I just want to welcome my lovely mother to the Ontario Legislature, Sara Hooshiyarfard. I love you, Mom. Welcome.

Before the session apparently ends, I really did want to take a moment to thank all the people that keep us going here. First of all, I want to thank my caucus, my incredible team here; our House team in particular; and all of the staff in the NDP caucus, the official opposition, who are so essential to helping us hold the government to account, to do the work that we do here and serve the people who we represent.

I really want to thank the hard-working assembly staff, the Clerks and broadcast and recording services and counsel. Let’s give them all a big round of applause. They do extraordinary work every day.

Applause.

I do want to wish everybody in this room a very happy and a very safe and a very productive summer. The work does not stop; that is true. We are going to continue to work hard over the summer to offer real solutions to real people in the province of Ontario—to the real problems that people are facing. I hope everybody, again, has a safe, productive and wonderful summer.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. As my colleagues mentioned—and I’m glad you said your younger brother, not your older brother. Anyways, you’re right. You’re 100% right: We go back and forth, but we always want the best health and the very best for your constituents in your ridings. I just want to wish everyone a very safe summer.

The misnomer out there—and I think all parties will agree—is that everyone is sitting on the beach for the next few months. That’s the furthest from the truth. We’re still going—at least, I’m going—from 6 in the morning to midnight every single day. I know each and every one of you will be out in your ridings and your constituencies, and visiting events within your ridings, answering the calls, answering the questions. When we’re in here, yes, we’re going back and forth, but it doesn’t mean we stop working. Actually, it allows us to work even harder within our constituencies.

I just want to thank each and every one of you for the incredible work you do in your ridings. It’s greatly appreciated. I always make sure, if I come into your ridings—I know that we always invite you; we really do. I know, Wayne, you’re always there.

Interjections.

Thank you so much. I wish everyone a safe holiday.

Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for that response. Ontario food-processing businesses like Weil’s in Wheatley and Highbury Canco Corp. in Leamington and others across Chatham-Kent–Leamington are global leaders in safe, fresh, healthy food production and distribution. In fact, 56% of products produced in Ontario farms end up at one of our province’s 4,900 food processors. But this carbon tax hinders the competitive edge our food processors need: their ability to sell products to markets locally and around the world. We need the federal Liberals to finally listen. Terminate the carbon tax today.

Speaker, can the parliamentary assistant please explain to the House how the carbon tax is impacting food processing businesses across our province?

Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I move that, when the House adjourns today it shall stand adjourned until 10:15 a.m. on Monday, October 21, 2024; and

That in addition to any other committee meetings authorized by the House, the standing committees be authorized to meet for the purpose of the consideration of the estimates during the 2024 summer adjournment of the House.

Pray be seated. Veuillez vous asseoir.

An Act to provide for safety measures respecting movable soccer goals / Loi prévoyant des mesures de sécurité pour les buts de soccer mobiles.

An Act to amend the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019 / Loi modifiant la Loi de 2019 sur les services provinciaux visant le bien-être des animaux.

An Act to enact the Veterinary Professionals Act, 2024 and amend or repeal various acts / Loi visant à édicter la Loi de 2024 sur les professionnels vétérinaires et à modifier ou à abroger diverses lois.

An Act to amend various Acts / Loi modifiant diverses lois.

An Act to amend the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and various other Acts / Loi modifiant la Loi de 2017 sur les services à l’enfance, à la jeunesse et à la famille et diverses autres lois.

An Act to amend various Acts with respect to homebuyers and homeowners, properties of cultural heritage value or interest and certain planning matters / Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les acquéreurs de logements et les propriétaires de logements, les biens ayant une valeur ou un caractère sur le plan du patrimoine culturel et d’autres questions liées à l’aménagement du territoire.

An Act to revive 1828469 Ontario Inc.

Au nom de Sa Majesté, Son Honneur la lieutenante-gouverneure sanctionne ces projets de loi.

Since my installation last fall, I have begun travelling our amazing province, and I have witnessed first-hand your dedication and your hard work. Alors, au nom des citoyens et des citoyennes de l’Ontario, je tenais à vous dire merci du fond du coeur.

Also, as the representative of the crown, I wanted to share with you how proud I am, and I am filled with gratitude. Also, I am deeply moved by the warmth and the hospitality that has been extended to me. Alors, merci. Meegwetch. Thank you.

