I have a petition entitled “Stop Bill 166.” I would like to thank the hundreds of Londoners who signed this petition just in this past week. In front of me, I have the signatures of university faculty, staff and community members across the city.

The petition talks about how the government has dramatically underfunded mental health and anti-racism work on post-secondary campuses and is now planning to impose unilateral directives as to how that work should be put in place, without any accountability to the public or to experts.

The petition urges the Legislature to respect the institutional autonomy of universities and the academic freedom that is a cornerstone of our democracy and that has historically been celebrated in Ontario but which is under threat because of the bill. It calls for the Legislature not to allow the overreaching powers that the bill would give to the minister and instead to adequately fund post-secondary education so that institutions can invest in culturally responsive mental health supports and in fully staffed and funded equity offices. It also calls for the re-establishment of community-based subcommittees under the Anti-Racism Directorate, to take an intersectional approach to equity and anti-racism.

I couldn’t agree more with this petition. I will affix my signature and send it to the table with page Glynnis.

This petition deals with the ever-increasing levels of prostate cancer in men in Ontario. We have been asking for years to have the PSA test covered by OHIP.

It’s not very well known that prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers to affect Canadian men. But when you detect this cancer early, you save lives, you improve the quality of life, and you save money in the health care system. Our acute-care health care system is obviously in crisis today.

Prostate Cancer Canada fully supports the call to have PSA testing—which is prostate-specific antigen testing—covered by OHIP. This is a good thing for men in Ontario. It’s a good thing for their families, who love them.

We are calling on the government to fund PSA testing under OHIP.

I want to thank Ken Steele and the Ride for Dad, who have collected all these signatures from Waterloo region. Let’s keep riding together.

I’m very pleased to be able to rise and present this petition that is signed by many residents of Ottawa, including Kimberly Byars of Ottawa West–Nepean. These constituents raise concerns about the privatization of our health care system and the fact that people across Ottawa and across Ontario are being charged fees for services that should by covered by OHIP, despite the fact that the Premier and the Minister of Health promised that nobody in the province would be required to pay for health care with their credit card.

They are also concerned about the fact that allowing privatized health care bleeds health care workers out of our public system. We don’t have an unlimited source of health care workers to provide nurses and doctors for both a public system and a private system.

So these petitioners are calling on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to protect our health care system against sale by this government, to actually properly fund our hospitals, to recognize the foreign credentials of nurses and doctors who have been trained outside of Ontario, and also to ensure that everybody in Ontario has 10 paid sick days.

I wholeheartedly support this petition. I will add my name to it and send it to the table with page Liam.

This petition is entitled “Stop Bill 166” and it is signed by scholars from my riding of Parkdale–High Park and across Ontario.

Mental health and anti-racism work have been massively underfunded in Ontario’s post-secondary institutions. And under this Conservative government, the mental health budget has been cut and the Anti-Racism Directorate has been gutted.

Bill 166 gives the Minister of Colleges and Universities unprecedented power to dictate post-secondary policy in these areas and threatens unspecified consequences if institutions do not follow ministry directives. It also threatens the democratic principles of academic freedom and university autonomy that all parties in Ontario have historically respected.

This petition is calling on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

—stop Bill 166;

—uphold academic freedom and university autonomy;

—fund post-secondary mental health supports and equity offices; and

—use the powers of the Anti-Racism Act, 2017, to re-establish subcommittees that undertake equity and anti-racism work in Ontario.

I have to interrupt the member and reminder her that she needs to summarize her petition; she’s not able to read it verbatim because of the new standing order that was presented. But if you could offer a summary of the petition, that would be fine.

I recognize the member for Chatham-Kent–Leamington.

Laughter.

Ms. Dunlop moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 166, An Act to amend the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act / Projet de loi 166, Loi modifiant la Loi sur le ministère de la Formation et des Collèges et Universités.

This petition is entitled “Reverse the Kaffiyeh Ban.”

The wearing of our cultural and national clothing is part of who we are as Ontarians and something that we are proud of.

The Speaker of the House has expressed that if it is the will of the MPPs in this chamber, it would be allowed in the chamber. The official opposition has moved forward two unanimous consent motions that have been denied because some government MPPs voted to uphold the prohibition of wearing of the kaffiyeh. This petition calls on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to reverse the prohibition.

I would like to thank Diana Smith from Capreol in my riding for this petition, “Coverage for Take-Home Cancer Drugs.”

Basically, if—we don’t wish this upon anybody, but if you have cancer and need treatment, if the treatment is given in the hospital, it is free of charge. But the minute that you are able to go home, where your cancer journey will be a whole lot better—you get to sleep in your own bed, eat your own food—then cancer drugs are not covered in Ontario. This has led to a lot of people facing financial barriers.

I want to tell you, Speaker, that in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, they all cover take-home cancer drugs. It is time for Ontario to do the same.

The Canadian Cancer Society will tell you that because Ontario does not have take-home cancer drug coverage, there are people whose lives are cut short. They die because they do not have access to treatment. So they ask that the Ontario government follow the other provinces and offer full coverage for take-home cancer drugs. I think that’s a good idea.

I will sign this petition and ask my good page Raisa to bring it to the Clerk.

Pour lui et pour des dizaines de milliers de familles, la qualité des soins dans nos maisons de soins de longue durée est importante. Ils veulent que le niveau de soins rencontre les besoins des différents résidents et résidentes des soins de longue durée, et ça, ça veut dire qu’il y a un minimum, à la grandeur de l’Ontario, de 4,1 heures de soins par résident ou résidente.

Donc, ils demandent à l’Assemblé législative de changer la loi sur les foyers de soins de longue durée, une loi qui date de 2007, pour s’assurer qu’un minimum d’heures de soins y soit inclus, et en ce moment, ce minimum devrait être à 4,1 heures de soins.

Basically, the art and cultural sector in Ontario is a big economic driver—we’re talking $28.7 billion to our GDP; we’re talking 30,000 jobs in Ontario alone.

Unfortunately, the Ontario Arts Council’s budget has not kept up with inflation. Actually, it has been frozen for many, many years. Many of the people who work in the arts and culture sector make way below $25,000—many of them make below the poverty line, which makes their lives very precarious.

They petition the Legislative Assembly to make sure that the Ontario Arts Council budget increases. And they’ve asked for a $65-million increase so that the arts and cultural sector continues to thrive in Ontario—but also support equity-deserving groups, such as small and medium grassroots collectives, such as individual members of BIPOC, and all of the artists who make our province so great.

I support this petition. I will affix my name to it and ask my good page Liam to bring it to the Clerk.

I can tell you, Speaker, that the people and the businesses in northern Ontario need access to affordable and good broadband services. Right now, we do not have this in Nickel Belt. Most of—95% of the riding of Nickel Belt does not have access to good broadband, including myself. Unreliable Internet is not good for business. It’s not good for people in school. It’s not good for families. It’s not good for anything.

The government keeps allocating money in the budget for the private sector to set up broadband Internet. That does not work in northern and rural Ontario. I have spoken to every single Internet provider; none of them want to come to Nickel Belt. Even if this government pays for the tower or pays for all of the infrastructure, there is no money to be made. They do not want to come.

The government has to look at rural and northern Ontario and make sure we have access to broadband. That’s why those people signed the petition—and so will I. Then, I’ll give it to my good page Liam.

I have a petition to present.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario Place has been a cherished public space for over 50 years, providing joy, recreation and cultural experiences”—

This petition is being submitted by a number of residents who have signed it and, in summary, it is calling upon the provincial government to ensure that any future plans for the redevelopment of Ontario Place is halted and to engage in meaningful consultation with the community as soon as possible.