I want to thank the member from Thunder Bay, who is doing a great job representing his community here at Queen’s Park. Just last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Thunder Bay with the member to announce that our government is investing $1.5 million in Thunder Bay training projects with the Carpenters Union Local 1669 and Confederation College.

Our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is on a mission to give people in every corner of Ontario a hand up to life-changing careers in the skilled trades. These crucial investments will make it easier for people across northern Ontario to start rewarding careers that provide meaningful work, good pay with defined pensions and benefits. For anyone anywhere in Ontario who wants a hand up, our government is here to help. We’re building a stronger Ontario that leaves no one behind.

For the first time in Ontario’s history, students in grades 7 to 12 can learn about the 144 different trades available in Ontario from union leaders, employers and tradespeople all under one roof. One of the best kept secrets in Ontario is the fact that many people in the trades are earning more than those with PhDs. To build a stronger Ontario, we need more hard-working people in the skilled trades.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about this vital issue that deserves further attention. Students and families in my riding have been negatively impacted by anti-Semitic hatred and discrimination, whether in our schools or public settings. All students deserve the opportunity to learn free from hate and discrimination, especially the students from my riding. To take meaningful action in combatting what’s happening today, we must ensure that young people in this province are aware of the past. This includes Jewish history, culture, perspectives and contributions to Canada.

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Education: Why was it only our government that recognized the urgency in taking immediate action by expanding Holocaust education in the curriculum?

The supplementary question? The member for Thornhill.

The Minister of Health to reply.

Supplementary question.

Let’s look at the facts. Since our government has made these historic investments, an over $6.2-billion year-over-year dollar increase in health care spending—that is the largest increase in health care spending on record for this province, and, I might add, the members opposite voted against each one of those dollars being added to our health care system.

Over 11,700 new health care workers since March 2020: Every single one of those workers, the members opposite voted against. When we put forward $342 million to support retraining and upskilling our registered nurses and RPNs, the members opposite voted against that. When we put forward a measure to increase pay for PSWs and DSWs, the members opposite voted against. Every measure that we have put forward as a government to support health care, to invest in health care, the members opposite have voted against. We will continue to do what we can to support health care in this province.

In my riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan and across northern Ontario, I am hearing from many businesses, notably in the mining and forestry sectors, that unfortunately cannot find the workers they need. Businesses in my community want to hire more skilled tradespeople, but face a critical shortage of workers to fill all job vacancies. Over 21,000 jobs are currently unfilled in northern Ontario, many of which are in the skilled trades.

Speaker, I want to thank the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development for his visit to Thunder Bay last week, and ask him to share with the House what our government is doing to address the skilled-trades shortage in northern Ontario.

Can the minister please share how our government is helping more young people learn about the opportunities available to them in the skilled trades, especially in the communities in northern Ontario?

I want to thank the member from Thornhill for her commitment to fighting hate in all of its forms.

Mr. Speaker, we’re taking action to counter anti-Semitism and hate in all of its forms because those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That’s why, through education, we’re mandating, for the first time in Ontario’s history, mandatory learning within our elementary schools on the Holocaust, to ensure students understand the horrors of the greatest atrocity in modern history. It is absolutely necessary that we do this now, because 90% of anti-Semitic incidents take place in grades 7 and 8, and so we’re introducing it in grade 6, following the advice of CIJA, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal and other leaders across our country.

Mr. Speaker, we are ensuring that respect, diversity and inclusion triumph within our schools, and we’re taking action together to confront hate in all of its forms.

The member opposite’s story reinforces how valued and important it is that we have a health care system and health care support workers who are there when we need them. We have done that. We have prepared, through the budget that was passed—without your support, I might add—in August, less than three months ago. We were preparing for what we anticipated was a fall surge: fall and winter COVID, potentially flu and, of course, RSV.

We’re doing that investment. We’re making those investments. We’ve had hospital CEOs and presidents say this is not a money problem; this is a health human resources challenge, and we are working through that, with investments that we are making with colleges and universities, to expand the number of health systems. We continue to build a stronger health care system because we know the people of Ontario need and deserve that.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. It gives me an opportunity to highlight some of the many initiatives that we’ve been working on with our community paramedics, end paramedics and other health care providers, like Ornge air ambulance, which would, of course, be of particular interest to the member opposite.