Je sais que vous serez très occupés, que vous aurez de nombreuses activités, beaucoup de rencontres. Au-delà de toutes vos activités, je tenais à vous souhaiter de nombreux moments de repos avec la famille, les amis et les gens que vous aimez.

Thank you. Meegwetch. Merci beaucoup.

Her Honour was then pleased to retire.

This is a reintroduction of an act to follow the example of Mexico, which has investigated gun manufacturers in the United States and alleges that they are facilitating the flow of illegal handguns into Mexico. I think the evidence is such that one can make such allegations for handguns coming into Canada. This bill would direct the government to make those investigations, substantiate them, and should they be substantiated, initiate legal action to protect Canadians.

Ms. McMahon moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 211, An Act to proclaim Persons Day / Projet de loi 211, Loi proclamant la Journée de l’affaire « personne ».

I recognize the government House leader.

The House recessed from 1209 to 1300.

Report deemed adopted.

Ms. Brady moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr48, An Act to revive Poulak and Rachar Limited.

First reading agreed to.

Mr. Crawford moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr50, An Act to revive The Oakville Players.

First reading agreed to.

Mr. Tabuns moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 210, An Act to enact the Stopping Illegal Handgun Smuggling Act, 2024 / Projet de loi 210, Loi édictant la Loi de 2024 visant à stopper la contrebande d’armes de poing illégales.

First reading agreed to.

First reading agreed to.

That in addition to any other committee meetings authorized by the House, the standing committees be authorized to meet for the purpose of the consideration of the estimates during the 2024 summer adjournment of the House.

I recognize the member for University–Rosedale.

It’s very concerning to hear about this eleventh-hour motion to extend the amount of time that we will be in summer session to October 21. People in Ontario expect us to be legislators in this building at the assigned times, which means, after Labour Day, we are here debating legislation to improve the lives of people in Ontario. It’s very concerning that there is this sudden announcement that instead we are going to be coming back on October 21—wow. School has started, people are back from their vacation, and what’s this government going to be doing? You want an extra month off; is that it? Is that what’s motivating you? You want an extra month off? That’s very concerning.

The reason why I think it’s concerning is because things are not okay in Ontario today. We just debated a housing bill where, it’s safe to say, it was at best mediocre. It’s not going to be doing anything to fix the housing crisis that we’re experiencing, where rent has never been more expensive and owning a home has never been more expensive. We should be here in the Legislature debating solutions to the housing crisis. What we shouldn’t be doing is extending the amount of time that the government is on summer break—summer break in the fall, when people expect us to be doing our jobs here at that time. I don’t understand it.

I think about the issues that I’ve been raising or that we’ve been raising over the last few weeks. The issue of auto theft: I spoke to the minister just briefly beforehand. People want us to take action on auto theft. We agree there is a federal piece to this, where we need to properly regulate the outflow of products from ports, but there’s also a provincial element to this too: It boggles my mind that an individual can take a stolen car to ServiceOntario and get it re-licensed and back on the roads. That’s a provincial issue. Why aren’t we dealing with that? Why don’t we deal with that in September? Nope. Instead, this government wants to extend their summer vacation into fall—into fall—for another four weeks. I think that’s a shame.

The last few weeks, we’ve also brought up the issue of the court backlogs. And we’re hearing that in our riding, too: People want their cases to be heard in court and tribunals, from landlords to tenants, to small claims court, to people who have filed assault charges or have had assault charges filed against their perpetrator. They want our court system to be functioning as you would expect a court system to be functioning in a province as wealthy as ours, in a democracy in the western world. But it’s not.

Court cases are being thrown out every week, court cases with evidence, because the courts are not able to meet the Jordan principle and they’re not able to ensure that someone is tried within 18 months or two years. That’s what we should be trying or working to solve in September instead of this government choosing to extend their summer vacation into the fall. It doesn’t make sense.

I think about the growing issue of poverty in our riding. On the way here, I walk down College Street. College Street has changed a lot in the last six years where I’ve been the MPP. As I walk down College Street, I pass an encampment outside St. Stephen’s church. People are desperate. They have got nowhere to go. No one wants to sleep in a tent in the heat of summer on concrete. No one wants to do that, but people do it because they have no where to go.

In September, I would much prefer to be debating legislation. We could be debating the fall economic statement, where we present solutions to the homelessness crisis that isn’t just in downtown Toronto anymore; it’s in towns and cities all across Ontario, as well as the mental health crisis, the drug addiction issues that we’re seeing, the opioid crisis. No, instead, this government is choosing to extend summer vacation by four weeks. I think that is a shame.

