The Convenient Care at Home Act, 2023, if passed, could consolidate the 14 home and community care service organizations into a single organization and make the service more convenient. Ontario is investing an additional $10.3 million in 2023-24 to support Ontario health teams to implement better ways to connect primary hospitals, home and community. With an investment of more than $124 million, Ontario health teams and other health service providers are also investing in digital and virtual care options for people in Ontario.

My question to the member is, if he said he’s not supporting this act, does he mean that he wants nothing from this bill to support his community? Yes or no?

Thank you to the member for the question. Look, they can put whatever they want in this bill. They can talk about a fragmented system, but if there’s nobody to work in the system, we’re not going to have health care. We can have this discussion all day long. They can talk about, you know, any kind of changes to the organization that they want to make, but they’ve treated health care workers terribly. They are coming into my office—haven’t even received pandemic pay, for goodness’ sake. They’re leaving the system, because they’re being treated badly.

So you can make whatever changes you want in this bill; if you don’t start treating workers properly, they will continue to leave and our health care system will continue to deteriorate.

She’s absolutely correct. Institutional care costs so much more than home care. It’s a real puzzle to us why this government, if they really want to save money, if they really want to provide better care, don’t provide better care in people’s homes much more cost-efficiently, rather than—

Madam Speaker, good morning. I’m proud to rise today to support Bill 135, Convenient Care at Home Act.

Before I address the bill, I just want to say that the fearmongering that’s coming from the opposition yesterday and continuing today—no wonder that some of our young people are questioning whether a career in health care is the right one. Because if you sit on that side of the House, it’s doom and gloom, but on this side of the House, we have some good news. Madam Speaker, you know what the good news is? That last year we had a record number of nursing students enrolled to become nurses in Ontario—30,000 nursing students, under the leadership of this government and this Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Under the leadership of this government, we allowed colleges to offer stand-alone baccalaureate programs such that just down the street from here, in an NDP riding, we have a francophone college for the first time that will be training French-language nurses right here in downtown Toronto. That is under the leadership of our government.

We have added 12,000 internationally trained nurses into the system, just last year. So despite what the opposition is saying, which is completely lacking of statistics, we on this side of the House have the numbers to show for it. In terms of PSWs, PSWs are our respected partners in care.

You know, when I was a nursing student, I trained with PSWs. I’ve learned from them, and even now when I deliver care, I often rely on the support from PSWs. They’re knowledgeable. They’re skilled and they’re part of our health care workforce.

Guess what, Madam Speaker? We have invested, into the accelerated program, into the training of 16,000 PSWs since we took office. That is a record number. I don’t know where that NDP math is coming from, but here on this side of the House, we have the numbers to support what we’re doing. I’m so proud to be part of this government, which is transforming the way we deliver health care in the province of Ontario.

So let’s talk about home care. Already, new models of home care delivery are being implemented to enable a more integrated experience for clients and their families, from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, to Newmarket, to the University Health Network right here in Toronto, to local Ontario health teams. But we know that there is more work to do to ensure our loved ones have access to care they deserve in their home, when they need it.

The Convenient Care at Home Act is a game-changer. This act, if passed, will mean that patients and families will see real, tangible improvements in how home care is delivered. But don’t just take my word for it.

Sandra Ketchen, president and CEO of Spectrum Health Care had this to say: “Today’s announcement is an important step in modernizing Ontario’s home care system. We look forward to continuing to work together to provide the best possible care to patients, in the comfort of their homes.”

And Matt Anderson, president and CEO of Ontario Health, said, “This ‘connected care’ approach, and the provincial investments to support it, will help transform health care delivery and support the vision of all Ontarians having full access to the care they need, across the spectrum of health care—all working together to deliver integrated care, through their Ontario health team.”

Our health system partners know that changes are needed and that the status quo is simply not working. We will continue to engage with our partners across the home care sector to support this much-needed modernization.

And our constituents, the reason we all wake up every morning and show up here at work—I wake up at 5 a.m.; I’m sure a lot of the members here do too. They are the reason why we come to this place and why we work so hard, and they have told us that we need to transform home care, to centre home care around the patient.

