We’re just getting back from an awesome constituency week. It’s great to see everyone in here. Like everybody else, I dealt with issues across my riding. Some of them that came across were landlord and tenancy issues; paramedic coverage that is particularly lacking in the Hornepayne and White River area; municipal integrity commissioner office issues that are happening at municipal levels; the Northern Health Travel Grant; the lack of French services in the health care fields, particularly in home care, in the community of Dubreuilville and others—road maintenance is high priority.

But there’s something I really want to bring to the floor of the Legislature, and I want to thank two constituents. There are still scams that are going on, and these scams are targeting seniors. The one scam that is going on—on the North Shore, we had a really bad storm a couple of weeks ago, and there were a lot of power outages. There’s a 1-800 number that came out that charges people to report power outages through hydro. I’m happy to say that hydro is aware of it, and they’re dealing with that scam, and they’re trying to find out how people are being charged for reporting their calls. There’s also the anti-virus McAfee boondoggle that is going on. That scam is also targeting many seniors.

What I want to say to seniors is: Reach out to your family members and make sure that you have the discussions with them, because if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure to attend the Norwich Fire Fighters Association annual pancake breakfast. Volunteer firefighters spent all morning flipping up delicious pancakes and collecting donations for Norwich Youth Unlimited, also known as the Upper Deck. They’re raising funds to renovate their space and provide even more programming for youth in our community. It’s a wonderful opportunity to support a great organization in Oxford and thank our volunteer firefighters for their service, all while enjoying a delicious breakfast.

This event was made sweeter not only because of our volunteer firefighters but also because of the maple syrup that was flowing. With the support of amazing local sponsors like Haupt Tree Line Maintenance and Lot 17, families in Norwich enjoyed delicious Oxford maple syrup with their pancakes.

It’s been great to see yet another successful syrup season in Oxford, thanks in part to our government’s investment of $1 million through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, which supports the province’s maple syrup sector. We’re proud to keep producing delicious maple syrup and bring the rest of the world to taste Oxford.

Overall, this was a great weekend highlighting the very best of what Oxford has to offer: coming together to support a local community organization, dedicated volunteers making it happen and, of course, maple syrup.

I’d like to thank everyone who put this event on and all those who came out in support. I’m already looking forward to next year.

It’s nice to be back. Smiles and the community spirit were in full swing in Etobicoke–Lakeshore, especially with all the Easter bunnies hopping around at our BIAs on Easter weekend, and especially at Mimico Square, where our local artists sold many of their products. Of course, I’m a shopper, so I indulged with a little necklace from a local artist.

From seeing our youngest artists to more experienced artists, I want to highlight the importance of art and the talented and creative individuals from Etobicoke–Lakeshore. We are all blessed every day to see murals on our business walls, on our utility boxes and underneath our bridges, statues and structures, and even the architecture that stands tall on Humber Bay Shores. We are so proud of the community of south Etobicoke.

Etobicoke–Lakeshore is home to many creative people, and today, I’d like to highlight a few. With thanks to the staff and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, each year, youth from 12 to 18 across the province are invited to display their works of art throughout the Legislative Building through the Youth Arts Program. I’m sure many of you working in here admire the beautiful art displayed throughout our halls. This year, two young constituents, Stefania Dedda and Sofia Lebovics, had the pleasure of showcasing their artwork. Thank you for decorating the halls of Queen’s Park with your talent.

Through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport and their $60-million budget to encourage art and culture, we continue to see wonderful programs at Franklin Horner, Arts Etobicoke and MabelleArts, to name a few. Thank you for your continued support of arts in our local communities.

With us in the Legislature today is a former member of provincial Parliament who served the riding of Stoney Creek in the 38th Parliament, Jennifer Mossop. Welcome back. Great to see you.

I’m pleased to welcome two of my constituency assistants who work with me at the Wellington–Halton Hills provincial riding office: Judy Brownrigg and Karen Thomas. Welcome to the Legislature. It’s great to have you here today.

That concludes our introduction of visitors.

I’d like to introduce Michael Roth and Fiona Roth; Molly Roth, Michael Roth—who are siblings of Kaitlyn; Mandie Roth; Julie Roth; Karen Waite; and Eric Philip, who is the CEO of Thresholds, all in support of Kaitlyn Roth today. Welcome to your House.

I’m a very happy man this morning because I’m honoured that members of my family are here today: our daughter, Adele Mary Harden, artist in residence at the Great Canadian Theatre Co., from Canterbury High School; and Dr. Clare Louise Roscoe, part of the Children’s Hospital emergency room team, both beloved to me. Thank you for everything both of you do to make me be here. Thank you for coming, guys.

I would like to introduce some great people from my riding of Newmarket–Aurora: Manha Yusuf, the page captain this morning; her parents Nisa Chaudhry and Naved Yusuf; her grandmother Zahida Chaudhry; and her sister Laiba Yusuf. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Good morning. It’s wonderful to be back with all of my colleagues.

