SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
May 28, 2024 09:00AM

I want to build upon the minister’s gratitude to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery. Minister McCarthy has been a strong leader in this space, ensuring that we protect our children.

The introduction of legislation followed on the government’s landmark introduction of a comprehensive policy to remove distractions by eliminating vaping and cannabis within our school facilities, by restricting cellphone use during instructional time and by outright denying access to social media on school websites and devices, a common-sense provision supported overwhelmingly by leaders both in education and in law enforcement and by the parenting community of the province, who want government to strengthen the regime that protects kids online and in class from the harms—the constant, rising harms online—that can manifest in bullying, in trafficking and in self-harm.

I think we recognize inherently as the adults in the room the necessity to build those safeguards, and that’s why I am grateful to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery for bringing forth a program that helps to prevent—at its core, a legislative document that is designed to prevent and avert the types of tragedies we hear about too often in our society.

Madam Speaker, it is recognized that with the advent of AI, with 40% of jobs potentially being disrupted through the changes and disruptions of this technology, we need to really understand and recognize that the train has left the station in this space.

And so how do we protect kids, particularly when it comes to their privacy and data rights, which is a fundamental, sombre responsibility of government?

What I value is that most governments globally are seized with how to keep up with the rate of change in this space, and here we are in Ontario’s Legislature with legislation brought forth, demonstrating a sense of proactivity and a willingness to move at the speed of change in the market and the economy.

I’m grateful for this, because I was just in the United Kingdom representing Canada at the Canadian ministers of education council in my capacity as Chair. They held their global education forum. The number one issue seized with Ministers of Education in all regions of the world across the Commonwealth and beyond is the question of AI, the issue of academic integrity, of privacy and of online harm and how to create some conditionality around that technology to protect children.

That’s why the legislation, as it is proposed, gives the cabinet regulatory-making power to create those limitations and safeguards as a responsible government would do. It aligns with the vision of the minister and I and others in this House, including the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, about bringing forth the social media executives in the country with OPP, law enforcement, parents and school boards to look at how we can strengthen and protect kids online, particularly when it comes to issues of the algorithm and the impact it’s having on children and how it is very much a challenge for many young people in Ontario who are being targeted.

We also see issues related to privacy. The inappropriate distribution of images without consent, so many examples of tragedy on this space. So we need social media companies to work with us, and the government’s inclination is to collaborate instead of to litigate with the largest businesses and corporations, working with law enforcement and academia, to build a program that works for Canadian young people and for Ontario students. That’s why we have committed ourselves to doing that. In addition to strengthening knowledge in the curriculum on concepts of digital literacy and online citizenship, how do we create a more resilient young people where they’re able to understand fundamentally issues of misinformation, disinformation, issues related to the inaccurate presentation of concepts and really how do we strengthen the critical thinking skills that need to be front and centre of our young people’s knowledge in the classroom today?

So we understand these threats. We also recognize the strengths in having digital fluency as a graduation requirement. It’s why we have introduced in the curriculum mandatory learning years ago, and then we announced together we would strengthen that learning to help young people better understand AI and understand how to be cautionary users of AI. But with the recognition that we welcome the innovation that’s taking place online. We just simply seek to keep up with it.

When I have spoken to job creators, when we have spoken to parents and when we have spoken to young people, we understand that AI can be an incredibly powerful tool for learning. We can reimagine education through its use, but it will never supplement the necessity of human judgment and intelligence. You cannot replace that, the value of an in-person teacher, but AI can be complementary to it. So we have undertaken a commitment to bring forth safeguards to really clamp down on distractions to protect young people’s ability to learn and stay focused in classrooms.

I know that educators welcome this, school boards have endorsed this legislation, and most particularly leaders in cyber security have acknowledged the leadership of Ontario in the nation for stepping forward. This wouldn’t have been possible unless our government and the Premier was committed to the protection of children. For that, I just express gratitude. It is the sombre responsibility of governments to protect the most vulnerable, and I am grateful, in partnership with the minister, that we built a program, a legislative document, that sets out a road map that enhances the safety of children and protects our kids learning, playing and interacting online. That is what a responsible government would do.

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I recognize now the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health.

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Thank you for the opportunity to be part of the debate on the Strengthening Cyber Security and Building Trust in the Public Sector Act. The proposed legislation is an important step in our government’s efforts to continue strengthening cyber security and privacy measures that will better safeguard our significant investments in key services such as health care.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is making record investments in our health care system. We are taking bold and innovative action to build a better-connected health care system that is expanding access to key health services and growing our health care workforce for years to come while providing Ontarians with a better health care experience at every stage of life.

