Member for Eglinton–Lawrence and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

Once again, the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

I find that response profoundly disappointing to the policy discourse directed at women’s health and gender equity. Six million Ontarians have access to public funding contraceptives? The vast, vast majority of those six million Ontarians are men, children and seniors.

While I recognize your numbers are provided by staff, let me be clear that only a fraction of the six million you mentioned are women and gender-diverse individuals that need these barriers removed. It’s not the time for coached language.

Speaker, through you, with two days until the debate, we need you to be crystal clear that you commit to universal contraception access—that means everyone who needs it can get it.

Interjections.

Thank you to the member from St. Catharines for the question. Our government is making great strides to support women’s health, including the recent announcement of breast cancer screening from 40 years of age, which has been welcomed by the community. We have six publicly funded drug programs for Ontarians who need help getting the medications they need to live a healthy life. Through the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, many commonly used birth control products are available to eligible Ontarians as part of nearly 5,000 medications, which are part of this program. With six million Ontarians eligible to receive the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, nearly half of all Ontarians are eligible. OHIP+ assistance is also available to Ontarians 25 years of age or younger that are not covered by a private insurance plan.

Ontario invested through the ODB roughly $16 million on contraception in the 2021-22 fiscal year. With almost half of people covered, we’re making sure that Ontarians get the health care that they need when they need it.

Our government is making it easier for Ontarians to get prescriptions they need, such as birth control. Thanks to changes that we announced recently—I think it was November 6—we’ve made qualified midwives and registered nurses now able to provide convenient access to birth control prescriptions.

Through the Ontario Drug Benefit Program many commonly used birth control products are available to eligible Ontarians as part of nearly 5,000 medications covered by the program. With six million Ontarians eligible to receive the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, nearly half of all Ontarians are eligible.

We are going to continue to work to make sure that Ontarians are connected to convenient care where and when they need it across the province.

Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for her response.

Lowering the cost of living is precisely what our government has fought for, and that’s precisely why we challenged the carbon tax all the way to the Supreme Court.

However, the worst part about the carbon tax is that it will only make life worse and more expensive for all of us. Worse, the federal government and opposition parties want to nearly triple this tax by 2030.

The carbon tax hurts our businesses, impacts our economy and hurts workers.

Can the parliamentary assistant please explain the impact of future tax increases on the people of Ontario?

I’m thinking back to my days in court, and one of my favourite objections was, “Your Honour, this question has been asked and answered.” I would say that some would say that’s happening here. But why? Because the carbon tax is still here. So we’re going to keep on asking and we’re going to keep on answering until the carbon tax is gone.

It’s driving up heating costs, it’s driving up food costs—but it’s not just that. I called the effect of this tax “insidious” and that’s what it is, and in every question and answer that we’ve had here about the carbon tax, we’ve seen examples of that over and over. You drive up the cost of gas. You drive up the cost to farmers who produce our food. You drive up the cost to truckers to ship our food. As the dominoes fall and the ripples spread, ultimately someone has to pay that price and, unfortunately, right now, it’s the taxpayer. It comes down to common sense and axing the tax.

Member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question.

For years, health care in the north has not been performing well, and we know that more needs to be done.

In the 2012 Auditor General’s report on health human resources, it was revealed that northern Ontario had a shortage of 200 physicians, or 40,000 hours of care.

Under the former government, supported by the opposition as well, little was done.

But this government is getting things done. That’s why we issued Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, and thousands of copies of that plan have been distributed.

Our government is expanding the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine offers a total of 108 seats—nearly doubling that capacity for their MD program. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine will increase those graduate positions from 60 to 123 by 2028.

We’re making sure that the resources will be there for people in the north.

Years of neglect by previous governments, supported by the New Democrats, got us into the situation that we’re in today. But we’re taking action to fix the mistakes of past governments.

I can’t believe the member opposite is complaining about the number of ministers going to the north from this government. That should be a good thing.

We are paying attention to what’s happening in the north, and we’re already seeing results from our plan.

We’re nearly doubling the capacity of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, which keeps northerners in the north while pursuing the education they need to become medical professionals. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is attracting future professionals who will experience the advantages and the beauty of living in the north while they’re making plans about where to live and work.