For example, in my riding of Mississauga Centre, I have a beautiful co-op housing—it’s called Camille’s Place. A lot of seniors live at Camille’s Place. I recently hosted a Thanksgiving lunch with the seniors, and they told me that they have concerns with how home care is delivered—PSWs do not always show up as scheduled—and that a change is needed, and that it has to be more localized in the community and more responsive to their needs. But I also heard so many positive stories, just chatting with the ladies over some turkey. They told me that their PSWs have become a part of their family. They show up day in and day out, respond to their needs, and over time they have become family members.

Again, this goes to show how indispensable the PSWs who work in our system are. They are part of our communities, and that’s why they need to be embedded locally into our Ontario health teams—instead of this fragmented approach that we are currently seeing.

It is so important to ensure our seniors have access to dignified, compassionate care as they age, close to their loved ones and community. Our seniors built our communities, our province and our country, and it is imperative that we take care of them. They have done their job; now it is time that we do ours. Our government is continuing to invest in services for our seniors as well as their families and caregivers.

I would like to speak a little bit about my private member’s bill that I introduced, together with the member from Thornhill, Bill 121, Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, because it is kind of related. We’re doing the hard work to support those living with dementia. A lot of those living with dementia, of course, need home care. That is why we have to have an all-government approach and all-government strategy to work with persons living with dementia, whether they are in their home, whether they are in a long-term-care facility, or whether they happen to be in the hospital. So, in the 2022 budget, the government announced a $15-million investment over three years towards Ontario’s Dementia Strategy, to expand community-based dementia services such as home care or day programs. And in 2022-23, the ministry allocated the first $5-million installment of the $15-million investment towards initiatives that reduce patient flow from hospital to a more appropriate care setting.

I had the opportunity to visit a hospital, Brantford General Hospital, where they have done something new, something innovative, something out of the box. What did they do? Well, they invited dementia care specialists into their emergency department. So any patients who are coming into the ER for only dementia-related symptoms actually get seen by these dementia care specialists. They are not admitted to the hospital, because we know that patients with dementia do not do well if they are admitted to the hospital, because it is not a place that is conducive to them getting better. So these patients are being held overnight in the ER, then they are assessed by the dementia specialist and they’re actually referred to services back into the community. What does this do?

(1) It reduces admission rates so those beds that are critically needed for critically ill patients are not occupied by patients who actually don’t have to be there.

(2) It provides better care for the patient themself and their family.

(3) It reduces the amount of cost.

So that is exactly the kind of solution that we need to look for with our partners, because the government doesn’t have all the solutions. We need to work with our partners and local communities like the Brantford General Hospital to bring forward innovative ideas to address some of the challenges that we are facing in home care.

These innovative initiatives specifically focused on expanding dementia-related admission diversion and discharge supports, such as behavioural support programs and programs delivered by Alzheimer Society of Ontario chapters. Investments in these initiatives were identified through the government’s ALC—which is alternate level of care—five-point plan.

I originally prepared a speech for 20 minutes, but since I only have 10 minutes, I will fly through some of these things. In 2023-24, the ministry expanded community-based programs through increased investment in the ASO First Link program and GeriMedRisk. The Convenient Care at Home Act builds on our work to date to ensure Ontarian seniors can remain at home if they wish. Our government is making a historic $1-billion investment into home care, which will help to stabilize and expand this vital sector for years to come.

I know I’m not the first to say this, but the only thing better than having care close to home is actually having care in your home. People don’t want to be institutionalized unless they have really complex health care needs and, at that point, they do need to move into our long-term care facilities. But it is really critical that we help expand the sector and localize it within our Ontario health teams because people prefer to stay at home. Actually, research shows that people who are at home with the right supports have a much better quality of life, and so that’s exactly the hard work that we are doing through Bill 135, the Convenient Care at Home Act.

I really wish that the opposition would get on board and finally support these initiatives because we need a whole-of-government approach, but I’m not hearing any solutions coming from that side of the House.

Ottawa West–Nepean.

Thank you to the member for—I want to get this riding name correct—Niagara Centre for those wise remarks on this bill.

