I want to welcome the grade 5 class from Thorncliffe Park Public School who will be joining us in the gallery shortly. I’d also like to acknowledge my new legislative assistant, Joe Ramlochand, who’s just on his second day today.

I have a petition here that reads, “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the province of Ontario requires a minimum but no maximum temperature in long-term-care homes;

“Whereas temperatures that are too hot can cause emotional and physical distress that may contribute to a decline in a frail senior’s health;

“Whereas front-line staff in long-term-care homes also suffer when trying to provide care under these conditions with headaches, tiredness, signs of hyperthermia, which directly impacts resident/patient care;

“Whereas Ontario’s bill of rights for residents of Ontario nursing homes states ‘every resident has the right to be properly sheltered ... in a manner consistent with his or her needs’;

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

“Direct the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations amending O. Reg. 79/10 in the Long-Term Care Homes Act to establish a maximum temperature in Ontario’s long-term-care homes.”

I’ll be very happy to sign this and send it to page Saniyah to the Clerk’s table.

I want to take a moment to introduce in this place some CJPAC interns who are visiting the Legislature today—Bayla Saltzman, Jonathan Alter—and staff member Rabbi Jennifer Gorman. Welcome to your House.

I need to correct my record from yesterday in question period. I made a mistake, I will admit—

Interjections.

I want to welcome a special visitor on behalf of the member from Nepean. Vincenzo Calla is from MPP MacLeod’s office. He is the social media manager. I’d like to welcome him to the House.

The ayes are 35; the nays are 68.

« À l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario :

« Considérant que les routes 11 et 17 jouent un rôle essentiel dans le développement et la prospérité du nord de l’Ontario;

« Considérant que l’ancien gouvernement libéral a initié la privatisation de l’entretien des routes, et que le gouvernement conservateur actuel n’a pas su améliorer les conditions routières hivernales » dans le « nord de l’Ontario;

« Considérant que sur les routes du Nord, les taux de blessures et de décès par habitant sont le double de ces mêmes taux correspondant aux routes du sud de la province;

« Considérant que la classification utilisée actuellement par le ministère des Transports pour l’entretien ... des routes » hivernales « a un impact négatif sur la sécurité des personnes qui empruntent les routes du Nord;

« Nous, soussignés, demandons » à « l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario de mettre en oeuvre les mesures suivantes :

« —classifier toutes les autoroutes série 400, l’autoroute Queen Elizabeth, ainsi que les routes 11 et 17, comme des routes de catégorie 1;

« —exiger que la chaussée des routes de catégorie 1 soit complètement » déneigée « dans les huit heures suivant » la « chute de neige. »

Je supporte cette pétition. Je vais la signer et la remettre à—what’s your name?—Bronwyn pour l’amener à la table des greffiers.

I’d like to submit this petition to the House.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario Place has been a cherished public space for over 50 years, providing joy, recreation and cultural experiences for Ontarians and tourists alike and holds cultural and historical significance as a landmark that symbolizes Ontario’s commitment to innovation, sustainability and public engagement;

“Whereas redevelopment that includes a private, for-profit venture by an Austrian spa company prioritizes commercial interests over the needs and desires of the people of Ontario, and it is estimated that the cost to prepare the grounds for redevelopment and build a 2,000-car underground garage will cost approximately $650 million;

“Whereas there are concerns of cronyism by Mark Lawson, Therme Group Canada’s vice-president of comms and external relations, who was previously” the Premier’s “deputy chief of staff;

“Whereas meaningful public consultations with diverse stakeholders have not been adequately conducted and the Ontario NDP has sent a letter of support for a public request to begin an investigation into a value-for-money and compliance audit with respect to proposed” development at “Ontario Place;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to halt any further development plans for Ontario Place, engage in meaningful and transparent public consultations to gather input and ideas for the future of Ontario Place, develop a comprehensive and sustainable plan for the revitalization of Ontario Place” in a sustainable “and accountable manner, with proper oversight, public input and adherence to democratic processes.”

I’m very proud to affix my signature to this petition and return it to the table with page Saniyah.

I have a petition here.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Haldimand county has requested a minister’s zoning order (MZO) to accelerate the development of a proposed city of 40,000 people on industrially zoned buffer land in the Nanticoke industrial park; and

“Whereas the housing development will grow the population of the Port Dover-Nanticoke area from approximately 7,000 to 47,000 people; and

“Whereas this development will have a significant impact on infrastructure such as roadways; and

“Whereas 40,000 people living in the Nanticoke industrial park buffer zone is a threat to area jobs in steelmaking, oil refining and the related trades;

“We, the undersigned, ask the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to not grant the Haldimand county request for an MZO.”

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

On one point we will agree, and that is, the need for home and community care continues to increase.

We will continue to invest. Of course, in our most recent budget, a billion dollars in home and community care—that, first, stabilized the health human resources who are working in the field, but more importantly, actually allows us to make sure that there is consistency in what we are providing to our patients, to individuals across Ontario in a very stable manner. We’ve been able to do this.

Frankly, I ask the member opposite why, yesterday, when we were improving and bringing forward legislation that would actually stabilize home and community care, the member opposite and the NDP voted against it.

We will move forward. We have a plan, and it’s working.

Speaker, I move that the House observe a moment of silence for the four victims of the unspeakable tragedy in Sault Ste. Marie yesterday.