We’re going to continue to work with all of our partners, including Ontario Health, northern hospital corporations, health sector unions, to address the challenges that are unique to northern Ontario. Thank goodness our ministers are going there all the time so that they know what those challenges are on the ground and can let us know so we can make sure that we’re addressing them. We’re going to keep working for the north.

The carbon tax is hurting truckers and their families. These are the same people who keep our shelves stocked. They were the same ones who were driving across this province when nobody else wanted to drive, during the pandemic.

I was speaking to many truckers over the past couple of weeks. The Ontario Trucking Association told me that there’s about a 17.5-cent impact per litre on the truckers. For a long-haul trucker, that equates to about $15,000 to $20,000 a year. That’s $15,000 to $20,000 that that trucker could be spending to support his family, put his kids in hockey.

At a time when we’re facing a cost-of-living crisis, I urge the member of the independent Liberals, in his last couple of days as leader, to call the Prime Minister and tell him to do the right thing and scrap the carbon tax.

Imagine an owner of five trucks, long-haul drivers—the cost of the carbon tax per year is anywhere between $75,000 to $100,000, because of the carbon tax. This is directly relating to an increase in not just grocery costs but everything that gets delivered by these hard-working men and women in our trucking industry.

It’s important that the Liberals and the NDP stand up for truckers and ask the federal government to scrap the carbon tax.

My question is for the Minister of Transportation.

Since the federal government imposed the carbon tax, the people of Ontario have been paying more for everything.

Speaker, people in my community tell me that every time they go to the grocery store to buy food, they find it challenging to keep up with the rising costs.

The reality is that the carbon tax is making life unaffordable for everyone. It’s unfair that many individuals and families across this province continue to struggle to buy the necessities for daily living.

Can the minister please explain how the carbon tax negatively affects the hard-working people of Ontario?

Speaker, the federal government has increased the carbon tax on gasoline five times so far, and they are planning another seven increases by the year 2030.

Grocery prices are already unaffordable for too many people, as are the costs for other products and services.

Simply put, the carbon tax is wrong and unfair and makes life harder for everyone. The carbon tax adversely affects our businesses and negatively impacts our economy and Ontario workers. Further increases to the carbon tax will only make the situation worse.

Can the minister please elaborate on how the carbon tax makes life unaffordable for all Ontarians?

My question is to the Premier.

The Alliance for a Liveable Ontario came out with a new report. It shows how bad our housing affordability crisis is. It gives a snapshot of the amount of affordable homes that we need, and the numbers are, quite frankly, astronomical. Ontario needs over 300,000 affordable one-bedroom homes for low-income households.

Given the need for affordable rental, why have the Conservatives been relentless in their approach, in pushing for expensive, sprawl-style housing instead?

I don’t know, Speaker; I mean, we’ve been relentless on all forms of housing: affordable housing, attainable housing and long-term-care homes for seniors. We’ve been relentless on purpose-built rentals. That’s why we have the highest starts in the province’s history.

We want all forms of housing, because ostensibly what we want to do is get people out of their parents’ basements, for one—because I think that has always been the dream of the people of the province of Ontario. When you’ve come to this country and when you come to this province, many people dream of owning their own home. That has escaped them, ostensibly because of the policies of the Liberals and the NDP to put obstacles in the way of doing so.

We are on track to building 1.5 million homes for the people of the province of Ontario. We’re going to build it along our transit corridors because we’re spending billions of dollars along those corridors. We’re making it easier for people to access affordable homes. We have a bill before this House which is modifying the definition of “affordability,” which they support, and I think we’re well on our way.

To the Premier: A constituent in my riding has been living in Kapuskasing for the last five decades, and over 20 years ago her family doctor left the city to close the practice, leaving her without a primary care physician. For those 20 years, every time a new clinic has opened, she applied, but every single time, she was told that they were already full. She is now past her retirement age, health issues are arising, and she cannot access primary care.

Premier, what is your government going to do today to put an end to the shortage of family doctors in the north?

Our children in our schools are facing incredible challenges. More than half of students say they are depressed about the future, yet only one in 10 schools have regularly scheduled access to a mental health professional. Demands for special education supports is increasing, but the government is refusing to fully fund it. The lack of mental health and special education resources are contributing to an epidemic of violence in our schools.