And then as I walk College Street, you’ve got the encampment on one side, and on the other side you’ve got the excellent Fort York Food Bank. They do an amazing job. Our riding association has organized fundraisers for them. We attend their events. We organize food drives for them, as well. And when I speak to the organizers of the Fort York Food Bank, they tell me that need has never been higher. It has never been higher. People who are coming are not just people on social assistance; they are people who are working full-time, who have children that they are looking after. There are seniors in the line because it is too expensive to live in our city. It is just too expensive. And when I walked by there today, the line was so long. It’s so long: 80 or 90 people were waiting there this morning, sometimes for hours, just to get basic food supplies. We’re talking cans, milk, cereal, vegetables and basic stuff because they cannot afford to pay their rent and go to the supermarket and pay their bills.

I would prefer if this government spent their time in September debating legislation with us, debating the fall economic statement, to address the growing inequality in our city and the fact that hundreds of thousands of people do not have enough to survive. We could be talking about increasing social assistance. It’s horribly low. It puts people in legislated poverty.

We could be talking about what we should be doing to ensure seniors aren’t evicted into homelessness, which is happening in my riding more and more frequently. It’s very concerning.

We could be debating increasing the minimum wage, so when someone works full-time, they have enough money to afford to live an okay life in Ontario. And it is very difficult to do that on the current minimum wage right now. It’s very concerning.

That’s what we should be debating, but instead, this government wants to go on a summer vacation in the fall. I think that is an absolute shame.

I think about some other issues that have come up this week, where we had a tragedy in a school, where an individual was left alone in a room when he never should have been left alone—a child—and he died. That is a tragedy that should never happen. The member for Hamilton Mountain talked about the mother and when she received a text and then a phone call that her child had died at school—that is a parent’s worst nightmare. I can’t even fathom how horrible what would be. That is a life-altering event. We should and could be debating legislation to talk about how we can assure that that never, ever, ever happens again in any school in Ontario.

The other kinds of issues that Ontarians want us to be debating and solving in here, they don’t—that’s what they want us to be doing in September. That’s what they expect. People come back from vacation in August, they go to work in September, and so should we. It’s very concerning to hear about that—

Thank you, Speaker. Her Honour awaits.

Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario entered the chamber of the Legislative Assembly and took her seat upon the throne.

I’m going to ask the Associate Minister of Small Business to come to order, the member for Niagara Falls to come to order, and the member for Spadina–Fort York to come to order. Yes, yes.

The member for University–Rosedale has the floor.

I hear the Associate Minister of Small Business—Mississauga–Streetsville. The member for Mississauga–Streetsville has a very serious issue in her riding. If the member from Mississauga–Streetsville introduced legislation to tackle the growing issue of seniors being summarily evicted from retirement homes, we would be very excited to debate that legislation in September, because those seniors—

Interjections.

We had a similar issue in our riding, at 877 Yonge, Davenhill. That building was very well-maintained. It was a very nice retirement home. People loved it. It was sold. The owner of the property is doing something very similar to what I believe Chartwell is doing in the riding of Mississauga–Streetsville. They announced to all the residents, “You have to leave.” The residents were not informed of their rights—which is that only the Landlord and Tenant Board can evict you, but that your ability to go to the Landlord and Tenant Board and contest an eviction is taken away if you accept any offer of help from Chartwell, or the retirement home provider, and these providers know that full well. When they come in to a 75-year-old or 80-year-old individual’s room and say, “Get on this bus, and we’ll give you a tour of other retirement homes, but just sign this document here that we’re able to assist you,” then it’s very difficult for you to contest an eviction, and it is very difficult for you to receive the compensation that you, as a renter, should be entitled to. It is a shame, and the retirement home operators know that full well.

That is the kind of legislation that we should be debating in September.

We will be voting against this motion. It is not what we should be doing in September. We should be here doing our job.

I sadly am up to debate this particular motion.

I certainly understood why the government might want to leave a week early. We all do go back to our ridings in the summer and we work hard—each and every one of us do, across all party lines. It’s important to spend time with our constituents to hear their concerns and bring those concerns back to Queen’s Park. I was hoping to bring those concerns back to Queen’s Park in September, but now I’m finding out that we’re not going to be able to bring those concerns back to Queen’s Park until October 21, at a time when we are facing an unprecedented housing affordability crisis that is leading to an unprecedented affordability crisis for people.

