My question is for the Premier. Speaker, Zoe Rivet is an eight-year-old girl from Sudbury. She has Kabuki syndrome; it’s a rare congenital disorder. Zoe has a dislocated knee and has been on a wait-list at CHEO for three years. Waiting for three years has caused Zoe’s condition to worsen. She struggles to walk and, because she’s unable to bear the weight on her dislocated knee, she relies heavily on her wheelchair. This is causing stress on the rest of her body, and Zoe’s quality of life has been steadily declining. Her mother, Danielle, tells me that Zoe spends many days in tears because of the pain, Speaker.

My question to the Premier is, can the Premier tell Danielle why her eight-year-old daughter Zoe has been waiting three years for this necessary surgery?

Zoe has been waiting far too long already, and she continues to be bumped farther and farther back. Speaker, what eight-year-old girl do you know wishing for knee surgery? Zoe does every single day for the last three years.

My question: When will the Premier finally admit that his government is failing to properly address wait times and surgery backlogs in our health care system?

Thank you to the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound for that important question. The safety of Ontarians is something our government takes very seriously. Ontario’s forests provide a world-class backdrop for many outdoor activities. At the same time, we know hunting plays an important role in the cultural and economic fabric of our province, and that’s why hunters need to make sure safety is their top priority every hunting season. All hunters must wear solid orange clothing and a hunter orange head cover during seasons for deer, moose and elk. Hunters must handle firearms responsibly and never shoot unless they’re absolutely sure of their target and what lies beyond it. It’s illegal to shoot from a vehicle or carry a loaded firearm in or on a vehicle.

Mr. Speaker, we’re fortunate to have highly trained and dedicated conservation officers all across the province, and we made good on our promise to hire 25 additional officers across Ontario.

Speaker, my ministry is ensuring the responsible management of fish and wildlife in Ontario. Through the province’s fish and wildlife special purpose account, the province spends 100% of hunting and fishing revenue on fish and wildlife management programs. The funds collected are used for programs like fish culture stocking, wildlife population studies, research and enforcement.

Our government has also made life more affordable by putting a stop to hunting licence fee increases for all Ontario residents and removing the $2 service fee. Government also waived fees for resource-based tourism operators during the tough times that we’ve seen in the last couple of years—bait fish operator fees, commercial outpost camp land use fees for 2020 and 2021 waived. And we know the people of Ontario have seen relief by making it easier and faster to buy and print licences online.

Mr. Speaker, there’s more work ahead, but the people of Ontario can rest assured knowing we’re getting it done.

On behalf of the good member of Nickel Belt, who is stuck—I mean, happily in committee right now, I’d like to introduce Madame Monique Farrell, who is the mother of our page captain today, Molly Farrell.

Speaker, as Ontarians age, their health care needs grow, and the impact of these needs has ripple effects that can be felt throughout the community. When families reach a point where they can no longer provide the full care needed for a loved one, they turn to hospitals, long-term care and emergency services.

Globally, health care systems are facing unprecedented challenges, due in large part to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ours is no exception. The minister mentioned that community paramedicine is a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Health to address cross-sectoral challenges. Speaker, could the Minister of Long-Term Care please explain how community paramedicine addresses the strain on these sectors?

I want to thank the member for Markham–Unionville for this question. It’s actually a very important one. He raises a good point: There are still a number of people who are on the long-term-care wait-list.

While it is a very positive step that we are building 58,000 new and upgraded beds across every part of the province—urban, rural and remote communities—it is also very true that a lot of people want to stay in their home as long as possible, and they need assistance in order to do that. And so do the family members who care for them. That is why I was very happy that we returned the respite care program to our long-term-care homes. But also the community paramedicine program, which was launched by my predecessor, which is available throughout the province of Ontario, is a very significant way—it leverages the resources of paramedics, who we all thank for the incredible service that they do. It leverages their services when not on an emergency call to assist our seniors in their homes, and it has proven to be a very popular and very effective way of keeping our seniors in their homes as long as we possibly can.

