This petition is entitled “Fix WSIB Now...;

“Whereas the purpose of workers’ compensation is to provide income replacement and other benefits to workers or their survivors when workplace accidents and occupational diseases harm or kill workers; and

“Whereas section 43(4) of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, operates to deny benefits to permanently injured workers, even when they do not actually have any new jobs and income; and

“Whereas this statutory provision has caused unjust and irrational financial loss, hardship and ruin to persons suffering from permanent disabilities;

“Therefore we, the undersigned residents of Ontario, call upon the Legislature of Ontario to support injured workers by adopting Bill 57, Respecting Injured Workers Act (Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment), 2022, introduced December 7, 2022, by Wayne Gates, NDP (MPP—Niagara Falls).”

I’d like to thank the citizens of Thunder Bay for supporting this petition. I fully support it and will give it to Saniyah to take to the table.

I’m proud to present this petition on behalf of the good people of Toronto Centre.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas this government knew exactly what was coming with the Omicron wave—we all did. But they marched us right into it without preparing hospitals and long-term-care homes;

“Whereas hospitals are so understaffed and overrun that people are left to worry if they can get the care they need;

“Whereas front-line health care heroes are exhausted, run off their feet on every shift, getting sick at an alarming rate, and doing it all while being disrespected by the government;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“—scrap Bill 124 and increase health care workers’ wages;

“—increase hospital funding that matches inflation, population and the community’s needs;

“—give all workers 10 permanent paid sick days;

“—expedite recognition of nursing credentials of 15,000 internationally trained nurses;

“—create new jobs for late-career and recently retired nurses in supervisory roles and mentorship roles;

“—implement a funded return-to-nursing program to bring back the over 4,000 nurses who have left the profession.”

Sorry, Speaker, I’m just not feeling well. I proudly affix my signature to this petition and send it back to the Clerks’ desk. Thank you very much.

“Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas health care and support services are increasingly understaffed workplaces; and

“Whereas health and care services rank second highest for lost-time injuries (LTIs) among all sectors in Ontario; and

“Whereas complex care is increasingly prevalent with a growing and aging population; and

“Whereas recipients of care prefer services outside of large institutions and close to or inside their homes, whether group homes, retirement homes, or other residential care facilities; and

“Whereas personal support workers (PSWs) are the backbone of retirement homes and home and community care settings that deliver care for seniors; and

“Whereas developmental support workers (DSWs) are the backbone of group homes and similar residential care facilities that deliver care for people with exceptionalities; and

“Whereas bites, cuts, broken bones are all-too-common injuries when doing this work; and

“Whereas all group home and residential care workers deserve workplace protections as we ask them to care for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities; and

“Whereas it is not currently mandatory for employers to provide WSIB protections to PSWs and DSWs, particularly in retirement homes and group homes where a majority of workers like them provide care; and

“Whereas approximately 25% of health and care workers have no WSIB protections under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997; and

“Whereas efforts to expand WSIB coverage to PSWs and DSWs and all workers like them have received yes votes from members of all political parties represented in the Legislature in the past; and

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

“Legislate or regulate an expansion of mandatory WSIB coverage to all health and care service workers in Ontario by categorizing all those who operate a group home or residential care facilities or home/community care, including retirement homes, rest homes and senior citizens’ residences a schedule 1 employer.”

I want to thank the good people of SEIU for canvassing and collecting the signatures for this petition.

I have this petition here titled “To Raise Social Assistance Rates,” and it’s been signed by constituents in many Conservative ridings: Burlington, Hamilton, Mississauga, Binbrook, Lynden and so many different areas—a lot of Conservative ridings. It reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and woefully inadequate to cover the basic costs of food and rent;

“Whereas individuals on the Ontario Works program receive just $733 per month and individuals on the Ontario Disability Support Program receive just $1,169 per month, only 41% and 65% of the poverty line;

“Whereas the Ontario government has not increased social assistance rates since 2018, and Canada’s inflation rate in January 2022 was 5.1%, the highest rate in 30 years;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized through the CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to increase social assistance rates to a base of $2,000 per month for those on Ontario Works and to increase other programs accordingly.”

“To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas the recent small increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens well below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to live in this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I couldn’t agree more. I will affix my signature to it.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to see the clock at 6.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario: ...

“Whereas a growing number of people in Ontario suffering from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) have to seek out-of-country treatment at their own expense because doctors in Ontario don’t have the knowledge or skills to understand EDS symptoms and perform the required delicate and complicated surgeries; and

“Whereas those EDS victims who can’t afford the expensive treatment outside of Ontario are forced to suffer a deteriorating existence and risk irreversible tissue and nerve damage...; and

“Whereas despite Ontario Ministry of Health claims that there are neurosurgeon doctors in Ontario who can perform surgeries on EDS patients when surgery is recommended, the Ontario referring physicians fail to identify any Ontario neurosurgeon willing or able to see and treat the patient;

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

“Require the Minister of Health to provide funding to hire”—at least—“one neurosurgeon who can and will perform neurosurgeries on EDS patients with equivalent or identical skills to the international EDS neurosurgeon specialists, including funding for a state-of-the-art operating room with diagnostic equipment for treatments for EDS patients; and meet the Canada Health Act’s requirement to afford equal access to medical treatment for patients, regardless of their ability to pay for out-of-country services.”

I support the petition. I thank my St. Paul’s community for signing and will hand it over to Ananya for tabling.

I just wanted to correct my record: During my response to the fall economic statement, I said 2.1 Ontarians don’t have a doctor; it’s 2.1 million Ontarians who don’t have a doctor.

I recognize the member for Waterloo.

Orders of the day?

The House adjourned at 1351.