After decades of underfunding, this government has made unprecedented investments in our health care system. Health care funding has increased 6.2% year over year, the largest increase on record, including over $5 billion in base funding, which is an 8.9% increase. No previous government has increased base funding by such a high amount year over year.

We have added over 3,500 new hospital beds, and we are adding an additional 3,000. We’re in the process of building and upgrading 58,000 long-term-care beds. And we’ve got a $40-billion investment in 52 new hospitals and additions, and $1 billion for home and community care expansions.

We’re investing in our health care system. We’re going to make sure that Ontarians have the resources they need in hospitals and other health care facilities so Ontarians get the care that they deserve.

Our government has been focused on ensuring that Ontarians have the care that they need, where they need it. Ontario Health—Cancer Care Ontario is the government’s adviser on cancer and the renal system and flows more than $2 billion to hospitals to support direct patient care every year.

We’re working very hard with Ontario Health, which oversees our overall cancer strategy, to make sure that we have the critical programs we need and the services we need to make sure that Ontarians, like Amelia, get the care that they need in a timely way.

Certainly, we’re making significant investments to address the province’s surgical backlog. We’ve also dedicated $6.5 million to pediatric hospitals to support them to ramp up surgeries. We’ve also provided $4.6 million in more funding for hospitals to add additional acute care beds: nine at CHEO—10 acute care beds there as well—and three ICU beds at Sick Children’s Hospital.

Thank you to the member opposite for that question. Of course, the federal government and all parties have launched the committee and the process for that. We’ll let them do their work.

But while we’re at it, Mr. Speaker, what about that carbon tax that the federal government, which this party supports, put on the backs of the people of Ontario? That is causing rising costs and food prices in Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what Ontario has done. Let me take you back to when we reduced the gas tax by 5.7 cents a litre. Let me take you back to when we took licence plate fees off the backs of Ontario drivers. Let me take you to today, when we just increased the minimum wage to the second-highest in the country. Let me tell you what we’re doing tomorrow: We have the staycation tax credit, the seniors tax credit, the job training tax credit, the child care tax credit—Mr. Speaker, we recalled the Legislature this summer to get things going for the people of Ontario. Support us.

Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, we have a plan for Ontarians. We have a plan to build Ontario. We took that plan to the people of Ontario. It was roundly endorsed by the people of Ontario, as witnessed by all the people on both sides. That plan is to get shovels in the ground to build hospitals, to build highways, to build long-term care, to support labour, to get more workers, retrain workers for the jobs of today and for tomorrow and to help keep costs down for the people of Ontario. We are delivering for the people of Ontario.

When it comes to experiencing the great outdoors, we know that Ontarians from all walks of life enjoy various activities in our province’s forests and wilderness. There’s plenty to enjoy, such as fishing, hiking, birdwatching, biking and camping. In particular, hunting is a much-beloved pastime in Ontario, and continues countless years of tradition. With hunting season occurring now, the safety of all participants must be properly addressed.

Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. What is our government doing to ensure that all Ontarians can experience our great outdoors safely?

Can the minister explain what is being done to ensure that funds collected through fishing and hunting licence fees, fines and royalties are protecting our ecosystems and supporting our communities?

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 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’m honoured to have the privilege to take a few moments to honour the late Gordon Miller—or simply Gord, as his colleagues called him—on behalf of our government.

In attendance today are some of Gord’s family and friends: his son, Doug; daughter-in-law, Flora; grandchildren Jamie, Geoff and Meghan; grandson-in-law, David; and great-grandchildren Brynn and Mason. I want to thank you for sharing Gord with us.

While I never served with Gord as a member, I did know him for many years when I was in local government. I wanted to learn how his friends and former colleagues described him, and what became clear to me is that Gord deeply cared about his local community. He was called “caring,” “a gentleman,” “a good neighbour” and the “heart of his community,” however, these kind words do not do justice to his lifelong dedication to rural Ontario and public service.

