My question is for the Premier. The Premier often speaks about how important seniors are, calling them the backbone of our province, and I agree. But once again, his words are writing cheques the actions of his government simply can’t cash. Facing fee increases of up to $1,000 a month, dozens, if not hundreds, of seniors living at the Promenade retirement home in Orléans are facing eviction or are being pressured to move. Shady business practices and poor consumer protection, lack of government regulation on fee increases and removal of rent control on new buildings have all led to a toxic environment, undue anxiety, stress and fear for these seniors losing their homes.

Mr. Speaker, how can the Premier call seniors the backbone of our province when his government fails to offer even the most basic protections to help them age gracefully?

Thank you for the question. Seniors have worked their whole lives to have a comfortable retirement home and age well in their community. Our government has stepped in to provide relief, but the opposition stands against it. We created the Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit to help seniors pay for home care. They voted against it. We invested $1 billion to home and community care and serves to fund 500 local organizations providing care for seniors. They voted against it.

The opposition should answer their constituents on why they are voting against all the support for seniors.

My question is to the Minister of Health. Some 2.2 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor, and that number is going to double in two years. According to the Ontario Medical Association, Toronto alone is short 305 family doctors. As a result, we’re seeing private family clinics charging annual subscription fees for care pop up across Ontario under this minister’s watch.

My question is, what should Ontarians in need of a family doctor but who cannot afford to pay out of pocket do?

The Conservatives will have an opportunity today to vote on an NDP motion which proposes a practical solution that will address the problem by freeing up time for family doctors to take on more patients. It is a solution proposed by doctors themselves.

Will you support this plan so we can close the gap for people in Ontario who desperately need a family doctor now?

The supplementary question?

I agree: Seniors have worked their entire lives to stay in their homes and stay in the community where they raised their families. These seniors in Orléans are being kicked out of their home, away from their families, away from the community where they raised their families and are trying to grow old.

The owner of the Promenade retirement home is the same developer in Orléans who failed to build homes for three years, holding onto deposits, and then finally cancelled those contracts and immediately put the lots back on the market at an increased fee. Now seniors living in his retirement home are subject to scare tactics and enormous pressure to agree to massive fee increases, some of which are $1,000 a month or more.

Seniors at the Promenade are reporting unclear documentation from the provider, incomplete information on what the fees are and are not and pressure to sign documents without full explanations.

The government continues to reward their friends and supporters while seniors in Ontario are paying more.

As his friends record record profits from his friendship, what will the Premier say to these seniors in Orléans who are being forced to leave their homes because of his government’s failure to act?

As a senior myself, I want to let you know I take this personally and this Premier takes it personally. He understands how important it is to keep seniors safe.

In 2020, Ontario invested $2.8 billion in the Keeping Ontarians Safe plan. This investment during the pandemic ensured we would be prepared for future waves of COVID-19. We are ready and prepared for increased outbreaks, and we are keeping seniors safe.

Thanks to the member for Newmarket–Aurora for a great question this morning.

Once again, I’m going to stand up in the Legislature, as I have for the last several months—or, actually, a couple of years now—and talk about the fact that the federal carbon tax imposed by Justin Trudeau and the Liberals is driving up the cost of everything, from gasoline to food. People are choosing between heating and eating in this country.

And the huddle has broken over here. The Liberals are back on the line. We still don’t know exactly how they feel about the queen of the carbon tax Bonnie Crombie’s position today. She revealed it about 45 minutes ago—that she won’t be imposing a provincial carbon tax.

Our question for the Ontario Liberal caucus—because we know we’ve had members of that caucus stand up and say that people in Ontario and people in Canada are better off with the federal carbon tax than they would be without it—is what will they say today to Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals? Will they join us in asking for them to scrap that tax?

Will she stand with us? Will these Liberals that are here, the nine of them that are here, stand with us, and will they stand with our friends in the NDP, who are calling for an end to the federal carbon tax? You all should stand up as join us this morning as we call for Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals to—

Interjections.

They should be excited about the 78 primary care multidisciplinary teams that have been announced in February and are now actively recruiting. We’ve seen some of that information coming forward, and it is literally game-changing for the people who have to date been unable to access primary care physicians in the province of Ontario.

The multidisciplinary team, where you are working together as a team, not as independent clinicians, makes a better patient experience, and, frankly, it is what clinicians want to work with. They want to be able to have the opportunity, when they diagnose a patient with diabetes, to be able to transfer them to another member of the team, a dietitian, perhaps, to go over what that impact is on their lives. The multidisciplinary team approach is something that is very well documented to be a proven success story, which is why we have expanded them by 78 additional teams.