As the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care and the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility, I would like to welcome Ontario Long Term Care Clinicians to Queen’s Park. In the members’ gallery, we have Dr. Rhonda Collins, Dr. Benoît Robert, Dr. Janice Legère, Dr. Abhishek Narayan, Ellen Maracle Benton, Krista Hook, Karin Podolyak and finally, former MPP, Jennifer Mossop. Welcome to the House.

I’d like to welcome to the House a group of family members whose seniors are being evicted from the Chartwell home in Mississauga: Karen Santaguida, Victoria Santaguida, Sinead Hutchinson, Danielle Colalillo and Stacey Saracini.

I wanted to welcome the family of today’s page captain, Armaan Bagarhy. His sister and family friend, Harman and Rohit, are here just behind me in the public gallery. Welcome to your House.

Pleasure to be here this morning to wish MPP and Speaker of the House Ted Arnott happy birthday.

Applause.

I have had the pleasure of having two pages here in the Legislature, and we have a third one joining us today. I think he might be on water duty as I don’t see him, but Ryder Harris is here for the next three weeks.

It is an absolute pleasure to introduce the backbone of our constituency office: Jean Marc, who’s here from Mississauga–Malton.

It’s absolutely my pleasure to welcome the subjects of my member’s statement this morning, the Grand River Malayalee Association. With us in the House today are Rajeev Pillai, Sudhip Joseph, Rayees Nishad, Selby Sebastian, Keerthik Premkumar, Alan Thomas, Shiny Mathews, Siju John, Merlin Sam and Anjali Sailaja. Welcome to your House and thank you so much for coming.

Point of order, Speaker.

Applause.

Good morning, Speaker. This question is for the Premier. There has been an alarming trend of for-profit primary care clinics popping up all across this province. When Ottawa’s South Keys Health Center started charging $400 membership fees, the minister said she would investigate, but we haven’t seen any action from this government. They just shrug it off and blame it on the feds.

My question is to the Premier. Why won’t you uphold the values of universal health care and stop these for-profit clinics from charging hundreds of dollars for people to access primary care?

Since the minister has clearly taken the side of private companies charging these illegal fees, will the Premier stand up for the protection of patients or not?

Interjections.

There are countless publicly reported examples of patients who are receiving surgeries in private clinics who are told they have to pay for upgrades for already eligible services. At a time when 2.3 million Ontarians don’t have a primary care physician, at a time when the cost of living has become completely unbearable and they can’t find a family doctor, why is this Premier expanding for-profit health care that hurts patients and only benefits private shareholders?

Interjections.

This question is for the Premier. Last week, the federal government offered Ontario $5 billion in funding to help pay for housing-related infrastructure. All the Premier needs to do is legalize fourplexes and other missing middle homes. That’s the kind of action that we in the NDP have been pushing for, and it was even recommended in the province’s own Housing Affordability Task Force.

Why is the Premier saying no to legalizing fourplexes and putting billions of federal funding at risk?

I thank the member opposite for the opportunity to speak about Ontario’s health care system. Ontario is leading the country with over 90% of Ontarians having a doctor or primary health care provider. Our government will not tolerate clinics taking advantage of a loophole created by federal legislation. If the federal government doesn’t take action to ensure Ontarians and Canadians can access publicly funded health care we will.

Each year our government invests over $50 million to connect hundreds of thousands of Ontarians to primary care through 25 nurse practitioner-led clinics across the province. In this year’s budget, we went even further: Our primary care expansion has expanded to a total of $546 million over three years to connect 600,000 Ontarians to primary care.

We will continue to work with our health partners across the province to ensure the best public health care for the people of Ontario when and where they need it.

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario is the first jurisdiction to use the nurse practitioner-led clinic model of care and we will continue to use this innovative path of delivery—publicly funded primary care—to connect hundreds of thousands of people across the province to the care they need.

Ontario is leading the country with almost 90% of Ontarians having a family doctor or a primary care provider. Since 2018, we have registered over 12,500 new physicians in Ontario, including a 10% increase in family doctors, but we know more needs to be done. We will always continue to work with our health partners across the province to ensure that Ontario has the best publicly funded health care when and where they need it.

In this year’s budget, we went even further, Mr. Speaker. Our primary care expansion has expanded to a total investment of $546 million over three years to connect over 600,000 people with primary care in Ontario.

As I’ve stated, we will continue to work with the health care partners across the province to ensure that the people of Ontario have the best publicly funded health care when and where they need it, Speaker.

Member for Nepean, point of order.

I want to acknowledge that we’re meeting on lands traditionally inhabited by Indigenous peoples. We pay our respects to the many Indigenous nations who gathered here and continue to gather here, including the Mississaugas of the Credit. Meegwetch.

This being the first sitting Monday of the month, I ask everyone to stand and join in the singing of the Canadian national anthem, followed by the royal anthem.

Singing of the national anthem / Chant de l’hymne national.

Singing of the royal anthem / Chant de l’hymne royal.

Interjection.

Start the clock. Supplementary question?

The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

The parliamentary assistant.

To reply, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

I’m going to caution the member on her choice of words.

Minister of Colleges and Universities.