRT. So it’s very important that we look at those new transit projects and extend those services and those supports to communities like mine in Scarborough that we need to continue to invest in.

Thank you so much, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to debate Bill 36 today.

Questions?

Madam Speaker, unlike the member from the government side here, who I actually—you know, Brampton North is where my family lives.

My nephew who lives in that same community is going to be two years old on Saturday, and I want to wish him a happy birthday. Jordan, as you celebrate your second birthday—I want to make sure that there’s a future that’s vibrant and a healthy planet for Jordan and for all future generations for years to come.

Bill 124 has been an oppressive wage-constraining bill. When you think about who is in the public service, it’s really a lot of female-dominated professions that have been suffering under this. We see the nurses have risen up to say they oppose this bill.

Bill 115, which was put in place to have teachers come back after a situation where they were on strike, has already been litigated in the courts. There has already been a settlement to acknowledge that that was something that should not have happened.

The jury is still out when it comes to Bill 124. The FAO has estimated it could cost Ontario $8.4 billion, for this wage-suppressing legislation.

Supporting the expansion of the Scarborough Health Network is something that our former government did—$1.1 billion was put into treasury when I was part of that cabinet, because we knew that Scarborough needed a new hospital. The fact that this government has sat on it—it has now grown to $1.5 billion. We need to get shovels in the ground on that project as quickly as possible, because the money has been sitting there for definitely the four and a half years that you guys have been in government.

In terms of the medical school, that was an idea I helped to conceive of. I’m really, really thrilled that we will have the Scarborough medical academy opening in 2025, with medical students who will be living and learning in Scarborough.