I’m happy to introduce my dream team of staff, who I have taken time to select, to form a strong team to support me. I’m happy to introduce Amanda McFarlane, executive assistant and office manager from our constituency office; Jason Leung, a legislative assistant working with me at Queen’s Park; Nicole Wang, community relations officer, working at the constituency office; and Tarun Saroya, executive assistant for my position as parliamentary assistant to the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

To the Premier: We all know the Premier will use the long wait times, the overcrowding, the emergency room closures to justify bringing in US-style health care to Ontario. He’ll say we need to innovate, just like Mike Harris did when he privatized our home care system. The private home care providers were going to do things better, faster, cheaper. Remember that, Speaker? Well, today, we all know that none of that happened.

Why is this government so determined to dismantle our publicly funded, publicly delivered health care system?

That concludes our members’ statements for this morning.

It is now clear that the Premier has decided to ignore his medical officer of health and his advice to address the health care crisis faced by our children. That decision is clear to anyone who has seen him every day since the public health officials in this province urged adults to wear masks indoors to protect children.

Without saying a thing, the Premier has told parents that they’re on their own and they can only hope that the overstretched doctors, nurses and health care workers can protect their children as we go through this hospital crisis.

When did the Premier decide that the children of Ontario were expendable?

Will the Premier finally speak up and tell us how he can possibly defend this mismanagement?

As we’ve said many times, the difficult and complex fall that was predicted has materialized, and we have three viral threats. It’s changing with every wave. Initially, we had personal protective equipment, adult ICUs and adult ward beds that needed attention; now it is pediatric ICUs—and, frankly, it is not because of COVID, but because of RSV and influenza. That is why we planned for that. We’ve said this many times. We made investments in the NICU units. We made investments in pediatric hospitals. And we expanded our health human resources and beds, across the board, in hospitals.

As Dr. Simpson noted, it’s not unusual for 14- and 16-year-old patients to be looked after in adult ICU beds. That is commonly done. That is what is happening now.

We’re making sure that we have the resources for our children and that they get the best care possible, and we know our health care workers will deliver it.

As Dr. Simpson also noted, “What is important to emphasize is that all pediatric patients will be seen when they come to a hospital. If they require admission, then we will look after them.”

Like Dr. Simpson said, I have great faith and confidence in our health care providers across the province. They are expertly trained to support all of our health care needs and will do whatever it takes to make sure our children get the care that they need.

What I can confirm to the member opposite is that under our Progressive Conservative government we have hired nearly 7,000 additional education workers, supporting our kids within our schools—and not only have we hired more, but we pledged to continue funding 1,800 additional education workers and 800 teachers, who will support our kids within our schools, as part of our program before the union.

Mr. Speaker, we fulfilled our end of the bargain—we said we would repeal Bill 28, and that was the biggest barrier to getting a deal, and then 48 hours after us doing so in good faith, they announced a strike notice. We said we would increase pay—335 million more dollars this week compared to last week, a material improvement for every worker, especially for the lowest-paid—and they’ve still rejected the offer. We have now moved to a flat rate, a demand of the union—not to differentiate wages for lower and higher incomes—and we still don’t have a deal.

It is abundantly clear what the fault line is preventing the union from accepting a deal; it is a desire for higher wages.

Our kids should be in school on Monday.

This is what’s becoming a casual invocation of a strike notice every few weeks in this province—every few years. That’s not acceptable.

The NDP wants to normalize strikes because they were standing with the union when kids were out of school. They should be standing up for parents.

Stand with this government. Let’s get a deal. Let’s keep kids in class.

Interjections.

We have significantly increased the pay—$335 million more in a week. We provided a flat rate. We are maintaining the best benefits and pensions and sick leave—and even still, the never-ending, moving yardstick and goalpost of CUPE.

Accept the deal before us, and make sure kids in this province stay in school every single day.

I just have to say, I thought the opposition was trying to ask questions about what is going on in hospitals today, not some fantasy that they think might be happening in the future.

Let’s just talk about what’s happening in our health care system and what has happened in the past.

In the 2012 Auditor General’s report on health human resources, it was revealed that northern Ontario had a shortage of 200 physicians or 40,000 hours of care, and yet little was done. Who held the balance of power at that time? I think that was these guys, the opposition, the NDP.

