My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. The forestry industry is a major driver of our economy and generates billions in revenue every year, and if it wasn’t for the Ontario forestry industry, we wouldn’t be able to build the 1.5 million homes that we need over the next decade.

The forestry industry in Ontario is one of the biggest drivers in our housing industry. With an abundant supply of forest biomass products in our province, it is of critical importance that we support this emerging industry and its innovators. Our government must continue to explore all options to address untapped economic growth in the north and unlock the full benefits from Ontario’s biomass potential.

Can the minister please share how our government is doing everything we can to support job growth, attract investment, and secure the long-term future of our forest industry?

Thank you very much. The next question.

Well, I’m pleased that the Liberal member is finally interested in expanding primary care, because, respectfully, this is the first expansion of primary care teams since multidisciplinary primary care teams were formed in the province of Ontario. So clearly, there is a great deal of interest, and the member is right. We have had expression-of-interest proposals come in from literally across Ontario, hundreds of proposals that we are now assessing, reviewing, making sure that the investments we have committed to through our budget—and the member opposite and the other members of the NDP and the Liberals voted against—are going to happen in this term under our leadership.

I can assure the honourable member that I’ve actually been meeting with the mayor of Ottawa on a weekly basis since I became Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. We are working with him to address some of the challenges that he is indeed facing in the city of Ottawa. So I can assure the honourable member that we are working very closely with the mayor and his team to address some of those challenges that they’re facing.

But let me just say this: I am working very closely with the mayor of Ottawa, and also with the members of provincial Parliament from that area on our side. We are meeting very closely with them. We’re identifying some of the challenges that they’re having. We’ll continue those discussions with them, and we will make sure that we continue to support the city of Ottawa. We know how important it is not only to Ontario’s economy, but it is a very, very important tourist jurisdiction.

I had the opportunity to live in Ottawa for a number of years, Mr. Speaker. It’s an important university town. It is so important to the economic development and growth to build a bigger, better, bolder, stronger Ontario. We need Ottawa, and we’ll make sure that we’re there for them.

Thank you to the member for the question and the great work he does for his constituents every day. I was in the great riding of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke on Friday with the great member from that area. If anyone saw the pictures, we were standing in front of a giant pile of wood chips. We were at Lavern Heideman and Sons, a great mill operator in the Eganville area, and that was to announce multiple projects being supported by our biomass action plan.

Also in the valley: Ben Hokum and Son receiving dollars, Roseburg Forest Products receiving dollars, but companies all throughout Ontario receiving dollars through this program to make sure that we are growing the forestry industry and the forestry sector. We’re looking towards the future of what forestry can be.

The previous government didn’t know what to with the forestry industry. We know exactly what to do with it: grow it, create jobs and use biomass as the future to make chemicals and other things that we need, energy here in Ontario, fertilizer projects. The potential of biomass is unlimited, and these projects and these investments will support our forestry sector, support our forest sector strategy. We know that forestry is important in Ontario. We’re moving forward—

One of those opportunities is working with an Indigenous-led company called Infinite Carbon Corp. They said they’re committed to sustainability. Infinite Carbon is immensely grateful for the essential support from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. The funding through our biomass action plan has been key in laying the necessary groundwork for meaningful ecological change within our forest sector.

We do not want to find solutions elsewhere for the challenges we have in Ontario. We want to use our forestry sector to continue to grow northern Ontario. Again, previous governments didn’t know what to do with the forestry sector. We know exactly what to do with the forestry sector: grow it every single day.

Thank you. And the supplementary question.

Let’s talk about the minister’s record. There have been 20 emergency room closures in eastern Ontario so far this year, some of them for multiple days. Every time this happens it means chaos and long drives for patients in need of urgent care and it means longer wait-times for Ottawa emergency rooms, contributing to off-load delays for paramedics in Ottawa and over 1,400 level zeroes for Ottawa ambulances this year alone.

Why is the Minister of Health breaking our public health care system, with no regard to the patients who are paying the price?

My question is to the Minister of Health. After Niagara lost access to two of their urgent care centres after 8 p.m., I looked at the ER wait times at St. Catharines general. It was five hours—the longest wait times across all Niagara, Hamilton and Brant. With Niagara’s significant senior population, chronic conditions, doctor shortages and staffing crises worsening with Bill 124, it is deeply problematic to see continual defence of regional service cuts reported by the Ontario Health Coalition.