Gord was born in the small town of Jarvis in southwestern Ontario to George and Jane, who themselves came to Jarvis in the 19th century to start a farm. Even as a child from humble beginnings, Gord was involved in the fabric of his community. As an athlete in high school, he played baseball with other students in the surrounding area as an outfielder. Hockey legend Red Kelly, who used to play baseball with him, remarked that “when somebody hit a long ball, Gordon would just stretch out” his long, lanky “arms and, nine times out of 10, the ball would wind up in his hands.” Kelly never dreamed he would be a future politician. For a while, he wasn’t. After the passing of his father in 1945, Gord and his brothers took over the family farm and built a successful farming operation.

Gord’s career in public service undoubtedly began with the many ways he was involved in the local Jarvis community while he was a farmer. He was especially involved in his local church, serving as an elder and Sunday school superintendent. With his dedication to community service, it was a natural step for him to get involved in local politics. He served as a trustee of the Jarvis School Board between 1960 and 1967. He was elected as a councillor to Walpole township in 1968, reeve in 1971 and regional councillor of Haldimand-Norfolk in 1973. In 1975, Gord was elected as the Liberal member in Haldimand–Norfolk, defeating long-time PC member Jim Allan.

With someone so involved in local politics, it’s not surprising that he was elected to Queen’s Park on a local issue. Two years prior, a two-tier, six-municipality system was implemented, and voters did not like that new system of regional government. Gord was also against the new regional government, although he was never able to change it.

During his 15 years, he served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Transportation and to the Minister of Agriculture and Food, but he never lost touch with his local people who elected him. He was a dedicated champion for farmers, Haldimand–Norfolk and all rural Ontarians.

Following his time as MPP, Gord did not stop his community service, even though he went back to his original love: farming. He was named as Jarvis citizen of the year in 1990. He was an active volunteer with the United Way, Crime Stoppers, and served as chair of the West Haldimand General Hospital Foundation.

In 2017, former Jarvis resident and current resident of Woodstock, Allison Gowling, was asked to write a biography of Gord and his family, which was a lifelong dream of his. But even without the memoir, the Miller family’s mark on Jarvis is apparent. In fact, his farm is on the road that bears his name: Gordon Miller Trail.

Gord and I both have backgrounds in rural Ontario and local politics, and I have grown greatly to respect the work that he did throughout his long life. I believe that a quote from Gord’s former chief financial officer sums him up brilliantly: “He was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things.”

May you rest in peace, Gord Miller.

I rise today to pay tribute to the remarkable life and legacy of William Grenville Davis, the 18th Premier of Ontario. It’s an honour to pay tribute to him in this House where he faithfully served the people of Brampton for over 26 years, including his time as the Ontario Premier from 1971 to 1985. I had the honour of speaking at Mr. Davis’s funeral last year and I’m forever grateful to the Davis family for allowing me that opportunity. I thank you.

I noted then that it was Mr. Davis’s steady hand that led Ontario for 14 years, winning four consecutive elections. And there were many good reasons that Ontarians continued to put their trust in Bill Davis. Most notably, he was someone who knew how to get big things done. He was the education Premier, establishing new universities and leading the efforts to create Ontario’s college system. He was the architect of our education system that is still the envy of the world today. It was because of Premier Davis that Ontario had North America’s first Ministry of the Environment. He also had a major impact on the national stage, playing a central role in the patriation of the Constitution.

His accomplishments are too many to list. There’s no question that Bill Davis was an incredible Premier, maybe the most impactful this province has ever had. But he was far too humble to talk about himself. He always wanted to know more about others. With all his success, the traits you heard most about him were his kindness, his humility and his unfailing decency. He earned respect across party lines and was always willing to find common ground. Even in retirement, he was always generous with his time and his counsel. If he could help you, he would.

As I said last year, he was a giant in Ontario politics, but he never behaved that way. He thought of himself simply as Bill from Brampton, and he was most happy up in Georgian Bay with Kathleen and the growing family that he was so proud of. He certainly left big shoes to fill, and all Premiers since his time have been measured against his legacy. While there will never be another William Grenville Davis, as public servants I believe we should all aspire to conduct ourselves in a way that would make him proud.

On behalf of the people of Ontario, I want to thank the Davis family for sharing Bill with us for so many years. His many accomplishments are also thanks to you. This province will always be grateful for that. I thank you, and God bless.