I’m pleased to introduce Angela Preocanin, the first vice-president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association, as well as Nour Alideeb from the ONA. Welcome to Queen’s Park, ladies.

Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

Minister, in July, you received a letter informing you of the closure of the Gogama nursing station on September 1. Gogama is a small, isolated community. Residents rely on the nursing station as their only access to health care. September 1 is fast approaching. Can the minister reassure the people of Gogama that they will not find themselves without any health care services at the end of the month?

I would like to thank Linda Benoit from Foleyet, in my riding, for sending hundreds of names on this petition.

Save ambulance services in Foleyet:

“Whereas the Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board is considering removing the paramedics and ambulance services (EMS) from the community of Foleyet;

“Whereas this service is vital, paramedics are front-line heroes in emergencies and often the reason people in life-threatening situations survive, because of the quick and responsive actions they are trained to take under pressure;

“Whereas if this social service is removed, the community of Foleyet and the surrounding area will be at risk in the case of an emergency due to the extended travel and wait time to access medical services through Chapleau or Timmins,” both at least an hour drive away;

They petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows: “to oppose the removal and relocation of the ambulance and paramedic services (EMS) in Foleyet.... We want the emergency medical services in Foleyet to remain in full operation to service Foleyet and the surrounding area.”

I fully support the petition, will affix my name to it and send it to the table with page Lucia.

« Améliorer l’entretien des routes du Nord en hiver...

« Alors que les autoroutes jouent un rôle essentiel dans le nord de l’Ontario;

« Alors que l’entretien des routes en hiver a été privatisé en Ontario et que les normes contractuelles ne sont pas appliquées;

« Alors que per capita, les décès sont deux fois plus susceptibles de se produire sur une route du nord que sur une route du sud de l’Ontario;

« Alors que la classification actuelle du MTO influence négativement la sécurité des routes du Nord; »

Ils et elles demandent à l’Assemblée législative « de classer les routes 11, 17, 69, 101 et 144 comme autoroutes de classe 1; exiger que la chaussée soit déneigée dans les huit heures suivant la fin d’une chute de neige et ramener la gestion de l’entretien des routes en hiver au secteur public si les normes contractuelles ne sont pas respectées. »

J’appuie cette pétition. Je vais la signer et je la donne à Adam pour l’amener à la table des greffiers. Merci.

I would like to thank Ernest Lefebvre from Onaping in my riding for these petitions.

“911 Emergency Response....

“Whereas when we face an emergency we all know to dial 911 for help; and

“Whereas access to emergency services through 911 is not available in all regions of Ontario but most Ontarians believe that it is; and

“Whereas many Ontarians have discovered that 911 was not available while they faced an emergency; and

“Whereas all Ontarians expect and deserve access to 911 service throughout our province;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To provide 911 emergency response everywhere in Ontario by land line or cellphone.”

I fully support this petition. I will affix my name to it and give it to my good page Adam to bring to the Clerk.

Resuming the debate adjourned on August 17, 2022, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 3, An Act to amend various statutes with respect to special powers and duties of heads of council / Projet de loi 3, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les pouvoirs et fonctions spéciaux des présidents du conseil.

Well, I’m quite happy that you ended talking about housing. We all agree that it doesn’t matter where you live in Ontario; there are many, many people facing difficulty finding housing. One part of this would be to have more affordable housing projects going up throughout Ontario, including in my own riding.

Could you tell me, after having read Bill 3, Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, how many times do they talk about homes in the act? Do they specifically talk about affordable housing in the act, and how we will make sure that the people who actually need housing get housing through this act? I haven’t been able to find it, but you usually read those things better than I do.

I truly enjoyed your entire speech, but the beginning of your speech where we heard, 17 times in a row, the word “power”—

Interjection: Nineteen.

If you were to read the entire bill, would you say that supportive housing is found in that bill? Would you say that housing is a big part of the bill? We know that it’s not in the intro, because you read it out for us. But we all know, in your riding, like in mine, affordable housing is something that’s very important. It’s something that we hear about no matter which communities we go into. There are people who cannot afford a place to live. Is it in the bill?