Last week, I visited Minden and joined the rally with residents who are fighting to save their ER. Here’s what I heard. People are losing faith in this province’s health care system and they’re worried. They’re scared for their community and angry that they’re being left behind. In less than 48 hours, residents will be at least 20 minutes further from emergency care. Closing an ER is more than just inconvenience; it can be the difference between life and death.

The people of Minden, Haliburton and Kawartha Lakes are about to experience the very real consequences of this government’s Bill 124 and other irresponsible decisions regarding our health care system. My question to the Premier: Minden hospital is publicly funded. Instead of simply letting Haliburton health services take the heat for this decision, will this Conservative government take accountability and admit what Minden and the rest of us know, that the Minden ER is closing under their watch?

Yesterday, in response to a question from my Don Valley East colleague, the Minister of Health offered up Bill 60. My question to the Minister of Health: Why is she not demanding answers from HHS and intervening in their decision to close the Minden ER?

Thank you to the member for the question. Certainly we hear the phrase “previous Liberal government” so many times that we play bingo on it over here. I think it’s time to end that game of bingo. I think it’s time for this government to acknowledge that five years is actually a long time. They’ve been in power long enough to realize that there are problems in our health care, problems on the streets with our opioid crisis, and those are problems that they could be spending money on now to fix.

Another example would be on supportive housing in industries like the not-for-profit agencies, who are asking for money to help build more homes. They will run those homes. They will build them; they will run them. But they need some money to do it. That’s another example.

So again, a spa instead of homes, to me, is not the right priority.

People were not suffering from an ER closure in Minden during the Liberal government. That is the kind of crisis we’re feeling now. And so when I talk about a laissez-faire attitude, I’m talking about saying, “Oh, that’s Haliburton Highlands services’ problem,” instead of saying that this Ministry of Health needs to take accountability and make sure that those hospitals stay open to serve the people of Ontario.

I’m very proud of the record of the Ontario Liberal government, as I said, in helping fix our graduation rates, building the greenbelt, building highways and making sure that our education system was supported.

You’re right; we did hear, when we were in northern Ontario, about the increased needs for police services because of the drug crisis. Again, this is small-town Ontario, who are seeing criminals from across the province, from across the borders, come to their communities because it’s near the Trans-Canada Highway and it’s a shipping line to deliver drugs across the country.

So, absolutely, we need to make sure that police have the resources they need to fight crime—and that isn’t just in our big cities, but in our small towns too.