We could be passing legislation to actually legalize housing so we can quickly build homes that people can afford in the communities they love. We could be passing legislation that would allow us to legalize six-to-11-storey buildings. That is not going to happen, because we won’t be sitting in September to debate that legislation.

We’re facing an unprecedented health care crisis. Last summer, there were more emergency department closures in health care than we’ve ever seen in Ontario’s history. We could be actually debating legislation to fix the health care system so we don’t have such an unprecedented level of closures in our emergency departments—2.3 million Ontarians don’t have access to a doctor, Speaker. Maybe we should be passing legislation to provide them access to a doctor, because we know that access to primary health care helps keep people healthy, which would take pressure off of our health care system.

Speaker, we are likely going to face the hottest summer we’ve ever had in Ontario. We’ve already been experiencing unprecedented heat. We could be debating a heat preparedness plan to ensure that we actually set maximum temperatures for congregate settings so people in long-term care don’t experience extreme heat this summer, so that people living unhoused on our streets have cooling centres to go to, in the same way we have heating centres in the winter. Over 600 people died in British Columbia during their major, extreme heatwave in 2021. Ontario has no preparedness plan in place to deal with that. We could be debating that and passing legislation on it.

Likewise with forest fires: We could be actually debating legislation and passing legislation to ensure that we’re ready for the forest fire season this summer, when we already have 94 fires burning in the province of Ontario, and we’re not prepared or ready.

Speaker, we could be debating legislation to address what the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation brought to Queen’s Park today on the heels of what the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario brought a couple of weeks ago: the alarming increase of violence in our schools and the fact that we need legislation to protect educators, to ensure that we have enough educational assistants and adults in our schools and our classrooms to help prevent violence in schools, to ensure the safety of educators and students, to ensure a good learning environment. But no, we won’t be around to deal with that.

We could be debating legislation about the greedy gouging that’s happening in our grocery stores, driving up food prices. We could pass legislation on that. Actually, it would be great to pass legislation on that before Thanksgiving, but we won’t be meeting until after Thanksgiving, so that’s not going to happen either, Speaker.

We could be addressing the fact that people living in legislated poverty simply cannot survive—$1,300 a month when the average rent is over $2,000 a month. The math doesn’t add up. We know poverty costs the province $33 billion a year. We could actually put forward legislation to help lower the cost that poverty places on society and improve the well-being of people in our communities. That’s not going to happen.

Some 16,000 people will be unhoused tonight in Ontario. We could pass legislation to start building more non-profit co-op and permanent supportive housing. That’s not going to happen—or at least not until after Thanksgiving.

So, Speaker, the members opposite oftentimes talk about how government needs to be run more like a business, and I can tell you, as a long-time small business owner, I don’t know of any business that shuts down—literally shuts down for months—and says, “Hey, we’re just going to shut down for a few months.” I don’t know of any business that can’t tell its employees what’s happening day to day and the schedule keeps changing all the time. How does a business function in that kind of environment? If the government wants to run government more like a business, maybe we could actually have a schedule that the people trying to run this place could adhere to and have some predictability and some stability and some consistency so we can actually do the people’s business. But that’s not happening today, and we won’t have enough time to talk about it until after Thanksgiving this fall.

I don’t know what’s driving this, if it’s politics that’s driving this, but all I want to say to the people of Ontario is, let’s put people before politics. Let’s put what’s good for the people of Ontario—and let’s do the people’s business. So I will be spending the summer, like everyone else, I’m sure, of all parties, working hard, listening to people. And I wish I could come back in September and bring their voice into this chamber to address the issues they’re concerned about—the affordability crisis they are facing. That’s why I’m opposed to this motion, Speaker.

We work in our ridings.

Further debate?

Toute une annonce qu’ils nous annoncent aujourd’hui avec la motion. On pensait qu’on revenait au mois de septembre; mais non, on va revenir le 21 octobre. Ça, ça veut dire qu’on est parti, de 13 semaines à 19 semaines, sans revenir en Chambre, sans revenir débattre. Les « issues » que nos comtés ont—tout l’été, on va passer avec nos concitoyens pour se préparer pour ramener leurs « issues » en septembre, pour représenter nos comtés. Là, ils viennent de nous annoncer—comme un cheveu sur la soupe, comme on dit en français—qu’on revient le 21 octobre.