In an increasing digital world, digital tools have become vital to people’s health and well-being. Greater access to data will enable better health outcomes. A better health care experience also means connecting people to more digital and online tools that support more convenient care. Strong cyber security and privacy measures are an essential part of the ongoing work to implement new and improved digital health care tools and services.

The Ministry of Health and Ontario Health have been working in close partnership with the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery to improve health care preparedness by improving the sharing of cyber intelligence across the health sector and the broader public sector and helping to strengthen defensive capabilities and system resilience.

We have also introduced, for the first time in Canadian health privacy legislation, administrative penalties into Ontario’s health privacy law, the Personal Health Information Protection Act. This provides the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario with the authority to impose administrative monetary penalties on contraveners of the act, and the regulation will do even more to protect the safety and privacy of Ontarians and the operational security of our health care sector.

Speaker, digital tools are a key part of our government’s commitment to build a health care system that focuses on the needs of patients. These tools save time, improve access to services and help people avoid unnecessary trips to the emergency department. This includes the acceleration of an expanded centralized wait-list program for surgical and diagnostic services, which will help take the guesswork out of the referral process and provide faster access to care for patients.

This includes enhancing Health811, the tool through which Ontarians are able to call or chat online with a registered nurse and find the health care services and information they need in one easy-to-use website. Health811 receives up to 90,000 call or chat requests per month, and 95% of those requests are directed to an adviser or clinical staff member in less than one minute. Through Health811, people will be able to save time and better manage their health care journey by booking appointments with select health care providers no matter where they live and utilizing a symptom assessment tool to understand their health concerns and how to access care.

We’re further supporting more coordinated connected care that will help people transition between health care providers with the goal of making it easier for patients to transition between providers. Expanded remote virtual care programs will also help people across Ontario to avoid emergency department visits and support independent living. These programs help people with chronic and complex conditions connect remotely with a health care provider, increasing their access to care and improving self-management. They also support people who are recovering from surgery and transitioning home from the hospital to manage their conditions at home, where they’d prefer to be.

Our government is also making changes that will enable family doctors and other primary care providers to spend more time with their patients and less time on paperwork by expanding an innovative program focused on AI scribe technology to more than 150 primary care providers. This program safely utilizes artificial intelligence to automatically summarize or transcribe conversations into electronic medical notes, reducing the time and effort required, and physicians can spend more time on patient care and less time on clinical documentation. AI scribes will only be used during a visit if the patient gives their consent, and the privacy of patient health information will continue to be protected under the Personal Health Information Protection Act.

These tools and services build on the significant progress we’ve made in digital health. Over 300,000 health care providers have access to provincial digital health systems to obtain patient information such as lab results and hospital records from the provincial electronic record system. Digital and data tools are also playing a key role in enabling Ontario health teams to provide more connected and patient-focused care in communities across Ontario. We’ve invested more than $124 million in digital and virtual care projects for Ontario health teams and health service providers, benefiting over 6.1 million Ontarians.

Ontario has also improved the sharing of health records between hospitals and long-term-care homes, with support from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. This is saving up to 30 minute of administrative time each time a resident needs to go to the hospital. More than 30,000 digital record transfers have taken place. Over 4,000 providers are also offering online appointment booking across the province. In the last five years, an additional 11,800 health care providers joined the provincial e-services program to send e-referrals, providing people with faster access to care.

We’re also expanding e-services to digitize more referral and consultation forms so they can be conveniently shared electronically in a timely manner to obtain specialist advice. This often eliminates the need for an in-person specialist visit entirely.

We are improving the e-forms platform to use more digital tools that make it convenient for providers to auto-fill and share forms. And the “axe the fax” initiative will replace fax machines over the next few years to speed up diagnosis, referrals and treatment while improving the privacy of patients’ health information. These types of initiatives are aimed at putting patients before paperwork and will free up time for physicians.

Over the last few years, Ontario has become a hub of health innovation and technology. There are many examples of innovative, state-of-the-art care taking place across our health care system. We know that a modern, connected and convenient health system is a digital one and that digital tools are critical to supporting people’s health and well-being.

