We are facing unacceptable wait times for MRIs in Niagara right now. Right now, our community faces a staggering 306-day wait time for MRIs—a wait time that nearly doubled in the past year.

Since 2016, we have fought tooth and nail to secure additional funding to increase MRI operating hours. In 2021, we received funding to operate a brand new MRI machine. And yet, despite these efforts, our wait times have only worsened. Why are we in a dire situation and waiting 306 days? People in Niagara should not be forced to endure unbearable waits for medical procedures, yet here we are, waiting endlessly while our health care deteriorates.

This crisis will become another excuse for the government to push for privatization of our health care services. But let me be clear: Privatization is not the answer. It only benefits the wealthy few who will leave the rest of us suffering.

We must hold the government accountable for its failure to prioritize the health and well-being of our communities. It’s time to demand action, to demand change. We cannot allow our public health care system to continue failing us.

This government has committed to the funding to ensure Niagara residents have access to MRIs. So what is happening at Niagara Health? We cannot allow our health care to fail on purpose.

Speaker, 306 days, frankly, is unacceptable to the residents of Niagara.

Parliamentary assistant and member for Niagara West.

The next question.

I have to say, it’s a pleasure to be able to stand here and speak about Niagara Week. We’ve had an amazing visit from representatives across the Niagara region, who had the opportunity to sit down with many of the ministers and the Premier. We had a great meeting with the Premier, the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure, who all spoke about the incredible amount of investments that are happening in the Niagara region.

I want to give one example that refers to what the member opposite is speaking about. One of the things we heard from the delegation from Niagara was gratitude for an 86% increase in the Homelessness Prevention Program funding. What that increase means is—it used to be $11 million a year going into the Niagara region for homelessness prevention funding to support exactly the investments in bridge housing that you’re speaking about. That is now over $20 million a year—annualized funding, tens of millions of dollars going into these services to ensure that those who need it most are getting the investments.

I’ll talk more about all the investments that are happening in Niagara in the supplementary.

But it’s not just when it comes to that program—it’s also investments that we’re seeing in health care and in education. New schools are going up in every corner of our region. It’s investments in health care—by seeing not one but two new hospitals coming to the Niagara region, the largest investment in Ontario’s history. It’s about changes to ensure that we have good jobs, and yes, it’s about—earlier this week—ensuring that the people of the Niagara region are going to have excellent jobs at Asahi Kasei, with a $1.6-billion investment in the EV battery plant. Those are providing good jobs. It’s not just putting food on the table for hard-working families, but ensuring that they’re able to put a bit away for a future rainy day.

That’s the kind of investment that this Premier and this government is going to continue—

Interjections.

I have the pleasure to introduce an Oakville resident and a friend of mine, Matt Giffen, who is also the CEO and founder of Bench Brewing Co. in Niagara.

I want to thank the member for Niagara Falls for his speech. It was a wonderful tribute to Gary Parent, who was certainly a giant in our community back home in Windsor-Essex.

I know the member opposite has a tremendous track record of dealing with bad actors as employers. There are quite a lot of them, and they need to be addressed. Really, this bill includes some penalties for employers who are bad actors. They violate health and safety standards. So the increase in penalties that are proposed is intended to address those exploitive practices that exist in the workplace when it comes to workplace health and safety. So I wanted to ask the member opposite, what are his thoughts about whether the penalties are sufficient enough or not?

In my riding of Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and Niagara-on-the-Lake I have Niagara College—this member talked about education—which is $12 million in debt, with 12,000 students, because of this Conservative government. Then, just down the road, Brock University: $25 million in debt, 19,000 students.

My question is pretty simple: Why do you think the Conservative government is deliberately underfunding our post-secondary education, which is going to harm our students?