Après ça, on se demande pourquoi la population est sarcastique avec les politiciens. Ce sont des motions comme ça qui rendent que le monde, les concitoyens, disent : « Cela a-t-il du bon sens? »

Moi, je le sais; j’ai négocié toute ma vie. J’ai négocié des conventions collectives. J’ai négocié des vacances. Je sais que mes collègues vont parler, probablement, de ça aussi. Mais on a négocié des vacances.

Quand tu commences à travailler, tu as deux semaines de vacances, et avec les années, tu accumules une autre semaine puis une autre semaine. Si tu es chanceux, tu peux te rendre jusqu’à huit semaines, mais c’est assez rare, on s’entend assez bien, dans une convention collective, mais tu vas voir, normalement, deux, quatre, peut-être six semaines pour ceux que ça fait plus longtemps. Nous autres, on parle de 19 semaines. Ce gouvernement-là, ils ont quoi? C’est quoi le problème, là?

On a été élu pour venir représenter nos concitoyens en Chambre, pour amener les « concernes » de nos concitoyens, pour essayer d’améliorer la vie en Ontario. Puis, tout d’un coup, on est parti 19 semaines. Le 21 octobre—on s’entend-tu? C’est du temps loin de la Chambre pour essayer de faire des changements pour nos comtés et nos concitoyens.

C’est quoi que le gouvernement a à cacher? C’est quoi la transparence? On ne comprend pas. On part une semaine avant. On était supposé de finir le 15; là, on part une semaine avant et on va revenir le 21 octobre—le 21 octobre. Ce ne sont pas des farces, là.

On est supposé travailler comme tout le monde. On est ici pour représenter nos concitoyens. C’est une vraie honte. Mon collègue de Niagara l’a dit : « It’s shameful. » On devrait avoir honte.

Je ne sais pas pourquoi l’idée de faire ça—c’est-tu pour faire encore plus de cabales? Vous avez battu les babines pendant quelques mois. Ce sont les rumeurs : va-t-il y avoir des élections prématurées? Est-ce que c’est juste pour ramasser encore plus d’argent et encore faire la cabale plus longtemps?

On dit comment la province va mal. C’est drôle, mais sur votre bord, tout va bien en province. Il n’y a pas de problèmes en Ontario. Tout va bien. On sait que vos campagnes à la télé, à la radio, disent que tout va bien, mais en réalité, tout ne va pas bien.

Moi, je peux vous dire, dans mon comté, quand j’ai une ville comme Hearst où 65 % à 70 % du monde n’ont pas de médecin de famille, ça ne va pas bien. Quand je vais sur la baie James, il y a du monde qui n’a pas de maison. Ils n’ont pas d’eau potable. Tu es obligé de prendre une douche de quelques minutes parce qu’il y a trop de chimiques dans ton eau. Tu viens avec des rougeurs sur le corps. Il y a des maisons qui sont pleines de moisissures, et on demande une extension à la réserve pour être capable de répondre aux besoins de la communauté. Les chefs et les conseils de bande sont arrivés en quêteux devant le gouvernement, et pourtant ils sont sur leurs terres ancestrales et c’est leur droit. Mais non, nous autres, on prend 19 semaines à ne pas s’asseoir pour débattre de ces projets de loi-là ou de ces demandes qui viennent de nos concitoyens.

Je pense, avec l’éducation—on a des problèmes en éducation. Je ne sais pas. Moi, j’ai ma femme et j’ai ma fille qui travaillent comme aides-enseignantes. Ma fille est qualifiée pour restreindre les enfants en crise. Elle arrive à la maison pleine de bleus parce qu’elle est obligée de s’occuper de plusieurs enfants à la fois.

Je vais vous dire une expérience qu’elle a vécue. Elle s’est tournée une seconde parce qu’un autre de ses enfants avait besoin d’elle—une seconde. Elle s’est virée de bord puis l’enfant lui a donné un bon coup de poing dans le ventre. Elle a perdu une journée d’ouvrage. Imagine-toi si elle avait été enceinte.

L’enfant est en crise. Ce n’est pas la faute de l’enfant. Mais c’est la faute d’un gouvernement qui ne donne pas assez d’argent aux conseils qu’ils sont obligés de donner plus d’enfants de qui s’occuper. On a appris qu’il y un jeune enfant de 16 ans qui est décédé. Puis ils disent qu’on politise ça? On ne politise pas ça; c’est la situation. C’est qu’on sous-finance l’éducation. On sous-finance la santé. On sous-finance plein de choses en Ontario, puis ils disent que ça va bien?

