The short answer is, we have and we will. We will continue to rebuild our health care system to make sure that people are not languishing on wait-lists.

When we made a small change in cataract surgeries, expanding in four different communities, we now have 17,000 Ontarians who are back at work, back with their families, back in their communities, reading to their children. Those are the kinds of quantitative changes that are making a difference, that are impacting the lives of Ontarians, and I think at 4 o’clock, you will see additional exciting news coming from the Minister of Finance.

What people want, Speaker, is to remove themselves from those wait-lists and actually get the critical surgery that they need. This is what those investments are doing. This is how we are rebuilding a health care system that, frankly, had been ignored for far too long from the Liberal and the NDP parties of Ontario. We will make that rebuilding. We will continue to make those investments, and we will continue to get it done in the province of Ontario.

That’s the type of innovation that we are going to encourage. That’s the type of innovation that we are seeing coming forward from hospital leaders, from physicians, from surgeons across Ontario, who say, “I have a better way. We know we can improve the system, and I’m going to embrace that change. We are going to embrace that change.”

If the NDP want to sit on the sidelines and continue to say no, that’s fine, but we’re going to get it done in the province of Ontario.

Let me start by extending my condolences as well. Thank you to MPP Daryl Kramp’s family who are here with us today.

I’d also like to start by congratulating our deputy leader, the MPP from Kiiwetinoong, on a truly historic change to the standing orders. I look forward to hearing him speak in his language more often in this place.

My question is for the Premier. Today, Ontarians will be watching as this government lays out its priorities for the upcoming year. People are looking for hope, for a commitment that things are going to get better. One thing they don’t want to see is more of their hard-earned dollars going towards private, for-profit health care.

Last year, the government doubled funding for private, for-profit clinics while public operating rooms were collecting dust. To the Premier: Will you finally properly fund our existing public operating rooms, or are we going to be seeing the government handing over more contracts to for-profit clinics?

People are looking for reliable health care; for accessible mental health supports; safe, comfortable long-term and home care. How can people trust this government to deliver on their health care when they’ve clearly prioritized private profits over public needs?

So my question to the Premier is: Does he understand that Ontario’s economic prosperity depends on a strong public health care system? And can he commit today that not a single health care dollar in the budget is going to go to for-profit health care?

Interjections.

Minister of Health.

I remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The supplementary question.

Minister of Health.

The next question.

Government House leader.

Once again, I’ll ask the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The next question.

We want innovation too. We just want it in the public health care system, not something that you have to pay for through your credit card.

Speaker, everybody in this province should have access to a family doctor, period. But under the Conservatives, 2.3 million people in Ontario do not. And that number is expected to rise to 4.4 million—that’s a quarter of Ontario’s population—by 2026. That means more people without regular checkups, more people missing a chance for early diagnosis or just putting up with pain and discomfort.

Instead of dealing with this, this government said no to our proposal to fund health teams and shared administrative support to get more people in front of a doctor.

So my question to the Premier is, will we see a change in approach in today’s budget or will it just offer more of the same?

I want to know if this is how the Premier sees the future of this province. Is it going to be like Netflix for health care? Are we going to have to subscribe to have basic health care needs met?

Speaker, people deserve to get health care that’s close to home and available when they need it. Instead, they are seeing their rural emergency rooms close; 600,000 women can’t get mammograms. It is not the reality in Ontario anymore.

The Liberals opened the door to privatization of health care in this province. We watched it, we saw what was happening and we fought it. But this Conservative government is doubling down and throwing the doors wide open.

So Ontarians want to know: Today, in this budget, is it going to be more of the same or can they count on this government to protect their public, not-for-profit health care system in the province of Ontario?

Interjections.

Speaker, where was this party when we announced a $110-million expansion of primary care multidisciplinary teams? They were silent. They would prefer to bring forward motions that talk about ensuring that we have more administrative staff.

We are laser-focused on making sure that we have sufficient health human resources, whether those are expanded seats in two new medical schools in the province of Ontario—the city of Brampton, the city of Scarborough—where we are seeing expansions of medical residency seats in the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, over 100 new seats.

And I may say that the numbers show that while your government was in government for a very short period of time, you actually cut residency seats in the province of Ontario, as did the Liberals when they were in government.

We are the party that is rebuilding our health care system, whether it is through expansions in education, opportunities for people to join multidisciplinary teams and—

Can we do more? Absolutely. But I want to be clear: Ontario leads Canada, and we will continue to make those investments to ensure that we continue to lead Canada in all access to health care services, including, of course, primary care multidisciplinary teams, which are the backbone of our health care system.

I want to continue to invest in our publicly funded system. It is unfortunate that we do not have opposition members who understand how critically important this is to the people of Ontario.