Gloria’s story is, frankly, the exact reason why we have seen what happens when you don’t ensure that you have sufficient health human resources, when you cut seats in medical schools, whether it was 10% under Bob Rae’s government or 50 medical seats under the previous Liberal government. That’s what happens. You have a constricted supply, and we’re changing that.

We are rebuilding the system to make sure that, for decades to come, we have sufficient individuals who we know want to practise in the health care field in the province of Ontario. And now, we’re expanding with medical schools in Brampton and in Scarborough. You know, Speaker, in September 2025, we will have medical students starting to train in Brampton for the first time in the province of Ontario.

So we will make those investments, and I hope the member opposite is not only sharing those expansions with her constituents who clearly want to be connected with the primary care multidisciplinary team, but also supporting these in votes in the chamber so that she can show her constituents that she is also on board and onside to expand primary care in the province of Ontario.

The member for Kitchener–Conestoga is absolutely right: It’s a shame that the NDP and Liberals are supporting the federal carbon tax, which is about to go up by 23%. I was proud to stand with the member from Kitchener–Conestoga when we announced the expansion and getting shovels in the ground on Highway 7. It’s unfortunate, though, that not only do the federal Liberals want to spike the carbon tax by 23%, they said that they don’t believe in building roads and bridges across this country, in one of the fastest-growing regions like Kitchener-Waterloo.

We will always put drivers first and put more money in their pockets. Whether it’s fighting the carbon tax or building more roads and highways, this government is committed to getting it done for the people of Ontario. We thank that member for his advocacy and making sure we fight the carbon tax and the 23% increase on April 1.

It’s also about making sure that we put more money in their pockets, like saving $125 per car or truck on licence plate renewal fees. That is something this government committed to, to put that money back into the pockets of hard-working families across this province. But that’s not it. Through the Get It Done Act, any future government that would want to impose a carbon tax will have to take it to the people through a referendum. Our government will do anything and everything we can to ensure money stays with families.

Supplementary question?

My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Families in my riding of Kitchener–Conestoga tell me over and over they need immediate relief from the costly carbon tax—the same tax that the members opposite and their friends in Ottawa want to keep hiking. At a time when many Ontario households are struggling to pay for monthly necessities and put food on the table, it is unfair to add an additional cost to their bills. But the NDP and the Liberals continue to ignore the needs of their constituents by supporting this punitive tax, Speaker. Our government must stand behind the hard-working individuals and families in our province and keep costs down.

Can the minister please tell this House what steps our government is taking to fight the carbon tax?

They don’t have a plan to build infrastructure, they don’t have a plan for transit and they don’t have a plan to bring down the cost of living. They are too focused on how to increase taxes for families and businesses. Life is already expensive for the hard-working people of our province. It is essential that our government continues to call on the federal government to eliminate the carbon tax completely while making life more affordable for Ontarians.

Can the minister please share what our government is doing to protect the people of this province from the pocket-picking carbon tax policy?

My question is to the Premier. Gloria moved to London West in 2021 and has an autoimmune disease. For the last three years, she has been registered with Health Care Connect, all while desperately searching for a doctor to help her manage her condition. She told me, “It shocks everyone I know when I tell them I don’t have a doctor.”

What advice does the Premier have for the more than 65,000 Londoners like Gloria who feel hopeless about ever being able to access primary care?

Susan also has a rare autoimmune disease. She lives in London West, and she was informed three months ago that her family doctor was closing his practice at the end of March. Without another doctor to take over, he advised his patients to contact Health Care Connect. When Susan called to register, she was told she must first de-roster with her current doctor, even though he was still practising for three months. Forcing Susan to leave her doctor early, then go potentially years without another doctor, has Susan feeling angry, helpless and very, very worried about her health.

What advice does the Premier have for Londoners like Susan?

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 each year. With an abundant supply of forest biomass products in our province, it’s of critical importance that we support this emerging industry and its innovation.

But the federal carbon tax effects are widespread, creating delays and financial hardships that negatively impact Ontario’s growth and economic prosperity. Our government must continue to do everything we can to support job growth and attract investment for our forestry industry.

Speaker, can the minister please share how our government is strengthening the forestry sector without introducing punitive taxes?

Under the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, the potential of our forestry sector was unrecognized and untapped. What’s worse, the federal Liberals are now punishing the forestry businesses with an unfair and unnecessary tax.