Moi, je peux vous dire, dans mon comté, je parle aux directeurs des hôpitaux. Ils nous disent que l’élastique est au bout. Il est à la veille de péter, à 4 %—puisqu’ils ont dit que c’est 4 % qu’ils ont donné aux hôpitaux. Pourtant, l’inflation est bien plus haute que ça. Fait que, ils sont sous-financés, puis qui paye pour ça? Ce sont encore les patients.

Mais non : « Tout va bien. On revient dans 19 semaines. »

On pourrait débattre des projets de loi à faire avancer pour améliorer notre système de santé. Parce que dans le Nord, là, je peux vous dire, ça ne va pas bien. C’est facile quand tu viens du Sud; tu as accès à des services. Qu’est-ce que tu fais des familles autistes qui n’ont pas les services? Qu’est-ce que tu fais—on a besoin de maisons pour les personnes qui ont des troubles de santé mentale. On n’a pas de place à rester. C’est deux, trois, cinq ans d’attente. Ça, ce n’est pas mentionné, les soins de longue durée.

Mais tout va bien en Ontario, assez pour qu’on puisse se permettre de rentrer le 21 octobre. On est élu pour travailler. On travaille tout l’été, on rencontre nos concitoyens, on parle, puis quand arrive septembre, on amène les « concernes » qu’ils nous demandent. C’est ça, notre travail.

Mais non, il y a un bord du gouvernement—le gouvernement, dans sa grande sagesse, vient de dire le 21 octobre. Pourtant, tous les travailleurs de cette province-ci, la plupart ont deux semaines de vacances, quatre semaines de vacances. Puis nous autres on va en avoir—on va as être obligés de ne pas revenir ici pour adresser les « concernes » de ce monde-là qui vient nous voir puis qui vous [inaudible].

Je suis convaincu que vos concitoyens vous disent la même chose qu’ils nous disent à nous autres : « Vous êtes là pour nous représenter. » On devrait être là, en temps et lieu, pour représenter nos concitoyens. On devrait être ici, comme d’habitude, au mois de septembre. Mais le gouvernement encore—19 semaines. Moi, je n’en reviens pas.

C’est une atteinte à la démocratie. On dirait que vous vous foutez de la démocratie. C’est parce que vous avez juste une grosse majorité, vous êtes blindés, et tout ce qu’on amène ou qu’on veut discuter ou qu’on amène pour amender des projets de loi, ce n’est jamais assez bon. Pourtant, ça vient des mêmes concitoyens, ça vient des mêmes agences, ça vient de toutes les personnes qu’on consulte, qui sont les mêmes que les vôtres. Vous êtes dans les comités. Vous les entendez comme nous autres.

Pourtant, ces recommandations viennent de ce monde-là. Mais non : « On s’en fout de la démocratie. On est majoritaire. » Ça, c’est une honte. Ça, c’est un affront à la démocratie.

Encore pire, quand je vois le premier ministre rentrer à moitié, dans le milieu d’une période de questions, c’est un manque de respect envers notre chef, mais c’est aussi un manque de respect de la démocratie. Il devrait être assis là puis prendre les questions puis y répondre aussi.

En tout cas, comme vous pouvez le voir, moi, je ne suis pas un gars qui a l’habitude de manger mes mots. Mais on est ici pour faire un travail. Moi, je pense encore comme un travailleur. J’ai été mécanicien industriel. J’ai représenté les travailleurs pendant 21 ans de ma vie. J’ai négocié des bonnes conventions. Il y a des conventions que, quand ça commence, on travaille fort pour améliorer constamment les conditions de travail—

Interjection: Say you’re sharing your time—

Ah, je partage mon temps avec ma collègue—

Interjection: Windsor.

Mais c’est juste pour vous dire que c’est décevant de voir un gouvernement qui nous annonce cet après-midi qu’on va revenir le 21 octobre. Moi, je peux dire à mes concitoyens que je suis prêt à travailler. Je suis prêt à amener vos « issues ». Je ne suis pas sûr si le gouvernement est prêt à faire la même chose. À cause qu’ils sont majoritaires, ils sont capables de se permettre de bafouer la démocratie, comme on le fait là.

Je vous remercie, monsieur le Président.