I’m very pleased with our municipal partners across the province of Ontario, and of course, it’s just another great reason why we all support our front-line workers, like paramedics, across the province of Ontario, who are helping seniors stay in their home longer.

Mr. Speaker, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our government has been making unprecedented investments into the largest health human resource recruitment initiative and training initiative in Ontario’s history. We’ve already added 11,700 new health care workers since March 2020, and we’ve invested $4.9 billion to hire 27,000 long-term-care staff.

We’ve also got the largest enrolment of new medical students in 10 years, and two new medical schools in Brampton and Scarborough.

We’re working, as I said, on short-term stressors, while also trying to plan for the future and fix the system long-term. We’ve made significant investments in our health care workers. You’ve heard about some of the nursing investments we’ve made already today, but let me give you a couple more: $35 million to increase enrolment in nursing education in publicly assisted colleges and universities—these new spaces will add 1,130 new practical nurses and 870 registered nurses—and up to $100 million to add 2,000 nurses and personal support workers who want to advance their careers in long-term care.

My question is to the Premier. Recently, Sam wrote to me to share that her father, who was admitted to St. Joseph’s Health Centre in my riding, had no room from Monday evening to Friday night. He had to stay in a hallway for four days straight because there was no staffed room available. Sam said that the workers at St. Joe’s were professional and pleasant, but they were short-staffed.

Speaker, front-line staff have been very clear. They have asked the Premier to repeal Bill 124 and urgently recognize the credentials of tens of thousands of internationally trained health care workers. Why does the Premier continue to say no to our health care workers and leave Ontarians in hospital hallways?

I’d like to welcome the family of the late MPP Gord Miller: son Doug Miller, along with his wife, Flora; grandsons Jamie Miller and Geoff Addis; granddaughter Meghan Haughton and her husband, David, as well as their children, Brynn and Mason. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Clark moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 23, An Act to amend various statutes, to revoke various regulations and to enact the Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Regions Act, 2022 / Projet de loi 23, Loi modifiant diverses lois, abrogeant divers règlements et édictant la Loi de 2022 visant à soutenir la croissance et la construction de logements dans les régions de York et de Durham.

I seek unanimous consent for a moment of silence in memory of Cynthia Lai, city of Toronto councillor for ward 23, Scarborough North. Cynthia sadly passed away suddenly on Friday, October 21, while seeking re-election. We offer our sincere condolences to her family and her constituents at this time.

I want to take this opportunity to welcome people who will be coming today for a memorial for MPP Richard Patten: Barbara Jordan, Allan Morrison, and a former Speaker of this House, David Warner. Penny Patten will be watching from home.

It is my pleasure to introduce this petition for the first time, with thanks to the Alzheimer Society of Ontario in Waterloo region. It’s entitled “Develop an Ontario Dementia Strategy.”

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas it currently takes on average 18 months for people in Ontario to get an official dementia diagnosis, with some patients often waiting years to complete diagnostic testing;

“Whereas more than half of patients suspected of having dementia in Ontario never get a full diagnosis; research confirms that early diagnosis saves lives and reduces care-partner stress;

“Whereas a PET scan test approved in Ontario in 2017 which can be key to detecting Alzheimer’s early, is still not covered under OHIP in 2022;

“Whereas the Ontario government must work together with the federal government to prepare for the approval and rollout of future disease-modifying therapies and research;

“Whereas the Alzheimer Society projects that one million Canadians will be caregivers for people with dementia, with families providing approximately 1.4 billion hours of care per year by 2050;

“Whereas research findings show that Ontario will spend $27.8 billion between 2023 and 2043 on alternate-level-of-care (ALC) and long-term-care ... costs associated with people living with dementia;

“Whereas the government must follow through with its commitment to ensure Ontario’s health care system has the capacity to meet the current and future needs of people living with dementia and their care partners;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to develop, commit and fund a comprehensive Ontario dementia strategy.”

It is my pleasure to sign this and affix my signature to this petition on behalf of the good people of Waterloo region. Thank you very much.

