It gives me great pleasure to present the following petitions on behalf of Dr. Sally Palmer, professor emerita at the school of social work in the faculty of social sciences at McMaster University. Now, to Dr. Palmer: Unfortunately, we’re not entitled to read directly the words from petitions within the Ontario Legislature due to recent changes by this government, so this will be my summary.

The petition is titled “To Raise Social Assistance Rates.” The petition points out that Ontario’s rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line. It also points out that a letter was sent to the Premier and to cabinet ministers, and it was signed by over 230 organizations, and it recommends the doubling of these rates. It points out that people who are on social assistance are unable to afford food, they are unable to afford rent, and that the government of Canada even recognized this with its CERB program, that the basic income of $2,000 per month was a standard support.

I fully support the petition to double social assistance rates, will affix my signature and deliver it with page Simon to the Clerks.

I recently had the opportunity to tour Ark Aid Street Mission’s Cronyn-Warner site.

I’d like to applaud the city of London and all of the phenomenal service and community partners working on the whole of community health and homelessness strategy tables.

It was rather cold as we walked down Dundas Street from Ark Aid’s main location, punctuated by our entry into the warm Cronyn-Warner location. I want to thank the Diocese of Huron and the board at Warner Place for providing the location at a fraction of the market rate to care for the marginalized people in our community.

Ark Aid has served 900 unique people this year. We heard from Rob, who struggled with accessing health care while homeless. He was proud to tell us about his improvements and his future goals. None of this would have happened without Ark Aid and housing.

Funding for these spaces and others like SafeSpace and many more will end on May 31 this year. Homelessness in London will not end on June 1. If funding doesn’t flow, 100 dedicated and caring staff will be unemployed; 120 resting places will become vacant—vital and necessary, but vacant. I was shocked to learn that the providers will have to warehouse all the mattresses while people sleep rough.

I call on government members to listen to their conscience and fund these beds now. Think of the people who are rebuilding their lives and whose hopes and dreams will be much further away without the basic human necessity of housing.

We have the space. We have caring people ready to help. All that is needed is political will. Housing is foundational, housing is fundamental, housing is a human right, and housing is health care.

I’d like to thank my colleague from Ottawa Centre for recognizing the life and work of John Bell. I think it was very beautifully worded, although I am surprised that you didn’t make mention of his cat, who is known as Randy Savage.

In the obituary itself, John and his family called for donations to the London Public Library and, in particular, the A Book for Every Child campaign.

In terms of the government’s budget bill, Bill 180, I wonder if the member would like to comment about the historic omission of library grant funding as well as their postures on education funding that are not meeting the needs of libraries as well as the young people in Ontario.

The Royal Bank of Canada’s research recently warned that the housing crisis is going to get even worse if governments don’t act. This government, because of their measures, have only created 8% of the housing that they promised will be created by 2025. In fact, since 2018, their measures have only created 1,100 units of affordable housing. RBC has indicated this: that drastic measures need to be taken right now by government.

So my question for the member from Hamilton Mountain is: Should the government return to its historic responsibility, do the heavy lifting, pick up their shovels and actually build the affordable housing that Ontarians need right now?

I’d like to thank my seatmate from Waterloo for her presentation, especially the remark that this is a total eclipse of common sense. We’ve seen so many policy reversals from this government that they’re stuck in reverse. It’s almost as though, with Bill 180, I’m wondering what they’re also going to do a one-eighty on when it comes to these decisions. We do see, however, great help towards Enbridge and sprawl developers.

Now, the government recently created a $300,000 state-controlled media studio, complete with teleprompters so Conservative staffers could think for the ministers, you know, to put in and type their answers up onscreen. Was this investment a priority for Ontarians at this time?

And there’s a siren too.