Minster, you hold the purse strings to adequately fund hospitals. Why not put a stop to these closures and increase funding to hospitals for the seniors in Niagara that need them the most, right now?

Good morning, everyone, and Merry Christmas. Christmas is, of course, the season of love and hope. Last week the Premier professed his hope for Toronto, the city he grew up and the city he loves.

I grew up in Ottawa and I love my city, and our city has problems just like Toronto. We have problems with homelessness. We have problems with transportation. We have problems with our city running deficits. In recognition of the season of love and hope, when will this government show some love for the city of Ottawa?

Now that there is a precedent to upload highways to the province, will the government commit to uploading Highway 174 back to provincial responsibility so the city can spend that money improving local roads, investing in public transit and reducing commute times for Orléans residents?

Just a gentle reminder to the member opposite that in fact hospital base budgets were increased by an average of 4% in our last budget. We invested $44 million in every single hospital. This is unheard-of, never happened before. We invested $44 million to make sure that those hospitals, including smaller hospitals across Ontario, had sufficient resources to ensure that their emergency departments remained open.

We have invested in our paramedic services, with dedicated off-load nursing programs that ensure paramedics can quickly be able to transfer their patients to a nurse, a respiratory therapist or a paramedic who is stationed in the emergency department to make sure that those paramedics get back out into community quickly.

We have so many programs that have made an impact in hospitals across Ontario and we will continue to work with our hospital partners.

What does that mean, Speaker? It means that people who had to wait, who had to be transferred to other hospitals, now have an MRI machine in their community. That allows those physicians to get that diagnostic piece that is so important to make sure that we have health care close to home. We’ll continue to make those investments. Unfortunately, if your history is any indication, you will continue to vote against it.

Mr. Speaker, let me start by wishing everyone a merry Christmas and happy, safe holidays.

My question is for the Minister of Long-Term Care. For far too long, seniors in Ontario were neglected by the previous Liberal government. More than 40,000 Ontarians, including my residents of Mississauga–Erin Mills, were left waiting for a bed, and they needed to wait an average of 123 days to be placed in a long-term-care home. That’s unacceptable, Speaker. Our seniors deserve a government that works for them and helps them live comfortably and with dignity. We must do all that we can to build more homes and more beds across all communities to create a better future for our elderly residents.

Speaker, can the minister please share with the House how our government is ensuring that seniors in Ontario are getting the quantity of care and the quality of life they need and deserve?

My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Just recently, many of my constituents from Burlington joined fans from across the country to watch Canada’s biggest sporting and cultural event. This year’s Grey Cup did not disappoint, including the lively festivities following the game. Multiple outlets have reported it was a Grey Cup for the ages.

The Grey Cup is more than just a football game; it plays a critical role in fuelling Hamilton’s local economy and tourism sector, drawing over 28,000 people in attendance.

Speaker, can the minister please share how events like the Grey Cup unite communities and bring Ontario economic prosperity?

It’s encouraging to see the positive effects sporting events have on Ontario’s tourism sector. Our tourism sector attracts visitors to the area, boosts local businesses and creates jobs. Many people in my riding of Burlington rely on tourism for their jobs, and they have appreciated the various investments that saw them through times of lower attendance at their venues and activities.

As we see the ongoing strength in Ontario’s tourism, our government must continue to take the lead in supporting its development to unlock our province’s true economic potential.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on our government’s efforts in building the tourism industry?

Thank you very much.

Supplementary?

I would like to thank the member for the question and all the work that she does, and her friendship.

I’d also like to wish everyone a healthy and happy new year and holiday season—and Christmas, by the way.

This year’s 110th Grey Cup—and no, Mr. Speaker, I have not been around for all of them—

Interjection: That’s debatable.

Well, you know, the occasional quip from either side also helps.

Interjection: You’ve been around for lots of them.

I’d like to identify the Hamilton Sports Group, because they took the Grey Cup, which is a game and activities, and turned it into a regional festival. The Grey Cup isn’t just about a party and a pregame party; it started in Hamilton on Wednesday night, and that experience went all the way through to game time.

There were player awards, and that regional piece meant we went to Niagara and Niagara hosted a sport tourism summit that I’ll talk about in a minute. But player awards, a concert afterwards, free shuttle service for people back and forth from Hamilton: Mr. Speaker, it was a great experience, and I’ll tell you a bit more—

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, it can’t go without saying, thanking the mayor of Hamilton and the chambers of commerce for both Niagara and Hamilton for really stepping up and supporting sport tourism—because it was about a game, but it was about bringing people together.