I’ll paraphrase the explanatory note because it’s quite large, Speaker.

The proposed More Homes Built Faster Act would amend the Planning Act, the Development Charges Act and other legislation. The proposed changes are intended to be the next phase in our bold and transformative plan to get 1.5 million homes built in the next 10 years.

The bill and proposed regulations would, if passed, help unlock more housing by streamlining development approvals, removing barriers, reducing government fees, accelerating planning and further supporting and protecting homebuyers. The bill would also allow the use of government financial tools to help reduce housing costs for Ontarians.

Mr. Vanthof moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr3, An Act to revive 1204755 Ontario Limited.

I understand that there is a fantastic page here, whose name I have yet to learn, from Toronto–St. Paul’s, the best riding in our province. So can we all give them a round of applause and welcome them to Queen’s Park?

Come check me out and say hello.

Welcome. It’s an honour to say a few words on MPP Lily Oddie Munro.

I’d like to welcome Karen, James, Chris and Kevin Henderson, as well as Kathy Borzecka and Iris and Emma.

The supplementary question?

Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

This House stands in recess until 3 p.m.

The House recessed from 1148 to 1500.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

Ms. French moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr4, An Act to revive Quadcard Entertainment Ltd.

First reading agreed to.

Mr. Kernaghan moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr7, An Act to revive Welberne Holding Corp.

First reading agreed to.

Ms. Sattler moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr5, An Act to revive H.B. Arndt & Associates Ltd.

First reading agreed to.

I’d like to introduce the following petition, brought to us from folks participating in the Capital Pride festival this summer. It reads:

“Support Gender-Affirming Health Care

“Whereas two-spirit, transgender, non-binary, gender-diverse and intersex communities face significant challenges to accessing health care services that are friendly, competent and affirming in Ontario;

“Whereas everyone deserves access to health care, and they shouldn’t have to fight for it, shouldn’t have to wait for it and should never receive less care or support because of who they are;

“Whereas gender-affirming care is life-saving care;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support the reintroduction of a private member’s bill to create an inclusive and representative committee to advise the Ministry of Health on how to realize accessible and equitable access to and coverage for gender-affirming health care in Ontario.”

I want to thank Isabelle Coxworth for signing this petition as well as many others. I’ll send it to the Clerk’s table with page Malini.

“Stop Ford’s Health Care Privatization Plan.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontarians should get health care based on need—not the size of your wallet;

“Whereas Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones say they’re planning to privatize parts of health care;

“Whereas privatization will bleed nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals, making the health care crisis worse;

“Whereas privatization always ends with patients getting a bill;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately stop all plans to further privatize Ontario’s health care system, and fix the crisis in health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 and recruiting, retaining and respecting doctors, nurses and PSWs with better pay and better working conditions;

“—licensing tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses and other health care professionals already in Ontario, who wait years and pay thousands to have their credentials certified;

“—making education and training free or low-cost for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals;

“—incentivizing doctors and nurses to choose to live and work in northern Ontario;

“—funding hospitals to have enough nurses on every shift, on every ward.”

I’m happy to sign this petition and will send it with page Rachel to the Clerks’ table.

I have a stack of petitions here signed by Rick and Robin Kosteczko from Oshawa and many others. It is a petition to save eye care in Ontario.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Ontario government has underfunded optometric eye care for 30 years; and

“Whereas the government only pays on average $44.65 for an OHIP-insured visit—the lowest rate in Canada; and

“Whereas optometrists are being forced to pay substantially out of their own pocket to provide over four million services each year to Ontarians under OHIP; and

“Whereas optometrists have never been given a formal negotiation process with the government; and

“Whereas the government’s continued neglect resulted in 96% of Ontario optometrists voting to withdraw OHIP services beginning September 1, 2021;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To instruct the Ontario government to immediately commit to legally binding, formal negotiations to ensure any future OHIP-insured optometry services are, at a minimum, funded at the cost of delivery.”

I will continue to sign petitions like this till this is resolved, and I will send it to the table with page Amy.