It’s my honour to read the following petition into the record. It’s entitled “Health Care: Not for Sale.” It reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontarians should get health care based on need—not the size of your wallet;

“Whereas Premier Ford and Health Minister Jones say they’re planning to privatize parts of health care;

“Whereas privatization will bleed nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals, making the health care crisis worse;

“Whereas privatization always ends with patients getting a bill;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately stop all plans to privatize Ontario’s health care system, and fix the crisis in health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 and recruiting, retaining, and respecting doctors, nurses and PSWs with better working conditions;

“—licensing tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses and other health care professionals already in Ontario, who wait years and pay thousands to have their credentials certified;

“—10 employer-paid sick days;

“—making education and training free or low-cost for nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals;

“—incentivizing doctors and nurses to choose to live and work in northern Ontario;

“—funding hospitals to have enough nurses on every shift, on every ward.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and deliver it to the Clerks.

It’s my honour to present the following petitions on behalf of a number of different wonderful educators and all-around good people: Steve Desmond, Tracy Morrison, Marcie Zavitz, Laura Cornish, Matthew Warren, Marianne Petovello, Leslie Bondy, Kate Campbell, Jacqui Shields, Jennifer Latella and Carol Lynn Bradley. And it’s titled “Keep Classrooms Safe for Students and Staff.”

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas students and education workers deserve stronger, safer schools in which to learn and work;

“Whereas the pressure placed on our education system has contributed to an increase in reports of violence in our schools;

“Whereas crowded classrooms, a lack of support for staff, and underfunding of mental health supports are all contributing to this crisis;

“Whereas the government of Ontario has the responsibility and tools to address this crisis, but has refused to act;

“Therefore, we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“Take immediate action to address violence in our schools;

“Invest in more mental health resources;

“End violence against education workers and improve workplace violence reporting.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature and deliver it with page Bhavna to the Clerks.

It’s an honour today to rise in support of accountability, transparency and fairness—principles that this government seems to have forgotten since they formed government. Rather than holding virtues and values that they loudly claimed prior to 2018, they have lost their way.

Today, the official opposition is giving the government the chance to stand up for their values again, to remember who they were. It’s not too late.

It’s clear that the government has gone astray, twisting themselves in knots trying to pat themselves on the back. But today, Conservatives can get back on track by supporting their own legislation. It’s never too late to do the right thing.

The official opposition will always fight for more for people, while the Conservatives want Ontarians to settle for less, to settle for a bait-and-switch, where they’re pretending to spend money on things that people care about when, in actual point of fact, they’re not doing the right thing.

The media has had some really interesting lines about what this government has done. David Moscrop said that it has been “inept and dodgy....

“In essence, the Ford government devoted millions of dollars promoting itself while emergency rooms closed, homeless residents froze in the streets,” ODSP “recipients struggled to make rent and feed themselves, and the province’s infrastructure crumbled.”

He also stated that the campaign pushed “the boundaries of the human capacity for cynicism.”

Robert Benzie from the Toronto Star said, when he mentioned—the Toronto Star headline on the print edition: “Our Money, More Lies,” also blasting the ads as “spectacularly misleading.”

“Doug Ford’s Feel-Bad Movie of the Summer....

“It’s misdirection worthy of a Las Vegas illusionist....

“An unapologetic partisan ad” that “erases the line between party and government,” was the Globe editorial’s line.

Now is the government’s chance to stand up for itself, to support its own legislation.

Prove that you have not lost your way. Prove that these values mean something to you. Make good on your promise. It’s never too late to do the right thing.

Good morning. My question is to the Premier. The official opposition leader and London MPPs recently toured the Nazem Kadri Surgical Centre, a brilliant, first-of-its-kind outpatient clinic which deals with low-intensity, low-risk procedures in a high-quality interdisciplinary environment. It’s an ingenious, cost-effective way to help patients quickly while alleviating the burden on our precious health care system. Public funding and public delivery: the best bang for your buck.

To our surprise, we learned that the Premier and Minister of Health also visited the centre and said this was a model to replicate. We agree. So why aren’t they?

The surgical centre operates at half the cost of hospital ORs. They literally double the output, meaning twice as many happy, healthy patients, yet this government is prioritizing spending on for-profit surgery clinics and agency nursing companies which bleed the government dry. Why?