We’ve ensured that we have opportunities other than paramedics having to drive only patients to their emergency departments. In fact, in some communities, we’ve seen success and satisfaction rates of over 85%. It means that someone who doesn’t need to go to an emergency department and can get services within their community, with the patient’s consent, can go to that long-term-care home, can go to that palliative care home, can go to access other opportunities.

I think it is really an example of the innovation that we’re embracing in our health care system.

We talk about all of the different ways that our health care providers work together to improve the system. These are the initiatives, these are the proposals and changes that our government is funding to make sure that we have the appropriate care and we have the appropriate health human resources doing that work.

I know that I have been speaking to Minister Duclos, on almost a daily basis, to get updates, and I have assurances that that is happening. But I wonder if the member opposite has done the same. I wonder if the member opposite has actually congratulated CHEO on doing something that has added capacity in a very expedited manner. These are the leadership qualities that we need to encourage and make sure that we’re acknowledging, we’re funding and we’re supporting. We’re doing that, as our government is; I wonder if the member opposite has done the same.

Interjections.

Minister of Health.

Minister of Health, please continue.

Thank you for the question from the member for Brantford. The opportunities for the Ontario mining industry have never been greater than they are now, and that’s why we introduced the Critical Minerals Strategy in the spring of this year. It’s the perfect marriage of the opportunity of minerals in northern Ontario with the manufacturing might in southern Ontario.

In the words of OMA president Chris Hodgson: “As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, faces increasing geopolitical uncertainty and as the race to halt climate change accelerates, Ontario is primed to continue contributing meaningful solutions, while capitalizing on rising global demand for green and critical minerals.”

I couldn’t agree more. Ontario will produce the critical minerals and metals that are fundamental to modern life and key components in the clean energy transition. Just last month, we celebrated the grand opening of the Vale Copper Cliff South expansion that was followed by the Creighton mine. That would be $1.8 billion that will secure a local supply of the critical minerals we need for the EVs.

My question is for the Minister of Mines. Ongoing global economic uncertainty driven by inflation and geopolitical instability is causing disruptions in worldwide supply chains, leading to negative consequences here in Ontario. The mining sector in our province represents an opportunity for Ontario to assume the role of a global leader. For example, as the world moves toward more electric vehicle production, the critical minerals required in constructing these vehicles can be extracted right here in our province. Speaker, could the minister please tell this House about what our government is doing to make Ontario a leader in mineral production?

My question is for the Premier. Children’s hospitals across Ontario are facing unprecedented challenges. In Ottawa, CHEO is operating at 113% capacity, while its intensive care unit is at over 180%. CHEO is cancelling surgeries and converting that space for more intensive care need. There are shortages in the lack of children’s pain medications, which is forcing more and more parents to go to the emergency room to seek care for their kids. Under the watch of this government, CHEO has had to cancel appointments and surgeries because of this influx of patients and the lack of sufficient resources to deal with the surge.

They don’t have sufficient resources because of Bill 124. They don’t have sufficient resources because this government is fixated on election gimmicks instead of investing in our health care. The hospitals don’t have sufficient resources because this government doesn’t have their back.

Mr. Speaker, what is this government going to do today to fix the health care crisis in our hospitals, in particular our children’s hospitals?

Despite the level zero crisis we’re facing, neither the word “paramedic” nor the word “ambulance” is mentioned one time—not once—in the fall economic statement. The city of Ottawa is asking for $5 million to strategically position paramedics at hospitals across the city to help with offload delays. Will the government provide the city this funding to reduce level zero events and ensure an ambulance is there to respond to 911 calls?

Yesterday, the Financial Accountability Office reported the government is on track for a $6-billion shortfall in education spending over the next few years, including $400 million this year alone, but yesterday’s economic statement didn’t do anything to address this gap.

The Premier has now used pandemic disruptions to schooling, largely caused by this government, as an excuse to trample on the rights of low-paid workers and to spend public money on private tutoring companies. If the Premier is so committed to our kids’ success, why doesn’t he do the obvious thing and adequately fund public education?

Thank you, Minister, for that response. Ontario’s mining companies set the standard for responsible and safe operations worldwide. Ontario’s mineral exploration and mining industry represent a great comeback story, as our government is willing to step up and provide leadership after the years of neglect they faced under the previous Liberal government.