Companies in Ontario, especially those in rural, remote and northern communities, are already struggling every day to stay competitive due to many fiscal pressures. In this time of economic and affordability uncertainty, let’s not tax Ontarians more.

Speaker, can the minister please share how our government is protecting forestry businesses from the negative impacts of the federal carbon tax?

Thank you very much to the member from Peterborough–Kawartha for the question. I’ve seen the shoes. They are beautiful.

I was in Timmins recently to make a great announcement, and we were at Millson Forestry Service, a second-generation business in Timmins, to announce a $60-million investment in our biomass plan. That’s on top of the $20 million we’ve already invested—so $80 million invested in biomass and forestry in Ontario.

When you make investments like that, what you’re doing is creating opportunity and Millson Forestry Service is taking advantage of that opportunity with $500,000 to create a heat recovery system, allowing that second-generation company to heat one of its buildings and sell some of the compost. Why are they doing that, Mr. Speaker? Well, Jenny Millson, owner of the company, said the federal carbon tax has had a significant impact on Millson forestry’s operations.

We’re supporting business. The members opposite only know how to tax small business. We’re always going to support those small businesses.

My question this morning is for the Premier. Hamilton has a shortage of 114 doctors, which is one of the highest shortages in the province. Currently, 60,000 people don’t have a family doctor in Hamilton. In two years, that number, shockingly, is expected to double.

Right now, family doctors spend 40% of their time doing paperwork and administrative tasks instead of caring for and seeing their patients.

This afternoon, we will be debating our opposition day motion that will propose clear solutions to this burden on our health care system. My question: Will you support our opposition day motion, or will you continue to force doctors to spend their time on unnecessary paperwork instead of treating patients?

But instead of fixing the problem that I’m discussing, your government, Premier, is making this problem worse by—shockingly enough—allowing for-profit companies like Shoppers Drug Mart to profit from unsolicited MedsCheck calls. Imagine: for-profit health care. Shoppers makes $75 for a phone call while our doctors are forced to sign off. Our doctors have to sign off without compensation. So this is insulting to our already burned-out, overworked group of family doctors in Ontario, not to mention Hamilton.

So my question to the Premier: Why are you forcing family doctors to do paperwork for mega-corporations like Shoppers Drug Mart, instead of treating and seeing their patients?

For 15 years, the Liberal government showed that they can’t be trusted to support business in Ontario, and for the lifetime of this government, we’ve shown that we support business in Ontario every single day.

That terrible carbon tax is working against renewable resource projects and getting them off the ground. It’s punishing the forestry business. Our government knows better. We’re going to continue to make those smart investments to help job creators, help workers, help grow our economy and bring prosperity to the province of Ontario.

I’ll just go back to Millson Forestry services for a second—again, a great second-generation family business supporting our forestry sector. This investment will support their business while reducing forest by-products; meanwhile, that Liberal carbon tax is just taking money out of their pockets. They said that it’s making it harder to do business.

You know, when it comes to the carbon tax, it’s the same old song: The Liberals tax your wallet till the money is all gone.

I’ve looked at the oppo day motion for the NDP and I have to say it concerns me that they are suggesting that the Ontario Medical Association is not the appropriate place to make sure that we work collaboratively with them on paperwork and ensuring that they are in front of patients.

When I see the expansions that are happening in Hamilton and across your region, what are you telling your constituents when I see that the Greater Hamilton Health Network primary care stakeholder council has a new primary care multidisciplinary team as a result of February’s announcement? Those are on-the-ground impacts that will make a difference in your community and communities across Ontario.

We need to ensure that everyone who wants a primary care physician has the opportunity to do that. And the only way we can do that is through expansion of medical seats, expansion of all—

Thank you to the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan for his continued support in working hard to save the people of Ontario money.

Speaker, everyone knows that the federal government is failing us with the continued increase in the carbon tax. Since 2018, under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government has worked hard to end these irrelevant fees that are costing individuals and their families.

Farmers and rural communities are suffering. The cost of food, energy and transportation continues to rise, with gas prices going up 17 cents per litre.

Mr. Speaker, under this government, under this Premier, we are working hard to cut this carbon tax and make life and transit more affordable, by eliminating tolls on 412, 418, eliminating licence sticker fees and eliminating double fares.

Speaker, we are calling on the federal government to acknowledge the pain this is causing countless people in Ontario and act on it. It is time to wake up, smell the coffee and cut this carbon tax.