On Friday last week, the President of the Treasury Board joined me in Mississauga–Lakeshore for a tour of the construction site at Mississauga Hospital, where work is well under way on a new eight-storey parking structure with spaces for almost 1,500 vehicles. This is an important first step towards the complete reconstruction of the entire hospital. The new 24-storey facility will be almost triple the size, with almost three million square feet of space and almost 1,000 hospital beds, over 80% of which will be in private rooms. It will add over 20 new, state-of-the-art operation rooms. This will be the largest and most advanced hospital in the history of Canada. The fall economic statement yesterday reported that the RFP has closed, and it has confirmed our government is committed to this historic project.

So I want to thank the Minister of Finance for his statement yesterday—and this Minister of Finance cares about Mississauga–Lakeshore. Again, I want to thank him and the President of the Treasury Board for their support for this important project. We have been looking forward to a new, modern hospital in Mississauga for many years, and it is very exciting to see shovels in the ground.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you with a grim realization: Our children are being let down by this government.

It has been said that “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” All of us bore witness to this government’s failure of our elders in long-term-care homes during the pandemic. Most recently, this government took aim at our lowest-paid education workers by trying to trample on their charter rights. And now it is our children who our government is failing, and they don’t have a voice to advocate for themselves.

We’re grappling with over-capacity pediatric ICUs, ERs and critical care that are overwhelmed, kids in adult ICUs, and surgeries being delayed. This summer, when this government was nowhere to be found, I called for the government to take measures to prepare for the upcoming respiratory season. And yet the fall vaccination campaign was non-existent and the plan to stay open has not eased the emergency care crisis in the slightest.

I would be remiss if I did not address the current state of the Ontario Autism Program. Under this government, the OAP’s wait-list for core services has more than doubled, skyrocketing from 28,000 in 2018 to 57,000 in 2022. That is enough children to fill the Rogers Centre and then some. This government needs to be transparent with families. How many children are registered? How many are wait-listed? And how many are receiving core services? I eagerly wait for those answers.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a fundraising dinner for the Medical Equipment Modernization Opportunity, or MEMO for short, in Thunder Bay.

Since 2004, MEMO has shipped 100 containers to Cuba, El Salvador, Liberia, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe, totalling millions of dollars in equipment and saving countless lives along the way. Every container holds 10 tonnes of medical equipment and supplies that are redundant according to Canadian health standards but remain useful and continue to save lives in developing countries. The organization is completely run by volunteers so that every dollar donated goes entirely to support the work.

I want to recognize Dr. and Mrs. Jerome Harvey, whose dream began 18 years ago while looking outside their kitchen window at the soon-to-be-closed 250-bed Port Arthur General Hospital. He wondered what was going to happen to all the medical equipment left behind in this hospital, as well as the other old hospital to be closed, the 375-bed McKellar hospital.

He discovered that because of Thunder Bay’s isolation, the cost of removing and shipping made the contents of the two old hospitals valueless. Reluctantly, the hospital administration admitted that most of the equipment would be sold to a scrap dealer for $180 a tonne. This led to a meeting with a Cuban doctor and Cuban ministry of health officials that assured him that anything MEMO could send would be helpful, as Cuba had an adequate supply of well-trained doctors but was woefully inadequate in medical equipment and supplies. Thus, MEMO was formed under the auspices of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada.

I commend Dr. Harvey for his initiative and leadership in this venture that is making a difference in the lives of residents in developing countries.

This morning it is a great honour, as the member for St. Catharines, to recognize former MPP Jim Bradley, regional chair for the Niagara region. Thank you, Jim, for your 42 years of service to St. Catharines. Welcome back to your House, and thank you for coming this morning.

Also, I would like to welcome Ethan Gardnere, Anthony Coulter and Callum Robertson. And a special shout-out to Brock University in St. Catharines: Go, BUSU! Go, Badgers! Andrea LePage from Brock University—she’s a hometown student attending Brock. Thank you for coming. Welcome to your House, and thank you for your meeting yesterday.

I had the honour to meet the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance this morning. I’d like to present Stephanie Ye-Mowe, Lara Weisenberg, Simranjeet Singh et, en particulier, une petite fille que j’ai vue grandir, une jeune demoiselle de chez nous, de Kapuskasing, Anaik Tremblay. Bienvenue à l’Assemblée législative.

As Minister of Colleges and Universities, the best part of my job is representing students. So I am pleased to welcome the student leaders from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance who have joined us today. They are hosting their annual student advocacy conference and will be meeting with several members of the Legislature throughout the week, so please join us for breakfast tomorrow morning. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I am pleased to welcome today chair of Ontario Pork, John de Bruyn, as well as GM Ken Ovington. They will be hosting a reception in room 228, the Gathering Place, immediately following question period today.

Good morning to everyone. I’d like to welcome the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, OCUFA. They are here in a very large contingent. They will be meeting a number of MPPs today. They hosted a wonderful breakfast for us. I wanted to specifically name Jenny Ahn, the executive director, as well as Nig Narain.

I have to say hello to my good friend Floyd Laughren, who is part of the reason why Nickel Belt has been represented by the NDP for 55 years—because of your hard work, Floyd. Thank you.

My riding of Hamilton East–Stoney Creek is well represented today, and I’m proud to say so. I’d like to welcome John Hands and Kaitlin Guarasci from Bay Area Health Trust, a Hamilton-based organization that plays a critical role in Ontario’s health care system. And I’d like to welcome Dylan Atack and his dad, Ritch, to Queen’s Park today. I’d also like to echo: Go, Badgers! Welcome.

