The member is quite correct: There has been a great burden on health care providers for a long time in the province of Ontario. I know the member referenced the fact that she wasn’t here, but the reality is that the NDP and the Liberals did work together for many years, and the changes that they refused to make put us in a very difficult situation.

Now, the Premier, of course, highlighted many of the investments that we’re making, but it didn’t just start recently. We started with the transition to Ontario health teams because a lot of people told us the quality of care that they were getting is good if they could get into the system. So we started the transition to Ontario health teams. We brought on new nurses. We brought on more medical professionals, a medical school in Brampton, a medical school in Scarborough, so that we could educate more doctors right here in the province of Ontario, keep them here, working in communities across the province. We had a low ICU capacity. The Premier said that had to be changed, so we’ve increased ICU capacity across the province of Ontario. We’re educating more nurses. We’re fixing long-term care. It is about building an integrated system that works for all of the people in the province of Ontario, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

The member knows full well, Mr. Speaker, that it is our responsibility—the responsibility of the government of Ontario and all parliamentarians—to make sure that everybody has access to the top-notch quality health care service that they pay for through their taxes. We will continue to ensure that all parts of this province have the best, highest quality of care regardless of whether they’re north, south, east, west, remote or urban.

I do understand what the member is saying. Obviously, we all want to ensure that we have better outcomes for all people, including her constituent. That is why—we really started back in 2018—we recognized that not only the home care system but palliative care, and in fact the greater health system, was facing some severe challenges.

That is why we made that move to Ontario health teams. It was so important in beginning the transition of our health care system. It then led to the Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, which was passed in the last Parliament, which has also led to further investments in home care.

We understand how important home care is, not only to those who need it, but in ensuring that the health care system is in good shape, whether it’s alternate-level-of-care, which occupies some of our hospital beds, or whether it’s seniors having access to quality care. We are making significant investments.

As you will know, Mr. Speaker, the members will have the opportunity soon. The throne speech highlighted a $1-billion investment to improve home care across the province as we modernize the system so that people are not left behind by a system that should have been upgraded many—

But the member is absolutely right. Obviously when people need care, they should have access to that care, and that is why we are making significant investments in home care. As I said, the member will have an opportunity very shortly to support that $1-billion investment that we’re making so that her constituent—all of us. How many of us in our riding have heard the exact same challenge—people having to do more?

While we’re always prepared to do more, it is our responsibility as parliamentarians and as the government to ensure that we have the best possible system available. That is why we are moving so quickly, whether it’s on home care, the transition to Ontario health teams and putting the money behind the policies that we’re bringing forward so that constituents like yours can have a better future, and all Ontarians can share in that better future.

Of course, Mr. Speaker, the government has been working very diligently. I know the Minister of Education, guided by the Premier, ensured that Ontario had a better deal than any other jurisdiction in the country. That is a reflection of the fact that Ontario had a much different system—a system that we inherited that was far more expensive, that was far more convoluted.

We have seen, of course, during the pandemic, that the government did step up, the minister did step up and make child care available for all of those essential workers, including our health care heroes and a number of other heroes who worked so hard during the pandemic.

Again, I know the minister has ensured that Ontario families will have a better deal, a longer deal, and will be supported in a way that I think Ontarians expected. Now, of course, for those colleagues who are new, you will remember it was the NDP who wanted us to sign the very first deal, and we said we’re not going to do that, that we could do a better deal. And the Premier ensured, along with the Minister of Education, that we got that better deal for Ontario families.

Again, Mr. Speaker, it’s a challenging question, because on the one hand, the NDP have been here the entire time that I’ve been here since 2018, and have voted against every single measure that we have brought forward to improve the health care system. They voted against the creation of Ontario health teams, which would give us seamless access to health care. They voted against hiring more nurses. They voted against 58,000 new and upgraded long-term-care beds. They voted against 28,000 additional PSWs. They voted against initiatives that brought 14,000 more nurses into our health care system. They voted against a new hospital in Brampton. They voted against a new hospital in Niagara. They voted against a new hospital—the largest hospital investments—in Ottawa and in Mississauga. They voted against all of those things. They voted against the measures that the minister just talked about to support small, medium and large job-creators in the province of Ontario, and they voted against every single measure that the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade has brought in to keep our economy moving, to create jobs, to support health care and all of the things that the people of the province of Ontario think are so important.

So I say to the member—

We are doing everything that we need to do to ensure that the balance is equal across the entire province and I hope the member will join with us in that.

It is something that the Premier said before he was even elected—that we had to fix health care in the province of Ontario. We are spending billions of dollars to do it, but as the Premier said, it’s not just about billions of dollars; it’s about making a system work better for generations to come. That is what we’re focused on, and that’s the job we will get done for the people of Ontario.