Our government will continue to work with our partners in digital health to enhance and expand digital services to ensure front-line providers and health care workers have the tools and resources to reduce their administrative burden and enable them to spend more time with patients while also empowering patients to better manage and have more control over their health and providing them with the right care in the right place.

I encourage all members to support Bill 194 and support the security and privacy of our health care system.

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  • May/28/24 10:00:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

Further debate? If not, we’re going to go to questions.

We were done with the debate. I was confused about the continuation of the debate, but I said we were moving to questions, and he was the member who stood up for a question. So he’s asking the question.

I will ask the member to conclude their question.

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  • May/28/24 10:00:00 a.m.

Point of order.

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  • May/28/24 10:00:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

Point of order, Madam Speaker.

Will this government acknowledge that they are undermining and jeopardizing the cyber security of the data held by public agencies in this province by their agenda of privatizing our public sector agencies?

When this lawsuit was brought forward, this government and its Premier stood solidly behind the social media platforms, and the Premier dismissed that lawsuit as nonsense. How can this government pretend that they are standing up for children’s safety online if they will not support at least an investigation in this court challenge to social media platforms?

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  • May/28/24 10:00:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

Thank you to the minister for this important piece of legislation. I would like to highlight that, in today’s world, with AI coming strongly in place and more tools coming with AI in them, we need to protect the identity of, and data identity, keeping in mind as well that AI is coming and it’s going to be here to help—

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  • May/28/24 10:00:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

This government has made a commitment to improve the way that government services are delivered. As our society and economy transition further into the digital realm, there’s growing expectation that government services follow suit and evolve to meet the demands of the modern world. Our government must recognize and ensure that government services are accessible to all and secure across a variety of delivery platforms. So, Speaker, can the minister please explain how the proposed legislation will enhance the delivery of services in a manner that is both responsive and reliable?

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  • May/28/24 10:00:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

I thank the member for Mississauga–Erin Mills for the question. Of course, that member was parliamentary assistant to the ministry for some time, even before I had the privilege of being appointed minister, so this piece of legislation is very much something that he has contributed to through his efforts.

Now, the bill was crafted in response to valid concerns raised by Ontarians. We recognize, and all Ontarians recognize, the incredible potential of AI—but its risks. So we begin with trust and, of course, the bill contains the words, “trust in the public sector.” Also, schedule 1, which contains the comprehensive definition of artificial intelligence, is the Enhancing Digital Security and Trust Act—once again, the word “trust.”

The AI definition that we have come up with in this bill is at section 1, subsection 1, paragraph (a) of schedule 1: “‘artificial intelligence system’ means, (a) a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers from the input it receives in order to generate outputs.” That’s the key, and this can include things that influence physical or virtual environments.

So we are taking the lead. We have made the investments. We are getting the good advice within the ministry and across the public sector, and so much good advice has been provided. We are building that trust, and we’re getting it done for the children of our province—our future.

As the Minister of Education has said, and I completely agree, we prefer co-operation and conversation with all partners in the public and private sectors, rather than litigation. We choose co-operation and conversations over litigation. That’s why this proposed legislation aims to establish data protections for children and minors engaged with public sector organizations. Parents need to be confident that their children are protected. They certainly can be. We worked carefully with not just the Minister of Education and the—

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  • May/28/24 10:10:00 a.m.

Good morning, Speaker.

On May 24 and May 25, Chatham-Kent celebrated a rare and unique ceremony in honour of one of our residents, George Osei, a native of Ghana and proud Ontarian.

In Ghana, the installation of a new chief is marked by a ceremony called an “enstoolment.” This is a significant event in the community. It signifies the transfer of power and authority to a new chief. The ceremony involves playing traditional music, song, dance, a community feast and the wearing of traditional attire. During the ceremony, the new chief is recognized and given symbols of authority, such as a crown and a traditional stool. The event is also a time to celebrate unity and reaffirmation of community values.

George Osei was originally from the town of Atebubu, Ghana, and he can trace his roots back to the region’s royal family. George has been a pillar of Chatham-Kent and has exemplified the virtues of leadership, integrity and dedication to his work and his family, committed to the advancement and the well-being of all people in our multicultural community.

Chatham-Kent has a long history of welcoming those from every corner of the world. Congratulations to George and your family. I thank you for contributing to Chatham-Kent’s rich tapestry as we continue to celebrate the history and traditions of all people who call beautiful Chatham-Kent and Ontario home.

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  • May/28/24 10:10:00 a.m.