Earlier this month, Seniors for Social Action released a report looking at the shortcomings of our home and community care system in Ontario, which they say is driving more seniors to actually consider MAID. One of the observances they make in that report is that the Ontario government provides six times as much funding for institutional care as they do for home care.

I know many of the home and community care organizations in my riding are reeling from the lack of funding and have been begging for funding from this government to actually be able to keep their doors open.

So my question to the member is, why doesn’t this government fund home care like it actually matters?

One last question? The member for Ottawa Centre.

Moving on to further debate, recognizing the member for Mississauga Centre.

You know, Madam Speaker, what is by any means not going to come out is any solutions to our health care challenges that we are facing from the member opposite and her party. But on this side of the House, what we are proposing on top of this legislation—we are also investing an additional $10.3 million this year to support Ontario health teams to implement better ways to connect primary, hospital and home and community care for patients with diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and many other options.

On this side of the House, we are proposing solutions, and all you guys are doing is saying “no” to every single one.

Madam Speaker, do you know what we have done since then? We have currently shovels in the ground for 50 hospital infrastructure projects across the province of Ontario, and if we were to look on those benches over there, probably many of their communities are currently getting either a brand-new hospital or a redeveloped hospital. Over the course of the pandemic, we have built 3,100 new acute care beds. That is the equivalent of seven community hospitals.

So we, on this side of the House, again we’re investing in infrastructure. We are modernizing our home care. We’re embedding home care within local communities, within the 57 Ontario health teams, and we will continue to do that important work because that’s what the people of Ontario expect from us.

But if you want to talk about investments, this government is investing $14 billion more into health care than the previous government. This government also invested $90 million to build a francophone college in your riding. You should go and visit it and talk to those health care providers, those future nurses and PSWs. For the first time in the history of this province, we have francophone health care workers being educated just steps away from here, in your riding. So I highly suggest you go visit them and maybe listen to them for some innovative solutions.

That is why the member of Thornhill and I introduced Bill 121, Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, to make sure that our PSWs, when they graduate from our colleges, are actually fully equipped and fully prepared to work in the realities of home care and long-term care and acute care as well. So this is a whole-of-government approach. The member for Thornhill and I had one specific idea on dementia care but it is fully supported by this government. We will continue to do the hard work because our seniors deserve it.

But do you know what else, Madam Speaker? We are building two new medical schools in the province of Ontario. How about that? We’re going to have more doctors graduating every year from one in the community of Brampton—we’re very proud for the first time to have our own medical school in the region of Peel—and we have another one that is being built in Scarborough. Many of your members come from Scarborough. You should be celebrating this.

Guess what? We are taking a whole-of-government approach and a whole-of-continuum-of-care approach, meaning we’re investing in our PSWs, in our nurses and in our physicians and we will continue to do that.

But what I want to say is that my local hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital, has recently received a $2.5-million extra investment to hire more staff into the ER. I’m very proud to share that, because that is new funding and that will help with some of the capacity challenges.

I rise today, in all honesty, to brag about the amazing folks and the community members in my riding of Hastings–Lennox and Addington. I recently had the opportunity to join in a wonderful celebration. The Lennox and Addington County General Hospital has had a volunteer service that has been active for 60 years now. The general public may not realize it, but these volunteers provide an amazing addition to our health care services. While these people might not put a cast on your arm or deliver a baby, they do provide an added level of care and comfort for the people at the hospital.

For six decades, they have been helping people find their way around the hospital. They have been providing a coffee or a quick bite to eat in the cafe and making get-well cards and small gifts available for the visitors. I, along with the hospital CEO and hospital board chair, had the chance to tell these volunteers just how grateful we are for what they bring to our local health care.

In celebration of that 60 years of service, the organization donated another $60,000 to the hospital foundation. And that’s on top of the millions that they’ve raised over that 60 years.

My thanks go to all of the volunteers and the members of that organization, and to their president, Marg Isbester, for inviting me to join in that celebration.