My question is to the Premier. The Conservatives are on track to lose $357 million in federal funding because this government is failing to meet its own affordable housing targets. This government has two choices: Submit a credible plan to the federal government to build more affordable housing by Friday or explain to Ontarians how this government plans to account for the loss of $357 million earmarked for affordable housing in this year’s budget. Which choice are you going to make?

Premier, can you commit to submitting a better housing action plan by Friday so we don’t miss out on this federal money?

Interjections.

The choice that we made is to overachieve targets by 170% when it comes to renovating and upgrading old housing stock. The choice that we have made is to ensure that we’re at 60% of the target that we are asked to achieve. What is happening is that the federal Liberal government, supported by the NDP, is unilaterally cutting funding to the province of Ontario of over $357 million, on top of the $400 million that they have already shortchanged the people of the province of Ontario.

Our municipal partners agree with us that this is a unilateral cut by the federal government. We remain at the table. We are not going to make up some program because the federal government—the Liberals and NDP—have decided to change the goal post. We meet a target, they change the goal post.

What this is is an immature federal government doing what they do best: pitting one region of the country against another. They’re treating Ontario differently than every other province. We won’t stand for it. We’ll continue to make investments that are right—

What is happening here is classic Liberal and NDP. Because we are meeting our targets—170% of the target; because we are meeting 60% of the target—we’re still months, years away from having to hit the 100% mark. We’re crashing through those targets for the people of the province of Ontario.

What they’re doing is pitting one region against another region. We saw it with the carbon tax. We’re seeing it on housing. You know who can help make a difference? It is the NDP in Ottawa, who hold the balance of power. Instead of supporting a $700-million unilateral cut to the province of Ontario, take down an immature government that pits one—

Interjections.

On April 1, the long-delayed Community Safety and Policing Act will come into force. Under the CSPA, First Nation laws are exempt from being enforced.

The chief of the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin Anishnaabe Police Service told us last week that criminal behaviour on-reserve has gotten worse while Ontario delays the changes needed to enforce laws on-reserve.

Speaker, fixing it will only take a simple amendment. Will the Premier commit to making that amendment immediately?

The Ontario Regional Chief said, after his meeting with government members, “We didn’t hear any commitments to reach a timely resolution.” April 1 is six days away.

Will the government work with the chiefs and amend the Community Safety and Policing Act?

Interjections.

Parliamentary assistant and member for Oakville.

The Solicitor General.

The Minister of Energy may reply.

Thank you to the great, hard-working member from Windsor–Tecumseh.

Members of the Legislature, today is budget day. This is a big day. We are excited about rebuilding Ontario, continuing that path and to make life affordable for the people of Ontario.

Speaker, just yesterday, under Premier Ford, our government announced an extension of the gas tax cut, now saving the average household $320 per year. This represents the largest tax cut this century in Ontario. And yet, while we are cutting taxes and putting money back in the pockets of the people of Ontario, the federal Liberal Party is set to implement a 23% tax hike on the carbon tax in less than one week. The Liberal plan to tackle affordability is to make life more expensive for the people of Ontario and Canada. That’s why we continue to call to scrap the tax and stand with our government as we make life more affordable for the people of Ontario.

Speaker, I am proud to say that in just a few hours, our government will deliver the 2024 budget, our plan to build a better Ontario. Even for my great colleague the member—I know we can’t reveal too many details yet. But what I can say is our government has a plan. It has a plan that supports Ontarians through these difficult times of high inflation and high Bank of Canada interest rates, and it’s a plan that will help keep costs down. This is a budget that will continue our government’s plan to build up our province without raising taxes on the people of Ontario.

Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for that response. It’s great to hear that our government is consistently introducing measures that will provide real financial relief for Ontarians.

I know the people in my riding will be thrilled to hear that we are extending the gas tax cut. Obviously, we’re the automotive capital of Canada, and they look forward to seeing our government continue to find more ways to reduce costs and make life more affordable. That’s why we must continue to show leadership and demonstrate a strong economic vision that that will help families during this challenging time. Unlike the members opposite, who refuse to stand up for Ontarians on this carbon tax, our government must remain committed to investing in what matters to most people as we build for a stronger future.

Speaker, can the parliamentary assistant please explain what our government is doing to help Ontarians during these challenging economic times?

I want to thank the member for the question. The Community Safety and Policing Act, which will come live on April 1, replaces a piece of legislation that’s 35 years old. And under both the old act, the Police Services Act, and the Community Safety and Policing Act, police can enforce municipal and First Nations bylaws equally. Our government, as the member knows, takes public safety very seriously all over Ontario.

But I want to say one other thing. Thanks to the Chiefs of Ontario, who made a suggestion to establish a collaborative table under the Ministry of the Attorney General, we did just that. The collaborative table is an excellent table to table ideas for us to consider. That’s exactly why it exists.