It’s my great honour to welcome the amazing crew from NDP Western who are visiting Queen’s Park today, including Austin Wang, Liam Solomon, Alex Wild, Marek Brooking, Can Batili, Nicholas Pestill and Ismael Sayal. You’re all an inspiration.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t welcome members of my legislative and constituency team, Marie Rioux and Sarah Lehman.

I hope you have a great visit today.

During pre-budget consultations, the finance committee had the opportunity to hear from people across the province who are struggling. Despite living in the richest province in Canada and during a cost-of-living crisis, our provincial government skimps on paying for the services that people need right now.

Educators in my community are running their classrooms on as little as $100 per year. How does that set kids up for success? Boards are running massive deficits while the government refuses to cough up money for legally mandated increases to CPP and EI. Conservatives are failing.

Education is an investment. Decades of Liberal and Conservative disinvestment and cost-cutting targeting Ontario’s youth have resulted in an education system on the brink. Remember when a Conservative minister admitted on a hot mike they were deliberately creating a crisis in education so they could cut, destroy and privatize? Here we are again.

Children are our greatest resource, yet governments reward their rich buddies while Ontario’s kids go without. School violence is at an all-time high and kids aren’t getting mental health supports. Conservatives pretend there are supports in schools, but no one across the province said they could access them. Ontario is dead last when it comes to post-secondary funding—dead last. Conservatives are getting an F grade in education.

Stabilize the system. Give kids the tools to succeed. Reverse the $1,200 cut per elementary and secondary student you’ve made since 2018. Help post-secondary institutions make young people’s dreams a reality by increasing funding with annual compounded increases of 11.75% for the next five years.

You have the money. Spend it on kids. It’s their future. You can do it in budget 2024.

I’d like to thank the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke for his animated and excited presentation. One thing that I’m excited about in my area of London is the Humane Society London and Middlesex and their current project.

With their project, they’ve asked this government for $1.5 million. The federal government stepped up. The municipal government has stepped up. In fact, London’s city council has supported Humane Society London and Middlesex with $3 million. That’s twice what they’ve asked the province.

Will this government invest in the skills pipeline necessary to train veterinary technicians and support HSLM’s funding ask, yes or no?

It is my honour to present the following petitions on behalf of Dr. Sally Palmer, chair of the Hamilton Social Work Action Committee.

“To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,308 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas small increases to ODSP have still left these citizens below the poverty line. Both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I fully support this petition. I will affix my signature and deliver it to the Clerks.

Yes, I think so.

Doing okay.

No more HVAC scams.

Environmental.

My question is to the Premier. For years, the government has ignored the crisis of predatory HVAC scams which target seniors, newcomers and those living with disabilities. Scam artists trick people into signing contracts where the devices get more expensive every year, the contract lasts longer than the lifespan of the machine, and the buyout is tens of thousands of dollars when the machine itself only cost hundreds. Sounds like a scam to me, Speaker.

When will the government stop talking about a problem everyone knows about and finally act to protect seniors and others who are being scammed to this day?

When these scam companies register a notice of security interest, or NOSI, it becomes a lien on a homeowner’s property. The scam artists target the vulnerable and give everyone else in the industry a bad name. According to the government’s own numbers, 38,000 NOSIs were registered in 2022. So I look forward today, when the NDP tables its legislation to look after NOSIs going into the future and those that have been registered historically, that this government will support it.

The government recently held a consultation where they learned 38,000 NOSIs had been registered in 2022 alone. My bill would stop this predatory practice in its tracks by allowing the registrar to remove a notice of security interest upon writing from a consumer, as well as stop those moving forward. It would make sure that we stop the scam economy in Ontario.

I’ll just read the explanatory note: Section 54 of the Personal Property and Security Act is amended to provide that a notice of security interest where the collateral is a prescribed consumer good or an extension of any such notice shall not be registered and that any such existing registrations shall be discharged by the registrar.

I look forward to this bill passing.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome two students from the Model Parliament program and residents of London North Centre, Danielle Munang and Noah Debicki. It was great meeting you yesterday. I hope you have a great day.