I think most people know—certainly football fans know—that CFL fans travel really well to the Grey Cup, across the country: not just a couple hundred, but thousands and thousands from every market. Because of our support, CFL fans had a better experience this time—again, thanks to Hamilton Sports Group and the chambers and everyone who were part of staging the Grey Cup in Hamilton.

Mr. Speaker, I can’t tell you how important it was to make a massive impact in the city, not about the game, not about just the day before, but the full week. The people of Hamilton benefited. The people of the region benefited.

Sport tourism is a big driver of our economy, especially on a national level. But let’s not forget about the local hockey and football tournaments that travel around, that support all our ridings.

Ma question est pour la ministre des Collèges et Universités.

Madame la Ministre, la seule personne franco-ontarienne sur votre panel d’experts, appelé le « Blue Ribbon » en anglais, s’est retirée du rapport dans la section sur l’éducation supérieure et postcollégiale en français.

L’Assemblée de la francophonie, l’Université de Hearst et l’Université de l’Ontario français se sont exprimées en désaccord avec les solutions amenées par le rapport du groupe d’experts anglophones. Elles réitèrent leur demande initiale : des institutions pour, par et avec les Franco-Ontariens.

Ma question pour la ministre : Ça veut dire quoi pour vous le « pour, par et avec »?

Thank you to the member for that question. Might I remind the member that this government, under the leadership of this Premier, has done more for francophone education in Ontario than any other government? We established not only one but two stand-alone francophone universities governed by and for francophones: the Université de l’Ontario français and the Université de Hearst. This year alone, we provided $73 million in dedicated funding that supported more than 320,000 post-secondary students enrolled in 381 French-language and bilingual-language programs across the province.

In fact, this fall, with my colleagues the President of the Treasury Board as well as the Minister of Education, we were thrilled to announce an additional 110 French-language education spaces for the 2023-24 academic year, as well as stand-alone nursing programs for Boréal college in Sudbury as well as Toronto.

We are standing up for francophone education in this province.

We need to ensure that money is being spent wisely. My job as the minister is to ensure that post-secondary is viable for generations to come. That is what we are doing, and we are reviewing the recommendations and working with the sector currently. I look forward to those continued conversations.

On n’a pas entendu de réponse par rapport à « pour, par et avec », mais j’ai une autre question.

Dans les années 1960, un groupe d’experts anglophones nous disait qu’on ne pouvait pas avoir d’écoles secondaires francophones; ça coûterait trop cher—mais on les a. Dans les années 1980, un groupe d’experts anglophones nous ont dit qu’on ne pouvait pas avoir de collèges francophones; ça coûterait trop cher—mais on les a. Dans les années 1990, un autre groupe d’experts anglophones nous ont dit qu’on ne pouvait pas avoir de conseils scolaires francophones; ça coûterait trop cher—mais on les a.

Puis, il y a quelques semaines, un groupe d’experts anglophones ont écrit à la ministre pour lui dire qu’on ne pouvait pas avoir d’universités francophones; ça coûterait trop cher. Qu’est-ce que la ministre en pense?

Thanks to the minister for this response. It is great to see our government deliver on the commitment to add more beds and upgrade existing homes for our elderly residents.

Speaker, seniors currently compose 17.6% of Ontario’s population, and their share of the province’s population will continue to grow. The Canadian Institute for Health Information reveals that over the next 20 years, the seniors’ population in Canada is expected to grow by 68%. Our government must continue to address the growing numbers of aging Ontarians and their additional care needs.

Speaker, can the minister please share how our government is ensuring that every senior in Ontario has fast and convenient access to the services they need?

My question is to the Premier. Speaker, families across this province are languishing on child care wait-lists because this government has, at every turn, refused to take steps required to address the workforce crisis.

The YMCA of Greater Toronto area has just 16,000 kids enrolled in its 35,000 spaces because they don’t have the workers to staff them. Reports indicate that wait-lists can be up to two years to get access to a space in the $10-a-day child care program.

The government’s own experts say that Ontario could be short 8,500 ECEs by 2026. Workers say they can’t afford to make a living working in child care.

Will the minister finally admit he needs to listen to experts, commit to a salary scale starting at $25 per hour for all child care workers and $30 for RECEs to ensure the government can deliver on the promises for the spaces that the parents are waiting for their child care programs to access?