Thank you to the member from Mississauga Centre for her great remarks this morning. In 2018, our government was elected on a promise to invest in health care in this province and end hallway health care in our hospitals, because under the previous 15 years of the Liberal government, supported by the NDP, they failed our health care system miserably.

My question to the member from Mississauga Centre is, how does this legislation fit in with our government’s broader strategy to really support Ontarians and provide them with the health care they need, when and where they need it?

We’ll move to questions.

Ms. Jones, Dufferin–Caledon, has moved second reading of Bill 135, An Act to amend the Connecting Care Act, 2019 with respect to home and community care services and health governance and to make related amendments to other Acts.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?

All those in favour of the motion, please say “aye.”

All those opposed, please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, it will be deferred until the next instance of deferred votes.

Second reading vote deferred.

The House recessed from 0944 to 1015.

No further business.

Later this afternoon, I’m pleased this House will debate my motion calling on the province to establish a new public agency to finance and build at least 250,000 new affordable and non-market rental homes at cost on public land. There will be plenty of time to debate the merits of that motion, but this morning, I would like to share with my colleagues why this kind of housing matters.

I ask you all to think for a moment about the many benefits that good housing brings us as individuals, as families and as communities, not just in terms of keeping us dry and warm, but also in providing a safe, stable place to raise our families, and a sense of mental, physical and financial stability that cannot be understated.

The impact goes beyond just housing. Stable housing changes everything. When people have stable housing, they can raise a family, they can retire, they can have something to leave behind. Secure housing impacts families for generations. A good place to call home is a source of dignity with benefits that radiate to a family, a community, to an incredible province like Ontario in a great country like ours.

I hope you will vote yes to bring dignity, security and affordable good housing to the families of Ontario.

ElringKlinger is a leading automotive manufacturing company providing innovative solutions to industry since 1879. With its headquarters in Germany, the company has expanded its operations all over the world and established itself as a reliable and trusted brand in the mobility industry. My community of Leamington is proud to serve as their flagship and only Canadian-based operation. Founded back in 2000, it has expanded several times to cover over 147,000 square feet of state-of-the-art manufacturing space and employing over 170 local employees.

The Leamington facility recently was approved for provincial grant funding of up to $1.5 million of eligible costs in a total investment of $58 million. This facility manufactures cam cover modules, cockpit cross-car beams and oil separation modules. They also produce fuel cell systems and lithium-ion battery systems, while conducting substantial R&D.

Recently, this company made international headlines with their announcement of another expansion. The expansion is a testament to the company’s commitment to its strategically located operations in Leamington and the company’s firm belief that Ontario is the best jurisdiction in the world to do business in.

I want to celebrate and thank ElringKlinger for their commitment to Leamington, to Ontario and to the jobs of the future.

I think we can all agree that home care done well is what seniors want, and we certainly support that. But home care done well is not by any means going to come out of this bill. We have seen the effects of privatized long-term care brought in first by the Mike Harris government and entrenched further with this government, and with this plan we see up to 30% of tax dollars going into shareholder profits from that large amount of money.

My question is, why should taxpayers be paying for shareholders profits when that money could be going to support pay for PSWs and quality care for our seniors?

It was very good to hear my friend from Mississauga Centre speak this morning about this great bill. I think probably the greatest thing about this job is the great people you get to meet, and being able to listen to someone who has been on the front lines of health care her entire career and continues to serve where she can and when she can is absolutely amazing.

Rather than calling the progress we’ve made in hiring nurses, in building hospitals and committing millions and millions of dollars to home care, “tinkering,” we’re actually getting stuff done. Constituents in my riding have told me how important it is for them that they are able to stay in their home and in their community as long as possible as they age.

I was hoping the member could tell us a little bit more about how important this is and how this bill will ensure that seniors from my community, and indeed across Ontario, are able to age in place.

The members on this side of the House have pointed out some of the problems with the government’s bill, but the biggest problem really is that it fails to address the real root cause of the health care crisis we have before us, which is a health care workforce that is not able to meet the demands of the people of Ontario.

We heard the member talk about all the nurses and PSWs who are going into our college and university system. However, when they graduate, they are moving into roles where they are not supported, they are in high-pressure-cooker environments and they are leaving. They’re leaving Ontario because the wages are too low. They’re leaving the profession because the demands are too high.