I rise today to speak about punishing and mercenary social assistance rates. Even after the 21.6% Harris cuts of the 1990s, people are far, far worse off now. Most disturbingly, these Conservative cuts carry judgment, creating anger and resentment towards those who simply require our help and assistance.

Conservatives try to strip away our communities’ desire and responsibility to care for the less fortunate. Poisonous words like “handout” deliberately infected common discourse. After 15 long years of Liberal rule, those on social assistance were worse off than during the Harris regime. Many empty, vacuous words were spoken, but Liberals only decided to help those who need it the most at the end of their rule with the Basic Income Pilot project. Instead of actually fixing the well-known problem with funding, they committed to a study.

Premier Ford promised that he would let the study carry out, but it didn’t take long until that promise was broken and it was shut down—shut down because Conservatives didn’t want to see the positive results. They took away hope. How can anyone stabilize their life when they’re consistently struggling and at risk?

Ontarians on social assistance live in deep, deep poverty and their monthly housing bills are often more than what they receive. This is before even attempting to buy food. It’s survival mode for most, if not all.

This government pats itself on the back for indexing people well below the poverty line. Maytree has found that Ontario Works recipients would need $17,000 more per year just to reach the poverty line.

I want to thank the United Way for their Make It Livable campaign to double social assistance rates. I call on the government members to remember our common humanity, think of those in desperate need and double social assistance rates now.

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  • May/28/24 10:10:00 a.m.

La semaine dernière, j’ai visité le Club Amical du Nouveau Sudbury et j’ai été impressionné par toutes les activités qu’il offre aux personnes âgées de notre communauté. Il offre des jeux, comme les fléchettes, le billard et les cartes. Il planifie des soirées de théâtre, de musique et de danse. Il organise des ateliers, des évènements et des soupers en communauté. Il encourage la vie active avec du yoga, de l’exercice, des journées de golf et plus. Et tout ceci est organisé par des bénévoles.

Le club amical compte 333 membres, et ils ont créé une communauté positive et solidaire. Non seulement est-ce que le club est un espace sécuritaire et amusant pour toutes les personnes âgées, mais c’est aussi une place très spéciale pour ceux qui n’ont pas de famille en ville ou qui sont seuls. Cela les aide à se faire des amis, à remonter le moral et à s’assurer qu’on prend soin d’eux comme communauté.

Vous pouvez ressentir l’engagement du conseil d’administration envers le bien-être des personnes âgées dans la façon dont ils s’expriment—ils sont un groupe attentionné. Tu peux vraiment voir ceci par la manière dont les membres sont impliqués avec le club. Certains font du bénévolat depuis plus de 30 ans.

Pour plus que 40 ans, le club amical offre de nombreux services pour aider à soutenir la communauté francophone âgée à Sudbury. Ils et elles devraient être fiers de leurs réalisations passées et présentes.

Mes amis du club amical, merci beaucoup pour la belle visite et pour tout ce que vous faites pour nos personnes âgées de la communauté.

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  • May/28/24 10:10:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

Thank you for the response. We’ll move to another question.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

And now I move to the member for Sudbury for the next member’s statement.

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  • May/28/24 10:10:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

I thank the member for Brampton North for his care and concern and his excellent advocacy for his riding, and for being an excellent member of this government.

It begins with the definitions, and I already touched on the AI definition. I want to finish where I left off with respect to the answer to the question from the member for Mississauga–Erin Mills. The types of outputs in the AI definition include “predictions, content, recommendations or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.” That’s section 1(1)(a).

And then the cyber security definition—these are comprehensive approaches to these key concepts: “‘cyber security’ means the security, continuity, confidentiality, integrity and availability of digital information and the infrastructure housing”—

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  • May/28/24 10:10:00 a.m.
  • Re: Bill 194 

I’m very lucky to have a beautiful niece and two beautiful nephews. Olivia is seven. Conor is going to be seven in September; he’s wrapping up lacrosse season and he’s about to start soccer season. And then Shea is going to be three in July, and he actually played his first soccer game. He really likes scoring goals, so we hope that bodes well for him.

But I’m nervous about the impacts of technology, AI and social media—what impacts those are going to have on my two nephews and my niece. Could the minister explain how this bill will help protect Conor, Shea and Olivia?

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  • May/28/24 10:10:00 a.m.

