My question is for the Minister of Health. We saw the previous Liberal government here in Ontario stretch our hospitals to a breaking point in Niagara West and across the rest of this province. We saw that hallway health care, reckless mismanagement, out-of-control spending and scandals define their management of our health care system.

Since I was elected in 2016, I’ve been advocating on behalf of my constituents and all the people of Ontario for an improved health care system. I know that this Premier and this government are getting it done by prioritizing investments in our patients’ care when and where they need it.

So my question to the minister, Speaker, is: What is this government doing to ensure that every person in the province of Ontario has access to primary care when and where they need it?

It’s encouraging to see that this government is making record investments to help people in my community and so many others. I was pleased to see that 11 primary care organizations in the Niagara region actually received funding as part of a historic announcement into our area. From Wainfleet to Port Colborne, from Fort Erie to Grimsby, Niagara is going to be getting the convenient care that the people in our region deserve. A $2.4-million investment will mean that an additional 7,600 constituents are going to be receiving primary care. We know that every person in Ontario should have access to well-connected care when and where they need it, and that is exactly what this minister is working on.

Could the minister please elaborate on what this government is doing to connect people in every corner of our province to the care they need?

My question is to the Premier. Speaker, when it comes to my community in Niagara, the Premier and his Ministry of Health promised over a year ago to provide a nurse practitioner to the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The town desperately needs a nurse practitioner, and the Premier has failed to act. Speaker, when will the Premier ensure that the people of Niagara-on-the-Lake get the public nurse practitioner service they need and deserve?

Interjections.

I can’t hold this up, but this is a headline on the Niagara-on-the-Lake local paper, not by me, Premier, but written by Penny Coles: “Why won’t the health minister keep her promise to” Niagara-on-the-Lake? So it’s not me.

Speaker, back to the Premier, in Niagara, we have families in desperate need of a primary care doctor. A recent report from the Auditor General revealed the Premier is underfunding public health care by $21 billion while increasing funding for for-profit hospitals and clinics by 300%.

We have an urgent care centre in Fort Erie—and why I gave your phone number out—closed to residents overnight, and still no nurse practitioner in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We have emergency rooms closing and urgent care closing last year in record numbers.

Speaker, when will the Premier drop the privatization scheme, invest in publicly funded, publicly delivered nurse practitioners for every resident in Ontario?