I’d like to thank the ILC Foundation and my local constituent Liza Butcher, along with hundreds of other folks across Ontario for their staunch advocacy for the EDS community. I’m glad to join them in amplifying their call to action. This petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Canada Health Act requires provinces to fund medically necessary treatment for Canadians; and

“Whereas a growing number of people in Ontario suffering from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome ... have to seek out-of-country treatment at their own expense because doctors in Ontario don’t have the knowledge or skills to understand EDS symptoms and perform the required delicate and complicated surgeries; and

“Whereas those EDS victims who can’t afford the expensive treatment outside of Ontario are forced to suffer a deteriorating existence and risk irreversible tissue and nerve damage; and

“Whereas EDS victims suffer severe dislocations, chronic pain, blackouts, nausea, migraines, lost vision, tremors, bowel and bladder issues, heart problems, mobility issues, digestive disorders, severe fatigue and many others resulting in little or very poor quality of life; and

“Whereas despite Ontario Ministry of Health claims that there are neurosurgeon doctors in Ontario who can perform surgeries on EDS patients when surgery is recommended, the Ontario referring physicians fail to identify any Ontario neurosurgeon willing or able to see and treat the patient;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Require the Minister of Health to provide funding to hire one neurosurgeon who can and will perform neurosurgeries on EDS patients with equivalent or identical skills to the international EDS neurosurgeon specialists, including funding for a state-of-the-art operating room with diagnostic equipment for treatments for EDS patients; and meet the Canada Health Act’s requirement to afford equal access to medical treatment for patients, regardless of their ability to pay for out-of-country services.

Thank you to the EDS advocates in St. Paul’s and across Ontario. I sign this petition and will hand it to Julien for tabling with the Clerks.

“Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Black, Indigenous, and racialized people are often subject to race-based hair discrimination, including experiencing racism in schools and the workplace—resulting in negative impacts on their lives such as school-based bullying and harassment which impacts academic performance and economic impacts such as job discrimination and reprisal in the workplace for so-called ‘unprofessional’ hair styles or texture;

“Whereas physical presentation, which includes textured hair maintenance and protective styles, is directly linked to physical safety, mental health and sense of identity, self-esteem and confidence;

“Whereas Black, Indigenous and racialized performers with natural textured hair often arrive in their workplace of film/TV and theatre sets with professional hair stylists who have received insufficient training for working with their hair type—risking permanent damage to their physical appearance and therefore earning potential;

“Whereas hairstyling training in Ontario currently only focuses on cutting, designing, permanent waving, chemically relaxing, straightening and colouring hair, but does not have any instruction or practice to ensure every hair stylist can service Black people’s natural hair or the textured hair of many Indigenous and/or racialized community members, whether performers or otherwise;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately pass MPP Andrew’s motion ... calling for the government of Ontario and Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development which regulates the hairstyling trade profession in Ontario to amend the hairstyling program standard to mandate culturally responsive training, specific to Black and textured hair in hairstyling education and practice across Ontario.”

I 100% support this petition and thank the folks of St. Paul’s, the folks of ACTRA, and many performers and otherwise across Ontario who have signed this. I’m tabling it with Karma.

I am honoured to rise today and pay tribute to the late Dr. Donald James Henderson, better known as Jim Henderson, who served as the Liberal MPP for the riding of Humber, later renamed Etobicoke–Humber, for three terms ranging from 1985 to 1995. He served as the parliamentary assistant to the Ministers of Community and Social Services, Colleges and Universities and for the province’s anti-drug strategy, and then as the official opposition critic for culture and communications.

As a medical doctor and psychiatrist, he worked in the medical field before and after his terms in office, holding various positions, ranging from being a director to an associate professor, to organizing and leading trade and medical delegations in developing countries. In fact, when you see his name formally written, it is buried in a sea of degrees and designations.

Born in Sudbury in 1940, he spent the majority of his life in Etobicoke. However, he never lost his love and affinity for northern Ontario. It is impossible to summarize the life of anyone, much less someone as accomplished as Dr. Henderson, within a few minutes. So all I can do is merely scratch the surface here today. And while I never had the honour to know him, it is an honour to have learned about his life and to speak about him here.