This weekend, Waterloo region hosted the spring games of Special Olympics Ontario, and myself and my friend Corey attended the opening ceremonies. Frankly, we were blown away. It was held in Waterloo, originally scheduled prior to the pandemic but rescheduled, and incredibly well organized by Waterloo regional police, with Chief Mark Crowell heading it up for the first time. I was amazed by how organized everything was and the amount of passion and dedication that had gone into it.

We were able to witness the law enforcement torch run and athletes entering the arena to light the torch. The torch run is something that has been going on for years now to support the Special Olympics. It’s a really interesting partnership between police as sort of the community members that bring everything together.

The one thing that everybody kept saying as we watched the athletes come in was people saying that their faces hurt, because they couldn’t stop smiling, and I was one of those. In a time where people are somewhat dour and cynical, it was quite amazing to see a group of athletes who are so incredibly delighted to participate in something that they love and to have that much enthusiasm.

It also marked the retirement of CEO Glenn MacDonell, who has spent 35 years supporting Special Olympics Ontario. The love that these athletes had for him was just incredible to see. So thank you to Mr. MacDonell, thank you to WRPS and thank you to all of the amazing athletes that competed this weekend in Waterloo region.

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  • May/28/24 10:20:00 a.m.

May 17, 1974, is a day that many Cambridge residents will never forget. It started as a beautiful sunny day, but Mother Nature had other plans. On that fateful day 50 years ago, a flash flood swept through the city, literally swallowing up all of downtown Galt. I was a teenager at the time, and I remember my friends and I riding our bikes downtown, where we witnessed the most incredible scenes. There were people in canoes and motorboats rescuing people from their homes and from their businesses. There were cars literally floating down the streets. Fortunately, no deaths resulted from the flood, but it did cause more than $6 million in property damage. That was a lot of money back in the 1970s.

Recently, the people of my riding gathered at the Fire Hall Museum to mark the 50th anniversary of the great flood of 1974. They reminisced about what they saw and what happened on that devastating day.

Speaker, the events of May 17, 1974, were a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people of Cambridge. I thank the volunteers in my community who have worked hard to preserve the memories of that day.

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  • May/28/24 10:20:00 a.m.

What is it with this Premier’s obsession with booze? Spending a billion dollars to put beer and wine in corner stores a little more than a year earlier than planned is simply unjustifiable. You have to ask yourself, who benefits? Well, it’s the same people who always do: the wealthy and well-connected insiders and friends and multinational corporations. It’s the Premier’s billion-dollar boozedoggle—a billion dollars to speed this up by a little more than a year.

What’s the rush, Premier? Premier, you could have waited for the contract to end and made a better deal—a deal that would have benefited all Ontarians, not just the wealthy, well-connected and large corporations.

The Premier gave away the store in his billion-dollar boozedoggle, and Ontarians will pay.

I wish the Premier had the same sense of urgency for the 2.3 million Ontarians who don’t have a family doctor, or for fixing our crumbling schools, or for helping children with exceptional needs who aren’t getting the help they need in our schools, or for keeping rural emergency rooms and hospitals open. A billion dollars could have been better spent on the things that matter most to Ontario families.

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  • May/28/24 10:20:00 a.m.

On May 18, the Canadian Egyptian Heritage Association once again hosted Canada’s largest Egyptian festival, the sixth annual Discover Egypt festival at Celebration Square in Mississauga. Over 28,000 people gathered to enjoy Egyptian music, listen to entertaining performers, eat traditional foods, and celebrate Egyptian culture. The following day, they visited the Egyptian Museum in Mississauga, where visitors had an opportunity to view many of the artifacts and learn about Egyptian history, with a light and sound presentation of the exhibits on display. This was a great weekend for Egyptian Canadians to showcase their food, music, culture and heritage to Canadians.

I look forward to seeing the festival again next year.

And of course, we are all preparing for Egyptian Heritage Month, which is fast approaching in July.

On a related topic, I want to acknowledge the important work of Philopateer Christian College, a school in Mississauga with over 420 students, which has been faithfully serving our Mississauga community for over 25 years. Throughout this time, they have educated more than 10,000 students. We celebrated their silver jubilee last week by watching a lovely performance by their students at the Living Arts Centre and enjoying a gala dinner.

I am happy to have watched and supported their resilience and success over the years. I thank them for their work supporting the Egyptian, Arabic and Coptic communities in Mississauga.

They will soon be opening a second campus in Ottawa, and I wish them well for the next 25 years.

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