Why has the Premier cut funding for education by $1,200 per student instead of providing the help our kids so desperately need?

You can’t learn if you can’t even get to school, but thanks to this government’s changes to the transportation funding formula, students across the province are having trouble even getting to school. The problem will be even worse next year if this isn’t fixed now. Costs are going up. It’s hard to find and retain drivers. But the government just isn’t taking these challenges seriously.

Will the Premier commit today to revising his broken school transportation formula and provide the necessary funding to make sure that all of our kids can get to school everyday?

The supplementary question.

The next question.

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 90, An Act to amend the Labour Relations Act, 1995 with respect to replacement workers / Projet de loi 90, Loi modifiant la Loi de 1995 sur les relations de travail en ce qui concerne les travailleurs suppléants.

The division bells rang from 1143 to 1148.

On November 23, 2023, MPP West moved second reading of Bill 90, An Act to amend the Labour Relations Act, 1995 with respect to replacement workers.

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

Second reading negatived.

The House recessed from 1152 to 1300.

Report continues in volume B.

It’s very clear that the NDP are literally against every form of housing. There are advocates in the gallery so they talk about affordable housing today, but when it comes to actually voting in favour of transit-oriented communities they vote against that. We want to ensure—

Interjection.

Interjections.

If the member opposite wants to do something about affordability, call Jagmeet Singh: 1-613-JAGMEET—not 1-800—and tell him to bring down—

Interjections.

Thank you to the member for the question. Speaker, after two straight elections of failing to win even official party status, the leaderless Liberals are still doubling down on this undeniable, unsupportable carbon tax, and they’re still saying no. They say no to reducing the cost of living. They say no to supporting northern Ontario businesses—

Interjection.

Under their watch, they chased away 300,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs, closed 600 schools and built less than 700 long-term-care beds when the province needs thousands.

It’s clearer than ever: When the Liberals and the NDP have no plan but to tax—

Our government will reduce the price of fuel. Our government will support innovation to create jobs and reduce emissions. Our government is creating more jobs with bigger paycheques. Speaker, our government will deliver relief to the people of Ontario. It’s our government supporting and building this province.

The best way we can improve the lives of children is to keep them in class every single day without interruption, and that’s why this government is proud to have delivered another deal with ETFO last week. I will note that the members opposite have been quite silent on the progress the government is making to provide stability for all of our constituents. We should celebrate progress if it’s good for kids.

I will also note, on mental health, the member opposite mentioned an issue that is close to heart of our government. We increased funding by 550% when compared with the peak of spending under Premier Wynne. I will note for the trustees from Ottawa who are with us today and across Ontario that the New Democrats have systematically voted against that increase in every single budget.

This year, we increased funding to annualize it based on the good feedback of our school board trustees to make sure children can get access to the continuity of services. In the summer, we did that. This year, we’re increasing funding: $14 million next year and $16 million the year after. We will be there to support children in this province, Speaker.

But in addition to that, the member also spoke about bus drivers. We’ve actually increased bus driver wages, starting with an average of 23%. We’ve added statutory benefits of 30%. That never existed. We’re actually paying bus drivers for the first time for 10 statutory holidays, four days of dry runs. All of this was recommended and endorsed by School Bus Ontario, and again, the members opposite were silent because they can’t put good public policy ahead of their own political interests and celebrate support for our bus drivers, who work so hard every single day.

Now, Mr. Speaker, we increased funding. We know there’s more to do. Learning loss is at a historic high. It’s why we stand strong in defence of keeping kids in school. If members opposite want to be constructive as they meet trustees today, tell them you will use your influence on labour and urge OECTA, urge AEFO to get a deal with this government so all kids could have peace, stability and hope for the year ahead.

My question is to the Associate Minister of Small Business. I was shocked when I heard the Liberal member for Kanata–Carleton say in this House that the federal carbon tax is making life better for the people of Ontario. Unlike the independent Liberal members, my constituents have been very clear about the negative impact this tax is having on them. The carbon tax increases their expenses and makes operating their businesses more challenging. They certainly don’t need politicians advocating for increased costs and additional red tape. That’s why our government must be laser-focused on lowering prices however we can.

Can the associate minister please explain how the carbon tax is negatively impacting small businesses across Ontario?

The ayes are 30; the nays are 58.