Opening new mines and expanding existing ones will mean producing jobs—good jobs that good people here in this province can rely on. It will increase our economy’s revenue, which means we can help pay for the critical services that benefit all Ontarians.

Speaker, can the minister elaborate further on this industry’s critical role in our province and what supports we can provide?

As I’ve mentioned in my previous answers, we were preparing for this fall respiratory challenge in the previous budget that we passed in August. We prepared by anticipating that surge in pediatrics and making sure that hospitals serving both pediatric patients and adults were able to build their capacity. We’ve done that work.

I have to give a shout-out to the clinicians and the hospital leadership, who have worked together to make sure that when they experience a surge in their individual hospital, they work with their neighbouring community hospitals to ensure that patients who can be transferred back to their home community are able to do so.

We’re doing that work. We’re making those investments. We’ve invested in additional surgery backlogs, to ensure that people don’t have to wait an exorbitantly long time for their surgery. There are going to be challenges as we deal with the surge in flu, or in some cases RSV, but we’re working with our hospital leadership to make sure that we give them the support they need.

My question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. With one in 10 jobs in our province connected to the agri-food sector, that represents one in 10 paycheques in my riding. My constituents depend on agri-food employers like Mariposa Dairy in Lindsay. Their two facilities, measuring over 80,000 square feet, represent North America’s largest private-label goat and sheep cheese producers.

Growth in Ontario’s agriculture and food manufacturing sector means more good-paying jobs for families across our province, but to grow our agri-food businesses, we need to access new markets for companies like Mariposa to expand. Speaker, can the minister please tell the House what our government is doing to promote Ontario’s agriculture and food manufacturers worldwide in order to provide them with greater economic opportunities?

Mr. Speaker through to you to the member opposite: I’m sure the member opposite has read the budget, which included a $3.6-billion increase for education funding this fiscal year—$3.6 billion. We tabled that budget in April 2022, took it to the electorate, and that budget was roundly endorsed by the people of Ontario. When we recalled the Legislature back in August to pass that budget, did the member opposite vote for that $3.6-billion increase? No.

Do you know what’s in that increase? That’s funding a large funding envelope for child care so we can—more child care funding to build more schools. The previous government closed 600 schools. You don’t need child care spaces when you close schools. We’re putting them in new schools, in existing schools—mental health supports, tutorial supports, HEPA filters. We’re investing in our children.

And, Mr. Speaker, let’s look at the election. In the pre-election budget review—

Interjection.

Interjection.

Interjection.

A month ago, I visited the Holland Bloorview children’s rehab hospital in my riding of Don Valley West. This world-class organization develops treatments and supports and provides specialized care for children with disabilities due to illness or trauma. I asked what they needed from the Ontario government. They said that they have a surgical backlog and need more support to clear it. Now, with children’s hospitals overflowing across the province and surgeries being cancelled, bigger backlogs are building.

The economic outlook says the government is holding on to contingency funds in case of unforeseen risk. While this risk of increased hospitalizations was indeed foreseen and called out by many outside this government, will the Minister of Finance acknowledge that they did not foresee this risk and that now is indeed the time to allocate funds from the contingency, to help get sick kids the procedures that they need?

In the economic and fiscal outlook, the minister states that his government “has always been open and transparent.” I just came from the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, which, it appears, will now not be reviewing the estimates of the ministry. When presented with an opportunity to reschedule, his colleagues refused to find the time to ensure that the residents of Ontario, and even their own constituents, would get answers about government expenditures.

Does the Minister of Finance agree with his colleagues’ decision to block the review of his ministry’s estimates? And, if not, when would he be willing to meet with the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs to be open and transparent with members of provincial Parliament?

Mr. Speaker, let me remind the members opposite that their advice to government six to 12 months ago was to accept a deal that would have precluded a third of children in the province of Ontario. They would have exacerbated the very problem they cite today—the irony of the member opposite posing that question.

But I am proud to report that, because of the reforms our government undertook, 92% of operators in this province have opted into our program to ensure accessible, affordable child care, an incredible achievement that’s going to help so many families receive 25% on average savings this fall, roughly $6,000, rising to $12,000, roughly 50% on average, of savings by January 1, 2023. This is a monumental achievement.

And while we have created the conditions of 46,000 child care spaces since we came to office, in the deal we signed, 86,000 more will be built to increase access, and the federal government has $1 billion on the table for capital. We urge them to release the dollars so we improve access for families across this province.