Can the member tell us why this bill did not do anything to address the health human resources crisis that we are facing in this province?

To our member from Mississauga Centre: I think you are aware that in the past 15 years, the joint force of the NDP and Liberals worked so hard to destroy our health system. Now we are rebuilding it, taking care of the well-being of Ontarians, so now they are putting up obstacles after obstacles after obstacles.

I know that you still have a lot of good news to share, as you are a first-hand member of health care. Can you share more about how this bill, Bill 135, will serve Ontarians?

Remarks in Anishininiimowin.

Cat Lake is one of the 31 First Nations in Kiiwetinoong. In December 2022, Cat Lake First Nation sent a letter to the Ministry of Northern Development and the Ministry of Mines about mining activity in their territory. Cat Lake has a full moratorium on mining activity on their title lands. The moratorium means no permits—exploration permits, winter roads—and no drilling on the lands and waters until their Anishinaabe-led assessment is done.

Whatever consultation that was attempted with Cat Lake First Nation was inadequate. With COVID and severe addiction issues happening that take immediate priority, there is little time for mining.

The plan for the proposed mine includes draining a crystal clear lake full of lake trout. This lake trout is rare. These lakes are rare. Only about 1% of Ontario’s lakes contain lake trout. These waters and the fish are very important to the ways of life, and what happens there should be decided through an Anishinaabe-led assessment of the project.

Speaker, it is the will of the Cat Lake people that they will decide whether to consent or not to mining. They are fully considering their options and next steps. Their process must be respected.

I want to rise today to highlight the great work of Scooty, a micro-mobility company based out of Brampton and, dare I say it, a made-in-Brampton success story.

Founded in 2019 by a group of immigrants dedicated to improving mobility, Scooty has quickly grown to complement Brampton’s existing transit options—including an exclusive agreement with Metrolinx to deploy their e-scooters at all GO stations in Brampton.

Speaker, this would not be possible without the hard work of the Scooty team. Let’s give it up for Shoaib Ahmed, Yashin Shah, Moaz Ahmad, Wasif Khan, Shahid Pasha, and their team of fantastic employees. I saw their dedication first-hand at their facility in Brampton this summer, where the team ensures that their scooters are maintained and delivered to neighbourhoods all across the city.

With a $1-million investment through the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network for Scooty, our government is committed to ensuring that innovators have the tools they need to succeed and develop made-in-Ontario transit solutions.

The magic isn’t just in their scooters but also in their software that allows them to compete on an international scale.

This is an example of great Brampton minds creating a true Brampton success story and helping to elevate us to a truly global city.

I can guarantee you, Speaker: If we put the great minds behind Brampton businesses up against any other city, pound for pound, Brampton will get it done.

The team at Scooty is getting it done.

This past Saturday, I joined tenants of Accora Village in Bayshore who have received notice of a 5.5%-rent increase, despite the fact that their landlord has neglected tenants’ requests for maintenance and repairs for years. These tenants were speaking out in defence of their rights against a corporate landlord all too happy to jack up the rates but not willing to respect the most basic tenant rights.

Sadly, their stories were all too familiar to me. I have been hearing many stories like this from tenants across Ottawa West–Nepean—tenants in the Voyageur apartments, where Paramount served residents with eviction notices despite having failed to provide 60 days’ notice of rent increases; tenants in a CLV apartment, where the landlord has ignored safety concerns for tenants but has been all too happy to raise the rent, with the rate for one apartment going from $1,400 to $1,900 to $2,600 in the space of just six months; tenants in the Duchess, a Homestead building, which is brand new, not subject to rent control, where tenants are getting served with rental increases while being unable to get significant and dangerous maintenance and repair concerns addressed.

These landlords are feeling empowered to do whatever they want, thanks to this government killing rent control and destroying the Landlord and Tenant Board.

It’s time for the government to respect the right of all Ontarians to an affordable, properly maintained place to live. Reinstate real rent control, crack down on renovictions, and fix the Landlord and Tenant Board.