The former Premier admitted that she was freezing hospital spending for years, and in 2015 she eliminated 50 medical residency positions from Ontario. They defended that decision, when 800,000 Ontarians were without a family doctor, by saying, “We are scaling back to make better use of our health care dollars.” This reduction came in the same year when 250 nurses were being laid off. You supported them every step of the way.

We’re fixing the system—

I’d like to know why Jeff Burch doesn’t support a great parliamentarian like Jim Bradley.

Speaker, through you to the Premier: Yesterday, in a move no one asked for or recommended, this government, with absolutely no consultation, tabled a bill that would allow them to appoint regional chairs in Niagara, York and Peel. Just four years ago, in the middle of the municipal election campaign, this government cancelled regional chair elections in these regions—elections in which citizens were electing their chairs-at-large. They didn’t trust citizens with free and fair elections. Now they don’t even trust democratically elected councillors to choose a chair. Now the Premier is going to hand-pick who he wants to rule in his stead, as he hands them additional powers to do his bidding.

Why is the Premier showing such disdain for municipalities and turning local democracy into his own personal sandbox?

Member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

The next question.

I’m just going to remind the House that we’re not going to ask the pages to deliver notes during question period anymore.

Start the clock.

Minister of Education.

Final supplementary.

Start the clock.

The member for Sudbury has the floor.

Interjection.

Interjections.

Start the clock.

The member for Sudbury still has some time.

Once again, I’m going to ask the minister to refer to members by their riding names—the same courtesy that each of us would expect of each other.

Interjections.

Supplementary question.

My question is to the Premier.

Do you remember when the Premier promised up and down that he would never touch the greenbelt? I do, too.

Yesterday this government tabled a bill to repeal the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act. This repeal will end the protection of 4,500 acres of prime greenbelt farmland in Durham. About one third of this land is reportedly owned or controlled by the powerful landowner Silvio DeGasperis, who acquired these farm properties for next to nothing two decades ago. Mr. DeGasperis has donated boatloads to the PC Party since the Premier’s election, including to the Premier’s leadership campaign and his riding association. The only thing standing in the way of Mr. DeGasperis’s ability to make untold millions of dollars is the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act, and the Premier’s government just made that go away. Mr. DeGasperis is about to get much, much richer from land that until yesterday was protected in perpetuity. Does the Premier understand how shady this looks?

The damning articles from the Toronto Star and the Narwhal highlight just how rotten things have gotten.

In addition to the Durham agricultural lands, Mr. DeGasperis and his well-connected family are poised to profit immensely from other lands that are also being removed from the greenbelt. According to the CBC, the DeGasperis family owns three parcels of land in Richmond Hill that the Premier wants to remove from the greenbelt. And just last year, a company controlled by the DeGasperis family bought greenbelt land in Vaughan that is also being removed—remarkably lucky timing.

This Premier has frequently accused the previous government of political corruption.

So my question is, what does the Premier think we should make of these questionable greenbelt deals?

Premier Ford made it crystal clear to Ontarians that the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act was just the start, that we wanted to ensure that by the time those two new mayors were sworn in in Ontario’s two largest cities, Toronto and Ottawa—he made it crystal clear that that was the start.

The announcement yesterday, in Bill 39, which it’s pretty obvious New Democrats don’t support—just to add to the litany of housing initiatives this government has done; we’ve done over 90 since 2018. And every single time we try to increase housing supply and actually provide an opportunity for a young person to realize the dream of home ownership, New Democrats vote against it. So it’s no surprise that this member and their party, under the leadership of Marit Stiles, is going to not support—

We’re going to stand up for the dream of home ownership.

Speaker, in the supplementary, I will talk about the significance of that minimum of 50,000 homes in relationship to our 1.5 million homes.

Brampton has been a key auto-assembly jurisdiction for decades, which is why our government led the Stellantis conversion to EV, shoring up thousands of jobs for further decades. We also fund the parts makers through our Ontario Automotive Modernization Program. In Brampton East, O-AMP supported Nahanni Steel, Tipco, RPPL and SHW Pumps, with more than $385,000 in funding. This boosts our supply chain competitiveness, getting them ready to build the cars of the future.

Since 2019, O-AMP has leveraged $36 million in private investments from 150 companies, creating over 820 jobs.