I’m happy to welcome our honoured guests from Vietnam, who arrived during question period. Please join me in welcoming an ambassador from Vietnam, H.E. Pham Quang Vinh; his lovely wife, Madam Nguyen Thi Nguyet Nga; the head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada, commercial councillor, Ms. Quynh Tran; the ambassador’s secretary, Mr. Dao Nguyen. Joining them are Yvonne Chan, president of ACCE, as well as Karen Ng, executive director, ACCE. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

We voted against Bill 135 because it’s actually going to complicate an already chaotic system, and people in this province deserve so much better.

Almost $78 million of home care funding was returned to the Ministry of Health—that’s $3.8 million from Toronto Central, $24.3 million from Champlain, $5.5 million from Waterloo Wellington. That’s a lot of money that is needed in those systems.

A constituent of mine says that she was appalled to learn that the funds were not invested, after she spent years as a primary caregiver to her husband and she witnessed first-hand the lack of stable care, the different people coming to bathe and dress him. This caused great hardship for that family—and she is only one person who would have benefited from this $5 million.

Speaker, to the Minister of Health: Will the government return the $78 million, plus any additional funds as yet unreported by other offices, and truly invest in stable funding and fair wages so that people in Ontario can age in place with some dignity?

Supplementary.

Point of order, the member for Richmond Hill.

Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1147 to 1152.

Mr. Kernaghan has moved private members’ notice of motion number 65.

All those in favour will please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk.

Motion negatived.

The House recessed from 1157 to 1300.

I’d just like to welcome Amanda Brisson here to the House today. She’s coming from my riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. Amanda was with Big Brothers Big Sisters for the longest time, so we’ve bonded over that with my restaurant. She’s now a real estate agent. Thank you for coming, Amanda.

I’m so happy to introduce page EJ Wang—he’s there—and his parents, Bill Wang and Jin Wen Liu from my beautiful riding of Markham–Thornhill. He also is going to a very popular high school in Markham called Middlefield Collegiate Institute. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas our government is taking action to increase housing supply to make sure that everyone in Ontario can find housing based on their income and to provide certainty to municipalities to help more Ontarians find an affordable home based on their household income; and

“Whereas changing the definition of affordable housing units would qualify for development-related charge discounts and exemptions which will support the lower cost of building, purchasing, and renting affordable homes across Ontario; and

“Whereas Ontario will be consulting on new regulations to streamline hearings and speed up decisions at the Ontario Land Tribunal that will help set service standards and prioritize those cases that would create the most housing; and

“Whereas Ontario is working closely with the federal government to increase the supply of purpose-built housing by removing federal and provincial portions of the HST that will make it easier and cheaper to build these important housings; and

“Whereas the province is seeing meaningful progress in its plan to build homes. Both 2021 and 2022 saw the most housing starts in over 30 years, with close to 100,000 homes built in each year. In 2022, Ontario recorded close to 15,000 purpose-built rental housing starts, the highest number on record.

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

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to continue to take action tackling the housing supply crisis and making life more affordable for all Ontarians.”

I fully endorse this petition, will sign my name to it and give it to page Paxten.

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

Second reading agreed to.

Mr. Saunderson moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr21, An Act to revive 1105954 Ontario Limited.

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

Ms. Bowman moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr22, An Act to revive League Technique Inc.

Second reading agreed to.

Ms. Bowman moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr22, An Act to revive League Technique Inc.

This petition is entitled “All-Day, Two-Way (Including Weekend) GO Trains for Waterloo Region.”

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the government of Ontario is responsible for investing in building, maintaining and upgrading GO Transit trains and rail routes throughout the province; and

“Whereas the government of Ontario has repeatedly made commitments to invest in and improve GO Transit trains for the purposes of improving connectivity, increasing transit ridership, decreasing traffic congestion, connecting people to jobs, and improving the economy; and

“Whereas a lack of reliable transit options impedes quality of life and growth opportunities for commuters and businesses, including the tech sector, in Waterloo region;

“Whereas Waterloo region is home to three post-secondary institutions, the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Conestoga College, whose students and staff require weekday and weekend train options; and

“Whereas dependable, efficient public transit seven days of the week is critical to the growth of our region;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to provide a firm funding commitment and a clear timeline for the delivery of frequent, all-day, two-way GO rail service along the full length of the vital Kitchener GO corridor.”

It’s my pleasure to affix my signature and give this petition to page Ananya.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario is taking the next step to better connect and coordinate people’s home care services through Ontario health teams; and

“Whereas the province has already approved 57 teams across the province that will help people experience easier transitions from one provider to another, with one patient record and one care plan being shared; and

“Whereas the government is investing over $128 million to provide OHTs with $2.2 million over three years to better coordinate people’s care. This would establish a new single organization called Ontario Health atHome that will coordinate all home care services across the province through the Ontario health teams; and

“Whereas instead of navigating a complex system and waiting for a call at home, Ontario health teams will be able to provide people with easy-to-understand home care plans and what care they will receive before going home from the hospital; and

“Whereas care coordinators would be assigned to work within OHTs and other front-line care settings to facilitate seamless transitions for people from hospital or primary care to home care services; and

“Whereas an initial group of 12 Ontario health teams have been chosen to accelerate their work to deliver home care in their local communities starting in 2025. With support from the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health, these teams will start by focusing on seamlessly transitioning people experiencing chronic disease through their primary care, hospital, and home and community care needs;

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

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to build on the progress this government has made on building a patient-centred home and community care system.”

I fully endorse this petition, will sign my name to it and give it to page Gurkaram.