I came in here this afternoon. I had petitions that I was going to read from constituents that are calling on this government, as we are seeing, from May 26 to June 1 of this year, actually, 15 opioid overdoses reported among emergency department visits in my community alone. We’ve heard a similar story from my colleagues in Toronto, from those in the north. It’s happening in every single community. It’s happening in every single Conservative riding too.

Instead of being able to come in and read those petitions calling on this government to reopen the SafePoint consumption and treatment site in Windsor, or reopen The Spot, in Sudbury, and provide ongoing funding for these treatment centres where people go in and lives are saved and they’re getting connected with the supports and services they need, they’re getting connected with hospital care and they go through withdrawal management and rehab—these are our loved ones. These are our community members. Instead of being able to talk about that and read that petition, this government has brought forward a motion to shut down this House from today, June 6, until October 21. While people are dying—just walk out the doors from Queen’s Park and look around you; open your damn eyes. People are dying on the streets, and you want to shut the Legislature down until October 21 because you don’t want to be held accountable. You don’t want to bring legislation forward or entertain legislation that would actually save lives, to reopen these important health care services. It’s absolutely shameful.

I have petitions from people in my community and all over the province—and I hope my colleague from Windsor–Tecumseh is listening because it’s his community too—people who are living in legislated poverty. I was going to read a petition from people in my community and around Ontario, saying that you need to double ODSP and OW rates. The government pulled this stunt, so we don’t get to read those petitions now. They’re shutting down the voices of people in my community and their own communities and communities all over the province.

Speaker, I had tabled a bill, the Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act. Right now there is a pretrial under way into the murder of Sahra Bulle in my community, who was murdered by her ex-partner. This government played games with it and they’re continuing to play games with it, because now we don’t have a chance to actually bring that back into the House for third reading and get it passed until at least October 21.

Just two weeks ago, I believe, there was a young nurse, Shannan Hickey, 26 years old, brutally murdered by her ex-partner. I raised that in this House, and you know what the government’s response is to it? “We’re going to shut this place down until October 21 because we don’t want to talk about it. We don’t want to do anything about it. We don’t want to be held accountable while women are dying in this province”—absolutely shameful.

How many women have to die? That’s my question. How many women have to die before you take action? How many women have to die before you act on the 75 recommendations from the Renfrew county coroner’s inquest that were directed to your government, that you could implement? But instead of sitting next week, like we’re supposed to, you’re shutting the House down and not bringing us back until October 21. How many women have to die? How many is enough for you?

My colleague from Waterloo tabled Lydia’s Law. You didn’t even give it the consideration of allowing it to be debated. You shut it down when you knew there were hundreds of people coming from around this province to try and be heard—survivors, victims’ families—and you shut it down and sent it to committee before that debate could happen, without even consulting or giving a heads-up to the woman that tabled that bill. Then the government House leader had the nerve to stand out there and say to the media that it was theatrics—theatrics that my colleague was upset that that happened, theatrics that those families and those survivors were upset that you did that. Now we’re not going to get to debate that until October 21. Because—why? Why would we want to talk about women, about sexual assault survivors who are being failed by the justice system that you refuse to do anything about?

We had women here today—Speaker, I want to be clear; sorry. I’m going to share my time with the member from Kiiwetinoong.

We had women here today, elected officials, who have asked this government to bring in legislation to hold elected officials accountable for harassing and abusing other elected officials, their staff members, those who work in municipalities, municipal staff. This government promised over a year ago they were going to act on that. You’ve done nothing. You’ve done nothing, but you’re going to shut this Legislature down a week early and not come back until October 21, with no action—absolutely no action.

We see an increase in homelessness encampments. We have an over 40% increase in people accessing food banks between 2022 and 2023. That number is 101% more than it was pre-pandemic. That’s all under your watch, and you can’t get out of here fast enough, because you don’t want to be held accountable—absolutely shameful.

These are the people you’re supposed to represent. These are the people who you’re supposed to bring in policies for and make decisions for to make life better for them, not these wealthy developers that you’re putting ahead of everybody else, not your donors that you’re putting ahead of everyone else—people in this province who are struggling. And you’re shutting the Legislature down a week early and not bringing us back until October 21—absolutely shameful.

The wait times for people for hospital care continue to climb. We have emergency departments and urgent care centres that are literally closing in communities all over this province, including in yours. We heard a heartbreaking story from one of my colleagues around the Minden ER, where a man was in cardiac arrest, and because they couldn’t take him to the hospital that was in his community because you have underfunded it and the emergency department—

Further debate?