Dr. Henderson was an academic and medical doctor with a conviction and an adventurous spirit which never dimmed but, I would argue, only grew stronger in the later part of his life. He had an active and brilliant mind. A medically trained doctor and psychiatrist, Dr. Henderson had a natural talent and understanding of human behaviour, which he drew upon throughout his political career.

He often relied on his knowledge of human behaviour and used this frequently in debate. “If psychology teaches us nothing else in politics, it teaches us that no group in society is likely to contribute to its fullest if it feels its collective needs, feelings, views and expertise to be unattended or ignored.” He spoke about the importance of the parent-child bond on a biological and psychological level and went on to quote an interesting study that showed that “nurturance and bonding are as fundamental ingredients to human growth and development as are any physical, nutritional or other amenities that we can offer to our children.”

Another interesting debate centred on whether to televise the House proceedings, and Dr. Henderson spoke strongly in favour of televising our proceedings in the Legislature because he believed that it “is in line with our philosophy of democratic government and will strengthen and promote a sense of participation by the people in the affairs of the state” and that “it is desirable for the health and responsiveness of good government....”

He was innovative. For instance, he diverted used public transit buses that were at the end of their service life and headed to the scrapyard and ensured that they were donated and sent abroad, where they continued to run for years in places like the streets of Havana. As well, he arranged for hundreds of boxes of prescription drugs that Ontario hospitals had no use for to be donated and sent abroad, and much more.

After his career in politics ended, he maintained his interest in international development, including teaching himself Spanish to such a high degree of fluency that he became a guest lecturer at the University of Havana, where he reintroduced the country to psychoanalysis.

Dr. Henderson loved the outdoors. He had a love of the outdoors and wrote about his deep and long-standing attachment to Ontario’s north. He recalled visiting the Sleeping Giant and Silver Islet.

His father was a general manager of a hardware store and would occasionally take him along on business trips in northern Ontario, including Thunder Bay. He once shared details of a fishing trip near Red Rock, where he didn’t catch a single fish, but the “majesty of North Superior was forever imprinted on his mind.”

Dr. Henderson was a man of conviction. He believed that MPPs should have more freedom to vote their conscience as opposed to always falling in line with their party. He was quoted as saying that MPPs’ “first role is to represent the views of their constituents,” even if those views sometimes violate party policies. Best summarized in his own words, he said, “Personal liberty is not just a slogan. I speak of personal liberty because it means a lot to me. As a practising physician and counsellor I devoted myself to helping people liberate themselves from a tyranny from within—the tyranny of neurotic conflict and suffering. I cannot support legislative measures that compromise personal liberty from without. To me freedom is not negotiable.”

Dr. Henderson had the respect of all sides of the House and developed lifelong friendships such as that with NDP MPP and Speaker David Warner, who is here with us today.

Jim was truly a loving family man and dear friend to many.

He is survived by his wife, Karen; his children, James, Chris and Kevin; his grandchildren, Iris and Emma; his sister, Carol; and his nieces and nephews, Bob, Jane, Ann, Bill, Sandy and Tracey.

Again, I welcome and thank his wonderful family and friends who are here with us today.

I had the pleasure to speak with Chris, who spoke of Jim as a young father when he entered politics, having sons aged two to six years old. I can certainly relate to this. In 1985, when his father, Jim, was the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Community and Social Services, Chris remembered being brought to his dad’s office. As a five-year-old, he joyfully ran up and down the halls and unfortunately discovered a bunch of ink stamps and pads. I will not relay the chaos that ensued at that time. Almost 20 years later, in 2004, Chris returned to Queen’s Park as an intern in that very same office, where he walked rather than ran the halls and was much more subdued in his use of ink.

Jim lives on in his immortalized words in the Hansard and the results of his work under the many hats he wore throughout his life. But most of all, he lives on in the lives and memories of his loving and proud family and all who had the pleasure of knowing him.