Mr. Speaker, we take public safety seriously all across Ontario.

Just two weeks ago, I was at the Ontario Police College. This was my sixth march past ceremony. I made a point of meeting with all of the cadets that are going to First Nations police services. It was over two dozen.

We take public safety in the four corners of Ontario very seriously. That’s exactly why the Community Safety and Policing Act, that will come live on April 1, will provide an unparalleled opportunity for communities all across Ontario to feel that the legislation brings them up to the times that they’re in.

One more thing: It is very important to know that I stay in regular contact with the police chiefs on a regular basis, including those serving First Nations communities.

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Families in my great riding of Newmarket–Aurora are concerned about the ever-rising cost of living. They are paying more for everything from their energy bills to groceries.

The carbon tax is only making things worse. While our government continues to advocate and fight for Ontarians, the federal government continues to disregard the people’s concerns by ruling out any future pauses or exemptions on this carbon tax. That’s unfair to Ontarians who work hard to make a living, to raise a family and to support their young children and their aging parents.

But despite the affordability struggles many people in our province are facing, the NDP and the Liberal members opposite continue to remain silent. It’s shameful that they refuse to join us in calling for the elimination of this disastrous tax.

Speaker—

We’re five days away from the federal carbon tax increasing by a massive 23%.

Interjections.

Bonnie Crombie was out last week announcing the new hand-picked members for her advisory committee. Kathleen Wynne’s environment minister Chris Ballard helped design the Liberals’ multi-billion-dollar cap-and-trade program; he’s on the committee. And before being voted out by rural voters for this giant-slayer right here, Lisa Thompson, the new agriculture minister, Carol Mitchell wanted to impose a carbon tax on farmers, and she was the agriculture minister. Let’s scrap the tax while we—

Interjections.

It’s Groundhog Day.

Thank you very much.

The Minister of Energy.

The Minister of Health.

The next question.

Thanks to the member opposite. We’re taking a common-sense approach and ensuring that energy and electricity prices are affordable in the province of Ontario, something that those in the Liberal caucus and even the NDP caucus really don’t understand. It’s because we have brought that stability to energy prices in Ontario that we’re seeing our economy grow.

Now, Bonnie Crombie, the queen of the carbon tax, and her Liberal caucus are telling the people of Ontario that we’re better off with this federal tax. As a matter of fact, the federal environment minister said last week that Bonnie Crombie was happy to have the federal increase on carbon taxes—a whopping 23% that’s going to happen five days from today when we’re in the midst of an affordability and cost-of-living crisis in Ontario.

It’s completely unacceptable that Bonnie Crombie and her cast of Liberals are supporting this expensive tax that’s driving up the cost of everything in our province. It’s time to do the right thing. It’s time to scrap this tax.

My question is to the Premier. OPSEU/SEFPO Local 5115 workers, the front-line workers of the Regent Park Community Health Centre, are on strike for fair wages. This government is starving public health care. Their wages were frozen by Bill 124 during an affordability crisis.

These health care professionals are doing some of the most difficult work in this province, literally at the epicentre of a poisoned drug supply and opiate overdose crisis. Despite all of this, they continue to show up for our communities, doing that hard work. Will this government show up for them in today’s budget and fund public health care so that they can get back to work and receive the fair wage they deserve?

Real, honest Ontarians like Kirsty Millwood, who actually is in the chamber today to listen to this debate—she is a front-line foot health worker and the president of OPSEU/SEPFO Local 5115. She tells me, “We need funding for community health care centres. We need to provide critical services. We keep people out of hospitals. We save lives daily.”

We lost so much because of Bill 124, Speaker, but they continue to show up for work. Now is the time for the government to stop forcing them out of their jobs because they are living with unlivable wages. Will this government properly fund community health care centres at the health care rate of inflation?

Interjections.

While I’m obviously not going to talk about specific labour relations that are happening, I will say that public health units have had a 16% increase since 2018, when we formed government, and that is of course outside of all of the investments that we made sure were in place for our public health units to protect the people of Ontario during the pandemic, obviously making sure to distribute the vaccines to people to keep them safe. I will say a 16% increase for public health units across Ontario is unprecedented.

Of course, in the last Association of Municipalities of Ontario, we also made a commitment and shared with our municipal partners that a 1% increase was part of our plan to invest in public health infra in the province of Ontario.

The $110-million investment in primary care multidisciplinary teams does in fact include community health centres, and they do get an increase in their annual operating budget. Why, Speaker? Because we see the value in the multidisciplinary teams. Why do we continue to expand primary care in the province of Ontario? Because we see the value in making sure that we have a stable health care force that is connected to the people in our communities.

We’ll continue to make those investments and rebuild the province of Ontario and our health care system, and the people of Ontario will watch who votes in support of those investments.