To the member from Brampton East: Let your businesses know that O-AMP has opened another intake just this week to assist even more businesses in Brampton to create good-paying jobs.

That’s why our government has consistently reduced red tape, lowered taxes and fixed that hydro debacle. Businesses are now saving $7 billion in costs every single year. Now we provide entrepreneurs all the tools they need to grow their business.

In Brampton, we fund their small business centre with over half a million dollars annually. We provide over $200,000 to their Summer Company and Starter Company Plus, to help students and young entrepreneurs start their businesses. We’ve provided over $165,000—

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

The 2021 census listed the city of Brampton as Canada’s fastest-growing urban centre. Yet for over a decade, under the previous Liberal government, citizens of Brampton felt abandoned. We would continuously raise our health care challenges and increasing unemployment rate.

After a decade of empty Liberal promises, last year our government delivered on the long-promised second hospital for the people of Brampton.

The people of my riding are finally starting to see that Brampton is getting its fair share, but questions remain about employment and jobs in the city.

Speaker, what is our government doing to ensure that my constituents have good, secure, well-paying jobs not only for themselves but for generations to come?

It’s great to hear that our government is focusing on Brampton’s automotive sector, but these are big investments which only apply to a small number of large businesses. While these large businesses provide employment for hundreds of people in my riding—what about small businesses and start-ups? Small businesses and start-ups bring dreams to a reality. I personally know many constituents who rely on their small businesses to provide food for their families. We all know that starting a business is hard work and filled with risk.

What is our government doing to help entrepreneurs in the city of Brampton to start and grow their businesses?

It’s absolutely ludicrous that at a time when he is failing education workers and children, pediatric ICUs are over capacity and we’re in an affordable housing crisis, this Premier is laser-focused on autocratic changes to municipal government.

The Premier isn’t just appointing elected positions; he’s also expanding strong-mayor powers to allow for minority rule while removing environmental protections and gutting conservation authorities.

Here’s what AMO said about the government’s recent housing bill: “The province has offered no evidence that the radical elements of the bill will improve housing affordability. It is more likely that the bill will enhance the profitability of the development industry at the expense of taxpayers and the natural environment.” That’s AMO, who were not even invited to the Bill 23 hearings that the government just shut down this morning.

Speaker, will the Premier admit that he sees municipalities and local democracy as nothing more than a delivery system for his decisions and a way to shop around farmland and green space to his wealthy friends?

Again, the land the member talked about in the first part of the question will provide a significant opportunity for housing. It’s a property that has been discussed for many, many years. The outgoing mayor of Pickering actually wrote to the government and suggested that this property should be part of a future development. This property has been debated in public since the early 2000s, regarding its opportunity to provide housing. The specific Cherrywood property will provide up to 25,000 of the 50,000 homes that the government is proposing with this posting on the greenbelt. To put it into perspective, the best housing start year since 1987 was last year, with 100,000 homes. The average amount of homes being built in Ontario, over 30 years, is 67,500.

So I think the member can understand the significance of why we—

Interjection: All about the money.

My question is to the Premier. The Premier and his Minister of Education have created ongoing chaos in our education system, and confusion for everyone. They have put students, parents—everyone—through the ringer. Their heavy-handed approach with the “notwithstanding” clause to force an agreement upon CUPE was shameful and heavy-handed.

This government did the right thing with the repeal of Bill 28, and our faith in democracy has been restored. But now we need to see a fair deal that is reached at the table. CUPE asked for $100 million to improve the conditions in the classrooms. This is so that they can have more ECEs in every kindergarten classroom and improve the learning environment in our schools that is so desperately needed.

Speaker, will the Premier be willing to work for the majority of Ontarians and put an offer to CUPE that increases the services to our students so that we can have peace in our public schools?

My question is for the Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity. The COVID-19 pandemic has left many families across Ontario dealing with many challenges. Sadly, the pandemic has increased the frequency and severity of domestic violence for many women in our province.

According to the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, there have been 43 femicides in Ontario within the past year.

Living a life free from violence is a fundamental human right, but gender-based violence continues to be a significant barrier to achieving gender equality in Ontario. Can the minister update this House on our government’s work to end gender-based violence?

Can the associate minister please share further details on how the Investing in Women’s Futures program expansion will proceed?