I am pleased to introduce Mr. Emamul Kabir, a renowned Bangladeshi veteran guitarist, who is here today. A recipient of numerous prestigious awards, he has published over 22 musical notations and released over 50 music albums. He is known for playing Bangladeshi liberation music, even when he was forbidden to do so. He’s here with his daughter, Nahid Kabir, another talented musician in Scarborough, and his granddaughter, Angkita Sarwar. Please welcome them.

In my role as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, it’s my great honour to introduce and welcome Home Care Ontario and their CEO, Sue VanderBent. They’re holding their annual Home Care Ontario awareness day in the Legislature today. Home care providers across the province are here to meet with our MPPs, so welcome to Queen’s Park.

I am pleased to welcome the delegation from OCUFA today, including several faculty members from London: Benjamin Muller is here from King’s and Tom Peace from Huron. Meris Bray from the University of Windsor is also here and Tim Murphy from Brock, as well as Manisha Aggarwal. I had the pleasure of meeting with them this morning and warmly welcome them to this chamber.

With us in the Speaker’s gallery today are two distinguished former members of this assembly who are being honoured today by the association of former parliamentarians, and some of their guests.

We have with us the member for Nickel Belt in the 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th and 36th provincial Parliaments: Floyd Laughren. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Also with us is the member for Carleton–Grenville in the 31st Parliament; the member for Carleton–Grenville in the 32nd and 33rd Parliaments; the member for Carleton in the 34th, 35th and 36th Parliaments; the member for Lanark–Carleton in the 37th and 38th Parliaments; and the member for Carleton–Mississippi Mills in the 39th Parliament—he moved around: Norm Sterling. Welcome back.

With them are friends and family Joan Sterling, Jack Laughren, Josh Laughren, Tennis Laughren, Harry Yeamans, Fraser Matt and Liat Podolsky.

I also understand Jim Bradley is being honoured today by the association of former parliamentarians. These three members served with distinction for decades in the Ontario Legislature, and we honour them and thank them for the service that they provided to the people of Ontario. Thanks again for coming.

Also with us in the Speaker’s gallery today is a delegation from the United States representing the Council of State Governments Midwestern Legislative Conference, which is, as we know, an inter-parliamentary association to which the Legislative Assembly is a key partner. Visiting from the Michigan Legislature are Senator Roger Victory, Senator Jim Stamas and Representative Amos O’Neal. They are accompanied by Ilene Grossman and Mitch Arvidson of the CSG Midwest office. Please join me in warmly welcoming our guests to the Legislative Assembly.

Another former member has just arrived: the member for St. Catharines in the 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st provincial Parliaments, Jim Bradley. Welcome back to the Legislature.

From the beautiful riding of Essex and the lovely town of Kingsville, one of our newest pages: Ms. Kalila I’Anson. Please welcome her to the Legislature.

Look, the member will know full well that this government has been taking leadership right from the beginning of the pandemic, even in instances where the members opposite refused to work with the government to ensure that Ontarians’ health and safety was put first. Every single time that we put a measure in place to improve health care in the province of Ontario, they have voted against it. Bringing on new nurses: They voted against it. When we brought on significant funding for our small and medium-sized hospitals, they voted against it. The most rapid buildout of long-term care in the history of this province, if not the entire country: They have voted against it, Mr. Speaker. We have brought forward incredible vaccinations in this province. We have led North America in terms of vaccinations. We have led the entire North America in terms of our battling of COVID, and in every single instance, they have voted against it.

We will continue to work hard, working with the Chief Medical Officer of Health to ensure the health and safety of all the people in the province of Ontario, regardless of whether the Leader of the Opposition wants to work with us or not.

It is now my distinct pleasure to invite the pages to assemble for their introduction.

From the riding of Eglinton–Lawrence, Nicholas Baryliuk; from the riding of University–Rosedale, Joel Bozikovic; from the riding of Peterborough–Kawartha, Isabelle Casselman; from Timiskaming–Cochrane, Kennedy Dabner; from Glengarry–Prescott–Russell, Mabel Follis; from the riding of Essex, Kalila I’Anson; from Brampton East, Serena Joseph; from Sudbury, Ema MacAulay; from Niagara West, Camilla Moscato; from Mississauga–Malton, Yusuf Muinuddin; from the riding of Toronto–Danforth, Aiden Perritt; from Willowdale, Oriana Sethi; from the riding of Markham–Thornhill, Eric Sung; from the riding of Mississauga–Erin Mills, Hussain Umar; from the riding of Algoma–Manitoulin, Havana Rose Thibideau Bello; from the riding of Northumberland–Peterborough South, Alexandra Vanden Bosch; from the riding of Pickering–Uxbridge, Max Weatherhead; from Elgin–Middlesex–London, Scarlett Wilson; and from Sault Ste. Marie, Grace Curran.

Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

Applause.

The final supplementary.

The next question.

My question is to the Premier. Our children’s hospitals are overwhelmed. Parents are worried. They’re anxious about their sick children. Yesterday, the Chief Medical Officer of Health strongly advised all adults to wear masks indoors to protect our children. The Premier said he will take the advice of the medical officer of health. Why is the Premier not taking leadership and wearing a mask to protect our children?

What is it going to take for the Premier to show leadership and actually act on the recommendations of the medical officer of health?

My question is to the Minister of Health. Children’s hospitals are in crisis. At SickKids, care departments are running at 127% to 145% above capacity. And it’s not just SickKids; across Ontario, pediatric hospitals and care units have reached maximum capacity. What is this government’s plan to help children’s hospitals meet the increased demand for care?