In Don Valley East, thousands of people do not have a family doctor. Meanwhile, my riding has hundreds of foreign-trained doctors who can’t get credentialed in Ontario—doctors who are forced to sit on the sidelines when they should be on the front lines.

Our local hospital, Michael Garron Hospital, is bursting above capacity. We have insufficient acute care beds to meet our current needs, let alone the projected needs, as my riding sees unprecedented development around the intersection of two new public transit lines. We’re in desperate need of funding for expansions and upgrades, and we’re not getting it.

But if the situation is dire in Don Valley East, it’s worse in northern and rural Ontario. Even fewer have access to primary care, and hospitals are collapsing one by one: Minden, Muskoka, Strathroy Middlesex and now Durham hospital.

It started with sporadic ER closures then more regular ones. Now, their emergency room is only open 12 hours a day. This is because this government has ushered in the worst health care worker shortage in our province’s history, and last week, the Minister of Health had the audacity to say she’s not concerned about it.

Now it has suddenly been announced that all of Durham hospital’s in-patient beds will be removed in a couple of weeks—no warning, no consultation and no conversation. Today, the mayor of the municipality of West Grey and over 60 Durham residents have travelled to Queen’s Park to express their opposition to this decision, which will compromise diagnostic testing, cause doctors to leave and put patient care at risk.

Mr. Speaker, the people of northern and rural Ontario and across our province deserve a government that will protect their health care system and give them answers. Fully fund health care and stop the closures.